Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (2019, Xbox One)

Name: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (2019)

Developed/Published By: Respawn Entertainment/EA

Genre: Third-Person Action/Adventure

Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Stadia

Players: Single player

Age Rating: PEGI 16

Hello everybody, today we will be talking about the video game: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, or Fallen Order for short. The game was released in 2019 and it was developed by Respawn Entertainment, known for the Titanfall series and Apex Legends and published by EA games. The game deals with a lost Jedi Padawan in a world after the infamous Order 66, in which the clone troopers of the armies of the Republic turned on their former Jedi allies and slaughtered almost all of them. The empire is in full control and the Padawan, Cal Kestis must stay hidden.

Plot:

Cal Kestis is a mechanic who works on the planet Bracca. It has been five years since Order 66 and all he is trying to do it survive. Cal and his friend Prauf are working on a salvage when a failsafe cable snaps and Prauf almost falls to his death. Cal uses the force, the mystical powers of a Jedi to save him, but he is seen by an Imperial droid doing so. Because of this, two Sith inquisitors, members of an order that hunt down Jedi for the empire, come to Bracca to find this Jedi. In the chaos, Prauf is killed and Cal is rescued by a former Jedi named Cere Junda and Greez Dritus, the captain of the ship known as Stinger Mantis. Cal finds a droid called BD-1 who has a message in its memory banks from Jedi Master Eno Cordova. In it, Cordova explains that there is a Jedi Holocron that contains the locations of all force sensitive children in the galaxy and it could be used rebuild the Jedi order. Cordova explains that the Holocron is safely hidden within a vault.

While travelling for clues to open the vault on Bogano, Cal meets some famous Star Wars faces including Saw Guerrera who is currently battling the empire on the Wookiee world of Kashyyyk. While on the planet, Zeffo, searching for more clues, Cal is ambushed by one of the Sith Inquisitors by the name of the Second Sister. It is revealed that the Second Sister’s real name is Trilla Suduri and she was once a Jedi Padawan under Cere Junda. Trilla was captured by the empire after Cere gave up her location while being tortured by the empire. Cal is captured and forced to fight in a gladiatorial arena before being rescued by Cere and Greez. Cal returns to Kashyyyk and climbs the Origin Tree to find more clues to the Holocron which he does but he also gets ambushed by the other Sith Inquisitor called the Ninth Sister, which Cal beats. Cal must now travel to Dathomir.

Cal makes it to Dathomir but there is a problem, the Nightsisters, a witch cult on Dathomir that does not want him on their planet. The last remaining Nightsister, Sister Merrin, uses her powers to raise the dead to attack Cal. The reason Merrin is so angry is because her people were slaughtered during the clone wars and she blames the Jedi. Cal has a flashback to how he survived Order 66 and how his master saved him. His lightsaber crystal is destroyed. On Dathomir, Cal meets another Jedi, Taron Malicos. Malicos crashed onto Dathomir after Order 66 and has been stranded there since. He wanted to use the time to learn the Nightsisters magical powers but ended up losing his mind and turning to the dark side. Cal escapes from Malicos and makes his way to Ilum to forge a new lightsaber. He makes his way back to Dathomir and defeats Malicos with some help from Merrin. Merrin joins with the crew of the Stinger Mantis.

Cal finally has what he needs to open the vault and travels to Bogano where Cal finds the Holocron. Trilla steals it from him and escapes. Cere becomes a Jedi again and helps Cal get to Nur to settle this once and for all. On the planet Nur, Cal battles Trilla, defeats her and takes the Holocron back. That’s when things go from oh so bad to oh so worse. Darth Vader…Big V…comes and kills Trilla and he then turns to take on Cal, but Cal runs, barely escaping with his life. They escape off the planet and end up destroying the Holocron because they decide that the children should be able to make their own choices in life. THE END.

So what did I think of it?

We’ll start off with gameplay. I loved it, no that’s not strong enough, I adored it. The lightsaber combat was unbelievably satisfying. The game made you feel like a Jedi and all I was doing was pressing buttons on a controller. I loved every lightsaber swing, every force push and every blaster deflection. The game was fast and action packed and ever so smooth. The level up system in it was taken straight from Dark Souls and the like, except instead of sitting at a campfire you sit at Jedi meditation circles and pick some skills from a skill tree.

