Hey gamers


Quite possibly the greatest licensed soundtrack ever assembled. So many hits in here - you got Denial by Sevendust, you got Crush by Anthrax, you got Them Bones by Alice in Chains, you got Spoonman by Soundgarden (which is sped up for some reason), you got Click by Ultraspank, and so many others. So so good.


Even putting my nostalgia aside, and after becoming comfortable with the controls, ATV Offroad Fury 1 remains a fun racing game. I usually prefer more arcadey racing games (e.g. Mario Kart) rather than realistic simulators (e.g. Gran Turismo), but this rides that line between the two. There's a fun level of strategy in the races here: deciding to take turns wide or cut them close, preload the suspension or not, etc. At the same time, the game lets you do tricks and ram into your opponents to get them to crash. It's a balance that I think works and, from what I can remember, is improved in the third game. Might play that soon, idk.


I don't care about the enduro races as the track design gets really boring after the first lap. Also, this might sound like blasphemy, but I didn't find the free-roam modes as interesting as the track races. There's a pittance of unique geometry in the open areas to mess around in; fun for a few minutes, but the novelty wears off fast. That being said, the way the game launches your character into the air when you go out of bounds never gets old.


The maxed-out ATV the game awards you with when beating the career mode completely breaks the game.

Hey gamers


I'm pretty much right down the middle on A Plague Tale: Innocence. For everything I liked, there's another equally inferior aspect that evened my experience out. It looks technically fantastic, but the character animations are worse than Mass Effect, a game that came out over a decade beforehand. The first half of the story was engaging, the second half was not. The score was great, but the characters were bland. I loved the rat mechanics, but the stealth and combat mechanics were shallow and jank.


I've heard much better things about Requiem, so I'm excited to play through it next.

Hey gamers


For the first 75% of this game, I has having a blast. The soundtrack is beautiful, perfectly capturing a haunting yet wonderous tone. The art direction and character design are amazing. Gaining new abilities and feeling more confident in my combat abilities was a satisfying progression. Some of the boss fights were really fun.


However, I started enjoying it less and less these past few hours. The game becomes very repetitive and predictable, it takes ages to get from point A to point B, and, much like Bloodborne, I don't like stories that are kept so vague that it gives me nothing to attach myself to or hardly any motivation to push myself into the world. I think all I have left is a few bosses, and I can't beat any of them, even after several attempts. I routinely get hit by no fault of my own (projectiles spawning offscreen, attacks blending into the background, the controls, etc.), and I don't have the energy to push through and get them done. Maybe someday, but not now.

Hey gamers


I don't have much to say about this one. While I appreciate its greatly reduced length after the slog that was Valhalla, the gorgeous city of Baghdad, and the return to the focus on parkour, stealth, and the Creed, Mirage still feels half baked in its story, characters, structure, combat, and progression. The best thing I can say about Mirage is the historical sites. I imagine, due to its initial development as a DLC to Valhalla, they weren't planning to do a Discovery Tour for Mirage like they did for the prior three AC games, so they put their historical research notes into the game itself. This was a great move, allowing me to absorb myself into the setting even more as I played instead of appreciating the the world after I had already played the game. For real though, If you own Origins, Odyssey, and/or Valhalla and haven't checked out their respective Discovery Tours, I implore you to; well, at least the first two (Valhalla's DT structure is really strange and has some awful text-to-speech dialogue).

Hey gamers


Having completed a full playthrough on drums, two playthroughs on guitar, and a full game FC on bass, I still believe that Guitar Hero: Van Halen is one of the best in the series. I think Van Halen is the quintessential band for the band-centric Guitar Hero games. Eddie's riffs are super fun to play, and so are the drums and bass. I had a blast running through the setlist on each instrument.


The charts are solid for the most part. Most of them, especially VH's songs, are enjoyable, regardless of the instrument. My only gripes are that they tend to go overboard with slides by charting them with tap notes, and a few of the songs with in a triplet swing (Beautiful Girls, Ice Cream Man) are charted as straight 8th/16th notes for drums and bass.


The only other issue I have with this game is the guest act selections. In the other two band-centric Guitar Hero games, the guest acts were artists that inspired the band, were inspired by the band, or just fit the general vibe of the setlist. For example, GH: Aerosmith included The Black Crowes, Cheap Trick, Joan Jett, The Cult, Ted Nugent, etc. GH: Metallica included Motorhead, Slayer, System of a Down, Judas Priest, Alice in Chains, etc. In GH: Van Halen, the guest acts here are just baffling. A few feel like they belong, but 75% of them have no business being here - Weezer, Blink-182, Yellowcard, Killswitch Engage, Fountains of Wayne, Jimmy Eat World, The Offspring, Queens of the Stone Age, Alter Bridge. That being said, the Van Halen setlist is so good that it outshines these other bands.


