Review The Last Game You Beat

[Axm]

Need for Speed (2015)

Graphics

The game looks great. Environments, cars, effects and lighting are all really quite good. No complaints besides wishing that we could play during the daytime. The whole game is set at night with the occasional break of dawn followed questionably back again to night.. If we had daytime we could see more of the environment that already looks good. I can understand why they did this because they want the continuity of less cars on the road but just give us the option of advancing time or something.

Gameplay

The best drifting game out there by far. The ease and fun in drifting in this game is addicting. The sense of speed is also very good and manageable without the feeling like you'll crash any second. The low amount of objects and npc cars on the road lend to the game feeling very free and open.

My complaint with the gameplay is occasional opponent racer rubber-banding. No matter how much you upgrade your car, in some races theirs just no point. The other racers will catch up to you.
This has been patched since launch to be less apparent and frequent however. So I say only SOMETIMES, this occurs. It was a huge problem at launch and now it has improved greatly. For that, I give EA credit in patching it. Because last year with Rivals the rubber banding was atrocious. The game is not like that at all, so take comfort in only ever having a couple annoying rubber banding instances overall.

Besides that the level of customization is the highest its ever been in a NFS since Underground 2. They really could have and should have called the game Underground 3.

Sound
Great sound out of the cars. Some cars have really captured the real thing be it VTEC from a slow Civic to the spool of a turbo in a Supra to the growl of a USDM or burble of a EDM. The sound is on point. The music is a mixed bag but overall not bad.

Replay value
Alot of replay value in this game actually. Once you've completed the fairly lengthy campaign you will always have leveling up to do, cars to buy and customize, online racing/drifting and plenty of side races. The only thing is you really do only ever have just point to point racing and drifting. At the end of the day you will eventually put the game down until you feel like doing more of the same. Which imo, is more of the same good game atleast.


Now whats really bad here is that literally at this moment I would rather be playing the game but since PSN is down for maintainance and the game REQUIRES a connection to PSN before even starting up then that means I cant play the game offline at all. The game is Online ONLY.
Once you are in the game you can turn the game offline so you dont race with any other online racers in the game but you first have to be ONLINE in order to go OFFLINE.
How fucked up is this? EA is always taking one step forward and one step back with me. Just when I think I can trust them again they do this kind of thing.
This is the equivilant of living in the MS controlled online only Xbox One pre-launch era. Except its just EA doing it no matter what console you're on.


In the end, this is my favorite NFS game ever and I will probably play this game very often whenever I get that itch to play a more arcady drifter and hear cheesy acting. But the online only infrastructure is a huge turn off. How will I be able to play this game in the future if PSN goes down for PS4 entirely? Another anti-consumer policy from the experts.


4/5

[Henry Spencer]

Until Dawn - PS4.

Just done two playthroughs of Until Dawn.

Game was awesome. Honestly way better than any David Cage I've played. The story is pretty much the same on my two playthroughs, just small changes here and there, so there's only no real branching going on storywise just slightly different outcomes in most cases (such as who lives and dies). I enjoyed the game's story more than I thought I would, which was somewhere between goofy/cheesy B slasher horror to surprisingly creepy and effective. The characters were what made it though, some of them were pretty hilarious such as Emily, who gave me a good laugh throughout with her bitchy attitude. No idea why so many people actually get pissed off with her when she's supposed to be the hot bitch of the group cliche, but towards the end actually becomes more likeable, imo. Plus she's nice IRL too (the girl who played her, I mean). The real worst one was Jess. The backstory of the antagonists were surprisingly fleshed out and felt cohesive enough.

Now for the gameplay - it's basically classic Resident Evil complete with fixed camera angles but in HD and with a massive budget during the "adventure" sections where you have to find key items/clues to move the story along mixed with fun QTE sequences/choices that can change scenes around or change events later on into the story, the core story stays the same for the most part but it just makes slight changes here and there. It's basically an adventure game with B slasher horror aesthetics and a surprising second half of the game which I enjoyed too.

Alsom the game is absolutely stunning, the likes of Rami Malek, Hayden Panettiere and Brett Dalton look almost lifelike in some scenes in the game, it's pretty scary how good the game looks and how early we are in to the console generation. And that isn't even mentioning some of the best lighting I have ever seen in any game, let along horror game. The artists deserves a raise after crafting such a beautiful game. It really showcases the power of the PS4 well. The music was very effective too, not my kind personally but really good for the kind of game it was.

Overall was really surprised how much I enjoyed this game and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys adventure games/horror games and especially to those who have a PS4, it's an essential purchase, imo.

[MiTT3NZ]

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD

I'm still failing to see the supposed genius behind Hideo Kojima. Honestly, I came into this series with such high hopes. Metal Gear Solid is a series that you expect to be constantly given that "universally acclaimed" tag line. It's that popular. So why, oh why, are the games so poor?

