{"total":34,"per_page":16,"current_page":1,"last_page":3,"next_page_url":"api/reviews/reviews?page=2","prev_page_url":null,"from":1,"to":16,"data":[{"id":64,"game_id":39003,"user_id":"46","title":"Matching makes Star Wars Battlefront unplayable!","slug":"matching-makes-star-wars-battlefront-unplayable","review":"

While playing the PC version of Star Wars Battlefront, I’ve experienced all sorts of ridiculous matchmaking mishaps. It seems like I’m far from alone.

Since I posted my review, I’ve encountered some seriously mind-boggling matchmaking moments. Usually, this involves lopsided teams (high-level players with snazzy gear vs lowbies who aim worse than your average Stormtrooper), but as server populations have decreased since launch, players like DisneyLines have found themselves floating aimlessly in the game’s purgatory-white match finder. Observe:

nd that’s in one of the game’s marquee modes, Walker Assault. I’ve experienced moments like these, too—as have, apparently, quite a few other players.

Now, there are still thousands of players online at any given moment—plenty to build a match in relatively short order. For whatever reason, though, Battlefront’s matchmaking sometimes stalls out, especially whenthe new Jakku map is involved.

Then there are the Strange Moments. Sometimes in modes like Heroes vs Villains—where a small team of classic Star Wars heroes (and regular players) clashes with a small team of villains (and regular players)—the game will get confused when players leave matches and, say, give one team multiple special characters (Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Darth Vader, etc) while the other will get a couple rank-and-file foot soldiers. The result? Slaughter.

One time when I was playing, the game even managed to flub matchmaking such that there were only two people in a Heroes vs Villains match: me and one other guy. Mystifyingly, it put us on the same team. What happened next was pure hilarity: a round would begin, we’d charge into battle, and then seconds later, the game would sound the bombastic trumpets of victory and tell us we’d won. Without doing anything. Because there was nobody to fight. It was so bizarre.

To DICE’s credit, they’ve finally said that they’re looking into fixing these issues. But also, the game’s been out for nearly a month. Why the hell is it taking so long? This is a problem with a fundamental element of the game, a very real disturbance in the Force.

Here’s hoping they patch it up—or overhaul the whole system—soon. Or hey, you know what would be nice? A manual server browser. What ever happened to those? Remember when we were all kids, browsing servers to our hearts’ content—molding games as we pleased, like so much Play-Doh? We were so innocent back then, so beautiful.

","graphics":false,"gameplay":false,"storyline":false,"score":"6.0","image_id":74254,"created_at":"2015-12-23 21:10:43","updated_at":"2016-07-26 08:47:15","deleted_at":null,"unix":1450905043,"type":"Reviews\Review","type_slug":"reviews-review","url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/reviews/star-wars-battlefront-1/matching-makes-star-wars-battlefront-unplayable","deck":{"clean":"While playing the PC version of Star Wars Battlefront, I’ve experienced all sorts of ridiculous matchmaking mishaps. It seems like I’m far from alone.Since I posted my review, I’ve encountered some seriously mind-boggling m... see more","short":"

While playing the PC version of Star Wars Battlefront, I’ve experienced all sorts of ridiculous matchmaking mishaps. It seems like I’m far from a...

","long":"

While playing the PC version of Star Wars Battlefront, I’ve experienced all sorts of ridiculous matchmaking mishaps. It seems like I’m far from alone.

nd that’s in one of the game’s marquee modes, Walker Assault... continue reading

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Overview

Star Wars Battlefront (not to be confused with the original 2004 game of the same name) is a sci-fi fantasy multi-perspective shooter developed by DICE and published by Electronic Arts for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC on November 17, 2015.

The first mainline game in the Star Wars series after the franchise's acquisition by Disney and the first in the series released by EA, Battlefront is a same-name reboot of the Battlefront sub-series. Like the original games, Battlefront focuses on large-scale multiplayer-oriented two-team battles pitting the Rebel Alliance against the Galactic Empire in the Galactic Civil War era of the Star Wars films.

Much of the character classes, vehicles, weapons, locale, and other gameplay mechanics return, although Clone Wars era battles were not included. The game includes multiple game modes supporting various player counts (with the highest being 40-player). Rather than spanning throughout the galaxy, the game has a small number of planets which hold multiple battlefronts.

The game shares many similarities with the studio's Battlefield series of large-scale first-person shooters, including its use of their Frostbite 3 game engine, a similar Battlelog system, and customizable loadouts. It later received a sequel in 2017, titled Star Wars Battlefront II, which adds numerous new features (including the Clone Wars and First Order-Resistance War eras).

Game Modes

Supremacy (20v20)

Large-scale symmetrical objective-based mode where teams must capture the enemy's current Control Point while defending their own in a never-ending tug-of-war. Each battlefront has five Control Points in a linear sequence, with four points starting off controlled (two for each team) and one starting off neutral.

The game starts with only one point being capturable (the neutral Point), and only after it becomes captured does the game shift to each team having a Point to capture and a Point to defend. Each team also spawns by their designated control point.

The game is time-based, and each match starts with a 10 minute timer that increases by 1 minute after each capture. After the timer expires (or after all five Points are captured by one team), the game ends and the team with the most Points controlled at that time wins.

Heroes and vehicles are available in this mode.

Walker Assault (20v20)

Large-scale asymmetrical objective-based mode where the Rebels team must prevent a group of incoming Imperial AT-AT walkers from reaching their destination by calling in Y-Wing barrages (to drop their powerful shields temporarily) and then attacking the walkers directly.

In order to call in these strikes, the Rebels team must activate two Uplink Relays (by capturing them similar to a Capture Point) and prevent the Imperial team from deactivating them. The longer both Uplinks are activated, the more Y-Wings arrive and the longer the shields become disabled. The Rebels team must then attack each AT-AT directly using vehicles and other weaponry until their shields recharge. Afterwards, both Uplinks become disabled and two new Uplinks become active.

Heroes and vehicles are available in this mode, and it was later made available in offline play on July 21, 2016.

A special 16v16 version of this mode is playable in the Cloud City map in the Bespin expansion.

Fighter Squadron (16v16)

Large-scale dogfight mode where players can only control starfighters. Teams gain points by eliminating enemy ships (both player and AI-controlled). At certain points in the match, each team's bonus transport ship appear. Eliminating enemy transport ships award the team 20 points. The first team to reach 400 points (or the team with the highest amount of points after the 10-minute match) wins.

Special Hero vehicles are available in this mode.

It was originally a 10v10 mode (with half the required score to win) prior to the Bespin expansion. It was later made available in offline play on July 21, 2016.

Blast (10v10)

Small-scale team deathmatch mode. Teams gain points by eliminating enemy players. The first team to reach 100 kills (or the team with the highest amount of kills after the 10-minute match) wins.

Drop Zone (6v6)

Small-scale king of the hill mode. Teams gain points by claiming Drop Pods that arrive in random locations throughout the map. The first team to claim 5 Pods (or the team with the highest amount of claimed Pods after the 10-minute match) wins.

Pods are claimed by first having a player from that team "tag" it (by interacting with it), then defending it from being "tagged" by an enemy player for a short amount of time. Additional Pods are dropped as the match progresses. Power-ups do not spawn normally, and are instead spawned from the Pod once it's controlled.

A special 16v16 version of this mode is playable in the Bioniip Laboratories map in the Bespin expansion. In this version, Pods arrive three-at-a-time and teams must capture 10 to win.

Cargo (6v6)

Small-scale capture the flag mode with a twist: each team has five Cargo Boxes in their base and must retrieve and capture each Cargo from the enemy base while defending their own. While only one Cargo from each team is in-play at a time, the game is played in a tug-of-war fashion.

Like Supremacy, the game is time-based, and each match starts with a 15 minute timer. After the timer expires (or after one team controls all ten Cargo), the game ends and the team with the most Cargo controlled at that time wins.

Droid Run (6v6)

Small-scale domination mode with a twist: teams must fight to control three GNK Power Droids slowly roaming around the map. Similar to Cargo, the game is played in a tug-of-war fashion (with no scoring system).

Like Supremacy, the game is time-based, and each match starts with a 10 minute timer. After the timer expires (or after one team controls all three Droids), the game ends and the team with the most Droids controlled at that time wins.

Heroes vs Villains (6v6)

Small-scale round-based last team standing mode with a twist: each team has three players controlling their faction's Heroes and players must defend them while eliminating the opposing team's Heroes.

Players can respawn in this mode, and once a player is eliminated as a Hero, they respawn as normal infantry. Teams win each round by eliminating all three enemy Heroes (or having the most Heroes alive after three minutes).

Hero Hunt (8P)

Small-scale juggernaut mode. One player starts the match as a Hero, and is pitted against the seven other players (as normal infantry). Only the Hero can score points by eliminating enemy players, and becomes standard infantry when they are eliminated (with one of the players who dealt the most damage to them becoming the new Hero). The first player to reach 50 points (or the team with the highest amount of points after the 15-minute match) wins.

Turning Point (20v20)

Added on December 1, 2015 with the Battle of Jakku expansion.

Large-scale asymmetrical objective-based mode where the Rebels team must assault the Imperial team's position by capturing each set of Control Points sequentially and then by controlling the final point before the timer elapses.

Each set of Control Points is captured if any of the three Imperial-controlled Control Points in that set becomes controlled by the Rebels. Unlike in Supremacy, progress made on each Control Point is irreversible. Once a set of Control Points is captured, an orbital strike rains down between that and the next one, giving both teams the opportunity to regroup and reinforce.

The match timer starts at 6 minutes, and increases by 3 for each set of Control Points captured.

Vehicles are available in this mode.

