Seneste anmeldelser af Semaphia

An instant classic, but not without its flaws.

Kickstarter as a history when it comes to nostalgia-bait titles aimed to fans of certain genres, but sadly, the majority of crowdfunded to live up to the expecations they set themselves by appealing to those fans in the first place. For every Shovel Knight, you have dozens of other offerings ranging from mediocre to just flat out bad.

Thankfully, Pillars of Eternity is to CRPG's what Shovel Knight is to Platformers - It doesn't just evoke memories of it's influences, but instead draws up a chair to sit amongst them. Pillars does too much right for me to accurately sum up its brilliance (and shortcomings) in a few paragraphs, but regardless, I'll try my best.

Gameplay is highly customizatable, with multiple tweaks available for all aspects of the game. If you want no help/tooltips while in conversation, but you don't really want the combat to be too hard, then you can do that easily enough. If the reverse is true, and you fancy your chats brief, and your combat nearly impossible, then that's just as easy to set up! It's a very elegant system that, instead of tying multiple values to the same difficulty, allows you to play the game as you wish to play it. And after that, you get to spend an hour (at least) making your perfect hero in Character Select - Woo! Character creation is top notch, with so many variables for each & every class that your character will almost certainly be unique. Each class has it's own pros and cons, and the spell diversity available is nothing short of amazing... Oh, and don't listen to anyone who says Wizards aren't that good - Wizards are awesome!

The story isn't easy - It's anything but. Expect to be VERY confused for the first few hours while every NPC around you references various places & people you've never heard of before as if you're one with the world. But, as time goes by, and it all comes together, you'll be thankful for the early rounds you suffered at the hands of Obsidian's literary boxers. The fascinating world is enhanced by a selection of very varied companions, but I can't overlook the limited number of them available. This could be one of the few cases where a somewhat limited (yet very generous KS) budget might not have allowed them the time to do so, but I really would've hoped for at least one NPC per class. As it is, there's a couple of classes that you can only experience when you make them yourself, which means you're going to endure a lot of silence unless you find yourself writing up a character backstory yourself - Try it!

The art is some of the best I've seen in any videogame. While it may look a tad dated from the compressed screenshots you've seen online, it all makes sense once you boot the game up and admire the beautifully handcrafted environment and real time lighting effects. The sound design is, for the most part, just as solid, however there's a noticeable lack of variety in music. Every combat encounter, regardless of it's importance, is accompanied by the same instrumental piece. It really would've added to the effect of the larger boss encounters if they'd had a new tune like the Curst Battle in PS:T, but hey, it's a minor complaint.

Okay, so what's wrong with the game? Other than the minor gripes listed above, the game does currently have a few bugs that, thankfully, Obsidian should be patching this week. Keybindings could also be handled a lot better. When in combat, if you hover over a spell and press a key, the game will automatically bind that ability to that key - Great, right? But you're never told which keys you can and can't use, and simple things like unbinding the M (map) key while in combat to allow it to be used as an ability should be pretty obvious, but sadly isn't catered for. And damn, aiming wall abilities with just a mouse can be a pain in the backside, but it's manageable.

Minor gripes that, for the most part, don't detract from the overall experience. It's a stunning game that's best experienced blind, so do yourself a favour and give the game a chance before jumping onto YouTube to check out a few videos.

It's amazing how many things in this game shouldn't actually work... A game in develoment hell over at Konami, handed over to Platinum with a strict time schedule - Something they've never been able to stick to before. Take Raiden, one of the most disappointing video game characters I've ever encountered, and create a game around him. Find some D-tier metal musicians to sing some terribly cheesy songs over boss battles.

But it all works flawlessly, but why? I think I know... Hideo Kojima? Totally crazy. Platinum games? Flat out insane. Put them both together, and what do you have? A bloody good time, that's what!

There's no company on the planet more suited to projects like this than Platinum, and the further you get into the game, the more you begin to appreciate the nuances of the combat system. The parry system, while woefully explained, is a satisfying mechanic to pull off in a combination, and Blade Mode results in some of the most pleasing kills in any action game to date. While the combat system doesn't have the depth of other P* games, for example, Bayonetta 2, it still gives you plenty to learn, and believe me, you will have to learn. The combat is fast & furious, and a small lapse in concentraction can cause major issues for even the most experienced player, but there's nothing in the game that can't be avoided, so it's all about learning your toolset, and adapting to each situation as it comes along. As far as character action games go, Metal Gear Rising is up there with the best of them, while not competing with any of them. It's doing its own thing, and doing it brilliantly, and that definitely has to be respected.

The game itself is very similar to other P* games. Basically, the plot is ignorable, but it's often funny to see the characters interact with each other. The characters & cutscenes are incredibly cheesy, but the Arnold Schwarzenegger in True Lies kinda cheesy. If you're coming from a MGS game, and expect a more serious tone from a title carrying the MG name, then you might be disappointed, but if you can adjust your narritive expectations, then I'm sure you'll love the charming, crazy nature of it all. The boss fights are some of the most insane I've ever seen, and really do have to be experienced to appreciate. It's pretty amazing to see a little 6ft fella cut up metal war machines the size of skyscrapers - All to the tune of perfectly fitting (albeit still crap) shred metal!

