Mass Effect 3 - The Mega Review

Back in February 2012, I was getting excited about the release of Mass Effect 3.  While the original Mass Effect was underwhelming with a slight glimmer of promise Mass Effect 2 was amazing, the characters, story, and gameplay were all pretty solid.  When I played Mass Effect 3 I could see great improvements in the visuals and overall gameplay, that being said there was something a little lacking, in particular, some of the story especially the ending(s).  In fact, I felt strongly enough about that it is only recently that I decided to replay it, this time with all the downloadable content.


Many years ago I found that I really did not like prawns, I wanted to, but they always left me feeling underwhelmed, as time went by things changed and I tried them again and found I felt differently about them.  The dish I like most is hot chili garlic prawns, with a helping of egg fried rice, or noodles.  I am not sure if my palette became more refined, or I was simply more open to the experience.  Playing Mass Effect 3 again I found myself asking, was this my hot chili garlic prawns that I love now, or the underwhelming taste I remember from years ago?

Story

Once again you take on the role of Commander Shepard, and again try to save the galaxy, this time though the stakes are higher than before.  The Reapers have stopped being subtle, and are now out in force to destroy all life in the Galaxy, like a hardcore version of Thanos in Avengers Infinity War.

Shepard was with the Alliance in the first installment in the series, Cerberus in the second one, and now he is back with the Alliance.  In the early part of the game you get the impression, there is slight distrust towards him, and that he is perhaps mistaken about the impending Reaper invasion.  Fast forward a little and it's clear that Shepard is as honest, and trustworthy as always, and he was right about the Reapers, again.  Time to feel smug, wait there is a war on, no time to be smug, save it for later.  

The aim is to try and get as many races working together, gather a massive fleet and try to take a stand against the Reapers.  There are interesting stories along the way, in particular, I really enjoyed the Geth storyline which helped give a very fresh perspective on them.  The downloadable content (DLC) certainly added a lot to the overall story and for the most part was pretty enjoyable.  The Citadel DLC focuses on an assassin trying to kill Shepard, but the main focus is about the crew of the Normandy hanging out, it was a lot of cheesy fun.  The Leviathan DLC added so much to not only Mass Effect 3 but also the series as a whole, I genuinely can't say more than that without spoiling anything.  The From The Ashes DLC saw an introduction of a new playable character, a Promethean, you get an insight into what happened last time the Reapers showed up 50,000 years ago. The Omega DLC was by far the dullest, Aria is not the most interesting character to start with, and it just didn't add anything to the game.

Overall I felt the story to be more solid than my original playthrough, this was for two key reasons, the downloadable contents and the extended ending.  While the experience was better second time around I feel it would have been a more memorable game had they released the game with some of the downloadable content the first time around rather than trying to pry more money out of loyal fans.

Visuals 

The series has come a long way since the original Mass Effect, the visuals are still looking good especially for a last generation console game.  The HUD now looks and feels a lot crisper which helps for smoother gameplay.  One of the most visually stunning parts of the game apart from the various planets are the Reapers themselves, giant robotic squid type beings, which I know doesn't sound impressive, but trust me they're impressive.  The planet Benning had a very Judge Dredd feeling to them, orange skies, trash and beaten up buildings and containers everywhere.  The planet Kallini was cool, snow-capped mountains, a monastery that was futuristic, but also looked old.

Overall the game is visually impressive and really helps in bringing the whole galaxy to life.

Music 

The music has a very different feel from Mass Effect 2, which I suppose makes sense as the Mass Effect 3 is about all-out war.  The sound runs between being Tron-esque and a Hollywood war movie, and in honesty, it works pretty well.  Initially, I was disappointed that Jack Wall did come back to do the music, but the other composers returned along with a new one which worked just as well if not better.  Sam Hulick, Christopher Lennertz, Cris Velasco and Sasha Dikiciyan return, along with newcomer Clint Mansell create the sound for Mass Effect 3.  This group has collectively helped create some amazing and fun soundtracks including; Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, Ghost in the Shell, Black Swan, The Fountain, Sausage Party, Agent Carter, Bloodborne, Prototype, Borderlands, Deus Ex Mankind Divided and Borderlands 2.

The soundtrack features over an hour of music, with some great tracks, including, 'Fate of The Galaxy', 'Mars', 'A Future For The Krogan', 'The Cerberus Plot', and 'Arlakh Company'

Overall a pretty solid soundtrack, that really helps create the feeling of war and all-out annihilation.

Gameplay

The gameplay is a lot stronger than it was in Mass Effect 2, no more getting stuck on walls or Shepard not crouching and then getting destroyed by the enemy, you can now roll too, which can be handy.  The biotic abilities feel a little more refined, and the weapons as a whole seem more precise and powerful.  There is now the option to add mods to weapons, which isn't a bad thing but I never felt like it made a huge difference.  The most powerful weapon was the MII Suppressor, a full clip could drop many an enemy, in some ways it felt as good as when I used to dual wield enforcers in Unreal Tournament.  The character classes fall into, Soldier, Infiltrator, Vanguard, Sentinel, Adept, Engineer, each offer their own benefits, but like with Mass Effect 2 you can add/swap some abilities if you needed.

The mini-game of mining planets from Mass Effect 2 is gone, now you can scan planets quickly for War Assets, although if you are not careful the Reapers will find you, and then it's game over.  Hacking is also gone and replaced with by-pass which see Shepard hold his hand up for a few moments to unlock certain doors.

