Uncharted: The Lost Legacy - Review

It's been a while since I played an Uncharted 4 but I remember really enjoying it. I remember Lost Legacy coming out and at the time was unsure if the dynamic between Chloe and Nadine would work. Promptly it went out of my head until recently when a friend from work was looking to sell some games. I thought to myself 'yeah why not' and bought it from him.


One of my go-to snacks is pork scratchings - for those unsure what they are, the best thing to compare them to is hotdogs. As most of us know hotdogs are made up of lips and assholes, if there was a crispy snack version of them with the chance of finding the occasional pigs hair that's pork scratchings. I know they are bad for me, and health-wise the only thing worse would be meth. Things that don't seem very appealing are actually damn tasty and sometimes you have to take a leap of faith. Playing Uncharted: The Lost Legacy I found myself asking had taken a leap of faith paid off?

Story


Nathan Drake and the Uncharted Series is well established and loved. After the end of Uncharted 4, it seemed like Drake and given up on his life as a thief/smuggler/collector/player but fans still wanted more. Naughty Dog decided to take two established characters from the series; mercenary Nadine Ross and thief/smuggler (you get the idea) Chloe Frazer and get them to team up together. They are on a mission to find a retrieve The Tusk of Ganesh. The game has you play as Chloe Frazer, and while it would be easy to dismiss Nadine Ross as just a sidekick that is far from being the case. The two have a great dynamic and by the end of the story, I was eager to go on another journey with them.


I was like many other fans, who were unsure if the duo would work. While they were good characters in their own right they were not Nathan Drake. It turns out they stand strong in their own right and their personal stories, along with the banter and overarching story, were really good. I am hopeful that Naughty Dog was using this game to gauge fan's reaction as to whether to create a new series of games featuring the duo, but only time will tell.

Visuals 


Naughty Dog never ceases to amaze with their visuals and The Lost Legacy is no different. Trekking through India was amazing, it was like visiting another world. The ruins of a near forgot civilization are starting to be reclaimed by nature but that doesn't mean they do not still hold secrets.  It may be strange to comment on but I love the rivers and lakes, and really liked the mud hills which look and feel real.


Overall it would be hard to argue that the visuals aren't picture perfect and hope that Naughty Dog continues this trend with any future projects.

Music


The Uncharted series features some very epic music, especially the last couple of instalments. The Lost Legacy features a blend of Indian style music with a film style score sounds that work really well. The master behind this is British composer Henry Jackson, who has a rich portfolio and composed the music for; Just Cause 3, Uncharted 4, Kick-Ass 1 and 2, X-Men First Class, Wreck-It-Ralph, Captain America: Civil War and 21 Bridges.


The soundtrack comes in just a smidge over one hour and features some great tracks, my favourites being; 'The Insurgency', 'Chloe Frazer', 'Shift Change', 'Ambushed', 'This Tigers Got Claws', 'A Familiar Foe' and 'End Of The Line'. Overall an amazing soundtrack which really adds to an already epic game.

Gameplay


The gameplay is almost exactly the same as the other Uncharted games, but hey, it ain't broke why fix it? The game has you play in the third person, and there are plenty of things to climb, swing off, and explore. Sometimes Chloe would fail to grab a ledge when she should of but it wasn't enough to be an annoyance. Similar to Uncharted 4 you get to spend a good bit of time in a jeep, which is really enjoyable. The game will have you solve a few puzzles, nothing particularly taxing with the exception of one near the end of the game where you need to cast shadows on two paintings.


The gunplay is something that is always a little weak in the Uncharted series, one weapon will often not feel much more powerful or accurate as any other. While there is the option to be stealthy there is a high level of the game encouraging you to shoot the place up. Chloe's evasion roll is pretty good and as she can move quite quickly and hide behind items or in the long grass you can usually avoid getting killed.


Some of the set pieces in the games are really great, especially when it comes to climbing cliffs and old buildings. I found myself distracted sometimes and ended up falling to my death. Other times I was not sure where to go and was winging it moving from objects quickly and even got a bit of an adrenaline rush a few times.


Overall the gameplay is pretty well balanced and very much feels like you are part of an Indiana Jones-style movie, but in a good way. It might be short, but sometimes it better to keep them wanting more.




