Rocket League

Rating: 8.5

Happy Price: 9.99

Gameplay

Destruction derby meets arena soccer is the best way to describe rocket league. It's physics based gameplay adds unpredictability and awesome gameplay moments. The player has the ability to alter the angle of their car and change speeds fluidly which creates many different ways to attack the ball. Fly in the air with your rocket booster, hit balls out of the air with the tail of your car, and or just bump straight into it. Depending on your skill, the game will be played differently.

Driving

Driving mechanics are pretty simple, but the advanced part takes time to get skilled at. On ps4 its R2 to accelerate, L2 to brake, X to jump, X twice to double jump, and X twice quickly to leap or dodge in the direction desired. You can jump in the air and use turbo to rocket boost, but physics make this difficult to master. Once its mastered, you will undoubtedly be the best player in a session as you will have many more opportunities to hit the ball.

Strategy

Teams that work together usually win. Most of my affairs are fairly one sided. The team that works together always seems to prevail. The best teams usually have one guy hanging back and keeping the ball in play, and two wing players that attack the ball. The goal is to center the ball at a low velocity, this allows the defender to rush in with a great angle, or the other attacking player to have a shot on goal. Teams that usually fail are the ones that have all three players attacking the ball. Strategy is simple. 

Physics

The physics of a car hitting a round object make this game what it is. Players hitting the ball at different velocities at different angles at the same time cause for the ball to pop up in the air open for any player with the right skill to attack and score, or completely wiff and open the whole side of the field for an inferior player to score. There is a huge risk and reward theme and this game, and most players go for the risk. I tend to capitalize on other's mistakes and take advantage of easy scores, and that is completely fine with me. I've had multiple MVP's and hat tricks playing that way. The game also operates at 60fps but usually runs at 40 fps on the ps4.

Customization

This is what keeps me playing. Unlocking new cars, paint, decals, and all the other good stuff rewards me for having fun. There isn't criteria for unlocking these things that are made known to the player, they are just unlocked for playing and its usually a pleasant surprise. The ability to make your car unique and show off different hats that are probably earned for doing difficult things (but nobody actually knows) adds an element to the game that isn't necessary for it to be fun, but is essential to keep the player from turning the game off.

Some of my footage

Conclusion

If you're bored and short on cash, definitely a game that should be picked up. There is a season mode if you don't like playing online. Online play is insanely fun and simple. Not a must buy, there are much better games out there. Currently my time is split between this game and Witcher 3 depending on how my day is going. At times I find it to be more fun than Witcher 3, but not necessarily a better game.

Batman: Arkham Knight

Rating: 9.4

Happy Price: 59.99

Gameplay

Gadgets, hard hitting fists, and the Batmobile are the elements that make up the core mechanics of this iteration of Batman. The shift has gone from stealth in Arkham Asylum to the use of the Batmobile in this version. Most of your time will be spent driving around and in action packed battles

Combat

Different enemy types pose different problems for Batman, and force the player to make strategic decisions before going into battle. Most of the time you will be perched from above so you can make calculated decisions on who to attack, such as the bat would do in his world. Two men might be armed, one may have electric batons, and there may be a brute. Who to attack first, and what gadgets to be used will make the battle successful or a failure. Combat stays the same for the most part using the FreeFlow engine, but is definitely more difficult than previous games. The variety of ways to take down enemies and the use of the environment makes each encounter different and interesting. The pacing is great as well, as the fights become harder and harder as your skills also grow as a character and player of the game.

Batmobile

Gotham is plagued by an occupation that forces the evacuation of the city. There are tanks all over the streets and this must be countered by the batmobile which is equipped with a machine gun and a 60mm cannon. The car has a "battle mode" feature which allows guns to be shot and the vehicle can strafe allowing for evasive maneuvers while firing shots. Against enemies outside of vehicles, the batmobile shoots stun bullets due to Batman's policy of not killing. The transition between battle mode and car mode is smooth and its really fun to go full speed in car mode then quickly switch to battle mode, then switch back and take off. The controls are not tight so it does take some getting used to, but this isn't a racing sim. However you spend ample amounts of time in the batmobile and I wish they spent more time on the design of the city making driving around a little more fun. At times you move so fast in a compact, dark environment it forces you to always feel a step behind when turning around corners.

Story

The story is one of the best I've played in a video game. The two main villains in this game are the new character "Arkham Knight" and Scarecrow. There is a struggle between the two villains as Scarecrow wants Batman to suffer, while Arkham Knight is hellbent on revenge and wants Batman's head ASAP. Scarecrow seems like a disappointing character at first, but as the plot unfolds you begin to respect him and his abilities much more. The Joker definitely makes his presence, but not in a way you'd think. As the story progresses the Arkham Knight impresses with his knowledge of Batman and both you as a player and Batman become highly curious as to who this person is. The reveal is perfect when it happens.