One thing that really bugged me, as it had in previous games was the mission completion list.  In some cases you would be asked to carry out a mission, you might then go and get distracted with other ones but there is nothing to let you know you had completed that part of it.  Then it would be mean you had to go to the area you may have got the required item from and see if it was still there or not.

The addition of Jarik, the new playable Promethean character, was good but not great as his abilities were not really any better than the other characters and in some ways felt weaker.  The DLC added a lot to the gameplay (apart from Omega) which was great but once again made me feel it should have been available in the original release of Mass Effect 3.

Overall some great gameplay that has a lot of improvements of Mass Effect 2, in particular, the cover system and weapons.

Final Thoughts

After thirty plus hours, how did I feel?  Pretty good actually, it was certainly a better experience than the first time around.  The gameplay, visuals, and music were all pretty strong, the real game changer was the addition of the story.  I have mentioned it already, but it does make me angry that the game was not released with downloadable content and extended ending, it would have made the overall experience a lot more solid, and perhaps it would not have received so many negative reactions from fans.  If I take my experience as a whole this time, with all the bells and whistles attached I would have to give it 4 out of 5

Firewatch - Review

It's that time of year again, the Steam Summer Sale!  I have already purchased a few games and have started to work through them.  The first game on my list is Firewatch, when it was released just over two years ago I paid little attention to it mostly due to having a slew of other games to play at the time - but in honesty, there is always a lot to play.


Mmm, ham and cheese sandwiches.  They are simple yet satisfying, good quality ham and cheese caught between two great pieces of bread.  If you need something to jazz up you can throw in some mayonnaise, mustard, spread or a little sauce.  The only issue that can arise from this humble snack is the ingredients used in its creation, go too cheap on the ham or cheese and it can taste awful, choose poor quality bread and it can be dry - long story short, poor ingredients can lead to a bad taste being left in your mouth.  Playing Firewatch I found myself was this a humble snack with great ingredients or one that would leave me reaching for mouthwash afterwards?

Story


The game has you play as Henry, who due to certain events in his life has sought out a job in the wilderness.  The job entails you being on the lookout for fires and any other potential shenanigans.  It is a lonely job and the only contact you have is from a voice coming from your walkie-talkie.  In the early parts of the game, everything is almost peaceful, as it progresses mystery and intrigue build and you wonder if there something more going on?  Similar to TellTale Games the Walking Dead the story and gameplay are so closely linked that it is difficult to say more without spoiling it.


Overall a great and engaging story that's only real flaw is the last half hour where everything tapers off and left me feeling a little disappointed.

Visuals


The visuals could best be described as beautifully simplistic.   There is detail and there is none.  When you're in the watchtower you can see the all the little details, books, cooking equipment, pictures and all the standard bits and pieces you might expect to see.  However, when you are outside, the woods, plants and flowers have a low level of detail but still managed to look really good.  There are moments while playing that I came across sunlight splitting the trees, water flowing into a sparkling lake, burned trees with fresh flowers growing out of them and beautiful fire red skies.


Overall a visually impactful game that made me really rethink what makes a game beautiful.



Music


The soundtrack features haunting guitars both acoustic and electric, along with something that sounded like a cross between a piano and an organ which turns out to be a Fender Rhodes.  The composer is Chris Remo a Video Game Designer, Composer and Writer, some of his previous work includes the soundtracks for Gone Home and Captain Bubblenaut.


The score runs a little over thirty minutes, it is subtle and only reveals itself at certain points in the game.  My favourite pieces include; 'prologue', 'stay in your tower and watch', and 'new equipment'.


Overall a haunting and deep soundtrack that well suited for the game.

Gameplay

The game has you play from a first-person perspective.  The biggest part of the game is exploration, you will have a map and compass to start with but as you progress through the story you will acquire more equipment.  Navigating the world I found it a little restrictive at times being unable to pass small obstacles and being halted by the 'invisible wall'.   One of the best parts for me were the conversations you had on the walkie-talkie,  for the most part, they seem simple, almost mundane but feel very real.  In a world that felt very lonely, the dialogue had a real impact.


The game is relatively short, there are two additional games modes that are offered, one of them allows users to explore the world with all equipment available straight away without being bogged down by the story, there is also an audio commentary mode.


Overall some interesting and meaningful gameplay, it would have been nice not to be as restricted but considering the story length perhaps it was good the way it was?




Final Thoughts

So, after little over five hours how did I feel?  Overall I was pretty happy, there were some great visuals, good music, and some interesting story.  The ending for me fell a little short and occasionally the gameplay felt a little awkward but as a whole, I felt pretty satisfied.  In honesty, up until the end of the game, I was looking at giving it top marks but in the end, I settled on 4 out of 5

God Of War - Review

I've played a little of God of War 1 and 2 but none of the others in the series, it was normally friends who owned a copy, at the time I was more focused on the Prince of Persia series.  In honesty, the two series are not a million miles apart, with Prince of Persia I just really liked the crazy parkour and deadly traps.  All that being said I was really excited to play the new God of War, it seemed really different to the other games, visually stunning, heavily focused on story and the combat looked intense yet smooth.  I was lucky enough recently that my buddy D to the G loaned me his copy so I could give it a go.


