Injustice 2

Rating: 9.5

Happy Price: 59.99

Injustice 2 is a nearly flawless fighting game, if you want to stop reading now you can. I'll go into what is great about the game, but the only thing I found that could use improvement was PvP matchmaking. The game boasts an incredible roster of DC characters that have modern relevance and have done some of the most creative combat design I've seen on characters that would otherwise get little mainstream representation. 

Combat Design

I'm not comic book buff, but after playing this game for over 60 hours I now have a great sense of who characters are like Dr. Fate, Atrocitus, and Blue Beetle. As I went through every single character to find my main, I learned about their movements hence learned about who they were as heroes (or villains). It was a great experience, and it seemed like each time I tried out a new character I would think to myself, "this is my new main". I would do great with them in the multiverse or during practice. The reality would hit when I played PvP however. That aside, every character has noticeable strengths and weaknesses that go beyond just what they are capable of. What I mean by that is, characters need to be judged on the number of frames to start combos, as well as their super moves, and the difficulty of hitting combos.

A great way to illustrate this would be the matchup of Catwoman and Dr. Fate. Dr. Fate is a mage that primarily uses ranged projectile attacks, but also posses a 3 button combo that includes an overhead attack. When facing someone like Catwoman, the strategy is to keep her away as much as possible, as Dr. Fate does not have very many combos that are good for close range. Catwoman does not have any ranged projectiles. She does however, have a nasty mix of easy to hit combos that have a variety of high and low attacks which make it hard to defend and setup devastating combos when an opening is found. She also poses the ability to "dodge" which builds up her character power. Her character power is a one button 4 hit combo. So someone playing Catwoman could potentially think this is a great matchup, or a bad matchup. It can be hard to tell, and it usually depends on the skill level of each person controlling the characters. This is what I love about fighting games, and in particular Injustice 2. A great Dr. Fate player can destroy an average Catwoman player and vice versa. 

Animations

The artwork and animation in this game is some of the best I've ever seen. There is so much spirit and attitude in every character. Their personalities a threaded into each move and animation that creates an immersive experience that comic book fans would salivate over. This is truly a deathmatch between different heroes and there is nothing that is held back. When Supergirl shoots layers out of her eyes, she's walking forward with an anger about her that is felt through the screen. This actually psychologically affects you as a player, it can be demoralizing if it happens to you, and invigorating when you can hit this attack with full power. The cleanliness of the animations provide great feedback during gameplay, because the animations are so clean you understand what is happening even though kicks and punches are coming in really fast. The voice acting and animations in the main story are also great, and makes you feel like you're watching a movie rather than playing a video game.

Story

Netherealm Studios has come up with a great method of introducing the player to as many characters as possible while still having a story with twists and turns. Sometimes things feel a little cheap, like "in my dimension we don't like each other" but this is something DC has been doing in its TV shows as well, so there is some liberty since it's a common theme we see with DC these days. That being said, it is difficult to achieve the goal of getting the player familiar with a bunch of characters while trying to tell a story. Stories typically revolve around just one person, but this story has the overarching component and tries to introduce a bunch of subplots with key characters so the player has a good variety and get a feel for the majority of the characters. Even though Brainiac is the main villain, it feels more like a Batman vs. Superman story and Brainiac is only there to increase the tension between the two. It can be a bit tiring to see Superman outside of his character, I guess I'm a fan of a more simpler time. The story is still immersive and you'll find yourself glued to your controller because you will be craving for what happens next.

Customization

 Gear customization adds yet another layer to an already deep fighting game system. Gear provides different buffs for the multiverse, which is an area of the game that offers rewards and allows you to grind to level up characters. Leveling up characters can grant you access to hidden moves which are gained at level 10 and 20. The buffs you earn will not be applied during competitive gameplay, but the skins do apply. This gives the player personalization when in a PvP environment, and can add an intimidation factor when you see someone has all the best gear on a character because you know they worked for it and got familiar with the character they are playing as. This feature adds the element of loot drops that we see in MMO's and it fits in great with not only a fighting game but a fighting game that has some of your favorite DC characters. Another great thing is you can infuse armor pieces, so if you've gotten a epic piece of hardware at an early level, you can always infuse it with a higher level item and the epic piece will level up to your current level. 

