Earlier today, I subjugated the entirety of the United States of America in the name of the glorious Furon Empire; and what fun it was. Destroy All Humans is back like a blast from the past, the original that is, beautifully remade from the ground up for the Xbox One, PS4, and PC platforms. Before I continue, I want it to be established that I’ve been playing and adoring the DAH franchise since I was in grade school (Path of the Furon in particular was like a drug to me), so any criticisms I levy come from a place of genuine love in the hopes of patched improvements and the overall continuation of the IP. To be clear, this is by no means a review; more so my impressions of the title and what the franchise may (hopefully) hold in store for us in the future. So, without further delay, did Blackforest Games walk the Path of the Furon? Or did they stray from the light?
Credit: THQ Nordic
Faithful to the Furon Empire
I have to admit, I was extremely nervous when this remake was announced. DAH is infamously known for it’s crude humor, and in 2020 that bothers quite a lot of people. Luckily, Blackforest Games has backbone, and none of the dialogue or story from the original was altered in the slightest. Almost immediately relieved of that concern after starting my playthrough, I was eager to see how this beloved game from my childhood would look with modern graphics. Personally, I believe Blackforest Games did a phenomenal job with the visuals, capturing the aesthetic and feel of the original while simply modernizing it. This is how you do a proper remake! Additionally, the gameplay is just as ludicrously entertaining as it’s always been, nearly identical to the play style of the original (but again, more fluid and modernized). When it comes to what really matters, retaining it’s identity, Destroy All Humans Remake outright succeeds in every fashion. There are few games that make me feel like a kid again, and I’m elated to say this is one of them. Even if you aren’t partially blinded by nostalgia, the title offers an immense amount of fun to be had and carnage to cause. However, the game is not without faults, and in my opinion all of said faults are of the technical variety.
Credit: THQ Nordic
A Glitch in the System
To my dismay, not all is smooth sailing in DAH Remake. Technical issues and bugs hinder the experience to a noticeable degree, those of which I will now outline:
Frequent frame Drops Below 15 FPS (on Xbox One X)
Pulled out of Holo-Bob disguise for no reason whatsoever
Audio-skipping throughout entire playthrough (almost unbearable with headphones)
Objects completely missing locked-on targets with PK
Rare, occasional crashes
Some poorly placed checkpoints which lead to repeated mission failures in certain instances
All of that being said, if these problems are patched I would have virtually no issues with DAH Remake.
Credit: THQ Nordic
The Future of the Furon
Seeing as how we have a “new” DAH game in 2020, well after the franchise’s supposed demise in 2008, all things are possible. Although the metascore for DAH Remake lingers just under a 70, I sincerely hope this doesn’t discourage THQ Nordic and Blackforest Games from fully reviving and revitalizing this fantastic franchise. If anyone from either company is reading this, I have a personal message for you: please, for the love of all that is good in this universe, remake Destroy All Humans 2 as your next project. This was an incredible starting point, and now being more experienced with DAH as a whole you could all truly bring this beloved IP back from the grave in full force and with that signature Cryptosporidium-style. Keep doing exactly what all of you are doing and you could easily amass a sizable fan base, and in the future even possibly remake the Path of Furon or who knows, even create an all new DAH game entirely from scratch. The only suggestion I would make is to spend way more time in QA. The bugs and technical issues I previously mentioned could indeed be a lot worse, however in tandem these grievances caused some furious frustration. I encourage you all to take the next step with this incredible IP; the Future of the Furon Empire is in your capable hands. Don’t let us down.
Thank you to Wales Interactive for providing an early review copy.
Introduction
Maid of Sker is the next game from indie studio Wales Interactive, who have released previous titles such as Late Shift and Don’t Knock Twice. Delving into the horror genre, Maid of Sker aims to capture an audience with an unique premise, one that really hasn’t been attempted in the mainstream before (at least to my knowledge): Welsh Mythological Horror. At first, and to be fair by the end as well, they succeeded in this regard. The story had captured my full attention, littered with intriguing imagery, disturbing yet informative lore notes, compelling character dialogue, and eerie atmosphere. However, the impact of all of this is minimized, due unfortunately to some minor technical issues, abhorrently broken mechanics, and overly obtuse puzzle solving. Maid of Sker is a majorly mixed bag, with pros and cons engulfed in a never ending battle of tug of war; keeping the title from becoming either a flawless masterpiece or an abysmal failure.
Credit: Wales Interactive
The Good
Maid of Sker definitely has its faults, but what it does right is done extremely well. As I mentioned earlier, the Wales 1898 setting is immediately captivating. Upon exiting the train to Sker Hotel, I couldn’t help but constantly pan my camera around to soak in the aesthetic of the dreary Welsh countryside. I felt as if something heavy was in the air all around me, as if the land I’ve just entered was plagued by an evil spell. The ominous atmosphere was firmly established, which is impressive yet crucial to do this early into a title’s runtime. This is also aided by the graphics and in particular the lighting in certain places, although generally speaking I would say the visuals are adequate for the price. However, the main draw to Maid of Sker has to be the story. You play as Thomas, a composer and husband to Elizabeth Williams. Having received a letter from Elizabeth requesting your help with some family matters under dire circumstances, you head off to the Williams ancestral home: Sker Hotel. I won’t discuss much more about the story or heavily dissect the plot as I’m firmly against spoilers, but I will say I wanted to find out every little detail of the madness that was occurring. Luckily, the game expected this, as there are lore notes scattered throughout the property that will provide key insights to the strife the Williams family has caused and endured. Slowly but surely, you will put the pieces together yourself to discover the truth to the nightmare. Additionally, the mythological aspects that come into play are fascinating, since prior to playing this title I had no knowledge of Welsh folklore. However, I’m reluctant to elaborate any further; as the story and the horrid, hidden truths you will find are the main reason to play the game. Unfortunately, the true horrors of Sker Hotel are decidedly not the terrors the developers intended.
