 ©Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Inc. ©Rocksteady Studios Available on: Windows, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 Players: 1 "This is how the Batman died." From the moment the game opens up, you know you're going to be in for a rollercoaster of a ride. As the final entry to the Batman Arkham series, Rocksteady delivered a worthy conclusion to the series. The game opens up with a scene presenting the burning of Joker's body, who had died in the previous game. From there, we flash to Commissioner Gordon, who is in a diner when there is a Scarecrow fear toxin attack. You play this section in first-person, which is a first for the series and really helps add a very heavy impact to the beginning of the game. The game eventually gives you control of Batman, and you jump into an exciting adventure. The story revolves around a trio of concepts, all of which collide together in a beautiful set of storytelling: it takes a focus on Batman's deteriorating condition due to the Titan formula (from the previous two games); Scarecrow's return and obsession with his fear toxin terrorism; and this mysterious new villain (the Arkham Knight) who seems to know everything about Batman. The story progresses with some nice developments and a couple of unexpected (or expected, if you're good at predicting this sort of thing) twists. I was especially happy with the way that most of the major villains that have been presented in the series thus far were given reasonable closure through this game.  ©Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Inc. ©Rocksteady Studios To help propel the story forward, the game features an amazing cast who does a beautiful job in their roles. The sound effects are extremely exciting and the music is on point as well. The only downside, which seems to be a common problem in most any open-world game, is the slightly repetitive dialogue from normal grunts who you will often be caught fighting with. The game also looks absolutely stunning. From the detailed animations of Batman's cape to the vast environment to the amazing effects, the game usually never ceases to amaze. There are some occasions where the game's amazing detail is contrasted horribly against some low resolution textures or a low resolution backdrop, but this doesn't happen often enough to be a complete hindrance. Arkham Knight follows the same overall format as Arkham City. You are presented with a main story to which you can pursue at your leisure, while given a multitude of side-stories to seek. Each side-story revolves around a certain character (generally a villain), such as the Riddler, Two-Face or Penguin. One of the things I really enjoyed was the fact that each side-story has a different type of gameplay quirk in order to add variety to the game. To help propel these stories forward, you are given the ability to explore all of Gotham City, which is a bit larger than Arkham City (which only covered a part of Gotham). For you collectors out there, there are over 200 Riddler trophies to acquire, which rewards you with a final showdown with the Riddler himself. In fact, you can't actually get the complete ending unless you finish all the game's quests, including capturing the Riddler. I found this a bit irritating that seeing the complete ending requires doing something that many people would rather not do. The worst part is that this ending actually adds a lot of clarity to the conclusion, rather than just dropping a fun easter egg. This is great (completion actually rewards something substantial to the player) while being terrible at the same time (for people who just want to play the game for the story, the somewhat tedious item collection will be frustrating in order to see the complete conclusion). On the bright side, the challenge maps are plentiful, fun, varied, challenging and do not reflect on actual story completion requirements. You can even compete for scores with others if you feel compelled to do so.  ©Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Inc. ©Rocksteady Studios In order to traverse the city, you are given a couple new tricks. The first, is the ability to do a faster and further gliding grapnel boost. When you use your grapnel to traverse the side of a building you can press the dodge/run button twice to boost yourself over the ledge straight into a glide. You can upgrade this ability a few times to increase the height and glide length as well as speed. The second is actually the main dynamic that sets this game apart from the others: the Batmobile. The Batmobile takes on a similar design and function to the one presented in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. It functions as a sort of tank-car hybrid. This means that not only do you have the ability to travel on the ground faster, but you are also given the ability to participate in vehicular combat as well as vehicle races. In fact, most of the major boss battles in the game are actually done via the Batmobile. This does not mean that face-to-face battles are missing, it merely means that the majority of the new types of fights are done in the Batmobile. While some may complain that this takes away from the experience, I really enjoyed this new dynamic and it really helped add a new breath of life into this franchise. The first two games covered a pretty good variety of boss battle situations, and it would be challenging (and likely boring) to try and keep that as the focus again. Having the Batmobile as the focus opens up doors for all new types of situations. While I may sit here and praise the Batmobile, the normal combat situations did get repetitive pretty fast. Even though the normal combat is pretty repetitive, the Batmobile combat (which has the same amount of variety as normal combat) got stale faster. I don't understand why it felt this way and I really can't explain it. Regarding the normal Batman combat and scenarios, the game takes what was presented in the previous two entries and refines it to perfection. The free flow combat is precise and beautiful; the stealth is varied and satisfying; the traversal is simple and responsive. There are, of course, a small handful of new abilities and gadget uses, but for the most part the Batman sections are merely a refined version of what we got in Arkham City. This is in no way a bad thing, but it is not exactly new or fresh (hence why I welcomed the Batmobile sections). One thing I did like was that there were more partner sequences than in the previous entry. There are a few quests that pair you with Robin, Nightwing and Catwoman which makes for some really fun and flashy fight sequences.  ©Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Inc. ©Rocksteady Studios The controls for both the Batmobile and Batman sections are actually as good as I imagine they could be. Everything is responsive and there is a very seamless flow between combat and movement and stealth in both Batman and Batmobile modes. It's actually quite impressive how perfect the controls are in the game. Of particular note, especially for veteran players in the series, is how much better the gliding controls are. As fair warning, though, I played this game completely with a controller. My experience with the previous game's keyboard and mouse controls made me not even want to try that control style for this game. I ended up not regretting my decision even a little. While Arkham Knight doesn't reach the same pinnacle of innovation, balance and narration as its predecessor, it still manages to create an extremely alluring adventure that will leave you satisfied. It's an extremely worthy conclusion to an extremely top-notch series. The addition of the Batmobile helps keep things fresh enough to keep the somewhat familiar gameplay from becoming stale. For Batman fans or narrative driven open-world fans in general, this is definitely a game worth checking out.  ©Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Inc. ©Rocksteady Studios NOTE: I played this game in its entirety on the PC using an Xbox One controller. Having played it after the big updates, I ran into no technical problems. As it currently stands, your experience should be similar across all three platforms.
Graphics: AMAZING Sound: PERFECT Gameplay: AMAZING Value: PERFECT OVERALL: AMAZING - Teepu
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  Blizzard's latest franchise Overwatch has been on gamers' radars for almost two years now, with hundreds of thousands of players clambering to get into the much-sought-after closed beta test. After what felt like ages of waiting, we finally have a solid release date for the game; May 24th, 2016!
For those of us who can't wait, an open beta event will begin May 5th, with anybody who pre-ordered able to get in early on May 3rd. The game comes in a ton of different editions, but the standard edition can be yours for $40 on PC, and $60 on consoles. Make sure to choose your favorite hero now, so you're ready to jump into the action. Personally, I'm partial to the Arctic researcher Mei. -Justin  "Mobile games are garbage", I say as I play match after match with no signs of stopping. "Who even plays these?" I ask while I buy my first microtransaction. I play these apparently, it's me. The game in question is the latest from "Clash of Clans" developer SUPERCELL: "Clash Royale". Just what is "Clash Royale"? It's fun, that's what it is. "Clash Royale" is a two-player strategic tower defense-like game. Each player has their castle and two towers on either side of a field, and a deck full of minions and spells designed to ake down the opponent's defenses. Games last no longer than three minutes, making it fast-paced and simple. The card system feels like a watered-down Hearthstone. You build your deck out of only eight cards which are drawn at random and placed back into the deck after being used. Cards cost "elixir", which is essentially mana. A player's elixir recharges by the second, and more powerful cards cost more elixir (naturally). At the end of a game, the winner gets a chest full of gold (used to upgrade cards), cards, or experience points to level up your existing cards. Higher level cards have better stats.  The chests are where people start to describe the game as "pay to win". I disagree. The most common chest you get is a Silver Chest, which takes about three hours to open. Yes, chests open on timers. The worst offender I've found is a Magical Chest, which takes twelve hours! I paid a dollar to open it faster because I care about you and wanted to get some information about the game (definitely not because I'm lazy and impatient). Since these chests level up all your stats and sometimes include more powerful cards, of course people would call "pay to win" all over this game. I still haven't found that overpowered dragon card everyone keeps using against me! HOWEVER... This game isn't pay-to-win. It's what some people like to call Pay-To-Win-FASTER. You still get all the cool stuff without paying, you just have to wait a little. Like Hearthstone. Or Duelyst. Or any other digital card or strategy game similar to this. It's not pay-to-win, you can win just fine with the basic cards. Because strategy. Even if this game feels a little bit like a glorified Zerg Rush there's a little more strategy involved in winning. You have to know when to play a tank vs a ranged minion or when and where to cast your AOE spells. If you just throw cards out and hope for the best there's not a high chance you're gonna win. My personal favorite thing to do is to drop a Giant and a Skeleton Army in front with a ranged unit in the back. While the enemy tower focuses your tank and swarmy group your units can take the tower's health down without being targeted.  A lot of people hate hearing the name "Clash of Clans" simply because it's popular and it's mobile. I'm sure that in the coming weeks, it's gonna be the same story for "Clash Royale". So let me just say, before you let somebody tell you that mobile games aren't worth your time, that this is some of the most fun I've ever had with a mobile game, ever. It's free. It's fast. It has a pretty cute art style. It's also casual, but it has room for you to improve your skills. You can't go wrong with this one, guys. "Clash Royale". Tell your friends.
