Tag Archives: Shooter

Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection Review

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The Uncharted series is an award winning one that has been one of Sony’s top franchises. I’ve been generally aware of them but never got a chance to play them before now. Well, this was my chance and I can definitely say that the games live up to the hype. They are super fun to play through and really nail the third person shooter genre. I don’t think I’ve played any this smooth since Star Fox Assault. The 3 games are all comparable and everything about the experience is super smooth. It’s clear that they had the gamer’s comfort in mind.

The first game introduces us to Nate who is basically a treasure hunter/explorer. He has always been obsessed with his ancestor Francis Drake and seeks to uncover the treasures and discoveries that he made. This latest one takes him on a trip abroad where he is followed by the reporter Elena. Unfortunately, Nate’s partner Sully owes some money to the mob and they come to collect. Nate must now try to stay one step ahead of them to whatever treasure is buried. This treasure may be guarded by supernatural creatures though. Perhaps it isn’t worth obtaining?

A common thread throughout each game is that Drake only discovered powerful artifacts that really shouldn’t be discovered. Drake often tried to bury the evidence but unfortunately Nate always ends up finding out about it anyway. While Sully had a rough start here, he does tend to be a very reliable ally to Nate for the rest of the adventures. It really does make a difference to have someone at your side that you can count on. When you’re all alone inside some of these old dungeons, well that starts to feel very tough.

Elena also ends up being a main supporting character and she does a good job of keeping Nate on his toes. She can keep up with the banter and even knows how to shoot a gun. They have to rely on each other in order to survive these life threatening encounters after all. While the romance may not be the strongest for me with how Nate tends to always be rather flirty, it was good to see Elena show up in all of the adventures.

The gameplay is a mix of parkour, shooter, and puzzle solving. Naturally the puzzle solving is the weakest element but the game handles it way better than most. The game will throw you hints if you are stuck for a long time and then most of them actually make sense anyway. You’ll be turning wheels and following shapes in the sky. The toughest puzzle in the trilogy was one where you had to shine shadows on the surface of a wall. I just did not understand the hints and had to just go with brute forcing the solution.

All of the puzzles in these games can be brute forced if you have to do that but there are around 50 possible solutions in each case so it sure takes a while to get to the right one. The puzzles aren’t super intrusive though. Then you have the parkour which should feel a lot like Mirror’s Edge. In some ways it’s actually smoother which I found to be super impressive. It’s not every day that you can top that game in movement after all. One of the biggest reasons for this is that the game is intuitive. So when you’re climbing a rock, you can spam jump to move up very quickly. At the same time if there is no where to jump to, the game will stop you instead of just letting you jump to your doom.

It’s a subtle but great quality of life feature. Then you also have the fact that Nate can jump rather far so it’s not like you will constantly have to be stopping and wondering where to go next. That’s another really big one. Then we have the gun combat which is where the game absolutely thrives. You have a wide range of different guns to use and can hide around cover and also use hand to hand combat when necessary. The game has a realistic feel to it where a headshot will take down any enemy in one hit even if they are a powerful boss.

The only exceptions are enemies who are undead or ones that wear a helmet which makes sense. The game encourages you to get really good at making headshots and I was able to do this very easily in the first game. The second and third games were just different enough where it threw off my timing a bit but I was still able to do pretty well overall. The game even keeps track of your stats relative to your friends on PSN which is pretty fun.

Each of the guns have their pros and cons without any of them being too weak. I had fun using a whole bunch of weapons throughout the game and you get a trophy after hitting milestones with all of them. So there is plenty of reasons to experiment. You can also shoot while running, swimming, and climbing. There is just a ton of freedom here which is really nice and you won’t be running into any glitches or issues.

The game can be rather difficult so you can expect to die a lot. That said, the deaths are always fair so you don’t feel too bad about it. Often times I was just going too fast or I would underestimate an opponent. The game’s difficulty also forces you to be creative and rethink your approach in each case. At times if you die next to a checkpoint, the game will actually push you forward a bit which is always funny tho.

The graphics are also really sharp. The game has a realistic art style to it which may not work as well as a more colorful one but it’s clear that a lot of detail was put into this. The landscapes also look great. The soundtrack is more on the invisible side though. You’re probably not going to really remember any tracks by the end of this. They tend to just blend together and fade into the background. That’s probably the idea, the only track you may recall is the main theme of the games which will sound familiar while you’re hearing it, but is just generic enough where you will forget it afterwards.

The second game expands things quite a bit as Nate has to team up with Chloe and Harry to infiltrate a palace and find more means to treasure. These two have always been bad influences but Nate likes hanging out with them. Both guys like Chloe but Harry is the one who is oblivious while Nate tends to have the advantage. Of course Elena shows up later on and things get complicated. Drama aside, this was my favorite game of the trilogy. I thought the pure gameplay was at its peak here. It’s very similar to the first game but the hand to hand combat has been further refined.

There is a lot of variety among the levels and it’s also the longest adventure from the first 3. It really feels like they went double time on this one and playing both games back to back, you can feel the improvement. I really had no complaints here, it’s just a great game that works seamlessly after the first one. The climax also has some really hard levels with how durable the creatures were.

Finally we have the third game which wraps things up. We learn about Nate’s past and he is forced to deal with some familiar foes. This game had my favorite villain of the trilogy. An unassuming guy who ends up being great at parkour and is always one step ahead of Nate. In the end, Nate is really only able to win thanks to having Sully around. This villain felt like a “what if” version of Nate who had decided to go it alone. It’s a great narrative way to end the trilogy off.