The amount of different enemies makes for some nice tactical battles. It is not just about swinging your lightsaber and hoping for the best, you must also use your athleticism and force powers to win the day. The enemies go from regular empire storm troopers to purge troopers, which are trained to battle Jedi all the way up to AT-ST walkers and dark Jedi. Every battle will change up how you play and it makes the game even more satisfying. You need to know when to swing, when to block, when to dodge and when to use those force powers, because even one mess up could hurt you…a lot.

I will talk about the graphics and sounds next. The graphics are beautiful but I expect nothing less from a Star Wars game and a AAA game at that. That’s not to say the graphics aren’t amazing, they are astounding and the team put a lot of work into them. The different settings are incredible and they are so Star Wars. It makes you feel like you’re stepping into the Star Wars universe and discovering it for yourself, in your own way, with your own paths to discover, in your own time. There were a lot of times I just stopped and took in the breathtaking sights that were on offer.

The soundtrack is incredible and very heartfelt at times. In saying that it loses none of the epic feeling that Star Wars music usually gives me. It is powerful and hits you like a speeding train at times and at other times it is tender and emotional and it caresses over you, but draws you into the emotional well it creates. The game was composed by Stephen Barton (COD 4 MW, Titanfall) and Gordy Haab (SW:TOR, SW: Battlefront II). The motion capture technology is totally there to start turning games into almost lifelike graphics. The fact that the characters are the spitting images of the actors is absolutely astounding and ushers in a new era for video game actors where they really have to act now and not just move around the place and do the movements.

The story had some excellent moments. The story about Cere almost turning to the dark side and cutting herself off from the force is what I am looking for in a Star Wars story. The game takes itself serious and don’t get me wrong, it has it’s light hearted moments, but it allows itself to be taken seriously. The story of Cal Kestis and how he survived Order 66 was very enjoyable. The crew need each other and it felt almost like Joss Whedon’s Firefly (RIP) to me at times. It seems that Star Wars is leaning more and more on the stories of ragtag crew members, forced together who through shared experiences and tragedies, become a family. The Mandalorian had that feel, same as Star Wars Rebels and I for one am not complaining. The game feels more grounded and the characters feel relatable, they feel more human.

So my final thoughts. I think it was a wonderful Star Wars game and a fantastic action/adventure game with a lot of blood, sweat and tears poured into it. I could feel the love from the people who created the game and how invested they were in making this game an experience for the player. So I thank them for allowing me to feel what it is like to be a Jedi, even with a few taps of a button. A good story, great music, beautiful settings and epic action. This is a Star Wars game that will stand the test of time.

Graphics: Beautiful and unquestionably Star Wars locations. The character models were something to be applauded and the action looked intense and fierce. 10/10

Sound: Amazing Star Wars soundtrack that really tied the game together, a soundtrack that is in my playlist now: 9/10

Game play: Varied gameplay, decent exploration. I would have liked a little more to do. The game was quite short, but what you did get was very good. 8/10

Worth: Yes! Great for Star Wars fans. If you’re not a Star Wars fan you will still like the Action/Adventure element. 9/10

Story: Good Star Wars story, it had some issues and I felt that the ending just made the whole story a waste of time, but everything in the middle was fantastic. 8/10

Total: 88/100 B+

I hope you enjoyed my review and as always, thanks for reading!

Resident Evil 3: Remake (2020, Xbox One)

In 2020 the world of gaming got what they asked for, a remake of the third Resident Evil game. Yes, Capcom released the remake for Resident Evil: Nemesis, the one that has you face off against one of the most badass tyrants in Resident Evil history. You play as Jill Valentine, our heroine from the first Resident Evil game as you try and survive a zombie outbreak on the streets of Raccoon City. With the help of Umbrella security agent, Carlos Oliveira, Jill must succeed against hordes of the undead and Nemesis who throughout the entire game is always hot on her heels.

Resident Evil 3 is set around the same time as Resident Evil 2. Jill Valentine is in her apartment still traumatised after the events of the first game. Suddenly and out of nowhere, Jill is attacked in her apartment by a huge creature called a tyrant. The specific designation of this tyrant is Nemesis and it’s job? To hunt down all the S.T.A.R.S (Special Tactics And Rescue Service) members in Raccoon City and Jill is one of those members. Jill has to run through her apartment building and try and escape from the frightful monster that is Nemesis. Jill eventually escapes trapping Nemesis in the apartment building and from here she meets Brad Vickers, another member of S.T.A.R.S.

