Of Phablets, Mobility, and Gaming

By Warren C. Bennett

I’ve owned a Samsung Galaxy Note II since the beginning of April. When I first bought the device, I did a quick first impression of gaming on the phablet. I found that I enjoyed it quite a bit and using the Note II as a gaming machine worked very well. After a month of use, does the phone still hold up as a good gaming machine?

Controlling it all

I am not someone who loves the idea of virtual controls. Gaming on a mobile phone has been slow to win me over. It was the small screen combined with often unresponsive and finicky onscreen buttons that would quickly wear on my patience. Some games worked well with them, but others did not.

Since owning this massive beast of a machine, I’ve come to realize that some of my issue was just a lack of screen real estate. With the increase in screen size, many of my issues with virtual controls have disappeared. Although I have small hands, it seems that finding these buttons on a large screen is much easier for my fat fingers. I’ve been playing multiple action games that require quick reflexes and great timing. I’m not the best at many of these games but more often than not, my death is my fault and not the controls.

Saying that, there are some games that just don’t lend themselves to virtual controls. I still haven’t become used to playing old school action games like Metal Slug 3 or Sonic. I often press down on the control spot and nothing seems to happen.  Or the action I desire is delayed. This is just annoying, but also doesn’t happen with every action game.  This makes me think this has more to do with how the game is ported than the hardware.

DeSocializing Gameplay

One section of games that I enjoy more on the phone than online is so-called ‘social games.’ Or, as they are commonly referred to, Facebook games. I am not a huge fan of playing games on Facebook. Often a fun game is marred by over ambitious social mechanics that get in the way of gameplay. Like a message that pops up every time I take a turn and asks me to share that turn with my friends. I’ve found that when these games are released as mobile apps, many of the social ‘features’ are stripped away. This often leaves the core gaming experience without many of the irritating social trappings. For instance, I’ll play Words with Friends all day on my phone, but I won’t touch the product on Facebook. I’ve also played games like Candy Crush Saga and other Facebook mainstays on my phone. This is a pleasant discovery, though I can’t say that all Facebook game conversions take away the dreaded social functions.

Online Competition

Online coop and competitive gaming is one area I didn’t think I’d really do much of on my phone. However, I am finding that my phone is the perfect device to fire up a good fragfest or a game with online questing. When I originally bought the device, I started playing Order and Chaos Online. This full fledged WoW clone works well and scratches that MMO itch I have once in a while. I can play it in bed in small bursts, so it is a good game for a mobile platform. Another game that fits the ‘Questing’ mold is Arcane Legends. This is the best of the Spacetime Studios offerings, giving the player a fun game that can be played in bite-sized chunks. I also just discovered Shadowgun Deadzone, a full on PVP death match style shooter for the phone. I am not the best at this game, I have had fun going on-line and killing people in five-minute long matches. I’m slowly ranking up and unlocking various weapons and upgrades. I do have some quibbles with the game, but it really makes me long for an HD port of the original Unreal Tournament for mobile systems.

Classics on the go

I’m also making my way through many ‘classic’ mobile games. I have every Angry Birds game ever made, from the first offering by Rovio to the newest Angry Birds Star Wars download. I also have the amazingly fun Bad Piggies, a game that reminds me of a 2D version of Banjo Kazooie Nuts & Bolts. In it, you don’t fling birds, but build vehicles for the Piggies to find various items. It is fun and I highly recommend it. I started playing Jetpack Joyride on my Playstation 3, so I downloaded that on to my phone as well. I’ve never been a huge fan of endless runner games but I really do enjoy this one.

Another classic I just downloaded in Scribblenauts Remix.  It is a port of the DS game, mixing stages from both the first and second game.   I’ve not played a Scribblenauts game before.  I’m finding the gameplay to be fun, if a tad frustrating. Sometimes I don’t get what I write down and other times it comes out different from I expected. However, that doesn’t keep me from playing.   I’ve made it through almost two worlds very fast. They are selling more worlds for 99 cents, I am already thinking about buying the expansion.

