I wasn’t completely sure what to expect when I started God Wars: Future Past. It’s not typically the type of game I play, but trying to branch out, I wanted to give this tactical RPG a chance. Looking back over the time I played it, I was extremely pleased with the length of the game and how much work was put into the backstory. While I’m not convinced that tactical RPG’s are my strong point in games, it was certainly interesting learning the mechanics and how to play it. I was instantly lured in with a cinematic scene that precedes a short bit of dialogue, before being launched into my first battle.

Jumping right into the game, God Wars: Future Past starts with some less-than-exciting dialogue between characters. Kintaro and others discuss rescuing Princess Kaguya. There is a LOT of backstory going on, sometimes it felt almost like the cinematic and dialogue scenes outnumbered the gameplay. After the intro you’ll get into what felt like an extensive tutorial/battle… although, it may have been extensive for me because it took some time to get accustomed to the controls. Once you get comfortable in the gameplay, it’s just a matter of keeping track of each of your characters’ health and what else they may need.

You’ll spend a turn either moving, performing an action (like attacking), using a skill, or healing yourself. Uneven terrains make battles progressively more difficult, but utilizing turns and skills of multiple characters that you control benefits you. Your HP, EXP, and MP is clearly displayed for you. Ending the battle will lead to another dialogue scene, and ending battles will also show your rewards and the experience gained. Eventually you will get other characters to help you win in future battles.

There were some things I really liked about this game. You utilize skill trees to spend points. The music was fun and enjoyable, and I liked learning new skills and figuring out the skills and moves (it took me quite a bit of time to get used to this and the menu). Learning how to scavenge boxes in a battle was exciting, as it used up a characters turn that otherwise could have been spent fighting enemies.

There were times where the camera angles got messed up, and I felt like some of the conversations between characters was at times underwhelming. I didn’t like having to press a button after every person was finished talking . . . to me, I felt like the scenes would have been more fluid if they didn’t make you press a button so frequently to continue the conversation.

Overall, I really enjoyed how long this game was. I could tell there was a lot of time put into the mechanics and animation. There was definitely a lot of thought put into the character dialogue, too. I personally don’t have many other games to compare God Wars: Future Past to, as turn-based games aren’t what I’m best at. But the amount of content and the fight scenes combined with the cinematic aspects made this an enjoyable experience.

This is the written form of my review. For the video form you can go HERE.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds made its debut on consoles when it launched into the Xbox Game Preview Program earlier this month. I do not play PC games so I was one of the people that had to wait to give the game a try. Before this my only experience with a Battle Royale mode was Fortnite. I also want to note that I play on a Day One model Xbox One.

PUBG has been one of the most talked about games of 2017. That being said I went into the game with an indecisive attitude. On one hand, you always want to try the game that everybody is talking about, but on the other I burnt myself out on military shooters within the last decade between Call of Duty and Battlefield, and was not looking forward to another game with that kind of aesthetic to it. Fortnite on the other hand has a cartoony feel to it, that kind of aesthetic draws me in. I was surprised to find that I actually enjoyed PUBG more than I did Fortnite.

For anyone just coming out from under your rock, PUBG is a Battle Royale game. That means 100 people drop out of a plane into a wide world where they must scavenge weapons, armor, and health supplies to outlive the other combatants. The twist on the game is as the game goes longer, an electrified dome closes in faster and faster forcing the players to gather into a singular area.

Let’s get this out of the way: PUBG is in the Preview Program. It is not a finished game by any means and it shows big time. The game runs about as well as your obese, alcoholic uncle on Thanksgiving Day. The frame rate at times drops so terribly, especially when first getting into the game. To compensate for the amount of area the game has to load when your in the sky, the game has some very low res textures on the ground. So much so that you could think you are jumping into a game from the last generation, but with worse frame rate. The lag at moments when on the ground is just stupid. There are plenty of instances where you will have to open the same door about five times for it to register. I also should mention me and my friend had been kicked out of a game multiple times during our time playing.

I was happy to find out that while there are a lot of military items in the game, the game does not have a ton of that military attitude to it. In fact, there are a lot of times the game feels emptier than I thought it would. Despite the fact that there are 99 other people in the same world as you at the start of the match, you can go very long times without encountering other players, but then again there are matches where you land in the same area and are knocked out within seconds of touching the ground.

