Shawn Petraschuk
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COGConnectedLatest Reviews
“Video game critics are jaded and bitter and hate everything” – A sentiment I’ve heard more times than I can count that I’m here to put to rest. Sure, critiquing games can be a grind but remember that the vast majority of us were gamers first, me included. In the case of Guerrilla Games’ Horizon Zero Dawn, the hype train left the station at full speed immediately after it was revealed. Guess what? I was driving that locomotive and set it to full throttle. That’s why I’m ecstatic to say the hype was all real. This is one of the best games to ever grace not only your PlayStation 4 but gaming in general.
The waiting game is a curious beast. It messes with your head and the longer you wait for something the higher your expectations rise. What sort of expectations do you think arise from a waiting game of nearly ten years? Well, if we’re being honest they’re probably high enough to become borderline unreachable. In the case of Team ICO’s (JAPAN Studio), The Last Guardian an odd sort of level headed approach tempered the hype as it led up to release. People were excited, yes but there weren’t expectations alongside the hype that seemed so big they were unachievable. Does The Last Guardian live up to what was expected? Perhaps for some, probably not for others but there’s no arguing that it is an emotionally taught journey from start to finish, even with its ever present control and camera issues.
They say the only sure thing in life is death and taxes. I beg to differ. One other sure thing in life is that every little boy, at one time or another has wanted to be Batman. Batman: Arkham VR is the closest yet that any of us have come to truly becoming the Bat. It is a short experience (as short as one hour) that puts you solely in the shoes of Gotham City’s most esteemed hero and is one that you’ll wish hadn’t ended so quickly once the credits roll.
If I could say I made one mistake going into Deus Ex: Mankind Divided it’s that I came in with expectations. I replayed Deus Ex: Human Revolution over the last couple weeks in anticipation and assumed that Mankind Divided would come in and eclipse its little brother. It pains me to say that not only did Mankind Divided not eclipse Human Revolution, it actually fell short by a long shot. Plagued with glitches and questionable design choices they came so frequently that I started to question which was which. Is this a screw-up or did they do this on purpose? Not a question any developer wants a player asking of their game and not what I was hoping for from Square Enix and Eidos.
Nostalgia is very likely one of the most overused sales tactics in the world. It’s employed to sell everything from movie tickets to toys and almost anything else you can think of. Not surprisingly, it’s also used to sell games and if we’re being honest we all know it doesn’t always work out. The tactic of grabbing a nostalgic license and making a garbage game is alive and well (we’re looking at you TMNT and Ghostbusters). Also alive and kicking is the ‘inspired by’ tactic to which I Am Setsuna was prescribed. Touted as ‘inspired by Chrono Trigger‘, that is a lofty goal to meet. One of gaming’s best RPGs that has stood the test of time is not only a lofty comparison to meet but an even harder one to beat. I Am Setsuna is a great game, I can’t argue that, but whether or not it stacks up to its inspiration is up for debate.
Far Cry Primal is everything you’d expect a Far Cry game to be without a lot of the things you’ve always known to be part of a Far Cry game. No guns, no vehicles, no explosions. Despite the omission of these and the implementation of clubs, bee bombs, Sabretooth Tiger sic’ ems and more this is 100% a Far Cry game and it’s a fresh start the franchise direly needed. While Far Cry 4 was good, and had a great villain in Pagan Min (he’s no Vaas though, am I right?), it also put the series squarely in the crosshairs of ‘formulaic and regurgitated year after year’. Far from a perfect game and not without fault, Far Cry Primal makes enough changes to make the long standing franchise feel new again.
If you’re a fan of MK at all you’ll no doubt know that the franchise went off track a bit after its first few entries. Fans always looked forward to the next game in the series but many time felt let down by the final product. When MK9 was released it seemed like Ed Boon and company went back to the drawing board a bit and came back with a fresh take on what had become a stale offering at best. Four years later and MKX is bloodier and more brutal than anything seen before it and it capitalizes on what MK9 did right (sweet, sweet x-ray attacks) and expands on what was offered as well.
Long before its release, The Order: 1886 fell victim to the court of public opinion. Evidence submitted to the court was based on internet scraps, screenshots, leaked videos and 10 minute demos but it was enough for the court to play judge, jury and in some cases executioner to Ready at Dawn’s much anticipated PS4 debut. Perhaps it’s because of the recent run of games that have had issues upon release but gamers everywhere were skeptical of just how good The Order would be. Cries over it being too short (so what?), too linear (so what?) and too much like other games we’ve seen before (again, so what?) put Ready at Dawn on the defensive in the months before the game’s final release. After spending the past week diving into this PS4 exclusive I feel comfortable in saying that a lot of these worries can safely be put to rest.
Through no fault of its own, Alien: Isolation had a lot to prove right out of the gate. Critics were universally disappointed with the last attempt at incorporating the ‘Alien’ franchise into a video game experience with Aliens: Colonial Marines from Borderlands developer Gearbox. It was an over the top shooter that was force fed to the brim with fan service and despite its best attempt completely failed to capture any of the magic that made the movie quadrilogy such a success. I’m happy to report that Alien: Isolation doesn’t suffer the same fate as its predecessor. Developer Creative Assembly has done the best job possible in recreating the atmosphere and intensity of the films.
Originally pegged as a launch title for the PS4, DriveClub was delayed an entire year to refine the experience. Sadly, even with all that extra time, what we’re left with under the hood is a very strict on the rails, or on the tracks more appropriately, racer. It’s pretty to look at but in regards to features it’s a simple game harkening back to not only last generation but quite possibly the generation before it. When I say pretty to look at I mean it too… DriveClub is stunning in action with gorgeous backdrops and amazingly rendered cars. Lighting effects are particularly noticeable as a VERY compressed time lapse can have you go from mid-day to midnight in under a lap! It’s quick but certainly cool to see in race.