Dragon Ball FighterZ BETA Thoughts

When Dragon Ball FighterZ was first announced the Fighting Game Community (FGC) lost their minds at how great this game looked. From the crisp animations to the chaotic combat. From the guys over at Arc System Works, known for the Guilty Gear and BlazBlue series they’re lending their talents on this new Dragon Ball Z fighting game, titled Dragon Ball FighterZ a 3vs3 fighting game none the less. I being a huge Dragon Ball fan I have played every home console and most of the portable games barring the Heroes series of games (which I plan on getting someday when there’s a lull of games that I am excited for) So when they announced that they were having a BETA for FighterZ I had to get in and play this game! PlayStation had sent me a VIP Code and I was fortunate enough to get into Beta (Apparently some people who had VIP codes didn’t get in too) anyway I was just excited that I would get a chance to play this amazing looking game! The day of the BETA I got off work at 11pm and just stayed up until 5am which was 2am PST. The hype was seriously real! Now that the BETA has concluded I wanted to write down my thoughts on the gameplay, net code, characters, and lobby system. I am not going to get super in depth with this written review I just want to give my quick thoughts on a few things in this game.

 

What is Dragon Ball FighterZ like?

 

Dragon Ball FighterZ is like taking the look, style, and technicality of Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 and mashing it Dragon Ball Z. When I first played FighterZ I was immediately blown always by how fluid and responsive this game was! It was really easy chaining special moves together like how it was in Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, but the arena isn’t bound to a 3D space like in the Xenoverse games. Combos are always insane! I haven’t had this much fun experimenting with what moves or attacks can work in a fighting game since I first played Street Fighter 3: Third Strike on PS2! Even during the live matches where I was either getting beat or beating someone, I was thinking in my head “Okay let’s see if I do this combo, bring the fight to the air, and then do my Level 3 special move!” It was just fun playing the game and seeing what I could do. But, when I couldn’t get something off I most definitely got punished by the opponent. It was all a learning experience!

 

Like any fighting game your characters will have a meter bar going up to seven bars and with those bars, you can really unleash HFIL on your opponent! From using different level super moves that are I swear ripped straight from the anime and manga, to vanishing attacks that can get you out of a tight spot or from a person who likes to spam ki attacks. How you use the meter is totally up to you, just how that it is handled add another layer to the fights almost because you have so much meter to work with and getting it back can be challenging. Are you going to do a level 3 super, a vanish attack, or are you gonna go all out and find a way to combo and bring in everyone for a super attack?

 

How about the Characters?

 

So you know how in fighting games where people will say “Everyone plays differently!” This is beyond true in the FighterZ BETA. It’s the nuances that each character has that truly makes them unique! While I didn’t get a chance to play everyone because I was so deadset on winning matches I just began to experiment with characters I liked. So when I first started I went with Goku, Vegeta, and Trunks. Then when I was losing too much with that team I went with Cell, Goku, and Piccolo. Same situation, I kept losing or barely winning. After countless losses and frustration, I finally found my team in Waifu 18… I mean Cyborg 18(Yeah, I’m being that guy), Goku, and Trunks. Out of all of those characters, I loved 18 the most! She has Cyborg 17 as an assist move which you can use him to set up combos, begin new combos, or end a combo. How I decided to use him, for the most part, was similar to a projectile. I would send him out and the person I was fighting would attack him instead of me. That then gave me the chance to cross them up or pull off a combo and get some good damage leading into an assist. I was set on Goku being the leader of my teams but after learning 18 she is, in my opinion, the best character in the game so far! I am really hoping for Goku Black though! The more I really took the time to learn the game the more I really just fell in love with it and everything it had to offer! As much as I’d love to do a full breakdown on the characters, I don’t want to take up too much of your time and I am not that technical with every character. However, I highly suggest you check out Maximilian Dood’s breakdowns of each character that is out right now if you want to learn more about each character! He does a fantastic job! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsN_1OWrvYc

 

Lobby and Netcode?

 

Similar to the Guilty Gear XRD games the lobby system works in a way that you pick region you want to fight in then you can change your avatar from the pre-assigned one (which is Goku) you then go the gentlemen in front of the tournament stage and then you can either pick your team or select one of the pre-chosen teams. It’s a nice little system and decreases wait time from picking characters so it’s nice. It’s not clunky, it’s actually very smooth and easy to navigate! Also, I don’t really care about it as long as it works. But I do appreciate they made the little 3D chibi characters and when they’re fighting in a match you see then throw their little fists. So that’s nice!

 

The Netcode from my experience was about a 7.5 out of 10. The first run of the test I had pretty good connections, I was at work for the second part, but on the third part I don’t know what happened but every fight I had was a struggle so much that I gave up on playing because it was so stressful, But on the last test my connections were top notch! Those were the best matches I had because I felt like I finally learned my characters and how they can interact with each other and what I can actually do plus the connections were all so great! I can really only see them improving the net-code and I imagine it will be as smooth as the latest Guilty Gear game.

 

All in all, I had an absolute blast playing Dragon Ball FighterZ this game has crazy potential to be the best fighting game, and I’m not just saying that because I am a Dragon Ball Z fan. It has some serious depth to the combat and characters that will get everyone screaming for excitement. A new BETA has been announced and it will be an Open BETA and I think if you have the systems it will be on you really should get on it! If you like fighting games or Dragon Ball Z or really you just want something new, When Dragon Ball FighterZ comes out in February 2018 you really should pick it up! There’s going to be an original story with some brand new characters like Android 21 (don’t want to be that guy anymore) a game like this where it’s fun, interesting characters, and has a good development team with a great track record behind it we should really support it so that we can get extra content for this game and the developers support it for years to come! It would be awesome if they did what they’re doing for Street Fighter V where they add characters, game modes, costumes, story content, etc.. for Dragon Ball FighterZ.

 

Anyway, those are my all over the place thoughts on Dragon Ball FighterZ so far. It was a great experience and I am super grateful and happy I got a chance to play the game! I really hope you get a chance to play it in the open BETA!

Mass Effect Andromeda “Is it worth it?” #1

Too many times we as gamers just throw our $60 at developers without thinking objectively “Is this game worth my money at launch?” I have been burned a few times by games, No Man’s Sky, Dragon Ball Z Battle of Z (which I will never get over how terrible that game is. But, you get the point!) So I am here to just give you a quick rundown of the game and to let you know if I think Mass Effect Andromeda is worth your money at launch! Read on to find out! Or don’t and go throw your money at the GameStop employee or wherever you buy your games from.

Disclaimer: This is all opinion based and the game was played with an open mind despite hearing the negative press about the game.

