Ubisoft
has out done themselves with the release of Splinter
Cell:Blacklist. Blacklist being the next chapter in the journey of elite
operative Sam Fisher. Like many simple story lines, you are basically trying to
stop a terrorist group from pulling off various attacks because well who cares.
How you go about doing it leaves with
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| Photo By Ubisoft |
you challenging and a various about of
options. Dropping from ceilings, snapping necks, and occasionally using the silenced
pistol offers all the fun you could imagine in true Splinter Cell fashion. Different
from many Splinter Cell installments after you have gathered Intel you can
choose to spare or kill your adversary.
The storyline of Blacklist is fairly simple and a bit distracting at time but I
could honestly care less about the story when I’m executing creative ways to stealthy
eliminate guards and complete my objective. Some cut scenes seem a bit drawn
out despite the voice acting being great (yes, the acting is almost better than
the story).
The environments Sam is inserted in are well designed and offer various places
to explore, hide, and take out guards with ease. With the environments fairly
big and there being more areas to explore, players have many options at their
fingertips on how they go about playing this game (although I prefer stealthily
laying to bed guards some players my enjoy popping all the rounds they can
carry into enemies). Despite the number of upgrades that can be earned to make
missions easier the game looks to always be interesting and challenging. Some
animations in the game are glitched and often leave you exposed or detected
when attempting to remain unseen (when grabbing a guard from cover, you may
experience the animation hitting the wall you are behind, leave you and the
disabled enemy in the open).
There are a few co-op modes and missions to experience like the return of spies
vs. mercenaries. The co-op challenges and multiplayer modes offer another level
of challenges and fun with a friend (choose your friend wisely because there is
a better chance you will get caught if you don’t work together).
Splinter Cell: Blacklist creates a fun game were players can true explore environments
and locate new ways to execute tasks (which is exactly what you would want in a
stealth game like this). Tweaks to the animations could use some work as some
things don’t work as flawlessly as they should. Overall, Blacklist gets an
thumb and a half from me for being close to meeting my expectations.
Madden
25 releases today on current generation consoles. EA has brought in a few
features like the return of Owner Mode. Some of the running game plays model
that of NCAA Football 14 with option offenses and pistol formation. The new
Precision Modifier allows users to pull off a variation of moves to trick and
evade defenders. Sometimes moves get linked together and the ball carrier gains
some extra yards. Option offenses and the precision modifier makes running the
ball a bit easy, in fact maybe too easy (even on All-Madden). Even with normal
run game, it can seem like cake to average 5+ yards a carry.
The Infinity Engine adjustments seem to flow a bit better (on current gen
console, I cannot imagine the next gen experience) but there are still weird
glitches the tackles look like a pile of players with epilepsy and on other
occasions defenders glide across the screen like they have some gravitational pull
to the ball. The inconsistency of how the game runs leaves a bit of parody
which can either be extremely awesome or depressingly annoying but doesn’t take
the fun out of the experience.
The re-vamped Owner Mode allows for a lot of options that effect how your
franchise goes. It may sometimes feel like you are so buried in menus (dealing
with contracts, prices, stadium upgrades, and the media) that you feel like you’re
either missing something or you don’t care until it affects the franchise. Overall,
there are enough things to do in Owner Mode to keep you busy (and you should be
if you are going to run the NFL’s best team).
This 25th anniversary edition of Madden still has a lot of the common
Madden bugs in previous years but with the improvements to the run game they
have gotten a step closer in mastering the real life action (although they
probably will never get to that point). I will probably try to get my copy by
the end of the week and get some more information to you on Owner Mode and
Ultimate Team. Madden 25 gets a thumbs up from me so go out and grab a copy.
After
downloading and playing around the Madden 25 Demo, the game isn’t really how I
expected it. It seems that the developers made a current gen build of a game
gear for next-gen consoles (that’s a let-down). Despite that it seems to be an
overall good game. I am interested to see what people will create in Madden
share, how the Ultimate Team chemistry system will work (already got a few
cards), and of course Owner mode.
Gameplays has so far offered what feels like true player motions and definition
visuals. The game looks crisp and the player movements are pretty fluid
(although it will probably be x2 better on the next gen consoles). I did like
how some of the menus were moved around and provided a bit of a different look
to the game. I feel like they over did the cut scenes a bit but that can be
overlooked. Here are a few other things I noticed early.
