The Walking Dead (Game) Episode 3 Review

After the second episode I didn't think Telltales episodic tale set in the post apocalyptic world of The Walking Dead could A) get any darker or B) surprise the living shit out of me; but I should have known better. Episode 3 continues the astronomically high bar set by the previous two installments and raises it even higher. If the quality remains the same for the last two episodes, which at this point I have no reason to believe it wouldn't, this adventure game series from Telltale is poised to be my favorite game of the year if not the past few years. I wish, I really do wish I could convey the absolute train wreck this episode left me in, the best I can do is describe moments that occurred to me in the process of playing through this particular episode.

The game states up front "This game changes based on your actions and treatment of other characters". Characters you once trusted begin to reveal their true nature, brilliantly forcing you to question your allegiances and expect the worst from every situation. Fitting for a game set in the zombie apocalypse which in true Walking Dead fashion is actually about the other survivors as the zombies simply act as an obstacle. Telltale masterfully leads the player in certain emotional directions eliciting gut responses that are quickly and brutally followed up with a kick to the groin. Nothing is going to turn out the way you expect, and a particular situation I thought I had under control blew up in my face and someone payed the price with their life, and that is on me. And I honestly can not believe how hard I'm taking it, the moment is so perfectly and infuriatingly horrendous that it made me actively respond in an instinctive and brutal way that I didn't think I had in me, and even scarier, I in no way regret it. There was another moment that I won't spoil but it's a dream sequence, and in that one instant it scared me to death, not simply because of its jump scare delivery but because for the briefest of moments I felt like I failed in the one task this game has entrusted me with and that I had dutifully accepted. The entire experience of playing this episode was fucking phenomenal I was emotionally exhausted by the end, and yet wanted more.

For me this series is all about the story and the characters but I'd be remiss to not at least mention some other things. For instance this is still an adventure game and that comes with the typical tropes of the genre. Sometimes that involves trail-and-error puzzle solving, item combinations and, some aimless wandering around until you figure out the problem. Thankfully The Walking Dead is better written than most adventure games and some simple foreshadowing and off-handed character remarks make sure any given solution isn't to difficult to solve. The games visuals are also still impressive, with the comic book aesthetic really bridging the gap between these games and their paper-bound inspiration. The Walking Dead is an impressive piece of reactionary fiction (like that, just came up with that) not unlike Mass Effect but more grounded and for lack of a less coarse description, FUCKED UP. The characters are insanely well developed and aren't predictable, their thoughts and opinions change as often as yours do and that often leads to some major jaw dropping moments and high stakes drama. Do yourself a favor and start playing this series their cheap, at only $5 an episode, and experience one of the best character driven stories of this entire generation.

(5 out of 5)

Mass Effect 3: Leviathan DLC Review

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in. After the scathing reaction to the original Mass Effect 3 ending and the subsequent scramble on BioWare's part to quell the outrage with a massive 2GB ending "fix". I didn't think I could ever be interested in anything BioWare put out let alone anything from the Mass Effect universe. But Leviathan teased a possible explanation as to the origins of the Reapers, the cataclysmic race bent on harvesting all organic life in the galaxy, and any insight into their past was reason enough for me to jump back in. Leviathan, while not lengthy feels substantial, there are four new areas to explore three of which are as big as any of the main story mission e.g., Mars, Palaven, etc. These three new environments are different from anything else in the game and provide gorgeous new vistas with one planet in particular being unlike anything the series has ever done before. And like it or not this piece of content dives, quite literally, into the depths of the controversy and attempts to explain some of the back-story to this Reaper predicament.