I like Indian food, I wouldn't want it every week or anything but I do like the intensity of it.  One of my preferred dishes is a Chicken Vindaloo, the meat is generally marinated the day before in ginger, garlic and spices, the next even more spices are added and ends up creating a more dry finish compared to a lot of other curries.  The issue is that depending on where you buy it they can taste remarkably different, some you can taste heat but none of the other ingredients, others are so mild they are almost like a Korma.  In a nutshell, it can be a gamble, no matter how good it may look the proof is always in the pudding, or curry as the case may be.  Playing God of War I found myself asking was this the intense tasty burn I was looking for or was it all flash and no substance?

Story

Part of the genius of the story is its simplicity, a husband and son go on a pilgrimage to spread the ashes of their recently departed wife and mother.  The story is a lot more than that, it's sombre and it is clear early on that Kratos A.K.A Husband, Father and God of War has not been around much for his son Atreus A.K.A. BOY!  I genuinely cared about the two characters and wanted their relationship to improve while on their pilgrimage.  I liked that this relationship was almost mirrored by two feuding blacksmith brothers Brok and Sindri, who you will get to know quite well throughout the game.

There were some interesting characters I met along the way, some of them were larger than life.  While I had no real issues with the main story I wasn't really a fan of the sidequests, some seemed a little too long and the pay off given was too small, others just seemed like a distraction.  Atreus will encourage you to go exploring but for the most part, I just didn't have the desire.  Overall a great story with interesting characters, unfortunately, the side quests were underwhelming. 

Visuals

God of War is a visual spectacle, it is genuinely difficult for me to pick out the best parts as there were simply too many.  The landscape is awe-inspiring, beautiful mountains, woods, and so much snow.  If I had to pick my two favourite visual delights it would have to be the Tree Turtle, which is exactly what it sounds like and the World Serpent (see above).

Overall a visually stunning game, an organic world with a variety of landscapes and many fantastic creatures.

Music

The soundtrack has deep and sombre tones, this is achieved using a classical style of music and choirs.  The soundtrack itself was composed by American composer Bear McCreary, some of his previous work includes; The Walking Dead, Battlestar Galactica and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV Series along with doing the music for Assassins Creed Syndicate: Jack The Ripper.

The soundtrack runs at just over an hour and features some great tracks including; 'God of War',

'Ashes', 'Deliverance', 'A Giant's Prayer' and 'The Ninth Realm'.  Overall it was good soundtrack but I felt like during combat sequences it was missing something, perhaps some battle music?

Gameplay

The game has you control Kratos in a third person perspective, for the most part, you will be walking, running and battling enemies but on occasion, you will have to solve a puzzle.  There are two key weapons that Kratos has in his arsenal, which is an axe with the same returning property as Thor's Hammer, and a Shield Bracer.  Both items can be upgraded by collecting money, materials and experience points.  BOY! I mean Atreus provides secondary support in the form of shooting arrows, you can get him to select targets and even specify points on their bodies to attack.  The only annoying thing is that he can have a tendency to do nothing at all if you don't direct him, during busy fights it is easy to forget him.  There are lots of types of armour to collect and craft, some of them are simple to attain, others will require you to do significant scavenging.  Armour can be upgraded and even have runes put in them should space allow.  Outside of this, you have many abilities to unlock, this can easily be done by playing through the main storyline and side quests.  Even though I barely scratched the surface with side quests I managed to unlock more than 95% of all abilities.

The combat is fantastic, fast and smooth, along with all the standard fights there is a slew of bosses and sub-bosses.  I found the end fight to be particularly entertaining.

The side quests are numerous but often don't involve anything more than running to an area killing enemies and collecting an item.  In some side quests there will be multiple parts to them and for the few I played, I honestly felt they were not worth the effort.  It won't be uncommon for you to spend time in a boat paddling from one place to another.  What I enjoyed about that is Kratos and Atreus will tell stories, jokes and generally bond.  

Later in the game, you will find doors you need to open, to do this you will use a chisel and use the thumbstick to scan for the sweet spots and then press the required button.  In honesty, it seemed unnecessary and was not entertaining in the slightest.

Overall God of War offered fantastic gameplay with very little to complain about, perhaps in the future, I might even attempt it on a hard difficulty.

Final Thoughts

So after just over thirty hours how did I feel?  Pretty damn good, it was entertaining, the story kept me intrigued up to and during the end credits.  The game fell short when it came to side quests but in earnest, this is not that unusual these days.  It was visually stunning with some great music and some very entertaining gameplay.  This was fairly easy to score, this one gets a 4 out of 5

Iconoclasts - Review

I was recently looking at a list of all the games released this year, among them was a game called Iconoclasts, available on PS Vita and Steam.  I recently played Detroit Become Human and wanted to go for something lighter before engaging in the next big game.  I watched the trailer for Iconcoclasts and thought it looked fun so away I went to download it.

Mint is great and has many uses, my favorite being when it's used in plain old mint sweets.  They are a great palate cleanser, whether you have just consumed garlic and don't want to kill someone when talking to them, or if you have just got sick and want to forget you did.  Playing Iconoclasts I found myself asking was this the refreshing cleanse I needed to get my mouth feeling right?