Those moments of encountering other players are the main appeal of PUBG. No matter what your loadout is looking like, getting into a gunfight with another player is one of the most intense situations in video games right now. That being said, the controls of the game on Xbox One are terrible right now. Yes, I hear all of you PUBG and PC fanboys, it is difficult to put that many controls on a controller with a limited number of buttons to input, but anyone jumping into this game from another shooter is sure to be scratching their head when trying to figure out how to do the simplest things like healing yourself, reloading, or aiming the way you want to. Also. the absence of aim assist in the game is one of biggest oversights I have seen this year (though I am sure it will come sooner or later). Scavenging items off of an enemy you just defeated is probably the biggest offender of the controls being bad.

When a player dies, a crate holding all of their items falls onto the ground near them. Depending on the player and their success of that match, they could have dozens of items on them that you are forced to click through, all of them in no particular order. There is no sorting by weapons or armor, and remembering the right button to press to just pick up an item, equip it, or attach to a weapon is tiresome and takes so long. You could spend upwards of a full 60 seconds standing in the open for others to shoot you while you are just trying to get items.

One of the most noticeable differences between PUBG and Fortnite I found is the vehicles. In PUBG, there are plenty of broken down vehicles, but there is a chance you can find one to drive around. I feel the game hits the right amount of vehicles needed in a match. I feel they are scarce enough that there won’t be many vehicle wars and plenty enough that you should have a good chance of being able to stay within the safe zone should you get lucky. I have witnessed moments where the electric field caught up to me and killed me because there was no way I could outrun it, and times where I was saved because I luckily did have a car. Anyone looking to get in a car, be sure to have caution. They are extremely loud and do run out of gas. While it is difficult to shoot anything in the game let alone someone in a moving vehicle, it can be done and your only defense will be trying to run the shooter over or driving away.

Before jumping into a game, PUBG allows you to choose from playing solo, duo, or in a squad of four people. Personally, playing solo was just okay for me. There are a ton of tense moments, but most of the time I was running into enemies before I had a chance to even get a weapon so death came for me plenty of times. Maybe if I gave it more time I could get into it more, but I enjoyed playing duo with a friend the most. While playing duo me and my friend were able to make call outs and witness those insane PUBG moments that really make this game as enjoyable as it is. If you have three friends to play squad with, I am sure that would be great too, but I had a team of two others that I knew and one random that most of the time would go off on their own and die right away, leaving the rest of us at a distinct disadvantage.

In the end, I had a great time playing PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. In fact, I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would coming into December and I plan on putting more time into it as the game grows. However, it is very hard to ignore the problems with the game as it is now. Strange controls, lag and ugly textures, being dropped from the game and no aim assist while using a controller on a console are some big issues the game has right now. That being said, the game just came to Preview which means there will be updates and improvements, some probably very soon. I think there is no question that in the future this is going to be a must buy for people who love online multiplayer experiences because there is nothing else like the feeling of an encounter in PUBG, I am just not sure at the moment that it is worth the money. Anyone looking to pay now are certainly investing for the future.

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Everyone’s favorite dot-gobbler makes his Nintendo Switch debut with PAC-MAN Championship Edition 2 PLUS. After its successful September release on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, the title will round out the major platforms with its upcoming release on the Switch. The game releases on February 22nd, 2018.

A sequel to the original Championship Edition, the game continues the innovative, retro design while remaining faithful to the classic arcade-style gameplay. Switch players and PAC-MAN fans alike will experience intense mazes and fast action. Experience the familiar gameplay inside a three-dimensional world with exciting colors and upbeat music.

The Nintendo Switch version also comes with an exclusive two player co-op mode. Hence, the “PLUS” in the updated game title. Using the individual Joy-Cons, you and a friend can team up to clear stages quicker and get the highest scores possible.

Already receiving high praise from critics since its initial release, PAC-MAN Champion Edition 2 will be a welcome introduction of arcade-style games to the Switch. For new gamers especially, this updated classic will give younger generations a fun look into the older world of arcade. The sights, sounds, and overall fast-paced gameplay promise to draw in old fans as well as create new ones.

In addition, other features include new gaming modes like score attack and an adventure mode giving fresh takes on the familiar gameplay mechanics. The three-dimensional design gives tons of room for the new modes to pop in the environment. Overall, the Switch’s unique design seems it will go hand in hand with the fresh classic. The release promises to be as successful as its September predecessor.

