Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon Review - Back to The 80's

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Dragons and Lasers and Robots, Oh My!

Enter the Blood Dragon

Dinosaurs with laser beam eyes. Synthesized background music and neon colors. A cyborg on a mission to save the world. Sound like a trip right out the 80’s? Well it’s not. It’s actually the premise for Far Cry 3’s standalone expansion, Blood Dragon. While Blood Dragon may not have been constructed during the era of VHS tapes, emerging tech-pop and bright colors, it certainly pays homage to it.

A Man on a Mission

Meet cyborg commando Rex Power Colt, an overpowered cybernetic killing machine, whose physical appearance resembles a crossover of Terminator and RoboCop, and is on the hunt for rogue war veteran Colonel Sloane. Rex never tires from running, has no need for breathing and hates tutorials. He’s also full of witty jokes, bad puns and bucket loads of attitude. Whether he’s chaining knife kills, shooting laser machine guns or unleashing an impossible barrage of grenades, he’s a real American hero at heart.

The Nitty Gritty

As soon the player gains control of Rex on the ground, the first thing to notice is that Blood Dragon plays out just like Far Cry 3 itself. Stealth kills are still available, as well as kill chains which are accomplished by stabbing one enemy, then another, and having the ability to end the streak with a thrown shuriken. Of course, a first person shooter wouldn’t be complete without guns. Probably the most fun is found in the plethora of over-the-top weapons such as the scoped rocket launcher or the quadruple barrel shotgun that dispels burning shells.

Once an enemy is dead, Rex can then walk over the body to acquire ammo, or take it a step further by ripping out the poor bastard’s heart with his hand. Why would anyone do that? The hearts are actually used as dragon bait for the blood dragons themselves. These overgrown gila monsters shoot (freakin’) laser beams from their eyes and are sore menaces to face. With the hearts on hand however, Rex can redirect the dragon’s wrath on unsuspecting groups of foes, ending in a satisfying scene of glorious robot-on-dinosaur warfare.

An 80’s Trip

It’s no secret that game developers hide Easter eggs and homages to eras, icons and themes throughout their works. Blood Dragon does not do this. Instead, it slaps the user in the face with them. The heavily synthesized beats resemble those of the Saturday morning arcade days, and players are submerged in almost familiar tunes.

The graphics are also a testament to this. Explosions and laser blasts on the screen come in bright pinks and radioactive yellows, while the blood dragons look like some psychopath glued crimson colored glow-sticks to their bodies. Players will notice the vastly different graphics than that of Far Cry itself; where clear blue skies decorated the screen above, the sky is now a cloudy grey, filled with bright crystal glyphs. Muddy, dulled textures and smoky filters have been added to the game to give it a feel that is reminiscent to Metal Gear and the game begins with a “scanning” loading screen.

Cutscenes aren’t spared either. In an era of HD, 3D, and advanced motion capture, Blood Dragon ditches all of these in favor of 2D, 16-bit graphics, akin to those 30-year-old fan favorites of the day, told via grainy images, complete with cutoff edges. These cutscenes still tell a story, and with voice actors like Michael Biehn (appearances in Terminator, Aliens) talking, it’s hard not be thrust back to that time of Cold War, pixelated games, and intense action films.

Stupid Fun or Just Plain Stupid?

Aside from the countless references to pop culture, media and social icons, Blood Dragons goes overboard in every area. Loading screens have helpful hints such as “grenades explode,” and the very beginning of the game displays Rex’s distaste for tutorials, which continue on and on, eventually downright asking the player if they’ve become annoying.

This also bleeds into the dialogue. Commando Colt’s full of one-liners and quotes, but things like overhead announcements are heard saying “penetration in the rear.” While charming and admittedly funny at first, the dialogue does become tiresome and rehashed part of the way through. By the time the expansion is completed, a taste of cliché will have set in.

Overall, Blood Dragon is one of the most entertaining expansions to be released to date. The gameplay is fun and rewarding, while keeping the player on their toes. Fans of the 80’s culture will probably have a deeper appreciation of what’s going on about them, though the far-fetched gameplay is entertaining enough, even for players born in the nineties and beyond. Fans of the Far Cry series will like the familiar controls and environments, while newcomers can come for the thrill, stay for the laughs. Anyone interested in a playful detour, and taking a step away from the “serious, run and gun” genre should grab Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon before It moves on like oversized hairdos and popped collars have.

