Dukefrukem
Disclaimer: I'm going to use this a moving assessment of the game as Ubisoft addresses bugs, glitches and overall improvements over the next few months. Breakpoint made the news recently being called out for it's poor sales performance.
Total Playtime as of 11/5/19: 33 hours Solo & 33 hours Coop
The game isn't radically different than Wildlands, even if Ubisoft's press briefing wants you to believe it being different hurt sales of the game. The open world is still huge, the graphics are top notch and a huge step up from Wildlands playing in 4K.
It's the little changes that made fans of the franchise weary. First, you do not have three AI teammates like Nomad had in Wildlands. You are completely solo unless one of your uPlay friends joins your game. That's the other big annoyance; the game is only available on uPlay OR Epic's new storefront. No steam this time around like the first game.
They wanted the game to be more realistic when your character is injured. So they added things like water and food that your character can use when you are fatigued, but you barely use these items as the idea was scrapped before the game launched. So these items are still in the game, but are barely used.
Base jumping is nearly impossible and needs to be fixed to be easier to jump off cliffs. If you are running down a hill, your character will start falling / sliding and rolling until your stamina is depleted. This makes escaping enemies very difficult at times.
They added a cameo prone feature that allows your character to hide in mud, as aerial or soldier patrols pass by, allowing your character to hide even better than before. This is a nice feature when drones flyby overhead.
I love the addition of Jon Bernthal in the game, but I wish his character was Nomad and not the villain, because once the main story is complete, you never see or hear Bernthal ever again... for obvious reasons.
Ubisoft has come out and said they will make changes to the game over the next months, including adding back 3 AI teammates, so I'll check back when these changes are made to see what other improvements were added.
Total Playtime as of 11/5/19: 33 hours Solo & 33 hours Coop
The game isn't radically different than Wildlands, even if Ubisoft's press briefing wants you to believe it being different hurt sales of the game. The open world is still huge, the graphics are top notch and a huge step up from Wildlands playing in 4K.
It's the little changes that made fans of the franchise weary. First, you do not have three AI teammates like Nomad had in Wildlands. You are completely solo unless one of your uPlay friends joins your game. That's the other big annoyance; the game is only available on uPlay OR Epic's new storefront. No steam this time around like the first game.
They wanted the game to be more realistic when your character is injured. So they added things like water and food that your character can use when you are fatigued, but you barely use these items as the idea was scrapped before the game launched. So these items are still in the game, but are barely used.
Base jumping is nearly impossible and needs to be fixed to be easier to jump off cliffs. If you are running down a hill, your character will start falling / sliding and rolling until your stamina is depleted. This makes escaping enemies very difficult at times.
They added a cameo prone feature that allows your character to hide in mud, as aerial or soldier patrols pass by, allowing your character to hide even better than before. This is a nice feature when drones flyby overhead.
I love the addition of Jon Bernthal in the game, but I wish his character was Nomad and not the villain, because once the main story is complete, you never see or hear Bernthal ever again... for obvious reasons.
Ubisoft has come out and said they will make changes to the game over the next months, including adding back 3 AI teammates, so I'll check back when these changes are made to see what other improvements were added.
2019
In the days of AAA developers steering away from single player games, in favor of online multiplayer Destiny clones, one developer listened to their fans and delivered a refreshing take on the classic Playstation game, Resident Evil 2, only 24 months after delivering a refreshing sequel (Resident Evil VII) to a close to dead franchise.
Resident Evil franchise was all but dead. Resident Evil 5
wasn’t really a Resident Evil game (More action than Survival horror). Resident Evil 6
was worse. Resident Evil Revelations 2 was a step in the right direction, but Capcom is starting to really shine and get some momentum with their releases in terms of quality, performance and surprises.
This is the scariest game I’ve ever played period. And the game isn’t filled with dozens of jump scares like Outlast. Resident Evil 2 REmake is legitimately filled with dread, that can probably single handedly be pointed to the re-arrival of Mr X., who stalks you throughout the game, wherever you go. It’s brilliant and it keeps you guessing throughout your playthroughs with Leon and Claire.