Sure is dark in the depths of this controversy 

Leviathan proposes to explain the origin of the Reapers and while it certainly does that, it comes with BioWare's now patented level of contradictory and convoluted story-telling. They explain the creation of the Reapers and the fan coined "Star-child" and put simply it's not satisfactory. They should have just left it alone and in my opinion they have dug themselves into an even deeper hole of nonsensical fiction. But this is still a Mass Effect adventure and it's a damn good one if a little unnecessary. There is a constant uneasy feeling as you play through this dlc having seen how this saga ends this adventure feels out of place as it takes place during the events of Mass Effect 3, which it has to, as anyone who has completed the game will tell you, but it simply feels weird. There is a great mixture of detective work and intense combat in this dlc, with Shepard asked to investigate the mysterious Leviathan, which after a tragic lab accident has Shepard piecing together clues and traveling the galaxy to unravel the mystery. Thankfully the quality of this little adventure is on par with Mass Effect 2's Lair of the Shadow Broker and Overlord and way better than From Ashes.

(4 out of 5)

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron Review

There has been a startling positive trend in videogames as of the past few years, licensed games have gone from shovel-ware put out to cash in on a franchise, to games that are made by fans for fans. It seems to have started with Rocksteady who set out to make a Batman game that fans could feel good about playing and more than succeeded with the Arkham games. High Moon did the same for Transformers with War for Cybertron. Now two years later we have a sequel with an improved narrative, more cinematic presentation and an epic scale that propel it far past its predecessor. Fall of Cybertron melds the two distinct Transformers camps, the nostalgic if dated 80's cartoon with the Michael Bay helmed roller coaster of chaos that are the feature films.

Fall of Cybertron is very similar to its predecessor, a third-person shooter with moments of vehicular traversal and combat. There are some minor differences like a tighter camera that makes the action feel more intense and a marked improvement in ammo distribution, meaning you'll be causing mayhem more often instead of scrounging for ammo. The vehicle segments have been tightened up as well with only two levels using it for any real length of time. Overall the game feels more polished and better paced, cutting some of the drawn out moments that made the first game drag in spots. Unfortunately that leaves a fairly short game, and while not uneventful (the final level is unapologetically badass) it does seem lacking for the $60 price. There is a pretty fleshed out and highly customizable multiplayer mode as well as the requisite wave-based survival game type but I think most people are coming to this game for the story and it's simply over to quickly. On a technical note, the game surprised me with how good it looked, especially the sheer size of the environments. While it is running on the Unreal engine which means it has some serious texture pop-in, when everything finally renders in, the world looks fantastic. High Moon took complaints to heart and added a more diverse color palette to the game as well so everything doesn't looks so dull and metallic. Fall of Cybertron goes through several big environment changes and it helps keep things visually interesting.

As the game progresses most chapters are dedicated to a single character, each controlling a bit differently from the last, Cliffjumper's chapter has him turning invisible for some stealthy action that play more like a puzzler than the usual trail-and-error. Jazz has a grapple hook he uses to maneuver around the environment like no other character can. All of these thing vary up the gameplay keeping it new and fairly challenging throughout. There was a big marketing push for this games inclusion of the dino-bots, in particular the fan favorite fire-breathing T-Rex Grimlock. His shining moment is defiantly a highlight for fans as it retcons the origin of the dino-bots while making it ten times more believable that dino-bots are on Cybertron. I think fans will eat all the new story content up, anyone with any affinity for the Transformers lore will tell this game was lovingly made by fans for fans. And anyone who still has an 8 year old somewhere within them will perk up with each character reveal, death or fight. Fall of Cybertron doesn't do anything new but improves enough over the original making this a fun trip through Cybertronian warfare with all your favorite Transformers. It's unfortunately hard to justify the price with such a short campaign but man am I glad Transformers got a great franchise.

(3 out of 5)

The Expendables 2 Review

With the first Expendables, Stallone and crew promised a return to the bombastic 80's and 90's era action movie. Instead we got a brainless and surprisingly dull movie filled with aging action stars that simply didn't command the same screen presence they used to. With the sequel Stallone hands over the directing reigns to the more capable Simon West who with a more self-deprecating script finally deliver the movie we were originally promised. The Expendables 2 is still dumb and their isn't even an attempt to develop characters or delve into motivations, but the action is more intense and no one is talking this seriously. Case in point a Chuck Norris cameo which openly acknowledges his internet meme status, as he and the Expendables exchange "is it true" stories which get more ridiculous with each new concocted premise. The villain this time around is played with scene chewing delight by Jean Claude van Damme, his character Vilain (dead serious) is trying to attain weapon grade plutonium from a conveniently abandoned Soviet mine to sell for money because he is the bad guy.