Extraction (8v8)

Added on March 22, 2016 and is only available to those who own the Outer Rim expansion.

Small-scale asymmetrical payload mode where the Rebels team must escort a Shipment Tram through three Checkpoints before the timer elapses.

The Shipment can only move once activated (by a Rebel player) and stops once its deactivated (by an Imperial player). Teams can also activate/deactivate a large shield around the Shipment to protect those inside it.

The match timer starts at 5 minutes, and increases by 5 for each Checkpoint passed. The game goes into overtime as long as the Shipment is still active.

Heroes are available in this mode, but only available once certain Checkpoints are passed (first and second for the Rebels, second and third for the Imperials).

Sabotage (16v16)

Added on June 21, 2016 and is only available to those who own the Bespin expansion.

Large-scale asymmetrical objective-based mode where the Rebels team must destroy three Tibanna Gas Generators (by setting charges and defending them) within 10 minutes and then defend their Extraction Point from being captured by the Imperials team for 5 minutes.

Heroes are available in this mode, with vehicles only available in one map (Cloud City).

Battle Station (12v12)

Added on September 20, 2016 and is only available to those who own the Death Star expansion.

A unique large-scale multiplayer campaign taking place through three stages:

The Diversion: A dogfight mode in the map Imperial Blockade. Rebels must destroy an Imperial Star Destroyer by destroying enough enemy fighters to call in a Y-Wing strike (temporarily disabling the Star Destroyer's shields) and then attacking the Star Destroyer's key points.

The Rescue: An objective mode in either (at random) Command Sector, Defense Sector, or Power Sector. Rebels must take control of R2-D2 and escort him (with one player controlling him) to the extraction point.

The Trench Run: A dogfight mode in the map Death Star Surface. Rebels must destroy the Death Star itself by having three designated players running through special checkpoints.

If the Rebels do not complete all of the objectives on each stage within a time limit, the Empire wins the campaign.

Heroes (both starfighter and infantry) are available in this mode.

Infiltration (16v16)

Added on December 6, 2016 and is only available to those who own the Rogue One: Scarif expansion.

A unique large-scale multiplayer campaing taking place through three stages:

The Approach: A dogfight mode in the map Shield Gate. Rebels must escort one of the designated players (as U-Wings) to the shield gate itself.

The Distraction: An objective mode in either (at random) Landing Bay 13, Scarif Beach, or Scarif Jungle. Rebels must destroy one of two Imperial Cargo Ships by planting explosive charges and preventing the Imperials from disarming them.

The Extraction: An objective mode in the same map as The Distraction. Rebels must escort players carrying one of three Datatapes to the U-Wing. It is similar to Cargo, as dropped Datatapes can be picked up by Rebels when dropped and can be returned by Imperials.

If the Rebels do not complete all of the objectives on each stage within a time limit, the Empire wins the campaign.

Heroes (both starfighter and infantry) are available in this mode.

Missions

Missions are unique game modes that can only be played solo (offline) or with two players (online or offline with split-screen). Players can earn special Stars in these modes for bonus unlockables.

Training - Single-player only. Five tutorial missions introducing players to certain game mechanics (namely vehicles and Heroes).

Survival - Single-player or Co-operative. Players control Rebel soldiers surrounded by Imperial forces, and will need to outlast 15 progressively-difficult waves of enemies.

Battles / Hero Battles - Single-player or player-vs-player, with both factions having AI players. Same as Blast mode, but with AI bots on both factions (which can be disabled for the player side). Hero Battles has both players controlling Hero units (which grant additional points when defeated).

Maps

Large-Scale

All large-scale maps support Walker Assault, Supremacy, and Turning Point modes unless otherwise noted.

Endor: Forest Moon of Endor
Endor: Survivors of Endor (added on March 22, 2016)
Hoth: Outpost Beta - Also supports Flight Squadron.
Hoth: Twilight on Hoth (added on February 23, 2016) - Also supports Blast and Heroes vs. Villains.
Jakku: Goazon Badlands - Also support Flight Squadron.
Sullust: SoroSuub Centoplex - Also supports Flight Squadron.
Tatooine: Jundland Wastes - Also supports Flight Squadron.

Expansion Only

Bespin: Bespin Airspace - Bespin expansion. Only supports Flight Squadron.
Bespin: Cloud City - Bespin expansion. Also supports Sabotage.
Death Star: Imperial Blockade - Death Star expansion. Only supports Flight Squadron.
Death Star: Death Star Surface - Death Star expansion. Only supports Flight Squadron.
Scarif: Landing Pad 13 - Rogue One: Scarif expansion. Also supports Blast. Does not support Supremacy.
Scarif: Scarif Beach - Rogue One: Scarif expansion. Also supports Blast. Does not support Supremacy.
Scarif: Scarif Jungle - Rogue One: Scarif expansion. Also supports Blast. Does not support Supremacy.
Scarif: Shield Gate - Rogue One: Scarif expansion. Only supports Flight Squadron.

Small-Scale

All small-scale maps support Blast, Heroes vs Villains, and Hero Hunt modes.

Endor: Imperial Station - Also supports Cargo.
Endor: Swamp Crash Site - Also supports Drop Zone and Droid Run.
Hoth: Ice Caves - Also supports Drop Zone and Droid Run.
Hoth: Rebel Base - Also supports Cargo and Droid Run.
Jakku: Graveyard of Giants - Also supports Cargo, Drop Zone, and Droid Run.
Sullust: Imperial Hangar - Also supports Cargo.
Sullust: Sulfur Fields - Also supports Drop Zone and Droid Run.
Tatooine: Dune Sea Exchange - Also supports Drop Zone and Droid Run.
Tatooine: Jawa Refuge - Also supports Drop Zone, Droid Run, and Flight Squadron.
Tatooine: Raider Camp (added on January 26, 2016) - Also supports Drop Zone and Droid Run.
Tatooine: Rebel Depot - Also supports Cargo and Drop Zone.

Expansion Only

Unlike the base maps, Heroes vs. Villains and Hero Hunt are not supported in these maps unless otherwise specified.

Sullust: SoroSuub Pipelines - Outer Rim expansion. Also supports Cargo, Droid Run, Heroes vs. Villains, and Extraction.
Sullust: SoroSuub Refinery - Outer Rim expansion. Also supports Cargo, Droid Run, Heroes vs. Villains, and Extraction.
Tatooine: Jabba's Palace - Outer Rim expansion. Also supports Cargo, Droid Run, Heroes vs. Villains, and Extraction.
Tatooine: Palace Garage - Outer Rim expansion. Also supports Cargo, Droid Run, Heroes vs. Villains, and Extraction.
Bespin: Administrator's Palace - Bespin expansion. Also supports Cargo and Sabotage.
Bespin: Bioniip Laboratories - Bespin expansion. Also supports Drop Zone and Sabotage.
Bespin: Carbonite Freezing Chambers - Bespin expansion. Also supports Cargo, Droid Run, and Sabotage.
Death Star: Command Sector - Death Star expansion. Also supports Cargo and Droid Run.
Death Star: Defense Sector - Death Star expansion. Also supports Cargo and Droid Run.
Death Star: Power Sector - Death Star expansion. Also supports Cargo and Droid Run.

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http://kotaku.com/star-wars-battlefronts-matchmaking-is-a-mess-1747564773

","created_at":"2015-12-23 21:12:43","updated_at":"2016-06-30 07:32:45","text_comment":"http://kotaku.com/star-wars-battlefronts-matchmaking-is-a-mess-1747564773 ","unix":1450905163,"type":"Comment","type_slug":"comment","user":{"id":46,"role_id":2,"name":"David Stupek","display_name":"Gibgaism","slug":"gibgaism","email":"dstupek@gmail.com","birthday":"1993-06-16","tos":0,"privacy":0,"avatar_id":"29601","last_login":"2016-01-01 22:48:54","confirmed_at":"2015-08-14 18:56:30","suspended_at":null,"created_at":"2014-03-09 03:18:51","updated_at":"2016-12-06 22:22:05","type":"Users\User","type_slug":"users-user","url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/members/gibgaism","link":"Gibgaism","avatar_url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/images/avatars/default.jpg","avatar":null},"likes":[{"id":228,"user_id":"1","likeable_type":"Comment","likeable_id":129,"created_at":"2016-07-06 22:23:08","updated_at":"2016-07-06 22:23:08","unix":1467843788,"type":"Users\Like","type_slug":"users-like"},{"id":300,"user_id":"4","likeable_type":"Comment","likeable_id":129,"created_at":"2017-03-24 22:22:24","updated_at":"2017-03-24 22:22:24","unix":1490394144,"type":"Users\Like","type_slug":"users-like"}],"comments":[]}]},{"id":63,"game_id":44649,"user_id":"11503","title":"Call of Duty: Black Ops 3","slug":"call-of-duty-black-ops-3","review":"

What’s up GJ? Dean here and every so often, I’ll be writing blogs/reviews whatever .

A little bit about myself first.. I’m 24, a computer professional and I love video games. I play on PlayStation 4, PC and mobile. I can’t say I have any honest favorite games or even favorite genres. There’s just the games I love to currently play.

With that said let’s get into my first opinion piece. Currently, just like most of the world I’m playing Call of Duty: Black Ops 3.

*Disclaimer* I used to be a hard-core CoD gamer and retired for a couple entries. Coming back to BO3 after some years. *Disclaimer*

Call of Duty as a series is one of those games that the world loves to hate. It can be enjoyable and it can be annoying all at the same time. It's also one of the longest standing FPS games in regards to the general public. Why not? It's fun to play with friends and gives a feeling of satisfaction in many ways.