Okay, that's me being a little bit of an intentional idiot. Yes, I've only played two of the games yet (only one of em being a main entry) And yes, it's all subjective n all that shite people like to throw about when they're in denial about my opinion being scientific fact, however...

As a fan of the Splinter Cell series, I've always considered the games to be the apex of stealth. Nothin I've ever played could come close to those games. Yet whenever I mention that, there's a comment here or there about how MGS is infinitely better, or how Thief is the daddy. All I've ever been able to do is argue how good Splinter Cell is, because - in truth - I hadn't played either competitor series until 2015. It was pretty decent news then when I got Thief (reboot) and Ground Zeroes for free through Xbox Live's Games With Gold, along with MGS HD Collection (it includes MGS 2&3 + Metal Gear 1&2 btw) and Peace Walker HD on the cheap. Even better when I also got The Phantom Pain free with the GTX 970 graphics card I bought. I could finally see what all the fuss was about without havin to break the food bank.

Imagine my surprise then when my first experience with both franchises was as infuriatingly frustrating as reading Axm's continual misuse of "your" and "you're" (...and "there", "their" and "they're"...)

Anyway, I haven't been a fan of either thus far. Neither have been particularly bad overall, but to be considered better stealth games than any Splinter Cell? C'mon...

And that brings us to Peace Walker. There's no shadow of a doubt that between this, MGS 3, and Thief, this is the worst stealth game of the lot. Funnily enough though, I've actually enjoyed it the most. And no, that isn't a stab at the other two, I genuinely mean it. The tragic thing is that if Snake Eater was more like Peace Walker - and vice versa - then both would be truly great games, deserving of their respective over exaggerated praise doled out by the bellends that blindly bolster the ball-licking designer's ego with blissful ignorance of the definition of the world "quality".

Anyone who's into stealth games knows that one of the essential components is AI detection. Kojima seems to have rewritten the script in this game, preferring the backronym "Astonishing Incompetence", and doing away with any form of detection whatsoever. You can be stood the length of a car away from an enemy and they'll spend the next ten seconds trying to figure out whether or not they're hallucinating. The ten seconds following confirmation that the shrooms haven't kicked in yet don't even matter though, because your equipment's so overpowered that you can take them out silently before they even have the chance to sound the alarm. There's also an unlockable sneaking suit that means you can run around and stay completely undetected unless you're quite literally standing face-to-face with an enemy. In all honesty though, I actually found myself only slightly less restricted, as that's almost exactly what I was doing previously with the standard suits.

For once though, I was willing to forgive all this. After all, this was originally released on the small screened, smallish res PSP, and this was clearly as direct a port as possible. Hell, they have Sony Walkmans in the game, and it's the Xbox 360 version. I could easily see how the game would be much more of a challenge on the Vita's predecessor. Besides, for some reason I was actually havin fun speed running through each mission like a perfectly timed and exquisitely executed training course.

The short bite-sized sections of the game were very well implemented too, and it reminded me a lot of Chaos Theory's short co-op campaign. Each presented a single stealth puzzle to figure out, and the entire level requires you to flawlessly complete every single one within a specific time limit for an S ranking, including the essential "no killing" rule. This I loved, and I'm only slightly annoyed that the target practice levels and a couple of boss battles are a blemish on my otherwise perfect record.

The game also introduced something I loved from the non-numbered Ezio era Assassin's Creed games... a crew management mini-game. I get obsessed with little things like this and would constantly replay levels to track down the highest ranked NPCs I could. Plus I liked hearing the over-repeated line "you're fired". And fuck me... that Fulton Recovery System is hilarious, especially the appearances it makes in the cut-scenes. I particularly loved how they knew it was ridiculous, addressed the fact, and still went with it anyway. Good stuff.

As for the story, it was a little all over the place. The motion comic scenes were both presented and executed like a gritty 80s/90s comic, which. I fucking adored. The comm convos were about 60% comic relief, and anything with polygons played out like a Saturday morning cartoon. It greatly improved on the whole Big Boss/Boss story, making it more streamlined and much less boring, but the whole "Boss saves the day" and every character switching sides (not to mention the moment Miller revealed he knew that Vanessa was a fembot all along...) it jus ruined an otherwise decent story. Being unfamiliar with the alternate history approach that the MGS series - to my surprise - has gone with, I genuinely thought that the ending might not be the "happy" ending that it was.

One other thing I was noticing too is that I'm sure I would've looked back on this story much more fondly down the line if OL hadn't ruined it for me that this Snake goes on to become the big bad guy of the later games. Thanks for that btw, you cunt.

Anyway, it's a nice little game that I probably would've appreciated more on the PSP, but it still fails as a stealth game. It really does my head in that had this been put in a blender with MGS3, I could've played a delicious stealth smoothie, instead I have to hold out n hope that the MGS V twins will quench my thirst. My hopes are as high as ever, but following these two my expectations couldn't be lower. And maybe that's for the best...

[OL]

One other thing I was noticing too is that I'm sure I would've looked back on this story much more fondly down the line if OL hadn't ruined it for me that this Snake goes on to become the big bad guy of the later games. Thanks for that btw, you cunt.

