Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope - Review

 

A few years ago I played Supermassive Games' Until Dawn, a fantastic story-driven horror game. Naturally, when I heard they had released a series of games called The Dark Pictures Anthology I was excited. Last year I played the first game in the series The Man of Medan and was a little underwhelmed, everything was very so so, but I was willing to give the second instalment in the series Little Hope a chance. My lovely partner in crime got it for me at Christmas and just finished playing it this week.

With it being January I have been trying to reduce my intake of sugary goodness. I have been having slightly less bold things, one such thing is Milky Bar Milk Slice. Barely 100 calories, so how bad? Well it's a mixed bag, I like Milky Bars but these slices not so much, I mean I wanted to like them but just couldn't get into them. Playing Little Hope I have found myself asking did I like it or was I just trying to like it?

Story

The game is set in the small Salem-like town of Little Hope, an apt name. The story moves between the past, very past and present. There are five main characters and while you get to move between them Andrew is the main protagonist who is a student and comes across as fairly emotionless.  There are four others who make up the group, Angela, an old mean woman that is constantly stirring things up, although one of her main traits is that she is understanding? There is John, the professor who is a stick in the mud and prone to behaving rashly and attempts to be the leader no one needs.  There is Taylor who is a bit of drip and a troublemaker and her nice-guy jock boyfriend Daniel who seems nervous to go public about them until 'I trust you 100%'. 

The dialogue is quite poor and most conversations seem overly simplistic or over-explained. That being said the overarching story is actually really good and went a small way to making up for the dialogue. As with the Man Of Medan, and Until Dawn there are many dialogues choices and actions, some of which can result in the death of any or all characters.

Overall the story is good, but the clunky dialogue and poor characters really let it down, and how Supermassive Games went from the great story and dialogue in Until Dawn to that of Little Hope is beyond me. 

Visuals

The visuals are one of the strongest parts of Little Hope which is something Supermassive Games are constantly good at delivering on. While the quality of the visuals is good at a lot of the game feels like you are walking down a long road. What really stands out are the 17th-century sections which feel authentic, and eerie, from the clothes to the buildings. Without giving too much away the enemies are twisted and unnerving, which help in providing jump scares.

Overall there are some great visuals with two of the timelines but present-day feel likes you spend a lot of time walking down a long road, while there are detours along the way none of them really excited me as much of the 17th Century sections.

Music

The music left little impact on me and unfortunately no matter where I looked it I was unable to find a place to listen to the soundtrack. The music is composed by Jason Graves who has an extremely rich back catalogue of work, Command Conquer 4, Far Cry Primal, Until Dawn, Friday The 13th: The Game, Evolve, Dead Space, and Fear 3 to name but a few.

Overall the soundtrack sadly did not do a lot for me which is disappointing as Graves is an accomplished composer. Perhaps it was less to do with him and more how Supermassive Games incorporated his music into the games.

Gameplay

The gameplay like much of the rest of the game is underwhelming. There are a lot more chances to move around and control characters, than in the Man Of Medan. Unfortunately, movement is still an issue, it feels like trying to drive a forklift with only two wheels - that are both on one-side. Outside of movement, there is a lot of dialogue choices, while each choice does affect your relationship with the characters it does not really seem to matter. The only true thing that seems to matter in the game is how you react to quick-time events. If you mess up even one you can kill a character, which can be interesting, as much as seeing someone die horrifically can be interesting.

The game can be played solo or with friends, I would be curious to play it with friends to see how the mechanic works as while the game is short it might be difficult to get multiple people to play in one sitting or multiple ones. 

Overall the gameplay is very so so and I can't say it enough - how did SuperMassive Games go from something as good as Until Dawn to the Dark Pictures Anthology.