-Justin Graphics: GREAT Sound: GOOD Gameplay: GREAT Value: AMAZING (it's free, after all) OVERALL: GREAT  SUPER. HOT. SUPER. HOT. SUPERHOT is a strategic shooter with time control elements. Developed by the indie studio SUPERHOT Team, this game has been floating around the internet in various alpha and preview builds for a couple years now. With the commercial release finally available, it's time to see what SUPERHOT is all about.  Unfortunately, telling you what SUPERHOT is all about amounts to one gigantic spoiler, so we're gonna skip that part. Let's just say that it's a bit of a cross between The Matrix, Hotline Miami, and Serial Experiments Lain. Quite the combo. Gameplay-wise, SUPERHOT places you in the role of some nameless entity who fights against what the game called Red Dudes. It's extremely minimalistic, aesthetically reminding me of games like Mirror's Edge. On the surface, SUPERHOT looks like your average first-person shooter. The key difference is that time only moves when you move. Bullets flying your way? Stand still, plan the perfect dodge, and retaliate with some bullets of your own. In true Arena Shooter form, everything in this game is a one-shot kill, on you or your opponents. This leads to some seriously convoluted tactics, forcing you to dodge bullets with only moments to spare. As you head through the levels, you discover more weapons and one more pretty inventive gameplay mechanic; the ability to "Hotswitch" into your enemies, instantly switching bodies with them. About to get hit by a shotgun blast? Just take the body of the Red Dude who shot it, and watch him get destroyed by his own hand. And speaking of getting destroyed, the death animations in this game are BEAUTIFUL (as are the window-breaking animations, actually). This is because all the Red Dudes are made of glass, apparently, and shatter to pieces at the touch of a bullet (or a sword, if you prefer).  As you move through the levels inch by precious inch, you tend to forget just how short these stages really are. Upon completing each level, you get to watch a real-time playback of everything you just did. Spent twenty minutes on that room? Turns out it was only about five seconds of combat. You can watch all your impressive moves play out in real-time, and feel just like Keanu Reeves every time you get the slip on that one evasive Red Dude. My one (very minor) complaint is that the story is actually pretty short. It can be finished in about two hours, even if you're as bad as I am. For a game priced over $20, this might seem like a bad deal. However, there's a lot to do once the story is over. Again, no story spoilers, but the meat of the game actually comes in AFTER the credits roll. You unlock access to Endless Mode (essentially wave clearing/survival), as well as a ton of challenge modes and little extras. There are even a couple minigames thrown into the DOS-like menus. It's a pretty solid package, even if the story is short.  All in all, SUPERHOT is a fantastic game. It lives up to all the hype, and it brings some much-needed change to an otherwise pretty stale genre. SUPERHOT is the most innovative shooter I've played in years!