As Jill and Brad make their way through Raccoon City the reality of what is going on really sets in as there are zombies all over the place and people are in a panic. Jill and Brad make it to a bar but zombies are trying to get into the building, while trying to barricade the door, Brad gets bitten by a zombie and tells Jill to leave, which she does reluctantly. Jill finds a car on top of a parking garage, but Nemesis shows up again. Jill uses the car to drive herself and Nemesis off the roof of the garage. Jill wakes up to see that Nemesis is starting to pursue her again and this is where Carlos shows up with a rocket launcher and hits Nemesis a number of times rescuing Jill.

Carlos brings Jill down into a subway where there are other Umbrella agents, Mikhail, Nicholai, Tyrell and a group of civilians. The Umbrella agents plan to use the subway to escape from Raccoon City but the power for the subway is shut off. Jill has to make her way through Raccoon City to turn the power back on and plot out a route for the subway, which she does while trying to escape from Nemesis. Jill makes her way back to the subway station only to realise that she is still being pursued, so Jill tries to buy the Umbrella team some time by going down to the sewers.

Jill has to make her way through the sewers while dealing with zombies and other sewer monsters that have massive mouths that can kill you in one hit. As Jill goes to escape the sewers through a hatch, Nemesis catches her and almost ignites her with a flamethrower. Jill has to run through a building site to try and escape Nemesis as he tries to burn down the entire building site. Jill eventually has to fight Nemesis on top of the building site and when she defeats him, she makes her way back down to the city streets. As she is making her way back to the subway, guess who shows up? Yep, Nemesis! Jill must dodge a rocket launcher wielding Nemesis. Jill again escapes and makes her way to the subway which starts to leave with everyone on board bar Carlos and Tyrell who have another job to do. As the subway is moving, Nemesis attacks the subway killing all civilians on board. Jill tries to escape but Nicholai locks the door behind him, locking Jill and Mikhail in with Nemesis. Nemesis pulls Mikhail out of the carriage almost killing him but Mikhail sacrifices himself, blowing himself up destroying the carriage that Nemesis is on but causes the carriage that Jill is on to crash, knocking Jill unconscious.

From here you play Carlos looking for a doctor named Nathaniel Bard, who is rumoured to have the vaccine for the T-Virus. Carlos and Tyrell make their way to the Raccoon Police Department where you see Lieutenant Marvin Branagh (Yes, that Marvin) getting bitten by zombie Brad (Yes, that Brad) which explains how Marvin is bitten when Leon meets him in Resident Evil 2 Remake. Carlos and Tyrell have to make their way through the Police Station looking for Dr. Nathaniel Bard until they come across a video call where Dr. Bard explains that he is actually in a hospital surrounded by creatures and that Umbrella are killing all the researchers and doctors.

From here you take control of Jill again and she is underground, from here you kill a few zombies until you make your way above ground where you have to fight who again? Who was it? I can’t seem to remember his name, something beginning with N I believe…oh right, Nemesis. You defeat Nemesis for the 50th time so far but not before he hits Jill with a stinger which infects her. As Carlos makes his way to the hospital, Carlos spots Jill and brings her to the hospital and it is swarming with zombies and other nasty creatures.. Going through the hospital Carlos has to kill a lot of zombies, and I mean a lot to find Dr. Bard. Carlos eventually does find him, dead! Yes, Bard was murdered and it is here that Carlos finds a video of Bard saying that Umbrella developed the virus and wanted Bard to make a vaccine, but then they done a complete turn around and wanted to destroy the vaccine and all research for it. Carlos finds the vaccine and gives it to Jill. Tyrell bursts through the door where he shows Carlos a news broadcast that says that Raccoon City is completely overrun and the city will be destroyed by a missile strike in the morning. While this is happening a horde of zombies break into the hospital and Carlos has to defend Jill.

Jill eventually wakes up and realises Carlos is gone. She meets Tyrell who tells Jill that Carlos is gone underground because Dr. Bard stockpiled a lot of the vaccine. Jill realises that Carlos needs help while Tyrell will try and contact someone to stop the missile strike. Jill makes her way underground where there are a lot more zombies to kill. As she makes her way through, Tyrell eventually follows her down and explains that he got through to the government. He tells Jill that if they can deliver the vaccine to the government then they will call off the missile strike. As Jill and Tyrell go to find the vaccine, a heavily mutated Nemesis attacks both of them and kills Tyrell.