Credit: Wales Interactive
The Bad
There is one issue that I have with Maid of Sker that takes precedent above all else and must be addressed first: the breathing mechanic. In the game, your main method of dispatching enemies is, well, to not dispose of them at all. Without giving too much away, the monstrosities that plague the hotel grounds are blind, so in order to find you they have to hear you. This can be done in a myriad of ways, from walking on a creaky floorboard to bumping into an inanimate object. However, the main avenue of detection will be your own breathing. Whether you’re too close to an enemy without holding your breath or accidentally inhale dust particles or smoke from a fire and cough, your need for oxygen will be your consistent downfall. Now, if executed properly this can be an incredible game mechanic that brings a tension like no other (for example, Death Stranding). However, this mechanic is plain broken and wildly inconsistent. The majority of times I was detected by an enemy were completely unfair. Sometimes they could hear me from multiple rooms away, other times they could detect me through walls. Occasionally, there would be instances where it would just not work at all. There wouldn’t even be the slightest noise, not even the sound of a mouse scurrying across the floor, with me holding my breath in tandem, and an enemy would bull-rush me as if decided to start screeching like a banshee. Additionally, the game is filled with puzzles, which at first is not necessarily a bad thing. However, the majority of puzzles are insanely obtuse, with no real indication as to what the solution you’re working for is even supposed to be, leading to moments of immense frustration. Some held clever solutions, but overall the puzzles were poorly designed. Now, and without delving into spoilers, there is a Mr. X inspired enemy that stalks you on a certain floor of the hotel. My criticism isn’t that this is a knockoff of RE2R’s beloved tyrant (although, he is), as imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. But if you are to pay homage to an iconic horror villain, you have to do it right. He has the trench coat, hat, and heavy footsteps of Mr. X, but he’s anything but. This enemy is flat out broken and insanely overpowered. For instance, he never stops chasing you for his segment of the game (you can never lose him, he has constant tracking unlike Mr. X), he can kill you he’s while STUNNED if you’re close enough, and even sometimes the stun just won’t register and he’ll kill you. This is all amplified by the boss fight with the creature, in which I had to abuse the game mechanics in order to emerge victorious. It’s a typical “trap an enemy in a room and hit a button three times” boss fight, except you can’t trap him in the room. He’ll just walk into your room while you’re trying to activate the trap, as once again the stuns did not work consistently. To bypass this, I would hit the button and run into the trap room MYSELF, spamming all my ammo to keep him trapped in there with me. I also had to spam healing items, as with this method I took a massive amount of damage from the trap itself and whenever he’d hit me when a stun didn’t register. Rinsed and repeated three times, I had finally defeated him. Was it worth it? Not really, no. Finally, my last criticism of Maid of Sker (aside from some minor technical issues, which will come next), is that it really isn’t all that scary. Sure it’s unsettling, ominous, dark, but is it horrifying? No, well, unless you’re terrified of jump-scares as that is the main delivery of “horror” in this title. In my opinion, it’s a lazy way to induce a quick flash of fear unto the player, and I wish more effort was put into making the player feel paranoid, off-balance, anxious, and overall just plain scared.
Credit: Wales Interactive
The Ugly
This is usually where I’d talk about bugs and glitches, but outside of the broken and poorly designed mechanics previously mentioned, there isn’t much to report. I encountered some minor stuttering during my four and a half hour playthrough, but nothing remotely game-breaking. Furthermore, there were some light sound glitches. These could range from hearing wood creaking beneath my feet while I’m walking on tile to hearing enemies from far away (which can lead to some slight confusion) but once again, nothing game-breaking. Overall, I’m happy to say there are no major technical issues in Maid of Sker.
Credit: Wales Interactive
Summary & Conclusion
If I had to associate one word with Maid of Sker, it would have to be potential. The story and hidden lore is captivating, keeping me intrigued for my entire stay at Sker Hotel. The dialogue between characters is well acted and written, and the atmosphere establishes a beautiful balance between quiet, Welsh countryside and scorching eternal damnation. Unfortunately in the end, this is all bogged down by blatantly broken mechanics and at times overly obtuse puzzle-solving. However, I eagerly anticipate what Wales Interactive will develop next. With more development experience and time, I truly believe they are capable of crafting a masterpiece within the horror genre.
Before I begin, I want to make it explicitly clear that I never wanted The Last of Us 2 to fail. When essentially the entirety of the plot leaked online, I turned my head away and not once looked. Despite all the hate I heard it was receiving, I never wanted to find out what it was all about. I had faith in Naughty Dog, after all they earned it. From playing Jak and Daxter as a kid to growing up and maturing alongside Nathan Drake, I knew Naughty Dog would forever release quality, innovative, and quite frankly masterclass games for the rest of their years. My belief in this doctrine was only further cemented by the release of The Last of Us in 2013; a post-apocalyptic story about a broken father regaining his hope in the plague-ridden world when tasked with transporting an immune girl across the country for vaccine development, who would soon be his adopted daughter. The narrative told by the first Last of Us was near flawless, with the relationship between the main protagonists, Joel and Ellie, being the absolute brightest highlight of the entire game. When a sequel was announced, I couldn’t have been more thrilled. I waited, alongside all of you, just under seven years in eager anticipation as to what Naughty Dog would concoct this time. I was entirely confident it would be yet another masterpiece, as Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (their previous title to TLOU2) was a downright 10/10, with one of the best narratives ever written for games, or entertainment media in general. To be completely honest, for the first half of my play through of TLOU2, I still held onto that sentiment. Even though the death of Joel was controversial to say the least, I didn’t have many issues with it at the time because it made narrative sense. Ellie needed a driving force for her revenge story, and the death of her adoptive father is as good a catalyst as any. However, when the player’s perspective is switched to Abby halfway through the game, the quality starts to drop quite a bit at a consistent pace (which is covered in my colleague Frank’s article on his views of the game as a whole), but even then the narrative was still salvageable by a large margin. However, the finale of the game, the satisfying resolution that was supposed to justify all the choices Naughty Dog made during development, was by far the most disappointing, poorly written, illogical, and at the risk of sounding unprofessional, downright stupid ending I’ve ever had the displeasure of experiencing. There are many reasons as to why this is the definitive case, too many to mention all at once in this format, but the largest sins will most certainly be addressed.