On a gameplay perspective, the combat may have taken a slight step back but the rest is about the same as the first two. You’ll be handling a bunch of fights and solving some puzzles. The puzzles may be the weakest overall. This is all very relative among the three but that’s part of what keeps part 3 from beating the second one.

There is plenty of replay value among the 3 games as you will want to get all of the Trophies for each one. That will not be an easy feat as you will have to play each game more than once. That said, the constant checkpoints do help with this. I wouldn’t plan on getting the Platinum anytime soon, but I did complete two games with a D ranking so I need to fix that asap! I just don’t like seeing those D ranks in my profile score. It just feels so messy you know?

Overall, I highly recommend playing through these games. They deserve all of the accolades that they get and then some. They were crafted extremely well and having 3 games in one makes for an incredible amount of content. You’ll be really engaged with the story and absolutely entertained by the gameplay. If they kept this gameplay intact, it would make for an awesome multiplayer battle game. Sony should give that a try at some point, there’s a ton of potential to be had there. I’ll be working on the 4th game right away so stay tuned for that!

Overall 8/10

Turning Point: Fall of Liberty Review

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It’s time to look at a shooter that a lot of people probably haven’t even heard of. The game is one I only found because I was looking for poorly reviewed titles. It can always be fun to give them a whirl and these games tend to be dirt cheap anyway. Well, I can safely say that this one is a trip. I can understand the bad reviews because there are noticeable glitches here and that tends to weigh heavily. So long as my game isn’t crashing though, glitches aren’t going to limit my adventure too much. I had a pretty good time with this one and it just really lacked some quality of life features.

The game starts by introducing us to an alternate history where Chamberlain died in his car accident and so the Nazi’s ran unopposed for a long while. They also launched a pre-emptive strike on the USA and managed to take over the country. You play as a construction worker who survives the initial assault and decides to help the resistance fight back. It won’t be an easy fight, nor will it be a short one but this is a battle that he can’t turn his back from. One way or another, America will be united once more!

The gameplay is your classic first person shooter style. You go around blasting away at all of the enemies as you get closer to the goal in each level. Occasionally there is a little bit of platforming but these sections are few and far between. Generally you will be sticking to the shooter gameplay here. You can hold up to two weapons at once and will be switching between them a whole lot as you go through the levels. Keep a close eye on your ammo as well since you can run out at the worst times.

You can also carry grenades but the enemy tends to survive them while they pose a lethal threat to you so I recommend avoiding them. As you play through the game you will quickly find out which weapons you like to use and which ones hold you back. I recommend getting a favorite weapon quickly so you have it ready for the more difficult fights. The game’s difficulty level is considerably high so you don’t want to underestimate it.

The toughest part of the game is that checkpoints tend to be few and far between. So you could be having a great run but then die right before the checkpoint and have to redo a large portion of the level again. This is easily the game’s biggest issue because it adds a lot of unnecessary repetition. You will be dying quite often in this game so then it makes you want to speed through the level on your next attempt rather than taking your time which can make things even trickier.

Additionally, your health meter isn’t visible so you can only tell how close to death you are based on how gray the screen is. This is an interesting mechanic but it also means that sometimes it appears to be very inconsistent. There are times where I would die to a quick pair of bullets when I had survived 5 prior to that. Additionally there are explosions that happen randomly with RNG during some levels so if you get hit by one then you die right away. There’s nothing you can really do to defend against that.

So moments like that will feel a bit cheesy. Parts of the game’s difficulty are completely legitimate and then other parts like this tend to feel quite cheesy. The game does its best to make the best out of it but it does feel rushed at times. Just remember to do a lot of running and gunning. Your health completely restores if you can avoid taking damage for about 2 seconds so you need to try and buy that time.

Meanwhile the graphics are pretty decent. The game has full on cutscenes between each level and the graphics within the game are pretty solid. One unfortunate effect is that the flash on your gun is so high that you will have a hard time seeing where you are firing depending on the gun. It’s another reason why you have to pick your gun very carefully because the wrong option will actually cost you some lives.

The soundtrack is more on the forgettable side. I wouldn’t say that any of the tracks are particularly memorable. The story is really the driving force of the game and fortunately that part is really good. This is just a very fun what if and it’s also a good excuse to be the hero and save your country. You can’t really go wrong on that account. There isn’t any replay value as there are no trophies or a multiplayer mode to keep you afloat. So the main campaign has to tide you over at all times. It’s fairly short but the difficulty might add an hour to round the experience to around 5 hours or so.

My final tip here will be that the hand to hand combat attack is actually an effective strategy. If you are running out of bullets then you should run up to an enemy and take him out. One hit will defeat any opponent so the key is to only do this when you are in a one on one combat situation. Definitely do not do this when it’s 2 v 1 as the other fighter will shoot you during the long animation of you fighting the first guy. You are fully open during that period.

Overall, Turning Point is a good game. I had fun with the story and the gameplay is good enough for me even if I’m not a big fan of the FPS genre. That said, it does have noticeable bugs involving the health bar and how explosions will hit you out of nowhere. A few more checkpoints could have also gone a long way to getting the game to the next level. So long as you don’t despise fps titles or anything like that, I think you’ll have a reasonably good time here.

Overall 6/10

The Great Escape Review

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It was about time that I finally played the video game for this one. I can safely say that is wasn’t one of the more impressive games though. It is a good example of a stealth game that feels like a stealth game in all the worst ways. You can’t let enemies make contact with you or you get crushed and there are no checkpoints within the level. That is absolutely crazy! This game desperately needed some powerful quality of life updates to even begin to turn things around.