Open world games struggle with integrating side quests into the narrative, but this game does it very well. As you are hunting down Riddler, Two-Face, Penguin, and others, the player is consistently reminded of what is going on in Gotham. Everyone is taking advantage of Scarecrow's new plan, and as you take down the villains one by one the player can feel the difference in the world. Side missions and quests gain significant amounts of XP so it becomes very fulfilling to do them.

Animation

Don't be fooled when the game begins, the animation seems really quick and its difficult to see what is going on during combat. It's as if the animation was done at 30fps but the game is running 60fps and its 2x as fast as it should be. Before you know it, Batman gets a new suit that allows you to hit harder and take more damage. After that, the animation settles down and looks normal. Since there is such a high focus on the story, the acting is very important. Rocksteady knew this, and did a great job with facial expressions and body language during cutscenes that drive the story. Many times in games animation can hurt the story, but in this instance it's pivotal in making it better. 

Conclusion

 There are many open world games out there right now. I would not say this is a must buy, but it is definitely worth 60 bucks. If you like Batman, you will enjoy this game. I think the Witcher 3 or GTAV offer more than this game, but don't provide the novelty of playing as Batman or such a good story. 

Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition

Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition

Rating: 9/10

Happy Price: Full Price on PC ($25 on Steam), $40 on PS4/XBO


Overall:
It's Devil May Cry 4, but with a couple extra cutscenes, 5 playable characters, a couple additional features and a new difficulty - Legendary Dark Knight. For a game that was released back in 2008, this sounds pretty underwhelming. Instead of outrage, I am absolutely hyped for everything they've done with this game. Along with Nero and 'Uncle Dante' comes the combination of Lady and Trish, as well as bringing Vergil back from the dead (or maybe they're just telling events that happened ages ago, it's honestly not clear).

The game is just as smooth, if not smoother than it was all those years ago. And though the bonus characters may seem strange at first, they all feel so good to play that it almost feels like cheating. Not to mention the bonus irony of finally getting to play as Lady and fight Dante, while also re-taking control of (a much faster/stronger) Vergil and once again laying down the law on Dante.

Standout points:
In this portion, I will actually talk about the new characters since their different abilities and how they play are rather significant.


-Lady/Trish

When I started playing as Lady, it was strange. Relying more so on guns than swords, since Lady's devil arms (non projectile) moveset is terribly limited. Didn't like it, but as I obtained more moves, I couldn't help constantly getting SSS stylish rankings. Her gameplay style is essentially easier than Nero, though some technical skill is necessary to beat the game. And then switching over to Trish, she's like Dante lite. Her moves are fast, the gunplay is limited, but the things she can do with physical combat are vast. Enemies too far away? Make Sparda snatch them towards you into a spinning bird kick-esque attack. Trap enemies in a Raikousen loop and then continue to wail on them with Sparda. It's easier to get into using techniques like jump cancelling for combos using Trish, but you can't be as overly creative as you can with Dante's multiple styles and weaponry. Overall leaving a lingering note for me wishing more of the characters, even though it was utterly satisfying once I got the hang of their movesets in respect to the rest of the cast.

-Vergil

Vergil's campaign is essentially only him. He has an interesting mix of Nero/Dante in his moveset and therefore is the most complex of the whole cast to play as. To start, vergil doesn't have guns, which means he can use projectiles while using his sword. While at first, his moveset can be overwhelming and easy to get a false sense of "Mash and win," you then have to come to grips that Vergil is a calculated combatant. Each move has to connect, no energy expended, you have to focus along with Vergil. Which brings us to his gimmick. Vergil has a focus meter, which builds on being close to an opponent as well as each connecting attack. If you whiff, get hit or spend time away from enemies, you lose meter. The meter determines how much damage Vergil deals to foes. So the closer and clean you are in your fighting, the easier time you'll have with Vergil, though you still have to be stylish - which is where challenge comes in. Plus since Vergil doesn't have guns, the traditional Devil May Cry "hovering in the air by gunfire" may give newer players a spot of trouble in certain parts of the game. He's the most technical and precise of the characters, since you're actively punished for whiffing attacks as opposed to Dante (even though Dante is probably actually the most technical of the cast.

Conclusion:
Would I buy it?
I love the Devil May Cry series, so...

Should you buy it?
YES!