After falling out of love with MW3, skipping ghost and advanced warfare I got my hands on the Black Ops 3 beta. I couldn't turn down my friends saying I'd like this installment. They couldn't have been anymore accurate! Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 gives me a feeling I haven't had in a long time in a First Person Shooter. It feels true to the core and shines as far as rewarding true player skill. Yes, drop shots are still there and campers are still everywhere. Although , if you were there when it all started you know that you need to adapt.

So, how is it? Well, I've reached Prestige 1 and am almost finished with that. The weapons for the most part all feel usable in some way. Although, there are some that are considered "OP" or overpowered by the general consensus. Treyarch seem to be hard at work fixing that. The specialist classes are awesome and don't feel like they give too much of an unfair advantage in the game. Most of the maps are enjoyable after giving them some time to sink into your play style. Also, customization is robust and about as deep as they could get.

Now that's not to say the game is without it's share of issues. The matchmaking works like a charm when it wants to. My crew and I tend to have a hard time joining matches when we're in a party of any size. It also seems like there's a latency issue of some sort. The connections are generally at four bars (Max) and yet odd things still happen. Random errors here and there that cause it to crash, on PS4. These same errors have stopped me from making changes to classes.

As far as the story, while I haven't finished it yet so far it seems decent. Stories every so often take a backseat in online focused games like CoD. This hasn't changed in BO3, but there have been some major changes that I find are big plays by Treyarch. The campaign is now four player co-op which is HUGE for those of us who enjoy team play. *possible spoiler* Also, they've put in a class selection of sorts that resembles online. *end spoiler* I will say sometimes the story feels a bit too hectic even for a Call of Duty game, but that's for me.

Zombies mode makes an EPIC return in this series. I'd say it's expected in a Treyarch game, but they still manage to wow me. The current map Shadows of Evil is expansive and has many surprises for the player. Without spoiling anything I'll say prepare yourself for a wild ride. There's also a new gumball mechanic which is an interesting and welcome addition. The weapon editor is also present in zombies and allows you to customize box or wall weapons (you must first unlock them).

All in All Black Ops 3 has so far been an enjoyable experience. It's got me pretty hooked and I haven't contemplated putting it down even once. I'd say it's deserving of a 8.5/10 as it currently stands. If you haven't tried a Call of Duty game in a long time pick it up. I can't say you'll be unhappy.

","graphics":false,"gameplay":false,"storyline":false,"score":"8.7","image_id":53219,"created_at":"2015-11-18 04:32:57","updated_at":"2016-07-26 08:47:15","deleted_at":null,"unix":1447821177,"type":"Reviews\Review","type_slug":"reviews-review","url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/reviews/call-of-duty-black-ops-iii/call-of-duty-black-ops-3","deck":{"clean":"What’s up GJ? Dean here and every so often, I’ll be writing blogs/reviews whatever .A little bit about myself first.. I’m 24, a computer professional and I love video games. I play on PlayStation 4, PC and mobile. I can’t say I have any hone... see more","short":"

What’s up GJ? Dean here and every so often, I’ll be writing blogs/reviews whatever .

A little bit about myself first.. I’m 24, a computer professional and I love video...

","long":"

What’s up GJ? Dean here and every so often, I’ll be writing blogs/reviews whatever .

With that said let’s get into my first opinion piece. Currently, just like most of the world I’m playing Call of Duty: Black Ops 3.

*Disclaimer* I used to be a hard-core CoD gamer and retired for a couple entries. Coming back to BO3 after some years. *Disclaimer*

Call of Duty as a series is one ... continue reading

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Overview

Call of Duty: Black Ops III is a sci-fi military first-person shooter developed by Treyarch and published by Activision for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on November 6, 2015.

The twelfth installment of the Call of Duty franchise (and the sequel to Call of Duty: Black Ops II), Black Ops III shifts from near-future 2025 to dystopian far-future 2070. Similar to Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, vast technological progress have changed the rules of the battlefield, and advanced air defense systems (due to the massive drone strikes in the events of Black Ops II) shifts military focus to robotics and cybernetic super-soldiers. The game's two major warring factions are the protagonistic Winslow Accord and the antagonistic Common Defense Pact.

Unlike previous games in the franchise, the main campaign of Black Ops III features customizable protagonists, four-player co-operative gameplay, and a hub area (known as the Safe House). The game's story starts with a WA black op in 2065 Ethiopia. After receiving life-threatening injuries, the protagonist is recovered and, along with their commanding officer Jacob Hendricks, augmented with numerous cybernetic enhancements (including an advanced brain-computer interface known as the Direct Neural Interface). Five years later, while investigating a CIA blacksite in Singapore, the protagonist (along with both Hendricks and CIA agent Rachel Kane) uncover the defection of an elite team of WA cyborgs (led by Commander John Taylor). An bonus non-canon version of the campaign, known as "Nightmares", features the same locales in a new story involving a zombie outbreak.

Both Multiplayer and Zombies modes make a return, each with new enhancements. Multiplayer builds upon its predecessor with advanced mobility options based on Advanced Warfare (including wall-running, power-sliding, and boost-jumping). Along with the standard "Pick 10" customization system, the game introduces player characters (known as Specialists, each with their own Power Weapon or Special Ability that can be used in short amounts) and customizable weapon appearances. Zombies features both an XP progression system and a new story (known as "Shadows of Evil") set in a twisted zombie-infested 1940's city as a new group of troubled individuals are led by the mysterious Shadow Man.

Both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 ports are done in conjunction with Beenox and Mercenary Technology and are missing some key features, most notably the entire Campaign mode, customizable weapon appearances, and eSports tools. To make up for that, these ports include Call of Duty: Black Ops as a downloadable bonus. It is the last Call of Duty game to be released on those systems.

Campaign Missions

1. Black Ops
2. New World
3. In Darkness
4. Provocation
5. Hypocenter
6. Vengeance
7. Rise and Fall
8. Demon Within
9. Sand Castle
10. Lotus Towers
11. Life

Multiplayer Maps

Aquarium
Breach
Combine
Evac
Exodus
Fringe
Havoc
Hunted
Infection
Metro
Redwood
Stronghold
Nuk3town

Added in DLC

Rise
Splash
Skyjacked
Gauntlet
Knockout
Rift
Spire
Verge
Rumble
Berserk
Cryogen
Empire
Outlaw
Citadel
Rupture
Micro

Zombies Maps

Shadows of Evil
The Giant
Der Eisendrache
Zetsubou No Shima
Gorod Krovi
Revelations

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If you are like me, you love and adore open ended sci fi space exploration games. Titles such as freelancer, Eve online and even much more old school titles such as escape velocity. I have put in about 8 hours into this game and I really enjoy it.

The basic premise is you are a spaceship making a name for yourself in the galaxy. You have a reputation with each faction which is either Hostile, Neutral or Friendly. Hostile means they attack you on site and Friendly means you get special gear and ships. In this vast galaxy you can be a miner, trader of legal goods, trade of illegal goods (higher profit), a space pirate (my preference), a bounty hunter or a war baron.

The combat is like world of warships where you should be side by side enemy ships and you can blast your cannons at them. You can custom choose the type of turrets you use which typically you let the AI use. You also have a secondary weapon which is either mines, missles are a emp blast.

I feel the games pace is a little slow where a decisive attack or action cannot turn the tide of a battle; in escape velocity if you make a wrong turn you are DEAD! There is a very smooth transition between warp speed and normal speed and you can avoid big battles / obstacles while steering in warp speed. I also think the difficulty is a little imbalanced where an attack is either too easy or way too hard (taking down a behemoth ship with a corvette is pretty impossible). There are many cool features such as ramming but overall this game is really indie driven, it really shows in the limited features but the graphics are amazing.

","graphics":false,"gameplay":false,"storyline":false,"score":"8.4","image_id":29664,"created_at":"2015-10-23 23:24:27","updated_at":"2016-07-26 08:47:15","deleted_at":null,"unix":1445642667,"type":"Reviews\Review","type_slug":"reviews-review","url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/reviews/rebel-galaxy/rebel-galaxy-freelancer-2","deck":{"clean":"If you are like me, you love and adore open ended sci fi space exploration games. Titles such as freelancer, Eve online and even much more old school titles such as escape velocity. I have put in about 8 hours into this game and I really enjoy it.The basic premi... see more","short":"

If you are like me, you love and adore open ended sci fi space exploration games. Titles such as freelancer, Eve online and even much more old school titles such as esc...

","long":"

"},"user":{"id":11496,"role_id":3,"name":"navid","display_name":"kaosz","slug":"kaosz","email":"nmazaheri@gmail.com","birthday":null,"tos":1,"privacy":1,"avatar_id":null,"last_login":"2015-10-23 23:02:01","confirmed_at":"2015-10-23 23:02:00","suspended_at":null,"created_at":"2015-10-23 23:00:55","updated_at":"2015-10-23 23:47:21","type":"Users\User","type_slug":"users-user","url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/members/kaosz","link":"kaosz","avatar_url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/images/avatars/default.jpg","avatar":null},"game":{"id":43966,"api_id":48057,"name":"Rebel Galaxy","slug":"rebel-galaxy","image":{"icon_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/square_avatar/8/87790/2994801-box_rgal.png","medium_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_medium/8/87790/2994801-box_rgal.png","screen_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/screen_medium/8/87790/2994801-box_rgal.png","screen_large_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/screen_kubrick/8/87790/2994801-box_rgal.png","small_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_small/8/87790/2994801-box_rgal.png","super_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_large/8/87790/2994801-box_rgal.png","thumb_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_avatar/8/87790/2994801-box_rgal.png","tiny_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/square_mini/8/87790/2994801-box_rgal.png","original_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/original/8/87790/2994801-box_rgal.png","image_tags":"All Images"},"deck":"A Sci-Fi Action-RPG from co-creators of Diablo and Torchlight, featuring heavy sandbox elements and large-scale ship battles.","description":"

Overview

Rebel Galaxy is an Action-RPG from Double Damage Games, a studio founded by Travis Baldree and Erich Schaefer. After working on games such as Diablo and Torchlight, the studio are opted to bring heavy sandbox elements, large-scale ship battles, deep role-playing elements, and randomized combat events to the project.

