Mediocrity Awaits?

The Playstation 4 launched last week on the 15th of November 2013 after over 10 months of marketing and game reveals generated tons of hype to the point where the PS4 managed to break industry records and sold over 1 million units in it's 1st day in North America. However, the luanch line up for the console, which includes games like Knack, Killzone: Shadow Fall etc was less than stellar and there have been alot of reports about PS4's being bricked after fiirmware updates, PSN servers being unable to handle the loads and wobbling consoles of all things.

By the time this entry is up, the Xbox ONE will also have launched in North America, Europe and Australia and the reception of it's launch games, although better than the PS4's lineup, hasn't been that great either and I'm sure that once the console is out in the market we'll see plenty of functionality issues plague the console just as much as it's counterpart. The only titles that performed well critically in the Xbox ONE library were Forza Motorsport 5 and Dead Rising 3 and for the PS4 Resogun turned out to be the best title in it's lineup despite having a promising looking Killzone title in the mix.

As bad as it may look, that was all expected. It is after all, a console launch and those are always shaky at best, this console launch continues the tradition of broken functionality, failing consoles and lackluster launch titles that plagued the launches of the preceeding generation of consoles but things will get pick up again very quickly with titles like Infamous: Second Son, Watch Dogs, The Witcher 3, MGS V, Titan Fall and Quantum Break well on their way to populate the shelves at some point next year.

Until then, for those of you who haven't already sunk some cash into these consoles, I'd advise you to wait. It's never really a good idea to buy these machines at launch unless you have cash to spare or derive pleasure from the thrill of making a purchase at launch night. You're better off waiting for the manufactureres to work out all the kinks in their systems and for the game librarys to grow and not to mention price drops, the ideal time to jump into a console generation in my opinion would be after the first price drop which will probably happen after about a year after launch.

If you're still not convinced that you should wait, the click here.

Overlooked Games: Catherine

Catherine, for those of you who don't know, is a horror/puzzle platformer released on the PS3/360 in 2011 by none other than the ATLUS persona team (The guys that made Persona 3 and 4). Catherine was their first attempt at making a game on the 7th generation consoles and as expected they delivered. You follow the story of Vincent Brooks. A software developer in his early 30s struggling with his love life and having a hard time getting himself to commit to his girlfriend (Katherine) whom he's been dating for quite a few years. One day Vincent meets a hot, young blonde girl (Catherine) at a bar he frequents with his friends. The Girl tries to seduce Vincent and apparently he ends up cheating on Katherine with a K with Catherine with a C.

Meanwhile, after the death of a few young men in their early thirties under mysterious circumstances, there's rumors going around town that men who're being unfaithful to their partners are dying in their sleep, Sure enough, Vincent too starts having weird nightmares close to his encounter with Catherine.

The Dreams aspect of the story is where the gameplay comes in, each night, when vincent goes to sleep he's dropped into a labyrinth where he must climb up block puzzles before the bottom gives out and he falls to his death - If you Die in the dream, you die in real life - and the puzzles can be a bit challenging.

At first glance it may seem like the type of game that uses sex and sexual themes as a selling point but anyone who'd played Persona 3/4 or is familiar with the Persona team's work knows that they have a knack for handling mature themes and situations like this in a very responsible fashion. They mannage to get the point across pretty well and Catherine ends up with a well crafted and interesting narrative that everyone ought to experience at least once.

This is one of those games that for one reason or another couldn't quite reach its fullest potential but is still a ramarkable experience that is unjustly neglected by most.

Bioshock Infinite: Burial At Sea Episode 1 Impressions

Bioshock infinite is hands down one of the best games I've played this year, it's not a perfect game and isn't without it's own share of flaws but then again, nothing is ever perfect and in Infinite's case the end product comes together really well and manages to be a memorable experience, one that I will remember for quite some time. So it's natural that I'd be really excited to play burial at seas which is a two part DLC story expansion set in rapture, the infamous underwater utopia from the first game ruled by the enigmatic Andrew Ryan.Which is a real treat for me and probably for other fans of the series as well especially those who liked the first Bioshock.

The biggest hook in this DLC for me would be that the events of the story take place before Rapture's fall from grace which gives you a chance to see what the city was like before everything went to hell and all of it's citizens went batshit insane.It's a chance to see exactly how different Rapture and Columbia are from one another despite having a similar basic premise i.e a man, a city and a lighthouse. Constants and variables as Elizabeth puts it in Bioshock infinite.

The plot itself revolves around Booker and Elizabeth once again and the themes that were at the front and centre in Bioshock Infinite are in the spotlight here again evern though you may not realize it at first. There isn't too much gameplay in the first episode and out of the two hours or so it takes to finish the DLC about half is spent on exploration in rapture. When you do get to the combat you'll notice that it resembles the combat from the first game more than Infinite, most notably the ammo is much more scarce this time around and the rate at which Elizabeth resupplies you with health, ammo and eve has also been reduced. Although to my surprise this didn't raise the overall difficulty of the game by too high a degree although I was only playing on normal. I guess we'll find out more about the difficulty once Episode 2 is out which is suppossed to be more gameplay heavy.

Tears are still around, the Booker in this story doesn't know about Elizabeth or her abilities so she explains them as a new experimental plasmid that's been kept away from the public eye, called "Tear". Apart from that there's a new vigour called "Old Man Winter" that allows Booker to freeze his oponents for a limited time and to freeze water flowing out from burst pipes into walkways as a means of traversal.

