You've got to hand it to the people at Humble Bundle; they've put together a great way to benefit both video game developers and charity while getting quality games out for rock bottom prices. They have a sense of humor too, showing their goofy side toting the trailer for their Nordic Games Humble Bundle.
But those shrieking angel-men are right, what more could you need? For any price, you'll be getting Supreme Commander (a pretty decent RTS), Red Faction: Armageddon (seriously, everything blows up in that game), The Guild 2, and Neighbours From Hell Compilation. Pay above the meager $6 line, and they throw in Darksiders II (I've heard good things), Painkiller: Hell and Damnation, ArcaniA, and SpellForce II: Faith in Destiny.
Just in case you weren't counting, that's 7 games if you can manage at least $6, part of which goes to charity. I believe that is what we call a win-win. This deal expires in just over a day, but there are deals every week along with the current Humble Bundle on their website.
The Nordic Games Humble Bundle Steam, Windows https://www.humblebundle.com/weekly
Rayman Legends can be aptly described by each of those three f-words in the subtitle. From the first story level to collecting creatures that lay lums (Rayman money) like eggs, Legends was a blast. In the days where first person shooters and gun violence dominate the video game scene, having a light-hearted yet fast paced side scroller was a definite breath of fresh air.
Setting the Scene Legends isn't exactly a complicated narrative: Rayman and his pals were sleeping for 100 years (what?) leaving the Bubble Dreamer to grow powerful again and capture all of the Teensies and Princesses of the land. So basically, the bad guys took all of the people, and you have to go rescue them. Got it? Great.
In addition to the main story worlds, you unlock throwback missions from Rayman Origins called 'Back to Origins', and online challenges that can also net you some cool prizes if you do them well. If you collect enough lums in a level, you unlock a scratch off ticket that either unlocks a little creature (catch 'em all!), another 'Back to Origins' level, or more lums. At certain Lum milestones, a new character painting will unlock for your use. Pretty simple and straight forward, there's a clear path to 100% if you're someone who enjoys beating a game to true completion.
Speaking of those F-words... Still remember the subtitle? We've covered fun, but two areas where Legends really shines is in its flamboyantly colorful art and funky fresh music direction. Each world has its own theme, making no one area look the same. This really gives Rayman a certain freshness to it, even though the objectives of each level don't change that much, each world will provide a new and unique way of completing them. I especially loved the Mariachi world, where you were sprinting through pouring fire while leaping over guacamole bridges. Even the darkest worlds are very vibrant, each glimmering with that cartoony Rayman style that we've come to know.
The music is easily my favorite part of Legends. Even just sitting on the main world menu, you are treated to a pleasant ukelele tune with someone whistling lightly in the background. Going along with themes on each world, the music matches to suit. In that Mariachi world, you were exposed to classical guitar strums and light, fast drums.
As a bonus level at the end of each world, you unlock a musical level; your jumps and hits are timed perfectly with the music, which are recognizable tunes in the genre of the level's theme. For context, the first music level is a rock-fueled romp through a castle with every enemy you defeated in the world singing "Black Betty". These bonus levels were easily the best of the game, marrying the stellar music and art direction with gameplay.
But how does she handle?
We may have a beautiful game on our hands, but there is no mold-breaking happening when it comes to the gameplay or execution. Legends is an excellent platformer that handles really smoothly considering how quickly you need to press multiple buttons at once. At busier points of the levels with your magical green frog buddy that can seemingly do anything, you have to be sprinting, jumping, and hitting the frogs action button all within fractions of a second of one another. If you get it right, it's very satisfying. If you don't, you're starting over from the last check point. But there's no fun without challenge, right?
There can be some redundancy to the levels, especially when you get to the cutscenes with the evil Teensies that you are trying to defeat. There's always a sequence at some point where you chase down the bad guy fleeing on his hovercraft. You are essentially doing the same thing on every level: collecting captured Teensies and collecting as many Lums as you can. Luckily this is remedied a bit by very responsive controls and how differently each level is designed, but I started to lose a little steam when I was jumping from level to level right away.
This game is meant to be played fast: you die and have to observe where you went wrong in order to fix it and move past the obstacle. Lots of jumps string into one another, allowing the player to go stretches of the map without even stopping. And of course, there's always a Teensie or string of Lums to miss, so it keeps the player on their toes trying to match that combination of speed and finesse.
Final Thoughts
After the day with the game, I have three of the six main worlds clear, with a hand full of other levels and challenges completed. If I had kids, this would be a no-brainer for a buy that I could also enjoy on my own. But for now, I can see this as another rental so I can just finish out the levels.
Rayman Legends was an extremely enjoyable platforming game that I most definitely want to pick up again. However, I don't want to finish it because I am particularly compelled by the gameplay or the story. I want to see, hear, and experience every level that Ubisoft has crafted.
Play if you like: Fast paced platformers, art direction and music, completionists
I wasn't worried that my personal favorite from Brawl, Sonic the Hedgehog, wouldn't be included in the new Super Smash Bros. on its way for the WiiU and the 3DS. I was petrified. Sonic focuses on what he does well: speed. He may not deliver the heaviest punches, but that little sucker is elusive and can pile a lot of damage on before you knew what even hit you. I'm excited to see what he can do on the new console!
Super Smash Bros. WiiU, 3DS Release: TBA 2014 Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Sora Ltd., Namco Bondai Games
If you cut me down I will become more powerful than you can ever imagine... until the next thing kills me.
You die a lot in Dark Souls. That is, ironically, the game's appeal. Since Dark Souls is tuned to become a bit harder every time you bite the dust, players see it as a challenge to conquer it as best as they can. I see it as a game that I get killed a lot trying to play. To each their own.