Final Thoughts

So, after six hours how did I feel?  Sadly, underwhelmed. The overall story was pretty good, but the characters were annoying and fairly unlikable, there were some good visuals, the music was meh, the gameplay felt like it was still in the Beta stages. That all being said there is still a part of me curious to play the next instalment. Overall this one gets a lowly 2 out of 5

The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan - Review

Last year I played Until Dawn by Supermassive Games, and I won't lie, I had a lot of fun with it.  Of course, when I heard that they would be releasing a new game; The Dark Pictures Anthology Man Of Medan, I was excited. This is the first game in the series and I was looking forward to seeing what Supermassive Games would do with it.  This game offers a movie night mode where 2-5 of you can play on the couch together, Nollsy suggested it might be a good idea to play together.


Who doesn't like pizza (if your answer is anything apart from 'I love it' we can't be friends)?  This week Nollsy and I have been bad foodwise and have had pizza three times this week. Each time we ate it, it tasted perfect (shoutout to Oak Fire Pizza).  Of course, our experience has not always been as good.  There is a popular pizzeria in Cork with whom, in our experience, you have a 50/50 chance of getting what you want, not only in taste but also in terms of the correct toppings.  Playing The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan, we found ourselves asking was this good pizza or an underwhelming one?

Story

Similar to Until Dawn, it is massively (or perhaps supermassively - ba dum tish), the game is story heavy.  It starts just after the end of World War II, you see a number of containers with black skulls on it being put on board a large US Naval vessel.  As we all know black skulls are a good thing and there is no chance of anything bad happening. The game then launches into the future and we get to see Julie, Alex, Brad, Conrad and their no-BS attitude Captain Fliss.  They want to explore a wreck that as of yet has never been touched or even officially discovered.  That's all you get, no spoilers.


Overall the story starts interestingly enough but I always felt like I had only one shoe in, unlike Until Dawn where I was riveted to my seat.  There are fourteen endings and the one we got was okayish. It wasn't like it was the worst story in the world but was definitely a far cry from Until Dawn. With a game like this, you need to feel invested in the characters. We've all seen Pixar's 'Up', right? The first 15 minutes tell a whole story that makes most people cry. 15 minutes, and your heart goes out to those characters. This whole game didn't achieve that. We left it feeling fairly indifferent to most of the characters.

Visuals


The visuals are so good that an times I wasn't sure if I was watching a cut sequence or if I was supposed to be playing.  Being set mostly at sea Supermassive Games put a lot of effort into the water effects and certainly have created a very organic and sometimes scary world.  I particularly liked when it was raining and stormy as it felt like one of the characters could be killed before anything has even really started.

Overall the visuals are one of the strongest, if not the strongest part of the game and drew my attention as to how far we come in video games since the 1950s.


Music


The music used in the game reminds me of so many things, Until Dawn, Lord of the Rings, nineties horror movies and jazz.  The soundtrack is both intimate and epic which works really well in the game and helps in creating a tense atmosphere.  The composer Jason Graves who has worked on a slew of video games including; The Order 1886, Far Cry Primal, and Until Dawn.


The soundtrack is just shy of an hour and features some great tracks, my favorites being; 'Bringer of War', 'You Cannot Hide', and 'Olson's Theme'. Overall the soundtrack helps bring the game to life and depth that might not be present without it.

Gameplay

This is where things started to get a little murky.  The story isn't bad, the visuals are amazing and the soundtrack is good but the gameplay is where it falls down.   When you do take control of a character they feel extremely stiff and like trying to turn an eighteen-wheeler round a sharp corner.  Forward, turn, reverse, turn more, go. Investigating items in the world can be tough, not only because you can't control the camera angles but also you need to be in exactly the right position to interact with things, and you could see something shining (indicating interactivity), but you'd be doing your turn and pivot routine with the character while mashing X in the hope of hitting the jackpot. This did create the occasional moments of frustration and stopped the game from being as immersive as it could have been.


There are items of interest in the game, along with collectibles and paintings which provide premonitions. The premonition paintings were an interesting idea but never felt they had an impact on the story itself. Nollsy and I both noted at the end that we never really noticed where the premonitions would have occurred had we not prevented them, or even what it was we did that DID prevent them.