Eventually Jill finds the vaccine but Nicholai appears and takes it off her, Jill pleads with Nicholai not to take the vaccine but Nicholai says that he wants Jill to fight Nemesis and he will record it and sell the footage for the combat data and if she puts on a good enough show, he might give her back the vaccine, forcing her to fight Nemesis again. Jill beats Nemesis using acid and basically dissolving him. As Jill chases Nicholai, the final form of Nemesis is shown as a massive tentacle monster. Jill must defeat Nemesis one more time, but this time with a rail gun. Jill beats Nemesis, for good! and both Jill and Carlos catch up to Nicholai who is just about to leave on a helicopter. Carlos and Nicholai get into a fist fight and Carlos restrains Nicholai which gives Jill a chance to shoot him. Carlos and Jill eventually leave on the chopper and Nicholai is left in the city where the missile strike is just about to impact.

So now onto the game play. The game play is pretty good, but I felt it was missing the atmosphere of Resident Evil 2 Remake. The openness of the game just made fighting the zombies a lot easier I found and with that the zombies became less scary and threatening. Now don’t get me wrong, I still had a ton of fun with the game, but there were a lot of sequences where I could just walk around things and that would be that. Also Nemesis. Nemesis. Nemesis. Nemesis. What can I say? Was he as scary as Mr. X? That’s a big no. Nemesis was more of an annoyance to me than anything. I never found him that threatening throughout the game, just another obstacle to get through and that is very disappointing seeing as he is pretty much the hook of the entire game.

Don’t get me wrong, there were some sequences that I found deeply chilling, such as going back to the Police Department and the Hospital. Both those chapters were pretty nerve wracking because I was enclosed again in narrow corridors and tight rooms, which made every zombie fight pretty exciting, but other than that I pretty much walked though the game.

The game keeps the same inventory management system from RE2: Remake, which was fine with me because I liked that system. Again you also had to find hip pouches to increase your inventory slots. The combat was fluid and fun and exciting when I did decide to fight enemies. The zombies were quite tough again, no one shot to the head on these zombies, so the game made sure that you used bullets wisely. Overall I did have an enjoyable experience playing it.

The lighting! Oh the lighting! The lighting was so incredibly atmospheric. There are scenes where you are running through alley ways and you would see a hard shadow of Nemesis behind you chasing you. The dark empty streets lit up by some street lamps and burning cars and barrels, like RE2: Remake really add to the impact of what is going on, but in some cases it does a better job because you are outside a lot more in this game. The game is full of beautiful, realistic and very fluid graphics and atmospheric lighting. Definitely one to play with the lights off.

The soundtrack, same as RE:2 Remake is absolutely unreal. From unnerving, depressing and stark songs that really drive home that you are in a city full of the undead to peaceful soundtracks that have a melancholic undertone to tell you that while you are safe now, you still must go outside. The boss soundtracks are really exciting too and really add to the urgency of trying to defeat Nemesis, but knowing in the back of your head that you are only going to slow him down, that he can’t be truly stopped.

So let’s get into the scoring:

Graphics: Realistic, fluid and overall supremely impressive 10/10

Sound: Varied and exciting soundtrack. Everything fits and the right music is used at the right times. 10/10

Game play: Great game play but I found it too easy at parts. Still very enjoyable. 8/10

Worth: Oh yeah! A very enjoyable horror experience and especially for those who love zombies. You also get Resident Evil Resistance free with it, which is a 4v1 online multiplayer game. While it’s not my cup of tea, it’s still nice to get an extra game. 10/10

Story: The story was good, not great. Nemesis felt like a bit of a filler to be quite honest and overall I enjoyed it, but it is forgettable. 7/10

Total: 90/100 A–

I hope you enjoyed my review and as always, thanks for reading!

Assassin’s Creed Origins (2017, Xbox One)

Assassin’s Creed Origins is an action adventure game with stealth elements developed by Ubisoft Montreal, published by Ubisoft and released in 2017 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It is the tenth main installment of the Assassin’s Creed series that has been going since 2007. The game is set in Ancient Egypt during the Ptolemaic period and it tells the story of a Medjay named Bayek and his wife, Aya, as they struggle against The Order of the Ancients, who are the predecessors to the Templar Order seen in previous games. It also delves into the origins of the Brotherhood of Assassins.