Final Thoughts


So, after a mere eight hours how did I feel? Pretty good and excited about playing more games featuring Chloe and Nadine. The story was fun and epic, the visuals were amazing, the music was so well done, and the gameplay while it had some faults it never ruined my experience. This one gets a solid 4 out of 5

The Last Of Us Part 2 - Review

It's already July, how did that happen? So what I have achieved this year? Umm...played a lot of games, watched TV and gained some weight, that's good, right?  Last night I finished playing The Last of Us Part 2. Playing it was very interesting and was certainly very different from the first installment, but was that a bad thing?


The other evening I wanted takeout, I ask my better half Starfish Nolls what she wanted, now in my head, I was waiting for her to say what did I want and in my head, I was thinking pizza. She then suggested Spitjack's, it gave me pause, I checked the menu and went for a chicken and ribs combo with vegetables, mash, and an extra bit of garlic mash. It was so tasty it was crazy and am still thinking about it now (damn I'm hungry). I guess what I am saying is I went in one with an idea and when I allowed myself to be more open I was both surprised and happy. Playing The Last of Us Part 2 I found myself asking was I happy and surprised or should I have just ordered a pizza?

Story


The Last of Us Part 2 picks up a few years after the first game. We see both Ellie and Joel a little older and living in Jackson, a secure safe place with everything they could possibly want, life is good. As is often the way it is when life is good and we let our guard is down that we can get sucker-punched. Early on Ellie witnesses a brutal murder and so starts rising in her darkness that can only be quenched by revenge.


The story sees Ellie leaving the safety of Jackson to exact revenge, half the game is spent from her perspective and the second half you play as Abby the person she wishes to punish. Naughty Dog does a great job of making you feel conflicted about the two characters. It is hard to describe either character as being completely good or bad. By the end of the game, I was left struggling who's side to be on. The game has a lot of complexities to it. Revenge is damaging not only to those it is exacting it on but those are exacting it. There are many people I felt compassion and sorrow for and nothing was ever black and white but constant shades of grey.


Reading reviews and how people generally felt there a bit of backlash regarding Ellie being gay (which had already been established in the first game). Never did I feel it was dealt with ham-fistedly or hammered home, it was what it was. When it came to the transgender character I did feel it was slightly shoehorned in. There should have either be no mention of it or perhaps create a bit more discussion about it. That being said this element did not stop me in any way enjoying the story. The only real gripe I had was the endings, it felt a bit like Lord of The Rings Return of the King (not the extended edition) and was never sure if the ending I was seeing was the last one.


Overall Naughty Dog a great job of the story, it was thought-provoking, never black and white, and often toyed with my emotions. Any good sequel should be better in every way to its predecessor and Naughty Dog managed to do this perfectly in relation to the story.

Visuals


The visuals are...wow. The game looks sharp, organic and the world is really interesting to explore. There are lush forests, remnants of the old world in the form of a torn-up city, crude camps, and more sophisticated from along with dark dank areas which you want nothing more than to escape as quickly as possible. With some games it feels like you are just moving from one set piece to another, playing The Last of Us Part 2 never felt that way to me.



Overall the visuals are out of this world if you take that the studio that brought us Crash Bandicoot also brought us Uncharted and The Last of Us it is almost unbelievable. The team they have working on the visuals but in so much time to make the game look perfect. I am salivating at the idea of Naughty Dog making a follow up if for no other reason than the visuals.



Music


There are two distinct music styles used in the game, the first is hard plucked acoustic guitar to convey somber tones and gives the player pause, the other is an array of musical instruments to create a feeling of danger, threat, and sometimes intense action. The music is skillfully used in the game helping to heighten situations and but is never a constant but instead used subtly. The score is created by Argentinian composer Gustavo Santaolalla who has been part of a number of TV Series and Films including; 21 Grams, Brokeback Mountain, and the series Making A Murder, and the band's Iris, Soluna, and Wet Picnic. The additional music is supplied by Mac Quayle who worked on Mr. Robot, American Horror Story, The Best Friend, and Bad Samaritans to know just a few.


The soundtrack runs just shy of two hours and in my opinion, is the best video game soundtrack of the year. While to me they are all great tracks there are a few that stood out for me; 'Eye for an eye',
'They're still out there', 'The WLF', and 'The Island'.