Multiverse

The Multiverse is an area of the game that allows players to practice but with meaning. There are different planets that have a set of missions that lead to a boss battle. These mission sets usually start with the barrier of entry being "any level" and the final stage would be the boss battle that would require "Level 20". By the time your character has reached level 20, you've probably mastered that character so the multiverse is a great way to have purpose while practicing with a character and trying to find your main. There are usually five active mission sets you can do, each with a different difficulty setting. If you want to practice against "very hard" A.I opponents, you can do that. The loot drops from very hard opponents will be better than if you were to choose "easy" AI opponents. I've spent many hours in the multiverse with characters before I attempt PvP and even though it's a grind, it's a fun way to grind. If the option was not there, you'd just be sitting in the practice room or competing in noncompetitive PvP which in my opinion are worse options than the multiverse.

PvP

My experience in PvP has both its good moments and bad moments. When you are matched up with someone with a similar skill set as you, the matches are amazing. Your heart rate is going, your are completely focused, and you feel the back and forth going between your opponent. At the end of the match, there is mutual respect between both players. When I face someone that is undermatched, it's fun to really demonstrate my superiority over another person, it's a demonstration of the time I've put into playing the game.  It's not so fun when the reverse happens, and I get absolutely destroyed by someone that has 200 wins and 40 losses. When you see the record, you know what is coming and you just try to survive at that point. I do wish matchmaking was better, I'd like to get that mutual respect game much more often. Sadly, I'm usually matched up against someone that is way better than me or way worse than me. I'm not sure if matchmaking is random or there is a system in place that is broken. 

Summary

Injustice 2 has it all. Great combat design, characters, and story. You'll find yourself playing this game for hours on end as you try to find your main. Since each character feels just as great as another character, you'll have a hard time figuring out which one you like best. PvP competitive matchmaking could use improvements. I'm at the point where I've basically stopped playing the game because PvP just isn't that fun anymore. I have a .500 record and it's obvious I win a game, then lose a game. 

Design: 9

Engineering:10

Animation: 10

Story: 9

Sound: 9

    

Streets of Rogue (Early Access)

Rating: 8

Happy Price: 9.99

Gameplay

I'm going to start off acknowledging that this is an early access game, but it seems many indie games today are in the early access stage and never leave it. If it's out for the public to play, I believe it's fair to review. That being said, Streets of Rogue is very polished from a technical stand point but it's very evident the game is not finished. 

The title of the game says it all, it's a rogue style procedurally generated world that takes place in the streets of three distinct locations. Each level gets progressively more difficult, but it's up to the player to accumulate enough items and wealth to make sure they are ready for the next level. The more you play, and die, the better you get and eventually can make it through all nine levels. Each play through earns you chicken nuggets, which can be used in a variety of ways that help the player get through all the stages. 

Character Selection

The most important part of your run is the character that is selected because every character has a specialty that will determine the best approach to different situations. There are several ways to approach a mission which gives this game its luster, but certain characters need to approach missions according to their specialties if they want to see success. For example, the gangster character starts off with an automatic weapon while the hacker only starts off with a remote hacking tool. The way these two characters approach their first mission is completely different. The gangster can easily overpower the characters in the first level, while the hacker will have to use more creative tactics. By achieving certain things each run, more characters can be unlocked that have even more distinct abilities. For example the Vampire can regenerate health when attacking from behind, because the Vampire has a distinct attack where it sucks blood. The Gorilla can punch people through walls, but can't talk to anyone, etc. Everyone will have different favorite characters that compliment their play style. For me, the Hacker is the most powerful character.

Combat

Streets of Rogue is driven by top down combat. There are tons of weapons available to choose from but a pistol and shotgun will handle most situations. Because the environment is destructible, it is very fun to use grenades, rocket launchers, and bombs but they are expensive and usually need to be rewarded for winning a mission. These huge weapons that cause destruction also bring attention to you, so if you decide to go this route making a huge commotion, be ready to handle the consequences. The NPC's can hate you so much, that police officers and gangsters will attack you together. Melee combat is very simple, when swinging a weapon it can either be blocked or not. I typically just make sure I'm timing my hits right, and go at it for as long as possible until I win. There isn't a counter or parry system in place. You'll either hit the opponent or not.

Not every character is great with weapons however. Some characters rely on gaining party members to do the dirty work for them. These characters consist of traits that help allies, and basically you become a passenger in many situations but you don't have to hurt anyone. You're just the mastermind getting other people to do things for you. The hacker can hack almost anything in the game including refrigerators and turrets. This makes it fun because a refrigerator can "run" which makes it run at a constant velocity until it hits an indestructible piece of material. But it will destroy everything in its path until that happens. This allows the hacker to gain access to locked areas and treasure chests that would have otherwise been very difficult to get to.