The DLC takes only about two hours to complete even if you explore everything and that might not be worth spending $15 for alot of players but if you're a fan of the Bioshock franchise and want to experience rapture before the fall then the purchase ought to be worth it. It's not as good as I had hoped it would be but it's not bad either. In any case this DLC is recommended for those of you who still want more Bioshock and want to see the city of Rapture in all it's glory.

Assassin's Creed IV Is Probably The Best Game In The Series

Having recently finished AC IV: Black Flag, the latest installment in the yearly Assassin's Creed franchise, I feel as if my faith in this franchise has been restored to an extent after it was severely damaged by the poorly executed Assassin's Creed III. Playing that game was about as fun as watching a turd floating in toilet water for hours on end. OK, maybe that was a little harsh but I'm not wrong either, Assassin's Creed III was a deeply flawed game. Apart from having poor pacing, the story was lackluster and full of holes, the characters were bland with often unclear moativations and goals, the gun/shooting mechanics were terrible and in the end the American Revolution setting turned out to be quite boring and bland compared to renaissance era Italy in Assassin's Creed II.

Having come off of such an off putting experience just a year ago I was reluctant to try out Black Flag but I'm glad that I did because as it turns out it was a major improvement over the previous game in every way and was overall an extremely fun experience right off the bat.Now of course being an improvement over a game like Assassin's Creed III isn't really that big an achievement, in this case I think it would be better to compare it to more successful games in the series like Assassin's Creed II and Brotherhood.

Now, in terms of gameplay and game mechanics, I guess Black Flag wins again, it's a much much larger game than both Assassin's Creed II and Brotherhood, with alot more to do, better animations, faster combat, naval exploration and battles and everything else. Ubisoft have been constantly improving the Assassin's Creed formula ever since the first game barring a few hiccups here and there and they've mostly succeeded and of course making Black Flag a pirate themed game set in the Carribbean really paid off for them.

The area where I feel Black Flag can't quite compete with games like Assassin's Creed II is the story. Edward Kenway is a great character, definitely more interesting than his grandson Connor but he's still not as good a character as Ezio, maybe I feel that way just because I've already spent so much time playing as Ezio in the previous game and seen his entire life unfold infront of my eyes, from Birth (In AC II) to death (Revelations). You could say that I've developed a sense of attachment with Ezio. As far as their moativations and goals are concerned, they are both equally relatable.

For Ezio it's his desire to avenge the death of his family which ultimately pushes him into a timeless conflict for the fate of humanity and it's freedom, Edward's goals on the other hand are a bit less noble. Hejust wants to be rich and doesn't really care about anyone else, all he really wants is to obtain enough money to live a comfortable life, a goal that most of us should be able to relate to irregardless of the way he goes about achieving it. I guess it just boils down to personal preference but for me Ezio wins but only by a small margin.

When all's said and done Assassin's Creed IV is a truly amazing experience which expands and improves on the previous games and moves the franchise forward in the right direction, even if it is just a few steps it's still alot better than what Assassins' Creed III contributed to the franchise. However, Assassin's Creed IV is the 6th Assassin's Creed game to come out in the past 7 years (Not counting portable/spin off titles) and it can get a bit old after a while. So whether or not you should actually get the game depends on whether or not you still want more Assassin's Creed. If the answer happens to be yes than Assassin's Creed IV should certainly not be overlooked, it is, afterall one of the strongest if not THE strongest entry in the series thus far.

What Makes A Game "Next-Gen"?

It's funny how time flies, especially the time leading up to the launch of a brand new console generation. As of right now the laucnh of SONY's new hardware (PS4) in North America is less than a week away and soon enough the general public will be able to venture into the realm of next gen gaming. But are the games being offered at launch really worthy of being called next gen games?

With consoles and other hardware it's easy to draw the line between one generation and the next. PS2/Xbox is last gen, PS3/Xbox360 is current gen, PS4/Xbox ONE is next gen and so on. The difference between one generation and the next is all about power and specifications as far as consoles are concerned but for games the lines between next gen and current gen are less prominent and not as well defined. We could just say that games that run on the PS3/360 are current gen games that run on PS4/XBO (With better visuals of course) are next gen and end the discussion right there but then what about the PC?

 Unlike consoles, the PC is a platform that is always evolving, gradually getting faster and better instead of getting an upgrade every 5-6 years and so the visual upgrade from "current gen" games to "next gen" games isn't nearly as big as it is for the consoles and the lines between current gen and next gen are blurred even further.

But is an increase in visual fidelity and performance enough to make a game worthy of being called "next gen"? What about Gameplay? Story? Level design? A.I? Innovation in terms of mechanics? Can a game really be called next gen just because it runs at a higher resolution and framerate or has better textures than the ones that came before it?

Well, not in my opinion atleast. I think that for a game to be called next gen it should do more than just look prettier than the ones from the old gen. AAA games especially need to be bigger in scope and size, they must push the boundries of what we believe games can do not just from technical stand point but from an artistic one as well. Looking at the lineup of AAA games coming out for the new consoles so far I have to say I'm not impressed by what I see, It seems to me that at this point in time most developers are too focused on showing off the power of the new machines with flashy visual effects and textures and are failing to focus on innovation in gameplay and making games that truly stand out and make you say: "Yeah, this is next gen!".