The game emphasizes free-form player development, allowing players to take on whatever type of role they want in its universe, such as being a bounty-hunting mercenary or politically-correct do-gooder. In addition, the universe will react to players' choices both in and out of combat affecting how the game's world and its inhabitants interact with the player.

System Requirements (PC)

Minimum

OS : Windows Vista / 7 / 8 / 10
Processor : Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz or AMD Athlon X2 2.8 GHz
Memory : 2 GB RAM
Graphics : Shader Model 3.0 support, 512 MB VRAM
Sound Card : DirectX 9.0c compatible, 16-bit
Hard Drive : 2 GB available space

System Requirements (Mac)

Minimum

OS : OS X 10.10 or newer
Processor : Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz or AMD Athlon X2 2.8 GHz
Memory : 2 GB RAM
Hard Drive : 2 GB available space

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The Last Of Us is a gorgeous survival horror experience, with strong character development and thought-provoking narratives. The Last Of Us is less a video, and more an example of current/next gen story telling at it's best. A Sony exclusive title that shows what Sony's tech is really capable of.

Developed by NaughtyDog. This game is NaughtyDog at their best, granted the Uncharted series is a beautifully lush experience, with heart-pounding cinematic driven game-play reminiscent of Indiana Jones, The Last Of Us is a truly immersive experience that gains your empathy and pulls at your emotional chords every step of the way.

Although this game has been remastered for PS4, l will be reviewing the PS3 Release of this game.Please beware that there may be some small spoilers within this review; so before we start i'd like to issue a SPOILER ALERT

","graphics":{"score":"95","review":"

Coming Soon

"},"gameplay":{"score":"90","review":"

SURVIVAL IS KEY

In last of us a player, you play through the game primarily as Joel, a rugged weather-torn man with a jaded past and an unclear future same as most who inhabit what remains of the once bustling cities, and towns of America.

Cover, creep, and stay calm within the game you will meet many different types of enemies, all representations of a genetic mutation induced by the so-called "spores" generated from the already infected hosts of the virus which has systematically demolished civilization as a we know it.

When moving as Joel I felt very grounded, the physics are based in real-life concepts, if you've played The Uncharted series, then you will feel comfortable with the control scheme, but unlike Uncharted, the characters and physics in this game are based on giving the character a realistic feel of panic when being chased, and lack of super-human agility leaves the player needing to be more tactful than brazen.

These are real world physics, and not fantasy or science fiction. Joel is a medium build man with reasonable strength, and keen senses well-suited for moments of stealth.

You will find yourself needing to master stealth mechanics as well as gaining mastery of the weapons and items inventory. Scavenging is crucial to gaining more inventory for weapon creation, item fabrication for revisions such as health packs, and even explosives, or improvised weaponry.

Be sure to always be checking everywhere for items as supplies are scarce in this post-apocalyptic setting.

Joel finds himself accompanied by a mysterious young girl Ellie, whom he is required to escort across the now destroyed terrain of the U.S. it's soon seen that this task is easier said than done, as you will be facing not only intelligent zombie-like infected enemies of many varieties, but human NPCs with sufficient AI and battle skills.

Horror... or circumstantial violence?

Every sound made, every shot fired, and breath taken counts. So choose your actions wisely. The violence never truly seems glorified or even overly gory, the fear comes more from the mortality of your characters and the depth of each character which builds empathy within the player. The character's existence resonate with the player and you become attached to people that very well may die at any moment.

You will be faced with blind enemies with sonar that require stealth attacks, brute bloated enemies with projectile firing capabilities, the basic enemies faced will be "runners" and "stalkers" these are typical infected whom have a medium range of sight, acute hearing, and high are highly aggressive- chasing if you flea, and signaling others via loud noises, or simply out-numbering you in a large-scale pack-like frenzy, they are a easily one of your biggest threats in-game.

You will find yourself lurking, setting traps, causing distractions, and tricking enemies quite if you intend to survive. Enemies such-as the clickers are very hard to kill when attacking head-on. Capable of hand-to-hand combat and strong melee attacks Joel is strong but not invincible, be sensible and know when to RUN

You will have to rely on your regulation of inventory (e.g. ammo/items), and scavenging skills to survive in the harsh landscape that is presented to the player.

Overall the game feels very much like a gritty real-world Uncharted experience, when controlling your character.Which honestly isn't bad, why re-invent the wheel, as I stated previously, the mechanics were further explored, grounded and refined, in order to convey real-life panic and urgency within the player, giving this game it's own feel in spite of it's evident influence from the Uncharted series developed by NaughtyDog as well.

I never been more scared when playing a game then when I was in a dark-spore filled hallway being chased by herd of clickers. *shudders...*

"},"storyline":{"score":"100","review":"

Coming Soon

"},"score":"9.5","image_id":null,"created_at":"2015-10-08 15:42:10","updated_at":"2016-07-26 08:47:15","deleted_at":null,"unix":1444318930,"type":"Reviews\Review","type_slug":"reviews-review","url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/reviews/the-last-of-us/the-last-of-us-ps3","deck":{"clean":"The Last Of Us is a gorgeous survival horror experience, with strong character development and thought-provoking narratives. The Last Of Us is less a video, and more an example of current/next gen story telling at it's best. A Sony exclusive title that shows what Son... see more","short":"

The Last Of Us is a gorgeous survival horror experience, with strong character development and thought-provoking narratives. The Last Of Us is less a video, and more an example...

","long":"

The Last Of Us is a gorgeous survival horror experience, with strong character development and thought-provoking narratives. The Last Of Us is less a video, and more an example of current/next gen story telling at it's best. A Sony exclusive title that shows what Sony's tech is really capable of.

Although this game has been rema... continue reading

"},"user":{"id":11481,"role_id":4,"name":"severededdie","display_name":"FallenMyth","slug":"fallenmyth","email":"severedinc@gmail.com","birthday":null,"tos":1,"privacy":1,"avatar_id":null,"last_login":"2015-12-14 00:31:49","confirmed_at":"2015-10-07 16:55:18","suspended_at":null,"created_at":"2015-09-26 19:50:33","updated_at":"2015-12-14 00:31:49","type":"Users\User","type_slug":"users-user","url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/members/fallenmyth","link":"FallenMyth","avatar_url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/images/avatars/default.jpg","avatar":null},"game":{"id":33568,"api_id":36989,"name":"The Last of Us","slug":"the-last-of-us","image":{"icon_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/square_avatar/9/93770/2419553-397060_386577108098888_427807760_n.jpg","medium_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_medium/9/93770/2419553-397060_386577108098888_427807760_n.jpg","screen_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/screen_medium/9/93770/2419553-397060_386577108098888_427807760_n.jpg","screen_large_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/screen_kubrick/9/93770/2419553-397060_386577108098888_427807760_n.jpg","small_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_small/9/93770/2419553-397060_386577108098888_427807760_n.jpg","super_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_large/9/93770/2419553-397060_386577108098888_427807760_n.jpg","thumb_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_avatar/9/93770/2419553-397060_386577108098888_427807760_n.jpg","tiny_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/square_mini/9/93770/2419553-397060_386577108098888_427807760_n.jpg","original_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/original/9/93770/2419553-397060_386577108098888_427807760_n.jpg","image_tags":"All Images,Box Art"},"deck":"Joel and Ellie must survive in a post-apocalyptic world where a deadly parasitic fungus infects people's brains in this PS3 exclusive third-person action-adventure game from Naughty Dog.","description":"

Overview

The Last of Us is a third-person action-adventure game, set in a post-apocalyptic world where a deadly parasitic fungus (Cordyceps unilateralis) that infects the brains of ants suddenly adapts to humans. A large portion of the human race turns into monster, called the infected or clickers. The remaining survivors turn to whatever assets they can find to survive a world now overrun by anarchy and desolation.

The player takes the role of Joel (voiced by Troy Baker) and, with the help of 14-year-old orphan girl Ellie (voiced by Ashley Johnson), must try to survive at all costs, fending off both the infected and other desperate human survivors. Supplies and ammunition are scarce and the player will have to constantly evaluate the risk of searching for these supplies in the environment and risking unwanted and taxing confrontations.

There is speculation that the game takes place in the same universe as the Uncharted series, due to a hidden newspaper headline in Uncharted 3's first level that vaguely refers to a deadly fungus that scientists are still "struggling to understand".

Gameplay

The Last of Us' combat primarily revolves around melee and crafting. The weapons in the game are degradable, and the projectiles are mostly crude instruments such as bricks. While firearms can be procured, ammunition is incredibly scarce, making every bullet count. Health doesn't regenerate, forcing the player to play very conservatively. The emphasis on player fragility helps accentuate the pressure of trying to survive in such a harsh world.

The AI-controlled Ellie preparing to throw a brick at a hunter

The player takes up the role of Joel, while their partner Ellie (computer-controlled) stays at Joel’s side for a large portion of the game. While cooperative play is absent from the game, Naughty Dog has stated that The Last of Us is not "one big escort mission". Instead, Ellie acts as a supportive ally rather than a frail victim: she can call out enemies for Joel and help from afar by throwing objects at enemies. Ellie can die, but she will protect herself to some degree by using weapons and cunning to escape danger. In addition, she will assist the player in solving certain puzzles and helping in situations which require two people.