Searching in Confusion

A month of using the Galaxy Note II makes me realize that this cell phone, or Phablet, is a true portable gaming competitor. Not all game genres have a huge representation on the device, but I can find almost every game type I want if I do research on the web first. Some of my issues with gaming on the platform come more from finding the games I want than from actually playing the game. It seems like both Google Play and the Amazon Android market just don’t understand what the term “genre” means. They have their game catalog split in to various categories, but often the games in these categories don’t represent it. I find Hardcore RPG games in the action and adventure category, for example, or puzzle games inside the card game section. Both markets need to take a step back and truly find out how people search for their products. It isn’t easy to just browse games in these markets; I often find the game I want on the internet and then look it up in the Google Play store. This is probably the biggest flaw I can find for gaming on Android devices.

The Future Awaits

There is an obvious reason that the mobile space is bursting with games.   It is a relatively open market that allows anyone to create and publish a game.  There are many great products to be found among the mass of endless runner and puzzle titles. I believe on all mobile platforms there is a lack of focus on the side of the store, but this is an issue I don’t expect to be addressed. This leaves it up to the developers and publishers to really push their product and let the public know it is on a virtual store shelf. Yet, it is both easy and convenient for me to fire up my  phone and play a quick game of…whatever. This, combined with the rapidly expanding power of cell phones and portable devices, is why I think gaming mobile gaming  will continue to expand over the coming years.

That being said, not every gaming genre is a good experience on a device with virtual controls.  I do know I will continue to game on my Note II but that may not be the case if I ever buy a smaller phone. I look at this as a companion to a 3DS by Nintendo, not a replacement. I can imagine taking both devices with me as I travel. I do know that my phone will get more snatches of gaming time since it is easier to use on the go. Products like the 3DS and Sony’s Vita are  are less about impromptu gaming and more about specific games. That is what the mobile market has in spades – spur of the moment purchases and being able to play a game in small snatches of time. The mobile gaming age has finally caught up with me and I don’t mind it one bit.

 

Some Thoughts On… The Samsung Galaxy Note II (Kind of a review, but not really.)

Cross posted from Random Thoughts

By Warren C. Bennett

Those of you that have been reading my blog for a while know I recently purchased a Galaxy Note II. Since I’ve owned the phone a little over a month now, I thought I’d take some time and write down some thoughts. The long and short of it is the Note II is best phone I’ve ever owned. The 5.5-inch screen is just the right size to be both a phone and a tablet, letting me use the device comfortably in a number of ways. I am happy I purchased it and plan to keep the phone for at least two years.

I know the Note II might seem like it is a big phone, but the form factor is thin enough that it slips in to my pocket easily. I feel no discomfort at all when I am walking around with the device, be it at a grocery store or church or another function. I don’t like keeping it in the pocket when I am sitting down, but I am not fond of keeping much in my pocket when I am sitting. I do find that I prefer to use a Bluetooth earpiece while talking on it. However, it can be easily used as a regular handset and I do use it as such on occasion. I still prefer using the Bluetooth earpiece when I talk. As a phone, the sound is clear and I’ve had no issues with the Verizon network that I use.

(As an aside: I bought the Plantronics M55 Bluetooth earpiece. I’ll have to do a write-up on that at a later date.)

The phone is aptly named. One thing I really love about the device is the S-pen stylus. I never thought I’d go back to handwriting anything, but I find myself doing so with the Note II. I am even searching for apps that make great use of the stylus, instead of just being smart phone apps. (I’ve found a few I love and will be doing a write-up on them as well.) Since the phone has a Wacom Digitizer inside, the stylus works very well at taking notes and drawing. Since I am currently working on a web comic, this is helping me start to sketch out ideas for the characters. I am so impressed with the tech that I am going to look for a 10-inch or bigger tablet to use as a pad to draw on. Although I thought the S-pen stylus was a neat idea, I never thought I’d use it as much as I am.

