The Swapper - Review

A few years back I stumbled across a game called The Swapper, an indie side-scroller puzzler created by Facepalm Games.  When I originally played it I had no idea the studio was made up of only two people both students from the University of Helsinki.  I was recently thinking about the game and couldn't remember exactly how I felt about it, so I decided it was time to try it out again.


I like cheese, and I don't just mean in the comedy sense.  One of my favorite cheeses is Brie, there are a number of variations, personally, I like it to have a fairly solid consistency making it easy to spread and not liquidy.  Initially, when I tried Brie I was unsure if I liked it, the texture was very different to any cheese I had tried before and the taste was very rich.  When I tried it again I decided that I not only liked it, I loved it.  Playing The Swapper again I found myself asking would the second time around help me decide if it was my Brie?

Story

In the future humanity has used up all of Earth's natural resources, so we look to the stars to solve our problems, which in honesty we are not a million miles away from now.  There are numerous Space Stations whose sole purpose is to find new resources to help humanity survive.  The game has you play the role of a female scavenger who is stranded on one of these Space Stations that is seemingly abandoned.  Early on in the game, you find a device called the swapper, it not only allows you to create up to four clones of your self but also swap your consciousness between them.  This technology is created through the discovery of an alien race known as The Watchers.  The objective of the game is to escape the space station.

Initially, the story starts out relatively simple, but the more you discover what has happened to the crew of Space Station Theseus the more you are forced to question mortality, the concept of a soul and even life itself.  I enjoyed this element and was certainly unexpected from this type of game.  

Visuals

The visuals used in the game are rather unique, when I first played it I could not put my finger on exactly what it was that made it so different.  It turns out the game was modeled in clay and then digitized.  The look of the main character is so detailed, all body movements look realistic - with the exception of when you fall from a height.  One of the things I liked most was the dimly lit enclosed areas which reminded me of scenes from the first three Alien movies.   There are more colourful and open areas such as the Garden (see above) and the luminous plant life that can be found in the Solar Panel Maintenance Module.

Overall the game is a visual spectacle and is a true testament to what can be achieved on handheld consoles (yeah I know it's ported), but more importantly, it shows what can be achieved by just two people.

Music 

The soundtrack is haunting, atmospheric and provides a real feeling of isolation making it perfectly suited for The Swapper.  It is perhaps an unusual thing to say but sometimes the lack of music in the game is what makes it so memorable because when I did hear it I felt myself paying more attention than I might ordinarily in a game.  The soundtrack features heavy use of electronic music and throws in a sprinkling of a piano.  The soundtrack was created by:

Carlo Castellano, an Italian composer, sound designer, performer, and programmer. His works include the video game soundtrack for Invaders Corruption, an EP entitled Piano Work and a project called Electro Moving Picture which focuses on the link between music and photography.

The soundtrack is just shy of thirty minutes and contains thirteen tracks.  I felt it was the perfect length and features some great tracks including 'Theme', 'Greenhouse', and 'Alt Theme'.  Overall though my favorite track is 'Recreation' which features a haunting piano piece that features crackling to give it an aged feel.  

Outside of the soundtrack itself, there is one sound that really stood out for me - walking.  It's okay you read that right, due to the Space Station being abandoned there is little sound, apart from you characters feet traversing the different areas of the game which varies quite a bit.

Overall a great soundtrack that really helps make the game what it is.

Gameplay

The gameplay can be best described a 2D side-scrolling puzzle game.  The objective of the game is relatively straightforward, create up to four clones and switch your consciousness between them to help solve puzzles using a device called the swapper.

The puzzle solving element starts simple and becomes more complicated by throwing restrictions for using the swapper.  Certains coloured light effect your movement, for example, red light allows you to create a clone but you can't transfer your consciousness to it and blue light does the opposite. 

The reward for completing puzzles is orbs which you will need to collect in order to access various areas of the Space Station, and ultimately try and escape it.  The more you progress through the game you will find teleporters that allow you to jump to others areas of the ship without having to do all the legwork.

Overall the gameplay is interesting, and for the part enjoyed solving the puzzles.  That being said I found some of them to be a little frustrating and I am sad to say there were at least two puzzles I had to check a walkthrough to figure out.