The player is forced to contend against both the infected and other humans, although not every NPC they meet will be instantaneously hostile towards them. Each enemy type has distinct AI patterns. The humans are particularly competent: they can work together by relaying critical information to one another, fleeing, dynamically changing their tactics based upon whether Joel has a gun or a melee weapon, and surrendering. Overall, the enemy AI is meant to be highly adaptable, reacting dynamically to how the player chooses to act. Naughty Dog has coined their specific AI programming the ''Balance of Power'.

The game also contains an inventory management and item combination system. At any time, Joel can access his backpack to combine or use items, such as a Molotov cocktail or med-kit. Items are crafted from a pool of limited materials, forcing the player to decide which items are necessary.

Players can interact with objects in the environment for the sake of background story rather than mere progression. For instance, if a player interacts with a movie poster, the protagonists will share a conversation about the history of how the world used to be. Items the player can interact with become highlighted and the player receives a button prompt.

Plot

Summer

The two co-protagonists, Ellie and Joel.

The Last of Us stars Joel, a 50-something man who is one of the few remaining people left in the world after a parasitic fungus began infecting the population. During the very early stages of the outbreak, 20 years before the main game begins, Joel's daughter Sarah is killed amidst the chaos.

Now, Joel is a smuggler, and his latest job is to help escort Ellie, a 14 year old girl, out of his city. The city is under martial law and combat with a rebel group known as the Fireflies is frequent. He is to take her to a Firefly base at the request of the Firefly leader Marlene. Ellie is immune to the disease and her blood is believed to be the key for creating a cure.

The two encounter many allies along their travels, all of whom will either die or stay behind once they've done all they can do. Initially Joel is working alongside his smuggling partner Tess, though she is bitten by an infected and then sacrifices herself to stall the pursuing Government authorities. Next is Bill, an old friend of Tess and Joel's who lives alone in a small deserted town. He aids the two, but then retreats back to his safe haven.

Finally Joel and Ellie reach is Henry and Sam, two brothers who were initially apart of a larger group, but broke apart and were attempting to reunite with whoever is left at a nearby radio station. They travel alongside Joel and Ellie, as the four fight their way through infected, and Hunters - bandits who kill and steal from whoever enters their territory.

The four finally manage to reach the radio station, however the younger brother Sam was bitten earlier and turns overnight. He attacks Ellie and forces Joel to react, but not before he is held at gunpoint by Henry. After much pleading from Joel, Henry kills his little brother and quickly pulls the gun on himself and commits suicide.

Fall

Joel and Ellie continue their travels until reaching a dam. Inside is a small settlement, lead by Joel's own brother and ex-Firefly Tommy. While there, Joel plans to hand Ellie over to Tommy, whom he believes will have a better chance getting her to safety because of his prior connections.

Ellie, distraught at the idea of being abandoned after the two have begun to establish a strong father-daughter bond, takes off from the base by horse. Joel and Tommy are eventually able to catch her, and Joel then decides to carry on the duty of escorting Ellie.

The two finally reach the Firefly base, an abandoned hospital, only they find it deserted. There are audio logs explaining that the Fireflies had to move on from the area. With a new location set, the two begin to carry on their journey. However, they are ambushed by Hunters on their way out. The two fight their way to the exit, and Joel punctures his stomach after falling from the first floor and landing on a pipe. Ellie is then forced to tend to his wounds, after setting up base in an abandoned house, and look for medicine.

Winter

Ellie hunts deer for food, but her hunting is soon cut short as she encounters two men. They appear friendly at first, as the older man David sends the other to collect the medicine Ellie requires. She still expresses distrust of David, though the two are inevitably forced to work together to defend against a horde of infected. Ellie sets aside her suspicions and the two are able to ward the infected off.

However, as the two make camp, David reveals that he is the leader of the pack of Hunters that attacked them at the hospital earlier. David still hands her the medicine, and Ellie quickly escapes and returns back to Joel.

David sends his men to follow her, forcing Ellie to ride away on horseback in an attempt to keep them away from Joel. After riding a fair distance Ellie silently kills her way through the pack of Hunters, and is eventually caught by David.

Now trapped within a butcher's shop, David inadvertently reveals that his group has resorted to cannibalism. However, his intended use for Ellie is not food, but is instead sexual. After Ellie rejects David's attempts to court her into his group, he instead decides to kill her for food. While lying on a butcher's table, she bites David and quickly exclaims that she's infected. Amidst the confusion, she is able to escape.

Elsewhere, Joel has recovered, and upon realizing Ellie has gone missing, he kills his way through the remaining Hunters at the house. He is forced to torture and kill two of them in order to gain information of her whereabouts.

David sets fire to a restaurant exit to stop Ellie from escaping. She is able to use her cunning and her honed skills in stealth to stab David with his own machete. Joel, noticing the fire, arrives just after and tries to calm her down.

Spring

Once again the two advance upon their destination. Along the way they encounter a tower of giraffes, and they both share a serene moment while watching the gentle creatures walk by amidst the sunny backdrop. Further along their travels, Joel and Ellie are thrown underwater by a crumbling underground bridge. Joel is able to quickly reach Ellie, who cannot swim, and begins to resuscitate her. She doesn't appear to be waking up, and armed men arrive and knock Joel out.

He awakes inside a hospital, greeted by Marlene, and realizes he made it to the Firefly base. Though alive, Ellie is not with him. Marlene explains that in order for them to extract the necessary samples to create a cure, Ellie must die.

Joel refuses to let them kill Ellie, and fights his way through a swath of Firefly soldiers until he reaches the surgery room. He kills the head surgeon and takes Ellie in his arms, rushing through the corridors until he reaches the elevator. He heads down to the car park to find himself held at gun point by Marlene, who begs Joel to give Ellie back. Joel is able to fire a round into Marlene before she can react. Marlene begs for her life while bleeding on the floor. Joel refuses mercy claiming that she would still come after Ellie, and shoots Marlene point-blank in the head.

Ellie soon wakes up in Joel's car and asks what happened. Joel lies to her, stating that no cure exists, and that the Fireflies had already tried with other individuals who were immune and it didn't work. Ellie, clearly confused and disappointed, appears to accepts this for the truth.

Epilogue

Joel and Ellie arrive on the outskirts of Tommy's outpost. Ellie stops Joel and expresses survivor's guilt over the deaths of Riley, Tess, and Sam, asking Joel to swear to her that what he said about the Fireflies is true. Joel does, and Ellie replies with a quiet, "Okay."

Ending Ambiguity

The Last of Us' was lauded for its intentionally ambiguous and mature ending, leaving it open to interpretation as to how Ellie would carry on from there regarding her relationship with Joel. The Last of Us co-director Neil Druckmann's own interpretation was:

It's Ellie waking up for the first time and realizing that she can't rely on him anymore. She knows that she has to leave him, and make her own decisions and her own mistakes.

Multiplayer

The game features a multiplayer mode called Factions, where the players pick either the Fireflies or Hunters to play as. Much of the weapons and gameplay from the single player campaign is carried into the multiplayer, such as crafting, listening, limited resources, etc. Loot boxes are scattered around each level which contain crafting items and ammunition for the players. The gameplay is designed to be slow and methodical, emphasizing teamwork and communication. Games consist of 4v4 rounds in one of three game modes:

Supply Raid

Each team is given 20 respawns with the goal of collecting as many supplies as possible while eliminating the other team.

Survivors

This is a no respawn mode where each team tries to eliminate the other team to win a round. A match consists of the best of seven rounds.

Interrogation

This mode has unlimited respawns, with the goal being to down players and interrogate them, rather than kill them right away. Once enough interrogations are made, the location of the opposing team's lockbox is revealed. The first team to successfully open the other team's lockbox wins the round.

Development

The Last of Us was first teased to the public some time before the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards, when Sony posted a live-action teaser trailer made up of a montage of riots and panic spreading across the world, solemnly narrated by the voice of a man (now acknowledged as Joel) recalling subtle appreciation for mundane, day-to-day activities, only to end with stating that they were now "all gone". It also contained a short segment from a BBC Planet documentary about ants becoming infected with a type of fungus called the Cordyceps unilateralis. It was during the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards that Sony then officially announced The Last of Us via an 'in-engine' trailer. The trailer introduced the main protagonists, Joel and Ellie, and announced that Naughty Dog was developing it.

Originally The Last of Us was conceived by Neil Druckmann for a University project starring a police officer, based partly on the Hartigan character--even including the heart condition--from Frank Miller's Sin City franchise. This character would also have to defend a little girl amidst a zombie crisis. Players were to switch control between the police officer and the little girl whenever the officer's heart condition would act up, not entirely unlike how it was in The Last of Us.

The idea was ultimately scrapped, but Druckmann still wanted to carry on with the themes and concepts established with his original idea, but planned to express it via a comic book title 'The Turning' instead. This time, however, the police officer character was now a criminal. He pitched his idea for a six-issue story arc, though it was turned down by the publishers.

Now working at Naughty Dog, Druckmann still very much wanted to tell a story involving the same character relationships--most importantly involving a protector that must inevitably be protected by the younger character--and themes, and upon finishing work on Uncharted 2, he would brainstorm with fellow Naughty Dog developer and The Last of Us co-director Bruce Straley.

Their first draft was called 'Mankind', and differed from The Last of Us in that the infection, while still the same Cordyceps unilateralis fungus, would only infect females. Furthermore, Ellie was to be a mute, though the story itself was still largely the same. Nonetheless, the idea of only females getting infected was scrapped due to disagreements with female Naughty Dog employees; Druckmann himself stated that it was a ''misogynistic idea''.

Concept art depicting an alternate ending.