Players who have experienced the 1998 original, will be happy to know that although Point A and Point Z might be similar, playing through the game points B, C, D, E, F, G........W, X, Y, are completely different. The puzzles are different. The interaction with NPCs are different. Ada Wong and Sheri are handled differently. And there’s just enough surprises to keep the pacing good and the fear great.
Scariest Games Ranked
HM: P.T.
HM: F.E.A.R.
12. Alien Isolation
11. Condemned 2: Bloodshot
10. Dino Crisis
9. Dead Space
8. Silent Hill
7. Resident Evil 2
6. Condemned: Criminal Origin
5. Amnesia: The Dark Decent
4. Outlast
3. Silent Hill 2
2. Resident Evil
1. Resident Evil 2 (2019)
Resident Evil Franchise Ranked
1. Resident Evil 2
2. Resident Evil Director’s Cut
3. Resident Evil 2 REmake
4. Resident Evil 4
5. Resident Evil REmake
6. Resident Evil: Code Veronica
7. Resident Evil 7
8. Resident Evil Revelations
9. Resident Evil Zero
10. Resident Evil Revelations 2
11. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
12. Resident Evil Dead Aim
13. Resident Evil 5
14. Resident Evil 6
Resident Evil franchise was all but dead. Resident Evil 5
wasn’t really a Resident Evil game (More action than Survival horror). Resident Evil 6
was worse. Resident Evil Revelations 2 was a step in the right direction, but Capcom is starting to really shine and get some momentum with their releases in terms of quality, performance and surprises.
This is the scariest game I’ve ever played period. And the game isn’t filled with dozens of jump scares like Outlast. Resident Evil 2 REmake is legitimately filled with dread, that can probably single handedly be pointed to the re-arrival of Mr X., who stalks you throughout the game, wherever you go. It’s brilliant and it keeps you guessing throughout your playthroughs with Leon and Claire.
Players who have experienced the 1998 original, will be happy to know that although Point A and Point Z might be similar, playing through the game points B, C, D, E, F, G........W, X, Y, are completely different. The puzzles are different. The interaction with NPCs are different. Ada Wong and Sheri are handled differently. And there’s just enough surprises to keep the pacing good and the fear great.
Scariest Games Ranked
HM: P.T.
HM: F.E.A.R.
12. Alien Isolation
11. Condemned 2: Bloodshot
10. Dino Crisis
9. Dead Space
8. Silent Hill
7. Resident Evil 2
6. Condemned: Criminal Origin
5. Amnesia: The Dark Decent
4. Outlast
3. Silent Hill 2
2. Resident Evil
1. Resident Evil 2 (2019)
Resident Evil Franchise Ranked
1. Resident Evil 2
2. Resident Evil Director’s Cut
3. Resident Evil 2 REmake
4. Resident Evil 4
5. Resident Evil REmake
6. Resident Evil: Code Veronica
7. Resident Evil 7
8. Resident Evil Revelations
9. Resident Evil Zero
10. Resident Evil Revelations 2
11. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
12. Resident Evil Dead Aim
13. Resident Evil 5
14. Resident Evil 6
2023
It’s great. It’s exactly what you would expect to be. Fallout in Space. There are a billion things to do and its fun doing all of it. Last year, I played and loved No Man’s Sky. And in my review, I specially called out Starfield to make sure the un-fun things in that game, were not repeated in this game. For the most part, that turned out true. The ONLY thing No Man’s Skydoes better is space flight/landing/taking off. It’s seamless in No Man’s Sky; In Starfield taking off and landing is a cutscene. I’m sure they tried to get it to work but it’s OK that it doesn’t. No Man’s Sky is a Space Sim. Starfield is an RPG where the dialog is what drives the game. Space combat is still fun as VATs has found it’s way in the form of locking on an enemy ship.
There’s no co-op in Starfield, which was a tall order, but you can still build your ship, customize your homes, customize your outposts, there’s just no one to share it with (not counting screenshots of course).