Mass Effect Andromeda was a game I was not looking forward to at all. With other games like Zelda Breath of the Wild and Nier Automata out, I couldn’t have cared less about a game from a series that I already don’t care about. I had already made my mind up that I wasn’t going to pick this game up. While the game did look interesting, I couldn’t see myself picking it up. Then early reviews were coming out saying the game wasn’t good and that it felt rushed etc… So I really wasn’t about to pick this game up! BUT! I felt I had unjustly written the game off as something not worth spending my time and money! I decided to pick the game up despite its reviews and I must say keeping an open mind has definitely helped! While Mass Effect Andromeda isn’t the Space Opera of a game I have been longing for it’s definitely a step in the right direction and I’m pleasantly surprised with its offerings. While it may have some technical issues that are noticeable they aren’t game breaking. I was fortunate enough to not have experienced the weird glitches that have been seen with other publications like GameSpot and IGN the only real problem I had was the sound cutting in and out at random points in the game. The facial animations may not look the best while in motion but they’re certainly not the worst. They don’t deserve the hate they’ve been getting. However, they could have used a bit more work on them.

Like past Mass Effect games, you create your character but this time around the character creator is a lot more deep, giving you more options to create your super space action hero. It’s not the greatest character creator but it is a step in the right direction. You can either make your own version of this games “Shepherd” now known as Ryder. Players can choose from male or female respectively (I would have liked it if I could have been one of the many different alien races but I guess that’s what multiplayer is for) The story was/is pretty enjoyable while extremely predictable at some points, it does some interesting twists and turns that made me want to keep playing.

But the gameplay is where Mass Effect Andromeda shines the brightest! I found that the more I played it the more I enjoyed it (If that makes any sense) unlike previous Mass Effect games where it was a very Gears of War feel Andromeda takes a more Destiny approach to its gameplay. It’s a lot more mobile and fast-paced. Which is attributed to the games new jetpack abilities where you can jump high and dash around like your Mega Man X! It’s a lot of fun dashing and shooting enemies then dashing back to safety. There’s also exploration to be had and it at times enhances the story and the overall experience.
Bioware has brought back the classic multiplayer from the past Mass Effect games with its horde mode. Players will pick their character/class and take on waves of enemies playing alone with strangers is cool but like the Gears of War horde mode, it’s really meant to be played with friends. Sadly I am that guy who constantly needs to be revived because I think I am Rambo and rush giant alien gorillas without a second thought. It’s still a lot of fun, though. Minus the fact it has these micro-transactions to get better gear, which it seems like every game is doing this! It’s annoying but I just choose to ignore and use the in-game currency after earning enough points.

All in all Mass Effect Andromeda is a fun experience. Its story may not have been the greatest but the gameplay is a lot of fun the game could have used a few more months of polish but I like what they presented, HOWEVER! In my honest opinion, this game isn’t worth the full $60 price tag. It may be good, but it’s not great, it doesn’t push the envelope for the series as it should have done or offered much that other Third-Person shooters offer. If you can get this game for $30-40 then it’s much better investment. If I had to give it a score I would give Mass Effect Andromeda-

7.5 hot blue alien chicks out of 10!

Oh yeah, speaking of which you can have sex with Blue alien chicks… Or humans… I guess. If you’re into that sort of thing. No game is perfect, 10/10

Lights Out Quick Movie Review #3

Mom, can you keep ALL the lights on? Please?

Lights Out, the newest horror movie from director James Wan (Conjuring 1&2 Furious 7) and written by Eric Heisserer (Hours) and based off of the short film by David F. Sandberg of the same name. This movie continues to show that the horror genre is alive and well! But, is this movie actually good? Or does it just skate by?

No… That was you screaming. I… It wasn’t me.

Well it’s actually really good! The movie opens right away with this feeling of tension that I could just feel that had me tightening up in my seat. That really caught me off guard! Usually, for the most part, horror movies will set everything up in those first five to ten minutes and sometimes if that isn’t done well or right it can be boring. That being said Lights Out, immediately started with there’s a problem, here’s this creepy thing, and this is what is going to happen! *Full disclosure I screamed like a small child!* Then it goes from there.

Keeping the fear to a maximum.

I am going to try my hardest to give away as little as possible because I found genuinely exciting to see how everything played out. The movie follows Rebecca, played by Teresa Palmer (The Choice) her brother Martin, played by Gabriel Baterman (Annabelle 2014) and their mother Sophie, played by Maria Bello (The 5th Wave) as she is dealing with something. It could be that I haven’t seen too many good horror movies but I really enjoyed the story in Lights Out. It kept me fully invested and intrigued throughout the entirety of the film, and that is really attributed to the actors and actresses! They didn’t knock it out of the park but I believed their performances. Especially that of Teresa Palmer. I loved her character, she os this strong girl who has to take up a lot in a moments notice all while trying to stay calm about what’s going on around her. Also Maria Bello was fantastic too! She really sold her character it was really from her mannerisms and her look from the start of the movie to the end. Also the chemistry between the two was fantastic! It again, made it feel very believable that they were mother and daughter and had gone through some traumatic experiences.

I’m not turning the lights off!

Lights Out is so well done! While the final act for me just sort of happened and they didn’t explain a few things that I had questions about, I still got a lot of enjoyment from the film and a lot of really good jump scares and haunting scenes.

Final Thoughts

I know, I didn’t address a lot because I really want you (if you choose to go, which I really think you should) to experience the story fresh only knowing the small basics. I highly recommend this movie, if you’re looking for another good horror movie to see this year. I think you should really go see Lights Out when it comes out to Theaters July 22nd! That’s why I give Lights Out-

8 Broken Light switches out of 10!

+Really Good Acting
+Interesting story
-Medium sized Plot hole
+Absolutely terrifying

Now if you’ll excuse me I am going to watch a lot Barney so that I can go to sleep. Because I really don’t want to sleep with the lights off unless I have a nightlight… A very big nightlight.

 

Mighty No. 9 It’s worse than nothing!

*This is something very casual and I really just wanted to get my overall thoughts about this game out* If you feel differently or want to know anything then let’s dialogue about it!

Mighty No. 9

The spiritual successor of Mega Man who hasn’t seen any proper love in quite some time. The game filled with controversies. What with numerous delays, people not getting the merchandise they were promised after pledging X amount of dollars, people are wondering where the 4million dollars that they raised went, and among other things, has finally released and oh boy… It’s something else, and not in a good way. But was it worth the wait? Read on to find out my opinion being a huge fan of Mega Man!

Before we get started

Now being the spiritual successor to Mega Man, arguably one of the greatest franchises of all time people had the highest of hopes for this game and while I was playing this I couldn’t help but compare it to some of my favorite entries in the series. Those being Mega Man 2, 3, and 7 then Mega Man X1, X4, and X5 to name a few of them. I only compared controls and the overall experience.