Yes, the same problems from before exist where you're backtracking halfway through the game. That's why it's not perfect. It's an amazing introduction into the Devil May Cry experience and with so many characters to play as, it's definitely worth the price.

As far as playing through the game, I would say start playing as Nero up until they switch off to Dante. Then play as Lady and Trish, then Dante, then Vergil. That way you build up the use of utilizing tech, understanding of bosses and certain play-styles and then display an ultimate mastery of the game's mechanics.

Hatred

Rating For This Game: 4.5/10
Happy Price: $19.99 (On Steam)

This is the game that garnered so much controversy last year with all of its senseless violence, and it fits in perfectly with all of the stereotypes that the older generation dislikes about video games where it is destroying the youth. Ever wanted to know how it feels like to murder countless amounts of unarmed civilians, police officers, and military personnel? Ever wanted to know how it feels like to be an active shooter? Then this is the game for you!


Story:
The game doesn't really have an overall story. You are just one dude armed to the teeth just wanting to release all of his anger at the useless "sheep" in the world by depopulating it en-masse. Other than that there is not much else. The voice acting and scripting is nothing to really get excited about. It is just bland.

/*Insert generic speech about how I hate the world and everyone should die here*/

Gameplay:
The game plays as a top-down third person shooter. The player's goal is to kill as many people in the map as possible. The player can do this by throwing molotov cocktails, grenades, shooting up gas canisters, and by just shooting people. The early maps in the game are very destructible which can create some pretty hilarious moments when you unleash your destruction. The player does get damaged from explosions, civilians with guns, cops/military shooting the player. The only way the player gains health back is by executing people. This occurs when an NPC is wounded and the player walks up to them and does an execution with a button press. Later on in the game, the player gains body armor which provides a health boost as the player fights more military.

Overall:
Overall, the game itself is just pretty much bland and doesn't really add anything new to the genre. The destructible environments are fun to mess around with, but there is nothing much else. The gameplay is very repetitive and could get boring pretty quickly. Repetitive gameplay ranges from performing the same executions over and over again to let's just shoot everyone. There aren't any puzzles where you are supposed to stop and think. Also the AI in the game are pretty much dumb and just act casually when you are mowing down their fellow bots. In the end, for so much controversy this game has created during its marketing phase, I felt pretty let down with having just this bland top-down third person shooter.

Mortal Kombat X

Rating for this game: 9.0

Happy Price: 59.99

Story Mode: Netherealm has once again created an awesome story experience. Rendered cutscenes seamlessly turn into matches, which is something I've never seen before. The story is engaging, and has a good ending. The focus has shifted from Liu Kang to the Cage family, which is a nice change of pace. I was impressed by how much kombat there was in the cut scenes, its an action packed cinematic experience that would rival a production value film. The story experience is the same as MK9, where you get to play as a number of characters throughout the story. The game is worth buying for the story alone.

New Characters: I have put in hours trying out all the new characters. In total there are 8. Here is the rundown. Kotal Kahn, the brother of Shao Khan and ruler of outworld. D'vorah, the insect queen that serves Kotal Kahn as a bodyguard. Erron Black, the gunslinger from Earthrealm that acts as a mercenary for Kotal Kahn. Ferra Torr, large brute that Kotal Kahn controls. Cassie Cage, child of Sonja Blade and Johnny Cage. Jacqui Briggs, daughter of Jax. Kung Jin, cousin of Kung Lao. Takeda, son of Kenshi, pupil of Scorpion. 

The strongest of these new characters is between Cassie Cage and Kung Jin. The most fun to play with is the gunslinger Erron Black. Despite adding new characters, the strongest characters in the game are still in the classics. I currently main Mileena and Ermac, but I see a lot of Scorpion and Sub-Zero when I play online. 

New Modes: There is a new element called Factions. The first time you boot up the game, you will be prompted to select a faction. There are random events that happen that will influence how well your faction does as a whole. Every player in the world is in a faction, so there is an ongoing battle between your faction and the rest of the world which is a cool element. You can enter new modes called faction towers and defeat faction bosses to increase the standing of your faction. When playing online against a rival faction, the faction fatality is enabled. These are unique for each faction. For example, my Lin Kuei fatality allows for Smoke to come out of nowhere and finish off my opponent with a fatality. Winning 5,000 koins or so for winning a week long faction battle though, doesn't really feel rewarding. I typically don't participate much in faction related battles.

See my personal footage here

Variations: The variations are a great addition to the game. I've spent hours trying to figure out which character I like best, then finding which variation suits me best. It's very time consuming but fulfilling at the same time. You can play with the same character in multiple ways and it keeps the game feeling fresh. When you first start the game, it feels overwhelming to have all these options, but at the same time it feels like there is so much to do. Characters are easy to grasp but difficult to master, which makes for a great fighting game.  