The biggest negative that come to mind is the inventory system, which is awful. And I’m not even really referring to being encumbered 99% of the time. It’s when you dump all of your inventory into storage boxes, and then try to craft something that is in the same base as your inventory boxes, the crafting system does not recognize your inventory unless you are holding it. I’m sure that will be patched in, but it’s a huge pain in the ass right now.
Frankly, the fact that the inventory system is the biggest complaint rather than performance or bugs is a good thing for Bethesda. I have not experienced any performance issues (running 3080, Ryzen), just a couple of fun physics issues and an occasional game crash. Luckily the game excelles in every other area where these negatives do not ruin the game experience.
There’s no co-op in Starfield, which was a tall order, but you can still build your ship, customize your homes, customize your outposts, there’s just no one to share it with (not counting screenshots of course).
The biggest negative that come to mind is the inventory system, which is awful. And I’m not even really referring to being encumbered 99% of the time. It’s when you dump all of your inventory into storage boxes, and then try to craft something that is in the same base as your inventory boxes, the crafting system does not recognize your inventory unless you are holding it. I’m sure that will be patched in, but it’s a huge pain in the ass right now.
Frankly, the fact that the inventory system is the biggest complaint rather than performance or bugs is a good thing for Bethesda. I have not experienced any performance issues (running 3080, Ryzen), just a couple of fun physics issues and an occasional game crash. Luckily the game excelles in every other area where these negatives do not ruin the game experience.
2023
This was a nice surprise; From my memory, playing Quake 2 at 12 years old was the disappointing sequel following Quake in 1997. It was the first game I played that had somewhat of a narrative, along with missions that was not just, find the red key, open the red door, advance, rinse, wash repeat. There was a ton of backtracking but the maps were super confusing. The remaster adds a welcomed compass to the HUD that helps players navigate the confusing landscape.
The HD remaster does not add much in terms of aesthetics to the maps. They are still boring, unimaginative and tedious, especially when you play through the Ground Zero or Reckoning campaigns. The new campaign “Call of the Machine” is definitely worth checking out and works similar to how the Quake remaster added in their new campaign and adds in the new modern flavor of map design. It also throws a ton more enemies at you than what was possible back in the 90s. Quake is MUCH longer than this remaster however.
The HD remaster does not add much in terms of aesthetics to the maps. They are still boring, unimaginative and tedious, especially when you play through the Ground Zero or Reckoning campaigns. The new campaign “Call of the Machine” is definitely worth checking out and works similar to how the Quake remaster added in their new campaign and adds in the new modern flavor of map design. It also throws a ton more enemies at you than what was possible back in the 90s. Quake is MUCH longer than this remaster however.
2016
Inside is a must play for platformer puzzle lovers. It’s simplistic in gameplay (only five keys to remember, left, up, down, right and grab) rich in atmosphere and curious in story. Parallels to Limbo can be made (which is also excellent) but I absolutely LOVE this kind of story telling with zero dialog and everything from the story can be extracted from the character’s actions, the environment and puzzles needed to be solved to advance to the next area. The music sets the tone when needed, in low infrequent areas, and the sound effects is top notch. Again, this is a MUST PLAY.
2011
Just a travesty of a game and what should be a dead franchise. The only reason this would worth playing is through the co-op campaign; play with a friend, point out how crummy the level designs are, how painfully unscary Alma is, how the story makes little to no sense and how this game even exists after a wonderful first installment. Other than co-op, avoid this game.
The Pre-Sequel is the Return of the Jedi in Star Wars. Return of the King in LotR. And more aptly, it’s The Battle of the Five Armies in the Hobbit. It’s the third part of a trilogy that seems to have overstayed it’s welcome by losing a little bit of charm from the second installment.
For reference, I dumped 80 hours into Borderlands, 154 hours in Borderlands 2, and only 74 into the Pre-Sequel. Shame on me for thinking I would get the same experience in BL2. The Pre-sequel feels like a half-baked attempt at a Borderlands game.