The Unavenged Murder of Joel Miller
Image Credit: PlayStation
To start, I’d like to address the rampaging elephant in the room: the unnecessary and insulting murder of gaming’s favorite dad, Joel Miller. When I initially played the game, although a part of my soul cracked when I witnessed the heinous crime, I did not believe it detracted from the overall plot. Ellie needed a driving force that would allow her to seek vengeance at any cost, and the death of Joel most certainly accomplished it. However, this was the largest gamble ND took with the narrative, and gambles like this NEED to pay off. This one, regrettably, did not in the absolute slightest. After 26 and a half hours of playtime, I finally reached the coast of Santa Barbara to find a weakened Abby on death’s door. After cutting her down from the torture pillar, I was incredibly nervous. Why was Ellie letting her go, surely she didn’t take two trips across the country for nothing? But then, at the end, Ellie forces Abby to fight her, and after a grueling battle you at last have her at your mercy; viciously drowning her in the shallows of the Pacific Ocean. I was talking out loud to my TV “Yes, finally! You thought I would just forget what you did?” along with a wide variety of obscenities and insults. In this moment, I was beyond satisfied. I didn’t understand why the game got all of this “unwarranted” hate, I was witnessing the best possible ending for the story they were telling. Then, in quite possibly the worst decision in writing I’ve ever seen, Ellie gets off of her. She let’s her leave Santa Barbara. She let’s her live. Now this next sentence is addressed to Naughty Dog and more specifically the “director” Neil Druckman in particular: One, are you out of your minds and two, did you ever take a creative writing class in school? I believe the honest answers would be yes and then no, because this is the most ludicrous and forced absurdity I’ve ever seen implemented into a supposed “masterpiece” of a videogame. Abby had to die for the story to succeed, it’s that simple. She savagely murdered the main protagonist of TLOU1 (Ellie’s adoptive father), and for what? She killed Jessie (Ellie’s best friend), crippled Tommy (Ellie’s adoptive uncle), and beat a pregnant Dina (Ellie’s girlfriend and then later wife) halfway to hell…and for what? I’m supposed to believe that after everything and everyone Abby took from Ellie, the two treks across America there and back again, she just forgives her? That would be akin to Obi-Wan Kenobi saying to Emperor Palpatine “Yeah, you killed mostly everyone in my order, destroyed the foundations of everything I believe in, and have always plotted my downfall along with turning my brother to evil, but I forgive you Sheev”. It just doesn’t make any sense. Any human being, no matter how morally just, who has suffered immense loss such as Ellie at the hands of one individual would never forgive said individual, let alone allow them to live when they’re at your complete mercy. From my perspective, it seems like a genuine insult from the post-Uncharted 4 team at Naughty Dog to the fans of the original TLOU by leaving Joel unavenged. It simply does not make the slightest bit of sense, and made me feel completely unsatisfied. It doesn’t matter how fantastic a videogame, book, or movie may be, if there isn’t a satisfying resolution (especially when you make huge gambles like killing off your main character), the entirety of the story is worthless. If there’s no payoff, no fitting conclusion, then may I ask what the point of it even was? Now I know what the ND fan army is going to counter this with, “But the cycle of violence was broken, therefore it’s a fitting resolution as that was the theme of the story. You may not like it, but that’s the way the narrative was supposed to go”. Well to start, that’s verifiably false as for fifty percent of the game’s development, Abby was supposed to die. Not only that, but Abby is not a likable character, nor a good person, as she continues to perpetuate this “cycle of violence” well past her initial murder of Joel. This “grand artistic expression” of an ending is nothing more than a cheap cop out. She didn’t deserve to survive, even for Lev’s sake, as I’ll outline now.
The Abby Problem
Image Credit: PlayStation
As mentioned in our previous TLOU2 TGP article, the community has discovered that the original game was supposed to be played entirely as Ellie, due to concept art showing Ellie in segments of the game where you play as Abby. I just wanted to lay this groundwork to show how her character was rushed and then poorly utilized, as to give more background as to why she’s so unlikable. You play as her in an early part of the game, hunting down someone who is obviously Joel if you can pick up on the not so subtle hints Abby and Owen drop in their dialogue. Now, as someone who had no knowledge of any leaks, what came next was a brutal shock. Joel dying within the first two hours made me irreversibly hate Abby, and it was a true mistake on ND’s part for implementing that twist so early. After that, I could never sympathize with her again. There was only one instance where I came close to understanding her plight, as her father was murdered at the start of her half of the game. My father passed when I was extremely young as well, and in that moment I did feel her pain; and Naughty Dog I commend you for that. However, after that ND, you completely lost me. Not only does she kill Joel in a unnecessary and evil fashion (as he made her father’s death quick), she’s doing it out of pure revenge, whereas Joel committed his violence out of protection for someone he loved. Not only that, but if the Fireflies would have just told Ellie that she would die during surgery, she would’ve agreed to it and talked Joel down, resulting in no bloodshed and a cure. Due to this lack of understanding (pushed heavily by Abby’s father and reinforced by Abby herself), they just go for it without telling Ellie, setting Joel off. Therefore Joel’s actions, although while still wrong, is more justified than Joel’s murder. So, in a sense, Abby started the cycle of violence by seeking revenge and offensive violence first, and even continued to show that she was not a good person even after the fact. While she does save two children (only because they saved her life first), she massacres many WLF members who once fought alongside her in the process. Now, some may say it was out of self defense, but Abby (now a deserter and traitor), Lev, and Yara drew first blood by killing Isaac, the leader of the WLF, and was the provocation for them hunting Abby and her child cronies. An army doesn’t let their general go unavenged, just like a daughter shouldn’t allow her father to be, but I’ve already discussed that. There certainly were avenues to avoid that bloodshed, but Abby jumped straight to the gun. Besides her acts of unjustified violence, additionally she lacks moral fortitude. This is shown as she lies down with her ex, Owen, even though he is currently taken and expecting a child. Both parties are to blame here as it takes two to tango, but Abby is still at fault all the same. After experiencing all of this, once you reach the theater as Abby where Ellie is hiding out, they force you to fight Ellie as her, which I did not want to do whatsoever. Over the course of her story, they try to slightly turn you against Ellie in certain parts by trying to get the player to sympathize with Abby and her friends, but that never happens due to the aforementioned murder of Joel among other poor writing decisions/unconvincing dialogue. In fact, I let Ellie kill me at first because that’s the way I’d want it to go. They tried to push this new, invasive character too much, and if you never played the first game, sure it might work. But majority of people who play a direct sequel to a game have played the original, and that holds true to TLOU just like it does to anything else. To view both games as a complete story, only the first half remains quality. Abby’s character and progression of violence as a whole warrants her lack of survival, and yet they still let her live. Why, so that Lev would have someone with her? Why would Ellie care about that, regardless if she can relate to the child? It’s the same kid that put an arrow into her Uncle, leaving him crippled. And yes, Lev did tell Abby to stop before she killed a pregnant Dina (which, by the way, makes Abby a great role model and likable character, right ND? Especially since when Ellie killed Mel she had no idea of the pregnancy, and was visibly sickened when she found out. What did Abby say when she found out Dina was pregnant, with her blade to Dina’s throat? Oh yeah, that’s right: “Good.”), but Lev’s the one who led Abby to them in the first place so…yeah, I don’t have much sympathy for her either. If this was the first TLOU, this all very well could have theoretically worked. However, it’s not, and the blurry line between right and wrong that Naughty Dog tried to craft fell flat on its face and came out crystal clear. By the ending of the game, not only has Abby shown she lacks character and morality/ethics, but has already clearly painted herself as the villain by viciously killing our beloved Joel Miller with the support of all of her friends, which immediately justifies Ellie’s vengeance to the player. Mel, Owen’s pregnant girlfriend, said it best: “You’re a terrible person Abby. You always have been”.