One of the biggest parts of the gameplay is picking answers to questions posed by the other members of your group.  Will it bring you together more or push you apart?  You can check your relationship status with each character, though it rarely felt purposeful. There are is quick-time events that occur throughout the game which generally work, apart from the heartbeat monitor.  This was cool the first time but became clunky and was easy enough to screw up, it felt unneeded and hopefully, this is something that will not be in the next installment.


The game can be played solo with four other AI, or two of you can share all the characters between you, and finally, you can play with four random people online.


Overall the gameplay has a lot of rough edges that are in desperate need of rounding off, and with any luck, this will not be an issue next time.




Final Thoughts

So, after almost five hours how did we feel?  Meh.  The story was okay but wasn't as engaging as it could have been. The visuals were amazing and the soundtrack really helps create a great atmosphere.  The biggest failing really was the gameplay, I only hope this is something that will not be repeated in the future.  This one gets a 3 out of 5

Until Dawn - Review

There are numbers of games I wanted to play this year & Until Dawn was one of them.  I am normally not huge into horror-esque games but this one caught my eye.  I think it was not only the visual aspect that intrigued me but also the setting that was chosen; a log cabin in the middle of nowhere, with no escape.  I saw it for under €20 the other day in CEX & thought now was the time to give it a go.


Curries are awesome, correction they can be.  If a curry is done right it can be the perfect blend of spices, vegetables & meat.  It is great for opening up your airways, especially if you have a cold or just need something nice & warm.  Throw in some rice, naan bread, maybe a cheeky bhaji & you have the perfect meal.  However, some curries are, well, just outright bad.  Some curries use cheap ingredients, the meat & vegetables are about to go off & then to make up for the poor quality & taste tons of spices are added to it.  The result is a powdery tasting mess.  Playing Until Dawn I found myself asking was this the perfect meal & cleanser that I needed or was I going to be left with a bad taste in my mouth, pain in my stomach & a tender behind?

Let me set the scene, eight friends (sort of) decide to go up to a mountain lodge for a weekend to get away from it all.  As you can imagine a bunch of teenagers out in the middle of nowhere, with no adult supervision is only going to go one way really.  Naturally, everyone loves everyone & there are no feelings of ill will towards anyone, okay maybe some ill will.   Eight high school teenagers + log cabin + badly thought out prank = grim beginnings.


Fast forward one year later, everyone one is trying to deal with the tragedy from the previous year.  Of course, the best way to deal with it is to go back to the cabin where it all happened?  This time around there is lots of melodrama & everyone has been playing relationship musical chairs.


So who are our eight characters? Ashley, Chris, Jess, Josh, Matt, Mike, Sam & Emily.  Each has a certain quality about them & until about 60%-70% of the way through the game I found it hard to find any of them that likable.  The two characters I liked the least were Emily, AKA Bitchy McBitch Face & Matt AKA Mr. Meathead which in fairness I thought was inaccurate - Mr. Fade into the Background was more accurate.


The story is pretty solid & is only spoiled by a couple of so-so characters & the games slight indecisiveness to decide what kind of story it wants to tell.

This game is visually impressive in so many ways,  the snow effects look great & it really feels like you are on a winter getaway in the mountains.  Normally I would reserve this next statement when discussing the story but I feel the two are intertwined in this case, I won't discuss the look of the different parts of the game as I feel it would spoil the experience of it.


The character looks amazing if not slightly generic, let me clarify.  The facial expressions of the characters look very realistic even down to their eye movements. The outfits worn by the characters look real & actually look like they are being worn rather than simply imposed onto a model.  While they are visually impressive the characters themselves are not.  Supermassive Games decided to go with an atypical Hollywood view of teenagers; pretty, similar weight, height & it is not believable that any of them are under the age of twenty.


While I may have ripped on the studio's lack of character diversity I cannot flaw the overall visual impressiveness of the game.