Big shoes to fill

You play as Beck or Mighty No. 9, the game opens up with to a city being destroyed this acts as intro stage to teach you the basic controls and how the game works so far so good. The overall feel of it so far feels weird but it’s just the intro stage. Anyway, all the robots have all gone Maver- I mean they got the Zero vir- just a virus. We’ve seen this before a bunch of robots go bad and you have to fight them. Nothing really new here outside of when you take your powers from the other robots they aren’t dead and will help you if you do the boards in the correct order. Again nothing new here. However, the in-game cinematics was extremely bland and had zero life in what was being delivered. At least with Mega Man X4’s poorly acted anime cutscenes, there was life and personality in everything that was said. As I was playing the game I did feel bad constantly comparing the game to even the worst of the Mega Man games but when your whole thing is “Its the new Mega Man without being Mega Man!” I and fans of the series can’t help but compare it to Mega Man. But I did restart the game because I wanted to judge this game on its own merit and to just see if it was a good game!

Jumping and shooting before Prom Night

After you beat the intro stage you are tasked with defeating your other robot brothers who are running amok at various locations around the world. As I was playing each board I became increasingly frustrated not because of the poor level design (we’ll get to that) but because the controls are incredibly sloppy and just how the overall game feels incomplete and like it’s still in Beta testing the only thing that feels somewhat complete is standing still. The platforming in the game needs some work it’s not the greatest but it’s also not the worst ever. You just would think the creator of some of the greatest platforming and gameplay would easily be able to recreate that back no problem. But I guess not. You shoot enemies and then once they’re about to die you dash through them and get little buffs that increase your speed, power, etc… This system “rewards” fast gameplay but lacks the tightness of most games in the 2-D side scrolling games.

Music and Level Design

I grouped these two together because they’re both the same, boring. The music didn’t excite me in any way and the levels looked even worse. With the very little that was going on it just looked muddy. No stage was memorable in any way. The same goes for the music even when there’s supposed to be this epic fight it just sounds like the music chugging along until you beat it. Almost like music itself is bored with it. I even found myself turning on my own music from my phone and muting the game altogether. If you want a good example of both good level design and music watch this video from Mega Man X4(played by Magnus Blade) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES9W_QRrRVw I wouldn’t ever mute that awesome music and what’s going on in the background really bring the game to life. That’s something Mighty No. 9 didn’t do at all. I know I said I wouldn’t compare Mega Man to Mighty No. 9 but I felt it was necessary in this case. I was bored throughout the 3hr or so experience. I didn’t feel the weight of anything that was happening in this world that they created.

What else is there?

Well, there’s really nothing left to say about this game because it doesn’t do anything that Wowed me. I will admit at times I cracked a little smile. It’s not completely terrible but it’s also not good either. I wanted this game to be amazing and had high hopes for it. I wanted it to be great, I really did as I’m sure many people who backed the game did. But this game didn’t live up to the expectations. There’s honestly nothing else worth mentioning in this game.

I am going to prom instead of playing this crap! (Final Thoughts and etc…)

I don’t hate this but nor do I like it. Mighty No. 9 is a game I would expect from an indie developer who had no idea what a video game was and played Mega Man one time and decided to make a game based on that at best. It’s just How do you mess up Jumping and shooting!? I guess you can because some people mess up peanut butter and jelly! I’m glad I didn’t back this game it’s not even better than Mega Man X7! And that game was BAD! But at least it looks somewhat decent! Where did the 4million dollars it raised on Kickstarter go? I’m genuinely curious! It certainly did not go to the bland level design, messy platforming, PS2esc graphics, and just overall frustrating gameplay. I may not be a game developer but I have seen games work with less or around the same budget and be leagues better than Mighty No. 9. An example of a crowd funded game actually working is Skullgirls a fighting game made by Lab Zero was crowd funded and made around $1.7Mil and that game looks and plays fantastic! wouldn’t recommend this game! Yes, they’re greatly different but Lab Zero again is making a game called Indivisible which you can download an Alpha demo (I believe) of the game right now on PC and PS4 and that games budget is $3.5mil. It’s all about the passion behind the project. I don’t feel like there was any behind Mighty No. 9. But I have to give them credit where credit is due. They banked off of people’s nostalgia and hunger for a new Mega Man game and totally capitalized on it and made a killing. Anyway before I continue to trail off on a tangent about how I feel Kickstarter is a broken system and that I think it should be done away with entirely but back to my last comments about Mighty No. 9. If you are feeling nostalgic and have a next gen system just get the Mega Man Legacy Collection for the same price you get six games and a bunch of extras for $15 digital and 30 physical! Or if you want to dust off or buy a PS2 and get the Mega Man X collection and the Mega Man anniversary collection (it has Mega Man The Power Battle 1 and 2) But If you REALLY REALLY want Mighty No. 9 then I guess go ahead and get it, it’s not the worse game I’ve ever played (That’s Dragon Ball Z Battle of Z) Mighty No. 9 is a truly mediocre experience. I would rather this game have gotten canceled and the people got their money back then for this game to actually have come out. This game is worth $5 at best, don’t waste your money. You’re better than buying this game at full price! I don’t want you to make the same mistake as I did. If you can get it for free even then go ahead! It’s worth the price of $0 I give it a-

Not so Mighty No. 3 out 10

-Sloppy Gameplay

-Drab Level Design

-Feels incomplete

+You can jump and shoot

-Shockingly Short

-Anticlimactic final boss

-Lifeless cutscenes

-Boring soundtrack

One-Punch Man Quick review

Looking for a new anime that’s fun has a funny and interesting story and awesome characters? Then look no further! One Punch Man is the anime for you! One Punch Man is easily my favorite anime of 2015! I have nothing but praise for this anime its so well done that I couldn’t help but want more. It took me back to when I was a kid watching Dragon Ball Z and how I would get so excited and flip out from what a character just did or something crazy that happened it felt good and sort of like falling in love with anime all over again. That isn’t to say that there isn’t great anime out there because there is! One Punch Man was just sort that breakout hit for me that hit a lot notes and was enjoyable all the way through.

    One Punch Man follows Saitama a Hero but not your ordinary hero but he’s a hero for fun! Also because he beats whatever he’s fighting in One Punch! Hence the name of the anime. We get to learn his origin story which is pretty generic at its core if you know almost any Superhero, but its how its done that makes it unique. At first I thought each he’d be in would be really boring and bland and uninteresting. I’m really glad I was wrong though! Yes his fights are pretty short but they are hilarious in a weird way. Throughout the episodes you’ll get to meet other Heroes and you’ll hear some pretty crazy names like Superalloy Darkshine and Puri-Puri Prisoner (who is just the funniest character ever) and you’ll also meet some Heroes with some sweet names like Genos and Silverfang. Each hero is different and unique in their own regard some more useful than others but I ended up caring about each hero that I encountered in the show.