It's also quite a short game, and you shouldn't expect your first playthrough to last you more than 5-8 hours (difficulty dependant). However, the more you play the game, the more you keep wanting to play, and thankfully, the missions are very replayable. With unlocks that drastically alter playstyles, and encounter & mission based rankings (S, A, B, C, D), there's plenty to keep you coming back.

It's a definite recommendation from me, and here's another one... Go out, grab yourself a Wii U, and buy Bayonetta 2.

South Park has been a favourite of mine since I was a child, and it's something I've grown up with over the last 18 or so years. Previous SP games I've played, especially during the PS1/N64 era, have been lackluster to say the least, so I approached TSoT with a ton of cautious optimism.

It turns out that I shouldn't have worried at all, because The Stick of Truth is the best use of a film/TV IP since KOTOR2.

When drawing on almost two decades of a classic cartoon, it'd be pretty easy & understandable for a third party to miss out on the essence of the source material, even if they're fans of the series. Thankfully, Obsidian are masters of their craft, and with the help of series creators Matt & Trey, TSoT perfectly captures all the best bits of one of TVs longest enduring cartoons, and condenses it all into 10 hours of hallmark insanity.

The combat is a little basic, and the gameplay is pretty simple to solve (gross out & fire beats all, basically), but the environments, questing, weapons, and armour, are all varied enough to keep the game more than interesting.

Perhaps not a title for everyone, but for South Park fans? It's an absolute no brainer. One of the most enjoyable games of 2014, with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, memorable scenes, and flat out insane scenarios. The perfect South Park game.

After deciding I should spend some time tackling an insurmountable backlog, I headed back into Tomb Raider, after having given up about two hours in during my first play session. I managed to tackle the remainder of the campaign in about seven hours, playing on Hard, and this is what I found...

QTE QTE Cutscene QTE Scripted Combat Sequence Cutscene Cutscene Cutscene.

I could moan about the horrid QTE sequences forever, but instead, I'll talk about the other elements of gameplay - Yes, surprisingly, there are some other ways to beat someone than to bash X when prompted.

Let's start with the AI. The AI is either very sporting, or someone Bill & Ted collected from the 15th century. Give them a bow & arrow, and they'll hit an apple off your head from 50 yards... Give them a gun, and stand up with just your waist below cover (which happens quite frequently, as the cover system can be a tad hit or miss), and just watch them try to figure out how the gun works. They can also land a stick of dynamite on your head from 30 yards, which is quite a feat for someone unable to operate a trigger.

The stealth system is also hit & miss. Either that, or enemies are deaf, dumb, & blind. Every time involves little more than a 5 second wait - As soon as person A turns around, shoot his buddy in the back of the head with an arrow, because the sound of a man yelping as his skull is pierced by a homemade arrow, bringing 200lbs to the ground with a thump, isn't enough to alert his buddy less than 3 yards away.

But why bother with stealth? Even on hard, the AI is dumb, you can shoot arrows like a machine gun, and there's no downside to doing so. Arrows are littered around the island in such a way that there's no real sense of needing to conserve to stay alive - The element of survival isn't told through conventional gameplay, but instead through scripted sequences & story driven cutscenes. Sigh...

Invisible walls - Bah! I can clearly see this guys head poking out from behind his cover, but apparently he's not sticking it out enough for the game to notice. I tried switching to a gun, just to make sure I wasn't a victim of gravity taking effect on the arrow... Nope. There was also a scene towards the end of the game where an enemy was on a heavy turret with multiple body parts exposed - I do what any sensible person would do, and try to shoot them... Nope, invisible wall again. Why? So after the "dramatic" run to his position, I could do some amazing thin... Never mind, it was just a cutscene and some QTE.

It's not all bad, though. The visuals are fantastic, and the weapons sound pretty darn good... That's all I have, really.

Would I recommend it at £14.99? Nah... 75% off in a sale (like I did)? Probably.

I'll be basing my experiences so far on 100 or so hours with Virtual Pool 4, & VooFoo's previous pool title, Hustle Kings. Keep in mind that some of my issues might have been addressed by the time you've read this review, but I'll try to keep it as current as possible.

Positives:
Very clean visually. Probably the best looking pool title on the market.
Plenty of table customization. Logos/patterns are easily turned off, and there's several colours of cloth available.
The cloth feels closer to the real thing than any other pool sim I've played. I can actually see/feel the backspin grip into it.
Plenty of content to keep you going, especially at the price point.
Fair £/€/$ conversion rate.

Negatives:
I feel the game lacks a bit of cue power. It would be nice to be able to really nail a ball.
The AI can sometimes take too long with each shot, with a weird faux aiming "effect" that just eats up time.
Inverted controls for adding English to the ball/moving the ball - Not a settings issue.
Sometimes, the game just doesn't seem to want to accept inputs, especially when wanting to add English to the ball.
Mouse & Keyboard controls are pretty poor.
Minor graphical issues.
9 ball rules are incomplete (no push-out, 3 fouls, etc).

Overall, I'd recommend it. It will be a very good game once the few little issues it has are ironed out, but right now, just treat it like an unpolished gem - The core is there, and it's very, very good.