AWARDS SEASON: BEST GAME OF THE YEAR 2015

Overall winner

Bloodborne

Honourable mentions

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Fallout 4

Rocket League

MONSTER HUNTER GENERATIONS

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Switch version .

Monster Hunter Generations is a game published and developed by Capcom for the Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Switch.

GAMEPLAY


STORY


GRAPHICS

SOUND


VALUE FOR MONEY

OVERALL

FALLOUT 4

The best gameplay the series has to offer.

PC version reviewed.

Fallout 4 is an RPG published and developed by Bethesda Softworks for the Playstation 4, Xbox One and PC.

GAMEPLAY
Certainly worth mentioning that the character creator is the best I've ever seen in a video game.

Combat is the best the series has had to offer

There is little doubt the new settlement building mechanic could have been better but it's still possible to create some pretty cool things with the tools provided. It certainly does bring something new to the game such as giving more reason to pick up junk and simply providing players with a fun new opportunity to build and manage towns.

STORY
The main story is pretty mediocre. To some extent I didn't like the way all the factions seemed to merge into the main story, instead of like in Skyrim where, aside from the civil war story line, the other factions were separate and each had their own story. At the same time though it did make some of choices more meaningful and meant you couldn't become the leader of everything like in previous Bethesda games.

The game does seem to build around some elements of hope and progress which made it a bit easier to play for me as New Vegas seemed so sombre.

GRAPHICS

The lighting it really nice and makes exploring the world even better

While still buggy in places there have probably been games worse than it at launch, especially in the Fallout series and it doesn't have nearly as many problems with crashing as New Vegas did.

SOUND
Whilst I didn't think the soundtrack was anything brilliant, not that it's bad, I thought it was better than New Vegas'.

VALUE FOR MONEY

As per usual for Bethesda games there are hundreds of hours on content packed in

OVERALL

AUTOMATRON


WASTELAND WORKSHOP


FAR HARBOUR


CONTRAPTIONS WORKSHOP


VAULT-TEC WORKSHOP


NUKA-WORLD

DARKSIDERS II: DEATHINITIVE EDITION REVIEW

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PC version reviewed.

Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition is an action adventure game published and developed by Nordic Games for the Playstation 4, Xbox One and PC.

Reviewed here: https://theunorthodoxnetwork.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/darksiders-ii.html

DIFFERENCES FROM ORIGINAL

OVERALL

DINO RUN DX

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PC version reviewed.

Dino Run DX is a side scroller published and developed by Pixeljam for the PC.

GAMEPLAY


STORY


GRAPHICS

SOUND


VALUE FOR MONEY

OVERALL

METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN (2015) REVIEW

Incredible gameplay, but a story that leaves a phantom pain.

PC version reviewed.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is an open-world first person shooter published by Konami and developed by Kojima Productions for the Playstation 4, Xbox One and PC.

I was astounded to see how many perfect scores this game got, and I can't help but feel that most of those scores came from reviewers who only played the first act of the game, because once that first act finishes the game becomes heavily disappointing and is basically unfinished, which by definition should really mean it can't achieve any perfect scores.

GAMEPLAY
Core gameplay is fantastic, variety of ways to approach missions

Mother Base management and upgrades are nice, although why are the platforms so long?

Missions start repeating

Side ops are really boring

Open world seems a bit dead

STORY
Strong opening and first act

Second act falls apart

Third act is non-existent, able to find what it would have been via collectors edition

GRAPHICS
Looks pretty great

Great optimisation for PC

SOUND
Solid soundtrack

VALUE FOR MONEY
Around 30+ hours for main story

OVERALL
There is no doubt that this game offers numerous hours of fun and if it had reached its full potential it could have even possibly been on its way to earning full marks. However what happened in the second act of the game is inexcusable and completely derails the experience.

ROCKET LEAGUE (2015) REVIEW

Everyone's dream about playing football with cars has finally become a reality.

PC version reviewed.

Rocket League is a sports game published and developed by Psyonix for the Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC. The premise is simple, rocket powered RC cars that play football, or as they call it "soccar".