Since this device is a pocket-sized super computer, I also use it as one. I wasn’t overly fond of the stock browser so I decided to download Google’s Chrome browser. One perk of using Chrome is that both my desktop Chrome browser and my mobile one sync up. I can see what I’m viewing on either device regardless of what I am using. Very nice. I want to use this device as a productivity tool. I am planning to get the Samsung Smart dock for easy plug and play monitor support. I can download apps that will let me use my desktop remotely; creating a great portable workstation, I can take with me on the go. I have several different office apps and access to Google Docs, so I have no worries about productivity-oriented applications. I can imagine taking this on the road with me, just packing a small screen and a keyboard. While in a hotel I could use it like a desktop and while out and about, I can use it like a mobile device.

Since the screen is so big, I find myself using it to read books. At five point five inches, it isn’t much smaller than a typical Amazon Kindle. It is a bit smaller than the 7-inch tablets, but I find the size isn’t as big of an issue as I imagined when I read. It isn’t much smaller than a typical paperback book page, making the Note II a great device to read with on the go.

The screen size is also big enough for me to feel comfortable playing games on. I’ve played an assortment of titles from Angry Birds to The Bard’s Tale to Shadowgun Deadzone, an action oriented multiplayer online game. Not all games are perfect, some games still have a lack when it comes to touch controls, but this is the first phone I’ve enjoyed using as a game system. It helps that my thumbs aren’t constantly in the way as they were on smaller phones. I can sit back and play Order and Chaos Online with no issue or try to frog people in the aforementioned Shadowgun Deadzone with ease. I still would prefer physical controls on many games, but I am not missing them as much as I thought I would. The graphics are also very good. The system pumps out some amazing visuals that I am very happy to look at.

I also use this phone for media capabilities more than I find myself using the Note II to stream music quite a bit. I have an LG sound bar that has Bluetooth capabilities and I use this feature constantly as I am working. I use apps on my phone like Winamp, Pandora, and TuneIn Radio to stream audio from my phone to the speaker system all the time. I also find I love using my phone to control the YouTube app on my Playstation 3. I am not fond of how the PS3 YouTube app is laid out; it is hard to search/find videos and such using the app. Since I paired my phone with my YouTube account, I can use it to search and queue up videos to watch. That is a very nifty feature. I am looking in to using it to stream video to my TV set up as well, but haven’t had the chance to dig in to that.

There are two different cameras mounted on the Note II. The first is a 1.9 megapixel front facing camera, so people can show their face while chatting. The second is an 8 megapixel on the back, for using to take regular pictures. Both cameras take both video and still pictures. I think the quality of the pictures is phenomenal, matching or beating other dedicated pocket-sized pont and shoot cameras. There seems to be a bit of an issue in darker areas, but the phone also comes equipped with an LED flash. I’ve been exploring the different camera apps on Google Play while I find out exactly how the camera works. It has been fun.

The battery life is also stellar. I am what you might call a power user; I tend to use my phone constantly. When I am using the device during the day, I can get 10 to 12 hours of battery life out of it. When the phone is on standby, the battery life goes up significantly. I haven’t had any mobile electronic device with a battery life that lasts this long. I am truly impressed with the stock battery. There are aftermarket batteries that extend the time even farther at the cost of making the device a bit more bulky.

With every list of positives there has to be some negatives. There are a few issues I have, though they are minor. Although the Jelly Bean version of the Android OS is very smooth and fixes many of the issues with the previous incarnations, there are still some lingering issues. Some programs will force close for no apparent reason, leaving me to wonder why the program closed. This happens much less than in the past, but it still happens. I also wish I had a physical keyboard. I’m sure that as I use this device, I will become used to using the stylus or just touch-typing, but I still miss having a keypad to use. I also wish there was a camera button on the outside of the device, so I could use the camera functions without having to open or unlock the screen. I don’t like having to go in to the phone itself to use the camera functions.

Since this device is so complex, I am still discovering what it can do over a month after I bought it. I honestly love that, but I know many might look on the complexity as a con. I am constantly finding new tricks that are built-in to the device, from swiping your hand to take screenshots to using the face lock function so the screen doesn’t rotate when I am looking at it.