The film has a large cast and thus some characters are highlighted then get the shaft, Jet Li  for instance is only in the first 20 minutes. MMA fighter turned action star Randy Couture has two or three speaking lines. But the movie does know when to hand the film over for what the audience came to see. When Chuck Norris shows up its all about how mythical his status has become. Jokes are dropped constantly, most are eye rolling and groan inducing, especially anything that mentions these aging heroes previous works. The amount of callbacks are ridiculous and they aren't even funny. Terry Crews telling Schwarzenegger he''ll terminate him, or Bruce Willis fed up with Schwarzenegger saying, "you've been back enough, I'll be back" with a nonsensical "yippie kay yay" retort from Schwarzenegger.  They're all inanely reveling in their past glory but I guess its what people want to see.

Expendables 2 is in no way a great film, the acting is nonexistent, the plot is paper thin, the action is big and loud. The in-jokes are blatant and obnoxious. But damn if it isn't awesome watching Van Damme roundhouse kick Stallone or Chuck Norris single handedly kill 30 soldiers and destroy a tank. Thankfully director Simon West understood what was lacking from the first film and cranks the volume up to 11, this franchise need a boost of bombast and a lighter tone and its all the better for it. With the rumors of a sci-fi sequel with additions like Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford, Nicholas Cage and John Travolta and even an all female spin-off; It looks like The Expendables are here to stay and that's looking like a more enjoyable prospect.

(3 out of 5)

Rhythm Thief & The Emperor's Treasure Review

When I heard about Rhythm Thief, a narrative driven rhythm game with a structure similar to the Professor Layton series I had only one thing to say, "Gimme". Rhythm Thief follows an orphaned boy Raphael and his dog Fondue as they steal priceless works of art around Paris disguised as the dashing Phantom R as they try to unravel the secret to his fathers disappearance. Along the way they encounter a young girl who is at the center of the mystery, a resurrected Napoleon Bonaparte and spontaneous dance montages. The core mystery isn't particularly interesting but there is an adolescent romantic tone to the proceedings that make it surprisingly engaging. But down to brass tacks this game is a rhythm game that pays homage to all the greats from the past like Space Channel Five and even modern classics like Elite Beat Agents. But amid the jaunty music and charming characters is an often brutal difficulty with irregular rhythm and a harsh penalty for missing any prompts.

Rhythm Thief excels because of its perfect mixture of different elements, from the 'groovy' soundtrack to the varied rhythm games (there are no more than 3 of any kind) and gorgeous animated cutscenes that convey its charming story. You do spend an unfortunate amount of time not in a rhythm game, instead backtracking across the map solving menial problems for the vibrant denizens of Sega's vision of Paris. This is unfortunate cause the game keeps a good pace, never dwelling on anything for too long and quickly changing up the game types to keep you guessing. But the fetch-quests and general meandering are clearly there for padding and drag down an otherwise well paced game. The jarring swings in difficulty are probably the games biggest weakness as it takes 20 or so well timed beats to raise your rank from a C to an B but only 1 or 2 misses to fall all the way down to a D. It simply seems broken, which makes it even more infuriating when you screw up in the frantic final few seconds of a game and ruin an otherwise perfect run. Also note to any 3DS developers, stop using the gyroscope feature just to add a bullet point to the back of the box, it simply isn't precise enough in a rhythm game likes this.

Rhythm Thief is a breath of fresh air, with the only decent games for the 3DS being published by Nintendo (third-parties are reluctant to develop for the middling install base of the 3DS) it has been sorely lacking the unique and charming games that rocketed the original DS into the hands of any self-respecting gamer. But if this game is a sign of things to come, there is nothing to worry about. The sequel tease at the end of this game suggests further adventures with Phantom R and I cant wait to jump back unto the dance floor with this thieving break-dancer.

(4 out of 5)