Art

I'm a sucker for games that use 2D pixel art. They are a reminder of the past when games were more simple and contained. Today though, modern game engines allow combining endless possibilities with that same art style. Pixel art is hard, and if you look closely this game has many assets like brick walls, stools with great shadows, animated fire, and walls that blow up. There aren't many animated assets to worry about, most characters just move their legs and their arms. There are some environmental animations like fire coming from vents and fire hydrants spewing water. The good thing about that was the focus on the content itself. Everything has detail which gives the game a cohesive feel.




Story

There is no story, this is just a rogue runner at the moment. Dialogue can be witty at times, but there isn't any character investment. I don't really know why I'm trying to get to the end of the level, aside that I'm apart of a resistance. I think there is potential here for a simple story and even a boss battle at the end. However, I don't know what the developer has plans for. 

Summary 

If you are looking to take a break from 3d open world games which have saturated the market like fidget spinners, then this game is a good option. A successful run can take between 90-120 minutes so there will be a time investment. Last I checked, you can't save in the middle of a run, so you need to block time out if you're going to play. There is tons of replayability and the game forces you to play certain ways to unlock new characters. That alone keeps me coming back, along with all the weapons and creative ways to win the game.

Design: 9
Sound: 8
Art: 9
Story: 5
Engineering: 9

Bayonetta: Remastered

Happy Price: 19.99

Rating: 9

Gameplay

Bayonetta is an action packed shooter/slasher/platformer. It emphasizes different combos and aerial combinations to create unique attacks and strategies for different opponents. The main character is equipped with guns on her feet, which creates fun weapon combinations like a sword in the hands but shotguns on the feet. The creative and stylish combos are also innovative because of the ability to shoot from one's heel. 

Combat

The number of combos offered will leave you trying to master all of them throughout your gameplay run. There aren't too many weapons to choose from, that being said it isn't really necessary because variety is not lacking. When a new weapon is discovered, you'll have to learn how to use it. As the game progresses, certain situations will require you to use certain weapons. By that time, you'd better have a good idea on how to use them and mastered some of the combos. Experimenting with different weapon combinations that best suit your gameplay style is fun but can also be painful at times. You're judged each stage by the effectiveness of your combos and how much damage you've taken. So the learning phase will affect your score, and ultimately how much can be contributed to upgrades.

The most repetitive and impactful game mechanic is activating witch time. Witch time slows down the surrounding enemies for a short duration, but you get to attack at the same speed. This means you can dish out monster combos and gain the upper hand when outnumbered. Activating which time is done with a perfectly executed dodge. The more enemies attacking, the easier it is to activate witch time because there will be many projectiles and melee weapons attacking at once. Even though you may not hit your perfect dodge on your intended target, there are collateral dodges that happen and out of nowhere witch time is activated. You'll spend a lot of time dodging, jumping, shooting, and unleashing hell on enemies.

Story

I spent most of the time confused by the story. The game starts and all you know is you've been awoken from a slumber, you're a witch, and forces from the light are after you. You're then introduced to a love interest that is a journalist, but he's convinced you've murdered his father yet his this strange compassion for you. Then a little girl that calls you Mommy appears and you're trying to protect the little girl and the love interest from angels. That being said, the execution and presentation of the story was fantastic. The cinematics, animations, and voice acting were top notch. Bayonetta comes across just as she looks: charismatic, powerful, and ethereal. The actual story was not good or engaging for most of the game, until the ending where things come together and make sense. The game is driven by the fun of combat, not necessarily the narrative. If you wanted to, you can skip every cinematic and watch the last scene and know exactly what happened. If the design and animations of the characters was not excellent, the writing would have been exposed as being a huge flaw.

Animations

 A number of combos, cinematics, and unique enemies stresses the importance of unique and clean animations for each character. Many times games will be filled with unique characters but they have re-used or only a few animations. This is not the case in Bayonetta. Almost every enemy feels unique and they have to be handled differently. There are even enemies that have the same character models with slightly different skins, however, they will have different attacks and powers. For example two dogs, one blue and one orange. The blue one moves and attacks entirely different than the orange one. They also have different powers which influence their attack styles and movements. The blue being electric, while the orange is a molten rock creature. The electric dog moves around all the time and is aggressive, while the molten rock dog is defensive. Bayonetta moves extremely fluidly transitioning from running as a panther to doing cartwheels and shooting upside while airborne. Nothing feels choppy and the smoothness enhances the gameplay.