The game roughly follow the adventure of the movie but starts out a bit sooner. We actually get to play through the adventures of the different soldiers before they all landed in the base so that was different. There are 18 levels in the game and around 15 of them are pure stealth missions, with two driving ones and one shooter mission. I can tell you now that those 3 levels were the best ones in the game. I will give the game credit for having a full story and everything though.

The gameplay is fully in 3D and the main objective in most of the levels are to go through areas undetected and grab different objects. The levels will keep updating the objectives as you go through them and then by the end you will have cleared the level. If you are spotted, there is a slight chance you can hide long enough for the enemy to forget about you but it’s really unlikely. The game is not forgiving in the slightest and if you are spotted then you are most likely dead.

With the exception of a few levels where you have a gun, you have no way of actually defeating the enemy soldiers. Meanwhile if you stop for too long then they can just arrest you which is an instant death. They can also shoot you from long range. There are a lot of ways to die here basically and you have to factor in that some of the stealth missions are timed so you have to move quickly. Should I mention again that there are no checkpoints in these missions?

Now what about saving? Well, fortunately you can save 4 times per level. So you want to be really careful where you save. Even if you load an older save, you don’t replenish saves so that gets real tricky. In a way it’s like access points but the limited amount of saves is rough. By the way, 4 saves is if you play easy mode. If you go to normal mode then that drops to 3 which is even crazier. I can say without a doubt that this is one of the tougher games that I’ve played in a minute. It was really intense.

The problem is that it’s just not in a fun way. You have to replay large portions of the game over and over again. The compass doesn’t make a whole lot of sense so it’s hard to tell where the nearest soldier is. Then you also have to factor in that the controls are rather clunky. It’s really hard to aim with the gun and the auto aim isn’t reliable. If you get too close then you will try to punch an opponent instead of shooting them.

The enemies also seem to regenerate mid battle. Now I can’t prove this…but it seems to be the case. I would be taking down so many of them and more would appear. This may just be to show how you’re not supposed to beat the villains with force but it was still annoying. Just let me get in a car and drive around for more levels then. Those were a lot of fun.

The graphics are decent though. Sometimes it could be a little hard to see but that is more due to my TV than the game itself. The game looks good when it needs to. The soundtrack is surprisingly decent though. There are more tunes than I would have expected and they can be rather catchy. It helps to make up for the fact that there aren’t many stages in the game so they have to keep on reusing them. If anything that’s just a bit funny though. I always appreciated the rare daylight levels since the night ones were brutal though.

There’s not a ton of replay value here but if you beat the game then you get to play it again on great escape mode which adds a timer to each of the levels. Very fun right? Well, in the end if this game was more fun than it would have been higher. My main issue is just that it’s not super enjoyable. There are too many annoying segments of the game with the whole stealth approach. If they could just tone that down a bit then I think we would be in good shape but as it stands that wasn’t in the cards.

If this was more of a proper shooter then it would have been good or of course if there were more save points and such. I also think there should always be a way to fight a bit even in a stealth game. I imagine that a lot of people may disagree with that though. As a silver lining, I did feel a sense of accomplishment when I completed the game because this one was seriously no walk in the park. I felt like I had to earn it every step of the way.

Overall, This is a game that I wouldn’t recommend too highly. You can find better titles to play on the IOS App Store tbh. That being said, if you like stealth games then I suppose it is worth checking this one out. It’s not like it’s terrible or anything, it just isn’t my genre. Titles like Carmen Sandiego and Stolen handled this a lot better. For a stealth game like this where you are expected to die a lot, you need consistent save states. That’s really the crucial aspect here if you want the game to succeed. If you get away from that then it is game over.

Overall 5/10

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Review

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Metroid Prime fans have been waiting a very long time for this game. We got the first trailer back in 2017 after all and even then it ended up taking another 8 years to come out. After all that waiting you would certainly be expecting an absolutely top tier experience. Well, ultimately I thought it was pretty good but I suppose it would be a bit underwhelming considering all the time that has gone by. It’s a good game but an ordinary one at the same time. You’ll be able to blast through the content and so in the end I would recommend it but definitely keep your expectations at the baseline.

The story starts with a big battle between the Federation and Sylux’s goons. Samus is able to easily overpower him but then gets stranded on a planet along with a few other soldiers. Samus will have to find several teleporter keys as well as a mythical fruit in order to get off this place. Unfortunately it is loaded with powerful monsters everywhere and Sylux is still on the loose. This may finally be a job that Samus cannot complete on her own. Will she be able to trust these other soldiers to help her out or will she be forced to tackle all of the responsibility on her own?

The game puts a lot of stock into Samus being the chosen one, a hero beyond all measure. Honestly I wouldn’t even say that’s a bad thing. She is clearly a cut above the rest and as the various games have shown she is able to incorporate a ton of different dna and special abilities without side effects. In essence she is the ultimate battle soldier and this game does a good job of showing how powerful she is. This can be a double edged sword though. For example, Sylux is never portrayed as being a real threat to her.

Likewise for the rest of the villains. This is clearly an easier battle for her than the last 3 Prime games and the only reason the situation is tough is because getting off the planet will require more than super strength. Her allies help out quite a bit and so that ties the whole adventure together. It just makes this an uphill battle for the villains since they are the ones on the back foot the whole time. They are never even close to making a play.

That being said, I still like Sylux. He gets some good dialogue at the end and has a good design. His boss fights are also fun except the final boss which gets a bit rough. This ties into the gameplay itself. You have to use both joysticks to aim which makes it hard to also shoot. I had to hold the controller in a bit of a weird way in order to land all 3 and it didn’t really feel natural. I think there should have only been one control stick to move and then the rest goes as normal. It felt like they had to nerf the lock on feature here in order to make the final boss more of a challenge.