I remember playing a flash game about a jeep football world cup many years ago, it was probably my favourite flash game and I wondered for years why no one expanded upon the idea, but finally after all these years Rocket League has finally gone and done that.

GAMEPLAY

The skill level the game offers is excellent, as even after 300 hours you’ll still be finding new ways to play your very best game and beat opponents. This isn't just a game you play for a few hours and reach the ceiling, this is a game where you keep on learning for hours and hours, it's very comparable to real sports really, you practice, study it and put in enough hard work and you'll be able to compete with the very best, but even at that top level you're still learning.

The game had four different game modes at launch, those being solo (1v1), doubles (2v2), standard (3v3) and chaos (4v4). Each one you'll have to go into differently, having to do everything in solo, or making sure you cover the space that a third team mate would have had covered in doubles and so on. The game is far from one dimensional though, with teams having to fight it out for superiority on both the ground and in the sky, as it's not called Rocket League for nothing.

You won't really get the hang of aerial hits until at least around 50 hours in, and even then you won't be hitting them regularly for a few hours more. Then at over 150 hours you'll be learning how to best pull shots off while spinning through the air towards goal, and scoring some of those goals can be incredibly satisfying and look very stylish, just look up a few Youtube compilations for some great examples. Aerial hits aren't just for shooting though, dominating the middle of the arena or taking on the role of a goalkeeper and performing spectacular mid-air saves is vital if you want to win games.

The game also has bots for people who want to play offline, you can even do an offline championship if you want to. After just a few hours though you'll probably be getting the better of the bots already, if you're looking for a challenge without going online you'll only find one when you're outnumbered and playing on the highest difficulty, even then though, the best players probably won't struggle too much.

I feel it would have been nice if there was an online championship mode, whether it was playing against bots with friends, or even going up against other people playing in their own championships. Playing exhibition matches with friends against bots or regular matches against other people is certainly fun, but it feels like they missed an opportunity that could have added a really fun game mode in.

All the cars you can pick from are generally around as good as each other, although some may have some very slight advantages that people at the highest level will take advantage of, but for newer players that shouldn't be a problem. There are plenty of different paint jobs, hats, antennas, wheels and even flags, to represent your favourite online community or a specific country, to pick from too, meaning there's plenty of options if you don't like the look of your car.

There are sometimes a few rare bugs that can occur, such as your car crashing out the arena or, rarer still, your car going through the ball. While I'd like to stress these are rare, they can be annoying when they happen, especially as it can lead to you conceding silly goals,

GRAPHICS

I never ran into any frame rate problems with the game, and from what I've heard almost anyone can actually run the game, as it is so easily customizable that it works on most PC's. The game itself looks fine at full graphics, the cars and stadiums look nice, everything seems nicely animated, such as the variety of rocket trails you can use that come out the back of your car, ranging from things like money blowing out of your car, to other things such as a red hot dose of flames showering out as you shoot past opponents.

SOUND

The sound effects aren't at all bad and there's certainly plenty of them to be heard too, with all the different rocket trail sound effects. Perhaps the abilty to have different engines would be nice though, I understand the cars seem to RC powered, but different cars growling out different sounds as they prepare for kick off would be a nice addition. I also liked the crowds reactions, with gasps for aerial hits and boos for blowing up opponents.

The music is fine, I personally haven't found any good enough to add to my music collection, but some people are sure to enjoy the electronic style they've gone with. 

VALUE FOR MONEY

As stated earlier, the game offers countless hours of game time, even past three hundred hours you'll still be learning new things and the fact that this is a game where you have to keep playing and learning after numerous hours, which really makes the game's replay value very high.

The post-release support from Psyonix has been very good too, addressing issues with servers quickly and adding in things like flags that people wanted.

The actual price of the game at launch too was very nice (£15 in the UK), more than half the price of your standard release (£40).

OVERALL

The game is simply really fun, with so many different things to learn and ways to approach it. Along with excellent continued support post release, with new arenas, game modes and more being added in, the moment I saw Rocket League I knew it would be a blast. I would recommend it to anyone, even if you're not into sports games, or car games, this is just so much fun to play, especially with friends.

Thanks for reading this review. I really appreciate it.

THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT (2015) REVIEW

The first real "next-gen" game.

PC version reviewed.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is an RPG published and developed by CD Projekt for the Playstation 4, Xbox One and PC.

This review has spoilers!

GAMEPLAY
Perhaps the most important thing to be noted for people who have played the previous two titles in the series is that the combat has been improved. No longer does it feel like you're throwing yourself at thin air, instead of that floaty, awkward stuff from Assassins of Kings it actually feels like Geralt is fighting something, even if it can feel a little rigid at times. It's not perfect but it feels so much better than before.

There's a lot of depth to potions and signs, I liked how you had to make sure you brought along the right potions to combat specific monsters on higher difficulties and how despite the shield sign seemingly being the best, the others could still be useful against certain enemies if you knew what you were doing. Despite that, the actual combat itself could often be clunky and awkward, leading to frustration, not to mention some of the enemy AI could certainly have used some more work, most specifically humans, who often just stood around waiting to get hit.

Side quests do have more depth to them than most games do, however the formula seems largely the same where you follow some tracks with your Witcher senses and are eventually faced with a morally ambiguous choice. They are somewhat repetitive, but are still for the most part engaging.

I wasn't a huge fan of Gwent, but I'm not a fan of card games anyway, but it did seem to have some depth and plenty of ideas put into it. I really liked that the game gave you the option to just ignore it if you wanted to as well, offering alternative ways to complete things that would require it, such as levelling up your Witcher signs or even just bribing people.

I wasn't really sold on the open world style quite frankly, it really shows once you've finished the quests and contracts as the game feels completely dead and empty. One reason games go open world is so that they can give the player the option to approach parts differently, going in all guns blazing or as quietly as possible, but Wild Hunt doesn't do this, you can only ever go in as the game wants you too, which is pretty much never quietly.

Some of the villages do have some interesting backstories and hunting down specific armour designs by exploring some specific ruins can be quite fun. However outside of a few interesting ones the majority of caves and ruins are pretty dull and boring (especially the ones in the main quest for some reason), and pretty much anything else is just map filler like random weapon caches. Now I'm not saying the open world is terrible, I just feel it could have been better. Perhaps keeping the game in the style of Assassins of Kings could have kept things a bit more coherent.

STORY
Continuing their strong form from the previous two games, CD Projekt Red create a great main cast of characters, all with plenty of depth and charm to them. It's crazy to think that Ciri and Yennefer hadn't been in the previous games, despite their big roles in the books, but still slot back in so brilliantly. However if you've played The Witcher 2 you will know that CJ Project Red can write fantastic antagonists too, however they really dropped the ball with Eredin, who they'd built up so well in the previous games too. I think someone counted he had about 16 lines in this game.

Speaking of Witcher 2, so many story threads are just ignored and it almost seems like this game is trying to close out a different trilogy, I mean Emyhr was essentially the main antagonist who had been pulling all the strings in Assassins of Kings, yet here he largely acts as an ally, who also has completely different ambitions for Ciri than in the books too. Any other decision you made in the previous game (Deathmold and Anais, Iorveth or Roche) is as good as ignored, aside from the fate of Letho.

Now if CD Projekt Red wanted to tell a different story from the books, it could have worked fine if they stuck to it, but instead they then go on to try to tackle the White Frost from the books, which seemed to be a more background thing, rather than a major pressing threat. I can actually understand why Andrzej Sapkowski doesn't like these games when the final third of this game really does almost come across as badly written fan fiction.

That's the difference between this game and Assassins of Kings though, this one is far superior on the gameplay front, whilst Assassins of Kings is much better on the story front. That's not to say this game has a dreadful story, the game has some really powerful moments, such as when Geralt finally finds Ciri, and overall the first two acts hold up quite nicely, even if the first act drags a bit at times. It's just that the final act is just so frustrating and shows off all the flaws that the previous acts occasionally had but instead for whole thing.

I also can't help but feel a bit disappointed at the endings, of which there are actually only four endings, not the hundreds that were promised, and those four endings only rely on a few later parts of the game, rather than your actions through the whole thing. Some of these decisions don't really even make sense in the grand scheme of things when compared to other choices too. Declining to help Ciri's friends get some horses has no consequence, yet giving her a necklace rather than letting her destroy something is a major decision... it's just strange.