This phone can do so much, from playing games to sketching to being a useful business device. I am impressed with the Samsung Galaxy Note II. This comes from someone who vowed never to buy a Samsung phone after having use one of the company’s entry-level handsets for a few months. This phone may not be for everyone, but it is definitely for me. I’d like to do a complete review of this device, but I don’t know when I will. However, if you are looking for a great large form phone? The Galaxy Note II is not a bad choice at all.

[Retro Review] Is “Ocarina of Time” Really the Best Game Ever?

So, while casually chatting with Rob and Jerry on Monday, prior to recording the latest episode of the podcast, the topic of “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time” came up and, specifically, the fact that the game is largely regarded as one of the best games of all time.  Reviewers at the time rated it as nearly-perfect, with GameSpot, IGN, Famitsu, and a couple others going as far as giving the game a perfect score.  Is the game truly worthy of that type of score?

This week I’ve been pretty bad off with the flu and laid up with congestion, aches, a very sore throat and bad cough, and my voice is basically gone, so as a result I’ve had some time to think more about this subject.  When the game made it to the U.S. back in 1998, I admit that I was pretty excited about it.  I loved the earlier entries into the series (yes, even including “Zelda II: The Adventure of Link”), and up to that point “The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past” was probably my favorite entry to date.  I had read a lot about this new game from publications like the now-defunct Nintendo Power and was excited to see how this franchise would make the leap into the 3D arena.  When the game finally came out (right around my birthday, making it an awesome birthday gift!), I fired up my trusty Nintendo 64 and sat down, ready to be amazed by the latest installment in an awesome series.

One thing that I liked about “A Link to the Past” is that we were able to understand a bit about the origins of the series’ antagonist, Ganon.  According to that game, Ganon was once a thief named Ganondorf who had sought out the Triforce within the Golden Land in order to obtain absolute power.  Instead, the Triforce changed his very nature in order to reflect the evil within his heart and, in doing so, also altered the Golden Land.  OoT was actually supposed to be set sometime before ALttP, so I was curious if they would come up with an altogether different telling of the story or expound on the one from the SNES game.

The Link of OoT is a ten-year-old boy who lives with the Kokiri (essentially ageless child-like people) in their village at the edge of the Lost Woods, yet Link himself isn’t Kokiri.  However, the Kokiri wear green tunics and hats as their standard style of dress, so this likely was meant to explain the origins of the Hero’s clothing.  It isn’t exactly clear how Link came to live with the Kokiri, but it is implied that something happened to his parents in the past and he was orphaned and the Kokiri were nice enough to adopt him as one of their own.  Link is told by the Great Deku Tree that a great evil is coming to Hyrule and that he should seek out the power of the Master Sword in order to put it to rest.  Much like in ALttP, getting this sword requires him to collect three special gems to break the seal keeping it at bay.

The rest of the story of the game is something that by now you can easily search online to read about, but suffice to say that it takes the player on a journey across vast distances, including traversing the bounds of time itself.  At the end of the journey, a mature, 17-year-old Link faces the evil Ganon in order to right the wrongs done to the people of Hyrule and then travel back to the past in order to warn the royal family of the impending crisis.  Along the way he meets new friends, powerful foes, explores dark dungeons, collects a vast array of neat items, and much more.

It’s pretty much what you’d expect from one of the 2D games, only in 3D!

The gameplay translated pretty well onto the N64.  The controls make use of every button of the controller and, despite how many buttons a Nintendo 64 controller actually has, it actually works very well.  Each of the C buttons can be bound to a special item – something akin to skillbinds in most of the major MMOs on the market today.  This allows for the player to swap between important items like the boomerang, healing potions, or the titular ocarina at the press of a button, thus reducing the need to interrupt gameplay to go to an item menu to swap things out.  The “Z-Targeting” feature though is perhaps the best thing the game had to offer because it allowed you to quickly swap between enemy targets and, once selected, pull out an item like the bow and take down an enemy without having to keep it constantly in your crosshairs.

Once you factor in then-cutting-edge graphics and a great soundtrack, you really do start to have a winner on your hands.