The Tokyo Game Show may be spitting out trailer after trailer from our anime favorites, but Dark Souls II is always worth a closer look. Aching Bones treated us to some "beauty shot" gameplay, showing our hero slicing and dicing through demons until he is cut down himself. Seemingly evolving into a more powerful self after resurrecting, he finally goes Gandalf the White and slays the mighty demon wizard.
This transformation through death series gave us a chance to see weapon play, magical spells and weapon enchantments in action. I enjoyed how he was only able to defeat the final enemy by turning to Jesus and using some holy power. It was a good chuckle.
The "charm" to Dark Souls II is that, well, there is no charm. It's a brutal, "cut them up before they send you all the way back to that checkpoint from two hours ago" type of game. And some people freaking love that stuff. My blood pressure is high enough as it is.
Dark Souls II PS3, Xbox 360, PC Release: March 11, 2014 Publisher: Namco Bandai Games America, Inc. Developer: FromSoftware, Inc.
"I need to go meditate... or masterbate... or both"
Months of patiently waiting have finally paid off, and Grand Theft Auto V is mine. After nearly 8 hours in the new San Andreas, I have seen and done more in this one game than most of the titles I've played this year in total.
One of the newest and biggest features of GTA V is the three-protagonist system, giving you control over Michael (a retired-now-not-retired heist artist), Franklin (a South Central Los Santos gang banger looking for a bigger pay day than what the hood has to offer), and Trevor (an absolute psychopath). I haven't quite gotten them all together for a mission yet, but there will be an update at the end of the week explaining how well this system is executed in-game, along with more impressions.
While Trevor has delivered the best lines and action of the game so far, but each character has his own story that makes his stake in the developing narrative a little bit different. So while Trevor may be the most entertaining at this point, I am invested in all of them, which is very important if you're going to say that all three guys are equally important.
Hey! I live there! Wait...
This is the best looking and best playing GTA to date. Cars handle differently depending on the make and model you drive, gun selection is smooth and simple, and switching between characters mid-mission adds an extra layer of strategy to how you approach each situation. The people are more varied and are crazier than ever as well. You never know who will hit you back, or step on the gas to run you down as you try to take their car.
My favorite part of the game so far is the ability to customize and save the weapons and vehicles that you buy, or... come across during your time. Done are the days when you would dump cash into a new car to trick it out, only to have it destroyed and gone forever. Now, you can either leave your rides in a big car lock-up (each character gets their own), or you can pick it up at an impound lot if it's towed or abandoned. The same goes for your guns, which all have parts you can buy and keep on, no matter if you die or get arrested. It's the little things, really.
The GTA V Map
Although GTA V is already looking like a monumental achievement, it is not without its issues. My biggest gripe so far is how difficult it is to shake the police, even with one star. The wanted system works very similarly to GTA IV, where you would have to stay out of range of the cops for a certain amount of time until your wanted level goes away. In V, police will continue to search for you with little "field of vision" cones that will reset the whole process if you get seen. The amount of time it takes to lose said wanted level feels way longer than it used to, but I'll consider it part of the challenge.
There's only been one glitch to deal with so far, where I had to walk into an ally until he became unstuck from the wall and would follow me again. I've had a couple small bugs and clips, which is to be expected with a game this size, but for the most part it's run like a charm.
GTA V is a staggeringly large place to create havoc, and I know I've only scratched the surface of what I can do and see. The views are breathtaking and the world is brimming with life. It's time to continue destroying it!
Be sure to keep a look out for part two of my GTA V impressions on Sunday! Have an opinion of the game so far? Leave it in the comments.
Grand Theft Auto V Xbox 360, PS3 Release: OUT NOW! Publisher: Rockstar Games Developer: Rockstar North
Okay, maybe the multiplayer for Grand Theft Auto 5 isn't just like an online Sims port with guns. You can, however, do so damn much in the multiplayer, I wouldn't have been to surprised to see hunger and bladder stats in the bottom corner.
But seriously, I was blown away by how deep the multiplayer looks. It seems like there's a combination of cut scenes and open world online play, which is something I think will do nothing but draw people into the experience. My one gripe with the Red Dead Redemption online multiplayer was you were just dumped into the world and were told GO! In GTA V, it seems like those that enjoy floaties before diving into the deep end will hopefully be taken care of.
A vast number of the activities available to the player in the single player mode of GTA V made an appearance in this multiplayer reveal. Golf, bank heists, and full character customization are just some of the features that cross from solo to online. However, players will also be treated to team-style death matches, designable races, squad robberies, and much more!
I honestly wasn't expecting to be so impressed by the multiplayer in GTA V. Rockstar and multiplayer have not always gone hand in hand, as most of their games are so huge that the online often became an after thought. But it looks like all of the big guns are being take out for this title, and this open world experience keeps growing before our eyes.
Grand Theft Auto V
Xbox 360, PS3
Release: Sept. 17, 2013
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Developer: Rockstar North
I have extremely high hopes for Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. This indie adventure has tastes of Journey sprinkled throughout it, with the focus on co-op in order to reach your goal. Only this time, you will be controlling both brothers at the same time, using each analog stick to control them.
The story is simple: your father is dying and the only thing that can save him is "the water of life", which you must retrieve by controlling the brothers. Simple, to the point, and with the power of the Unreal Engine, Brothers has the components to be the next great indie title.
But let's take a look at this trailer for a moment. First off, what is up with that horrible screeching wail being played over everything else? It was a very poor choice for music, while I understand they wanted to go for an "epic" feel I'm sure something less intrusive could have been found. We finally got a decent sized chunk of co-op gameplay for the last few seconds but it always leaves you wanting more.
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons PC, XBLA, PSN, Steam Release: Out Now! Publisher: 505 Games Developer: Starbreeze Studios