As I said, Bayek is a Medjay, but what is a Medjay I hear you ask? Well simply put, Medjay were like desert guardians and they dealt with any issues that may have arisen in their particular region of protection. Bayek was a Medjay of a region called Siwa. While he was showing his son, Khemu, what it means to be a Medjay, they were both kidnapped by masked men and brought to a place called the Temple of Amun. The masked men wanted Bayek to open a vault down in the underground passes by giving him an Apple of Eden, an artifact that possesses great power which was seen in other Assassin’s Creed games. Bayek eventually gets free from the masked men and attempts to kill one of them by stabbing them, but the masked man moves aside and Bayek stabs Khemu, killing him. Filled with grief and rage, Bayek vows to destroy the masked men and kill every last one of them.

Bayek, eventually gets around to killing the five masked men he thought were responsible for what happened the year previous. But after he killed the final one, he was told there were a lot more than he had previously thought. Bayek discovers an even bigger conspiracy when he meets a man named, Apollodorus. Apollodorus is an advisor and friend to the deposed queen of Egypt, Cleopatra, yes that Cleopatra. Apollodorus introduces Bayek to Cleopatra and explains that the masked men are from a secret order called The Order of the Ancients. They removed Cleopatra from her throne and installed her brother, Ptolemy as the new Pharaoh of Egypt. All they wanted was someone they could control.

Cleopatra tells Bayek to go and kill more of the Ancients while she asks Aya, who is supremely loyal to Cleopatra to go to Sicily and ask a roman general named Pompey for aid to get Cleopatra back on the throne of Egypt. Bayek starts to believe that he is only a pawn to help Cleopatra get back in power and that she doesn’t actually care that Bayek and Aya had their child murdered by the Ancients.

Eventually, Pompey gets killed and Cleopatra says that she needs to talk to the main man himself, Julius Ceaser to secure the support of Rome so she can oust her brother. Aya, Bayek and Apollodorus sneak into Ptolemy’s palace with Cleopatra wrapped up in a fine carpet as a gift. Once inside Ptolemy’s palace the ruse is up and Cleopatra introduces herself to Julius Ceaser who is immediately impressed by what he sees. Ptolemy is removed as Pharaoh and Bayek is on the cusp of getting his vengeance, especially on one of Ceaser’s men, Septimius who killed Pompey. But just as Bayek defeats Septimius in battle and about to deliver the final blow, Ceaser stops it and Bayek is betrayed.

Bayek and Aya are removed from Cleopatra’s favour, while Cleopatra takes the throne of Egypt back. Septimius is also made an advisor to Ceaser which is a further insult to both Bayek and Aya. Their thirst for vengeance increases ten fold as they vow to bring all these people to justice. Bayek and Aya realises that to do this they will need support as they can’t take on both Cleopatra and Ceaser on their own. During the game you meet a lot of characters and do side quests for them, these characters are later called upon when the decision to get help is made.

Apollodorus is found dying in the tomb of Alexander the Great. There he tells Bayek about the leader of the order named, Flavius and how he took an orb and staff from Alexander’s tomb and is about to open the vault in Siwa, yes the same one that Khemu was killed over. Bayek goes to Cyrene to deal with Flavius and the Order of the Ancients once and for all. Flavius goes mad with power and develops all these new skills such as teleportation, splitting into multiple versions of himself and so on, but Bayek eventually beats him.

Bayek and Aya come to the conclusion that what they are doing is bigger than both of them and if they are going to be successful in removing corruption from the world they must do it separately. They create a group called the Hidden Ones which is a precursor to the development of the Brotherhood of Assassins that will come years down the line. Aya eventually goes to Rome and in the senate, Ceaser gets stabbed by the senators and assassinated. This then ends with Aya speaking to Cleopatra and telling her to rule her people well and with fairness or she will be back to kill Cleopatra. And that is the story of Assassin’s Creed Origins.

Now onto the game play. The game play is very different to previous Assassin’s Creed games, it is a lot more focused on the RPG side of things, which is not necessarily a bad thing, just different. Also I feel that the game moved a good bit away from the stealth elements of previous games and was more focused on actual combat scenarios then trying to sneak around and assassinate targets. I found it a lot easier to just go into a place and kill everyone then having to sneak around and try not to get spotted. During combat you can choose to either block with your shield or dodge, but most of the time I just dodged everywhere. One, because I was better at that and two, because you could recover a lot quicker to land some blows to the enemy. Once you kill enemies or complete missions, you gain experience, level up and spend skill points, pretty standard stuff for an RPG.