To be clear, they definitely succeeded. It was a really tough final boss and one that absolutely kept me at the edge of my seat. I died several times there before I was finally able to win. Ironically the first phase is the toughest one while the next two go by very quickly and easily. In general the game is easier than the first 3 Primes but not insultingly so. I would say the difficulty is reasonable enough so long time fans will have a good time.

The main gameplay is still the classic first person style where you can shoot your energy blasts or missiles at the opponents until they go down. You will unlock different elemental attacks as you go forward and will get other kinds of power ups. It’s all pretty familiar if you have played the previous titles. In a lot of ways this one is trying hard to be a total formula game without trying to go beyond that. Fortunately the gameplay is fun enough where you won’t mid the repetition too much but there are some areas where the game isa bit dated.

The biggest example is not having any fast travel. There is a lot of backtracking here and it feels completely unnecessary. You should be able to cover larger chunks of ground without taking so long. Then you also have the green crystal grind at the end. I made sure to hit all the green crystals I could as I went through the game but wouldn’t go out of my way for others either. So then at the end I would do the main grind. It won’t take you longer than 2 hours or so but it just feels like a pointless grind. Why even include it?

The Prime games always have a bit of a collectathon at the end so it felt like this game was just adding one to continue the trend instead of actually getting real hyped for it. Not the best way to go. The desert definitely could have been handled better and the bike would have been more fun if it was faster. It goes by slow enough where that just adds to the tedious nature of it. A rare mistake from Nintendo. So the game had its issues like this but on the whole it was fun.

The collectibles are pretty easy to find with how well the map is labeled. Additionally, the power ups do help to make you feel a lot stronger. The puzzles are much better than in previous games and so for the most part it did feel like Nintendo thought this one through. Just one or wo quick fixes would have done a lot to make the game reach the next stage.

The graphics are definitely real solid. Metroid has never looked sharper and that is something I can say with 0 reservations. I did appreciate that we got more voice acting here. The side characters were all rather weak though. I much preferred the aliens and metahumans from Prime 3. I don’t know why you would go back to normal humans. Still, we got more of a plot than I was expecting even if it would vanish for large portions of time.

The soundtrack is also solid although it doesn’t match the previous games. For example you won’t be hearing anything that launches you out of your seat the way the Dark Samus theme did in the second game. That one is just hard to beat. So it was good all around but like in other areas, Prime 4 was unable to pass the third game here.

Overall, Metroid Prime 4 is a pretty good game. I had a good time with it. The title is fairly short as you will definitely manage to beat it in under 10 hours. Getting all of the collectibles and such will likely take this to around 15 hours or so but even then it won’t be extending things a whole lot. There isn’t a ton of replay value here unless you really like the story. For that reason you may want to wait for a bit of a discount. I’m always glad to see Samus though so hopefully this time the wait for Prime 5 is a lot shorter.

Overall 7/10

GI Joe: Operation Blackout Review

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The GI Joes have returned and you could say that his game is definitely a lot more intense than the previous one. I wouldn’t call it super high budget or anything but I appreciated that it was trying to be a full adventure. The third person shooter action works really well as you’d guess because that genre is one of the best. It’s a game that is reasonably short but not super short and since you can get the game for a good price, it doesn’t feel bad. I would definitely be recommending this one.

The main story sees the GI Joes going up against Cobra once more. Cobra had been quiet for a while but it turns out that they were just biding their time and they launch an all out offensive against the heroes. This results in most of the Joes being captured so the last remaining ones have to find a way to launch a counter attack. Meanwhile everything is not well within the Cobra household as 4 different members are all betraying the commander and working on their own plans. He will have to try and deal with them before it’s too late.

I’m not the biggest expert on GI Joe so based on the vibes in this game, it definitely looks like the Commander could use some more loyal allies. If he has to be constantly watching his back all while fighting with the Joes, then that’s not going to be a good combination for him. To be sure, he doesn’t end up looking good in this game and that’s impressive since part of the whole premise is that his side won for once. That’s why you can’t get overconfident.

The game was definitely made with a multiplayer mode in mind. Easch level has two playable characters, the second will be controlled by the AI when playing single player mode. You typically have to defeat all enemies in an area, proceed to a checkpoint, or stay inside of a circle to conquer it like in Overwatch. There are 17 missions in the game and each one tends to range from around 8-10 minutes. The default difficulty also gives you a mild challenge in some areas.

I died quite a few times but it never feels bad because the game has a really excellent checkpoint system. You will see respawn points constantly so you never lose more than a few minutes of progress. Some characters have better weapons than others so you really want to be careful who you pick on the character selection screen. That said, just try enough times and you’ll be fine. It’s one of those games where you just have to brute force it. Also sometimes when the mission is about getting to a checkpoint, the best thing to do is just run through the enemies without fighting.

Sometimes their aim isn’t that great and you will make it without any real issues. Other times you will end up dying and then you have to play it the traditional way. The different kinds of weapons vary between standard guns, explosives, and lasers. Generally lasers are the best. Yes, they deal the least amount of damage but the ammo and nonstop firing makes it worth it. They are on a completely different level. The enemies are always moving around so quickly that it’s just easier to follow them with an endless stream as opposed to trying to time the bullets perfectly.