GRAPHICS

The game looks very good, and I think the facial animations are especially worth praising because very few games manage to portray how characters react or display what they're thinking as well as this one does, they really are in a league of their own. The graphics have been downgraded from how they were advertised, which is a bit disappointing, but not worth moaning too much about.

SOUND
The soundtrack is outstanding, some of the songs such as The Hunt is Coming and The Wolf and the Swallow are really fantastic pieces of music, and there are many, may more I could name too. It's not really criticism of the game but I do feel a bit for Adam Skorupa, who's only influence in this game seems to be the main theme, despite being the lead composer for the great soundtracks of the previous games.

VALUE FOR MONEY

The story is probably just short of 40 hours, and you can probably double that for every side quest, contract etc. I think it's fair to say it's got plenty of content to offer.

Whilst the DLC model the game has is fine, that's all it is really. It's actually the same DLC model Skyrim had, with a smaller story expansion and a larger map expansion, as well as a few new things put in with updates such as horse combat and new finishing moves. That's essentially CD Projekt's model for this game, aside from instead of putting new things in free updates they advertised them as free DLC for good PR. Well done to them for that good business move.

OVERALL
It's really hard to justify just what this game deserves as a rating, since it improves a lot from the previous Witcher title, however it also fails to live up to some aspects of it too. The combat is much better than the previous games, but still isn't that great in comparison to other games, the story gets a bit convoluted and messy in places, whilst Assassins of Kings had a much better story which this game even seems to go to certain lengths to ignore.

I did really enjoy Wild Hunt on my first playthrough, but when I went back to it again I realised that the game had plenty of flaws. Even with those flaws being recognised this game is definitely worth experiencing, even if it's only once. On a good day I'd call this an outstanding game, because in terms of content, sound and graphics, the richness of characters, it is just that. However its somewhat disappointing story and far from perfect gameplay means that I feel it just falls short of being so, and I can only call it a great game instead. Either way it's still absolutely worth your time.

HEARTS OF STONE EXPANSION
The story of this expansion was great and Gaunter O'Dimm wasn't just among the best antagonists I've ever seen in a video game, he was one of the best characters I've seen in a game full stop. The brilliance of him really helps make up for how disappointing Eredin was in the main game.

I loved the gradual build up of O'Dimm's character, from more subtle things like showing up whenever he was needed or knowing far more than he really lets on, to freezing time and walking down from the heavens. I'm really glad they didn't just shove in a simple boss battle with him in like so many other games would, instead going for a riddle, something far more suitable for his character. The fact that the best ending, in my opinion, is letting him win and taking nothing from him as a reward, rather than trying to be a hero or accepting something from him, is a testament to how amazingly frightening he is.

Some complaints I do have with the expansion include the new merchant, who is way too costly for what he offers. There is also a small village called Erde, that was in the game before the expansion, that had a really creepy atmosphere as the village is dark and gloomy thanks to the surrounding forest, but once you install the expansion it puts a giant sunny hole leading to a beach in the middle of the trees, ruining that amazing atmosphere.

If you're going to get this game then you really should pick this expansion up with it too, I'd say just for the amazing couple of lead characters, but then that's actually just what the expansion is about.

DARK SOULS II: SCHOLAR OF THE FIRST SIN

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PC version .

Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin is a RPG published by Bandai Namco and developed by FromSoftware for the Playstation 3, Playstation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC.

Original reviewed here:

DIFFERENCES FROM ORIGINAL

Improved graphics and redesigned levels removing, adding or relocating enemies and items

Triple crown DLCs thrown in and even a new boss.

OVERALL
Superior version of the game, absolutely the version to get.

BLOODBORNE REVIEW

Night of the Hunter.

PS4 exclusive.

Bloodborne is a Horror RPG published by Sony and developed by FromSoftware for the Playstation 4.

This review has spoilers!