Final Thoughts

So after five-plus hours how did I feel?  Really good, like Brie my second playthrough confirmed how much I really enjoyed it.  The story was interesting and in some ways was quite thought-provoking, the music and visuals helped create a haunting environment.  The gameplay itself offered a challenge that for the most part did not have me pulling my hair out.  Overall this one gets a solid 4 out of 5

Ghost Recon Wildlands - Review

Welcome to another review! This time around I am playing Ghost Recon Wildlands.  One of the first games I got with the XBOX 360 was Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, before this point I had never played a Tom Clancy game.  I found it really tough initially, I was used to games that were not as tactically challenging.  After a while, I really got into it,  I then played the sequel which was even better.  Then there was Future Soldier, I remember seeing the trailers and thought yes this is going to kick ass.  There were a number of delays with the game but it finally got released, it was good but was missing something that I just could not put my finger on.  Fast forward to 2016 and Ghost Recon Wildlands was announced,  I immediately signed up for the Beta Test.  While there were elements I liked about it, such as the open world and the impressive visuals there were certain things I didn't like, the driving felt sloppy in all vehicles, in particular, the planes.  When the game was released  I didn't rush to get it.  Recently my buddy (D to the G) loaned me his copy and assured me it was worth the play and was as important as Metal Gear Solid V, which I highly enjoyed.


Bolognese, it's got pasta, sauce, mince and vegetables, all things I like.  Unfortunately, no matter what I add or take away from it I am always a little underwhelmed.  It's incorrect for me to say it's bad, all the elements are there but it just doesn't do it for me.  Playing Ghost Recon Wildlands I found myself was it really for me?

Story


The story is set in Bolivia, there is a cartel called Santa Blanca who have become so powerful, so influential that they have created a narco-state.  The cartel is run by El Sueno, who is a powerhouse of man and looks like he could kill you with his pinky finger or his gravelly voice. The operation is broken into four divisions, Security, Production, Smuggling and Influence, each has multiple Lieutenants (Buchons), an Underboss and a Head.  They need to be taken down before you have a chance of taking on El Sueno.  So, who you gonna call?


Enter the elite team of soldiers known as Ghosts, you play as the Leader Nomad, along with three interchangeable characters, Larry, Moe, and Curley.  There is undercover CIA agent Bowman, who runs point and provides you with all the intel.  She has been working with the local Rebel Leader Pac Katari to help destabilise the cartel.


Overall the story is quite engaging and there are some interesting characters, unfortunately, your teammates are not among them.  There are two endings to the game depending on your percentage completion, great if you like getting 100%.

Visuals


The visuals in the game are simply breathtaking, I loved jumping in a helicopter and surveying Bolivia which has a varied landscape.  There are lightly snowed cover mountains, dense jungle, rural villages, mines and excavations sites.  El Sueno's mausoleum is particularly impressive, being honest it is hard to pin down my favorite area as it all looks so good, even down to smaller details like the water and plant life.  The only downside is that I found it hard to see due to the sun burning my eyes so unfortunately, I relied on using night vision more than should have been necessary.  I messed around with the brightness settings but to no avail.


Overall some very impressive visuals and probably some of the best I have seen to date on the new generation of consoles.


Music

I felt the soundtrack mostly lingered in the background, save for one or two tracks, but with the style of game Ghost Recon Wildlands is that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.  There is a lot of use of both Electric and Spanish guitar, which while both are used quite subtly works well and reminded me of some of the music from Spec Ops the Line, the composer for the soundtrack is:

Alain Johannes, a Chilean-American performer, composer, and producer.  He has been part of many bands including Eleven, Spinnerette, Ten Commandos and What Is This?  Outside of this, he has worked with many talented artists such as PJ Harvey, Queens of the Stone Age, Chris Cornell, UNKLE, and Kelly Clarkson to name but a few.


The soundtrack runs at just over ninety minutes and has more than thirty tracks.  The score isn't amazing but contained some great tracks including 'Wildlands', 'Night Counters', 'Chopper Fight' and 'End of the Road'.