Meanwhile the graphics are pretty good. The cutscenes don’t have a lot of movement to them but I’m just glad for the fact that we have cutscenes in general. That’s something you wouldn’t have expected too much of for a cheaper game. It would have been dialogue based or something. The voice acting is fun and the graphics within the gameplay as also on point. You definitely won’t see any complaints from me in that area. Unfortunately there isn’t much of a soundtrack so I guess you can’t win them all. I would have liked some fun rock themes or something there.

There are also a few vehicle levels. These tend to be pretty easy and seem to just be around as a change of pace. You have to try and dodge land mines and defeat opponents while racing to the goal. It’s essentially a straight road as you get to the end of the game. You just have to keep on driving and driving until you get there. There are a lot of health containers in these levels that are hard to miss which is why the levels feel so much easier.

One last gameplay tip for the standard levels, your close quarters attack is really good against most bosses. Don’t try it on Storm Shadow since his sword will slice your health bar apart but on the other bosses it is the best way to whittle down their health. I was able to complete the final boss way quicker than most of the others in the game because of that. I just went in swinging and they went down extremely quickly. This is because your close quarters attack cuts through the shield and straight to their health bar but of course the same is true of theirs so watch out for the counter attack.

Overall, Operation Blackout is a pretty fun game. It’s nothing fancy, you’re not going to find a lot of fancy gameplay mechanics or anything like that. At the same time, the fundamentals are sound enough to where this is the kind of game you could really recommend. It takes you back to a simpler time of gaming where you only needed a few buttons to play through a game. You can pick this one up and play it at any point without worrying about what the advanced combos were or how you’re supposed to be playing it. Not bad eh? Hopefully more GI Joe games come out in the future.

Overall 7/10

John Wick: Chapter 4 Review

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Please note that this is a review of the TV-14 edited version of the film. A review of the unedited version would be more negative

It’s finally happened, the John Wick has reached its final form. I can say without a doubt that this is the best film in the saga. It’s crazy to think that it’s been years since I saw the 3rd one. The first film was naturally held back by what happened to his dog, the worst way you could start a film tbh. The third film managed to squeeze in a dog getting shot as well which was super unnecessary and wasted too much time in the desert with a side character I didn’t care about. The second film had been my favorite one for a while there and I dare say it’s gotten even better in my memories but I may be forgetting some things. Either way this one surpasses it, I don’t really have many complaints here.

The film picks up where the last one left off, with Wick working to get revenge on the table and the continental for betraying him. He quickly puts a lot of people in a body bag but the Table isn’t going to go down without a fight. They are using every resource at their disposal to track down Wick and even destroy the Continental. This forces a bit of a truce with the owner and Wick. Is there really a way to defeat a global enterprise like the Table though? We’re talking literal millions of fighters on their side and at the end of the day Wick is only one man. He will have to bring his A game here.

If I do have a minor complaint here, it’s that I wanted to see Wick going up against the Continental. That could have been the opening action set piece with him being the one to destroy the hotel and then the rest of the film plays out like normal. Wick ultimately letting bygones be bygones and not taking it too personal does make sense within the framework of the world but it still felt like a tease from how the last film left off. It heavily implied a big fight was to come, rather than setting Wick up against the new villain in this film.

The film also quickly addresses any concerns you might have had about the idea of beating an endless organization and it’s clever while also working within the rules of the series. The movie is quite long and as you can expect, nearly all of it is a long string of various fight scenes. You will definitely get your fill of action here. If you don’t want a lot of fighting then you’ve certainly come to the wrong movie. I’m sure some hardcore fans have probably counted the exact minutes of fight scenes to see which one has the most but I would not be surprised if this film ends up taking the crown on that.

There are some new characters that show up here to expand the cast but all in all the series does a good job of keeping each installment fairly light with the characters. One of them is a hitman known as Nobody. He’s really good at his job and while I did not find him as impressive as some of the other hitmen throughout the series, he obviously does have a lot of skill. He does well to play the long game even if he does underestimate the other players quite a bit. In a straight fight Wick is taking him down easily and I doubt he would pose much of a thread to the table.

Caine is a much stronger rival in this film. I do have to say that I had a hard time taking him seriously though. He’s completely blind so in the film he has different gadgets that help him keep track of his opponents. It’s just too much of a liability though, especially when his whole head is exposed for any gunshots. I don’t see how he has lived this long and has too many weaknesses. I can believe him being super powerful in close combat but there’s no way he would live this long in this world. Once he went blind that should have been the end of his career. I was glad the film showed Wick is more skilled but I would argue that the gap should be much wider than it was here. The film is also a reminder of why having any family while being a hitman is not advised since that’s just another word for future hostage.

Winston gets a pretty solid role in this film. It’s not like he’s a fighter in his prime so he’s not going around stabbing everyone but he does well with the word games and keeping the other fighters sharp. He is good in the support role and is always around to give Wick some really important advice. Likewise the king of the underworld always has some good equipment for Wick. Without his help, Wick would definitely have not made it over to the final showdown in time since the shortcut saved a bunch of time.

The main villain, the Marquis is okay. I don’t think he was as impressive as most of the other villains but the film had some powerful villains to take the primary role. Mostly he is here to be smug the whole time. While he isn’t a big fighter, we can assume that he had some moves in order to make it this far. A quick fight would have been fun to see but that’s just not his style. If you can’t fight, at least be smug. So he gets that part right and his right hand man looks very impressive in the battles.

As always, it is worth noting that the film is quite violent so you will want to watch out for that. If you have an aversion to blood then naturally this isn’t the movie for you. The film mainly keeps it all to violence in combat here though so in some ways it doesn’t feel as violent as some of the other films. It also could just be a time thing where I’m more used to it now. Violence comes in many forms and that could be its own editorial someday but violence in combat is definitely the most palatable kind of violence. It’s something that the fighters have signed up for and you’re not dwelling on each kill. Wick mows down dozens and dozens of fighters in the movie but it’s not like any of them are being tortured. They’re being shot or stabbed and then he moves on to the next one.