Conclusion
Image Credit: PlayStation
Don’t worry, I’m not going to pull a Naughty Dog and leave you feeling empty inside, as this exposé will have a satisfying resolution. Although, there isn’t much more to say, but I just need to once again express how deeply disappointed I am with this game, as seven years of waiting amounted to no pay off whatsoever. Whether you’re writing an essay for school, a screenplay in a coffee shop, or a storyline for a videogame, you most certainly are allowed to take risks with your creation. In fact, I’d even wager that narrative gambles are necessary to capture the audience’s attention and insure they stick around for the entire time. However, in doing so, you need said risks to pay off. Without a satisfying resolution, it doesn’t matter how incredible the rest of the narrative is; the story is unfinished, the audience is unfulfilled. They feel as if their time was wasted, there was no fitting conclusion that can ease their mind to the controversial decisions made by the narrative. Honestly, I would rather have never played TLOU2, and kept the story of the first game unsoiled. Therefore, it is my argument that the narrative of The Last of Us 2 is, undoubtedly, worthless.
Spoilers for The Last of Us, The Last of Us Part II and The Walking Dead Ahead:
When I experienced The Last of Us in 2014, I experienced a roller coaster of emotions. The introduction scene set the tone of the game by letting the player know they were going to be emotionally devastated by the end of their journey. Tess, Henry, and Sam all died in different but sad ways. However, by the end of your journey, Joel shows that the only thing the mattered to him was saving Ellie and you have a sense of hope as they approach their new lives in Jackson together.
Before diving into the story of The Last of Us Part II, I want to discuss what I thought about the other parts of the game. The animations were the best I have ever seen in a video game. The graphics would be the best I have seen this generation if I had the option to turn off the film grain. The soundtrack was just as amazing as the first game’s score. The acting was top of the line with a stellar cast. Majority of the flashbacks are excellent and give time to characters that didn’t get as much time as they deserved. Exploration around the world was rewarded with interesting dialogue, easter eggs, and even a few hidden cut scenes. I did feel like the safes that could be unlocked through out the game were way to similar. The only exception to that was for one of the safes, you have to break open a vending machine to find an extra soda that has a clue on it. My one other grievance with the game is that I wish we saw less time in Seattle. Don’t get me wrong, Seattle looks incredible but I think spending over half the game in one city is a little bit to much. I think the journey to Seattle and/or Santa Barbra deserved more time. I also feel just a little more time in Jackson could have benefited newer players so they could bond with Joel a little bit more.
Credit: Naughty Dog
The Last of Us Part II starts off with Joel telling his brother Tommy about what really happened to his former group who went by the fireflies (Joel killed them all because they wanted to kill Ellie to find a cure since she was immune). When Tommy gets back to Jackson, he tells Joel that he will bring what they talked about to the grave because he knows that Joel just wants to move on from what happened at the end of the first installment.
For the next section of the game, the player switches between playing as Ellie and Abby. Ellie shows a day in the life of a typical able body person in Jackson. Through Ellie we meet both Dina and Jessie who later become essential characters to the story. Unfortunately we don’t see this side of life as long as I wished we would have. The player spends about 15 minutes exploring Jackson before heading off on a patrol. When we switch protagonists, Abby reveals that her group is searching for a male that lives in Jackson (later revealed to be Tommy so they could eventually find Joel). Luckily for them, Abby runs right into the two of them when she is being chased by a horde. What are the odds of that! After Abby, Joel and Tommy all work together to temporarily escape the horde, they decide that they will go to Abby’s camp because they won’t be able to make it back to Jackson in time. As many of you know because of leaked game-play that came out months before launch, Ellie gets to the house just in time to watch Abby execute Joel with a golf club.
This scene hurt me. I replayed The Last of Us right before the launch of its sequel to get reinvested in all of the characters. I remembered how good the relationship that Ellie and Joel had in the first game. It was ripped away before I even got the chance for their relationship to grow again. The worst part about it all is that like many, I knew this scene was going to happen but it still hurt. When The Last of Us Part II leaked, I tried to avoid it. Unfortunately the twitter trolls were to strong. It only took two days until an Abby meme showed up on a thread that was about universal basic income (absolutely nothing related to gaming). However, when the cast and critics of the game started to say that the leaks weren’t telling the full story, it really got my brain moving. I went back to old trailers and saw clips of an older Joel in scenes that would have to happen later in the story. I had theories where maybe Joel some how survived but unfortunately those were incorrect. In the end, the two times we see Joel in the trailer were there to throw us off. The one scene is swapped over to Jessie in the main game. The location and lines stay the same.
The other scene was when Joel rides to St. Mary after Ellie sneaks out in the middle of the night to go there. In the trailer, we see a Joel who looks like the older Joel we see in the first bit of the game. The version we see in the full release of the game looks a lot more like the younger Joel we all know and love from the original game. There is also the fact that Abby is barely seen in any of the trailers. We see her in one promo and that is it. There is never any mention of the fact that you will play half the game as her.
Could have Naughty Dog done this on purpose just to deceive people? Probably. Could have Naughty Dog had a different vision for the game originally and changed it? Also possible. If you look at the art work from the “extras” screen in-game, we see Ellie at locations such as the hospital basement (during the epic boss fight we do as Abby, not from the Nora chase) and the island during the WLF invasion. During an interview in Indiewire.com, it was confirmed that in a previous version of the game, Ellie did travel to the island but we have no idea if you would have still played as Abby in that version of the game.
I struggled with playing as Abby originally. You take a good six hour break from being Abby and then you are brought right back to her after she shoots Jesse and holds Ellie and Tommy at gun point. The flashback of her at the zoo showing her dad save the zebra (my favorite animal) made me feel partially bad for what Joel took from her. Abby’s dad seemed like a guy who just wanted to have the world go back to normal no matter the cost. Those feelings go away once you start playing as Seattle as Abby and Joel’s death is brought back up. There are moments during day 1 of Abby that I enjoy like when Mel’s dog is a complete bad ass and the fact that we can see the Washington Liberation Front from a different perspective (they aren’t the one sided bad guys that Ellie’s point of view makes them out to be). But it takes me until the middle of day 2 to actually start to care about Abby as a character. Abby spends a lot of time bonding with Lev and has some of the best set pieces of the entire game during these two days. But that eventually ends and you go right back to the moment where Jesse was shot. They put this scene right after Abby finds out that Ellie killed Owen, a pregnant Mel, and her dog (in self defense). I feel the need to add that the dog’s death hurt so much more then Owen and Mel dying. Not that I didn’t care about either of their characters. I just had problems with things that both of them do as we play as Abby while the dog is perfect. Anyway, Naughty Dog obviously wants the player to be mad at Ellie at this point of the game but it feels so out of place trying to kill Ellie as Abby after you watch her shoot Tommy in the head (a character we have known since the original game!). I am prompted on screen to spam buttons to punch Ellie but I obviously don’t have any interest in wanting to see Ellie die. Abby was ready to kill a pregnant Dina but is thankfully stopped by Lev. This is now the second time that Abby has left Ellie to live after killing one of her friends right in front of her.