I'm going to do another full guitar playthrough soon and scrounge up some FCs that I didn't bother with last time. I think that's about it. Great game.


Favourite songs:

- Atomic Punk - Van Halen
- Beautiful Girls - Van Halen
- Double Vision - Foreigner
- Eruption - Van Halen
- Hot for Teacher - Van Halen
- I'm the One - Van Halen
- Ice Cream Man - Van Halen
- Mean Street - Van Halen
- Painkiller - Judas Priest
- Panama - Van Halen
- Runnin' with the Devil - Van Halen
- Semi-Charmed Life - Third Eye Blind
- Somebody Get Me a Doctor - Van Halen
- Space Truckin' - Deep Purple
- Spanish Fly - Van Halen
- You Really Got Me - Van Halen

Hey gamers


I was made aware of Amplitude last year from playing Rock Band 4 as one of the songs on its setlist, Recession, was made for the Amplitude remake. After further research, the original Amplitude is a sequel to Frequency, which are the first two games Harmonix published. Being a nearly lifelong Guitar Hero / Rock Band player, I have a huge amount of respect for Harmonix. This new version of Amplitude had been at the back of my mind ever since, and I decided to give it a go a year later.


The gameplay of Amplitude consists of traveling down lanes that correspond to each aspect of the song (drums, synths, bass, vocals, and guitar). You shoot the gems on the corresponding lane to play that instrument, and if you hit all the gems in a given sequence, the instrument continues playing on its own as its corresponding lane disappears. Several measures later, the instrument fades from the mix and its corresponding lane spawns back. You're essentially building and maintaining the mix of the song through the game. It's a creative idea and one that I enjoyed playing. The electronic setlist works really well for this game, and it's incredibly charming and nostalgic for me. I love the art direction, and the concept album campaign is a cool idea. There is a large learning curve, and I still have a fair way to go to overcoming it. At this point, I can FC most songs on intermediate, I can reliably 2-bar every song on advanced, but I struggle to pass half of them on expert. I think it's safe to say I won't be earning the platinum trophy. I can't believe I'm saying this, but after playing GH/RB for well over a decade, it was oddly enjoyable to be this bad at a rhythm game again.


I do think, however, that this version of Amplitude has two major shortcomings. The first is the lack of standout tracks. I do like the electronic genre of the setlist, but it's not something I could sink my teeth into for hours at a time. I don't see myself coming back to the game to play some of these songs often. Plus, since it's a single genre, the experience feels one-note. With only 30 songs, Amplitude doesn't have the longevity that most GH/RB games do.


The other is that it's incredibly difficult, even impossible in some cases, to maintain your combo due to the many obstructions and distractions it throws at you. You could argue that it's like sight-reading sheet music as you have to look ahead to play properly, but I disagree. It's more like sight-reading sheet music while a cat keeps getting in your way trying to knock the paper off the stand. I can think of a few solutions that would make things so much easier: Colour coordinate the notes depending on which of the three note lanes it belongs to à la GH/RB, have the instrument lanes spawn adjacent to the one you're currently on, don't have the lanes curve as they travel, move the camera further away, zoom out, or lock the camera in place like in the multiplayer mode.


At the very least, Amplitude succeeds the task that many rhythm games strive for: It is made by and for people who have a passion for music, and it will help people appreciate music in a new light. You can clearly experience Harmonix's love of music through this game. Much like how GH/RB inspired many to learn the guitar, bass, drums, and/or singing, myself included, I can easily see someone citing Amplitude as an inspiration for them to pursue sound mixing or beat creation. That's the power of rhythm games, and I feel comfortable with Amplitude being cemented as a worthwhile addition to the genre. I may not love it as much as GH/RB, but I respect what it's doing and I'm glad to have played it.


Favourite songs:

- 2. Wetware - Harmonix
- 3. Dreamer - Harmonix
- 4. Recession - Jeff Allen ft. Noelle LeBlanc and Naoko Takamoto
- 5. Break for Me - James Landino ft. Noelle LeBlanc
- Lights - Wolfgun
- Phantoms - Freezepop

Hey gamers


I'll be posting reviews of the Guitar Hero / Rock Band games I've played recently. I'll kick it off with my least favourite of the PS3 era: Band Hero.


There's nothing that this game does that's offensively terrible; well, maybe apart from the bizarre lyric censoring, but it's just the most generic game in the series for me. The game is focused on a more pop-centric setlist, and this is a move I'm not a fan of at all. Besides that, and besides the celebrity appearances, there's nothing that sets Band Hero apart from the rest of the series, especially GH5.


The setlist is really the only thing worth talking about here. Since it's a pop setlist, I find that the overwhelming majority of these songs fall into two categories. The first are songs that are boring to play. Many of these tracks follow the generic pop song structure and/or are one-and-done FCs at my skill level. As a result, they just blend together and left little to no impact on me. The second are songs that have no business being in a Guitar Hero game, whether I like them on their own or not. I don't know who made these selections, but Band Hero has tracks like Wannabe - Spice Girls, Rock Star - N.E.R.D., Happy Together - The Turtles, Y.M.C.A. - Village People, I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Marvin Gaye, American Pie - Don McLean, etc. These songs feel like they don't belong in this type of rhythm game and have strange charts to play.