Environment

You've never been to this place before. Unsure if you're on Earth, in hell, or some heavenly realm, everything about this world is unique. Angels are characterized as having gold and white tones to their attire, but hideous looking faces. Some of them are complete atrocities with huge blood boils on their bodies. Some of their worlds are angelic like you picture in heaven, while others are just normal looking cities that have a nice stickly gold architecture to them.  The level designs are not repetitive and will keep you on your toes. Bosses might destroy the ground right beneath you, forcing you to jump to another platform. You may have to transform into a super fast panther to escape a rolling boulder down a hallway, or navigate along the sides of buildings during a flood. Not paying attention can result in a death, which reduces the rewards at the end of the level.

Summary

Bayonetta is a high octane adventure that mixes great action, platforming, and cinematics into an expertly paced experience. The characters are so developed and consistent you'll be able to predict their behaviors or responses to dialogue. The boss battles seem to be never ending and are always interesting. If you're looking for a game that doesn't try to do too much "realism" and lets the imagination fly, you'll want to pick this one up. 

Design: 10
Art: 9
Story: 7
Tech: 9
Sound: 9
Animation: 10
Total: 9

Top 10 Most Annoying Wild Pokemon

10. Bronzor

Debuting in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, Bronzor is a Psychic/Steel type with a high defense and special defense stat. Sometimes they will have the levitate ability which negates an attack weakness for the steel type (ground types). Most moves will not be effective against Bronzor, and the only types that are effective are fire attacks. The moveset won't do too much damage, but equipped with confuse ray, hypnosis, and future sight wild encounters while training can be painfully long and can cause extensive damage. Run in all cases unless you are training a fire type. 

9. Magnemite

This first generation pokemon wasn't so bad when it was just an electric type, but when it gained the steel type it became a different animal. Wielding moves like sonicboom, supersonic, and thunder wave this pokemon can be a nightmare early game when training. Supersonic never seems to fail when wild pokemon use it, and sonicboom takes a fixed 20hp of health away. Thunder Wave is a permanent status changer which will leave you heading back to pokemon centers constantly. When training pokemon between levels 15-25 battles will be long and will leave your party in shambles after only a few encounters.

8. Ghastly

Only found in special areas, they are not common across regions in the pokemon series but are concentrated in certain areas. That being said, they tend to be in areas that have multiple levels with lack of access to pokemon centers without the use of repels or escape ropes. Equipped with mean look, this pokemon has the potential to remove the ability for you to run away. It can then be followed up with the weak lick attack which can cause paralysis. Confuse Ray and Hypnosis always tend to be in the arsenal which cause annoying status changes. Night shade takes away a fixed amount of HP (whatever the level of the user is) so if it wants it can deal some good damage despite your pokemon being resistant to the attack type. 

7. Diglett

A high speed and attack stat, this pokemon has the potential to cause sustained damage after multiple encounters. Arena Trap will make running disabled, so when in tight situations can make things even worse. The aloha region gains the steel type which helps negate the fact that its defense level is low, because it's resistant to previous weaknesses like grass, but gains a weakness to fight types. Also fire moves now deal normal damage. They become abundant in caves, or caves made by diglett, which causes repeated encounters with this annoying pokemon. 

6. Geodude

Found common in all caves and has multiple level ranges. It can usually be defeated with one water or grass type attack due to the rock/ground type combination. However the abiliy called "sturdy" was introduced which does not allow one hit knock out moves on the first hit. Equipped with powerful moves like magnitude or self destruct, this pokemon does not go down without swinging. What should be a quick experience boost, turns into massive damage coming from a pokemon with 1hp left. It usually allows you to escape, so it can be avoided if necessary.  

5. Raticate

Appearing usually later in journeys, this pokemon learns Super Fang and Double Edge. Super fang takes away half of your HP in all cases, so if you don't defeat it in one hit it has the potential to halve our hp if it's in a full state. This can be very annoying while training. It has decent speed, so if you're training a pokemon that has high hp and defense, but low speed, this pokemon can plague you during training sessions. Double Edge is one of the most powerful normal attacks in the game, dealing 120 damage. The only normal attacks higher are Giga Impact and Self Destruct. 