The visuals of the game are stunning. I found myself in absolute awe just going around ancient Egypt and I feel that Ubisoft Montreal got the feeling down to a T. From vast deserts to murky swamps. From sprawling cities to dusty villages. Assassin’s Creed Origins makes all the areas feel unique and very different to each other. You will also be encountering different animals in these different areas and the animals use the areas to their advantage. For example if you go into a swampy area, there is a 99% chance you are going to run into a Crocodile, but the Crocodile stays in the bushes or under the water just before it strikes and when it does, you better be ready. Another example would be cobras hiding in vases that you smash and then suddenly you are bitten by a highly venomous snake. Ouch!

There is also a fair bit of mounted and ranged combat in the game. You will be spending a lot of your time on your camel/horse/chariot and as you are going along enemy soldiers might want to have a word with you…with their blades. There is also a lot to be said about using your bow to get out of tight situations and for picking people off which is very handy. There are various types of bows like predator bows, hunter bows, light bows and the like. Some of them are really handy and good and suit my play style. Others I just found to be ridiculous, like the Predator bow where you can actually control the arrow once you fire it, that was just absurd.

There is a hell of a lot of stuff to do in Assassin’s Creed Origins. There are loads and loads of side quests that will keep you busy and there are also some mini games such as chariot racing and gladiatorial arenas. The arenas I was fantastic at, the chariot racing I was absolutely rubbish at and I could not even pass the first tournament, but it was nice that they added it to the game.

The game like other Ubisoft games, lends itself to a lot of exploration though there were areas that were completely barren. You couldn’t have a game set in Ancient Egypt without exploring tombs and that is something you can do to collect money and trinkets that you can sell later on. The game is also a collectathon, which comes as no surprise with Ubisoft but in this one you will be collecting Stone Circles which opens up a small mini game, having to basically match dots of star constellations, Finding secret Papyrus puzzles, Finding Hermit Locations around Egypt, going through Ancient Tombs and it wouldn’t be an Ubisoft game without viewpoints/towers or whatever you want to call them and this game is chock full of them.

Just take time to take in the stunning graphics

Assassin’s Creed Origins is a smooth game with very little to no technical issues (that I experienced) and I thought the game was absolutely stunning visually. The soundtrack was amazing, epic and it was used at the right moments to convey the messages the game wanted to. The story was very good, deep and meaningful that had a lot of layers, though a bit far-fetched. I know since the first Assassin’s Creed game that there were more elements to it in terms of magic and all that but I would just rather a game where it was set in the era it was meant to be set in and forget about the magic and other rubbish. I mean there is a modern story line to this game, but have you noticed that I haven’t spoken about it? Because it’s crap and I don’t care about it at all and I wish Ubisoft would forget about the modern story line, but that is just me. Desmond Miles story line from the first three was okay, but that is done now. Just stop trying to force the modern story line on us.

Again, I’ll mention that the combat was fine, nothing great, nothing terrible. But the stealth mechanics were definitely sacrificed and it was a lot more noticeable in this Assassin’s Creed compared to previous ones. The tools in and out of combat such as sleep darts, smoke bombs and other such tools I found to be next to useless. I never used them, or more so I never felt like I needed to use them. Lastly, while there are a lot of areas of bristling towns and villages and temples full of worshipers, there was so much empty space in this game. If you go to the deserts of which there are a good few, there will be nothing but sand, sand and more sand…and the sun. You might find the odd place or character here or there, but otherwise, if you like sand, Assassin’s Creed Origins is the game for you. So yeah, Assassins Creed Origins is a good game, a very good game…just not a great game.

Graphics: Visually stunning 10/10

Sound: Great soundtrack, voice acting was fantastic and general atmosphere was immersive 10/10

Game play: Exploration was good, Combat was good, Other Mechanics were decent 7/10

Worth: Fun game but it drags on a bit and it does have issues 7/10

Story: Very good story but with some silly parts and a boring and pointless modern story line 7/10

Total: 82/100 B-

I hope you enjoyed my review and as always, thanks for reading!