Now, though, I think it is time for me to point out some of the flaws that this game has – flaws that I felt were often overlooked because most reviewers were just enamored by the awesome aspects of Link’s then-new 3D outing.

First, I have always felt that the land of Hyrule in this game was fairly small and compressed.  Yes, Hyrule Field and Lake Hylia both were pretty large and open areas, but beyond that the subsequent areas are rather small.  I admit that many games have an issue when it comes to scaling, but Hyrule is supposed to be a fairly vast kingdom, yet you can traverse it in a relatively short amount of time.  This is further compounded by the fact that Hyrule Castle Town is much smaller than you would expect the capital of a kingdom to be (just a city square, really) and you can’t even go inside Hyrule Castle.  In fact, this latter fact was one of the biggest disappointments in the game to me.  You could freely explore the castle in the SNES game and yet in this latest installment you were relegated to looking through windows of a courtyard and you couldn’t even see the king or anyone else other than random guards and the princess.

Next, as complex and interesting as the story of the game is, there are quite a few plotholes that we are left to ponder on.  First, it is never clear to us where Link comes from.  Some sources say that his parents were killed sometime during a civil war that took place about a decade prior to the game, but others seem to disagree on this topic.  Regardless, we know that he has been living with the Kokiri for sometime by the onset of his adventure, but no real comments are made during the actual game regarding his true origins.  Some argue that it may not even matter, although for the sake of accurate canon I find it something I would have wanted answered.  Then there is the fact that this game presents us with yet another origin story.  Where ALttP talked about Ganondorf being that thief who sought the Triforce within the Golden Land, this game compounds that by describing him as the Gerudo King of Thieves who, yes, does seek the power of the Triforce.  Yet, within the scope of the game itself Ganon doesn’t seem to achieve this complete unification as Wisdom and Courage are incorporated within Zelda and Link respectively.  Ultimately, Link defeats Ganon at the very end, seemingly killing him, and thus the events of this game cannot fully be thought of as what is described in ALttP.

But then there is the fact that this game creates multiple timelines from which different games evolve.  In fact, ALttP and most other 2D games seem to stem from Link never defeating Ganondorf, allowing him to eventually seek out the Triforce in the Sacred Realm/Golden Land and his being sealed within that world by the Sages.

A lot of stuff was also removed from the game – more content than the supposed “URA” version (aka “Master  Quest”) would have contained.  There are screenshots on the internet that show 3D versions of the dungeons from the original “Legend of Zelda” as well as Link approaching the gate of Hyrule Castle itself and talking to guards.  While some of this was likely cut down for memory reasons, it would have been nice to see it added to the game.

I also would have liked to see a greater variety in locations as well as dungeons that were more…Well…Dungeony.  It was neat to see places like the inside of the Jabu Jabu Fish, but I think better layouts, more truly intuitive puzzles, and a greater level of challenge would have been nice.  As it was, you didn’t have to have anywhere near the full allotment of heart containers to be able to easily defeat Ganon at the conclusion of the game.

I think it is for this reason that I actually liked “The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask” a bit more when it was released in October of 2000.  The game was darker, was a lot more challenging, and had (in my opinion) a more interesting story.  Then again, I also happened to really like “Zelda II: The Adventure of Link” and even thought the CD-i games were okay, so…Yeah.

When forced to rate the game, I cannot give it a perfect score, yet I still think it holds up quite well even by today’s standards.

FINAL SCORE: 93% (A-)

Review of “Investigate This: Scarecrow” Live!

I recently was given a copy of the brand-new indie adventure/puzzle game “Investigate This: The Scourge of the Scarecrow” for the XBox 360 and told that it was simply a “comp” and that I need not feel obligated to review it.  Yet, even though I had never heard of Twist-edGames before, it turns out that this game is actually quite entertaining and so I felt compelled after all to write a review…Which I did!

If you like indie games, enjoy a good mystery, and are okay with a game that doesn’t take itself overly seriously, I would suggest you read my review on Anjel Syndicate to see how it holds up and whether it is the right game for you.

Also, you’ll be able to find this review duplicated over at Nerdy But Flirty, so you should check out that site as well.