Before getting into the game, I was already annoyed out of the gate when Gearbox didn’t offer a 4-pack like the previous two games. My three friends and I were planning on getting the 4-pack and play through as co-op. Instead we each shelled out $60 plus $40 for the DLC, which we also thought, (shame on us again) would be near the same level of quality as the BL2 DLC. Fans of the series I think would agree with me, that Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep was some of the best DLC BL2 and in recent memory. It was funny. Fun. Long. And unlike anything else we’d seen in BL. And this was just one of the DLC. Mr. Torgue’s Campaign was great. Captain Scarlette was great. But in the pre-sequel we get a bunch of packs and an Onslaught level thing. Nowhere near the level of quality in the previous game.
The game itself is riddled with bugs and graphical glitches and strange physics- which is strange because Boderlands 2 was like a rock. Here are five examples of bad QA. There was even a sequence where we fell through the map
And finally the story itself is just not as engaging as the previous games. It feels dull. Uninspired. And downright boring. The four of us made the best of the co-op experience, which I would recommend playing it that way if you choose to play this game. Playing solo would be like watching paint dry.
For reference, I dumped 80 hours into Borderlands, 154 hours in Borderlands 2, and only 74 into the Pre-Sequel. Shame on me for thinking I would get the same experience in BL2. The Pre-sequel feels like a half-baked attempt at a Borderlands game.
Before getting into the game, I was already annoyed out of the gate when Gearbox didn’t offer a 4-pack like the previous two games. My three friends and I were planning on getting the 4-pack and play through as co-op. Instead we each shelled out $60 plus $40 for the DLC, which we also thought, (shame on us again) would be near the same level of quality as the BL2 DLC. Fans of the series I think would agree with me, that Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep was some of the best DLC BL2 and in recent memory. It was funny. Fun. Long. And unlike anything else we’d seen in BL. And this was just one of the DLC. Mr. Torgue’s Campaign was great. Captain Scarlette was great. But in the pre-sequel we get a bunch of packs and an Onslaught level thing. Nowhere near the level of quality in the previous game.
The game itself is riddled with bugs and graphical glitches and strange physics- which is strange because Boderlands 2 was like a rock. Here are five examples of bad QA. There was even a sequence where we fell through the map
And finally the story itself is just not as engaging as the previous games. It feels dull. Uninspired. And downright boring. The four of us made the best of the co-op experience, which I would recommend playing it that way if you choose to play this game. Playing solo would be like watching paint dry.
2005
At first glance, F.E.A.R may seem like any other FPS with features that have "been done". Well its based on a modified Quake engine, "can't possibly be any better". "Nothing will be as creepy as Doom". "Bullet time, pfft…what is this Max Payne?"
Sure at first glance F.E.A.R has everything any other FPS has to offer; . F.E.A.R - First Encounter Assault Recon a secret military agency which you can probably guess by its name was assembled to deal with unexplained phenomenon situations.
It is extremely difficult not to spoil this game by describing the plot outline. The opening cutscene explains the game’s antagonist, Paxton Fettel loses his mind and takes control of hundreds of military cloned soldiers. (Why are they cloned? I have no idea). Fettel and his army of cloned soldiers go on a rampage through a small town killing dosens of civilians and seem to be looking for someone or something. Of course it is up to you, the player, to search the city, wipe out the cloned army and stop Fettel.
The kick to the story is sometimes Fettel will be talking to you from a ghostly apparition. He will appear suddenly at the end of the hallway, but disappear as soon as you turn the corner; there is also some strange connection between a small child in a red dress, creeping you out by appearing and disappearing in the strangest places while laughter and crying fills your ears.
The best feature of F.E.A.R is the weapon control and gameplay. Most FPS have a variety of weapons you can lug around throughout the game but usually do not distinguish recoil, change in ammo or a feel for power and weight. F.E.A.R's engine allows the player to feel all these features on every weapon. A simple right click on the mouse will allow the player to aim the weapon (much like Call of Duty) and at the same time change the speed of the character to a slow walk, becoming a silence killer. When an assault gun is fired, the recoil is felt, obviously not through the mouse, but on screen; the bullets penetrating plaster walls, wooden boxes, paper, fiberglass, tile ceiling, glass windows creating a cloud of dust and debris right in your face.
