Review: "The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct" (2013) "Not All Dixon's Are D***s."

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Let me just start off by saying I play all television and movie based games, everything deserves a chance.

When Telltale released The Walking Dead Season 1 game I thought what could be better, then when Activison announced this game I thought this could be!

BOY! Was I wrong.

This game starts out great with the normal Walking Dead television show eerie music! They show clips of the towns just like the show. The opening credits and music was a warning of eeriness just like the show's except I want to still want the show after. This should have been a warning not to play.

Right off the back I thought I was playing THQ's Homefront, which like Homefront felt just like a PS2 game.

This is 2013 why are games still producing mediocre graphics? This shouldn't be a surprise seeing as very little of the graphics of the game where shown until now. Everything just blends into one unappealing image. Even the walkers, I think I saw 4 different walkers and the rest are the same. The backgrounds and environments where horrendous!

At least with  Telltales' game the background didn't have a lot to do with the game, just were borders. BUT because the AMC version is the way it is, it makes a  lot of the game not IMPOSSIBLE but difficult. I also found myself glitching a lot in favor of me somethings or in favor of the walkers. I would be running along a hill THEN bam I'd be free failing in a graphic cyber space FOREVER then the game told me I was dead? I don't understand this..

Control wise this game is decent at best. Daryl is only human so running causes him to get tired. Leaving the option of sneaking up on Walkers your best bet. Stealth is key, otherwise you'll find yourself meeling every walker. Granted three of four shots to the head with a blunt object will kill a walker. You can't fatal stab them unless your grappling to save your life.

This game tries so hard to be like many games rolled in one. Such as, Dead Island with the attacking, Splinter Cell with stealth, Assassin Creed by sending out your friends to find supplies, and of course Call of Duty for the first person shooter feel.

A trade off feature I might as well throw in here is the game itself is about 5GB, not not a lot leaving much space on your console! HOWEVER 5GB leaves you to believe this game may not be all that stellar. I guess in this case the trade off is, bigger is better... Which also is suprising seeing as this game has sometimes unbearbale load times!

Another feature of the game that is difficult to digest is the auto save. It clearly marks when it is saving however it is so far and few that it does this. I found myself doing a entire mission and dying and having to restart BECAUSE it only auto saved when I began NOT when I finished my checkpoints.

For other gameplay the object of most of the missions is getting fuel to travel. You'll have the ability to change vehicles, which routes to travel etc. The routes you take will let you know whether or not you'll break down, find items or how dangerous it is to send out your campaigns. A great concept but hard to implement! However this is probably the only comparison between the two walking dead games.

Now for the one thing I truly enjoyed from this game came from pre-ordering it! This one feature is the same as it was in Call of Duty World At War. Know what it is?

Give up?

Nazi Zombies! You get to play Herd mode where each round you'll fight more and more zombies running at you like Dawn of the Dead remake. You'll find just the right about of ammunication and weapons to fight. Head shoots are easy seeing as they run in a straight line.

I found this the best because it was scary, surprising and addicting. I kept getting cornered by zombies, this made melee easier and also took away being attacked form behind. 

The story of this game is probably the only redeeming thing, seeing as it bridges the gap between Daryl and Merle and the time before the show starts. I won't give spoilers or ruin it BUT besides a few SMALL features, Michael Rooker and Norman Reedus' performances were the only reason I played through this game.


Our Honest View gives Walking Dead Survival Instinct 1/5. This game tries so hard to play like blockbuster titles but ends up being just another Homefront. With a great concept such as stealth survivor horror you feel maybe Activison set the bar TO high. Don't get me wrong story wise this is a great game but story alone can't survive the walkers!


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Replay Value: Moderately Low 

By: Gabriel Roderick

"The" Tre Calvin's Favorite Game Series Is Evolving TO!?!?!??! Pokémon

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For me, the love story and conversation for best game series began roughly two to three years ago. It might even have been four now, but I’m not positive about the details. A lot of my good friends were playing a ton of Nintendo DS, and to say I was jealous would be the world’s biggest understatement. 