The film does have a dog taking a heavy hit at one point which again feels really unnecessary. Why do you always bring dogs into this? At least he was okay and it wasn’t as serious as the bullet wound from last time so it didn’t really hurt the film but it definitely did put me on notice. The long climax is also one of the better ones, and by that I mean arriving to the final battle. The final battle itself is only okay but for narrative reasons it’s not like the characters are taking it all that seriously.

The soundtrack for the film is really good. There are quite a number of solid tracks that appear and support the fight scenes. You definitely get into the action mood right with the various themes. The visuals are also really stellar and you can tell that the film really takes pride in finding great locations. Everything about the film always feels like there was a lot of really high production values across the board. From the writing to the choreography. I’d say it’s a big reason as to why the series is so successful.

Now, the film isn’t without its plot armor which is pretty unavoidable in a long action film like this. The final plan relies on the villain hesitating before shooting. Many of these big fight scenes also rely on nobody being able to land a clean headshot and then one meeting with another group relies on them not just immediately finishing Wick off. I guess you need a little bit of luck in order to be the best.

I’d say one of the best scenes in the film is definitely the brief poker game. I always like it when a film or any kind of media gets all of the big hype characters in a room. It also doesn’t end up making everyone look terrible like in Agents of Shield where everyone got together only to be held at gunpoint by randoms. Here, everyone keeps their hype and the film also not so subtlety gives us some contrast between them and how each one has a plan to get out of there. I’d even say the film tends to have a bit of a morbid sense of humor at times which is always handled well.

Overall, This was definitely a lot of fun. The film’s ending is technically one of the weaker ones as both 2 and 3 had way better cliffhangers but I did think the final scene was a solid way to end things off. Revenge is one of those never ending cycles but I was rooting for the lady to have her get back moment. Hey, things will always be sad for one character in a revenge plot but you gotta take a side. Meanwhile I expect to see a lot more of John Wick taking names in the next film. It’s hard to say who could be a real threat to him at this point so I think the next logical step would be to make it a protection mission of sorts. A kid stumbles into the wrong scene at the wrong time and Wick protecting her causes him to be in another tricky spot? The danger wouldn’t be to him so much as her sort of limiting his options. Either way I’m sure they can think of something and I’ll be curious to see if they can top this one. I would also like him to be revered more as a legendary hitman again. I know you need everyone to try their luck against him for the action scenes but would random number 58 really try to shoot his shot when he just saw the last 57 guys get immediately shredded? I’d like a scene of at least one guy running away after he gets to the scene, would be another effective humor moment.

Overall 8/10

Marvel Rivals Review

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Marvel Rivals is a game that really got huge. For a while there is seemed like everybody was playing it. I would say it is even still huge right now. They keep on adding new characters and of course the gameplay itself is fun enough. That said, I don’t quite get the appeal the way that most people do. To me the gameplay is fine but not something I would end up being stuck to for a long while.

There isn’t a real story mode here of course so you’re really just thrown right into the mix. I was glad to have a tutorial though and did take advantage of that. Basically you’re in a team battle and either have to protect something or attack it. You win based on which team achieved their objective. Whenever you die you are able to switch characters on the fly. It’s pretty nice that you aren’t locked in so you can constantly be switching. The only real restriction is that you can’t have two people using the same character and that makes sense since it could definitely get real confusing real fast. So this way you sidestep that problem completely. As a result I got to play as numerous characters even over the course of a few matches.

The characters are divided into different classes and all have different ways of playing. My favorite character was easily Human Torch. It felt nice being able to fly around and deal out devastating blows to my opponents. I contributed quite heavily in the first match where I scored over 30 KOs. We won that round and it was the perfect way to start. I doubt Torch is one of the most broken characters or anything like that but his moveset is absolutely solid. Whenever you have a projectile fighter like this, you can bet that I’ll enjoy them.

My second favorite character was Groot. He may not be able to fly but his long reach works great as a main attack. I would say the only real downside is that his special moves are a bit boring. He can summon walls to bock incoming attacks which is pretty nice but it doesn’t actually deal damage the way I would like to see it. At the end of the day you need KOs to win here and you get KOs by dealing damage. Still, I got in my share of KOs with the standard attacks.

I definitely didn’t end up mixing well with the brawlers. For example I died fairly quick when playing as Captain America, Wolverine, and Thor. It was just hard to get in close to the other team before I would be taken down by everyone waving around their lasers all the time. I’m sure there are methods to making those characters work but it was definitely a real tough trick for me. A game like this definitely has a lot of RNG as well of course but I won’t deny the high level of skill too. Good aim will go a long way here. The same goes for memorizing where all the health items are at. I’m guessing they are randomly generated but still limited to a few locations rather than just being anywhere.

The graphics are definitely really good. Some of the character designs will certainly take some getting used to though. They really went quite different with a few of them like Wolverine. That said, it’s a consistent art style and I wouldn’t say the designs are bad. I would definitely get used to them after enough time playing the game. The soundtrack is less noticeable with all of the shooting and everything. It seemed good to me but again I’m not sure with how much confidence I can really say that. Either way I guess it’s not ultra important.