4. Tentacruel

Trying to train your grass type pokemon for the pokemon league while surfing? You'll regret that once you come across a Tentacruel. The Water/Poison type negates the grass weakness, and is equipped with high special defense, speed, and HP. It doesn't have too many great offensive weapons, but has moves that can confuse and poison. When trying to run, it doesn't always allow you to get away, so you'll have to switch to a psychic or electric type to take this one out. Even then, you can find yourself poisoned or confused when your other party pokemon enters the battle because of its speed. 

3. Tentacool

The previous evolution of a Tentacruel, these are far more common and appear when you're at a lower level. More often than not equipped with moves like poison sting and supersonic, they will leave you in a status hell. Poison sting for whatever always seems to cause poison to occur, even though when I use it that never happens. This pokemon is the reason I no longer use grass types to deal with water, I'm exclusively an electric type wielder because of the difficulties of dealing with tentacool in the wild. Electric types take them out in one hit. 

2. Golbat

Golbat starts to appear later in journeys at higher levels in caves. Usually in the cave right before the pokemon league that is filled with the toughest trainers in the game. In later versions of the series it gains attacks like Acrobatics which is the one of the most powerful flying attacks in the game. Also Air cutter which deals critical damage. Confuse Ray and Mean look mean you can't leave the battle and you'll be in a confused state. These pokemon suck if they are in your party, but tend to ruin your training sessions. Training fighting types in caves is ideal to deal with the rock type pokemon, but a Golbat can kill them in one hit with Acrobatics or Air Cutter. Training electric types is not ideal in caves, but is the most effective type to match up with Golbat because of their speed and high special attack. Unfortunately rarely are they first in your party while in caves or where Golbats appear.

1. Zubat

Appearing far more often and much earlier in the game than Golbats, Zubats are the most annoying pokemon in any series. Equipped with supersonic which never seems to fail, and poison sting on top that, you'll find yourself using antidotes or having multiple pokemon poisoned. Zubats are everywhere and constantly appear. They don't become super threatening until they learn Wing Attack which is a decently damaging flying move. When training grass types early game in caves against the rock/ground types, Zubats can kill your groove. Electric types are not common early game to have in your party, giving you few options to deal with Zubats. The slower Rock types are the most common way to deal with the Zubat problem.

  

Mass Effect: Andromeda

Rating: 6.7

Happy Price: 19.99

Gameplay

Mass Effect expands on the previous trilogy of being a third person shooter/RPG with extensive dialogue, but lacks heavy narrative decision making seen in previous versions of the game. You'll customize armor, guns, and different party combinations. Selecting a class and building it out how you want to play it is one of the most rewarding parts of the game, but at the same time can feel more restrictive than in previous games. 

Quest Design

You'll be flooded with things to do, and not really know what is important or not when you first start playing the game. After a while you realize you're running around doing chores that don't reward much experience points or make any impact on the main story, yet they'll appear in your journal as incomplete which will bother you endlessly. It can be confusing because the dialogue for all these side quests is compelling and the voice acting is done well, which conveys emotion though the screen. You'll really want to save the botanists brother that may have been kidnapped by raiders, but after the 10th time you've heard this story it begins to lose its luster. Sometimes doing side quests unlock cool rewards like heavily discounted black market shops which help you in the long run, and other times you just get a pat on the back. Not knowing what the rewards are prior to doing the missions can result in a massive waste of time at points.

It's not always the content of the mission that takes a long time however, it's how these missions are constructed. You might start out on the Tempest (main ship) and have to fly to another planet [loading screen]. Then land on the planet [loading screen]. Walk around the station on the planet and talk to people [multiple loading screens opening doors and such]. Venture out into the wilderness of the planet which consists of long drives in the nomad which can be painfully slow at times. Then you'll fetch whatever you need to get. Return back to the planetary station [loading screen]. Be forced to read your email, which can only be accessed on the Tempest [loading screen] and then a follow up task from there which repeats this cycle. It made doing side quests a chore at times and it gets to the point where you just want the game to end. 