Most of them religiously played Pokemon, and I’m not gonna lie; I wasn’t even remotely excited. I mean seriously, a turn based children’s RPG with no real storyline? Yeah, count me out. So naturally, part of the conditions of me obtaining my first DS included the play-through of all Pokemon games. It’s an agreement I still haven’t fully met to this day (sorry guys).

I started with Pokemon Soul Silver. On paper, it was the most one-dimensional, straightforward games I’ve ever played. There was an amazing lack of storyline, loads of cute monsters, half of which I never intend to use, and an end game that apparently ends with me getting a bunch of legendary dudes that look well... let’s just say silly. I coasted through the badges and elite four in something like 20 hours. 

At that point, in my heart it was one of the biggest wastes of time I’ve ever endured. I’m talking to my good friend Nick one day, and he’s explaining to me that there’s a large amount of time and energy to invest into playing Pokemon competitively, and that folks, is where our love story really kicks off.

Looking at my team that absolutely demolished the Elite Four, I was thinking I’d wreck a few of my friends nice and quick, and they would let me move on to better games. Well, I got my behind handed to me. Before we continue this story, I’d like to note I’m a decent loser. You can learn a lot from your losses, and no real winner never loses, but I was pissed! Who cares that they have played Pokemon since seemingly the dawn of time. It’s a simple, crappy, one-dimensional RPG at best right? 

Right?! 

Oh, it’s not huh? 

The game has more mechanics, silent factors and features, and cool abilities than any game I can quickly remember. Turns out I’d been coasting through the game wrong for ages and I needed to start over. 

 

Training, breeding, nature checking, countless articles, and dozens of losses later, I’d invested well over 100 hours into my Soul Silver file. It’s depressing really. I think I lost 30 or so matches before wracking up a single win. The win was sadly pathetic too. A friend literally built a one-dimensional team and I stumbled into its flaws.

You ever get that odd feeling one win is a cure-all though? I went on a cute spree, assembling a fundamental team that literally re-created Pokemon for me. I still wasn’t feeling it. Fast forward another 20-30 hours of play, and I’m just about done caring about Pokemon yet again. I’ve built what I think is a sweet team. I’m not always winning, but I’m comfortable where I sit. I had nothing new to prove. 

Then I stumbled across Marowak, and this dude is freaking awesome. He’s missing a lot, but he fights with a bone club and he has a bone mask. He was, and is, literally the most badass pokemon ever! My first real Pokemon obsession began.

I will win with this guy I told myself. He’s a baller. Well, my normal winning strike began, but this time was different. I was having a blast. The universal response to my awesome Marowak was an awesome mix of disgust and admiration. He lost a lot, and boy do I mean a lot. He was too slow and defensive, but not defensive enough, but boy could that club hit. And by the way, did I mention he was a bad ass? I needed to fix this!

Thinking back to my old MMO days, I realized I needed the Pokemon equivalent of a support cast to level the playing ground for him. Insert Ninjask, this speedy ninja fly, and Umbreon, a super cute dark themed four-legged monster. If you look into this yourself you’ll see I’m doing Umbreon no justice here. I started to truly love my team!

There’s no true reference to explain its results, but for my own sake I’ll try. You know the old crappy cars in every neighborhood that always gets you where you need to go? That’s the best I got. I piled up a bunch of awkward wins and even more awkward losses, and I was at the peak of my Pokemon fun.

Pokemon Black and White comes. It’s like the one time the prodigy had a really ugly accident baby. I’ve never loved a game and hated its sequel so much ever. It took me 40 hours of playing to get through Elite Four, mostly because I keep nodding off while playing. How much money do these people make? 

They need to hire a better story-writer. 

That games "story" was awful. I put story in quotations because calling it a story is an insult to other stories. With post game, I get to transfer my dudes though, and start competitive with my mates again. The romance not only continues, but grows.