I mentioned a few times that the gameplay isn’t super addicting to me and I’ll quickly explain. There is no single player combat mode here and no individual life system. So this means in the team combats everyone has unlimited lives until the match ends. For me a game like this is always way more fun when you have your own life. I know this doesn’t reflect in sales numbers which is why many games have gone away from that model but I still miss it. I’ve never liked the idea that I could be playing amazing and dealing tons of damage and I can still lose because the rest of my team let me down. It just doesn’t feel like this is the way the game ought to be played.

I would at least like the option of a single player mode here. Start out with 25 fighters or something and no extra lives. If you lose then you lose but that’s it. I would find it all to be way more engaging and challenging. Additionally it would force you to get good. Then if the mode doesn’t do well they can always shut it down later. Still, that’s just what would make me enjoy the game better. At that point I’m basically advocating for a completely different title so it’s not a very reasonable request. Just an explanation on why none of the Overwatch titles have ever stuck with me. I do hope this game continues to be successful though because it’s at least pretty fun to watch.

Overall, Marvel Rivals is pretty good. It’s not really a game that would hold my attention for very long but there is definitely a clear audience. I also imagine it’s the kind of game that gets to be way more fun when you know other people wo play it as well. Once you build up that community spirit then it’s really off to the races. You just want to get in there and have fun. As the character roster continues to grow, the game will only get more and more fun. I’m rather curious just how many characters there will be by the end. It seems like a game that could easily get over 50 characters by the end. The toughest part will probably be picking enough unique moves where nobody feels like a clone character.

Overall 7/10

Gradius: The Interstellar Assault Review

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Gradius definitely looked like a fun game right from the jump but I was still surprised to see that it had a bit of a real storyline going for it. We got actual little cutscenes between levels and a real ending. So I was impressed there and it helps make up for how short the game is. There are only 6 levels here after all, although the game is exceptionally difficult so it will feel like a lot more than that at different points.

The main story sees you fighting off a powerful alien invasion. These creatures have the advantage in sheer numbers as well as technology. You will be using a lone plane to try and take them all down. The game is a 2D shooter where you can gain new weapons and abilities as you go through the levels. It won’t be easy without a doubt but you will certainly be able to help even the playing field this way. The key is to make sure you don’t grab the wrong weapon because it overwrites the one you had on previously. Some weapons can be combined though. As you gain item boxes, you see which slot is highlighted and pressing the A button will give you that ability. The letter stands for each one, L for Laser for example. So choose your abilities carefully and you should be all set.

Personally my favorite combination was the laser blasts with the shield and rocket. It covers your front pretty well and the shield also buys you a little time. The lasers seem to do a little less damage than the spread shot machine gun but I liked the speed. So you will need to find the right combination that works for you and then the rest will really come into place. Additionally, it’s fair to say that you need fast reaction times here. Most of the bosses revolve around you hitting the weak point but that’s the area where it rapid fires all of the attacks from. So if you don’t watch out then you’re gonna be in trouble.

The graphics are definitely more on the old school side. They’re not terrible or anything but they won’t be standing out. When you recommend this game to someone, you’re probably not going to be talking about the graphics. At least I doubt that you will. Instead it will come down to the soundtrack. That part’s okay but nothing too memorable either so maybe instead just focus on the gameplay. It’s a simple but effective game with how it controls. It’s easy to pick up but difficult to master.

There isn’t really any replay value to be found here so you should keep that in mind. Of course if you’re playing it on the Switch Online then that is more of a non factor since you won’t have to pay anything extra to check this one out. Instead you can just dive in and enjoy it. As long as the game is fun, it helps to override the length to an extent. It’s still not going to make a name for itself as one of the top NES titles or anything like that but I would say it is still good enough in the end.

Overall, Gradius is a good game. It’s not really anything to write home about but at the same time I give it points for just being a fun title. No real gimmicks or desperate attempts to try something new. Instead it settles for just being a fun space shooter. Perhaps that is a result of the game being fairly old so this was still new territory or the devs were just that confident. Either way it is a title that has withstood the test of time and I can really recommend it to any gamer.

Overall 6/10

ESWAT: City Under Siege Review

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The Genesis adventures continue here as we get a more traditional 2D shooter. This is one of those games I had definitely not heard of before so it was pretty interesting to see what it is like. The graphics are good and the soundtrack is nice. I would say my only issue is how huge the main character is. That may sound like an odd issue but the problem is that it makes dodging any attack rather difficult. You are constantly on the defensive and a single hit will deal a whole lot of damage.

You start out as a basic guy with a gun but then in the middle levels you play as a guy in a mecha suit that can fly around with limited fuel. It’s a pretty fun way of adding onto the gameplay and not letting things get stale. You also have a whole lot of attack options while you are in the mech suit like rockets, a mega buster, fire blast, etc. I ended up going with the buster because to me it seems like easily the best weapon of the bunch. You can charge it up to fire really powerful blasts or just spam it like a normal gun.

The toughest boss in the game is a large drill that keeps on hopping around and you can only injure it at very precise moments. So being able to use the buster with its wide range was incredibly helpful. Without that it would have taken a lot longer to defeat. Each of the bosses were quite difficult though and I would say this is probably one of the harder Genesis games. You are constantly outnumbered by a large amount of opponents and if you let your guard down at all then you are in trouble. The game forces you to constantly be aware of what’s going on.

Additionally while the game is mainly a 2D platformer, it is not always linear. Sometimes you have to hit switches and go in doors to open new pathways. If you miss the right exit and go to an old area then you will have to do a lot more fighting because this is the kind of game where all enemies respawn immediately once they are off screen. Yes, it’s one of those so you do have to be extremely careful. The enemies can drop little potions that heal your health but they seem to be rare drops so fighting more enemies is often a net negative.