Over all, it’s a decent game and one you may wish to look into after you read up on it!

Tomb Raider 2013: A Survivor is Forged

By SarahTheRebel

First appeared on www.NerdybutFliry.com

“There are no heroes here, only survivors” – Matthias, Tomb Raider

When the first trailer was shown for the new Tomb Raider, I was among the skeptics. It looked like another game with an over-sexualized heroine, and there was even a potential rape scene! However, as I mentioned in a previous article, after watching all of the trailers, I came to a different conclusion: Tomb Raider was probably going to be awesome. Other journalists told me not to get my hopes up.

It feels good to be the one smirking now.

I was right! They did it! They told a woman’s story, the story of her growth into a survivor, in a completely compassionate way. Yes, her body is still a little on the fantastical side (also, why didn’t she ever steal someone’s parka so she could stop shivering?) and yes, she often makes dumb mistakes and gets herself into all sorts of ruckus, but those are minor details and really such an improvement over the norm. One step at a time! And this was a pretty big step.

The game also includes a few homages to past games and movies, which I loved. This new Tomb Raider is completely modern, and yet retains the feel of the classic Tomb Raiders. I felt it the first time I wandered into a water-filled cave. As I moved slowly through the water, a wave of nostalgia hit me. Luckily, no bats or batshitcrazy T-Rexes made an appearance!

So, without further ado, let’s zipline-and-crazy-pickax-jump into this review! This covers the PS3 version of Tomb Raider, which does not include her fancy “every strand of hair moves” technology that the PC version came with.

Package

Check out my unboxing video here. The game came with a code for a scavenger hunt (that I was apparently supposed to do before the game came out) a mini art book, and Tomb Raider: Final Hours, which works through the Amazon Appstore.

Plot

“Armed with only her instincts and her innate ability to push beyond the limits of human endurance, Lara must fight, explore, and use her intelligence to unravel the dark history of a forgotten island and escape its relentless hold.”

In this reboot of the series, a young, 21-year-old Lara is on her first archaeological adventure, looking for the kingdom of Yamatai. Following a hunch, she convinces the crew to head into the Dragon’s Triangle and its deadly storms.

From there, everything hits the fan in a rolling avalanche of crazy.

Characters

• Alex – Know-it-all nerd boy who just wants to impress Lara.
• Jonah – The spiritual brown man, he’s nice, patient, never loses his temper, and gives me presents. He also has a dark past.
• Sam – The director of the expedition’s film. I loved seeing a woman in this role, as it’s very rare to see female directors represented in any medium. She also cares deeply about her roots, as well as Lara. She miiight be sweethearts with Lara.
• Reyes – The tough girl with a heart. She is tough on Lara and has little patience for her. She’s also a mechanic and single mother.
• Roth – Is the fatherly figure who taught Lara everything she knows.
• Grim – The badass old man. You get the idea that he, Roth, and Lara’s dad had some crazy adventures of their own.
• Whitman – The prima donna douchebag and head archaeologist of this expedition.
• Lara Croft – The young and passionate Lara lives on instinct, much as she is told to. Unfortunately, her instincts tend to lead her and others right into danger. Also, she comes off as a little booksmart but street dumb, constantly tripping on vines, loudly calling out for people instead of hiding, and never picking up a parka from one of the many dead, fully-clothed people around her. As for her new look, her arms should be way more muscly, but in general, her body is proportional and more realistic than past representations (though I still think her lower back is probably aching and hey, she keeps using a bow but doesn’t bind her breasts, but whatever, survivor, wooo!).

I love this multicultural cast of characters and I enjoyed learning more about each of them. You find out most of the info through reading documents or, rather, having documents read to you by their voice actors. It often lends a haunting and melancholy air to the adventure.

As great as it is to have a diverse cast, I do have to point out that they each turn into tropes by the end of the game. The exciting news is that those tropes aren’t based on their race or gender, but more on roles of other characters in action movies. Yes, Reyes is a single mother and has a bad temper, but she is also a mechanic, a strong leader, and has a sweet side that is shown only when talking about her daughter or around her secret beau. Jonah is the mystical brown man, but he also has a troubled past, and his mysticism has more to do with his personality than his race.