GAMEPLAY
Really excellent, where the game shines the most. The depth of combat and encouragement to explore the world felt very fulfilling. Most classes, weapons and builds could be exciting and rewarding to progress in.

Some of the changes from the Dark Souls franchise that made a difference such as the faster pace and encouragement to attack along with shields being nullified plus pistols and trick weapons being added means the game does feel different from FromSoftware's best known franchise outside of the setting and story.

Without spoiling too much, and anyone who has finished the game will surely know the boss I'm talking about, the penultimate fight was up there with my favourite bosses in any video game. When I heard people talking about one of the strengths of these games being the strategy and techniques you'd have to learn to combat bosses I really felt that facing this boss. It was a hard boss but it was a fair boss, I must have failed to beat them around a dozen times but each time the failure was on me and I knew what I had to improve next time, whether it was better learning the moveset of the boss, managing my health better or even hitting the boss when it would hurt the most. It was a really exciting experience and super rewarding when my plan finally all came together in the end and I beat the boss.

STORY
Having to piece the story together through the state of the world and the few notes and opinions you can find about it made the game so mysterious and fascinating. Some of the lore gets so crazy or even complicated that it really suits the Lovecraftian themes of unimaginable horror shine through even more.

GRAPHICS

You'd expect any game released in 2015 to at least try and move NPC's mouths when they talk however most if not all characters outside of cutscenes don't. Contrast this with the rest of the game though with the stunning city of Yarnham or the graphic detail of every monster and the game does its hardest to make up for it.

SOUND
The soundtrack is pretty brilliant. It captures all the right feelings the game is going for being eerie and scary in some parts to relentless and adrenaline inducing during some boss fights. The way the music transitions through different phases of the boss fights is a really amazing touch too. Hearing the music crescendo or build up pace as the fight gets more and more dangerous is incredible.

VALUE FOR MONEY

Plenty of side content, ways to deal with things and NG+ offers a lot of replay-ability

OVERALL
With riveting combat that excels in so many ways to the unique Lovecraftian story and setting accompanied by a brilliant soundtrack Bloodborne has all the ingredients for an outstanding game that will leave an impact on you. FromSoftware have pushed out another great RPG and even gone and exceeded Dark Souls with this brilliant title.

THE OLD HUNTERS EXPANSION
Rounds off the story and adds a lot to the lore. Ludwig, Lady Maria and Orphan of Kos are some of the best bosses in Soulsborne.

The soundtrack that accompanies Ludwig is one of the best pieces of music I've heard in a game. The way it builds between the two phases as the crazy cutscene plays before erupting into a crescendo of brilliance is really quite incredible.

GROW HOME (2015) REVIEW

A glorified tech demo.

PC version reviewed.

Grow Home is an adventure game published and developed by Ubisoft for the Playstation 4 and PC.

GAMEPLAY
BUD's movement can often lead to frustration

Climbing is unique

Nothing more to it

Perhaps they could have added a few more areas to explore, maybe even have a randomly generated world to explore every new game or something. I couldn't really find an incentive to play again.

STORY
After collecting some samples you need to make it back to the ship you came from, that's it. Nothing to complain about, or praise.

GRAPHICS
The polygon style does look quite nice

The vines will look a mess when looking back down, but it can be interesting to see how far you've come.

SOUND
There are only about three songs in the game, the only one that plays during gameplay gets a bit repetitive and annoying.

VALUE FOR MONEY
Will only take about 2 hours to complete, and when I didn't really find it memorable the price of the game seems a bit inflated. If the game was interesting enough to go back to I wouldn't mind the price so much, but when the only real gameplay mechanics are climbing and gliding I was left unsure that it was really worth it.

OVERALL
This was a game I really wanted to like, however it just failed to really captivate me. At the end of the day the game seems little more than a tech demo really

LIFE IS STRANGE REVIEW

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PC version reviewed.

Life Is Strange is an episodic adventure game published by Square Enix and developed by DontNod Entertainment for the Playstation 3, Playstation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC.

This review has spoilers!