Credit: Naughty Dog
The game then fast forwards to farm life. Ellie and Dina live on a farm on the outskirts of Jackson. Dina has had her child and names him JJ after Jesse. Things seem happy and it appears like Ellie has finally moved on but during an accident while herding the sheep, Ellie sees Joel’s smashed face in her head. Ellie hasn’t been eating or sleeping much and can not stop thinking about Joel. We get our last happy moment of the game when it is revealed that Tommy survived his shot to the head. Things however go downhill from there. Tommy is blind in one eye, struggles to walk without a limp, and is taking a break with his wife, Maria. Tommy has a lead on Abby’s location (even though it is a complete long shot, which foils pretty well with Abby from the start of the game where she had a lead on Joel). Tommy goes off on Ellie when Dina doesn’t want Ellie going on this search similar to how Ellie acted to Tommy at the start of the game as well. Ellie leaves in the night against Dina’s wishes which also foils with Tommy’s situation from the start of the game.
I had some hope brought back into me during this part of the game. We were finally back as Ellie and I was expecting to be able to experience her journey across a few states. Unfortunately, just like Ellie and Dina’s trip to Seattle, its a time skip. Reading Ellie’s journal talks about passing places like Las Vegas which I thought could have been super interesting. I would have preferred to have more locations on the journey to Seattle and Santa Barbra rather then playing those three days in Seattle as Abby. I think the story of Abby’s point of view could have worked better as a DLC or a standalone expansion similar to Uncharted Lost Legacy.
Ellie finally finds a weakened Abby and Lev who were both captured by slavers after they tried to find the newly formed fireflies. However, Ellie isn’t in the best shape after getting impaled by a tree branch when she gets stuck in a trap. Ellie does some bad ass stuff to escape the trap by throwing one of the slavers into a trapped infected and then shoots the other. When the other slaver sees the Ellie was bit, he tells her what direction to head. Ellie eventually frees the other slaves who tell her Abby was sent to the beach pillars after trying to escape. After Ellie cuts her down, Abby has no interest in fighting Ellie and just wants to leave with Lev. Ellie eventually gets her to fight with her after threatening Lev. Ellie gets two of fingers bitten off but had Abby at her mercy in the ocean waves. Ellie remembers her last conversation with Joel and decides to let Abby leave. The only thing I can compare this to was Rick letting Negan survive during The Walking Dead because of a conversation he had with his son Carl who had passed away earlier in the show. It is worth mentioning, that during the interview mentioned earlier, Neil Druckmann confirmed that the original ending of the game had Ellie killing Abby during their final fight.
Ellie returns back to the farmhouse to find it abandoned. Ellie goes to her art room to find all of her belongings inside. Ellie picks up her guitar and tries to play it but messes up on a few notes because she is missing two of her fingers.
Credit: Naughty Dog
The way that I have decided to look at the ending is this: Ellie is on the verge of having her biggest fear become reality. Being alone. Everyone she has ever cared about has either died or left her. We see Ellie put the guitar down and leave the house. Ellie could be going anywhere but I am going to assume that she is going back to Jackson to win Dina back. I want to assume that Ellie is finally at peace with Joel’s death since she let Abby go but who knows. They leave the ending open to interpret. The ending left me wanting more and I felt empty on the inside. Could you imagine any other story where the main theme is revenge, not ending with vengeance? I get that Naughty Dog wanted to do something different and they wanted to break the cycle of revenge but I would have honestly preferred for Abby and Ellie to kill each other on the beach rather then the ending we got. Abby and Lev are on their way now to join the fireflies. I can’t stop to think about all of the WLF npcs who were killed along the way who were essentially innocent. All of them died because of what Abby did to Joel but she gets off the hook? What about all the WLF members that Abby herself killed when she was protecting Lev on the island? I mean that was worse then Joel killing a bunch of strangers he never met to save Ellie since he at least knew Ellie for more then a day and a half. The only way I can look at this ending and be satisfied is the fact that Abby lost everyone that was close to her besides Lev. I really wish Tommy didn’t pressure Ellie to follow the lead about Abby being in Santa Barbra. If she didn’t go there, Abby would have died on that pillar judging off the bodies that we see rotting away next to her.
To summarize my opinion on the game. Everything was amazing besides the writing. I see what Naughty Dog was going for and a lot of people will enjoy what they did with the story but I personally couldn’t enjoy the second half as the game as much as the first. I struggled to relate with Abby and rooted against her while playing as her which threw things off. In my eyes, this game is a 7/10 if you played The Last of Us Part I. If you are someone who hasn’t gotten the chance to bond with Joel and Ellie, you will enjoy this game a lot more.
Mike from TGP will also be writing an article giving his thoughts on the ending sometime this week but based off conversations I have had with him, I know we agree that the ending left a bad taste in both of our mouths.
When I first watched the trailer for Ghostrunner (PC, XB1, PS4), it appeared to me as a crossover between Dishonored, Shadow Warrior, and Mirror’s Edge; all wrapped up in a Cyberpunk setting. And while visually the game does draw from these inspirations, the gameplay on offer is truly something unique, yet familiar all the same. Throughout my 13 minute, 4 second run to reach The Whisper, the main objective of the demo, I learned a lot about Ghostrunner, and how wrong my assumptions about the title’s gameplay were. Make no mistake, this is no complaint, I just have to admit that I was surprised at the sheer difficulty of this game. The only other title I can compare it to in this regard is Superhot, at least in terms of how the death system works. You die in one hit, however, unlike Superhot where you can freeze time to stay alive and you go back to the start of the level when you fail, in Ghostrunner you are constantly on the move in order to survive and you revert back to the most recent checkpoint upon death. This is due to the levels featuring multiple combat scenarios, with checkpoints placed after each victory as you move towards an end objective. This leads into the next gameplay aspect that surprised me about Ghostrunner; you could almost say it’s a puzzle game. As the available methods of movement, enemy placement, and area layout are different in between each checkpoint, you’ll be experimenting (and as a result, dying) over and over again to figure out the right pattern, or puzzle solution if you will, to dispatch your enemies swiftly and cleanly with your Cyber Katana. This is by no means a complaint, as the challenge of constantly moving while finding the right pattern to success was always satisfying and rewarding. There were moments of frustration, though, as there is a steep learning curve before you get the fluidity of the character’s movements down to a science. Additionally, and although this only occurred twice, I did get stuck in the geometry while wall-running, resulting in unfair deaths. Other than those minor instances, I am happy to report that the overwhelming majority of deaths I succumbed to were from my own mistakes. Ghostrunner, in the end, surprised me with a constant, unexpected challenge; but also rewarded me with immense satisfaction as I cut down my enemies with seemingly the speed of light itself. Although the demo was short, it was lengthy enough to leave me wanting for more, and is definitely making me consider purchasing the game at release. Ghostrunner is definitely an upcoming title to keep a close eye on this year, just don’t blink or you’ll miss it.