Rogue Trooper Redux (2017, Xbox One)

Rogue Trooper, a story about betrayal, brotherhood, revenge and blue skinned genetically altered super soldiers. Yes,Rogue Trooper Redux is a game that is based on the character from the British comic, 2000 AD. Rogue Trooper debuted in 1981 and it tells the story of Rogue, a G.I or Genetic Infantryman who along with his brothers in arms must hunt down the Traitor General. The only problem with this is that his comrades are not alive anymore, well technically that is not true. Physically they have been killed, but their personalities have been downloaded into devices called Biochips which are used when a G.I is killed to preserve their personality so they can be implanted into a new body. The Biochips, three in all are Gunnar, Helm and Bagman and they are inserted into Rogues gun, helmet and backpack respectively.

The game was developed by Rebellion Developments and published by Eidos Interactive for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2006, with a Wii version being released in 2009 called Rogue Trooper: Quartz Zone Massacre. The remake, Redux was released in 2017 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and the Nintendo Switch. I will be talking about the Xbox One version today.

Rogue Trooper Redux is a third-person shooter. The story is set on the planet on Nu-Earth which is in the middle of two suns and a giant black hole. There are two factions in Rogue Trooper, the Southers and the Norts and they have been at war for years and years. The Southers are made up of a union between America, Britain, Western Europe and Parts of Africa which all formed the Souther Confederacy. The Norts on the other hand are a combination of Russia and Germany and they formed the Nordland Party which spanned all the way from Central Europe to Asia.

The war has caused untold destruction on Nu-Earth due to the use of Chemical and Biological weapons which have killed millions of people. Because of this the air on Nu-Earth is completely toxic thus the soldiers from the Souther and Nort factions have to wear protective suits just to be on the planet. But this is where the Southers changed the rules. Through genetic enhancements and engineering they created the G.I’s. Super soldiers that were modified to be immune to every type of toxin and disease. This gave the Southers the upper hand, this was the plan to finally win the war, or so they thought!

The G.Is commenced an airborne assault from their space station in orbit, this was their D-Day, this was it. But oh no! The Norts were expecting them, this led to an event called the Quartz Zone Massacre. Every single G.I was mowed down and slaughtered, every single one bar Rogue. On the way through the massacre, Rogue watched his friends get gunned down and butchered but he saved as many as he could by taking their biochips. This led to Helm, Gunnar and Bagman becoming Rogue’s comrades in arms.

Rogue was overcome with grief for his fallen comrades and vowed to get revenge on the Norts. But one thing didn’t make sense, how did the Norts know that the G.Is were going to commence and assault? it was meant to be a top secret mission. Something didn’t add up. While searching for the truth of what happened, Rogue travels through Nort lands and takes out some high value Nort targets including their most high ranking staff members in their armed forces. Through some deduction you figure out that the Southers were indeed betrayed by a man known as the Traitor General.

Rogue’s mission becomes very clear, hunt down the Traitor General and avenge his comrades. Rogue meets the Traitor General a couple of times during the game, one mission even has you shooting down his Hoppa (Aircraft) which leaves him permanently scarred. Later on, Rogue realises he is not the only G.I left as we are introduced to a female G.I called Venus Bluegenes,who is sent to help you take care of the Traitor General.

From here Rogue and Venus must continue their travels through the Nort lands until they make their way to where the Traitor General is hiding. Rogue eventually defeats the Traitor General, but just as he is about to finish him off, a Souther bombing run hits the building that they are both in and collapses it on top of them. Rogue gets himself out of the rubble and is encountered by General Covert from the Souther command. He explains that they knew about a traitor but they needed him to be flushed out, so they used Rogue. He then offers Rogue a chance to come work for him and he will bring Rogues comrades back from the dead. Rogue declines and leaves saying that he is not an assassin, but a soldier. The last cut scene is two Souther Infantrymen finding the body of the Traitor General but assuming that he is still loyal to the Southers they run to try and find a medic, which allowed the Traitor General to get up and presumably escape.

So let’s talk about the actual game now. I was very much looking forward to playing this game, I thought the box art looked really awesome and the premise of the story sounded cool, but when I went to play it, I was disappointed. I mean it wasn’t a bad game, it was just a game of its time. The game play was still stuck in that mid-2000’s third-person shooter phase. Everything just felt dated and the controls felt awkward. I never played this game when it was first released in 2006 and if I had I would have been kinder to it. But game play has evolved and moved on somewhat and I just thought that the game still felt like it was stuck in 2006.

The enemies in it didn’t have a lot of variation. You mostly dealt with Nort infantry and then every so often a power armoured soldier. I found the A.I to be quite intelligent in this game and they kept you on your toes. I didn’t feel like any fight was “easy” but it was manageable and it made you think about what tactics you were going to use. The equipment you are given in the game is absolutely needed also. Some of the equipment are things like a deployable turret and a decoy hologram and these will absolutely save your life during the game.