The music used in the game is eerie & very atmospheric, bone-chilling use of strings & startling use of brass create a very claustrophobic feel.  While listening to the score it made me reminisce about the work performed by James Horner & Jerry Goldsmith on the movies Alien & Aliens.


The composer for this score of darkness is Jason Graves, some of his works include; Far Cry Primal, Order 1886, Dead Space & Fear 3.  Listening to the score you can certainly hear influences from Dead Space & Fear 3, sounds designed to make you feel a sense of dread which was perfect for this game.  Outside of this a rendition of the traditional American folk song 'O' Death' is covered by Amy Van Roekel which is used in the opening & ending credits of the game.  She has mostly worked in Operas & Concerts including ; Lost Childhood, The Marriage of Figaro, The Telephone, Midsummer Night's Dream & The Machine to name just a few.


The score comes in at just over an hour which I found to be the perfect considering the length of the game itself, my favorites pieces include; 'Final Confrontation', 'Shadow of the Mountain', 'Run or Hide' & 'Chris & Ashley'.  Overall a great score which really helped create a chilling atmosphere.

It's that time, onto the meat!  The first thing you need to know is you will have to make lots & lots of decisions, due the butterfly effect being a big part of the game even small decisions can have major ramifications later on.  There are useful collectibles that are actually relevant to the gameplay rather than just being there for the sake of it.  Something I really liked were the totems which help give you a glimpse into possible things that could happen depending on decisions you make, you never know how these actions can be triggered so stay vigilant.


The games constantly has you playing as each of the eight characters which makes it feel like you are part of a movie rather than a game.  While for the most past I liked this I did feel it stopped me a little from fully engaging with some of the characters & feeling perhaps more attached to them.  Decisions, decisions & more decisions, your actions don't only effect the story but how you are seen by the other characters.  Some actions will see you becoming closer with them while others will push you further apart.  There are multitude of character traits including; bravery, romance & honesty, each can be of major benefit in the short & long term.


'Don't Move', was one of my favorite actions in the game, at certain points your character will need to remain perfectly still.  The only way to do this was to not move the controller even a little, if you do then someone may just lose their life.  It added a great amount of suspense & even had me holding my breath at certain points.


The gameplay was really good & the only minor thing that bugged me was the constant story recaps which made little sense as the game was not being told in an episodic way unlike Alan Wake or Tell Tales The Walking Dead for example.




So after little over 8 hours how did I find my experience?  Very good, surprisingly so.   The game started with me feeling really annoyed by each of the characters but as time went on I slowly started to like some of them.  Sure the game has it's flaws but the good things in the game far out weight this.  I was tussling with what I would score this game but when it comes down to it the decision is not that hard to make, I give this one 4 out of 5

The Order 1886 - Review

There are many, many games that come out each year that I want to play, but due to time & financial restraints it is not possible for me to play them all.  So it's really great when your work buddy Siniša says, 'Hey man want to borrow Order 1886?' - the answer of course was yes.


Have any of you tried those Old El Paso Stand 'N' Stuff things?  They are also called Old El Paso Boats in other parts of the world, which to be fair is a much cooler sounding name & makes more sense considering their shape, but I digress.   I like Mexican food & have enjoyed Enchiladas & Fajitas for years so when I saw these cool looking things I thought to myself, yes I must try them. Unfortunately they ended up being disappointing because while they contain many great things like; meat, peppers, spices, garlic, cheese & other goodness when you bite into them the stuff goes everywhere, no matter how careful you are & just makes a mess.  The question I had to ask myself while playing the Order 1886 was is it something that looked great but when I bit into was is it just going to spill out all over the place & end up being a mess? Well, lets find out.

Welcome to Victorian London 1886, well sort of.   It is Victorian London but with a mix of steam punkish elements, oh & of course half breed humans running around referred to as Lycan's, more commonly know as Werewolves.  As if that were not enough there are rebels trying to tear down the city & Jack The Ripper is stalking the streets.  Who will protect the people from them?  Arthur & his Knights of the Round Table. Arthur himself is long since gone but his Knights still continue his work.