Story

The game is set in a world that is controlled by one belief system.  Doing anything outside of this system will get you hurt, maimed, re-educated or killed.  This fanatical group called Concern,  after years of harassing people on the streets for money to send to the third world which then actually goes towards paying their wages they got bored, added a 'The' to their name and took over the world.  I'm joking, of course, that would never happen...they have spies everywhere so I can't say anything further.  The Moon is cracking apart and people are losing it, they feel that their god referred to as 'Him' (spoiler alert it's not music group) is a little upset at the non-believers and is coming to reap vengeance on everyone.

The game has you play as Robin, a mechanic, that in itself makes her a rebel.  In the early part of the game you are interrogated by Agents Black and White, one complains of their head hurting, the other throws out statements like 'someone's been twisting nuts - harlot!'.  That doesn't stop Robin wanting to investigate recent events and generally ends up throwing a spanner in the works.  She does have 'help', I use the term lightly as your sidekicks disappear frequently and don't ever seem to provide any real support.  The biggest pain is Royal, A.K.A. Dead Weight, A.K.A. Pain in the Ass, he is supposed to be powerful but gets knocked out a lot.

Overall I found the story to be pretty underwhelming, there is a lot of dialogue in the game but it feels drawn out, unnecessary and in more than a few places dull.  The companions you have are pretty annoying, occasionally you will be able to take control of them but they are so underpowered by comparison of Robin it just feels like a slog using them.

Visuals

The visuals are done in a cutesy 8-Bit style, trees and bushes have either a cube or pyramid design which is quite fun.  Playing through the game some it reminded me of Zelda and Metroid, which wasn't a bad thing.  I liked the look of the Isiligar, a town under the sea, almost like a fish tank but for people...a people tank?  Some of the enemies were really great, two of my favorites being; The Silver Watchmen, a Samurai with a purple laser katana and Mother who has the ability to make a giant tiger out of concrete and cars.

Overall the visuals were really good and were definitely one of the stronger elements of the game.

Music

I found the music interesting as it had the ability to switch from cute and peaceful to dark and sinister in a heartbeat.  What was impressive to me was that it was done so seamlessly and gave the game an interesting feel.  The music was written, produced and composed by Joakim 'Konjak' Sandberg,  who is also the creator and developer of the game, a Swedish man with many talents.

The soundtrack runs at over two hours which I found to be pretty amazing for a smaller game, especially when everything was done by one person.  My favorite tracks included:

'Nuts and Bolts Title'

'Robin (Blockrock)'

'Controlled Cacophony (Battle 1)'

'Whiteout (VS Agent White)'

'Indoctrination (The Tower)'

'The Greater Good (One Concern)'

'Jet Black (VS Black)'

'Mother (VS Oedipus)'

'Castle Doctrine (Final Battle)'

Overall a strong soundtrack that manages to blend light and darkness together without missing a beat.

Gameplay

The game can be best described as a 2D side-scrolling puzzler and playing through it I could definitely tell it took its cue from games like Zelda and Metroid, unfortunately, it doesn't do it nearly as well.  The puzzles, for the most part, don't feel like puzzles but more annoying obstacles.  The controls are not always as responsive as they should be and sometimes basic movements like climbing a ladder or picking up a box feel like a hardship.

Robin can upgrade and collect new weapons throughout the game, the wrench has some great abilities, and the gun has a cool swapping mode later in the game.  Outside of this, you can collect schematics which are used for creating tweaks, in honesty I found them to be disappointing and did not enhance my experience.  If you never used them you would not miss them.

During my time playing I found there to be a few points where it felt like I was on a desert island and somehow managed to stand on a plug and I thought to myself 'why the hell is that there?'.  There is an area where you have to be stealthy or you fail, not only did it feel out of place but it was supposed to be training for something that you never need.  The other point was where you play as Mina, she has a slow firing gun, moves slowly and can't crawl, so playing as her was infuriating and felt like a handicap. 

Complaints aside I did enjoy many of the boss fights and felt this is one of the stronger parts of the gameplay.  The final boss was interesting and offered a challenge without being frustrating.  Overall the gameplay wasn't great and I found myself way too often wanting the game to be over. 

Final Thoughts

So, after eighteen hours of gameplay how did I feel?  Underwhelmed and happy for my journey to be over with Robin and Co.  The story was a little all over the place, the other characters, for the most part, did not enhance the experience but instead diminished it.  The visuals and music were really good and were by far the strongest part of the game.  The gameplay itself was lacking and I feel a little more polishing could have made it a far better experience.  It is important to note that this game was built from the ground up by one person and I greatly respect that as I do Fez creator Phil Fish.  While I had to really debate this one the game narrowly scraped a 3 out of 5

Detroit: Become Human - Review

I won't lie, I have been excited to play Detroit Become Human ever since I saw the short film Kara back in 2015.  Of course, at the time I had no idea the short film would develop into a full game but I always hoped.  Quantic Dream is the French Studio behind the game, at its helm is David Cage who is best known as a writer and director.  The studio has produced a number of noteworthy games including Fahrenheit, Heavy Rain, and Beyond Two Souls.


Bread rolls. That's right, that is what I'm going to use as my food analogy.  I am sure you might be thinking 'bread rolls, that's a little bland'.  Well without some context I can certainly understand why you might think that.  My mum used to make bread rolls at home and they were fantastic, especially if they had just come out the oven; a liberal application of butter and you have a little piece of warm buttery perfection.  Then, of course, there are the bread rolls you can buy in shops and heat up in the oven - they look pretty good but when it comes to taste they miss the mark every time.  Playing Detroit: Become Human I found myself asking was this like the bread rolls my mum used to make or the shop bought ones that offer a mediocre taste at best?