The AI – I really thought they had
fixed the blocking and the overall AI but I still go EAed. At one point, I had
one guy to beat and one blocker ahead of me up field. I am thinking this block
is going to happen and I’m headed to the end zone for 6 but no. My blocker ends
up running out of bounds in the complete opposite direction (as if off field
players were going to tackle me) and I was unable to pull off an effective move
to get buy this defender. That is a pretty bad glitch and I hope doesn’t happen
to often (we fixed the blocking to make it realistic they said).
Precision Modifier – The precision modifier was something newly added and I
have mixed feelings about. It just seems like a mini-version of reaction time
in NCAA Football 14. In some instances I was able to cheese and have defenders
bounce off of me while in a juke animation (didn’t seem like it should happen).
It makes the moves a bit more realistic in how they are timed to be effective
and if that is fluid throughout the game, then thumbs up.
Overall I have mixed feelings about the demo. The gameplay and feel the game isn’t
what I expected only because it looks and feels like a current gen build of a
next gen game (and I know, it is) but it shouldn’t be that noticeable. I still
have a hard time trying to figure out how I go up for a clear INT and the ball
bounces of my defenders hands like it hit some invisible wall (that’s a swat in
EA logic). I can’t wait to tackle playing in Owner mode (connect franchise) and
Ultimate team.
There
has been a lot of recent talk on what will be included in NBA 2K14. For the
most part, I am not worried about NBA Live 14 being better than 2K14 (because
there is just no way) but there are a few things that I would like to see
improved or made with 2K14. I could probably write a 10 page paper on
things that could be added, fixed, adjusted, altered, etc but let’s be realistic (ain’t
nobody got time for that).
Information that has already been released about game looks awesome. The
graphics are looking top-notch on the next-gen console. They have added some
Euro League teams to the game which should offer a bit of variety on the
teams you can choose. Rumors of the ability to block dunks and the resurfacing
of crew mode (I'm expecting some type of crew mode) seem to have fans on the edge of their seat waiting to what will
actually be unveiled next about the game. Here are some expectations I have
about things that I am looking for in NBA 2k14.
Gameplay – First things first. Improvements
on defense need to be made. Often, one-on-one defense renders you helpless no matter how good you are, even
if you have max help defense up, players are tip toeing to the rim uncontested
(if I have help defense maxed with a shot blocker around the rim there is no
way anyone should have a free layup). This brings me to the ability to block dunks.
Dunks should be able to be blocked or altered by high rated shot blockers (not
to say this should be cheesed in either direction, timing should be a factor). Other
factors such as speed, steal, an emotion should have bigger impacts in the game
(imagine if you could get technical for arguing plays or harder fouls). The
2K13 patches on this provided some hope but most times are inconsistent (seemed
to work against you and unrealistic). Improvements on 3pt defense and
zone effectiveness (1-3-1) should also be adjusted, this is obvious (2K players know what I'm talking about). At times
it just feels like you are getting cheesed left and right which makes it less
fun.
Features – I am not really excited
about the “Path to Greatness” Mode. There hasn’t been much on it but if it as a
style like Road to Glory in NCAA Football 14 (which would be a restructured My
Career), I would be happy with that (I’ll get to My Career Mode later). More Legends
and Teams should be added (04-05 Rockets, 99-00 Raptors, 95-96 Pacers just to
name a few). Although, I am most interested in seeing what moves will be cheesed, how much cheese will happen in the game (and it will, so might as will get some
crackers or make nachos) or if they did anything to limit the cheese.
My Team – Tournaments should be
added to this mode. It will provide an additional challenge than just reaching
the 1st seed. Another thing is change in the contract structure (I feel
like I’m wasting VC if I have a 600VC contracted team and only get 200VC if I win).
I hoping there will also be some adjustments with the packs and that is harder
to stack your team (buy your way to wins). I am not suggesting they follow
an ultimate team structure but offering different packs and how teams are built
(maybe make chemistry/play styles a factor) might limit the cheesing.