Overall an amazing soundtrack that enhanced an already great experience.

Gameplay


Onto the breast and ribs (wow without the food analogy at the beginning that would sound creepy). The game has you take on the role of both Ellie and Abby in the third-person just like the first installment. The game at its core is a survival game that feels a lot more action-packed than before. The game can be played fairly stealthily but sometimes things get loud and you got to do what you got to do.


With Ellie, her close combat weapon is a flick knife, the strongest I have ever seen and I slit a lot of throats and it never broke once. Abby has the ability to make shivs but these are only really helpful against the infected enemies known as clickers, for the most part, she uses her powerful arms to break necks. They both have similar weapons, hands guns, rifles, and bombs but I did prefer Abby's. With Abby, she has a crossbow which is powerful and you can retrieve the bolts, unlike Ellie's bow where once the arrows are fired they are gone. Ellie has the more subtle rifle whereas Abby has the semi-automatic rifle which one you get the scope equipped it was one of my number one weapons next to the hunting pistol. Standing back looking at the two characters' weapons Ellie favors a bit more subtly verses Abby's which are noisier and more powerful, which speaks to my play style.


Manuals are back, these can be found in the world and unlock skill trees to improve the character, take enough pills and you can unlock everything you need. Ellie's had some great ones for increasing health, and Abby has the ability to craft certain ammo which is really handy later on.


The combat and cover system works.....mostly. Similar to the first game the cover works most of the time but sometimes the character won't stick to cover or points the wrong way. Occasionally you would perform an action behind cover and then stand up and get spotted. NPC's traveling with you can almost walk straight in front of an enemy and can't be seen, which is jarring if when you are being stealthy. The close-quarters combat works and can be a lot of fun but sometimes an action won't be recognized and messes everything up. Gunplay works okay as well but even with certain upgrades shooting can feel slightly inaccurate.


Overall the gameplay is a lot of fun and while some annoyances from part one still linger in part two there are improvements and for the most part, did not stop me enjoying the game.





Final Thoughts


So, after thirty hours how did I feel? Happy, sad, and many other emotions. The story was a brilliant experience and while occasionally it felt a little longer in places than it needed it was still enjoyable. The visuals were incredible and the world felt so organic which made everything I did seem more important. The music was somber, dark, and intense and made for a really good soundtrack. The gameplay was pretty strong but there were certain areas that could use improvement, hopefully, if there is a part three these will get ironed out. Is the game perfect? No, but it is pretty damn close, this one gets a 4 out of 5

The Power of Three

I am not a fan of console wars, a great is a great game & it really should not matter what console it's on.  Over the years I have bought quite of few game consoles & all of them had something great to offer.  That all being said I did & still do have a tendency to favor my XBOX 360 over my Playstation 3, generally because for me I feel there were more games I liked on the XBOX 360 & loved the user interface.


The Playstation 3 has a lot to offer in terms of design; it features an in built Blu-ray drive, there is no traditional drive tray instead it just sucks in the games, the dual shock controller feels really light & comes with a charging cable & it sounds silly but I am going to say it any way I like the sound it makes when you power on the console.


The Playstation 3 boasts many great titles & I wanted to take some time out to recognise & talk about them.  As normal I have picked three titles that really stood out for me.

I want start the review by saying this game is amazing!  I am not a big hype fan & for me I thought the game could not live up to what others had told me about it - it did.  Quantic Dream the developers of the title focus on three key things essential to any truly great video game; story, visuals & gameplay.


The story focuses on four main characters: Ethan - a family man, Scott - a private investigator, Norman - a FBI profiler & Madison  - a journalist.  While their backgrounds are very different they all have one thing in common, The Origami Killer.  While all four characters have a key role to play Ethan's is probably the largest due to very early on one of his children being kidnapped.  With such a rich story I can't afford to say more without spoiling it for you, for those of you who have already played it you know what I mean.


The name Heavy Rain is not just a good title but also a big feature of the game, the rain effects look great & help add to the bleakness of the story. One of the first places you get to see is Ethan's house. It may sound strange but it feels like you're actually in someones house.  Often with games there is the world & the story, while they are two separate components they are always intertwined. For me the better the game the harder it is to distinguish one from the other. Whether you are inside or outside the world you are in always feels organic & really adds depth to the game, this is something Quantic Dream do very well.