Story

The game is set in the not too distant future of Motor City Detroit.  The world, or rather Elijah Kamski, has created androids, and they are used as servants to either complete chores or satisfy certain desires.  Over the past nine months some androids have been running, hurting or even killing their owners and this is where our story begins.

The story focuses on three androids, Kara, Connor, and Markus.  Kara has recently been repaired after an 'accident' and is used to keep house for a delightful man called Todd along with taking care of his daughter Alice.  Connor is an advanced prototype who has been sent by Cyberlife (the company who created androids) to investigate why deviants have started appearing and stop them. He is partnered with Hank, a washed out detective who is not a big fan of androids.  Markus helps take care of kind, aging artist Carl Manfred (played by Lance Henriksen). Unfortunately, others are not quite the same as Carl and we get to see Markus experience the distrust, anger, and hate felt towards androids.

The game is filled with genuinely heartbreaking moments, tough decisions and life and death situations.  I really enjoyed getting to move between three characters and help watch their stories unfold.  Overall a fantastic and thought-provoking story.

Visuals

No matter what your thoughts are on Quantic Dream no one can argue about the quality of their visuals, and Detroit: Become Human is no exception.  There is so much attention to detail, whether it be in their character designs, background visuals or even some of the most simple items that populate the world.  The city itself has a futuristic yet dilapidated feel showing both the positive and negative effects of this new android filled world.  One of my favorite visual spectacles was watching the sunrise over a shipyard in the early part of the game.  The characters are so detailed from their clothes to the colour and movement of their eyes.

In earnest it is hard to really capture and describe how good this game looks without playing it for yourself.   Overall it is the most visually stunning game I have had the pleasure of playing so far this year. 

Music

Quantic Dream was rather ambitious when it came to creating the score for Detroit: Become Human.  They brought together three composers with very different backgrounds to try and create a great soundtrack - it paid off. 

Each of three composers helped create a different sound for each of the characters.  Philip Shepard who has worked with the likes of David Bowie, Unkle, and Jarvis Cocker made Kara's Theme.  Nima Fakhrara who composed the score for Resident Evil Revelations 2 and The Signal made Connor's Theme.  John Paesano who composed the music for Ben 10, Mass Effect Andromeda, Netflix's TV Series Daredevil and the Maze Runner films made Markus's theme.  Each character's theme is very different to the other and all help in creating a very distinct sound.  

Outside of Shepard, Fakhrara, and Paesano, additional music is provided by The Britemores, Rocket 455, White Shag and Model 500

The score runs shy of two hours and features some great pieces including, 'Kara Main Theme', 'Conor Main Theme', 'Something You've Never Seen Before', and 'Dark Night'.

Overall a great soundtrack that works well in conjuction with the story.

Gameplay

Heavy Rain presented a lot of questions that need to be answered quickly and when this wasn't happening there were quick time events.  In Beyond Two Souls there was a greater focus on exploration and interaction with the world around you. This time the best elements of both Heavy Rain and Beyond Two Souls have been brought together.

Other than quick thinking and fast reflexes there is another element to the gameplay which is your investigation tool.  Holding R2 brings up items of interest - it is worth checking all of them as even small things such as the magazines help give you an insight into the current state of the world.

There is a flowchart you can use that is visible in the pause menu, showing the decisions you have made and the branches where different, unspecified choices and outcomes can occur.  While this wasn't for everyone it was an element I enjoyed mostly because it made curious about what things I could have done differently.  Each chapter you complete gives you points which can be used to unlock some really good extras including, artwork, music, documentaries, and shorts.

The main menu itself was really interesting - there is an android who periodically will ask you questions, comment on actions you have taken or seek your advice.  I found this very unique and was quite engaging.

Overall fantastic gameplay and I look forward to exploring the many other decisions I didn't make in this playthrough.

I hope you will excuse me for going off on a tangent but I wanted to address some of the negative feedback I have heard and read about the game.  The most prevalent are the people and groups who commented on the use of domestic abuse towards female characters in the game.  There was some who suggested that abusers would get off on this and a quote by Andy Burrows who is part of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children stated, 'any video game the trivialises or normalises child abuse, neglect or domestic violence for entertainment is unacceptable'.  

As with many things without context, it is easy to see why people could be outraged or angered.  However, if view something in its entirety, for example, Detroit: Become Human you can understand some of the intent of the writer.  It would be both arrogant and insulting to David Cage for me think I know how his mind works, that being said the story he has created and the things he is trying to represent seem clear.  In my opinion, he put focus on child abuse and domestic violence, for two reasons, firstly to draw attention to something that many of us don't like to think about, the reality is many homes have experienced this and in some cases continue to do so.  Secondly, to draw on our emotions and help create a bond not only with those on screen but feel an anger towards those that have suffered in real life.  

If we zoom out further and look at the game it a terrifying insight into a possible future and study into humanity.  The reality is that if artificial general intelligence existed and androids created there would be anger, fear, and hatred towards them because in every conceivable way they would be better/more than us.  There would be those who would see them as lesser and abuse them because of it.  If history has taught us anything it's that 'those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it'.  Detroit: Become Human is a possible future history at best, but it does take a look at who we are as people and how some would behave in this new world.