All in all, I was very pleased to see this group, and I hope other games take note!

Graphics and Sound

This game is lovely. Environments often equate to eye-porn, with the complementary music adding a sense of loneliness to Lara’s journey. The atmosphere in this game was just spot on. I was creeped out, excited, sad, whatever they wanted me to feel.

The characters look stunningly realistic, and on the PC version Lara has TRESSFX, lending super realism to her…hair.

I played on the PlayStation 3 and saw only one glitch, where a gun was floating in the air, lonely and aloof.

Gameplay

The gameplay of this game is really and truly a blend. It’s not exactly a survival game, because you don’t need to eat to live, and ammo is plentiful. It is an action game with strong puzzle and shooter elements.

In general, the gameplay made me think of Far Cry 3 (PS: holy fast-travel batman!) and Uncharted. Oddly enough, a lot of the controls reminded me of DMC: Devil May Cry, but that’s probably just my brain being strange. Either way, I felt that this was the kind of game that would have been more difficult to play if it had come out a few years prior, but instead feels like a natural evolution of game mechanics.

Quicktime

Quicktime events were used heavily throughout the game. You all know how much I hate quicktime events, but at least these generally did not take away from my ability to see what was happening on the screen.

Tools and Skills

There were a few interesting mechanics, such as lighting things on fire, environment interactions, and scaling walls with your pickax. Using fire continuously to help you in various puzzles and in traversing the environment was very interesting to me, as fire is usually a damaging feature in games, as opposed to a helping one. The game uses a system of base camps to allow you to upgrade skills and weapons based on experience points and loot (called salvage in game). Lara can also change outfits and collect relics and journal entries, adding clues to the island’s mysteries.

The UI of the skills and gear was very awkward and non-intuitive to me. It took me forever to figure out where everything was, and I found it difficult to compare weapons in any way.

I also had to figure out that when I dug in a box and didn’t find something, it actually either just made an automatic change in my gear or added to my salvage, without me appearing to have grabbed anything.

Environment

Lara’s interaction with the environment is also a solid gameplay experience. She automatically takes cover when enemies are near, she reaches out to touch walls when she gets close to them, she lights a torch in dark tombs and looks around in interest at scenic areas. I loved the automatic cover, and would enjoy seeing it as an alternative to sticky cover in other games.

As I mentioned before, the game is vaguely reminiscent of the old Tomb Raiders, especially in the optional tomb maps. Each area is its own puzzle/platformer, and there are enough varied moments that no section ever becomes dull. You could be doing anything from steering a fall to jumping around sunken ships to scaling an ice cliff to running from flames. This was truly a game that kept me on my toes, and even the most ADD player would have trouble being bored.

However, one issue I had is that sometimes areas are so clearly traps that it feels ridiculous that you have to actually go to them. This is a combination of narrative and level design that leads to this issue though. It just made Lara seem dumb for going into those areas.

Although the level design is usually very fun, sometimes it was a “learn by dying” experience, as you slowly pieced together how best to proceed in the level. Some levels needed to be stealth, which wasn’t always apparent since most areas allowed you to choose your own approach. These areas were particularly punishing and frustrating.

Stealth

When it worked, stealth was mildly addictive. When it didn’t work, it was horrendously annoying. As most of you know, I don’t generally enjoy stealth games. I am very impatient, which resulted in my death numerous times because I didn’t wait for an enemy to move, or pay attention to where they were facing. Eventually, I learned to treat the game as if every mission required stealth until the mission proved otherwise.

Combat

You will probably die in at least one fire-fight, as waves of enemies relentlessly pursue you, shooting up the frail boundaries you hide behind.

In general, combat is very well-paced with the story. Modding weapons leads to very satisfactory shooting experiences. One issue I had though is that Lara is so weak compared to the enemies. I can shoot some of them in the head twice and they don’t die… but if one of them has a rifle, I’m dead in seconds.