Gameplay

Onto the meat! Ghost Recon Wildlands is a third-person open world tactical shooter.  Running into an enemy camp going for a spray and pray tactic won't generally pay off.  The enemy AI is one of the best I have experienced in a game and their not afraid to run, hide or circle back behind you.  There are multiple types of enemies that are broken into two groups, the Sicarios who are part of Santa Blanca and the security forces know as Unidad (ever wondered who unilads father is?  Now you know).  Unidad has different levels of aggression ranging from one to four patrols, similar to Grand Theft Autos star system.  The team AI left a lot to be desired, unlike previous Ghost Recon games you do not have as much control over them.  This I felt made the game a little less tactical then it could have been, additionally teammates will often do their own thing like getting hit by a train. The commentary by them was often poor, for example 'that was fuckin' close', when there was only one enemy who was nowhere near spotting me or 'I think they know we are here' when you are in the middle of a firefight but not said in a haha kind of way but quite seriously.


There are many, many weapons in the game but as I find in a lot of these games I usually gravitate towards a few and they become my permanent loadout. Wildlands was no different.  My favorite weapons were the M4 A1 Assault Rifle (suppressed), a Drone with an explosive payload and C4 (lots of it).  There is a nice variety of weapons that suit any and all play styles.


The vehicles felt much improved over the Beta Test with once exception, planes.  Planes handle like you are trying to fly a bar of soap with cardboard wings and it has been raining.  The car and helicopter controls handle like a dream.  I can say without a doubt I spent more time in a helicopter than any other vehicle, not only due to their variety but also I got the additional benefit of checking out the picturesque views.   There are boats in the game which was a nice option to have but save for one or two areas were unnecessary.  Two things I found quite funny and certainly took away from the realism element of the game was when the car is full a teammate will get in the boot and you can see his weapon poking out.  If you don't want to wait for your teammates to get in a vehicle drive off without them and as if by magic they will appear beside you, hey presto.


There is a leveling up system but for the most part feels irrelevant.  There are skill trees, and perks to be purchased.  Multiple skill points can be found in every region, however, that in itself is not enough you also have to collect supplies such as Medicine, Communications, Gasoline, and Food.  The early perks require few supplies but later they need a crazy amount which can only really be collected by playing side missions which for the most part are not very interesting and quite repetitive.  Overall the perks are nothing exciting, they help a bit but there are only a few I found to be essential such as maxing out sync shots and some of the drone upgrades.  The rebels also provide support once you complete one of each side mission, these can be upgraded later.  In honesty, I never found them that helpful with the exception of 'call for a vehicle'.


There is a multitude of collectibles including weapons, weapon accessories, skill points and King Slayer files (provided by a dead DEA agent).  I collected most of the King Slayer files to start with but they didn't really add a lot to the experience so I focused on the other collectibles instead.


Overall the game got very repetitive within a short space of time, the only thing keeping it alive at times for me were the visuals and the story.  While I am slow to play co-op I think this game would have been vastly more entertaining had I done so.  It may be something I look into in the future but if I view it from a solo campaign experience I found it to be a little underwhelming.




Final Thoughts

So, after little over thirty hours how did I feel?  Umm, it was alright, far from terrible but also far great.  The story is interesting, the visuals are amazing, the music was okay and the gameplay itself had its moments.  I struggled to rate this game as I felt 3 out of 5 was too low and 4 out of 5 was too high, as I haven't used decimal points for scoring up to this point I am not going to start now.  After much debate, I am giving this one 3 out of 5

Command and Conquer Generals Deluxe Edition - Review

I sometimes neglect my Alienware Aurora R3 PC, I just get so wrapped up playing console games I forget about it.  I decided on playing a PC game and went with Command and Conquer Generals.  I  played it when it was first released, which was nearly fifteen years ago now and I really wanted to play it again.  I own Command and Conquer: The First Decade so thought this time when playing Generals I would also play the add-on Zero Hour.