I will finish off with a response from David Cage regarding the use of domestic abuse: 'Would I be doing my job as a creator if I was making the game you want me to make?  I don't think so - I'm creating something that I find moving and meaningful.  And I think people should see the scene, play the game and see it in context to really understand it.  The rule I give myself is to never glorify violence, to never do anything gratuitous.  It has to have a purpose, have a meaning, and create something that is hopefully meaningful for people'.

Final Thoughts 

After playing for over twenty-five hours how did I feel?  Fantastic, all the individual elements joined together to help create a perfect experience and one I looking forward to trying all over again in the future.  I feel so strongly about this game and my time playing it that I will give 5 out of 5

Mass Effect 2 - The Mega Review

I'm not made of money, so trading in and borrowing games is the only way I can pay for my habit.  That being said there are games I keep, this only happens in an instance where I have really enjoyed a game AND can envision playing it sometime in the future.  It's like some movies, they can be really great to watch but once you have seen them once you don't always feel the need to watch them in the future.  I remember buying Mass Effect 2 back in 2010, I enjoyed it but afterward felt undecided so traded it in.  About year later I wanted to play it again, so I bought a copy from Amazon and never looked back.   You may or may not be asking 'why have you called this Mass Effect 2 - The Mega Review?', well, that's because I have included all the downloadable content as part of the review.


Growing up one of the meals I enjoyed was fish fingers, usually served with mixed vegetables and potatoes.  They are basically low-cost fish, usually, cod, covered in breadcrumbs.  Even thinking about them makes my stomach gurgle, or it could because I can smell lasagna and fresh cupcakes - thanks Nolls.  I tried them again a few years ago and while I still liked them there was something missing, they just didn't taste quite as good, maybe my childhood just made them seem tastier or perhaps I had a much less developed palate back then?  Playing Mass Effect 2 I found myself asking was it as tasty as ever or was there something missing?

Story


The game starts with an Alliance vessel being attacked by an unknown enemy.  Quickly things go from bad to worse and a lot of people have their lives extinguished including the character you play as, Commander Shepard.  Two years later and you have been resurrected and the group responsible for this is known to have a slightly checkered background.  Shepard is tasked by the leader of this organization, The Illusive Man (voiced by Martin Sheen) to assemble a team made up of beings from all over the galaxy to help take on an enemy that few acknowledge even exist.  As if this wasn't harder enough, you have to go to the enemies home turf, which no one has ever returned from.


Building your team is a lot of fun, I enjoyed assembling them and even better yet was gaining their loyalty.  Unlike Bioware's Dragon Age, where you can upset your teammates easily by breaking wind and losing their loyalty, in Mass Effect 2 you just need help characters complete one mission which holds great importance to them, I think it's almost impossible to screw them up, apart from Zaeed's, who in fairness is a bell end anyway.  My two favorite loyalty missions would be Jack's, the crazy powerful and angry biotic, and Grunt, part of a race called the Krogan who look like reptilian American football players in full gear.  In both cases, I felt a real connection to the characters and I liked them both more after playing their loyalty missions.


Like any Role Playing Game, there are many side missions, some good, some not so good.  Overall most of them help show the scale of the galaxy and help introduce different worlds and cultures, similar to the Dragon Age series.


There is a number of downloadable content for the game including,  Kasumi: Stolen Memory, an interesting story with a non-interesting character.  Lair of the Shadow Broker, which literally gave me chills, fantastic story.  Overlord, which was both interesting, heartbreaking and asked the question how far is too far?  Arrival, which teases the real enemy of the series.


Overall a great main story, some good DLC, some interesting character stories and a few side missions which for the most part weren't bad.

Visuals

I won't lie the visuals have aged and it certainly wouldn't hurt if it got remastered and got a little HD treatment, that being said overall it holds up okay.  Mass Effect often focuses on the little details, for example in your quarters there is a large aquarium which can be filled with different fish, there are models ships you can collect and display, along with this you can have a framed picture of your love interest on your desk. Let's not forget you can get a Space Hamster!  Okay it's just a regular hamster you can buy in space but it still looks cool.


The characters designs as a whole are solid, there are only two things I found very jarring; the eyes of human characters which looked dead/broken, and when kissing or touching it looks like you are groping the air.  One of the characters you acquire, Kasumi has a really bad-ass cutscene which was both epic and disappointing, don't get me wrong it looked great but the character was nowhere near as cool when you actually use her, kind of reminded me of some the games shown at E3.


There are some picturesque moments, for example when you are in the middle of the storm approaching the Shadow Brokers Lair, in Overlord it is highlighted by your AI to check out the impressive ravine view which looked really impressive.


Shout out to a creature known as Varren, imagine crossing a dog with a shark and that's pretty spot on.


Overall some good if not slightly aged visuals, attention to smaller details make you feel more part of a real world.



Music


The music style used can be best described as a cross between, a space opera and a late 90's early 2000's thriller soundtrack.  Being honest this combination works really well and always managed to strike the right balance while playing.  The main composer is Jack Wall, who is also joined by, Jimmy Hinson, David Kates, Sam Hulick, Sascha Dikiciyan, Cris Velasco, and Christopher Lennertz.  Between they have worked on major titles and franchises including; Unreal 2 The Awakening, Call of Duty Black Ops 2, Borderlands, Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, Quake 3 Arena, Resident Evil 7 Bio Hazard, Injustice: Gods Among Us, Darksiders and Medal of Honor.