Check out the trailer here and follow BandaiNamco on Facebook for updates regarding PAC-MAN Championship Edition 2 PLUS.

The upcoming Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth – Hacker’s Memory is the followup to Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth, which was released in 2015. While there has been much buzz about the upcoming sequel from Media.Vision and Bandai Namco Entertainment, this lengthy trailer provides information on a multitude of gaming aspects, including story, gameplay and online competition. In a world where Digimon are misused by hackers, players will control Keisuke Amazawa. Keisuke was hacked and framed for wrongdoing and will enter the digital world in order to gain retribution.

Those of you who like pirates or anime … or pirates in anime will more than likely have heard of ONE PIECE. Many fans will definitely be at least acquainted with the videogames and some of you will be old hands with the titles released thus far. What you won’t be experts at is ONE PIECE: Grand Cruise for PSVR and the simple reason for this is that it hasn’t been released yet. Intrigued? Thought you might be. Read on.

Next year you will be invited to become a member of the legendary Straw Hat pirates in ONE PIECE: Grand Cruise. Step aboard the famous Thousand Sunny ship and meet Luffy, Zero, Nami and the rest of the gang. You’ll adventure with the crew and face fierce battles. Your aim will need to be good because you’ll be manning the cannons in order to defend the ship. You’ll be able to explore Thousand Sunny, chat to members of the crew and truly experience life as one of the Straw Hat pirates.

To add a wee bit more flavour to your VR experience, ONE PIECE: Grand Cruise is also expected to include both winter and summer experiences from the One Piece Tower in Tokyo. If you happen to really want to meet all of your favourite ONE PIECE characters in the most intimate setting available yet, you’ll be needing your PSVR, as this is going to be an exclusive for owners of the system.

Looking forward to this? Well, let’s wet the old whistle with a bit of a launch trailer, shall we? Don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll have more info for you lot wanting to get your pirate on in the coming months, but for now that’s about it. Till 2018, then.

There’s nothing I enjoy playing more than a new rogue-like. There’s something truely enjoyable about being able to play the same game over and over knowing that you only have one life each run. It’s a brutal and utterly savage way to play but it’s a hell of a lot of fun too … well most of the time.It doesn’t matter what genre we’re in, be it a sci-fi shooter or a fantasy hack n’ slash the brilliant premise prevails. The game we’re going to be looking at today is a twin-stick, co-operative shooter called Genetic Disaster. Knowing how I feel about virtually everything in this genre, to avoid any bias, I just had to bring a friend along for ride and who better than my good buddy Will Georgiadis. Together we’ll be taking a bit of a look at whether this new addition to the rogue-like library is actually worth your time.

Will Georgiadis

Genetic Disaster is what they call a rogue-like top-down twin-stick dungeon-crawling shooter. If the sheer number of hyphens in that sentence had you weak in the knees, don’t worry: it’s pretty simple stuff. You’re given the choice to play as one of four unique characters – Panic, Bunker, Sneaky, and Devil. They each characterize a pretty bog-standard class, from the soldier to the heavy brute, the spy to the maniac. They also offer special chargeable abilities, and minor differences in walking and reloading speeds.

The levels are procedurally generated dungeons that change each time you begin a new game. Roaming the corridors of these dungeons – it’s the lair of a mad scientist, actually, but no matter – are the bad guys, who drop health and ammo when killed and who tend to become more aggressive and less forgiving the higher level you achieve. The entire premise, then, can be summarized in one simple sentence: shoot your way from levels one to ten as you try to escape the evil stuff.

If you’ve ever played The Binding of Isaac (or, if you’re an old fart, Gauntlet or Rogue) you’ll know that roguelike games are unforgiving, seemingly unending in their vicious attempts to cut short your run. Genetic Disaster is much the same: the threat of permadeath, paired with the increasingly frantic gameplay, works to make the game a frustratingly addictive experience. It’s a tried and tested formula, and it always works, particularly when you’re playing with up to three friends, causing mayhem for all of 10 minutes as the friendly fire mechanic that this game touts so strongly reduces your efforts to rubble.