Come 2010, the game's title was settled as The Last of Us, though the story was noticeably different. Tess, recognized in the main game as a supporting character, was to be the primary antagonist. The ending especially differed greatly, as it featured Joel being beaten and tortured by Tess, while she is ultimately killed by Ellie -- which was to be her first ever kill. Druckmann thought that this draft lacked the character development they were trying to achieve, and that Joel in particular settled into the father-figure role too quickly.

The general relationship between Joel and Ellie was inspired, in part, by Ico. The reliance Ico and Yorda show towards each other in particular is what originated the idea of having a game featuring two simultaneous protagonists; two characters who cannot overcome the many perils they are to face on their own. Naughty Dog has also cited inspiration from a set of sequences in their own Uncharted 2, in which Nathan Drake and his Tibetan guide Tenzin attempt to explore a large ice-encrusted cave. Initially, they wanted to develop this concept with a new Jak & Daxter game. Instead of carrying the same, original tone as the series' PS2 iterations, however, Naughty Dog planned on moving it out of its cartoon-ish origins and into a more realistic aesthetic; Jak was intended to be an actual human being, and Daxter was intended to function much like an ordinary weasel -- most notably lacking the ability to talk. This idea was put on the drawing board for the time being, and instead The Last of Us came to fruition.

The Last of Us was developed by a second team of Naughty Dog employees, as a result of the co-presidents deciding that each person's individual potential would be fully realized if they weren't as compressed just for the sake of developing a single game, Evan Wells particularly crediting the talent that they each respectively hold. Christophe Balestra tweeted that the game had been in development for at least two years as of the announcement alongside Uncharted 3, which marked the first time that Naughty Dog had split into multiple teams and had worked on more than one project at a time.

E3 2012

Ending the Sony Press Conference for the Electronic Entertainment Expo was the first publicly released gameplay demo for The Last of Us. It introduced a combat scenario to the audience, showing firsthand the tools of the trade Joel and Ellie must use to attempt to defend themselves from a small group of bandits, known as the 'hunters'. It was particularly adamant in showing the viewer the brutality and impulsive nature of the melee fights, as well as how the bandits would coordinate and respond based on Joel's current situation and amount of bullets he had.

It ended on an especially grim note, just after Joel executes a Hunter close-range with a shotgun while he begs for mercy.

Ellen Page controversy

Image showing Ellie's original (left) and current design.

After the game was released, Canadian actress Ellen Page expressed irritation after finding out that the character of Ellie, while voiced and mo-caped by Ashley Johnson, was inspired by her -- and accused Naughty Dog of ''ripping off'' her likeness. Though initially it was much more noticeable, Ellie's design was changed across development to temper the comparisons. It wasn't long after before Ellen Page considered the matter dropped.

Ellen Page herself stars in another PlayStation 3 exclusive game called Beyond: Two Souls.

Trivia

The Last of Us' DLC story, Left Behind, revealed that the character of Ellie is possibly gay, or at least bisexual. On the very same day of the DLC's release--Valentines Day--Ellen Page announced to the world that she is in fact gay.

Special Editions

Survival Edition

Exclusive to US regions, the Survival Edition includes:

The Art of The Last of Us: A full-sized 170-page hardcover art book from Dark Horse.
The Last of Us: American Dreams #1: The first issue in a series of comic books that dives deeper into Ellie's backstory, by Dark Horse.
The Steelbook edition of the game: Showcasing artwork of Ellie on one side and Joel on the other side of the cover.
The 'Sights & Sounds DLC pack': Includes the Official Game Soundtrack, a PS3 Dynamic Theme and PSN Avatars Winter Joel & Ellie.

Post-Pandemic Edition (Exclusive to GameStop)

Also exclusive to US regions, the Post-Pandemic edition is a higher tier version that includes all of the aforementioned additions, along with:

A 12" Premium Statue of Joel and Ellie by Project Triforce
'Survival DLC Pack'. The Survival DLC Pack includes Multiplayer Bonuses including bonus XP, a Melee Booster, in-game currency and customisable character items, and bonus Joel and Ellie skins unlocked by completing the single-player campaign.

Joel/Ellie Editions

Exclusive to European regions, there exist two varying editions that offer up the same amount of content as the US editions, but each has its own theme specifically centered on one of the two protagonists of the game.

Soundtrack

The Last of Us Video Game Soundtrack

Composer: Gustavo Santaolalla

Tracklist:

No.	Title	Length
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30	The Quarantine Zone (20 Years Later) The Hour The Last of Us Forgotten Memories The Outbreak Vanishing Grace The Hunters All Gone Vanishing Grace (Innocence) By Any Means The Choice Smugglers The Last of Us (Never Again) The Last of Us (Goodnight) I Know What You Are Home Infected All Gone (Aftermath) The Last of Us (A New Dawn) All Gone (No Escape) Vanishing Grace (Childhood) The Path All Gone (Alone) Blackout The Way It Was Breathless The Last of Us (You and Me) All Gone (The Outside) The Path (A New Beginning) Returning	3:40 1:01 3:03 1:07 1:31 2:06 1:59 1:13 0:55 1:53 1:42 1:38 1:01 0:50 1:21 3:07 1:16 1:04 2:28 2:54 1:41 1:28 1:22 1:38 1:31 1:24 2:08 1:57 2:47 3:35

No.

Title

Length

The Quarantine Zone (20 Years Later)

The Hour

The Last of Us

Forgotten Memories

The Outbreak

Vanishing Grace

The Hunters

All Gone

Vanishing Grace (Innocence)

By Any Means

The Choice

Smugglers

The Last of Us (Never Again)

The Last of Us (Goodnight)

I Know What You Are

Home

Infected

All Gone (Aftermath)

The Last of Us (A New Dawn)

All Gone (No Escape)

Vanishing Grace (Childhood)

The Path

All Gone (Alone)

Blackout

The Way It Was

Breathless

The Last of Us (You and Me)

All Gone (The Outside)

The Path (A New Beginning)

Returning

3:40

1:01

3:03

1:07

1:31

2:06

1:59

1:13

0:55

1:53

1:42

1:38

1:01

0:50

1:21

3:07

1:16

1:04

2:28

2:54

1:41

1:28

1:22

1:38

1:31

1:24

2:08

1:57

2:47

3:35

The Last of Us Soundtrack Volume 2

The Front Cover of The Last of Us Official Soundtrack Volume 2.

Composer: Gustavo Santaolalla, Jd Mayer, Anthony Caruso, and Andrew Buresh.

Tracklist:

No	Title	Length
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25	Fleeting All Gone (Seasons) Evasion All Gone (Partners) Cause and Effect All Gone (Reunion) Stalking Left Behind (Together) The Capitol Head Rush Wandering All Gone (Overcome) Unstable The Last of Us (Astray) Answers Drawn In Apprehension The Path (Vacant) Convergence Shadows No Mercy Fleeting (Affection) Extinction Consumed Left Behind	3:00 2:00 1:20 2:17 2:14 1:48 1:59 2:43 3:21 3:25 2:06 1:52 1:50 3:28 1:14 1:09 1:32 2:59 2:49 0:58 2:34 1:47 1:55 4:14 3:55

Title

Length

Fleeting

All Gone (Seasons)

Evasion

All Gone (Partners)

Cause and Effect

All Gone (Reunion)

Stalking

Left Behind (Together)

The Capitol

Head Rush

Wandering

All Gone (Overcome)

Unstable

The Last of Us (Astray)

Answers

Drawn In

Apprehension

The Path (Vacant)

Convergence

Shadows

No Mercy

Fleeting (Affection)

Extinction

Consumed

Left Behind

3:00

2:00

1:20

2:17

2:14

1:48

1:59

2:43

3:21

3:25

2:06

1:52

1:50

3:28

1:14

1:09

1:32

2:59

2:49

0:58

2:34

1:47

1:55

4:14

3:55

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Bioshock is a refreshing and abstract approach in a very saturated market that is current or nextgen first-person shooters.

Developed and published by 2K Games in collaboration with Irrational Games, 2K Australia, 2K Marin,Digital Extremes, 2K China, Feral Interactive

I will be reviewing the PS3 Release of this game.

Please beware that there may be some small spoilers within this review; so before we start i'd like to issue a SPOILER ALERT.

The spiritual successor to cult classic System Shock, developed in 1994 by Looking Glass Studios, and Origin Systems.

Bioshock is an eerily atmospheric game taking much of it's appeal and scare factor from it's predecessor, taking on an almost survival horror-feel, with low supplies and resources coupled with a protagonist that is not invincible or greatly powerful. This gives the player a feeling of tact when approaching situations and areas throughout the game.

From the moment you turn this game on, you find yourself immersed in an eccentrically charming, yet abrasively gloomy setting. Filled with Alice in Wonderland-esque themes, and disturbingly polarizing NPCs

","graphics":{"score":"85","review":"

Though not the most hyper-realistic, or even resource intensive game, Bioshock is a beautifully dark and eerie, atmospheric experience, this game will have you memorized by it's artistic strength, and purity of vision. Reminiscent of a Tim Burton film, with an Alice and Wonderland mysticism and charm, as dark as this game is; it is oddly inviting. Beautifully crafted and unique in every sense of it's artistic display.

"},"gameplay":{"score":"90","review":"

Old School Goodness

First-off I love this game, it is honestly one of my favorites; I originally played Bioshock on my Mac OSX system and completed it with surprising easy considering I was using an AIR Model laptop. I was so in love with this game, upon it's port to PS3 I HAD to have it.

Bioshock is a creepy first person shooter with old school RPG elements.

The mechanics of the game while playing on PS3 are easily recognized as what you'd be accustomed to in a PC first-person experience.