My Career – New Customization options. I'm taking, skin tones, hairstyles (Norris Cole flat-top), tattoos, importing game face, dunk packages, etc. This includes wardrobe options because it just seems like
a limited selection (more options, adjust pricing by lowering it unless item
has an attribute boost). As far as the mode in general, I am expecting
something to be added other than just a rookie showcase. Some type of skills
challenge or combine type games could help see the areas your player can
improve on to raise or lower his draft stock (maybe have the showcase at that the
end of this). Adding summer league games could offer a chance for position
battles and prove your player can start early (getting drafted in the top 5 and
spending most of type coming off the bench is annoying, especially if your role
isn’t the 6th man). Next thing is the endorsements. I hope they add
a few more commercials at things other than shoes, as generic as they might be
it will still be cool (maybe add the idea of choosing certain one and offer VC
rewards by meeting certain challenges). Lastly, Twitter. This can be improved
and can tie into the interview aspect (impacting number of fans and chemistry). I know I would enjoy taking trash and
having to back it up on game day (makes the feature worth checking). Also maybe
add a way invite legends to workout, one-on-one matches, or charity events with
it would be awesome because the twitter feature in 2K13 wasn't worth checking after a while.
Overall, it looks like I won’t be disappointed when the game comes out. There
is a lot of hype about its release in October. Be sure to check out a future
post when it comes out and comment with your expectations.
Fans
of the Starz series Spartacus can find a free arcade game Spartacus Legends available
via XboxLive (may also be on PS network). This game is far from legendary. In
fact, if this game were a gladiator, he would probably be trained barely enough
to fight in the pits and wagered to lose or sent to the mine because
nothing can be done with him. As a fan of Spartacus, I am glad that this game exists and
is free to play but it is pretty disappointing for a free game (I rather play this than Crackdown and people spent money on that, check out a previous post on that). Much like the show you are a
Lanista, raising common dogs to the status of gladiator (translation: owning
slaves and training them to fight and execute each other, awesome). Not as
exciting as I thought because the game really has no story, the cut scenes
seemed to be blurred images from the show, and the dialog is repetitive and
annoying. Not to mention the undesirable
graphics and blood effects that look like an NES version of Mortal Kombat (here
I thought it was 2013).Unlike the witty dialog used in the show, phrases seem
to be triggered randomly and got really old after the first 5 minutes (after that 5
minutes is over you will wonder why you even play with the sound on).
The game play can be compared to that of Tekken (2D style with a 3D roll
effect). The combat generally kind of sucks and will require some skilled button
mashing (if that can even be done) to pull off certain combos. There is no
practice mode available, so you are kind forced to risk the lives of your
gladiators to find out what works (come on, as crappy as the button system is I
don’t even get to attempt to learn the moves before battle). The CPU cheese is uncanny and often times is able to
dodge just about every attack or too strong for you to even have a chance (don’t
try fighting Oenomaus unless you have a well-trained gladiator or you can
cheese as good as the CPU). Taunts can be used during battle to gain crowd
favor to pull of skillful executions but are sometimes difficult to pull off
without taking some damage (they are useless otherwise, also if you button mash
too much you won’t even get to pull off the executions). Speaking of executions,
gladiators can die if executed and it will take some coin out of your purse to
revive them (or just train another dog, i mean slave, i mean gladiator).
Online play is useless. If you like a laggy gameplay, mismatches that might not
always favor you and the combined game bugs with people trying to cheese their
way to victory, then online play is for you (unpredictable like the pits). This
game also kind of follows the “pay to win” system, if you so choose. Buying
extra coins for the best equipment will catapult you to victories (as better
decked out gladiators seem to do better, regardless of your gameplay skill) if you have
enough coin..and by coin I mean real currency. In my opinion, it will be a
waste of money (and you will probably end up spending more than the game is
actually worth, oh wait…it was free).
The most disappointing thing about this game is the lack of customization. Yes,
that means no creating gladiators, customizing the equipment, or even editing
the names (Spartacus was given his gladiatorial name buy his Lanista, so much
for being based on the show). You would think you at least get to edit the colors for
some matched or mismatched attire but no.
The only excuse I could think of for the developers putting out this crappy game
is that it was free and is an arcade title (no, no excuses). As a fan of Spartacus the show, I
think this game could be better and was only interested in either a fighting
with gladiators from the show (imagine Solonius’ rating, not a gladiator but did fight in the arena) or creating my own to
fight to glory (seriously, why cant I at least edit the name?). Overall, I give this a sideways thumb up
because although this game is extremely frustrating; As a Spartacus fan, it is
pretty awesome for a free game and way better than hunting down those 800
ridiculous orbs in Crackdown.