   With each Hero they are Ranked as apart of the shows sort of Justice League esc style called the Hero Association. Each hero is ranked based on their ability there’s D-Class, C-Class, B-Class, A-Class, and the highest ranking S-Class. You get the see why the D-Class are the lowest and S-Class are highest but that doesn’t detract from the lower class Heroes though. I actually ended liking more of the lower class Heroes than I did the higher.

    I’m trying really hard to not spoil anything because I think if you like anime or are wanting to get into anime you should definitely check out One Punch Man. You should definitely experience this hilarious, action packed, overall amazing anime! Yes it can be a bit strange at some points but it just all felt like a breath of fresh air. There are so many great moments in the show I never wanted the episode to end by the end of the first episode. There were parts where I laughed where I welled up with emotion almost to the point of  tears. It was a great ride and I can’t wait for the next season to start! Season 1 just concluded so if you are looking for something to binge watch on Christmas break you have 12 episodes and an OVA to do so! I highly recommend at the very least checking out a couple of episodes of One Punch Man. I give One Punch Man

10 B-Class Heroes out of 10!

+Awesome Varied characters
+Easy to follow
+Fun story
+Amazing intro song

*Right now its Only in Japanese with English Subtitles

Quick Game Reviews #2 Until Dawn

Cliché intro

Until Dawn the choose your own adventure from the people at Supermassive Games is the next exclusive title on the PlayStation 4, but is it a boring story driven that feels like its too good to be a video game like The Order 1886? Well below you’ll find out!

Not so Spooky praise!

Sony’s next and possibly one of its most ambitious exclusive titles for the PlayStation 4! To start out I was not looking forward to this game. I thought it looked boring and made me wonder why I had bought a PS4. But after playing through Until Dawn, I’m sold! It may not be a total system seller if you are thinking about getting a PS4 but it’s definitely a game to consider adding to your library of games on the system if you’re looking to add something new and fresh to your system.

Meta horror

Until Dawn is a horror game that follows a group of teenagers as they spend a weekend at a cabin, they- You’ve heard AND seen this before? Are you sure because there’s a killer in the woods and- that’s almost every horror movie? Well that’s what the Developers at “Supermassive Games” were going for! They wanted to ease the player in to something familiar before totally flipping you on your head and let me tell you they do! I don’t want to spoil or give anything away but the story is phenomenal! Although the last part of the game is a bit weird I still enjoyed every second of it! Its thanks to the actors and actresses that really bring the story to life with top notch performances from Hayden Panettiere(Sam), Rami Malek(Josh), Brett Dalton(Michael), Noah Fleiss(Chris), Galadriel Stineman(Ashley), Meaghan Martin(Jessica), Nicole Bloom(Emily), Jordan Fisher(Matthew), Ella Lantini(Hannah and Beth) you have all your typical 80s horror movie characters present but its more of a good horror movie from the 80s.

When I was greeted with cast of players I would be playing as I almost instantly knew who I wanted to kill but as the game went on I changed my tune towards some of the characters. Some of them I still wanted to die and I made sure of that, which is the great thing about Until Dawn its that your choices effect the game and how the story plays out, even what you think could be the smallest of choices can actually have a major effect on the game and how the story unfolds from those points onward. While this may have been done in multiple games such as Life is Strange, Walking Dead by Telltale, and others Until Dawn doesn’t give you a suggestion on a choice that may have been better or possibly make you start the conversation over. Until Dawn makes you live with the choice you made without feeling like the developer is holding your hand and telling you the best way to complete the choose your own adventure game if anything they unexpectedly tripped you and said “Get over it!” and I love that about this game! I had no idea what my choices would do to the game or if some of my favorite characters would die or live or just prolong the inevitable. Its possible to make it through the entire game without killing any of the characters but its also possible having them all die! This again is something totally new and fresh!

This game is packed with content it’s unbelievable! The developers even said that on a second play though the players wouldn’t even have accessed 50% of the games content that being said there’s many different endings to this game so it warrants finding the different ways this game can end!

Scary Gameplay

While Until Dawn doesn’t have the most in your face game like most survival horror games have these days, it knows that and definitely plays with what it does do and actually makes it one of the best survival horror games to date! You’ll be interacting with different objects, examining, and gathering different clues that will help you solve different mysteries and move on the story. While the fixed camera angles are pretty annoying and outdated, it does give you a nice suspenseful feel. That being the only gripe I had about this game that and how some of the characters interact with certain objects in the game.

Haunting Graphics

Like most games that come out Until Dawn uses motion and facial capture of the actors. Each actor is captured so beautifully that I almost forgot that I was playing a game, even though the facial expressions can sometimes look a bit strange but I find that charming ever since DmC: devil may cry.

Since this is a horror game the setting is extremely eerie they did a great job at making each part of feel scarier than the last. The graphics are top notch! How the shadows and lights work so realistically with both the environments and the characters enhance the overall experience of the game.

Terrifying Verdict

Until Dawn is a masterpiece of a game! I did not expect to love the game as much as I did, aside from being pleasantly surprised by it I loved every second of it. It’s the best Horror game that I’ve played since PT and Resident Evil 4. I can’t wait to go back and play though Until Dawn eight more times to see the different endings and explore and what other choices may have an effect on the story. If you like Story driven Horror games that focus more the atmosphere and story or If you are looking for a different game that’s not like most Triple-A games, or if you just need a new game I definitely recommend Until Dawn! That why I’m giving Until Dawn a-

9 out of 10 screaming Teenage Girls who should know by now that camping in the woods in a cabin is a bad idea!

+Great Story                                             -Fixed Camera Angles

+Interesting Characters                             -Odd interactions with some objects.

+Meaningful gameplay

Batman: Arkham Knight REVIEW!

 Batman Simulator 2015

Batman’s story is finally coming to a close in Batman: Arkham Knight, but does Batman have what it takes to save Gotham from one of its biggest threats? Let’s find out!