As a player you will rely heavily on your HUD (heads up display) and knowledge of core mechanics to survive and successfully navigate the dark slinky tunnels and corridors that Rapture is comprised of, you will need to loot for supplies and currency in order to upgrade and maintain your weaponry/item inventory.

You'll find the traditional PC based control schema relayed into a controller with things such as; toggle to aim down barrel, crouch key, etc - being that this was a PC port, it translates into the controls and feel of game-play quite heavily, but I do not mean to say this in a bad way- I feel it adds to the level of paranoia and overall intensity of the battles while in-game.

Controls are smooth, and are more-so based on practicality of use than wow-factor. This is not a first-person shooter that feels like Halo, or the Call of Duty series. This game's strength comes in it's pacing and over-all themes, the player is equipped with both Melee Weapons and Projectile Weapons accessible via the right hand, where the left had controls the "magic" or "powers" in the game known as plasmids.

Plasmids

Plasmids are your bread and butter in this game more than shooting and enemy with bullets or simply beating them to death with a wrench, a player will more than likely find themselves developing a system of coherently switching between the latter in order to properly handle conflicts and aggression.

Plasmids are fueled by Adam which can be found when looting surrounding areas, and containers, or through harvest from a little sister. Plasmids are generally biological or elemental based weapons utilized by the player's left hand.

Little Sisters and Big Daddies

Within the world of Rapture you will encounter what appear to be little girls, dubbed "Little sisters", these girls contain "Adam" a mystic substance that fuels your plasmid use and upgrades.

Little sisters are accompanied by their guardians at all times, the Big Daddies; a large humanoid like Juggernaut of a beast that is not easily put down. You might find yourself being killed repeatedly if not well-equipped/armed. For the most part Big Daddies will leave you be unless provoked, when provoked their cyclops like green-glowing eye turns red, and they become a highly aggressive and hostile force.

You are faced with the decision to either harvest, or rescue the little sisters; the choice is fully up to you. You gain more Adam through harvest, but there a perks to rescuing the little sister which may benefit you in the long run.

Learn your tools

The game requires that you understand every aspect of your strengths as well as your weakness, coupled with your knowledge of your enemies and their abilities or lack there-of.

The player will find themselves needing to have an understanding of the environment that is Rapture as well in order to successfully utilize the surroundings and proper weaponry or lack-of to their advantage.

Shoot-N-Loot is definitely an element expressed in many 2K titles (e.g. Borderlands), and this game is no stranger to the concept. Be sure to check everything for potential currency, upgrades, or ammo. You will need these things to survive.

If an enemy drops.. LOOT.. see a box??? LOOOT, feelin' kinda klepto? It's ok!! LOOT! This is essential to your survival, as it is your main source of currency, ammunition, and inventory items.

The shooting mechanics in my opinion were fairly crude, but I felt being that Jack himself was not announced to be formally trained with fire-arms or military action; this detail furthered my ability to identify with the protagonist and his circumstances of his chance encounter and descent into Rapture.

I got the feeling that the developers intended more for the player to balance their use of tools, plasmids, and firepower in order to successfully traverse the dark-gloom filled atmosphere that is Rapture.

"},"storyline":{"score":"60.00","review":"

SYNOPSIS

Honestly this is a game-play driven game and lacks much depth to the over-all plot and story-line, this game is more based on the incremental experiences and appreciation for it's over-all environmental motif, and eccentric characters.

The player finds themselves awakening shortly after a plane crash, soon they are descending into the twisted under-water city that is Rapture.

Not to say that what little plot or story-line that exists isn't good; I just felt personally the game was more about playing and discovering details of the surroundings via codec recordings while uncovering the overall quirky impact of the madness that engulfs Rapture, a once prominent under-water metropolis, now a dilapidated sunken ruin.

This game is more driven by the experiences that are a product of the simplistic story arch; allowing the player to experience Rapture it's self, more-so than an overblown plot-line meant to distract from lack of atmosphere. Which this game has plenty of, atmosphere.

Granted, I made the choice in this Review not to delve too deep into the story arch mentioned as being somewhat shallow, I feel as though when in-game the player is far too immersed in the nuances of Rapture and it's eccentricities to even notice the lacking plot depth.

"},"score":"7.6","image_id":null,"created_at":"2015-10-08 09:15:28","updated_at":"2016-07-26 08:47:15","deleted_at":null,"unix":1444295728,"type":"Reviews\Review","type_slug":"reviews-review","url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/reviews/bioshock/bioshock-ps3","deck":{"clean":"Bioshock is a refreshing and abstract approach in a very saturated market that is current or nextgen first-person shooters. Developed and published by 2K Games in collaboration with Irrational Games, 2K Australia, 2K Marin,Digital Extremes, 2K China, Feral InteractiveI will be... see more","short":"

Bioshock is a refreshing and abstract approach in a very saturated market that is current or nextgen first-person shooters.

Developed and published by 2K Games in collaboration with ...

","long":"

Bioshock is a refreshing and abstract approach in a very saturated market that is current or nextgen first-person shooters.

Developed and published by 2K Games in collaboration with Irrational Games, 2K Australia, 2K Marin,Digital Extremes, 2K China, Feral Interactive

I will be reviewing the PS3 Release of this game.

Please beware that there may be some small spoilers within this review; so before we start i'd like to issue a SPOILER ALERT.

The spiritual successor to cult classic System Shock, developed in 1994 by Looking Glass Studios, and Origin Systems.

Bioshock is an eerily atmospheric game taking much of it's appeal and scare factor from it's predecessor, takin... continue reading

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Overview

BioShock is inspired by themes in Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged. At the time of its release, BioShock was lauded by critics for its peerless storytelling and fascinating story. BioShock uses audio diaries narrated by different characters through the rise and fall of the city of Rapture. At times, ghosts will also appear, showing very brief fragments of their past actions. BioShock is also well known for not taking player control away during scripted events (with one notable exception), allowing the player to experience literally everything through the eyes of the protagonist.

The player does not directly see any of the coup of Rapture in BioShock, instead arriving sometime afterward in the year 1960, discovering a desolate city filled with insane, drug-addled citizens. The player hears about Rapture's golden era--and the events that led to its demise--through a series of audio logs that serve as diary entries for the past inhabitants of the city. Touted by 2K as an "FPS-RPG" and a " spiritual sequel" to Irrational's highly revered System Shock 2, it has gameplay similarities to both System Shock games as well as Deus Ex.

BioShock is an exploration-focused first-person shooter that makes streamlined, simplified use of some of its predecessors' mechanics, such as the use of audio logs as a storytelling device, a hacking minigame (reminiscent of the classic puzzler Pipe Dream), and special abilities. While being primarily built on Unreal Engine 2.5, BioShock is also one of the first games to be produced using features from Epic's Unreal Engine 3 and appeared on both the Xbox 360 and the PC. On October 17, 2008, BioShock was released for the PlayStation 3. This version of the game features a new 'Survivor' difficulty mode as well as other in-game add-on content. Downloadable "challenge rooms" are also available; these put the player in a race against the clock while working through brief, puzzle-oriented levels. The Playstation 3 version ships with Trophy Support, just as the Xbox 360 version, of course, contains Achievements.

Development

The original story for BioShock was drastically different. It centered around a deprogrammer, someone who forces a person to abandon religious or social group allegiances. The main character's mission was to rescue someone from a cult and adjust them mentally to a regular life. However, the plot underwent significant changes by the time development on the game was announced in 2004. At that time, the game's setting was changed to a World War II-era underground laboratory. When the laboratory was uncovered by scientists in the 21st century, they discovered an ecosystem formed by the experiments in the lab.

The developers used a heavily modified version of the Unreal Engine 2.5. They also hired a water programmer and water artist to create the stunning water effects seen in the game. BioShock also uses the Havok physics engine for more lifelike ragdoll effects.

Plot

Set in 1960, BioShock begins with a plane crash, with the player character, named Jack, being the only survivor. The player takes refuge in a lone lighthouse in the middle of the ocean. A bathysphere leads down into the bowels of the underwater city of Rapture. A message from the city's creator, Andrew Ryan, talks of his vision for a utopia without ethical or moral barriers. However, from the looks of things, Ryan has failed in realizing his vision.

A man named Atlas contacts Jack in the bathysphere and helps to lead him through the city, which is filled with genetically modified Splicers, Little Sisters, and their guardians, the Big Daddies. Atlas also tells Jack about ADAM, stem cells harvested to enhance the abilities of the human body. The abuse of ADAM has driven the Splicers mad and the material is what the Little Sisters constantly search for throughout Rapture.

Atlas instructs Jack to kill the Little Sisters and take the ADAM from them in order to use special abilities called Plasmids. However, another ally in Rapture, Dr. Tenenbaum, tells Jack to save the Little Sisters and promises to reward him if he obeys.

Atlas soon tells Jack of his wife and child, who are hiding from Splicers in a submarine. When Jack reaches them, however, Andrew Ryan destroys it, supposedly killing Atlas' family. Atlas, enraged, asks Jack to kill Andrew Ryan.

When Jack reaches Andrew Ryan, he reveals that Jack is actually his son and was born in Rapture two years prior. Genetic modification allowed for him to age rapidly. One of Rapture's pioneers, Frank Fontaine, "programmed" Jack to obey any order uttered with the phrase "Would you kindly", a phrase that Atlas has repeated many times. Jack was the one who crashed the plane, having been brought to Rapture for the sole purpose of killing Andrew Ryan.

Ryan orders Jack to kill him and, forced to obey, Jack bludgeons Ryan with a golf club. Shortly after, Atlas reveals himself to be Frank Fontaine and leaves Jack to die in the city. Dr. Tenenbaum saves him, though, and deactivates the "Would you kindly" trigger phrase control Fontaine has over him. Jack then proceeds to Olympus Heights and finds Lot 192, which reverses the heart stopping mental control Fontaine was attempting to kill Jack with. Tenenbaum then instructs Jack to don a Big Daddy suit so the Little Sisters can lead him to Fontaine. When he reaches him, Fontaine, pumped up by massive quantities of ADAM, has acquired almost superhuman abilities.

