Dying Light 2 Stay Human - Review

 

I finally stopped playing The Elder Scrolls Online long enough to get into a new game that I have been very excited about playing - Techland's Dying Light 2 Stay Human. As zombie games have been done to death the original passed me by but was not going to let the sequel do the same. 

Anyone reading this blog (I thank you), knows that I am a healthy eater and only enjoy the best quality ingredients and food - if you believe this you actually have not read my blog before, welcome! I have been partaking in shall we say certain plants of the earth that make me feel chill, when this happens I reach for Deliveroo (bad Barry). Instead, I make sure I have food at home to avoid this, one such thing I have taken to is steak sandwiches in garlic ciabatta, it is epic. There is lots of it, tasty and extremely filling. Playing Dying Light Stay Human I found myself asking was there enough and was it filling?

  

Story

The story has you take on the role of Aidan, a pilgrim, wandering the wastes after the release of COVID across the world, no I'm joking it's a virus that infects people and essentially turns them into zombies. But to Aidan that does not matter, he is on a mission to find his sister and will do whatever it takes to find her. There will be a lot of tough decisions to make and there are a lot of people looking for help that will change the city of Villedor for better or worse. There are parts of the main story that don't always seem to make sense but are not enough to pull me out of it all. There are also multiple endings so is certainly not a one-and-done.

The game separates itself from the zombie genre by making it about the people, their lives, and struggles  - it is very human and easy to make connections with them. The main story is great don't get me wrong but the side stories are so much fun, some made me laugh others nearly made me cry. I did not want to try and complete every story to gain trophies but to enjoy Villedor for as long as possible. 

Overall a fantastic set of stories woven together in a very satisfying way, the biggest disappointment was coming to the end of it all.

Visuals

The visuals are out of this world and made me feel the same way as when I first played The Last Of Us on Playstation 3. There were a lot of critics very negative about them as a whole but being honest playing it on the Playstation 4 Pro just made me want to see how it looks on the PlayStation 5. Nature has started to reclaim a damaged city, the two mix well together especially when you land on a high rise and see a garden growing on top of it.

It is all based in a city so is to a degree hard to diversify the landscape but I feel Techland did a great job of it. In makeshift towns, people live in relative safety on rooftops, and there a large bridges spanning bodies of water. The first area of the game is so different from the main part of the city it is overwhelming when you first go there, but I loved that, wondering how was I going to get to the top of that building and navigate the roads below. 

Overall the visuals were amazing, to me the city was as big of a personality and important as many of the characters I came across. 

Music 

The soundtrack is as close to a masterpiece as is possible. The music moves from the fast beat, heart-pounding music that actually knocked me off balance when on occasion when playing, there are more somber reflective pieces and of course, those creeping dread tracks where you know something bad is about to happen. The soundtrack is carefully crafted by Olivier Deriviere, who was worked on more than a few great titles including; Streets Of Rage 4, Vampyr, Remember Me, Alone In The Dark, and Of Orcs and Men.

Even listening to the soundtrack as I type this I cannot believe how much was packed into less than ninety minutes. It was of these lucky occasions where I find it challenging to pick out my favorite tracks as I loved the whole soundtrack, some really standout pieces for me were; 'Run Jump Fight', 'The Good Doctor', 'The Last Parkour', 'Monsters We', 'The Renegades', 'The Mark' and 'New Beginnings'.

Overall a phenomenal soundtrack that once again has me asking why do they not get noted as part of game reviews when they are such an integral part of games?

Gameplay

The gameplay has a lot of RPG elements combined with some Far Cry and Mirrors Edge. It's a lot of elements to throw into one game but I do feel it worked. Combat works pretty well, for the most part, the infected are mostly easy prey unless you get a few coming at you, that said as soon as the more crazy variants appear all bets are off, especially at night when the rooftops become your friends. The human enemies start easy but later that AI gets pretty good at blocking and weaving around your attacks which in groups can be tough if you are not prepared. The weapons in the game are all beaten up looking but some can really pack a punch if you are willing to upgrade them even better. The only sad thing is that there is no repair option so don't get too attached, unless you are willing to get the Korek Charm which is one of the developer's tools, in my opinion well worth the effort in getting it. Attachments can be upgraded with the right parts and money. There is also the option to craft med kits and explosives, who knew a tennis ball grenade would be so powerful?

There are a lot of skills to unlock, which can be with a little effort unlocked in a single playthrough. The skills are broken into combat and parkour. The more you do in the world the more experience you gain and can unlock points. Some complained there was so much focus on this, to me it was like playing Metroid, finding an area I could not reach, getting the upgrade later, and coming back later to overcome it. 

There are a number of tools you will have access to in the game and is certainly worth unlocking all of them as soon as possible. The tools change the way you can move around the world and also gives you access to inhibitors that help increase your health and stamina. For me, hands down the paraglider was the best it feels really cool flying through the skies and once upgraded is even better.