I like the sci-fi setting though. It makes for great level designs and I also like the music. It’s all got a proper sci-fi feel to it that just works really well. The graphics are solid as everything looks nice and this feels like a game that took advantage of the Genesis processing power. The game also has a proper ending cutscene with a lot going on. I think a modern remake of this game could be a lot more fun.

Ultimately the biggest thing to fix here is just the scaling of the main character. In this game he’s so tall that you tend to get hit even when you are crouching and there isn’t enough room to jump over a shot. You should never be in a position where your only hope it to shoot immediately because a counter is guaranteed to hit you. The game needs to work on that and that is really the only thing that held this one back. Of course a modern remake would also presumably have more of a story which can go a long way too. There’s probably no reason in particular why a remake would be made of this game but I’d definitely be in favor of it.

Overall, ESWAT is a good game. It’s the kind of title that always has a lot going on and so each level has your full attention. If you let your guard down for a moment then you end up paying dearly for it. That said, this nonstop measure of no room for error does mean that this isn’t exactly a relaxing game. It’s one of those full trials that is fun but you wouldn’t want to be playing it forever. So that’s what keeps it from being a bit higher on the scale. If you have the Switch Online then there is definitely no reason not to play it though.

Overall 6/10

Metroid Dread Review

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It’s time to finally check out Metroid Dread. That game was definitely out for quite a while and got good reviews so I knew it was about time that I took the plunge. I can tell you this, the game definitely lives up to the hype. In fact I would say it is the best Metroid game in the franchise. The climax is super cinematic and the combat is also a lot of fun. You really get to use a larger variety of abilities than in other Metroid titles and it doesn’t hold back on graphics or soundtrack. Prepare yourself for a difficult but very satisfying game.

The game starts with a brief recap to Metroid Fusion and then Samus has to head to a planet that is having some trouble. Unfortunately this was a trap. She is quickly defeated by a powerful being known as Raven Beak and she wakes up at the bottom of the planet with most of her abilities being sealed away. She is suffering from something called physical amnesia. She needs to find a way off the planet and then blow it up because if Raven Claw and his X viruses get off the planet then the whole universe will be in trouble. Will she be able to escape?

Right away the game lives up to its title as the main theme is really dark and foreboding. I’ve been listening to it a lot on Youtube after completing the game and it really holds up. It’s a super memorable track and it’s going to be hard for any Samus theme to beat this one. The various boss/level themes are also really solid so I was quite impressed with the soundtrack. Then we have the graphics which are looking real sharp as well. The colors are on point and the cinematics keep up the good work. There are no weak points in the visuals.

The game’s length is a bit on the short side as I beat it in under 7 hours but there are definitely more areas to explore through. All though not as much as in other games as most of the maps quickly get locked as you proceed through the game. So for the most part you can’t do any backtracking until you’re really near the end of the game. It’s hard to time this as well because then you quickly enter the land of no return for the climax so you could very well find yourself at a point where you don’t get to explore much at all.

The game is designed in a way where you can certainly still win even without all the extra energy tanks, it’ll just be more difficult. You have less room for error here so you better work on memorizing the enemy attack patterns. It took me some time for a few of the bosses but just keep going at it and you’ll be okay. This is a very appropriate measure of difficulty where nobody can accuse the game of being too easy but at the same time it’s not insanely difficult. You have the tools at your disposal to win the matches when it counts.

The key gameplay mechanic here is the parry system. You have to use that in order to block the stronger moves that the enemies use and then counter with some free shots from your end. If you nail every counter then you will definitely win but the window of time can be short so it does come down to your overall reaction times. There are also unblockable attacks so you have to be able to quickly notice when they’re coming and dodge instead. If you are too slow then you will be in trouble.

A lot of the boss battles are in fairly open environments which is fun because your movement is not limited. It also means that when you lose, you know that you could have done something different. There are 7 hunters after you as well so you have to constantly be running around them and evading until you get your super laser to finish them off. These chases are really intense and some of the best parts of the title. Probably the best aside from the final boss himself.

Raven Claw will also go down as one of the all time greatest Metroid villains. That guy was really solid. As always Samus is a great heroine as well. Someone who can make snap decisions without hesitating like when she blasts one of the villains near the end. She never gives up. As a whole the gameplay is definitely a lot of fun and in terms of gameplay design, the Metroidvania aspects weren’t bad.

The map could have been better though. It’s a little too cluttered and you can’t really filter it. For example I think you should not see collectibles that you’ve already obtained on the map. It just takes up space and looks misleading. At least make it a different color right? If the map were easier to read then that would make things easier instead of having to check it over and over again. It could be a lot worse though as the game at least usually makes it pretty clear where you should be going. So I give it a lot of props there.

Aside from trying to beat the game even quicker to get special endings, there is also a hard mode and a boss rush mode that you unlock. I’m sure those are fun modes to check out and hopefully you would get some kind of a special reward for completing them. Hard mode must be absolutely unforgiving too so I wonder how the bosses would go there. Maybe the reaction times for the parry are even more narrow which would really put you in a tough spot. As it is I could only parry the hunters once in a while because they are so unpredictable. Having reaction times that good is definitely a rarity.

Overall, Metroid Dread is definitely a great game. One of those titles that reminds you Nintendo can still churn out an intense title when they feel like it. It may be a little more rare than you would like but that’s just how it goes sometimes. I eagerly look forward to seeing if Prime 4 will be able to maintain this intensity. I still have yet to play Prime 2 and Prime 3 so you can bet that I will work on correcting that sooner than later. In the meantime, this is a good title to tide you over.

Overall 8/10