There are also missions that result in you having to wait for something to happen, and its not clear what has to happen for the follow up mission to unlock. Is it time duration? Real time or game time? A certain side quest? I still don't know. It will literally have a red ON HOLD: statement next to critical missions like companionship quests. I've completed the game and I have two companions still in this state with no idea how to progress. The main story quests are done well and have decent cinematics that progress the story. They consists of a linear set of tasks that have a good balance of combat time and dialogue time. There isn't the issue of multiple loading screens and they have a great flow to them. I enjoyed the main story quite a bit, but the side quests took away from the experience of the game especially when comparing to previous iterations of the game. 

Combat

Gunfights are much improved compared to previous versions, which we've seen steady improvements since the first Mass Effect was released back in 2007. There are new additions like jetpacks, dashes, hovers, and hovering which make you feel nimble on the battlefield and allow you to fly around and wreak havoc. These new tactics also come in handy when in tricky situations and you need to rush to cover or evade a barrage of bullets. The enemy types and their variety of behaviors gave good balance to each skirmish. There was a great range of enemies that included ones that rushed, normal assault rifle wielding enemies that utilized cover, the heavy's, and snipers. This forces you to switch weapons and have strategic loadouts that would make you versatile. I was constantly switching between sniper rifles and shotguns during skirmishes and combining those with my biotics. Each skirmished had enough tension to make me feel challenged, but wasn't overly frustrating.

Choices made outside of battle affect how your skirmishes will go. Wielding a scope on an assault weapon might be a good idea for some, but when I tried this it didn't go so well. Later in the game I had an assault rifle that was single shot but high damage and a low magazine size. The scope on this weapon was a great idea and I felt like I'd created an overpowered weapon and learned from a mistake I made earlier in the game. Guns are balanced very well, they range from high fire rate and low damage with large magazines to the polar opposite of that. There are modifications however that can make something overpowered however, and if you're strategic about how you're modifying weapons you'll have a good edge in battle. For example my high powered single shot assault rifle was equipped with a scope and a modification that increased the magazine size by 50%. I also had a low damage assault rifle with high fire rate equipped with a modification that made all my bullets sticky grenades. This allowed me to damage enemies near my target, or spray tons of grenades on the ground near a group of enemies.

Exploration

Most of the time exploring hostile planets will be done in the Nomad, which is the 6 wheel drive all terrain vehicle that features no weapons to shoot at all and extremely slow uphill speed. In order to upgrade things like speed, shield, and life support in this vehicle you'll need to mine some pretty rare resources. By the time I had enough resources to spend on the Nomad, I was debating if I should spend them on weapons, so I didn't spend them at all until later. When later came, the game was pretty much over. Despite that, the worlds you explore are beautiful and it's somewhat of a fun experience. The occasional jump here and there makes things bearable, but this vehicle needs guns so I can shoot at stuff as I drive across a planet to fetch someone's data pad that had missing research on it. 

A good game will feature something to do while driving, take lessons from a game like Forza Horizon which rewards things like getting air or burnouts. Things like this should allow for upgrades of the vehicle, or offer some reward so I have something to do while driving. Instead I spent my time looking around and being pretty bored while driving actually. Driving in real life was more fun than driving the Nomad which is a rarity in video games. The trailer made driving the Nomad this super cool experience of this badass vehicle. It doesn't become that until much later in the game when there are resources available to upgrade it. 

Progression

There are a limitless amount of abilities that can be upgraded, but at any given point only three are accessible abilities. Instead of the ability wheel we've seen in the past, you are now restricted to three abilities that are mapped to controller buttons. Abilities can be changed at fixed points in the world when your loadout is changed, places this can be done are on the Nexus which is your ship or resupply stations on planets. It is a bit counter intuitive that an "ability" needs to be changed out at the same location as armor and guns, since an ability is something housed inside your body. Because of the hassle of changing abilities at these stations, I just built out three main abilities I never changed and then built out all passive skills. I essentially became an expert at using my abilities, but at the same time was stuck with the same stuff for 60 hours of gameplay which made things feel stagnant.