Genetic Disaster boasts some 65 unique weapons, each as goofy as the last. Plenty of these weapons proved to be more of a challenge than they were worth, often having limited range or a woeful projectile spread. In fact, Genetic Disaster threw several unexpected challenges my way, all of which were surplus to requirement; painfully slow reload times and small magazine capacities meant that busier areas required extraordinary dodging and careful use of the special abilities . Oh, and level 2 and above introduced enemies that launched homing projectiles, which in my humble opinion rather defeats the purpose of a top-down’s fundamental mechanics. Cover was limited, and enemies often spawned outside the visible area.

I could keep moaning about Genetic Disaster‘s many challenging features for hours, and you’d still come away thinking that I was just a filthy casual. So let me put it this way. All games need balance. Throwing in a bunch of stuff because you think it’ll be cool does not work, ever, and I worry that this is just what has happened here. Genetic Disaster contains elements of the sort of top-down tank shooter that we all played in our web browsers back in the day, but does not offer the caution and patience to match; it has the hallmarks of a frantic dungeon crawler, but offers enemies that almost exclusively keep their distance, launching projectiles that you often simply cannot avoid.

Can you see my issue? I see no evidence of careful planning and meticulous testing. Well, almost no evidence. For my very first thought upon booting Genetic Disaster for the first time was: ooh, that music is spooky. And look at these gorgeous visuals. The funky cartoon aesthetic and Danny Elfman soundtrack are magical, and everything about the level design from a purely visual perspective makes me wonder if this wasn’t a bit of a one-sided labor of creative love.

Of course, this just makes it all the more tragic that more effort wasn’t put into the actual gameplay. Genetic Disaster is a 2-dimensional game, in several ways. The basic, thoughtless approach to the mechanics and gameplay is only accentuated by pleasing art styles; from spelling mistakes to imbalanced weaponry, there can be no doubt that at least half of the game’s title is accurate. Grab a friend or three, and the chaos may offset the shortcomings – for a time. Unfortunately, this is not one to hang around in your library for more than a week or two.

Gameplay: 4/10

Plot: 3/10

Design: 6/10

Alex Southgate

Personally, I have very mixed feelings about this game. My biggest problem is that this title doesn’t feel at all finished. I totally get that it’s still an early access release and that there is more work that needs to be done. The problem I’m having is that Genetic Disaster was officially released on the 15th of December and for me that should mean it’s a mostly completed, fully playable game that just needs some work. What we have is a shell of game. Granted, this title is completely playable but at the same time it’s totally hollow. Let me try and explain why.

The mechanics are definitely there. You choose from one of four characters, each with their own skill and are then unleashed into a series of dungeons of critters intent on killing you. In true rogue-like fashion you only get one run at it per life and the levels change each time you play. Sadly, that’s were the rogue-like fun ends for me. The whole point of this genre is that you have randomly generated occurances thrown at you. You might meet different characters or have to surpass certain randomly generated events. The only things that really feel random here are the maps, which for me at least is sort of missing the point.

As Will has mentioned the sound-track and graphics are really nice and to be fair the game is playable and could potentially be a lot of fun. As Will has also mentioned, however, that fun is hampered by a shocking camera, (nothing should spawn outside your viewable range that’s tantamount to cheating,) and an array of relatively useless weapons. It’s okay to be able to play with an arsenal of 65 weapons as long as at least two thirds of them are useful. When you find yourself using the same ones over and over again because the others are unbalanced this stops being a selling point and becomes a crap-shoot to see what works.

Something else I noticed pretty instantly was a total lack of story. I was expecting some sort of introduction or at least to know why I was playing one of the four courageous creatures. You get nothing, you’re thrown straight into the game and appear to be expected to figure the rest out for yourself. I completely understand that most shooters aren’t particularly plot-heavy, they aren’t that sort of game but we need to be given something. You should at least care enough to want to keep your little guy alive but not knowing why you’re there or what you’re doing kind of makes things a bit pointless. The same applies to any kind of tutorial, it’s very much a case of play about with the controls till you figure things out. I don’t expect to be hand-held but I’d at least appreciate a bit of a leg-up in the beginning.

There is only one playable mode thus far. This would be fine in an unfinished pre-release title but for an official release you’d expect to see something more. The online function, which for me is a big draw of any co-operative title isn’t there yet. This means that you can only play Genetic Disaster from your own computer. For any type of console play this isn’t as much of a problem as you and up to four local players can join a game but for pc this is incredibly limiting. There aren’t that many computer rigs that are designed for four players to be crouched around a monitor, you need the online support to actually be able to play comfortably.