STORY
Batman Arkham Knight takes a few months after the events of Arkham City and crime actually started to go down but its Gotham City so we all know that won’t last long and sure enough it doesn’t. In comes Batman to beat down the thugs! Once you start to play as Batman you are instantly thrown into the huge Gotham City, unlike its previous games where it had you do certain things then you get to play around in the open world. Let me be the first to tell you that the Gotham City that is recreated in Arkham Knight is so well done and beautiful! Its literal chaos and it’s a playground for you just beat up the games thugs if you want to do that. There is so much attention to detail that I can see why the game was pushed back a couple of times. The Main Story will take you about 12hrs depending how good you are the pace you go at. In the story Scarecrow has released his fear toxin to some people and it is making them go crazy. You are clearly exposed to the toxin early in the game, when this happens you get a guide that will appear every so often and sometimes help you during the story. The story does go into some supernatural themes but I was okay with that because you get to see and feel Batman lose it as he is trying to save Gotham at the same time. Throughout the story you will come in contact with tons of familiar faces and some new ones depending on your knowledge of Batman. You’ll meet Robin, Knightwing, Cat Woman, the second Robin, and more! But that’s all fine the big question on everyone’s mind was “Who is the Arkham Knight” and While I did figure it out pretty quickly having the game throw countless clues that were not subtle at all, I personally liked it and how they did changing up some things with the overall Batman Mythos, I just didn’t like it overall and how it was resolved and how I still had many questions after the main story was done with. After the main story is done though that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the game, there’s tons of sidequests to do that a person like me who hates side quests because they always feel dumb I actually had a fun time going through and doing a lot of the side quests. You’ll be taking down Penguins men with Knightwing, saving firefighters, of course doing the Riddlers challenges. There’s so much to do in the game that you may feel overwhelmed but it’s a good thing in this game because it makes you feel like you’ve gotten your money’s worth and that the game will last you a long time and keep you coming back for more until they all say 100%. Even though I was disappointed a couple of times during the story the overall presentation and feel more than make up for it all!

GAMEPLAY
Now the story may be great but what about the gameplay? Well you can finally use the Batmobile! For years I have wanted to get in the Batmobile and drive around just to see what it’s like finally Arkham Knight lets me it has two modes A Tank mode which you will be using for platforming and destroying tanks and a Racecar mode which lets you zip around Gotham at incredible speeds. Since this is a totally brand new aspect to the Arkham games you can believe that you will be using A LOT of the Batmobile, while I didn’t have problem with that the Batmobile parts did get increasingly harder which wasn’t a bad thing it was just extremely frustrating to me so just be sure to upgrade your Batmobile! When you aren’t in the Batmobile you will be on foot (of course) and the combat gameplay is better than ever! Batman hits harder and at a lot of points I feel really bad for the thugs when the thug is down and Batman is just wailing on them until they are unconscious. But it’s so satisfying! You will encounter multiple enemies requiring different ways to take them down some of them having to use your gadgets which actually flow really well this time around. Stealth take downs make you really feel like Batman especially with the new “Fear Take Downs” which when you fill the meter you can take down multiple enemies even if they have guns in a flash! Another new mechanic is the Tag-Team feature that when at certain parts when you team up with Robin, Knightwing, or Catwoman you can do these flashy moves that not only look cool but they show off a little more of the personality and relationships between the characters with the quick banter they give. There’s so much more to the gameplay but it is so much better to actually experience it first-hand than to read some random guys words! But it is really good though!

EXTRAS
Like with past Arkham Games there’s extra content outside of the game itself in the form of challenges, in the form of race track, stealth, combat missions and more. They are a nice distraction from the action, but the real fun lies in the open world of Gotham which also has different challenges laid out throughout the map it almost makes the dedicated part of the main menu useless unless you want to replay another challenge.

VERDICT

Overall Batman Arkham Knight is an AMAZING game! It’s Very well done and improves on everything its predecessors got right and wrong and makes them better! Its attention to detail to the environment is unmatched by a lot of AAA game that have come out. I may have been a little disappointed in the ending and some things didn’t get resolved in the main story but it’s definitely the best Batman game and one of the best games to come out this year and hopefully the Season Pass is worth the $40 asking price! Arkham Knight is a great to have in your collection and huge system seller if you are looking to buy a PS4 or Xbox One. That’s why I give Batman: Arkham Knight a-

                                                             9.8 out of 10!
+Great Gameplay                                                             -Slightly disappointing story
+Beautiful and live city
+Great Attention to Detail
+Tons of Content
+New and exciting Gameplay mechanics.
=Batmobile is fun to use/some missions can be frustrating.

*To the PC gamers as a lot of you may know the PC port is well terrible suffering from Hard crashes and more. Rocksteady has pulled the game and good on them but they shouldn’t have out sourced the game and should have worked on the PC port alongside the Console versions*

Mortal Kombat X REVIEW! Just put a Band-aid on it!

Mortal Kombat X is finally here and it  again reminds gamers why it created the ESRB! 

After almost a year of it being revealed Mortal Kombat has arrived on the PS4 Xbox One and PC with the older systems coming 3months or so later! No Wii U though!

I was afraid after seeing everything about the game that it wouldn’t feel fresh and would just be another game I’d play for a few weeks and then get bored with and not play my Xbox One again! It pleases me however that even after seeing everything about the game I’m still enthralled with Mortal Kombat X! Being a huge fan of fighting games Mortal Kombat takes the cake and cracks your head with! But does it have enough content to keep both casual players and hardcore players interested? Find out!

THE GAMEPLAY

This is a very integral part of a fighting game! If the fighting isn’t solid and/or balanced the whole game essentially falls apart. With Mortal Kombat X’s fighting not only is the fighting solid and balanced it’s also varied from each character in how they play. Each character has a “variation” to choose from, for instance Sub-Zero has Unbreakable which give him more defensive and counter attack moves, Cryomancer which makes him more offensive with the use more ice weapon based moves such as a sword and a hammer, and then he has the Grandmaster which is essentially the more Balanced variation being able to throw his ice clones he generates. At first I did not think that the variation system would actually change gameplay but after playing around with different characters and their variations it actually does. Each one has a few special moves and techniques that are special to that variation only they also have a certain aesthetic for each character. So this definitely creates for some interesting match ups! However most hardcore players will go with a few variations and learn them fully. It should be noted that one variation does not over power another it just changes the way the character will play.

During the fights depending on where you fight you have can interact with certain environments of the stage from using 2X4’s to pots of burning ash or even an old lady! They increase what you can do during the game and with most of them you can combo into them!

As its predecessor Mortal Kombat 2011 you have a meter bar where you can do an enhanced version of one of your special moves, a Breaker move to stop your opponent in their tracks from doing a combo on you, or you can do “I don’t know how you can just easily get up after I cracked your skull, destroyed your chance of ever having kids, and shot you in the face move!” Or as the game calls them X-Rays. They are back and crazier than ever! It makes you wonder how are they not Fatalities!

FATALITY!!!

Speaking of which! Fatalities have always been a staple of the Mortal Kombat franchise having a Mortal Kombat with them is like having a chocolate cake without chocolate! They are back and crazier than ever! Having played every Mortal Kombat the fatalities have never really made me cringe, I would at most say “that’s crazy” and just shrug it off. Not with Mortal Kombat X! The fatalities are out of this world insane! They definitely went all out with them this time around. Actually making me cringe and say that no child should play MKX! From having a character rip your brain and heart out to cracking your jaw wide open and taking a selfie and posting it on “Friendships” the Mortal Kombat Facebook. It makes you wonder what the creators were thinking when they were designing them, because while they are cringe worthy they are creative and I have to give Netherrealm Studios credit for that.