The music used is perfect & adds another layer to an already rich game.  Often it lingers in the background subtle & unintrusive while other times it is intense & abrasive. I regularly found myself moved from a state of calm to an almost white knuckle panic, by doing this the game teaches you never to be complacent & ever ready for what might come next.


The gameplay is interesting as no matter what your play style is normally Heavy Rain forces you to adopt a new one.  Every place you are in holds importance & every action helps drives the story even if it is only in a minor way. An example of this is when you are in Ethan's House & your wife asks you to get plates out for dinner.  You have to go the cupboard, open the door, grab the plates & put them out.  If you don't do this quick enough you get told off for it.  This happened to me as I took too long to help out as I was putting some music & got a little too distracted. This is something that regularly happens in the game & with so many choices you won't get the chance to see & hear every outcome on your first play-through. Sometimes you are required to make a decision & you get little time to think about, this is not only punctuated by the music but also by the floating options that circle the character in question. This can cause you to make decisions that given more time you may not have chosen.  This adds a pressure & realism to the gameplay that really keeps you focused.


It is very difficult to find a flaw with this game & if I was forced to mention one I would say
that simple actions like opening or closing cupboards for example can feel overly complicated in regards to the analogue controls.  With the exception of the minor issue the game is fantastic & I am really looking forward to playing the remastered edition on Playstation 4.  If you have a Playstation 3 or 4 I would highly recommend purchasing a copy of this game, you wont regret it.

You might be thinking why did he pick another game from Quantic Dream? Well multiple reasons but there are few key titles I missed out on & still need to play, namely; Uncharted & Killzone. Had I played through these my selection could have been different. This game was highly underrated & while it is not as good as Heavy Rain it is like trying to compare Chinese Food & Pizza - both tasty & satisfying but in very different ways.


You take control of Jodie (played by Ellen Page) a young girl with a special friend named Aiden, he is an entity connected to her since birth.  She possesses supernatural & psychic abilities that allow her to manipulate objects, communicate with Aiden & do much more. Her father figure in the game is
Dr Dawkins (played by Willem Dafoe) a researcher at the Department of Paranormal Activity.  Even more so that Heavy Rain the game focuses on story so to save on spoilers I won't say anymore.


Visually the game is very different to Heavy Rain (see Chinese Food & Pizza). The earlier parts of the game features a research facility which looks futuristic & cool! Other areas include Africa, a military base & one of my favorite sections of the game which sees Jodie homeless. I know what you are thinking, how can someone being homeless good?  It's not that it is good but the story, visuals & characters are so well done that part really stuck with me.


The music used in the game is deep & often feels very somber.  The sound reminds me of something you would hear in a film rather than a game but this I feel was purposefully done as the game is more story driven than a lot of others.  What this means is that you take more time to listen & watch than focus on movement.


For some critics I know they felt the gameplay was an issue as it often feels like you are part of an interactive story rather than a game.  While that is a slight over simplification I liked the direction & is the same reason I really enjoyed Tell Tale's The Walking Dead (Can't wait for Season 3!). Playing as Jodie was great but I really liked playing as Aiden as it was a lot of fun manipulating objects in the game, throwing stuff around & sometimes doing it for no other reason than to scare people (muwhahahha!).  Games evolve & change just like the music that is in them & while the play style is different I don't think it is bad thing & is a welcome change.  I also really respect that Quantic Dream were willing to try & do something different especially with a triple A title. For a lot of companies out there it is less about taking risks & more about just rinsing & repeating what came before sticking a new number on the box.


While the game may have it's flaws including dialogue that sometimes feels a little clunky & some control issues, I enjoyed the experience & I know I will play the game in the future.  If you never played it because of the bad things you heard about it I would say to you march down to your local game shop & pick up a copy & try it for yourself.

I am not sure I can say anything about this game that has not already been said, being honest there is probably not a single Playstation 3 owner that has not played this title. Naughty Dog has come a long way from Crash Bandicoot & if you have told me back then they would or could create a game of this caliber I would have called you a liar - I am sorry to the fictional person I never said that too.