I like Rice Pudding, I wouldn't have it all the time but it's tasty.  Admittedly it doesn't look very appealing and it's quite simple but there is just something about it that gets me excited.  I mean when Muller Rice Apple was first released I ate lots of it, even now I'm thinking about going and buying one.  Rice Pudding can be served hot or cold, you can even add a little jam or fruit if you want to jazz it up.  Playing Command and Conquer Generals I found my asking with this something simple and satisfying or was it just simple and horrible looking?

Story

The story is pretty straightforward, there is a group called The Global Liberation Army (GLA) they are a well-organised terrorist group that is quickly becoming a superpower due to their growing numbers and influence.  It's up to the US and China to stop them at all costs.  With the add-on Zero Mission, this story does not really change other than the introduction of someone called Dr. Thrax (an almost non-existent bad guy) that is responsible for the GLA's chemical weapons.


The little story there is not highly engaging and I certainly missed the video introductions that were present in the rest of the Command and Conquer series.  I know sometimes they were a little cheesy but they were fun and featured some great actors including James Earl Jones, Udo Kier, Michael Biehn, Tim Curry and George Takei.  When it came to the story and character development there simply wasn't any.

Visuals

After fifteen years Command and Conquer Generals has aged, but how many of us haven't?  The backdrops look really nice and there is a bit of variety in the landscape, there are deserts, snow-capped mountains and in Zero Hour you even get to see a little bit of Germany.  The important thing is not to zoom in on the infantry, they look like characters from a children's pop-up book. There were a few details I really liked in the game including watching buildings being slowly constructed and watching the roll-up door on the war factory opening and a new vehicle rolling forth.  The GLA tanks were interesting as they looked like cars with the shell of a tank dropped on top of them, I imagine they would feature in 'My First Tank Book', but once you collect scrap from the wreckages of your fallen enemies they slowly look like a kick ass tank.  Without a doubt the best looking unit was China's Overload Tank, it looks like a mobile fortress that has two massive cannons on it, you can either keep it simple or build Gatling guns, Propaganda towers or a Bunker on them.


While visually the game may have aged as a whole the backdrops look really good, as long as you don't look too closely at infantry units.


Music

The score is fairly diverse and each group has its own unique sound.  USA features strings, electric guitar and overall has a very militaristic sound, similar to some modern-day war and espionage style films, it reminded me of some of the pieces used in the film The Rock.  China makes use of Asian instruments including Pipa, Suona, Yangpin, Gong and Paigu drums. The GLA goes with a Middle Eastern/Arabic sound and features many interesting instruments such as the Oud, Ney, Riq, and Buzuq.  The three style share one similarity and that is the use of electric guitar and drums to give a rock sound, these generally are reserved for the assault tracks.  This diverse soundtrack was created by:


Bill Brown, an America Composer, and performer who has worked on a number of games including
Wolfenstein (2009), Lineage II Chaotic Chronicle, Quake III Arena, Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon.

Mikael Sandgren, a Swedish Composer, who has worked on games, movies and TV series. He has worked on Command and Conquer Red Alert 3, Dazed and Confused, Body of Evidence and Memento.

The soundtrack runs for over two hours and features more than fifty tracks, this includes the Zero Hour add-on. My favorite pieces included:

'Helix Amanda'
'Assault USA Main Menu'
'Peacetime USA 3'
'Peactime USA 5'
'Peacetime USA 10'
'Peacetime USA 11'
'Assault GLA 2'
'Assault GLA 3
'Peacetime GLA 6'
'Peacetime GLA 8'
'Assault China 2'
'Peacetime China 4'
'Peacetime China 7'
'Assault China 7'

While the soundtrack is nowhere near as memorable as say Red Alert it does offer a fresh perspective that makes from an entertaining accompaniment when you are planning the downfall of your enemies.

Gameplay

Command and Conquer at its core is rather simple: build up a base, train an army, defeat your enemy.  There are many moving parts and that is what makes it such an enjoyable Real Time Strategy game. I love the peacefulness of building up a base, adding defenses while at the same time building a small army to take down my enemies.  The picture above gives a great snapshot of that, I love the dashboard which has only improved since the early games, everything you need is right in front of you.  The three campaigns/sides are very different and because of this, I have given each of them their own dedicated section.