The soundtrack runs at over two hours (including the add-ons) and features some great tracks, my favorites being; 'Humans Are Disappearing', 'The Attack', 'Normandy Reborn', 'Samara', 'Normandy Attacked', 'Jack', 'Jump Drive', 'Crash Landing', 'The End Run', 'Agent Combat' and 'Final Combat'.


Overall the soundtracks stand up well versus the test of time, the add-ons certainly provided a change of pace to the rest of the game.

Gameplay


When it comes down to it Mass Effect plays like a third person tactical shooter with RPG elements, the games strikes an almost equal balance between conversations and combat.  Both of these are key in the game, while the answers you give won't always have repercussions certain decisions you make can.  Additionally, your answers will either be deemed as positive (paragon) or negative (renegade) which build up and can open up different dialogue options as the game progresses.  I imported my save file from the original Mass Effect which provided changes to the story in Mass Effect 2 and some will carry over to Mass Effect 3, this element I found to be quite interesting, especially when they came in the form of moral dilemmas.


Before talking about the combat it's important to focus on building your character.  There are certain things you can choose, some of them are cosmetic and others focus on your class and starting abilities.  I found with the starting abilities you can choose there is a lack of explanation about them, which is a little frustrating, admittedly later in the game, you can reset some of these but still, it can make it difficult to decide what to pick.  I can tell you from experience if you are playing on insane difficulty don't pick a class which gives you pistols to start with, I found them simply too slow and lacking in power.  Combat itself can be quite fun, if things are getting too crazy you can pull up your tactical wheel to help give you a moment to breathe and consider your options.  What isn't fun is when your character fails to get into cover even after trying multiple times, on harder difficulties it becomes frustrating.


As you complete missions great and small you gain experience points, these can be used to upgrade current abilities or open new ones.  The retrain ability means you can always redistribute points if you mess up or if you want to try something new.  There are two hacking mini-games that reward you with credits and new upgrades.  There is also planet mining which is simple enough and use to gain materials to upgrade equipment and abilities.


Watching your crew grow as you gather more galactic badasses is a lot of fun,  there are some really strong characters that have both good backstories and abilities such as Samara, Jack, Grunt, and Legion.  There are some weaker characters such as Jacob, Kasumi, and Zaeed.  No matter how you feel about them you need to make sure you gain their loyalty as the final mission will be a pain otherwise.



The mission themselves vary greatly, some don't even register, some are really annoying and drawn out like the Firewalker Mission, others are really intense like Overlord, and in the case of loyalty missions, you feel closer to your team.


I have to give a big shoutout to Niftu Cal the Biotic God, he has a small role but a funny one, people have uploaded his contribution to Mass Effect 2 on YouTube.


Overall the gameplay is pretty good for the most part and the only major flaw is the wishy-washy cover system, which if memory serves Bioware has made massive improvements for Mass Effect 3.




Final Thoughts

So, after thirty plus hours how do I feel?  Pretty good for the most part, story and music are mostly strong, however, the visuals and gameplay sometimes felt a little lacking.  The game has definitely lost some of its charm since it was originally released, that being said I had a lot of fun playing it and will likely play it in the future.  Overall I would have to give this one 4 out of 5

Yakuza Kiwami - Review

Last year I played Yakuza 0, it was fantastic, so much so that I now rank it as one of my top 5 games on the PlayStation 4.  Yakuza Kiwami is a remake/remaster of the original release from 2005, the visuals are massively improved, the fighting techniques from Yakuza 0 have been carried over making combat a lot more robust, additionally, there is extra story content.  Despite getting the game as a Christmas present I only got around to playing it now, technically that's not true I have just been holding off to better savor the experience.


Meat good! I know that makes me sound like a caveman but it is what it is, in honesty, I can't really think of any meat I don't like.  BBQ Pork Ribs are sort of my new favorite, soft meat that literally falls off the bones and always has me wanting more.  I like having sides with my meals but with pork ribs, I just don't need them.  Playing Yakuza Kiwami I found myself asking was this my new favorite I could not get enough of?

Story

The scene opens on a small dark room, a dead body on the floor, rain, and lightning crashing outside.  The protagonist, Kiryu stands there looking pensive, a gun in his hand, a few moments later the police enter the room and take him away.  Fast forward ten years and Kiryu is finally out of prison, the Kazama family and the Tojo Clan have all but turned their back on him, the man he killed was a high ranking Yakuza.  His best friend Nishiki has gone to the dark side, the woman he loved has disappeared presumed dead and as if that wasn't enough 10 Billion Yen is missing from the Tojo Clan that is almost on the brink of collapse.  Kiryu must traverse the town of Kamurucho and search for answers along with trying to clear his name.

Death, tragedy and betrayal, Yakuza Kiwami has it all.  It's not all doom and gloom though, there are sub stories galore which dance between sometimes being a positive distraction from the main story and sometimes a negative one.  Majima is a great character and a lot of fun, after returning from prison he thinks you have gone soft and wants to help make you the ultimate fighter again so he can defeat you.  Watch out for bins, alleyways, oversized traffic cones, police and more as you never know where Majima could be hiding.

Overall a great story with some interesting sub-stories,  however, I found the found the sub-stories and some of the main story to be nowhere near as engaging as Yakuza Zero.