Among the series of weapons you can find during the course of the game including several assault weapons, dueling handguns, a nail gun, shotgun, rocket launcher and some sort of laser rifle, all carry very unique firing recoils and bullet wounds effects to your enemy. You cannot keep picking up weapon after weapon and continue your away through the game. F.E.A.R only allows three, including your handguns if you choose to carry them (I don't :)). You also carry along a series of grenades which all seem to come in handy at one point or another. A standard HE grenade, a proximity grenade and a very cool remote grenade. Use them wisely, they are scarce. If all these weapons and grenades weren't a lot to choose from, you are given the option of hand to hand combat. Whether it is the simple melee with your rifle, slide kick, punch or jump kick you can kick the crap out of your enemy instead of riddling them with bullets. However, be prepared to face well armored opponents who will not flinch to a weak kick to the face. I got a little jump kick happy and found myself falling out of a 50 story building because I thought I was jumping into the next office. Oops.
Aside from this enormous improvement in weapon control, F.E.A.R also gives the ability to the player to slow down time. Yes this is a beaten to death feature and can be seen in Max Payne 1 and 2 and The Matrix series, but when you combine the previous feature with slowing down time, you can almost see every single dust particle rendered by your video card. Also be very prepared when you use the time button and place your shotgun an inch away from your enemy for a giant red cloud of…well you know.
To go along with bullet time, F.E.A.R carries a great soundtrack with most impressive sound effects. How about hearing every single shell that hits the ground when you're firing your assault rifle while at the same time hearing the bullets pierce your enemy and the wall? Well that is exactly what you hear… but don't be freaked out by the whispers coming from the dark hallway when your flashlight goes dead and your radio hits a wave of static and your turn around to see a child crawling on the floor towards you.
The AI in F.E.A.R is not bad. Enemies will react to certain situations which I was very impressed with. If you throw a grenade, one of the enemies will call out. "Oh ♥♥♥♥ grenade." And the team will scatter. Same situation if an enemy throws a grenade, the rest of the team will prepare for a "fire in the hole". Also if they hear you running down the hall, they will turn towards the sound of your footsteps, but you can just as easily walk in a different direction, sneak up behind them and see them all staring at the original spot they heard you from.
The cons? Well there isn't much, but one thing is for sure, you better have AT LEAST an X800 to run this game on high. I've said this before about Doom 3 and HL2, if you're playing these games on low or medium quality; you are not getting much out of these games compared to what you see with a top of the line card, especially if you are turning off shadows. F.E.A.R is a CPU, memory and graphics HOG will truly test your system.
Bottom Line: F.E.A.R is quite easily one of the most unique, freaky, best looking games to date. With a combination of today's horror qualities most resembling the Ring, graphics that utilize today's best graphics cards and the best use of gameplay in FPS, F.E.A.R will fit in your collection with ease. I wish the surrounding environment changed more throughout the game like HL2; changing the time of day, or setting instead of the same warehouse, office building, sewer maps that even still look the same, but I hardly notice when I'm trying to figure out where those whispers are coming from.
Sure at first glance F.E.A.R has everything any other FPS has to offer; . F.E.A.R - First Encounter Assault Recon a secret military agency which you can probably guess by its name was assembled to deal with unexplained phenomenon situations.
It is extremely difficult not to spoil this game by describing the plot outline. The opening cutscene explains the game’s antagonist, Paxton Fettel loses his mind and takes control of hundreds of military cloned soldiers. (Why are they cloned? I have no idea). Fettel and his army of cloned soldiers go on a rampage through a small town killing dosens of civilians and seem to be looking for someone or something. Of course it is up to you, the player, to search the city, wipe out the cloned army and stop Fettel.