The half breed humans do have the upper hand against the well trained Knights due to their strength & tenacity.  As it turns out the Knights have access to an elixir which allows them to regenerate their health & mend their bodies.  This is also a nod to the Holy Grail & one of the many theories that it had the power to provide healing properties.


You play as Sir Galahad; a gruff, weather beaten, bad ass with a mighty moustache.  Don't worry you are not alone in your battle.  There is Sir Perceval your old mentor, an intriguing character with many secrets.  There is Marquis, who is very likable, offers some minor comic relief & has a way with the ladies.  Then there is Lady Igraine, who was Sir Galahad's student, she comes across as tough & smart but I found her character quickly waned for me.  One of the cooler characters was Nikola Tesla who of course needs no introduction,  I did feel he was not utilised as much as he could have been in the game.


While the premise was interesting the execution lacked a certain something & the ending I found to be poor & left many unanswered questions.  The studio clearly set the game up to be part of a Trilogy but they should have focused more on this game before worrying about possible future installments.

While I felt the game clearly fell down on story & character development it did not fall down on the visuals.  The places you visit & the general surrounding looked fantastic, two of my favorite areas of the game were; inside White Chapel Hospital & the Airship.  White Chapel Hospital is an old condemned building which feels grim & not just because it's a hospital.  There are old beds & wheelchairs littering the place, the paint work & tiles are wearing away & there is generally an eerie feeling as you navigate it.  The Airship was awesome, from the outside you get to view the city of London which looks impressive, inside you get to traverse the inner workings of it before entering the luxurious areas.  Outside of that the characters designs & outfits look good with the exception of the Lycans which I found to be a little dull.


The music has a very old & classical sound that makes great uses of stringed instruments especially violins.  A choir is used in some pieces & helps give a more dramatic feel to the game. The score was composed by Jason Graves.  Graves has previously worked on; Far Cry Primal, Dead Space, Tomb Raider & Fear 3 to name just a few.  Austin Wintory also features on the piece 'A Knight's Theme', who previously worked on Assassins Creed Syndicate & Journey.


As a whole it was nice solid soundtrack, my favorite pieces included: 'The Knight's Theme', 'Airborne Pursuit', 'Agamemnon Rising', 'Darkest Hour', 'A Knight's Burden' & 'The Edge Of Sanity'

The gameplay was a bit of a mixed bag for me.  Let's talk about the weapons first, the M2 Falcon Rifle looked & felt good, it also featured a stun ability.  There was the Thermite gun which allowed you to fire out thermite powder with one trigger & then another let you shoot off a flare which ignited it.  I really liked the design of the crossbow but the ammo was scarce & for some reason you could not retrieve the bolts from enemies which seemed odd.  Slow-mo seemed like an unnecessary ability especially consider how infrequent the combat was.


There were a few mini activities you can complete, one of which was lock picking. There were two types of locking picking,  one was using electricity to override locks.  Lock picking seem liked an interesting idea but you can only preform the action on certain doors, one of the mini games is fun (thumb sticks), the other reminded me of a bad version of Elder Scrolls IV locking picking, only not fun.  From time to time in the game you had to examine objects using the left thumb stick but it always felt clunky & unnecessary.  Searching for clues was so bad it was almost genius.  Basically you push papers around messily from the left to the right & let a few books fall over, it definitely felt like the Scooby Doo school of detective work - 'Good one Shaggy'.

Overall the gameplay moves from cut sequences, to quick time events to action but never transitions between each of them well & instead ends up feeling awkward.  There is barely time to enjoy or get used to elements of the gameplay as they change too often & feel jarring.





So after 10 hours of playing what did I think?  Well to call the game outright bad is unfair but had it not been for the visuals & mild intrigue in the story that is exactly what I would have called it.  My rating for this game was - 'meh'.