GAMEPLAY
Forced into some decisions when other options could be possible, most big options only had two choices. Ending choice of episode two was one that certainly could have used more options, such as being able to blame everyone, rather than just one person

Rewinding time could be used in pretty inventive ways, such as getting into places that were locked, or obtaining things from people that you got from the future and went back to the past with. Having the option to run through all options and even finding more helpful information by rewinding conversation was pretty cool too, almost like a really fast reload feature.

Plot holes in regards to possible rewinds, such as when Nathan finds Max and Chloe in the dormitory. Why not just rewind to get out before he arrives? This was especially annoying for me since I was trying to stay out his way in my playthrough. Something so avoidable just seemed forced to move the plot forward.

In contrast to parts like these there are moments where your choices really do matter, such as confronting Frank in episode four, there are so many things you could have done before hand both big and small that can effect the way it goes down. From minor dialogue and finding things out about him to obviously big choices regarding him earlier in the story. If the whole game offered that variety of options to progress this game could have been a masterpiece.

Really liked the detective style segments in episode four.

Being able to see how your friends or the rest of the world went through the game and its major choices was a cool little feature.

STORY
Endings could definitely have been better as they both seemingly nullify almost all your choices and  lack closure, especially the save Chloe ending where you don't find out what happened to anyone other than being left to guess that only Max and Chloe survive. You're funnelled into choosing between two endings that don't change regardless of how you've played through the game and both of them seem to make what you did pointless anyway.

Some people might say it's all about the journey but that doesn't sit right with me on this because if you choose the save Arcadia ending the journey will never have happened and Max possibly might not even remember all of it, no one else will at least. So there would be no journey. If you choose the save Chloe ending then her and Max will remember everything and it will have happened but everyone is probably dead, so all those relationships and encounters with people don't mean so much, aside from the fact they ultimately built up to saving Chloe.

Didn't shy away from heavy subjects such as drugs, loss and suicide.

Regardless of the ending there were still some great characters. Max's development from a shy person to a more confident one, Chloe's development to become a less selfish figure, the tragic story of Nathan being used and abused because he was from a high status family are just a few examples, there was plenty of depth to characters and the growth of many was interesting to watch unfold.

Episode five is weak in comparison to the others, lesser gameplay, weaker story, bad conclusion.

Almost every decision in the final episode didn't actually matter because you went through so many different realities where you made the choices before switching to another, wiping out most if not all of the decisions from the previous one. Ultimately it seemed that almost, if not every decision didn't matter bar the final one, which wasn't impacted by any of your choices throughout all the episodes. Other than that the episode only really had jumping and running through these numerous realities to escape to yet another as well as loads of looking around at different objects to open the path to these other places, rather than more of the problem solving or detective style work from previous episodes.

I thought that maybe all the time jumps were going to represent that Max wasn't just getting damaged by the rewinds physically but also mentally, as everything started to become so loopy but instead it seemed that the developers realised how crazy the finale had become and that they just embraced the madness. I know it's called Life Is Strange but the final episode went beyond strange.

Complaints about it being "cringy" are terrible. Most, if not all, teenagers have moments like that. I think people complaining about stuff like that just didn't really get it.

It's one of a rare breed, as are most of these episodic story games, where the story is probably more important than the gameplay.

GRAPHICS

Pretty janky facial animations in some sections such as one scene where the characters mouths weren't even moving, this was in a big scene towards the end of episode five too. Collision and movement were also not always great, just standing around in hallways and getting shoved aside by anyone moving could be a bit jarring.

SOUND
Very nice soundtrack, both the vocal songs playing over the top of scenes or the more ambient music such as the minimal guitar that often accompanied conversations.

Voice acting was very good, characters were really given an extra breath of life by some of the performances. It's further commendable to how good some of the voice acting is when some of the facial animations weren't great but you were still able to connect with people.

VALUE FOR MONEY

Probably around 16 hours for the main story

OVERALL
I really enjoyed Life Is Strange but the final episode let it down a bit. It's frustrating because I really enjoyed plenty of parts from the first four episodes but the fifth went pretty off the rails. If you're a fan of a good story this game should deliver, at least for the first four episodes and since the first one is free now there's hardly any excuse not to at least try it. Just don't expect quite the freedom of choice the game promises because it's still a pretty thrilling ride none the less.