The kick to the story is sometimes Fettel will be talking to you from a ghostly apparition. He will appear suddenly at the end of the hallway, but disappear as soon as you turn the corner; there is also some strange connection between a small child in a red dress, creeping you out by appearing and disappearing in the strangest places while laughter and crying fills your ears.
The best feature of F.E.A.R is the weapon control and gameplay. Most FPS have a variety of weapons you can lug around throughout the game but usually do not distinguish recoil, change in ammo or a feel for power and weight. F.E.A.R's engine allows the player to feel all these features on every weapon. A simple right click on the mouse will allow the player to aim the weapon (much like Call of Duty) and at the same time change the speed of the character to a slow walk, becoming a silence killer. When an assault gun is fired, the recoil is felt, obviously not through the mouse, but on screen; the bullets penetrating plaster walls, wooden boxes, paper, fiberglass, tile ceiling, glass windows creating a cloud of dust and debris right in your face.
Among the series of weapons you can find during the course of the game including several assault weapons, dueling handguns, a nail gun, shotgun, rocket launcher and some sort of laser rifle, all carry very unique firing recoils and bullet wounds effects to your enemy. You cannot keep picking up weapon after weapon and continue your away through the game. F.E.A.R only allows three, including your handguns if you choose to carry them (I don't :)). You also carry along a series of grenades which all seem to come in handy at one point or another. A standard HE grenade, a proximity grenade and a very cool remote grenade. Use them wisely, they are scarce. If all these weapons and grenades weren't a lot to choose from, you are given the option of hand to hand combat. Whether it is the simple melee with your rifle, slide kick, punch or jump kick you can kick the crap out of your enemy instead of riddling them with bullets. However, be prepared to face well armored opponents who will not flinch to a weak kick to the face. I got a little jump kick happy and found myself falling out of a 50 story building because I thought I was jumping into the next office. Oops.
Aside from this enormous improvement in weapon control, F.E.A.R also gives the ability to the player to slow down time. Yes this is a beaten to death feature and can be seen in Max Payne 1 and 2 and The Matrix series, but when you combine the previous feature with slowing down time, you can almost see every single dust particle rendered by your video card. Also be very prepared when you use the time button and place your shotgun an inch away from your enemy for a giant red cloud of…well you know.
To go along with bullet time, F.E.A.R carries a great soundtrack with most impressive sound effects. How about hearing every single shell that hits the ground when you're firing your assault rifle while at the same time hearing the bullets pierce your enemy and the wall? Well that is exactly what you hear… but don't be freaked out by the whispers coming from the dark hallway when your flashlight goes dead and your radio hits a wave of static and your turn around to see a child crawling on the floor towards you.
The AI in F.E.A.R is not bad. Enemies will react to certain situations which I was very impressed with. If you throw a grenade, one of the enemies will call out. "Oh ♥♥♥♥ grenade." And the team will scatter. Same situation if an enemy throws a grenade, the rest of the team will prepare for a "fire in the hole". Also if they hear you running down the hall, they will turn towards the sound of your footsteps, but you can just as easily walk in a different direction, sneak up behind them and see them all staring at the original spot they heard you from.
The cons? Well there isn't much, but one thing is for sure, you better have AT LEAST an X800 to run this game on high. I've said this before about Doom 3 and HL2, if you're playing these games on low or medium quality; you are not getting much out of these games compared to what you see with a top of the line card, especially if you are turning off shadows. F.E.A.R is a CPU, memory and graphics HOG will truly test your system.
Bottom Line: F.E.A.R is quite easily one of the most unique, freaky, best looking games to date. With a combination of today's horror qualities most resembling the Ring, graphics that utilize today's best graphics cards and the best use of gameplay in FPS, F.E.A.R will fit in your collection with ease. I wish the surrounding environment changed more throughout the game like HL2; changing the time of day, or setting instead of the same warehouse, office building, sewer maps that even still look the same, but I hardly notice when I'm trying to figure out where those whispers are coming from.
2023
I hate that I can't stop playing.