China

This will sound like a strange statement but I love propaganda, more specifically the propaganda towers, I love the healing abilities it gives to units.  I found it was great to have when enemies attacked the base but also was great when it was made mobile, with some careful planning the loss of units could be greatly reduced.  China has so many great units including the Nuke Canon, Helix Helicopters, and the Overlord Tank.  The Nuke Cannon is powerful as hell but is made more tactical by using Neutron Shells that kill humans but keep vehicles intact so you can steal them.  The Helix Helicopters are like floating fortresses which can be equipped with Gatling Cannons, Propaganda Towers or Bunkers to hold infantry.  The best unit of China's was the Overlord Tank, big, powerful, and is like the daddy to all the other units by keeping them safe, plus one of its catchphrases is 'extra large' said in a really deep voice.  The weakest unit was the Dragon Tank that while it sounds cool is just flamethrower on wheels that are easily destroyed.  Overall I found China to be the superior force and loved their campaigns the best.


USA

One of the best assets are the General Abilities, these can be purchased by gaining experience points, the best ones to me are the Stealth Fighter, Fuel Bomb, A10 Strike and Para-drops.  There are some really interesting units, one of them being the battle drone which can be equipped to most vehicles, they not only offer good defense against infantry but also do the automatic repair which is pretty nifty.  My favorites units were the Comanche helicopter fast and have a powerful rocket attack and the Microwave Tank which could disrupt buildings stopping the needless destruction of units, also great for making popcorn.  There were some great missions but by far the toughest was 'Black Gold', it features a large oil field you have to fight for control while building up your base and stopping enemies attacking you from multiple directions.  Overall team USA had some interesting units and abilities but was nothing compared to China.


GLA

They are low maintenance and don't require power plants to power buildings.  I should feel bad about this next part but I don't, there are 'workers' you use to construct the buildings that have many different catchphrases including: 'please don't hurt me', 'ow, okay I go', 'you change your mind often' and 'does it have to be so far?'.  I never felt guilty about ordering them around because they just complained so much.  There were a few units that stood out including Marauder Tanks that could be upgraded by collecting scavenged parts, Angry Mobs who were funny but also truly destructive and the rocket buggy, great for distance attacks, however, if they get looked at for too long they fall apart. A special shout-out to the bike units, add a gun you get gun bikes, add a rocket and you get rocket bikes, the only downside is that they are really weak to pretty much everything.  One of the most powerful weapons in the GLA's army is the SCUD Storm, two or three launches of this chemical weapon can wipe out an entire base.  My favorite mission was 'On The Waterfront' which involves you jumping from one island to another while making use of the USA's particle cannon. Overall the GLA would have to get second place, some interesting units and it's hard to ignore the power of the SCUD Storm.


Outside of this, all sides have the ability to gain auto repair/healing once individual units gain enough experience which I found to be a great perk.  The only thing really lacking gameplay wise was the lack of a Naval presence which I really missed.  Overall many, many great hours of gameplay to be had.




Final Thoughts

So after forty plus hours (this time around) how did I feel?  Pretty good.  It can be tough trying to stand the test of time and after fifteen years Command and Conquer Generals certainly does it's best.  The original problems it had when it was released years ago still haunt it now.  There is a lack of any story and some of the visual close-ups are a little hard to take.  That being said the game has an interesting and diverse soundtrack, along with some really great gameplay.  This was not an easy one to score, overall I give this one 3 out of 5

CounterSpy - Review

It's April Fool Day! What better time for a new review?   A few years ago when I was signed up to PlayStation Plus I download a game called CounterSpy, a cool espionage style game that looked really stylish.  I started to play it, got distracted by something else and forgot to go back to it until recently when I wanted to play a handheld game.


Hmm, spring rolls.  I like and don't like them at the same time, what I mean is that I like the look and idea of them but each time I eat them I feel underwhelmed.  Either the vegetables taste soggy or the meat just lacks a certain something.  Despite this I find myself gravitating towards them every now and then, perhaps I am on quest to find a really tasty one - I don't even know myself.  Playing CounterSpy I found myself asking was I just trying to like it or had I finally found something a tasty springroll?