Murdered Soul Suspect - Review

January is a tough month for all of us. Some of you will have made New Resolutions which you have already broken, there are not many new games out & our wallets are feeling light after Christmas.  So what is a gamer to do?  I guess it is time to play one of the Playstation Plus or Games for Gold titles.


Hands up if you have ever eaten Koka Noodles, I have.  According to the Daily Edge "Koka Noodles are the food that keep Ireland running".  They are not super tasty, filled with chemicals & don't look very appealing but they help fill the void in your stomach during tough times.  There is no point complaining about all they could be because you know what you signed up for, this is sort of how I felt about Murdered Soul Suspect.

The game is set in modern day Salem Massachusetts, you play as Detective Ronan O'Connor, a rogue cop with a murky past.  In the opening moments of the game you are thrown through a third-storey window by the Bell Killer, unfortunately you can't fly so you can imagine how that works out.


I really liked the introduction to Ronan, you are given a back story by way of tattoos appearing on his body marking major events during his life.  The most notable of these is meeting his wife Julia which helped make him a better person, naturally her murder throws his life into turmoil.


Ronan loved being a Detective when he was alive & decides to continue being one now he is dead.
His mission is to figure out why he was killed, stop the Bell Killer & find Julia in the afterlife.  Don't worry you are not completely alone, you have Joy, an angst ridden teenager who looks like how I would imagine Triss Merigold's daughter to look like, oh & a cat.


There is genuine heart & emotion in Murdered Soul Suspect along with an interesting detective story with a paranormal twist.

Visually speaking the game does not look awful but does not look great either, considering Square Enix rubber stamped their name on it I hoped it would look better.  That being said there some great character designs, especially the Demons & some of the more random ghosts in the background.  One thing I really liked was that parts of old Salem often come through into modern day Salem which gave a really eerie feel.


The composer for game is Jason Graves who's works include; Fear 3, Far Cry Primal & The Order 1886.  The music lingers in the background & is never really intrusive,  unfortunately it so much so that the soundtrack is not very memorable.  There are only a few pieces that stood out for me; 'Main Theme', 'Julia' which has a very somber sound & 'Devour Your Soul' which is a rather chilling piece.
Due to the nature of the game it instead focuses on sound effects which being honest maybe was a better choice.

Onto the meat - the gameplay.   There are multiple cases to solve in the game, each one requiring you to find clues.  Once you have most or all of the clues you can answer the question being asked of you. While for the most part I enjoyed this I never quite understood what difference the order of clues you picked mattered especially as you were only asked one question. Picking the wrong order penalised & you would lose one of your three shields but being honest it never seemed to have an impact on the overall result of the case.


There are a number of trapped souls in Salem all who are looking for your help.  If you can successfully help give them closure they will pass on to the afterlife.  It made me feel good watching them float up to the sky all happy.


You have a host of ghostly abilities that you gain in the early part of the game.  One of them is called 'reveal' which helps reveal (funny enough) something from the past or something that was hidden. When you find something to use your ability on it actually looks like a glitch in the game.  I wonder was this originally an accident & someone in the studio thought this would be a great way to cover up a glitch?  Another ability you will use frequently in the game is 'Poltergeist', it works well for the most part but other times you have to be at a very specific angle to get it to recognise there an item to interact with.


There are few Easter Eggs in the game; in the Police Station almost all the computer screens have the main menu for Deus Ex Human Revolution & there are Just Cause 2 posters randomly put up in the station as well.


As a whole the gameplay was okay but was never very exciting, it could of been an action horror like Fear 2, or a pick your own path game like Telltale's Walking Dead but instead never really committed to being either & went for something sort of in the middle that did not really work.

So after less than 10 hours how did I feel about Murdered Soul Suspect?  If I take it as budget title, with a good story & some interesting characters I could almost say it was good.  Being honest though that was not what it was supposed to be & if I had to pay full price for a game that offered under 10 hours of gameplay & no real replay value then I would have to give it a 'meh' rating.  If you have nothing else do & want something to play while eating your Koka Noodles this might fill the void.