Online: I have only participated in 1v1 versus and ranked matches. I've noticed most of the players I play against have yellow or red ping values. I'm not sure if the people that buy this game have crappy connections or the WB servers Netherealm utilizes are only in select locations. This does effect matches online which can be annoying. I'd rather have matchmaking find me someone with a closer ping value to reduce lag. Even though Netheralm has done a good job creating a balanced roster, most of my opponents consist of Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Cassie Cage, and Kung Jin. I main Mileena, so this is good for me. I pulled a 13 game winning streak the other night because I'm getting used to playing against these characters. I did not have this experience when playing Injustice, and I have played 800 ranked matches in that game.

Conclusion: The best part about this game is that no character feels more powerful than any other. I feel like if I put the time in, I could be great with any character. Mileena just tends to suit my style and I like her attitude. If you like fighting games, this is a must buy. After the story mode, head to training, find your character, then tackle players online. The game has consumed hours of my life and will for a while. 

Dragon Ball Z: Xenoverse

Rating for this game: 8.3

Happy Price: 29.99

Gameplay

The ability to create your own character and build them in a RPG fashion is the main draw of this game, and it repeatedly rewards you as the game progresses. You can choose from Saiyan, Earthling, Namekian, Majin, or Frieza Clan. Xenoverse provides general moves and equipment but also offers specific sets of moves and equipment for each race. This makes playing each race unique. 

Campaign: The first 5 hours of the game are perfectly balanced as your character levels up at the same rate as the story progresses. Xenoverse follows the storyline with Vegeta, Ginyu Force, Frieza, Cell, Majin Buu, and more. Opponents are challenging and its very fun as you gain the most XP doing the campaign missions. When you get to the 5-20 hour mark, Frieza and Cell come into play and you will be required to do side missions to level up your character. Side missions offer material rewards, armor, and new moves. It's fun getting through the side missions as they offer more story context and allow you to visually see your created character in more action. Once at the 20 hour mark, the game becomes a grindfest. You will have to repeatedly do side missions in order to level up your character enough to progress the story.

Combat: Combat is pretty simple. Mash two buttons and hope for the best, block, repeat. Aquire enough ki and then start doing combinations of button mashing and super ki blasts. If you hit the right sequence of buttons, you can pull off a sweet attack that involves powerful punches that launch the opponent a far distance that follow up with teleport strikes that we are familiar with in the shows. It's not very clear how to do them, I typically just press one button 5 or 6 times then switch it to the other strike button.

Side Missions: More time will be spent doing side missions than anything else. They offer a base set of currency and based on your performance, it can increase. They also offer moves and new equipment, however the biggest problem is there aren't any conditions known to the player to acquire moves or equipment. Before a side mission starts, there are a list of things the player can obtain by completing the mission. I recall doing a mission 6 times trying to get Frieza's Death Slash. I figured I had to grind to progress anyways, and I really wanted that move. I still don't know what I did to obtain it, but I felt more happy my frustration ended rather than happy I did something to earn the move. This gets ever more frustrating when there are moves you feel are necessary to obtain in order to progress in the story. For example Super Saiyan 2 power up is acquired via side mission. It's very powerful and I tried over and over again to get it. I ended up having to purchase it for 50,000 zen. This is long after I had grinded to progress the story and it was available in the shop.

Art

The art style is true to the Dragon Ball Z universe and looks absolutely fantastic. I played on a PS4 and the cell shaded characters make repetitive gameplay worthwhile. There is so much attention to detail. From the particle trails when traveling at supersonic speeds, super blasts, vanishing during combat, unique combat animations, and unique combo styles per each race, the art keeps your attention as you appreciate the amount of work that was done. Character creation allows for color selection for every single piece of clothing equipped which allows for endless amounts of customization.

Cinematics: The story comes with its own animated show integrated into the game. There is a mix of in engine cut scenes and full Dragon Ball Z episode type of animations to progress the story. As a Dragon Ball Z fan, its refreshing to see new episodes in a world I exist in. They are just long enough for you to feel satisfied and get back into battle, which is great because sometimes when games spend a lot of time on the story, the cinematics are too long and get annoying. The in engine cut scenes don't contain any dramatics with avatar animations, but it's really not needed. They are dialogue sessions and do its purpose.