A hundred or so more hours are consumed creating, recreating, scheming, whining and reading. How the hell is this the best gaming series for you one might ask? The process to me was simple. Pokemon to me was the first time ever to me that I endured years of loss passionately. I looked forward to playing, and plotted the best way to accomplish completely mundane tasks with a smile on my face.

 I can’t think of a single game that has a chore factor that I’ve ever looked forward to. I invested 200-300 hours into the game, and I know for a fact that I haven’t enjoyed the games to the fullest. Everything is so cute! There are hundreds of unique monsters for you to catch and level, and competitive Pokemon is more complex than most games I have ever played. It’s a gaming goldmine. If for some odd reason you have been under a rock for ages and haven’t already done so, I highly suggest you pick up a copy of Pokemon and begin your own love story today!

 **Borrowed From Nintendo Magazine**




FUTURE:

Now with the second anniversary of the Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo is promising us a brand new story, brand new Pokemon on a brand new platform! 3D! Something that hasn't been done before. Though the battle specs have been in 3D scopes, this game will be in complete 3D! Let's get the training and breeding beginning so we can destroy this new game!




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By: "The" Tre Calvin

Replay Value: Infinite

 

Review: "Sly Cooper: Thieves In Time" (2013) "Sony Is Sly With Their Cross Game-Play Features."

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There’s a saying, what was once old is new again. In the case of Sly Cooper Thieves In Time, what once was old is well..... still old, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Thieves in Time is in no way a revolutionary entry in the series, but more of a love letter from developer Sanzaru Games to the original Sly games.
The story of Thieves in Time picks up after the events of Sly 3, with Sly living happily with Carmelita, Bentley tinkering away in his workshop on inventions unknown, and Murray living as a famous demolition derby driver.

The gang gets back together when Bentley notices that pages are disappearing from the Thievious Raccoonus, which is the Sly families history and compendium of thieving techniques. To restore order and the book, they race into the past to try and find out what is going on, traveling through different eras. Locales range form feudal Japan to Arabia to modern day Paris.

If you ever played the old Sly games, you know what to expect in this game. Sly, Bentley and Murray return. Everything is done well, with tons of variety throughout. Sly’s stealth and platforming, Bentley’s shooting and dual stick tank shooter hacking minigame, and Murray’s beat ‘em up all control as well as ever.

Sly’s relatives add even more variety with their own special abilities. When not doing specific missions, you can search the different levels for hidden treasures and other collectibles.

Also, as you progress through the game, you acquire new moves for each of your playable characters with the coins you collect throughout the game which range from giving Sly a paraglider to giving Bentley shrink ammo.
Thieves in Time is an impressive looking game, sticking with the cel shaded style of the series. However, instead of an amazing looking HD game, it looks more like and HD remake. It feels like they took assets from Sly 3 and slapped a fresh coat of paint on it.

As I said, it looks good, but it hasn’t kept up with it’s old nemesis Ratchet & Clank.


An added bonus of the PS3 version is that it is part of Sony’s cross-buy program which, if you don’t already know, means that when you buy the PS3 version you get the Vita version for free. Unlike most of the other offerings in the cross-buy program, Thieves in Time goes beyond just allowing you to take your save game file back and forth between the 2 systems.

When you are playing the PS3 version, you can use your vita as a map showing you where all the collectables are in whatever level you playing. The only downside of this feature is that it doesn’t show you which collectables you have already found, just where they all are. And let me tell you, this can be real aggravating when you have found 29 out of 30 treasures in a level and you aren’t sure which one you missed.


Once you have finished the game, there is no real reason story-wise to go back and play again. The only reason to go back and play again would be to find any treasures of safes you missed. Because of this, the game has little to no replay value unless you just can’t get enough Sly.


Our Honest View gives Sly Cooper Thieves in Time a 4 out of 5. While a good game, after so many years I would have liked a little more innovation. Fans of the series will like it, but if you didn’t like the PS2 Sly games, you won’t like this entry any better.

>>?>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>By: Adam Zimmerman