THE STORY!!!

While this is a fighting game one would not think that the story mode would be big focus of the game. However anyone who has played the previous Mortal Kombat game knows that’s the not the case! If you haven’t played the previous games story I highly recommend that you do because the story was one of the best parts of the game it was so well done that it in my opinion set a standard for fighting games and even some action games that have come out. Mortal Kombat X’s story is no difference either! While it may be shorter than the last one it definitely is more personal I felt. Seeing the new generation of fighters go through and learn how to be a team and function as one! It may lack  direction at some points but I was still very into it! The story mode also lets players take control of various characters taking on around 4 or so fights learning not only motives for the character or the history he/she has. So it’s a great way to maybe figure out who you would like to use a main character.

CHARACTERS

Another very important part of a fighting game is its characters! Usually in Mortal Kombat games I will just play as Sub-Zero maybe Scorpion, Liu Kang, Kitana and Kung Lao. With Mortal Kombat X I don’t know what they did but I honestly want to play as every character in the game. They are unique in terms of personality and move-sets. The developers somehow found a way to make every character accessible which is a mark of a great game! I personally hate playing Grapple characters but Kotal Khan and Jax with his Wrestler variation have me rethinking grapple characters. It felt great to be able to finally branch out and play as one of the 25 available characters.

ONLINE&EXTRAS

When you first start the game you will be asked to pick a faction. You have the choice of picking between Lin Kuei, White Lotus, Brotherhood of Shadow, Red Dragon, or Special Forces. Everything you do in the game or online will earn that Faction XP and at the end of the week that faction won the “war” the more you do for that faction the more things you’ll get from it certain things for your Online Banner or Faction fatalities.

In my experience with online it has been super stable and having only experienced lag a couple times but only for a few seconds before the game corrected itself and it was back to a smooth experience! King of the Hill makes a return from the last MK game which goes back to the old days of being in at an arcade machine and playing A fighting game and people would watch or try to beat the “king” it’s a nice addition that brings back memories for me. If online play isn’t your thing there is always Couch Co-Op with even more modes to choose from and less the possible online verbal abuse!

Single Player Misc.

For a fighting game Mortal Kombat X is packed with tons of single player content with the standard arcade mode which will get your characters extra skins to use in battle. There also a new mode called “Living Towers” which will update every hour, day, or there are premier towers which sometimes will allow the player to test out new DLC characters before you make the decision of buying them. There’s also other towers that will have you battle in crazy conditions such as having to avoid lasers as you fight or bombs drop or having an item that with one hit can kill you! It’s sort of like Super Smash Bros. but crazier! Which is saying something!

THE KRYPT!!

Like most previous Mortal Kombat games MKX has a Krypt where you will use your in game currency that you’ve earned to spend it on new costumes, concept art, new fatalities, new brutalities, extra money and so much more! You go around in a first person view and search for hidden pathways and go to tombs and buy whatever is in there. You will be attacked randomly and if you can fend off the attacker you will get a nice little present! It’s just fun to explore the dark and eerie places.

FINAL ROUND!!

Mortal Kombat X is a game that I have been looking forward to for a very long time! It was the first game I ever played as a kid and this game had so much hype built up for it that not only does it live up to it but far exceeds my expectations! The game looks good and plays great! It’s fast paced and technical fightingare unmatched by a lot of fighters that are out today! Offering something for every player whether Hardcore or Casual, everyone can enjoy Mortal Kombat X! I give Mortal Kombat X 10 squashed brains out of 10! I have nothing bad to say about this in my own personal experience with game. It what I wanted and more!

+Ton of content and modes for both single and multiplayer.

=Good story mode although at times does lacks a clear motive sometimes.

+Great fight mechanics.

+Varied environments that can change up combat.

=Awesome character roster even though some fan favorites are missing.

SIDE NOTE:

I have heard of SOME people having problems with PS4 and PC versions of the game and hope that all issues are remedied. I personally have not seen any issues on the Xbox One version.

Dragon Ball Xenoverse REVIEW! Dragon Ball: Days of Future Past

LAST TIME on a Dragon Ball Z game on January 24th Age 2014 the worst Dragon Ball Game ever made was released: Dragon Ball Z Battle of Z after its Bland, boring, frustrating, unbalanced, and tedious gameplay Dragon Ball games seemed to have lost their steam. with terrible titles such as Ultimate Tenkaichi and Battle of Z, fans began to get upset with the series! Some wished it to just fade in obscurity others wanted another Budokai Tenkaichi 3 *Sigh* but 6months later Dragon Ball Xenoverse was announced! Promising better gameplay, new features, a huge story and much more! Now the game is out (in Japan and China) does it live up to the hype? Or does it fall short and get added to the Garbage Dragon Ball games? Find out now on this review of Dragon Ball Xenoverse!!

Dragon Ball Xenoverse a game I took with a quarter of a grain of salt! After being so terribly burned by Dragon Ball Z battle of Z I nearly gave up on new entries to the series. I saw alpha gameplay for it and it looked awesome, but so did Battle of Z! I got to play the Beta then had few doubts! Now the game is out (in Japan and China at the time of writing this) and I can whole heartily say Dragon Ball Xenoverse is the BEST Dragon Ball game I have played since Dragon Ball Z idainaru dragonball densetsu for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn which only came out in Japan I imported that game because it was that awesome and the gameplay was so chaotic and it really captured Dragon Ball Z.

When I decided to just import Xenoverse I at first thought it a bad choice but I had never had so much excitement for a game that was just another Anime game. Which are kind of like Call of Duty they just sort of exist in the gaming world they’re fun, come out annually for the most part, and you shouldn’t really expect much from them just good distractions until a big triple A title comes out. So I thought this with Xenoverse and I was so wrong! Dragon Ball Xenoverse’s wealth of content is almost overwhelming and the things you can do is mind blowing! From getting new clothing items to help your character and their stats to learning new techniques, getting new masters, doing Parallel Quests, and so much more! You could think you have done everything then turn around and there’s even more things to do!

THE BEGINNING

When the game starts out it has one of the best openings I have seen not only in an Anime game but in a video game in general! You start out as series main protagonist Goku and go through his most important Battles in the Z Saga while that may seem a bit trite and what we’ve done in just about every single Dragon Ball Z game it’s the way that Xenoverse does it that makes it both memorable and exciting! Whats happening is that the Dragon Ball history we know is changing someone is tampering with the history and giving the villains an edge and sometimes killing the heroes! You then come to Future Trunks wishes for you and the game begins! The story quickly picks up and doesn’t let up until the end!