Environment: The whole experience is encompassing. The world itself looks identical to the TV show. Couple that with the authentic audio, crazy particles, unique animations for super moves, and the small cut scenes for perfectly timed combos, immersion sets in quickly. There are also dragon balls that exist in the world, although I'm not exactly sure how to obtain them all. It seems to be random or when I do a great feat in side quests. 

Conclusion: This is a fun game, but I would not buy it at full price. At one point its very addicting and you can't stop yourself from playing. Then out of nowhere, the game gets so hard you have to grind for a couple of hours, repeat. Teaming up with people online to grind together can be a waste of time, because EXP is given to those that contribute the most. Completing a mission online might not even offer the player a grade if teamed up with players at a higher level than you. It ends up being frustrating.

LA Cops

Rating: 6.5

Happy Price: 2.99

Gameplay

LA Cops is about two cops that are on a mission to take out the drug and gang infested streets of Los Angeles. It's done with an isometric view, a unique art style, and quick reactions. Basically it's Hotline Miami with a partner and a cleaner art style.

Combat

Enemies are quick to shoot, and deal tons of damage when they connect. This forces the player to be strategic and be precise when executing the plan. If there are three enemies, in three different rooms close to one another, the smarter approach is to go in each room silently and arrest each person individually. Guns blazing in that situation would cause all the surrounding enemies to rush toward the sound, which can go one of two ways. Another situation is one room with three or four enemies. This situation calls for telling your partner to "go in". As the partner charges, so does the player and the partner AI will take out a couple of enemies and so will the player. It's moments like this where LA cops shines. 

Level Design

There are only 10 levels to play, and they all consist of the same objective. Destroy servers, Take out all criminals, go to elevator. The other version of that is Destroy drug table, take out criminals, go to elevator. Destroying a server and drug table is pretty much the same exact thing, but just a different model. The levels feel repetitive and tedious after a while, since the narrative is not compelling. This gets worse in the later stage of the game. In the eight level there are multiple floors. The player can clear out a whole floor of 15+ enemies, then die on the second floor and have to restart from the beginning of the level. Getting through the first floor was hard enough. When comparing to Hotline Miami, this game fell short at balancing the difficulty of the game and the reward of completing a section of a level. The layouts of the levels are good however, each stage seems to have unique sight lines and requires a different strategy. 

One thing I found strange was the materials and what could be penetrated by a bullet. There seem to be glass cases or objects that would seem to be waist height. However the player is not educated on what can be shot over or shot through. I always felt a little unsure of what I was doing, or could be doing to make my life easier. Hotline Miami had two materials, glass and everything else. Glass was clearly labeled in the level and I knew the enemy could see me, and I could shoot them. I feel like that simplicity is missing in this game, as it mixes a bunch of unique objects in levels for a authentic aesthetic, but don't always interact well with gameplay.

Story

I became totally disassociated with the story in the third or fourth scene when a balding middle aged white man had a black man's 1970's dialect. I think it was a bug, but a major bug that should be easily fixed with another audio track. Not only does it happen once, but reoccurs as the narrative progresses. I don't know what happened there, but a character model that resembles Jimi Hendrix should have been created for that voice. I can tell you there is a huge drug problem, and one of the cops is likely crooked, and its that white guy with the black man's voice. I got too frustrated with the game and story to see what happens, maybe he was wearing a costume the entire time. I do enjoy frustrating games, I've beaten LISA and Hotline Miami, but both had very compelling stories I felt engaged in. Something has to drive the player when playing a frustrating game like this, and I never felt into it. The screenshot below shows the black character model that should have been used as the antagonist, but wasn't.

Art

The art style is great. It's fun and consistent which contrasts the violence and brutality of the gameplay well. The art style is a great way to hook the player in to make the purchase, and that's exactly what happened to me. It's very polished and smooth, and gameplay exhibits this as well. Animations are extremely fluid and clean, I don't know the frame rate but it seems to exceed 30fps. I found the movements of the player and act of shooting guns to be better than Hotline Miami, which I have been using as the benchmark since these two games are so similar. Hotline Miami could have been created in the mid 90's with its art style. Lets say in an alternate universe they made a sequel in 2016, it would probably look like this. 

Summary

If you are in the market for a fast paced top down/isometric shooter, just buy Hotline Miami. LA cops has the element of building up characters' stats, but thats the only thing unique. Hotline Miami has a legendary soundtrack that makes the frustrating experience easier to deal with. It also had smarter checkpoints so the player doesn't have to always start over. Theres nothing more frustrating then doing something awesome like busting in a room and taking out 8 guys through some voodoo magic, then dying in the next stage because you missed one guy in the corner. The narrative is missing, nothing really hooks the player, and its not a long enough game to justify the 14.99 price on the ps4 right now.