The gun play was meh. I mean it was fine but I didn’t feel really satisfied using any of the weapons and I thought that some of the enemy health was completely random. There are times I shot a Nort Infantryman with two or three bullets and he went down and other times I used a whole clip and he was still standing and I found that quite infuriating.

The game allows you to upgrade your weapons using salvage that you collect through the mission from fallen enemies or piles of salvage that are just laying around and I have nothing really to say about this, it is fairly standard in a lot of games. But the one thing that did annoy me was constantly having to buy ammo and health packs using the salvage which made upgrading my equipment take so much longer than necessary. I know you could say get better at dodging or using cover, but this game made me feel really heavy and moving out of the way for me was not an option. Also in terms of ammo, look at what I said above, sometimes I would use a whole clip killing one guy.

The graphics were nice. It is hard to bring colour to a world that is decimated but I felt that Rogue Trooper just about done that. Also I liked the sort of cartoon/comic book style which kept it in its roots and I just thought in general that the game was enjoyable and very interesting to look at.

So my final thoughts on Rogue Trooper Redux. The game was average. I didn’t hate it but I definitely didn’t love it either. While I found some of the mechanics infuriating, I actually did have fun with this game and I was really into the story. I really wanted to bring the Traitor General to justice, but the fact that he escaped at the end left the game open for a sequel which it may get in the future. An okay game that had awkward mechanics that felt dated but with a pretty awesome story. That is pretty much all I could take away from Rogue Trooper Redux. I will give this game a 6/10.

I hope you enjoyed my review and as always, thanks for reading!

Outbreak (2017, Xbox One)

Outbreak, a survival horror game developed and published in 2017 by Drop Dead Studios LLC is a hark back to the days of yore in the world of survival horror video games. Truly a contender in the survival horror genre, every bullet counts in this zombie infested hell hole and it is a game that will test your confidence, survival skills and nerve.

The world has turned into a zombie plagued wasteland. Terrifying undead monsters roam the streets and building looking for more victims to feast on and add to the masses of rotten corpses that already swarm the land. You, our hero must choose from a cast of characters that each have their own attributes and take a buddy. You and your buddy must then traverse through these buildings such as hospitals and police stations and even laboratories and complete certain goals to try and escape and leave this tar-man covered world behind.

A dark and grim setting is what this game brings to the table

This game plays from a top down perspective but the horror is very much real. This game left me on the edge of my seat and there was one clear reason for this, you only have one life. Yes, no checkpoints, no save points! That means that if you die, even at the end of a level, then you have to go back to the very start and do the whole level again. There are only six levels in the game anyway, so it wouldn’t take you that long to learn the layout of the levels and what is needed to be done in terms of objectives, so that if you do die at least you have an idea of what is needed to be done and where certain quest items are.

The game tributes our favourite brain munching franchise, Resident Evil in a lot of ways. From the inventory management system which can be a pain in the ass, knowing which items/weapons to bring with you to help you in the upcoming challenges. Do you take the weapons and ammo or do you take the health items? These are decisions you will have to make, though if you ever played a Resident Evil game, you should be used to making choices like this. Also even just the way it does the health system is a nice call back to classic Resident Evil with the way it uses the Fine/Caution/Danger with the heart beat sensor, I thought this was quite cool.

Graphically the game looks really awesome. From the little bits of different coloured lighting, showing you just what you need to see to the darkened corridors and the limited field of vision; these are all things that add to an already tense atmosphere. Not knowing what is around the corner will keep you on your toes and keep you paying attention to whats ahead…or behind you. The dead bodies and blood covered floors and walls will give you an idea of the massacre that has taken place just before you showed up.

You can barely see, but it makes the game super tense

Outbreak, was a really cool little game that would very much appeal to the gamers who enjoyed the old school survival horrors of Resident Evil and Silent Hill, but it would also appeal to modern day players with it’s charm and difficulty which keeps things exciting. The game has spawned four sequels, each getting better in their own right but they are vastly different from the original. I would suggest for horror fans to give this game a go and scare yourself silly. You can pick up Outbreak from Steam and on the Xbox One. Today, I will give Outbreak a 7/10.

I hope you enjoyed my review and as always, thanks for reading!