When one initially thinks of what a “Resident Evil” game should entail, most fans immediately recognize that survival-horror is a key design aspect that the team over at Capcom should utilize during development. Make no mistake, I do not disagree with this philosophy. However, there have been moments throughout the series’ existence where the formula ran a bit dry for some. With Resident Evil’s 1, 2, and 3, Capcom established a clear format for the franchise, and for a lot of hardcore fans that was enough. The mainstream, on the other hand, became less invested in the franchise over time, with releases such as Code: Veronica leaving many (myself not included) tired of the “same old zombie game”. This stagnation of the player base left Capcom unsure as to where the once innovative survival-horror series should go next, if anywhere. Luckily, though, after a stint in development hell and multiple incarnations, Resident Evil 4 was released to the GameCube in 2004, and after that: everything changed. Although still adopting the classic tank-controls for player movement, RE4 catapulted the franchise into a new sub-genre; action-survival horror. This time around, Leon Kennedy could deliver roundhouse kicks to his enemies, engage in QTE knife fights, fight a gigantic lake monster, and do flips on a Jet ski while rescuing the President’s daughter from an exploding island; to name just a few plunges into over the top Hollywood action. Additionally, RE4 simply changed the gaming industry forever. Third-person shooters started to become very similar after 2004, imitating RE4’s over the shoulder perspective and evolving the genre as a whole, leading to massive successes such as the Gears of War series (and many, many to follow). This revolutionary shake-up emboldened the developers of RE to delve further down the napalm-infused rabbit hole of Hollywood action, and after five years in 2009, Resident Evil 5 was released worldwide. Capcom, to put it bluntly, struck gold. Maintaining the title of their best selling game until the release of Monster Hunter World in 2017, RE5 has sold 11.9 million units across a wide array of platforms as of December 2019. RE5 was a major financial victory for multiple reasons: the entirety of the game could be played in co-op, it offered a lot of replay-ability across numerous modes, Wesker was back, and it heavily escalated RE4’s more “explosive” tendencies. What do I mean by that? It went down to the bottom of the action rabbit-hole and exited out the other side into high octane Wonderland. Capcom now had a clear vision of where to embark unto next, wanting to construct the following iteration of RE into the “ultimate horror entertainment”. Following this mantra, Resident Evil 6 was born, and eventually released to eager players in 2012. Unfortunately for Capcom, as most know, die-hard fans resented RE6. It failed to deliver on one necessary element, one key component that earned the franchise its entire reputation: horror.
Credit: metro.co.uk
Before I start my defense in favor of the “Island of Misfit Toys” of RE games, I need to address why I had to establish a basic outline of the series’ history. There are some who would argue that RE6 and the absurdity that came along with it simply appeared out of nowhere with no justification in sight, but that is not the case whatsoever. Capcom was fearful before the release of RE4, being pinned into the back of a corner so small that they had to reinvent the core gameplay of their beloved horror IP in order for it to survive. What they saw after that and post RE5 lead them to the assumption that more action was necessary to stay out of that corner; i.e. increased sales from RE4 to RE5. Unfortunately and unintentionally, Capcom jumped the shark for most if not all long-time RE fans as a result of this endeavor. Negative opinions of the game flourished, the following of which I concur with. To start plainly, horror itself was absent for the overwhelming majority of the experience. The gameplay had been neutered in terms of difficulty, even by RE4 standards, leaving any tension prevalent in previous titles to the wayside. Co-op play made a return to the stage, but this time heavily influencing the game design and its mechanics as a whole. The action on display surpassed Michael Bay levels of insanity, with set pieces running amok in all four campaigns. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, there’s four campaigns: all with different play-styles. Some might view the distinct campaigns as a positive, but I can’t help but view it as a crippling hindrance. The multiple play-styles leaves an all around disjointed feeling when viewing the campaigns as a singular story or playing them back to back, featuring stark contrasts among them and an all around inconsistent experience. Majority of fans ripped RE6 into mangled shreds for those reasons, and in terms of what a Resident Evil game should be, justifiably so (in my opinion). However, when taken out of the context of what a mainline Resident Evil release should look and play like, is Resident Evil 6 a bad game? My answer is a resounding no.
Credit: Valve, Capcom
First off, I would like to readdress the complaint I mentioned about the co-op integration. In terms of a Resident Evil release, as previously stated, yes co-op helps mold the game into something that it shouldn’t technically be. However, when viewed outside of that lens, co-op in RE6 with a friend as your counterpart instead of the partner AI is honestly a hysterical good time. I’ve played through all four campaigns three times each, and every single one of those playthroughs I did with a good friend, if for nothing but to laugh at the chaotic nature of what we were playing. But with the great and expansive movement/dodge system, the co-op QTE’s where we had to trust in and rely on one another to survive, and the high-octane boss battles; the co-op play on offer is some of the best you can achieve in a third-person shooter. Even during lackluster campaign’s such as Chris’ and Ada’s, there is always fun to be had with a brother in arms at your side. It’s undeniable that this is the intended way for RE6 to be played, and although that holds true, there is still enjoyment to be found in the content offered even while in single player. Set pieces such as boss fights with the Ustanak in Jake’s campaign are so ludicrously insane and out of the realm of reality that no other word but “hardcore” can define it . In particular, the final hand to hand brawl with the Nemesis copy-cat is incredibly cinematic. You confront the menace on an unstable low-hanging beam above scorching lava, disarmed and outmatched, with only your bare hands as a means of defense. The demented-face ghoul looks at you, overcome with an intense and destructive rage that he’s been saving for release unto one person and one person only: the player. He charges at you with inhuman fury and determination, knowing that this is the end, the last time you two ever face each other. I won’t spoil won’t comes next in case anyone reading has yet to play RE6, but rest assured that the fight that ensues is from the realms of blockbusters such as Mission Impossible and Clash of the Titans, which makes it so entertaining. If you have accepted what the game is at this point, have acknowledged that it is not true Resident Evil, and have viewed it as it’s own game and not an innovative continuation of it’s franchise, then the set pieces such as the one I have just described will be as rewarding for you as they were for me. Granted, not all have as much payoff as Jake’s final boss fight, but they do make you feel as if you are truly an over the top action hero and part of one of the most explosive Hollywood blockbusters to date. Is RE6, namesake aside, a Resident Evil game? No, but I don’t believe RE5 to be either, and in full transparency RE4 comes close to veering far from its series’ foundations as well. But does that necessarily have to mean they are subpar, inadequate games in their own right? Absolutely, definitively not. Whatever you may think of RE6 and my opinions on it, it is certainly the case that it was one of the best things to happen to the Resident Evil IP as a whole. In order to prove this claim, I ask you to recall the corner Capcom put themselves into with the original mainline RE games. Well, history often repeats itself when the lessons of the past are forgotten, and that philosophy does not exclude business or the videogame industry. After immense burnout and disinterest was expressed by the fandom post RE6, the team at Capcom had to once again reinvent their beloved “horror” IP. This second dire quest for innovation, in my opinion, and therefore RE6 by association, was the catalyst that launched Resident Evil into a new era: the most terrifying and greatest it has ever been.