Pretty good. The telltale series is the perfect platform for this kind of property. Ensemble cast of characters, Humor, Marvel Universe... It's all fun. If found the decision-making process to be the biggest thing that lacks here. There's barely any decision to make and I couldn't tell if my choices changed the story all that much. I did roll my eyes a bit as the developers were basically take a page off of James Gunn's movie trilogy. The characters personality are almost exactly like they are in the MC. And the attempt at plucking some music that sorta sounds the same as the soundtracks was an OK attempt. If you love the characters, you'll enjoy this off-shoot of a story. I don't expect a continuation.
2021
I cannot accurately put my finger on why this game does not work for me, just a couple of theories. It shocks me this game is not as exciting or fun as its spiritual predecessors Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2. Those games are A+ Co-ops. This game is developed by the same studio, minus the “Left 4 Dead” IP. It plays similarly, with strong emphasis on co-op and using the game’s AI director. The structure is similar, move from safe house to safe house in several unique environments. So why does it feel different?
It could be the card system- where players collect cards that will provide stat boosts so you can basically build out a character that is proficient in a certain weapon type, or defensive upgrade. That element adds a complexity to a formula that might not have been needed. Players also have to “BUY” ammo at safehouses along with throwables and medkits. So during your run you need to keep your eye out for coins to use as in-game currency. The campaigns also feel more tedious, some of them feel like they go on forever rather than having a campaign with four mains sections and fifth finale. Back 4 Blood splits the campaigns up into Acts, and then within the acts are different chapters. It just feels more confusing.
Finally the biggest problem with the game is it’s difficulty. Recruit, Veteran, Nightmare and No Hope. You think this would be similar to Easy, Normal, Advanced and Expert from L4D- but it’s not. Expert in L4D is closer to Veteran in Back 4 Blood and it shows how the developers really want you to grind out those cards so you can increase your characters stats to be able to service in No Hope. We don’t want to grind in this game Turtlerock. We just want to play it, sometimes with friends, sometimes with noobs. Grinding with people you do not know is a disaster recipe. We thought you understood this from the Evolve failure but maybe you will understand on your third try.
All this game does is make me want to play Left 4 Dead again.
It could be the card system- where players collect cards that will provide stat boosts so you can basically build out a character that is proficient in a certain weapon type, or defensive upgrade. That element adds a complexity to a formula that might not have been needed. Players also have to “BUY” ammo at safehouses along with throwables and medkits. So during your run you need to keep your eye out for coins to use as in-game currency. The campaigns also feel more tedious, some of them feel like they go on forever rather than having a campaign with four mains sections and fifth finale. Back 4 Blood splits the campaigns up into Acts, and then within the acts are different chapters. It just feels more confusing.
Finally the biggest problem with the game is it’s difficulty. Recruit, Veteran, Nightmare and No Hope. You think this would be similar to Easy, Normal, Advanced and Expert from L4D- but it’s not. Expert in L4D is closer to Veteran in Back 4 Blood and it shows how the developers really want you to grind out those cards so you can increase your characters stats to be able to service in No Hope. We don’t want to grind in this game Turtlerock. We just want to play it, sometimes with friends, sometimes with noobs. Grinding with people you do not know is a disaster recipe. We thought you understood this from the Evolve failure but maybe you will understand on your third try.
All this game does is make me want to play Left 4 Dead again.
I’m reviewing this game as it exists in June 2018. I understand, there was some complications during launch and with the end game stuff after initial release, but that is not of my concern. Because as this game exists right now, I personally feel Massive Entertainment, (and Ubisoft) has found a balance between unique non-repetitive farming gameplay that has eluded most developers. For reference, I am about 60 hours in, completed the main story, base of operations is 100%, reached level 30, found all the collectables, and roughly level 20 on both dark zone and underground… and there’s still much to do.
First, the story; an infectious contagion was released and New York City has been decimated, abandoned by the infection. A sleeper agency known as the division, is put in place to bring order back to the city. I’m impressed by the level of detail that is in this game outside of the main story. The collectables; phones, survival guides, drones and echoes are an excellent way to add to the lore and backstory, as they add audio recordings and surveillance footage to the chaos. In fact, most of it is quite immersive and emotional as you come across a phone message from a young woman, who doesn’t know if they will ever see their mother again, coming out of the closet for the first time. The writing in in this game can pull at the heart strings in the middle of some of the chaos.