Visuals

The visuals are greatly improved over the original release and are almost identical to those in Yakuza 0 in terms of quality.  Both games boast a similar trait and that is that the towns look and feel really organic, there are people talking, laughing, pretending to play golf, fighting, and drunks.  The town looks bright at night, along with being a lit grim almost seedy, during the day it's bright and become a more positive place.  It is difficult for me to pick any one area as being better than another, I did like the look of the Millennial Tower especially near the top floors, I can't say any more than that unfortunately (spoilers).

Overall a visually impressive game, and already very much looking forward to Yakuza Kiwami 2 in August as the game is supposed to look even better. 

Music 

The Yakuza series has a very identifiable sound and is one of the many great things it has to offer.  It often varies between a funk and rock sound depending on the situation. The soundtrack for Yakuza Kiwami features new tracks, old tracks, and some remixed ones.  There are a number of composers who worked on the soundtrack including:

Hidenori Shoji, a Japanese composer, arranger, lyricist, and performer whose works includes Yakuza 3, Code of the Joker and Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed.

Chihiro Aoki, a Japanese composer, arranger, lyricist, performer whose works include Yakuza 3, 5, 6,  and Phantasy Star Online 2.

Shunsuke Minami a Japanese composer, arranger, and lyricist whose works include Yakuza 5 and The Legend of Heroes Sora No Kiseki.

Shunsuke Yasaki a Japanese composer, arranger, and performer whose works include Tekken 7, Zone of the Enders Remix and Yakuza 5.

Zenta Tsuchihashi a Japanese composer, arranger, and performer whose works include Yakuza 0, 2, 6 and Yume No Tsubasa.

Tsuyoshi Kaneko a Japanese composer, arranger, lyricist, performer whose works include The Phantom Kingdom, After Burner 20th Anniversary and Yakuza 6.

Keitaro Hanada a Japanese composer and performer whose works include Yakuza 2, After Burner 20th Anniversary, Galaxy Force II and Thunder Blade.

Sachio Ogawa a Japanese composer, arranger, lyricist, and performers whose works include Virtua Fighter 4, Space Harrier 2, Yakuza 0 and Sonic Symphony 25th Anniversary

Saori Yoshida a Japanese composer, arranger, and lyricist whose worked on almost all the Yakuza games.

Yuri Fukuda a Japanese composer, arranger and performer and like Yoshida has worked on almost all the Yakuza games.

There were some great tracks, however, there were some not great ones including the Funk Goes On, for some reason they scrapped the original one that featured saxophone and changed it and gave it more of a dance sound - it was not for me. 

The soundtrack runs a little over ninety and has over thirty tracks, while it was not as memorable or good as Yakuza 0 it did feature some good tracks, including:

'Revive You Reborn'
'迫'
'Flirt with Bomb'
'Scarlet Star by Fierce Tiger'
'Flirt with Bomb'
'Scarlet Star by Fierce Tiger'
'Flirt with Bomb'
'Scarlet Star by Fierce Tiger'
'Get Over It'
'キワメシトキ'
'Prey Me - Revive'
'Virtical Point'
'Lunatic Warrior'
'Everlasting Spirit'
'In A Dead Heat'

Overall not a bad soundtrack, there were just a few tracks that felt wrong and out of place.

Gameplay

The system used in Yakuza 0 allowed you switch between four different fighting styles, Brawler, Rush, Beast, and Dragon.  Each one is fairly self-explanatory with the exception of Dragon, this style combines all the best moves and more to create an ultimate style.  Yakuza Kiwami uses the same techniques with the exception of the Dragon style which this time can be only learned from Majima and Komaki.  While it did not affect me, as I only played Yakuza 0 last year Kiwami does not go into much details about the styles and benefits of each if I hadn't played Yakuza 0 I would have felt a little lost.

This time you need experience points to unlock abilities, they can be acquired through fighting, eating or completing sub stories.  The best way to get experience points is by taking on Majima, he will pop up randomly to test your abilities, it also unlocks Dragon abilities and was one of my favorite things to do.  The only issue is you end up having a lot of excess experience points and nothing to spend them on, it would have been great if you could do something with them, maybe exchange them for money?

The action flows really well throughout the game with the exception of two really stand out points.  The first is near the start of the game in which you have to sneak into a funeral, it's annoying and very out of place.   The second one is right near the end of the game in which you are fighting a mob, you keep switching between fighting and seeing what another character is doing.  Every time I got into fighting there would be another cut scene.

Like in the other Yakuza titles there is a lot of things to do outside the main story, you can go to the batting cages, play Shogi, Race Pocket Cars and play a game called MesuKing.  It's supposed to be a kids card that is basically rock, paper, scissors.  The characters wear some item of clothing that makes them look like a bug and very little else - not what I would call a kids game.

There are seventy-eight substories, the are some good ones but they were not as fun as Yakuza 0 (if you like Yakuza 0 why don't you just marry it?).  My three favorites were finding giving a tour to an out of towner, helping a Romeo and Juliet type couple and helping my pocket racing friend find a successor. 

Overall some great gameplay, a few parts I felt were lacking but for the most part, it was a lot of fun.

Final Thoughts

So after thirty plus hours how did I feel?  Pretty good.  The story was strong for the most part, the visuals were amazing, the music wasn't bad and the overall gameplay was good.  It doesn't beat Yakuza 0 but certainly a lot of fun, this one gets a solid 4 out of 5