Credit: Valve, Capcom
In the search of transformation and reconciliation, Capcom fell back on something they’d forgotten, yet still something solid: their roots. After the disastrous effect that RE6 had on the community, the developers needed to go back to what Resident Evil was at its core; survival-horror. Not only did they deliver, but they exceeded all expectations of the disenfranchised fandom. In January of 2017, Resident Evil 7 was released to universal critical and commercial praise. My personal favorite of the series, this new iteration went back to a mansion setting (originally popularized by RE1), and delved deeper into survival-horror than ever before. The atmosphere wasn’t just creepy, the enemies weren’t just scary, and the bosses weren’t just intimidating. The Baker family introduced a level of sadism to RE that was never present before, and as a horror fanatic in and outside of gaming, I was thrilled. Whether it be the grotesque torture that Ethan endures and perseveres through, the mysterious and malevolent villain in Eveline, or the all new up close and personal first person perspective; Resident Evil 7 fired on all cylinders to deliver a near flawless masterpiece of horror, regardless of medium or art form. This wasn’t Capcom’s only accomplishment, though, with RE7’s success not only revitalizing RE itself, but ushering in a new age for the franchise. Survival-horror was the name of the game again, with following releases such as RE2 Remake and RE3 Remake adopting the same general play style, apart from the first person perspective (although this is not the definitive case with mods) and more sadistic nature of RE7. With Resident Evil 8’s announcement supposedly looming and a RE4 Remake hinted to be in development, Capcom has finally returned to its sweet home.
Credit: Game Informer
Resident Evil 6 set out to accomplish many things, and to it’s credit achieved many of them. Although it did technically deliver on the “ultimate horror entertainment” sentiment, the horror element was certainly the most absent variable of that equation. Even with as entertaining as it was, it sacrificed its identity to achieve the level of action the team at Capcom wanted to reach. As a result, one of the best, most ridiculously fun, arcade co-op third-person shooters was made. Unfortunately, it was at the cost of the hardcore fans who stuck with the franchise since day one. However, I do believe that most would agree that the long term pay off of RE6’s existence, in hindsight, outweighs the betrayal fans felt at release. Due to it’s monumental failure, Resident Evil’s core philosophies were forced to go underground and reflect, coming out more twisted, horrific, and better than it ever was before. None of this would have occurred if Resident Evil 6 hadn’t released and bombed, making one wonder what the franchise would look like today if it wasn’t for that historic debacle. One thing is for sure, though; without RE6, Resident Evil wouldn’t be in the position it maintains in the horror genre today, which was the same it held back in the late 90’s and early 2000’s: number one. Plus, we got an entertaining, high-octane fueled thrill ride of a game to experience alongside a local S.T.A.R.S officer near you (or maybe just a friend over the mic instead).
Most of us have very fond memories from our time playing The Last of Us either on PS3, PS4 or PC using PS Now. There were also plenty of people who started watching The Last of Us on YouTube but stopped immediately after seeing the introduction scene to the game, knowing that this was something that they needed to play. Some people even went out and bought a PlayStation just for this game after seeing the introduction on YouTube. I was part of that last group. In honor of the The Last of Us Part II’s upcoming release, I am going to be giving a deep dive on the scene that set the tone for the rest of the game.
Spoiler Warning!
The Last of Us opens up with the “protagonist” Sarah sleeping on the couch waiting for her father, Joel, to get back from work. Joel enters the house, ends a stressful work related call with his brother Tommy and sits on the couch next to Sarah. It is then revealed by Sarah that is it Joel’s birthday and she was waiting for him so she could give him his present. Sarah gifts him a watch that he will end up keeping for the rest of his life. They exchange some banter and eventually Sarah is carried up to her bedroom.
Credit: Naughty Dog
Sarah wakes up to a phone call from a frantic Uncle Tommy at around two in the morning. Tommy has been trying to reach his brother but has not been able to get in contact with him. The phone then disconnects. If you try and call him back, you get zero luck. The player now has complete control over Sarah as she explores her house. In Sarah’s bedroom, you are able to interact with a birthday card that was meant for Joel.
Credit: Naughty Dog
Sarah mentions that he is the best dad even though he is never home. I am going to make the assumption that Joel got a divorce with his wife since he never mentions her throughout the rest of the story. Joel does later bring up people who he was closed to who had passed away so I am assuming he would have brought up his wife if she had passed away. I also don’t think Joel would have bought that large of a house if he knew that he would need to work double shifts all the time to afford it. If you enter the bathroom, Sarah picks up a newspaper that mentions a ton of infected people going to a hospital that we see later on in the chapter. Sarah can now walk into Joel’s empty room. On his television, you can watch the scene of a gas line blowing up a building as police and a reporter run for their lives. At the same time, you see the explosion go off downtown by looking out your window. We can assume this is when Joel puts his phone down and heads outside to investigate. As you walk down the stairs, you see multiple cop cars drive by with their sirens on. If you pick up Joel’s phone, you see multiple phone calls from Tommy. When you walk into Joel’s office area, he bursts into the house in a panicked state as he loads up his gun. Joel warns you to stay away from the glass door when your infected neighbor breaks through it. Joel warns him to stay back multiple times before shooting him. Tommy lights up the house with his truck’s headlights and they both run outside to flee the neighborhood.
Sarah watches the chaos unfold in her home town as she sits in the backseat of Tommy’s truck. As they drive through the town, they pass crashed cars and more explosions. They eventually pass a group of people with a kid walking on the road who Tommy wants to pick up. However, Joel makes him pass right by them saying that another car will drive by and that they have a kid that they have to protect as well. They eventually get to the to the way out of town which is backed up all the way to the hospital that was mentioned earlier. A person exits their car to see why they aren’t moving and is attacked by infected. Tommy watches in disbelieve as Joel yells at him to drive in reverse. Tommy finally makes a K turn as the infected start coming for his car. They drive down the road eventually making a left to try to cut through the town. People are running in the street but there is a giant truck blocking the road so they can’t see what they are running from. They eventually have an opening and with a move out of desperation, Tommy drives through but is hit by another truck when they cross the intersection.