The game takes place in the winter time, shortly after Christmas. The weather and time are dynamic, switching back and forth from snow, to clear sky, from night to midday. Times Square in the middle of the night is quite the sight but what is even more impressive is the level of detail through the streets as almost no models are reused.
So what drives you to play after you’re done with the story?
Well the end game modes are fun for one, and two, you are constantly intrigued by exploring the Dark Zone; the deeply infected area in the middle of the map where the military as pulled out and all that is left there is mountains of dead bodies and PvP. It has its own level system and is one of the areas where high level drops can occur. Sometimes players will attack you, sometimes they won’t, and sometimes they will pretend to be your alley, attack you as you are about to extract all the gear you were collecting for the last hour and take all your stuff. There’s a nifty balance of anxiety and excitement when you’re in the Dead Zone. And it’s addicting.
There’s also the Survival DLC, which is my favorite game mode. This game mode strips you of all your gear, drops you in the middle of a blizzard and lets you fend for your life. So you need to find guns, armor, and clothing (which in this game there feels like an infinite different clothing options to customize your character) otherwise you will freeze to death. You are also infected and need to craft, an antidote and a flare gun to extra yourself out of the blizzard.
Then there’s the Underground, which is essentially the game’s dungeon mode. Make your way through three or four levels of difficulty defeating enemies and collecting gear.
In additional to all game modes, the Division has hundreds of “challenges” or commendations that you can complete to get keys, to get customizable gear and clothing. And there is thousands, and thousands of customizable stuff in the Division….
Moving on to Division 2, I hope Massive Entertainment has learned from their mistakes
First, the story; an infectious contagion was released and New York City has been decimated, abandoned by the infection. A sleeper agency known as the division, is put in place to bring order back to the city. I’m impressed by the level of detail that is in this game outside of the main story. The collectables; phones, survival guides, drones and echoes are an excellent way to add to the lore and backstory, as they add audio recordings and surveillance footage to the chaos. In fact, most of it is quite immersive and emotional as you come across a phone message from a young woman, who doesn’t know if they will ever see their mother again, coming out of the closet for the first time. The writing in in this game can pull at the heart strings in the middle of some of the chaos.
The game takes place in the winter time, shortly after Christmas. The weather and time are dynamic, switching back and forth from snow, to clear sky, from night to midday. Times Square in the middle of the night is quite the sight but what is even more impressive is the level of detail through the streets as almost no models are reused.
So what drives you to play after you’re done with the story?
Well the end game modes are fun for one, and two, you are constantly intrigued by exploring the Dark Zone; the deeply infected area in the middle of the map where the military as pulled out and all that is left there is mountains of dead bodies and PvP. It has its own level system and is one of the areas where high level drops can occur. Sometimes players will attack you, sometimes they won’t, and sometimes they will pretend to be your alley, attack you as you are about to extract all the gear you were collecting for the last hour and take all your stuff. There’s a nifty balance of anxiety and excitement when you’re in the Dead Zone. And it’s addicting.
There’s also the Survival DLC, which is my favorite game mode. This game mode strips you of all your gear, drops you in the middle of a blizzard and lets you fend for your life. So you need to find guns, armor, and clothing (which in this game there feels like an infinite different clothing options to customize your character) otherwise you will freeze to death. You are also infected and need to craft, an antidote and a flare gun to extra yourself out of the blizzard.
Then there’s the Underground, which is essentially the game’s dungeon mode. Make your way through three or four levels of difficulty defeating enemies and collecting gear.
In additional to all game modes, the Division has hundreds of “challenges” or commendations that you can complete to get keys, to get customizable gear and clothing. And there is thousands, and thousands of customizable stuff in the Division….
Moving on to Division 2, I hope Massive Entertainment has learned from their mistakes