Story

The game is set during the Cold War, the worlds two warring superpowers: The Imperialist States and The Socialist Republic are trying to launch a successful nuclear strike, on the Moon.  You are an Agent of Counter, your mission is to stop the nuclear strike on the moon at all costs.


The story feels like a cross between Man From U.N.C.L.E and the Mission Impossible TV series.  It's all very tongue in cheek and never take itself too seriously.  A great example of this are the handbooks that can be collected throughout the game, with funny titles like 'how to fall after being shot with a tranquilizer'.  Overall the story is not very complex but it doesn't really need to be in this case as the focus is on the gameplay.

Visuals

The opening animation sequence reminded me of Pixar's The Incredibles, which was awesome as I really liked that movie.  Sidenote, can't wait for the sequel this summer.  The game has a Film Noir look and feel about it.  The visuals manage to be both simplistic and stylish which is hard to do.  The start of each mission sees you infiltrating a military facility, the background will sometimes show missile silos, helicopters, tanks and especially on the Socialist Republic missions you get to see snow which helps set the mood.


Overall one of the strongest parts of this game is its visuals and proves you can be both simplistic and stylish.


Music

The score suits the game perfectly, it features a jazzy sound combined with the style of music you would have heard from espionage shows from the sixties like Mission Impossible and Man From U.N.C.L.E and of course the James Bond movies.  The composer for the score is:


Jesse Harlin an American composer, programmer, and performer who created Dunderpate Music.  He has worked for Lucas Arts on titles like The Force Unleashed, Republic Commando, Star Wars III: Revenge of The Sith along with working on the music for Mafia III.


I love listening to video game soundtracks and was really looking forward to listening to this one, unfortunately, I could not find anywhere to listen to it or buy it from.  It seems it was released as a limited LP a few years ago and there a few tracks online but that's it.  My favorites pieces that I could listen to were: 'Espionage A Trois' and 'Title Menu'.


Overall a good soundtrack that I would have really liked to listen to in its entirety but it is what it is.

Gameplay


Onto the meat!  The game is a 2D side-scroller for the most part, which on occasion will have you change to a 2.5D perspective which I did find sometimes to be fairly jarring.  The gunplay in earlier missions is straightforward enough with few issues, as the enemies increase later on the targeting can be a little slow and popping in and out of cover isn't always as smooth as it should be, again some of this is due to the perspective.


The gameplay, for the most part, is pretty good, you have the option of going stealthy or loud but the rewards are definitely better if you choose the former.  The best way to achieve stealth in CounterSpy is to perform silent takedowns, take out any cameras and use your silenced pistol (called the diplomatic pistol) on other enemies.  If you decide to go in guns blazing be prepared that the Defcon level will drop from five to one pretty rapidly, you will need to kill enemies quickly and ensure you don't get killed, if you do the Defcon level will drop by one.  Whatever Defcon level you finish a mission on is where it will start next time you begin a  mission, making future missions harder.  The level can be dropped by finding officers and pointing a gun at them until they surrender.


When the game first loads up you are informed that the levels are randomly generated and that each experience is new.  It is a cool concept but after trying all the missions multiples times I found they repeated pretty quick.  In some cases, the room you enter had nothing in them, for relatively short missions this seemed strange especially in the later levels.  The randomly generated levels massively affected the loading times which could be really frustrating at times.


At the start of each mission, you buy more ammo and purchase weapons and formulas.  The weapons and formulas can only be purchased once you have collected all the blueprints.  The items you unlock will carry over to other playthroughs.  My personal weapon of choice was the Diplomatic Pistol, a great name for a silenced pistol.  The formulas were good but had to be purchased every mission which was a bit of a cash drain, my favourite was the armour piercing bullets which was better for some of the later cameras and enemies.


Overall some good gameplay that could have been great with just a few small changes.




Final Thoughts


How did I feel after just over fours?  Not bad.  The story was a little silly which was fine, the visuals were impressive, the music was perfect for the type of game it is.  For me, the biggest issue was the gameplay, loads time and level designs could have been improved if the randomly generated levels element was removed, along with the cover system and targeting improved.  Overall not bad but not great, this one gets 3 out of 5