Credit: Naughty Dog
The player now switches to Joel as he carries an injured Sarah through the town with Tommy protecting them. As you flee for your live, you see first hand how tense things are with people dying all around you. A gas station blows up causing you to cut through an alley. Tommy saves you from a few infected as you finally get to safety in a building. However, with the infected pushing on the door, Tommy tells Joel to run and that he will buy them some time. Tommy says that he can outrun the horde and that they will meet back up at the highway entrance. Joel carrying Sarah runs for their lives with infected in close pursuit. If you haven’t ever experienced this scene, I am going to recommend you to pick up your controller and play it now or to watch it here if you have zero interest in playing the game. My words can not give justice to this scene.
A cut scene now plays as a soldier shoots the infected saving Joel and Sarah. Joel asks the soldier for medical assistance while Sarah is worried for Uncle Tommy. Unfortunately, the soldier gets the order on the radio that all fans know to well. As the solider protests his orders, Joel’s hope immediately diminishes and turns into fear. The soldier raises his gun and opens fire. Joel turns trying to shield Sarah with his own body and they roll down into a ditch. As the soldier goes to execute Joel, Tommy comes and shoots the soldier saving Joel’s life. We now hear the whimpers of Sarah. Joel and Tommy both run over to her seeing that she has been shot in the chest. The whimpers continue for the longest fifteen seconds that I have ever experienced. Sarah passes away in Joel’s arms.
In the matter of a twenty minute introduction scene, we have experienced so much happiness and sadness. From the couch scene to Sarah’s final breath, we now know what tone Naughty Dog is setting for the rest of the game. We know that there will be plenty of smiles but also plenty of times where we genuinely feel upset for a person that doesn’t even actually exist. We can only hope that Naughty Dog gives us the same quality with The Last of Us Part II.
When most people hear the term “remaster”, the usual responses range from a sigh to a shrug. Remasters of recent years have hardly ever been impressive, typically consisting of only an HD resolution upgrade or a more stable, locked frame rate. However, with the recent release of Saints Row: The Third Remastered on Xbox One, PS4, and PC; developers Volition and Sperasoft have effectively set a new heightened standard for the industry.
Credit: Deep Silver
As of writing, I have personally spent 30+ hours in the remastered city of Steelport, and the differences I’ve spotted are monumental to say the least. In my play-through of the Xbox One X version, there are major differences immediately noticed in the opening mission, “When Good Heists Go Bad”. To start, experiencing this game in stunning 4K visuals with a stable 60FPS is incredible. From the initial shootout inside of the Morningstar bank to stealing the entire vault itself via helicopter, I never once thought I was playing a game released in 2011, due in part to ZERO frame drops. In addition, the lighting engine has been fully redone, which exemplifies your homies’ redesigns as well. Johnny Gat’s new look, for example, is by far the best it’s ever been; being less stylized and more realistic than previous iterations. Another excellent character redesign is Pierce Washington’s, who just like Gat falls more in line with our reality. It’s not just your allies who have received a fresh coat of paint, however, as publisher Deep Silver points out “Every weapon has been remodelled, every car has been redesigned and a vast proportion of the city has been retextured…”, along with “…around 4,000 assets reworked, the complete update has been expertly handled by Sperasoft. It has transformed environments, character models and visual effects…”. When it comes to visuals and graphically fidelity, SR3R redefines the term “remastered”.
However, I would not be conducting my due diligence if I claimed all is well in revisited Steelport. While more good has come from this enhanced re-release than bad, the negative needs to be addressed as it lead to immense personal frustration. Certain gameplay aspects from the original release have had minimal to no tweaks at all, and it obviously shows. Vehicle controls are still incredibly clunky, with tank-like driving and cars seeming to have hit boxes larger than the actual models themselves. Aerial vehicles are just as unreliable as well, leading to bouncing off of and into a series of various buildings resulting in a fiery and explosive death, from a chain of events caused by one slight crash into an object. Speaking of crashes, the game itself crashed to my Xbox dashboard a tad more often than the average 2020 release, so be sure to save frequently. Furthermore, the AI (in particular the Homies and Saints Gang Members) are, to put it bluntly, incredibly idiotic. They can do it all, from destroying your mission objective, to not responding to commands or following the player, and/or getting caught in and endless animation cycle until they fall in “battle”. I must admit, though, that I experienced the majority of these issues during side missions; which I put myself through all of to achieve 100% completion. For the average player, encountering these gripes on a consistent basis is not likely.
Credit: Deep Silver
Saints Row: The Third Remastered does many things right; it’s completely faithful to the original, the graphical upgrade is substantial, bugs and glitches are manageable, and all DLC is bundled in for an asking price of $40 USD. Regardless, it isn’t a perfect release, suffering from dated controls and AI that are practically being shined on by a metaphorical spotlight to the player at times. In the end, for all of it’s faults (which, in the long run, aren’t many), it has done more than enough to rise above the mediocrity of this generation of remasters. Developers could stand to learn a thing or two from Volition and Sperasoft because frankly, this remaster is a home run. Now, only one question weighing on my mind remains: why put so much effort into remastering a game that isn’t even a decade old yet? My guess? Saints Row V is on its merry way.
With a new wave of Telltale games on the way, its hard to not think back on what Telltale did with their take on the life of Bruce Wayne. I am going to be talking about my play through of season one on steam so I am not able to give my own perspective on the technical issues that many experienced on consoles. The story itself was well received by the most but the biggest issue was something that seems to occur in a lot of Telltale products. The dreaded illusion of choice. Spoilers Ahead!
Telltale Games
I will give some credit where it is due, there are minor changes in the story based on the choices you make like when you have to decide if Harvey Dent will have half of his face burnt off or if you will save him by sacrificing Catwoman in the process. The only problem is that the only real changes are visual. Regardless of your decision, Harvey Dent still loses his way and turns on Bruce Wayne. If you sacrifice Catwoman, she survives a gunshot wound and nothing in the story changes. You also have options to pick what location you want to go but in most cases nothing changes in the story and there is no real consequence to screwing someone over. You can run a complete peaceful play through but the police force will still give you cold shoulder after helping them. You can do everything your told to do at the media event and you will still get the same treatment as if you went off on everyone.
Telltale Games
The positive news is this: We are going to be seeing a brand new look on the Telltale games. The budget was always tight on the original Telltale games because they stopped creating their own stories and worked with companies like DC, Marvel and Microsoft who would take a significant cut of their profits. LCG Entertainment will have the opportunity to change things up which could mean that there will be games that no longer have the illusion of choice but actual choice and consequence.
The Game Preview 