Hate to spoil more stuff for you, but MGS1 takes place in Alaska. Also every game has at least one giant robot.
Damnable series basics!
But no, he's only the big bad for two games, and they're the ones most players don't even bother trying (MG and MG2 on MSX). Most players enter the series with MGS1, knowing in the first few minutes that Big Boss was a villain. Doesn't ruin anything major, really.

Anyway, you mention Thief... I'm guessing your only exposure to the series is the current-gen one that you mentioned playing on 360 not long ago? You should try the originals on PC. Not saying they'll top Splinter Cell for you, but they are some of the purest stealth games out there, without any of the more "modern" conventions that probably bring the newest one down. I still think you'd like them. A nice challenge if you want to ghost them.

[MiTT3NZ]

Yes, perhaps it is a series basic for peeps familiar with it. I, however, would've gone on believing that MGS3 Snake was MGS1 Snake until said revelation. It would've also put an interesting spin on playing through the story, as I would've essentially been playing against who I would've considered the series protagonist.

Basically it's in a similar vein to telling someone completely new to Batman "yeah... that DA Batman's workin with goes on to become Two-Face." We may not have had the luxury of reading the revelation, but he fucking would have.

[Kenny]

Peace Walker is alright. It's not his best work but it is good as a game.

And if you played the first couple of Metal Gears and MGS1, you'd know Big Boss was the main bad guy.

Edit: OL beat me to that.

[Thief]

I guess Big Boss being a bad guy is a spoiler, but it is revealed in the very first Metal Gear game (and in a not-so-elegant 8-bit like manner). It's about on par with Darth Vader being Luke's father -- as far as worrying about spoiling people by saying it. Gotta cut OL some slack on that one. Anyway, since you're already playing the games in chronological order (rather than release order) there are going to be tons of spoilers that you're giving to yourself merely by playing the games out of order. But whatever, it doesn't matter much.

Can't wait to see what you think about the cluster-fuck that is MGS4

[Rakim]

Master Miller

was Liquid Snake the whole time!

Just thought I'd ruin that in case mittz is stupid enough to click this spoiler.

[Thief]

^you might want to remove that, since Miller is in Peace-Walker, and Mittz might think it's ok to click it because he just beat that game. I'd probably click it, if it were me...

I guess I can just say, don't click that button mittz.

[Mr357]

Coincidentally, I just finished MGS4 tonight. I know I'm going to get some shit from some people for saying this, but I thought it was much better than 2 or 3. You actually get to play as Solid Snake again, the story seemed to be much more grounded and clearly explained, it included lots of characters both new and old, none of which really felt "pointless" like in 2 or 3, Raiden is incredibly useful instead being naive and whiny like in 2, ***** and ***** finally die, there's lots of new gameplay features such as the octo camo and Mark II (which I'm a sucker for since he/it was a main character in Snatcher), the story finally sees closure(s), and for the most part the epiphanies made sense. Overall it was my favorite in the series after MGS. 9/10

Fun fact- The voice actor of Drebin played a character named Smuggler in Deus Ex. As you can imagine, he was also a black market arms dealer.

[MiTT3NZ]

Okay, I won't, but I need advice. Stupid that I need it, but still...

I have Ground Zeroes on both 360 and XBO (got em both free) However, I've just found out that you need an active subscription to play any previously redeemed Games With Gold giveaways, which I don't currently have, though I do have a two week trial code lyin about somewhere.

Is it worth usin up the trial now to play GZ on the XBO or should I just stick with the 360 version? Is the quality difference noticeable enough? Does any of this really matter?

[Mr357]

Okay, I won't, but I need advice. Stupid that I need it, but still...

I have Ground Zeroes on both 360 and XBO (got em both free) However, I've just found out that you need an active subscription to play any previously redeemed Games With Gold giveaways, which I don't currently have, though I do have a two week trial code lyin about somewhere.

Is it worth usin up the trial now to play GZ on the XBO or should I just stick with the 360 version? Is the quality difference noticeable enough? Does any of this really matter?

If you ask me, it's really not worth it to play it at all unless you want a taste of MGS5's gameplay. It's not even two hours long, so I would just play it on the 360.

[Thief]

Yeah, since it's only two or so hours (for main story only), just play it on 360. You'll have lower framerate and all that jazz, but whatever.


EDIT:

I must be the only person on the planet who likes Raiden from MGS2 and hates him in MGS4.

[Mr357]

EDIT:

I must be the only person on the planet who likes Raiden from MGS2 and hates him in MGS4.

Why else would Kojima have put the Raiden mask in MGS3? He's a fucking troll and he loves it.

[MiTT3NZ]

I didn't realise it was that fucking short, just thought peeps were over exaggerating... I spent most of the time listening to the tapes and thinking to myself "this is shaping up to be a decent game already." Fucking mega compared to the other two games though, despite how ridiculously short it is.