THE GAME

Xenoverse does an excellent job at making your character feel important with its story, why did I say that because there are some games that really don’t make you feel that important from my experiences they make it seem like you sort of exist. That’s not the case with Xenoverse and its mainly done with its dialogue and characters and how certain characters will reference you as whatever race you pick whether its Saiyan, Human, Namakian, Frieza’s Race, and Majin. While you may not feel all too unique in terms of abilities having only a few generic ones to start out with but the more you progress, even a little progress you will feel that you are for a lack of better words Special! For instance I have my Saiyan female character uses the Galick Gun, The Kamehameha, and the Masanko as some of her normal moves there’s so many more moves and other techniques to mix and match to fit your play style and how you want your character to be and that’s how it should be you should feel important and you effect this Universe with completing the said missions.

You may feel like Krillin or Yamcha at the start but the more you play you’ll end up feeling like one of the stronger characters. Be warned though one mission you’ll feel like Super Saiyan God Goku and the next mission you’ll feel like Yajirobe fighting Super Saiyan God Goku. That’s where the game gets both awesome and frustrating! Awesome because it isn’t like the games before it where you can breeze through the story mode without a thought with the hardest boss always being Kid Buu. On the flip side sometimes the odds will be so stacked against you that you would have to be a lvl 100 to get through it! For instance during the Buu Saga Super Saiyan 3 Goku and my character who I named her Raiden had to fight 3 Majin Buu’s and they just completely stomped me I tried and tried until we beat them. THEN I am knee deep in miniature Majin Buu’s who are attacking you from all sides and you again get stomped! While that could turn A LOT of people off I would really suggest sticking it out and doing the Parallel Quests to level up your character then giving them points to upgrade Health, Attack, Ki Attacks etc… After I did and redid a few missions and stocked up on Health Capsules I was able to beat that mission! So yes it was a little tedious but it really felt rewarding to be able to see my character get stronger and stronger. Sadly however your character doesn’t really talk and it would have been nice to see them interact with the other characters but hey everyone loves the strong silent type! Even if they are a giant pink blob monster!

When you’re going through the Story Mode you will be left in awe at many points whether it be the actually intriguing story that does a great job with time travel or the stages you fight in! My favorite mission is during the Frieza Saga when your character has gone through a certain “Changing” and you go to meet up with Krillin and Gohan and you are ambushed by some of Frieza’s soldiers and you begin fighting now I am sure you may be wondering why any of this even worth mentioning is. Here’s why! You are fighting in Frieza’s spaceship and it’s not like just a watered down version of it, no it has multiple rooms, corridors, and hallways and you could be fighting in one room and Krillin is taking on two soldiers in another and Gohan in another room! I just liked the amount of detail that went into that because the developers did not have to include that and the rest of the game doesn’t suffer from because you can seriously tell a lot of time and care went into this game and I love seeing game devs actually caring about the project they are working on!

The Parallel Quests are huge part of the game there’s tons of missions most them are pretty straight forward beat the person go to the next area and fight that person then you win. However there are some missions that really stick out and you will want to play them again! For example there’s a mission where you have to collect the Dragon Balls but you have to fight off Frieza soldiers or Cell Jr’s and secure them without losing them or running out of time! It’s these missions that really shine and I only wish there were more of them!

Throughout the game you will have different Masters these are characters from the series that will only help you increase your skills by giving you some of their signature moves and abilities! You will find them posted around the world and you will have to complete sort of their “initiation” for them to give you some of their moves it’s a nice addition to the already plethora of content and things to do in the game.

When you feel you have finally mastered the game and have the skills to pay the bills (Sorry) you can try your hand at the Online Matches! With Ranking, Player, and Endless matches! These are all self-explanatory Ranked Matches you fight or your global ranking, Player match which is similar to Ranked except your ranking status isn’t affected and with Endless you fight someone until you decide you’re done. My experience with the Network was actually better than expected! I honestly was just waiting for Lag City, to my surprise there wasn’t too much lag and the lag there was only momentary I mean the fact they have such a fast paced game like Dragon Ball XV running somewhat smoothly is a feat in of its own! I’m sure with patches and updates they can remedy any sort of lag.

The Return of Couch Co-Op is a glorious one! After not being in last game and having two separate camera angels in the Ultimate Tenkaichi Budokai Tenkaichi and Raging Blast series. It’s all on one screen like the original Budokai games the only gripe I have about that is I get far away from the person I’m playing with or they me you turn into ants until you move closer. Other than that the VS mode is a lot of fun and I am glad to finally see this return to form versus style! If you don’t have any friends or everyone you knows hates Dragon Ball you need to get new friends and you can play the Computer VS matches these are a bit more varied in the aspect that you can 1v1, 2v2, and 3v3 matches while these can get extremely chaotic they are in turn a lot more fun having Goku, Gohan and Goten fight Vegeta, Future Trunks, and Kid Trunks all fight in SPACE is the craziness that is Dragon Ball!

You can have all the awesome content and game modes in the world but it all comes down to the Gameplay and is it even fun and accessible? The Answer is YES the Gameplay is so fluid and fast paced you will feel like you are playing an episode of Dragon Ball Z it’s fun and addicting which is new to the series (for me at least) it harkens back to the Budokai series with different button combinations and you can mix your special techniques together in a way that only DIMPS could do so in a Dragon Ball game! The gameplay is good for both beginners and those who want to get more advanced and learn new techniques and it still manges to stay fun and fresh after hours upon hours of gameplay because each character essentially plays differently in how they can use certain moves and techniques in past Dragon Ball games each character played the same there were Three or Four types for a character and multiple characters would follow that base in Xenoverse I honestly felt that the way I play as Goku and Vegeta is different from the way I may play as Whis or Beerus and that’s again great on DIMPS for putting so much care into the characters and to make the gameplay be balanced in a manner of speaking. For instance Krillin may have a lower Stamina gauge or Ki than Super Saiyan God Goku and that’s realistic in the world of Dragon Ball at least, but Krillin could still beat Super Saiyan God Goku (as crazy as that seems it actually happened to me) that’s where Skill comes into play and even Krillin could be Whis!

THE VERDICT!

Dragon Ball Xenoverse is completely filled with content! Even after playing for so long I am still finding new and fun things to do and it’s all a new challenge and sometimes it’s not an easy one! I like that it doesn’t just hold my hand with overly easy missions or unbearably long, painful, and unfair missions it’s the Dragon Ball game I had been wanting for a very long time and does not disappoint in its almost 15hr campaign and you can complete all of its many Parallel Quests and then find out there’s even more things to do and collect! The gameplay is smooth, fun, responsive, and addicting! That’s why I HAVE to as a Dragon Ball fan have to give DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE an-

10 Time Patrol Warriors out of 10!

“Its the BEST Dragon Ball Game I’ve Played!”