OVERALL: 4.5 out of 5

Curiosity Draws to Close, Possible Connection to Xbox 720 Unveil

Imagine working towards a single goal with five million other people, and the only communication between you is the tapping of fingers. This is the gaming experiment that is Curiosity.

In November of 2012, 22 Cans released Curiosity, a game originally for the iOS platform, and eventually became available for Android. The game places every player in the same digital room with a single colored cube. Players take turns cracking the cube until one player delivers the final breaking blow and the contents of the box are revealed to that player. Then the game moves onto the next layer or cube until the final layer is broken.

Peter Molyneux, 22 Cans studio head and former Lionhead Studios CEO, describes the game as “an experiment.” What kind of experiment? According to Molyneux, “…it is an experiment with tech, and getting servers right. We didn't do that terribly well at the start. But it's also an experiment in psychology, and the psychology of being anonymous, and the psychology of giving people these big, huge, insane objectives--like get to the center of the cube--and how that psychology plays into peoples' behavior.”

While unique and worthy of merit on its own, a new development with the game has surfaced. As of May 1^st, the game now has a countdown timer, counting down to the projected breaking of Curiosity’s last layer. There are roughly 50 levels or cubes at this time, and the countdown will continue until the final cube is broken and its contents revealed. The final contents are said by Molyneux to be “life changing.”

Only days prior to the game’s counter being added, Microsoft announced that they would be unveiling their latest game console, XBOX 720 on May 21^st, a month before the annual gaming expo E3 (Electronics Entertainment Expo). Curiosity’s expected date for completion is about the same day. Coincidence? Maybe.

Molyneux’s previous company, Lionhead Studios was owned by Microsoft Game Studios suggesting the possibility of sly Xbox buzz, though when asked directly about Curiosity’s projected end, he replied to Gamespot: “I thought six months was about the length of time that Curiosity should go on before it closed…" and "…bizarrely, as part of that controversy, is that the end of the cube--the last layer of the cube--might well be, I mean probably if you look at our analysis of probability, the same day that the next Xbox is announced. Which would be a bizarre twist of fate."

The question of whether or not this ‘bizarre twist of fate’ is unclear, though Molyneux’s following words, “There's an interesting opportunity, possibly, for me to… well, I can't say any more than that...” only add to the mystery.

Sources: Gamespot.com and IGN.com.

Gears of War Judgment Review: Player’s Point of View

Gears of War Judgment Review: Player’s Point of View

With the recent release of Gears of War Judgment, the fourth installation of the Gears of Wars series, we take a look at the inner mechanics of Epic (Infinity Blade) and People Can Fly’s (Bulletstorm) latest entry. In this review, we’ll discuss the facts and some of the changes in both story as well as multiplayer and the overall feel of the game before our final review.

Story Premise 

Set during the initial attacks immediately following ‘Emergence Day’, the story centers around Damon Baird and his efforts to halt a Locust general by the name of Karn. His squad – composed of Cadet Sofia Hendrik, former UIR warrior Garrion Paduk and once-famous Thrashball star Augustus Cole – sets out to aid other military units as well as stop Karn via a weapon of mass destruction known as the “Lightmass missile.” The caveat in doing this, is that these actions are against military protocol and the direct orders of Colonel Ezra Loomis. The game plays out via flashbacks from each squad member leading up to their inevitable trial for breaking command.

Judgment Story flow

In an effort to progress the story at more rapid rate, Judgment (as opposed to previous entries, including GOW3) has little in the way of downtime. Exploration is only possible while not being shot at (except right before moving on), and action starts almost immediately in most chapters. Also, cutscenes are few and far between, generally saved for the completion of a chapter, and each character’s backstory is told through dialogue. New to the franchise are the additions of ‘Declassifieds,’ optional tasks available for each story mission (aside from campaign Aftermath) which makes the mission more difficult, yet yields more rewards.

Multiplayer Changes

Gears of War 3 changed many things about the standards of the GOW franchise. Tighter controls, faster movement, increased weapon types. These things helped establish the longevity of the game, with thousands of players weekly, even a year and a half after release.