What was surprisingly cool is the different combat archetypes that are unlocked. I started as a tech specialist that constructed turrets and disabled shields. When I started building out passive Combat skills like more damage from specific guns, I allocated enough skill points between the combat/tech trees to unlock a new archetype known as the Infiltrator. I unlocked an ability that allowed me to go invisible for a second while dashing which was surprising, and then also had a new set of buffs that combined damage and shield damage. Experience points are gained by both completing missions and killing enemies. Sometimes a skirmish that takes 60 seconds can yield more experience than a side quest that lasts 45 minutes, so this part didn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

Art and Animation

There are plenty of articles written about the animations in this game underachieving what a AAA studio like Bioware should be capable of doing. I'd like to highlight some of the positive artwork this game presents. The planets are highly detailed and beautiful to explore. Something I found a bit cheap was the main planets you go to follow common Earth environments but to an absolute extreme. You'll be on a planet that is full of ice, one that is a desert, one with poisonous swamp gas, etc. Even though they were not creative in this sense, the artists brought these places to life and made them worth exploring and spending time in. I found places where I could drive and see a spectacular sunset, or even appreciate something like the fauna on the tropical planets. There is a lot to complain about with this game, but the artwork was something that kept me going.

Summary

Combat has been much improved, but the franchise lost ground in terms of narrative, quest design, decision making, and animation. The thought of a sequel to this made me cringe. I'm not sure if I have much more faith in Bioware after this game, by the end of it I felt like I was playing a game that had a good story but was full of chores. 

Art: 9
Animation: 3
Design: 5
Combat: 9
Story: 6
Acting/Cinematics: 8

Total: 6.7

Zombie Party

Rating: 8.3

Happy Price: 4.99

Gameplay

Zombie Party is a simple twin stick shooter that puts the player through a series of waves in randomly set levels. There are six levels per run, each having the same first level and same final level. Once a run is completed, a harder mode is unlocked that generates more points per kill. The goal is to get the high score on online leaderboards, as there is no way to beat the game. 

Combat

There are two enemy types, hordes of "zombies" that rush you and try to inflict contact, and zombies that fire projectiles. There are hundreds of them on screen at any point, but the simple behavior of the enemies puts you in charge of how successful you'll be. Health potions are a rarity, but this is balanced by fair enemy AI which is consistent and allows for you to get better at adjusting to. Jumping provides invulnerability to both enemies and their projectiles, given that you land in a smart location. To heal 1hp cost 100 gold, which is a steep price given the amount of gold rewarded at the end of each level. It's very important you don't get hit or lose health to complete the run, because gold is required to buy new guns. Improved guns are a necessity to survive harder levels. 

Progression

There are two progression systems at play, the character's that can be unlocked and the in game progression of your character with each gameplay run. When you begin, all that you have is a pistol without any upgrades. As ammo drops happen during the first level, the shotgun, assault rifle, and grenade launcher are unlocked. When the second level comes around, you have a full arsenal ready but limited ammo. Weapons can be modified with bullet modifiers like increased speed, larger bullets, homing, etc. These are universal upgrades that can be applied to any weapon type. So if you want a homing grenade launcher, that can be applied easily. There are also elemental upgrades to weapons which further modify it. These can consist of bullets that freeze targets, set them on fire, lasers, buzz saw's, etc. Elemental upgrades and bullet modifiers are combined, so you can have a homing, piercing, and freeze grenade launcher if that's what you like. 

At the end of each run, you get a gold reward that can be applied to character unlocks. Unlocked characters come with statistical upgrades that are better than the starting characters, which means you get to spend less skill points when building your character into the winning specimen you envision. New characters also come with new starting weapons, which saves gold because you don't have to buy the upgraded pistol. An example is unlocking Agent 47 (Yes from Hitman) will award you a pistol that has piercing damage. Atom is an alien, which has a piercing laser pistol and also 3 speed skill points to start, making the first boss a breeze to beat. When you've gained enough experience points, a skill point is unlocked. Skills include strength, speed, luck, hp, magic, and fire rate. These improve passive stats on our character which apply to all weapons or item pickups.

Art

The 2D pixel art is charming and technically effective. Because there are so many enemies on screen and garbage collection occurring when many are killed at once, I was waiting for frame loss or the game to crash. Time after time I was surprised that did not happen. The art style compliments the gameplay in multiple ways and creates a seamless user experience. There is a great variety of environments, and the characters that populate them appear to belong in the world. The game goes for a retro twin stick shooter, and it accomplishes that look and feel perfectly.  

Summary

I enjoyed this game. It's a great way to blow of some steam and really brings back the great thing about video games. They are not real, and they are meant to be fun. Exploding fish guns in hell make sense here, and that is perfectly fine. A successful run where you get to hard mode takes about an hour, after that I'm not sure because I haven't finished hard mode, but I would imagine it takes around 3-4 hours of continuous gameplay to get the high score. I would recommend this game on sale, as it's probably not worth the 9.99 price it commands. Below is some gameplay