+Feels fresh and fun after hours of Gameplay

+Accessible to newcomers and vets to the Dragon Ball game series

+Plenty of Content to continually come back and want to play

+Delivers and then some on the game itself providing an original and interesting story

+Diverse Character roster

+Great fan service

+Took the bad things from past games and made them amazing!
-Expounded on the good things of past games in the series and made them its own

+Isn’t Battle of Z!

Dragon Ball Xenoverse comes out February 5th in Asia, February 24th in North America, and February 27th in European territories if you are a Dragon Ball fan you need to add this game to your collection! Its available for PC, PS4, PS3, XBOX 360, AND XBOX ONE!

*Dragon Ball Xenoverse supports PS4’s Share Play function.

*Bring Xenoverse to the Wii U! I feel Wii U owners should be able to experience this game!

*Please Note this is from a Fans perspective and if you disagree with the rating and think Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is still the best thing since Sliced bread you are entitled to your opinion!

Dying Light Quick Review! Zombie Parkour!

2015 is here and one of the first games to come out that wasn’t a re-release and after multiple pushbacks and the cancellation of the Past Gen consoles Dying Light, a first person Survival Stealth, Horror-esc, parkour zombie game from the same people who made the Dead Island series. When I actually a few hours before writing this I had no idea they made the same game series and I didn’t know that going into playing Dying Light and as I played it more and more it’s nothing like the Dead Island games minus the Zombies and Weapon breaking systems Dying Light feels nothing like it’s and I was shocked at this. While Dead Island was fun to play with friends playing the single player campaign got really boring really really fast having felt like there was no clear sense of direction and the characters being about as interesting as a piece of cardboard. To my great surprise after playing hours upon hours of Dying Light I am still having a blast on the Single Player campaign and that’s not just the amazing parkour mechanics or the tension you feel when you’re running in the night away from the zombies or even sometimes in the Daylight when you want to avoid the zombies altogether but Dying Light actually kept me interested in its story! While a bit generic albeit with the military man going to a city that has a problem something happening to him and being saved by a resistance group and trying to blend in while still trying complete his mission but then being “torn” to do something. You play as Kyle Crane an Undercover Agent who goes to Harran Turkey where the Outbreak started and find Dictator Rais “Kadir” Sulaiman (try saying that three times fast) of course something goes and you end up getting bitten by a Zombie (Spoilers?) but it’s not like in the movies and other games where you automatically are turned into a zombie you have to take medication for hold off the inevitable and you’ll have seizures sometimes to remind you that your infected (Your body is a jerk). When you wake up in the safe house called “The Tower” you quickly learn that you’re #31 you are the 31st person to be bitten by a Zombie a bit strange but kind of cool and little cryptic! None the less it’s interesting and the characters make it even better throughout the game you’ll meet a lot of characters that have their own stake in it all and its all the same for everyone SURVIVE! It seems realistic in that aspect which I like and you’re the new guy and people at first are incredibly hard on you and mean but can you blame them? They have seen and been through so much!

The Gameplay- for Dying Light is totally where this game shines as I said running around and hoping from building to building is awesome and it’s so smooth and from my experience it wasn’t too much of a hassle or frustrating it just requires a lot timing and knowing what and where you want to go which again from my experience it just adds to the tension! I liked that! I am getting chased by Zombies and I have to think and time all of my movements if I make one small mistake I will get my face eaten off!? LETS DO IT! It just adds more tension to the already tension filled game, because when its night time you had better run! This was my favorite part of the game because I have never seen Zombies get so aggressive before usually they’re always somewhat docile and are just waiting to be slaughtered like Dynasty Warriors soldiers these Zombies DO NOT PLAY AROUND! I had and am still having an absolute blast playing this game and that is just the single player content! With most open world/survival games there is a crafting system that allows you craft different weapons/gear/health packs. With Dying Light the crafting system is easy and I like that its easy to see what you can actually create from the random items you find throughout the game. While like game like the Last of Us which didn’t allow you to pause the game to make a shiv or a health pack in Dying Light you can stop the action and create your gear or what have you. This doesn’t take away from the overall experience of the game I am still happy with its simplicity. The stealth is surprisingly good its not Metal Gear Solid status… (Metal Gear with Zombies I need that now!!) ANYWAY! You will sometimes want distract the Zombies in order to reach the objective mark and when you’re on the ground you may want to be quite or you have the option of just pummeling every Zombie you come in contact with (in the Daytime that is) and then go to your destination. It gives you options which is great because it doesn’t force you to play a certain way.
With the multiplayer you have a couple of options. You can both grab three of your friends and take on some Zombies or you can be a Zombie! Sort of similar to Resident Evil 6’s where you could do the same thing and invade a friends or someone’s game as one of those night Zombies, which was just fantastic! While not having a lot of time to play around with it all and not having well friends to play the game with I didn’t have as much fun as I would of if I had a couple of friends to enjoy it with. That’s what Developer Techland can do great they can make a game that is fun with your friends but with Dying Light they went both ways where the Single player is both enjoyable and entertaining enough to keep a person interested in and having fun with their mechanics and fairly interesting story!

Controversy and Verdict- Now this game has had a ton of “Hype” and I was one of the few people weren’t into it because nothing about the game really interested me I could have cared less about it to be honest and almost didn’t even buy it. I ended up pre-ordering it at my local GameStop and I begrudgingly put $5 down it still unsure if I was even going to pick it up because after the bland year 2014 was for gaming I was skeptical for this release and was probably going to pick it up on a sale or a pre-owned copy. I watched countless people like AngryJoe or TheRadBrad play their Early Access copies and not that their commentary was bland or boring but I just didn’t care for it. The game looked bland and I felt I wasn’t going to get a lot of enjoyment and to add on I have never been a big fan of Zombie anything because that sub-genre can’t hold my attention for more than 3 hours and that’s being generous! However Dying Light is holding my attention and it’s given me some hope for the Zombie Sub-Genre if the games continue to be as fun as this game is! Dying Light is how I felt before I bought Destiny I saw a ton of gameplay for it and I didn’t care for it and I just decided to pre-order it and decided to get it the day it came out and played the crap out of it and instantly fell in love with it and can’t get enough of it! Which is why I am giving Dying Light an-
8.5 Crazy Parkour Zombies out of 10!
+Fun addicting gameplay
=Cliché story
-Not too many multiplayer modes
+Innovative way to reinvent Zombies
=Simple crafting system that doesn’t take away from the overall experience but doesn’t add to the tension or suspense of the game

2015 is looking like a great year for video games! Its the PERFECT time to own a PS4, PC, or Xbox One!