SUPERHOT can be found on Steam for $25, which may be a bit steep for what it is, but I personally found it to be worth the price. Some people might not, and that's okay too. Wait for the inevitable sale. -Justin Graphics: AMAZING Sound: GOOD Gameplay: AMAZING Value: GOOD Overall: AMAZING  ©Nintendo Co., Ltd. Soon after the Pokémon Direct of last week, we received a Nintendo Direct featuring some new games and also featuring some new information about already announced games. Here, I’ll talk about some of the main highlights of the Direct.  ©Nintendo Co., Ltd. ©Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development ©PlatinumGames Inc. They kicked things off with Star Fox Zero. Unlike some of the newer entries in the franchise, this one will be following a setup similar to Star Fox 64, with the addition of more branching paths, 2-player co-op and amiibo compatibility. Packaged with the game will be Star Fox Guard, which looks like tower defense game that revolves around using cameras placed on the field to deal with enemies and also features the ability to create custom maps. Both games will release on April 22nd. For you Super Mario Maker fans out there, some new features will be released. Most importantly, the addition of keys (and of course locked doors) along with a new Super Expert Mode and more. The Bookmark site will also be seeing some improvements and updates. All of this is slated to happen March 9th. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE (formerly known as Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem) will be releasing on June 24. Instead of focusing on the crossover, they are now focusing more on the prevailing themes of Jpop and idols in a modern Tokyo setting. They even mentioned that this RPG will feature music from Avex which is one of the biggest records label in Japan.  ©Nintendo Co., Ltd. ©Intelligent Systems Co., Ltd. Next up, a brand-new Paper Mario game was shown off, called Paper Mario Color Splash. This one will be on the Wii U, and revolves around the themes of colors and paint (perhaps similar to de Blob?). It’s slated for release sometime this year. Nintendo’s new loyalty program was finally official revealed as My Nintendo. It seems like rather than all purchases adding to your ‘points’ like the previous program, only digital purchases will mean anything. To counter that, it was mentioned that using Nintendo apps will also allow you to gather up points. You can already signup for one of these new apps, called Miitomo, here: https://miitomo.com/en/. Hyrule Warriors Legends was also featured a bit. While it will come with all the DLC that has been released on the Wii U version, this game will still receive new DLC as well available individually or via a Season Pass (just like the console counterpart). Purchasing the Season Pass will also give players a Ganon costume based on his Wind Waker design. People who purchase the game within the launch window will acquire a special theme and also a code that allows all the new characters to be unlocked in the Wii U version. Finally, Medley from Wind Waker will be available for free for both versions when the game releases on March 25th.  ©Nintendo Co., Ltd. ©Next Level Games Inc Finally, there was some clarification added to Metroid Prime: Federation Force. Sadly, due to the negative reaction back when it was announced, the producer felt the need to defend their action in making this game. He went into the history of the game, having started development in 2009. This was around the time the DSi was released, and it was then that they realized that their online multiplayer focused ideas wouldn’t happen on the limitations of that system. When the New 3DS was finally released with much better hardware. Thus, Federation Force finally saw the light of day. While Samus will be featured in the game, the game revolves around an elite group of Galactic Federation soldiers called the Federation Force. This game will revolve around the war between the Galactic Federation and the Space Pirates (presumably sometime after Metroid Prime 3). This new entry in the franchise will have weight limitations on the characters, thus forcing you to be wise about your weapon and ability choices. These limitations are going to allow the player to be able to customize and choose player roles in a sort of pseudo-class system. Metroid Prime: Federation Force is slated of a late Spring release. There were also a handful of other games presented as well as some other items like new amiibo. The year is certainly starting to look up for Nintendo fans, so start getting your wallets ready! FULL GAME LIST - Star Fox Zero (Wii U: April 22) - Star Fox Guard (Wii U: April 22) - Splatoon Update (2 Updates coming soon) - Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (Wii U: June 24 and 3DS: March 18) - Super Mario Maker Update (Wii U: March 9) - Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE (Wii U: June 24) - Lost Reavers (Wii U: April 28 with Open Beta April 14) - Paper Mario Color Splash (Wii U: 2016) - Pokkén Tournament (Wii U: March 18) - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD (Wii U: March 4) - Mini Mario & Friends: amiibo Challenge (Wii U & 3DS: April 28) - Animal Crossing amiibo Cards and Standalone Isabelle amiibo (June 10) - Pilotwings (3DS: Available Now) SNES Virtual Console - F-Zero (3DS: Available Now) SNES Virtual Console - Super Mario World (3DS: Available Now) SNES Virtual Console - Super Mario Kart (3DS: March 24) SNES Virtual Console - Earthbound (3DS: March 24) SNES Virtual Console - Donkey Kong Country (3DS: March 24) SNES Virtual Console - The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (3DS: April 14) SNES Virtual Console - Super Metroid (3DS: April 14) SNES Virtual Console - Super Metroid (3DS: April 14) SNES Virtual Console - Pocket Card Jockey (3DS: May) - Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 (3DS: Summer) - Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation (3DS: March 10) - Hyrule Warriors Legends (3DS: March 25) - Disney Art Academy (3DS: May 13) - Bravely Second: End Layer (3DS: April 15) - Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past (3DS: 2016) - Monster Hunter Generations (3DS: Summer) - Metroid Prime: Federation Force (3DS: Late Spring) - Rhythm Heaven Megamix (3DS: Later This Year) - Kirby Planet Robobot (3DS: June 10) - Teepu Full Nintendo Direct Video |
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