Enemies honestly cause more harm to themselves sometimes, setting things on fire, dropping napalm, cramming a choke point…lol, blowing up entire levels…lots of ways.

In general, combat became a more enjoyable experience the more I played and became used to the aiming mechanics, which felt slightly shaky in the beginning.

Multiplayer

Tomb Raider has four multiplayer modes:

• Team Deathmatch – Team vs. team and highest score wins
• Cry for help – Round based mode where survivors must activate radio transmitters while preventing batteries from falling into enemy hands
• Survival of the Fittest – Kill other players without dying to become the executioner before time runs out
• Rescue – Attempt to recover medical supplies while the Solarii must finish you with a melee execution

I played Team Deathmatch to get a feel for the muliplayer. It has a fairy simple set up: gain XP to get new weapons, mods, skills and characters. You get to choose which team you will play on, Survivors or Sollari. I liked that the system rewarded me not just for epic wins but also for epic fails, with a Feats and Setbacks feature.

The multiplayer is not bad, I just really wish they’d made it relate more to the main game. For example, all of the times the crew was separated from Lara could have been the setup for each of the multiplayer maps, with Lara calling in on walkie-talkie at the end of them.

Final Thoughts and Score

This game took me on a journey. I went from scared and naïve Lara to a badass warrior woman. There was a moment at the very end, where Lara does something iconic to the Tomb Raider franchise, and I actually cheered. This is the Tomb Raider we’ve been waiting for.

You know what else is amazing about this game? Women stood behind it. Girl gamers asked for it, bought it, played it, and mostly loved it. This is the proof the industry needs that “if you build it, they will come” should be their mantra! Gamers are hungry for more strong female leads in games.

Another favorite aspect of the game for me was something that even my male friends noticed: no one called me rude names! I was never “bitch” or anything like that. They called me the “Outsider.” Heck, some of the bad guys even talked about what an amazing shot I was! I love that positivity in things I kill.

Score: A-

Despite the sometimes punishing combat and Lara’s almost unbelievable naïvety in the beginning, this game proved to be a fun, fast ride worthy of any action flick, but with the solid gameplay of a classic.

Review of “Marvin’s Mittens” is Live!

For some reason, when I was given this game for the purposes of playing it and writing a review, it kind of sat around for a little while.  Part of this was because I was busy at the time, but part of it was also because, for some reason, I just wasn’t incredibly excited about it.  Yet, I played the game this past weekend and it was an amazingly-addictive experience!

Does “Marvin’s Mittens” live up to its indie hype?

Head on over to Anjel Syndicate and Nerdy But Flirty to read my review!

“Final Fantasy Dimensions” Review!

Lately, I have been having a lot of fun playing Square-Enix’s latest, classic-styled Final Fantasy outing, but despite its nostalgia, does it live up to my expectations?

This is indeed a good question, and one that I answer this time around both for Anjel Syndicate and Nerdy But Flirty!

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts if you have played this one on either iOS or Android!

Review of “Five Elements” (iOS) on AS!

With so many games flooding the AppStore and Google Play, I love it when someone contacts me about a lesser-known indie game that actually proves to be fun to play. Thankfully, this is exactly what happened with an indie puzzler called “Five Elements” that was made aware to me by a small studio called RadicalBitSoftware.

I had intended to get this review up much earlier, but things intervened in that. Regardless, the review is now live on Anjel Syndicate and you are encouraged to go check it out!

Review of “Wreck-It Ralph” Live on AS!

Still haven’t seen “Wreck-It Ralph” and are wondering how it is?  I’m sure you can guess that I thought very favorably of it, yet, still, I think you should read the review I wrote for Anjel Syndicate on the game and decide for yourself whether the movie is right for you!

I can say this: I only hope that Disney’s work on this film inspires other companies to be less stringent with their licenses so that actually decent video game films can be made.

My Tech Review of the “Hauppauge HD PVR 2″ is Live!

A while back I received a free Hauppauge HD PVR 2 recording box to use with modern game consoles, and today I finally got around to writing up my tech review of the device.

Wondering if its any good?

Check out my full review over at Anjel Syndicate to find out!