There are lots of things to buy and craft but you never feel overwhelmed and a lot of what you can do depends on your own playstyle.

Parkour! This is huge in the game, climb, roll, swing your way into anywhere but one wrong button press, and you become road pizza quickly. If there was a weakness in the gameplay I would say it was parkour as sometimes Aidan did not always seem to respond to button presses which turned more than a few things to failure. It did not happen often but when it did I was left a little frustrated. That being said movement as a whole is pretty good and the fact you can climb almost everything gives you so many options to reach places. 

The game has you pick a faction that offers some great rewards on both sides and can really change the landscape of the game. Two things I thought were really cool are the option of a plus game and calling for a random real-world player to come help you if the need arose. 

Overall the gameplay is fairly solid, a few crashes here and there and a lack of responsiveness with controls were frustrating but not game-breaking.

Final Thoughts

So, after dropping 60+ hours how did I feel? Sad but in a positive way. With the exception of a few questionable stories the overall story and side stories with really great. The visuals were awesome and never got bored of exploring Villedor.  The music was stellar and really for me is what video game music is all about. The gameplay had a few shortcomings but nothing game-breaking or that ever affected my wanting to play. This one gets a solid 4 out of 5

Streets of Rage 4 - Review

I have been so excited for Streets Of Rage 4 to be released. I wanted a physical copy so made sure to order it from Limited Run Games. It has been over a quarter of a century since Streets of Rage 3 was released, and the series was one of my favourites growing up. I expected it would be weird playing it on the PlayStation 4 as previously I had only played it on the Mega Drive. It finally arrived last week and I could not be more eager to play a game.


In the nineties when I lived in London I went to Beanos in Croydon (long since closed) with my best friend at the time Dave. Beanos was a great music shop which managed to be small and large at the same time, it was like a mini-tower. On the top floor, there was a large TV that played movies and a couch. They sold American chocolate and made fresh milkshakes and malts. This was the first time I tried Hershey's Cookies N Creme, it was amazing. All these years on when I have one I still have fond memories and still tastes good. While playing Streets of Rage 4 I found myself asking was it just nostalgia or was it still tasty?

Story


27 years ago Mr X was finally defeated once and for all by Axel, Blaze, and the gang. The city experienced peace once more until a new syndicate took control, this time led by the children of Mr X -  Mr and Ms Y. Axel and the gang must take to the streets and take down these new powerful foes. This time sees the return of characters like Adam and Max, along with the introduction of new characters like Cherry (Adam's daughter) and Floyd - a beefcake with bionic arms.


Overall the story is pretty straight forward and simple with a few 'ooooo' moments. I really loved the story especially the fact they played homage to the previous games.

Visuals


When I first watched the trailers for Streets of Rage 4 I was unsure about the art style. I had gotten so used to the 16-bit graphics from the Mega Drive it was hard to process this new art style initially. Quickly that faded, I really like the new look, it was fresh but also had an old school feel. The levels are so vibrant and colourful, the characters look new but also so familiar. Honestly, I could not have asked for more.  Even the older bulky looking Axel looked perfect and made sense, I think the only character that did not really age was Blaze. Even the animation for attacks look fantastic, just look at the images above and below. One of my favourite looking levels was one where you are in a glass elevator which is really intense, along with being on top of a train watching the city go by.


Overall I have zip/zero to complain about, the game looks great and is a great addition to the series.



Music


I cannot overstate this but I loved the Streets of Rage soundtracks for the first three games. Kuzo Koshiro created the sound for them and it as important as the gameplay itself. He has helped create the sound for many other games including Sega's Revenge of Shinobi (another fantastic soundtrack and game).  I was excited to hear he would be returning to work on Streets of Rage 4, this time he brought some friends: Olivier Deriviere, Groundislava, XL Middleton, Keiji Yamagishi, Harumi Fujita, Mothiro Kawashima, Yoko Shimomura, Scattle, Yuro Koshira, Das Mortel and H-Pi.


The soundtrack is over an hour long and features many great tracks, in fact so many I stopped writing them down. If I had a gun to my head and could only pick five tracks they would be; The Streets, They're Back, Mr Y, Nora, Barbon, and Double Divas. Overall a great soundtrack, and while I don't like it as much as the others once I have listened to it for over a hundred hours like the others that might change.

Gameplay


The gameplay is classic side-scrolling beat em' up action, that anyone who played the previous games will be familiar with. There are however a few changes that add a new dynamic and a new level of replayability. As always there are a number of different difficulty levels from easy to mania. There is a boss challenge mode, level select mode, and a versus mode. This time you can play up to 4-players in Co-Op which is really neat. The more you play the more you can unlock, everything from the soundtrack to more characters including some of the classic look characters and for the first time you can play as Shiva, Mr X's right-hand man.


The fighting is a lot of fun, the animations and in general, the fighting is really smooth. Special moves can eat your health but if you knock out an enemy quick enough you can recoup the loss. Similar to previous games each character have their own strengths and weakness along with special moves. There a lot more weapons this time and it seems the enemies are as free to use them as you are.