I'm not a fan of this game. I'll pop it in my PS3 every so often to play the handful of fun songs, but the style of the setlist and the lack of change/innovation on any of the rest of its systems make Band Hero one of the worst in the series for me.


Favourite songs:

- Black Cat - Janet Jackson
- Fascination - Alphabeat
- I Want You to Want Me (Live) - Cheap Trick
- If You Could Only See - Tonic
- Kids - Robbie Williams & Kylie Minogue
- Love Is a Battlefield - Pat Benatar
- Naïve - The Kooks
- Take a Picture - Filter
- You Belong with Me - Taylor Swift

Hey gamers


I saw this for $10 at a pawn shop. I had always heard good things, so I got it. Idk, after playing a few quests, I decided this game isn't for me. The controls feel stagnant and unresponsive, and the combat has a dull pace. Also, the insane amount of tutorials and mechanics it throws at you right from the start was disorienting. It was impossible to play for three minutes without receiving a ≥100 word long tutorial message. Feeling overwhelmed, I decided not to play any further. I'll probably end up returning the disc lol.

Hey gamers


I had started this one years ago but I decided to quit around halfway through. Playing this again, Bloodborne remains a solid entry in the PS exclusives.


Bloodborne has the strongest art direction I've seen in a video game. The world is dripping with detail, and the views are beautiful. I love how the night progresses through the game, giving the sky a new appearance every few hours. It helps vary the environments, even the ones you've already been to. Combine it with great sound design and this makes for one of the most gorgeous video games you can play.


The combat is so much fun, man. Even though I stuck with the saw cleaver for the majority of the game, I never found the combat itself to be dull or repetitive. Leveling up your character and taking down previously challenging enemies is a greatly rewarding and satisfying experience. I'm kind of torn on the parry mechanic, however. It's satisfying to pull it off, but I found it unreliable to do so. I think that the parry timing window is inconsistent.


The boss fights are epic. They get so tense, and your triumphs are more fulfilling because of it, not to mention the amazing music that accompanies them.


However, I think that there are three aspects that hold Bloodborne back from being an all-timer for me.


There are frame rate drops everywhere. The 30 fps lock didn't matter to me because I got used to it within minutes, but the numerous times where it dipped below that were annoying to deal with. I played this on PS5, so I think it's safe to say the hardware isn't the issue, rather it's the game itself.


I think that Bloodborne's difficulty scaling is kinda messy. Ideally, it should be an evenly challenging experience, with it maybe getting a bit more demanding as the game goes on, but that's not the case here. Bloodborne is manageably difficult throughout, but it has some horrendously abrupt difficulty spikes. In my playthrough and at my skill level, they were the Yharnam intro, Hypogean Gaol (if you're transported there by a snatcher), the three hunters you fight there later, the Nightmare of Mensis, and the ≥3rd layer chalice dungeons (I felt like whipping my controller at the wall during the defiled chalice boss fights). It felt unbalanced. Besides that, there are a number of boss fights where you'll die for reasons that aren't your fault, such as the camera, arena geometry, hitbox issues, and some monsters are too large to properly recognize their attack movements. Moreover, frenzy is the single dumbest mechanic I've ever encountered in my years of gaming.


And finally, everything about Bloodborne is way too cryptic. To be clear, this helps some areas - the world is more intriguing, it's fun experimenting with new items and weapons, and it makes exploration more rewarding, but it hurts the game in every other way. There's absolutely nothing from a narrative standpoint except for the very beginning and very end of the game. It gives you no motivation to push you to hunt monsters, and it's entirely reliant on the world and atmosphere. That works for some people, but I would prefer something more. I watched some story analysis videos after finishing the game and all I could think of was, "Where are people getting this information from? Did we play the same video game?" It hides many of the mechanics from you, and it rarely explains the items you loot, so I hardly used any of them. To this day, I still have no idea what the purpose of insight is. More terminally, however, the level progression is unclear. On countless occasions, I had no idea where to go or where the next level was located. I would get stuck and be forced to use a guide I found online. I can't imagine someone beating Bloodborne and all its side content all by themself. This is the reason why I stopped playing on my first playthrough - I got fed up with all the cryptic nonsense you had to do to progress. For what it's worth, my favourite part of the game was the chunk I had already played because I knew where to go. In all fairness, I think Bloodborne would be more enjoyable on a second playthrough now that I've already figured out its secrets (and that I know to avoid the excruciating chalice dungeons).


On one hand, I feel sad to be leaving this gorgeous world, but on the other hand, I feel relieved to have conquered it.