Outbreaks make for a great back drop for a story, I think the big reason for this is that if we were going to be brought to the brink of destruction in today's world it would be most likely from a virus or a crazy fungus.  You play as Joel a loving father just trying to escape for a crazy fungus out break with your daughter.  As bad as things are they get worse for Joel who loses his daughter.  Years on you see him working as a smuggler & through a turn of events you find your self helping to smuggle a girl called Ellie to a rebel group called the Fireflies.  Sounds simple enough until you find out Ellie is infected by the virus & might be key to curing it.  That's your lot, that is all I am telling you.


Visually the game looks amazing, when I say this I mean post apocalyptic & grim.  There are old failed check points that litter the world showing the devastation the virus caused. In some areas it feels like nature is starting to reclaim the world & presents you with some visual delights.  There is an area later in the game covered with snow that just looks beautiful & stunning.  When it comes to visuals this game does not disappoint.


In terms of music in the game it is used sparingly, while this may sound like a bad thing it is not.  If you ask most people what sound they remember hearing from the game they will mention the guitar solos, somber, poignant & more than that very fitting.  It help captures the world Joel, Ellie & the others live in; scattered, broken & isolated.


The gameplay is really fun to play, lack of ammo & a constant worrying that using a gun may attract others to you make you rely on other tactics.  The key one is take downs & using a shiv to stab those annoying fungus guys in the head or just regular crazy people.  Often it was not essential to kill everyone & everything in sight, survival is key so avoiding conflict can be advantageous. I doubt I am the only one that feels this way but there is section where you play as Ellie & to me it is almost the best section of the game.  I can't say too much on the off chance you have not played it or don't want to remember, what I will say is; snow, lots of crazy guys, creepy old guy, diner.


There is a multiplayer aspect to the game but it did not really do anything for me.  This is not that surprising as for me games are more about the single player experience, that is not say I don't occasionally enjoy playing with others but for me I play games for me.


 I had a few minor issues like sometimes when you were with people & they ran in front of patrols & were not seen but if you looked in the wrong direction you would get seen. The take down ability you get for the fungus head guys never really worked very well.  There are a few characters I was not too keen on but being honest I think most of that was done on purpose.  This being said the game was really great & well deserving of the praise it received. I can't wait to get the Playstation 4 to play the remastered edition.

The end has come again of another console/game review. There are so many great games on this console, some of which I still have to play, below is a short list of those games:

Uncharted 1-3
Killzone 1-3
Journey
Time Crisis 4
Little Big Planet (may not be great but a lot of fun)


Next up, the Nintendo 3DS!

There Can Only Be PS1 (& 2 & 3 & 4)

The original Playstation never really left much of a mark on me.  This is most likely because I never owned one myself although I did occasionally play with my brothers.  I was also a little distracted by the Saturn at the time.

The first game I played was Crash Bandicoot. It was a fun colourful platformer featuring a genetically enhanced animal who had escaped from a mad scientist & now just wanted to be left alone to chill out. Unfortunately Dr Neo Cortex is not contented to leave Crash alone & demands nothing less than his demise.  Crash decides to fight back stop the evil doctor & his plans for world domination.  While it was fun enough for me it was just a little close to another genetically enhanced animal trying to fight the evil scientist who created him from taking over the world.

The one thing that does shock me is that this is the same studio that later gave us Drakes Uncharted & The Last of Us - Naughty Dog has come a long way.

For me one the best games I played was Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes. The premise is classic Duke Nukem. In an alternate future all men have been killed by the evil Pigcops & they have taken all women as slaves.  There is a small resistance know as the Unified Babe Resistance & of course Duke offers to help them.It is a third person shooter which looked pretty good for the time & had some fun gameplay.

 If you have never played a Duke Nukem game & are easily offended don't play this - I myself love Duke & the Babes!

The only other stand out game was James Bond Tomorrow Never Dies.  Not the best bond game or even the best bond movie but it was good fun to play & okay to watch.  It's a third person shooter with you playing as James Bond. The object of the game was the same as the movie or any Bond movie - stop the evil villain from taking over the world.  You got to kill lots of bad guys before rescuing & going off with the girl. For a one night stand because you cant tie James Bond down unless your a bad guy with an evil plan & a laser.

That's all for now, see you next console!