There are eleven stages in the game which is the most any game in the series has featured to date. Each of them has a very different look and feel along with more than a few hazards that can be used to your advantage. Each stage has its own boss and sometimes two, this can be extremely challenging as you only have two lives per round but you can get more if you are willing to reduce your score.


Overall the gameplay is fast and tons of fun and cannot recommend it enough!




Final Thoughts


So, after just a few shorts hours how did I feel? Like I wanted to play the game over and over again. The story was fun and a nod to its predecessors. The visuals managed to be both new and retro at the same, great soundtrack (even though it not my favourite..yet). The gameplay is fun and the new modes give it a lot of replaybility. This one gets a smooth 5 out 5

A Plague Tale: Innocence - Review

One of the games I have been looking forward to playing this year is A Plague Tale: Innocence.  It is a survival horror game about a brother and sister trying to survive the plague and the inquisition. I decided the other day to buy A Plague Tale: Innocence on PlayStation 4.


One of my favourite Chinese dishes is deep-fried shredded beef.  It's beef, battered and in a sweet and sometimes slight spicy sauce.  While it is really tasty there is a bit chewing involved (no I'm not old age pensioner who wears dentures), and depending on the quality of the meat it can be too chewy and sometimes dry as well.  Playing A Plague Tale: Innocence I found myself asking was this too chewy and dry or was it just right?

Story


If you are looking for an upbeat positive story this game is not for you.  A Plague Tale Innocence Tale plunges you into the darkness mere minutes after starting.  The story is set in France in 1348, there is a plague across the lands and the inquisition is everywhere.  Well, apart from the De Rune Estate where everything seems okay - for about five minutes anyway.  The children of the De Rune family Amicia and Hugo need to escape and with the help of their mother they do.  Amicia and Hugo have barely ever seen each other due to Hugo's having an unusual sickness, so the story isn't just about survival but the bond between the siblings.  There is a lot of darkness on their journey and occasionally someone might be willing to help you but be warned treachery is everywhere.


Overall the story is pretty solid and while Hugo did annoy me at times I think that was the point, annoying brothers and all that.  He does have some great dialogue though. When they are both in an underground cave Hugo says maybe there is a whale in the water, Amicia says it would not fit, his response is that it could be a small pretty whale that is shy and is the reason they can't see it.

Visuals

The visuals are dark, grim and surprisingly beautiful at times.  The game uses a lot of dark imagery - everything from people being killed by the inquisition, rats eating people alive and what seems like fields of slaughtered animals.  There is some beauty when you are moving through the countryside or when visiting an underground cave.  My advice is to savor these moments of quiet and beauty as they are fleeting.

Overall the visuals are amazing and help create a dark world where you always feel on edge.



Music


The use of strings creates a dark and foreboding sound, that often made me feel unnerved in a game that is already very good at doing just that.  The soundtrack was created by French composer Olivier Deriviere. He has worked on a number of video game soundtracks including; Remember Me, Assassins Creed Freedom Cry, Get Even, Alone In The Dark and Vampyr.


The soundtrack runs at over an hour and features some great tracks. My favorite tracks were; 'Plague Tale', 'Inquisition', 'Adulthood', 'Mystical Castle', 'She Is Alive', 'The Wrath', 'Reunited' and 'I'm Sorry'.

Overall a great soundtrack that helps ensure you never feel relaxed.

Gameplay


On to the meat!  The game is a survival-horror, and as a whole, it is fairly linear, don't get me wrong that doesn't mean it's easy.  The game has you play as Amicia, she tasked with taking care of her younger brother Hugo.  It is essential you hold his hand the whole time if you let go for any length time he will freak out and attract enemies to you.  He will occasionally let go of your hand to explore, figure out puzzle/obstacle or to let you fight when needed.


Amicia's primary weapon is her slingshot, and let me tell you it can deal some serious damage.  Outside of this, you can learn alchemical mixtures to help you avoid the many many rats along with human enemies.  While the game often pushes you to use stealth any chance I could deal some hurt I did without hesitation, much to the shock of Amicia and Hugo.


It is not something you would expect in this style of game but you can upgrade a lot of things, mixtures, slingshot, carry capacity and a number of other things.  My personal recommendation is to focus on your carry capacity as it will make thing easier when you need to make a lot of alchemical mixtures later.


The main enemy in the game is rats and they are freaky, crazy and kind of organised.  Avoiding, them at times can be awkward but as long as you are careful and can make fire you will be just fine.


Overall the gameplay works pretty well most of the time, some the chapters are brilliant but I can't provide any details without giving you spoilers, so you will have to play it yourself.




Final Thoughts

So, after nearly fifteen hours how did I feel?  Pretty happy.  The story is solid an interesting,  the visuals and music blend together perfectly to help create a dark world and the gameplay while linear works well.  Overall this one gets a 4 out of 5