Judgment once again changed the paradigm, especially in the pursuit of pacing. A major aspect change is character spawns. ‘Spooling’ spawn timers have replaced continuous respawn timers meaning a player can rejoin battle almost instantly, as opposed to waiting up to 15 seconds every time they come back to life. Gone also are the days of limited respawns which have been replaced by a preset number reached with unlimited spawns in its stead. And characters no longer drop to the floor (Down But Not Out), but are instead killed instantly.

The weapon set has changed yet again. All of the previous game’s weapons make an appearance in some way or another, as well as a handful of new weapons including mid-range snipers, different explosives. Tweaks to previous weapons include decreased starting ammo, more rounds in a clip, and the inability to wield more than two weapons at a time.

Finally are the maps. Long time Gears fans have noticed Epic’s uncanny ability to revive and rejuvenate old maps from previous entries. Judgment is no exception. With part of its downloadable content already available, a few old maps have come but with a twist. As with all of Judgment’s own maps, these maps have dimension built in. No longer does a player have to run around the map along invisible barriers, just to get to ground level from the second floor. With Judgment, each map has the ability to drop from upper levels, giving the player more room to evade or drop down on enemy players.

Personal Verdict

Viewing the facts, Judgment makes a strong argument that it belongs right alongside it predecessor brethren. It sticks true to its guns, the characters are themselves only at a different point in time, and the action keeps the player engaged.

Playing it is a different beast.

First, let’s discuss the story. To me, the story achieved what it set out to do: Keep the player fighting. Each mission is fun and unique, and the Declassifieds do give it an extra kick. However, the story feels very shallow, and almost nonexistent. I didn’t feel that connection to the characters as I did in the sequel (Tai shooting himself) or in Gears 3 (spoiler) with Dom’s sacrifice. There is nothing that strongly ties me to any of these characters, and by the end, I didn’t really like any of the newer characters at all. The dialogue doesn’t help either. It’s very cliché and cheesy, and again, though I don’t expect heavy philosophy in a shooter, it was off putting.

What about Multiplayer? The first thing a new player will notice is the reduction in game modes. Gears of War 3 boasted a dozen, Gears 2 a half dozen (at least). Anyone looking to enjoy Capture the Leader, Guardian or Wingman is out of luck. Though Beast mode was played the least of all game-types (based on daily player counts), Horde was a favorite that has been axed in favor of Survival (similar, though with no upgrades) and the combined gameplay of Overrun. Out of all gameplay modes, I feel that this mode is actually a successful hybrid, as both teams are working towards a common goal, and a player gets to try their hand at both COG as well as Locust. Team Deathmatch has returned, while Judgment also introduces two other game modes: Free for all (self-explanatory) and Domination, a three-ring style King of the Hill seen in other games.

And gameplay? As mentioned above, we talked about the pacing change. Epic and PCF’s aim was to provide a quicker flow with less waiting. And they succeeded. But what does this say about us as gamers if waiting 15 seconds is too long? Then there is the issue of unlimited respawns. Having played it for the last month, I agree that the luxury of being able to respawn until the end of a match is nice, the problem with this setup is that people are reckless; while you think you’re doing well, at the end you find yourself getting the most deaths in a match. Limited respawns made people more cautious. This fact could be argued either way, so we’ll move on.

Finally, let’s discuss the changes in playability. DBNO has been axed in an effort to create a more fluid game. What this translates to is no more meat-shields, no picking up team mates, more melee strikes, and ultimately more selfish gameplay. The reason I say this is because the previous Gears entries focused on the team aspect of winning. With the removal of DBNO, limited respawns, and games like Wingman, it seems the emphasis has been placed more on the speed than the camaraderie of players. I hate to say it, but this model has been used in other games (Modern Warfare anyone?) and does indeed reinforce pacing over team fellowship.

My final thoughts are this: Judgment lacks some strong elements but is still enjoyable. While the story and team-based aspects suffer, the story is still challenging on its harder settings, and can keep you entertained. Multiplayer will keep you on your toes. Anyone looking for a great team game however, may want to look elsewhere. While not as strong as the other entries of the series, Gears of War Judgment stills delivers an entertaining game worth playing at least once.


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