I really want to say nice things about Genetic Disaster. This is my genre and I want to say the game shines with everything I love about rogue-likes. The sad thing is I just can’t … yet. I’m going to keep an eye to see if the bugs are fixed and the balancing issues resolved. I’m going to keep an open mind because I really want this game to be good and I certainly don’t want to just come down like a hammer when a lot of hard work has clearly been done here. For now at least, I’d give Genetic Disaster a look and have a play with it but don’t expect to keep coming back for more for long. Actually at the price it’s currently being sold at on Steam I might not even do that.

Gameplay: 5/10

Plot: 2/10

Design: 5/10

This review is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.

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Invector is a funky new rhythm game created by Hello There Games and famous EDM DJ “Avicii”. If you don’t know who Avicii is, you can come join me in the old-person-with-no-taste-for-new-music boat. I went in to Invector without knowing a thing about it, apart from the fact that it was a rhythm game. With years of novice-level Dance Dance Revolution under my belt, I figured Invector would be enjoyable and fairly easy for me to pick up at a moderate difficulty level. I read a little more and realized that all of the music was by this Avicii guy, who was supposedly famous but completely foreign to me. I cringed, thinking of how the music would undoubtedly be so far out of my element that I wouldn’t at all be able to enjoy myself at all, let alone keep in time. I sighed, fired up the game, dove into the opening level…and fell in love.

I’ve got an interesting bit of news here for those of you that love the souls series. No, not the one with the scary monsters and seemingly unlimited, gory, ways to die. The other one. I’m actually quite excited to be able to tell you that SOUL CALIBUR VI has just been announced.

For those of you who like to wait until developers release the Game of the Year editions of their popular titles, those waiting for Capcom to do the same with RE7 got some really good news today. Not calling it the GOTY edition, however, Capcom announced the Resident Evil 7 Biohazard Gold Edition this morning.

The definitive version of Capcom’s highly acclaimed survival horror title of 2017 includes all the content from the release earlier this year, along with all three pieces of DLC in one ultimate horror package. Available beginning today, Resident Evil 7 biohazard Gold Edition for the PS4, Xbox One and PC, will get all the above, as well as the remaining DLC for the game, Not a Hero and End of Zoe.

The previously released DLC packs, Banned Footage Vol. 1 and Banned Footage Vol. 2, are definitely included, as well as the final DLC release of End of Zoe. As a bonus to fans of this entry in the RE series, Not a Hero is available as a free download for owners of any version of Resident Evil 7 biohazard.

If you haven’t heard about the two new pieces of DLC, let me fill you in on the details. End of Zoe is a shocking saga where players discover what Zoe’s fate will finally be. In this chapter, players will take on the role of a new mysterious woodsman character, face off against new enemies and explore new swamp-filled areas. This DLC is included in the Gold Edition or available to download as an update if you are a Season Pass owner. Owners of the original release will also be able to purchase this new content as a separate download for $14.99.

In addition, the Not a Hero DLC update will be completely free for owners of any version of the main game. This story sees the return of Resident Evil fan favorite and veteran BSAA soldier Chris Redfield. Taking place after the horrific events that befell Ethan Winters in Resident Evil 7 biohazard, Not a Hero brings a brand new experience playing as Chris on the hunt to find the menacing trickster Lucas Baker and face new threats not met in the main game.

This sounds like some really scary and fun new content. Check out the new trailer below for some cool clips from this great new DLC:

Rockstar Games have officially launched the latest in a long line of free content updates for the staggeringly successful online portion of 2012 hit Grand Theft Auto V. The update marks a return to the Heist format originally introduced over 2 years ago – entitled The Doomsday Heist, the update offers a 3-act campaign that introduces a metric ton of new kit. It also happens to be a welcome departure from the money-centric updates that have dominated the game for the past year.

Welcome to the Facility. An over-priced waste of– ahem, I mean your route to Heist success.

Ta-daaa! Just like you remember it from the days of old.

The Delorea— erm, Deluxo.

N.B: the actual hunt includes a note on this here grave-stone.

Oh, and yeah: that’s the gun.

It’s dark, but you can see the chest and shovel, right? And the dead body in the bushes? RIGHT?

Looks like someone else got here first.