The game has three possible endings. If the player rescues all the Little Sisters, the game ends with Jack and the Little Sisters leaving Rapture and the girls growing up to live their lives. If the player harvested two or more, but not all the Little Sisters, Jack kills the Little Sisters and takes their ADAM. If the player harvests all of the Little Sisters, the same ending is shown but with Tenenbaum's narration being angrier.

Key Characters

This is a list of the characters who either have major roles in BioShock or encounter the player at some point in the story.

Jack: The silent protagonist of BioShock. He survives a plane crash and stumbles upon Rapture. Early on, Jack gains the ability to use Plasmids (his first one being the Electro Bolt).
Andrew Ryan: The founder of Rapture. Andrew Ryan is an antagonist in BioShock and he taunts Jack throughout the game.
Atlas: Jack's mentor and guide in Rapture. Atlas gives Jack instructions and helps for a majority of the game.
Tenenbaum: A German scientist who helped develop ADAM. She wishes to protect the Little Sisters and urges the player to do so.
Doctor Steinman: A doctor who's gone insane with his obsession with perfection. He performs surgery on people to make them physically perfect, yet his insane obsession with his job drives him crazy and causes him to often perform unwanted surgeries on people to correct their "imperfections"; often these people die from being horribly mutilated.
Peach Wilkins: A member of Frank Fontaine's smuggling business. He encounters Jack in Fontaine fisheries.
Julie Langford: The scientist responsible for creating Arcadia, which is where she encounters Jack.
Sander Cohen: An artist who runs Fort Frolic in Rapture. He also produces theatrical performances for the city. When he encounters Jack, he makes him take pictures of his four disciples after they've been killed and mounts them as part of a masterpiece.

Gameplay

Weapons

The game features an array of traditional weapons that can be acquired throughout the game. The player carries all of the weapons at once, so all of the weapons are available at any time. Each weapon can be upgraded twice, using special kiosks called " Power to the People" machines. Each weapon can also carry three types of ammunition. The weapons in the game are as follows:

Wrench: A simple melee weapon acquired at the beginning of the game.
Pistol: A standard six-shooter, it is the first firearm acquired.
Machine Gun: An automatic weapon that holds a large number of bullets.
Shotgun: A close-range weapon that packs quite a punch.
Grenade Launcher: A large weapon that can be upgraded to fire different kinds of explosives such as heat seeking rpgs.
Chemical Thrower: A device that fires various substances like napalm, liquid nitrogen, and electrical gel.
Crossbow: A long-range weapon best used against single opponents.
Research Camera: This "weapon" allows the player to research various enemies and gain bonuses on damage and acquire various tonics.

Weapon Upgrades

Weapons are upgraded at Power To The People machines. The machine shuts down after one upgrade has been applied. The upgrades do not cost anything and also cause cosmetic changes to the weapons in addition to the listed effects. The wrench is the only weapon that cannot be upgraded at a Power To The People machine.

Pistols

Increased Damage
Increased Clip Size

Machine Gun

Increased Damage
Decreased Recoil

Shotgun

Increased Damage
Increased Rate of Fire

Grenade Launcher

Increased Damage
Immune to Damage self-fired Grenades

Crossbow

Bolt Breakage Chance Reduced
Increased Damage

Chemical Thrower

Decreased Chemical Consumption
Increased Range

Hacking

Performing hacks on various machines in the game can make things a lot easier. Everything from security bots to safes can be hacked. Hacking machines can help Jack evade security systems, supply him with hidden items, and give him discounts on items at vending machines.

Hacking is done with the hacking mini-game, which is highly reminiscent of the classic computer game Pipe Mania (Pipe Dream in the United States). The goal is to successfully move fluid through a tube set on a grid of tiles from a starting location to and ending location, both of which are just outside the grid and, thus, not modifiable by the player. The player reveals pieces of the tube one at a time and may swaps tiles to continue the tube and keep the fluid moving. If the fluid is hindered in its progress either due to player error or by hitting certain tiles such as overload tiles and security tiles, the mini-game is failed and, depending on the gravity of the failure, security bots may be deployed to eliminate the player. An auto-hack tool can allow for a hack without using the mini-game. Hacking ability is greatly enhanced and simplified through the strategic equipment of certain engineering tonics. Also, the Winter Blast plasmid used on a machine just before hacking will slow the progress of the fluid considerably.

Vending Machines / Kiosks

Various vending machines and kiosks are found throughout the game. The different types are as follows:

Circus of Value: A place to purchase a variety of items. Ammo, first aid kits, and EVE Hypos are all available here.
Ammo Bandito: A vending machine that supplies ammunition.
Gatherer's Garden: This vending machine allows Jack to use collected ADAM to purchase Plasmids and Tonics.
Gene Bank: This machine allows you to customize your character, switching Plasmids and Tonics.
Power to the People: This machine allows Jack to customize weapons. Each individual machine can only be used once.
U-Invent: This machine allows Jack to combine different items to create more helpful ones.

Vita-Chambers

Whenever the player's HP reaches zero, they "respawn" at the nearest vita-chamber, large man-sized tubes scattered throughout Rapture. This only works with the main character Jack and the explanation to why it doesn't work for splicers is that it was in its testing phase when Rapture fell. Vita-Chambers serve as a checkpoint of sorts, even though the game can also be saved at any time through the start menu. Unlike traditional checkpoints, enemies injured or killed since reaching the Vita-Chamber will remain so when the player is respawned. However, weapon ammunition will remain at the same level as when the player was killed and the player is also given only a fraction of his maximum health. Since there is seemingly no penalty for using Vita-Chambers many players have bemoaned this design decision for making the game too easy — given enough time and patience, a player wielding only the wrench can slog his or her way through even the toughest battles.

Little Sisters

Near the beginning of the game, the player is given the choice of either harvesting the Little Sisters (effectively killing them) to gain a large amount of ADAM, or rescuing the Little Sisters for a significantly smaller amount of ADAM. Rescuing Little Sisters will, however, allow the player to access certain plasmids and Xbox 360 achievements unavailable through the "evil" method of play, and for each three that Jack rescues he will receive a gift from Dr. Tenenbaum. Depending on exactly how many Little Sisters he harvests or rescues, the game's ending is affected. If you save all the Little Sisters, the most positive ending is achieved.

Security

Jack has to deal with the security of Rapture throughout BioShock. The security force includes cameras, turrets, and flying bots called Security Bots. All three of these can either be destroyed or hacked by Jack to get them on his side. Hacked turrets and bots will automatically fire on enemies, and hacked cameras will target enemies and trigger the alarm against them (which causes a wave of bots to come flying in and attack them). In addition, there is a Plasmid called "Security Bullseye" that, when thrown onto an enemy, will cause cameras and turrets to target said enemy.

All three types of security forces can be temporarily disabled by zapping them with the Electro Bolt or Winter Blast plasmid. Turrets and bots must be hit with the Electro Bolt or Winter Blast before being hacked; security cameras do not.

Research

Shortly into the game, Jack obtains a camera that can be used to take photographs of enemies. Each enemy type has a research bar that progresses when photos of them are taken. Ranking up the research level for an enemy grants permanent damage bonuses against that enemy type. Later bonuses include unique Tonics and other perks.

Plasmids

Plasmids change Jack's genetic information and provide him with specific abilities. A substance called EVE is needed to use these abilities. EVE is found in hypodermic needles, called Hypos in the game. It is carried by the character and can be acquired from enemies and purchased from Circus of Value vending machines. Plasmids are both found throughout the game and bought from the Gatherer's Garden Kiosk. The Plasmids in the game are as follows:

Description	ADAM Cost	EVE Cost	Damage
Cyclone Trap Places a cyclone on the floor; used as a trap for enemies Upgradeable to level 2	level 1- 60 level 2- 80	level 1- 95 level 2- 120	varies
Electro Bolt Shoots electricity at enemies Can also be used to disable security cameras, turrets and bots Upgradeable to level 3	1- N/A 2- 110 3- 120	1- 95 2- 110 3- 120	1- 400 2- 1600 3- 8000
Enrage Turns a Splicer near Jack against other Splicers	60	30	N/A
Hipnotize Big Daddy Turns a Big Daddy into an ally	N/A	N/A	N/A
Incinerate! Shoots fire at enemies and sets them on flames Upgradeable to level 3	1- N/A 2- 100 3- 150	1- 48 2- 60 3- 72	1- 12 per sec 2- 24 per sec 3- 48 per sec
Insect Swarm Launches a swarm of bees at enemies Upgradeable to level 3	1- 60 2- 80 3- 120	1- 48 2- 60 3- 72	1- 6 per sec 2- 12 per sec 3- 24 per sec
Security Bullseye Alerts security to the presence of enemies	N/A	30	N/A
Target Dummy Creates a decoy for enemies to attack	60	48	N/A
Telekinesis Allows Jack to use moveable objects as weapons by flinging them through the air	N/A	15	N/A
Winter Blast Shoots a blast of ice that freezes enemies Can also be used on turrets, cameras and bots to slow down the water for better hacking Upgradeable to level 3	1- 60 2- 100 3- 150	1- 80 2- 90 3- 108	N/A
Sonic Boom Allows the player to shoot a large blast of wind at enemies Only available with DLC or game patch 1.1	1	1- 90 2- 120	varies

NOTE: N/A means the item is either given to Jack by a Little Sisters or found somewhere on Rapture.

Tonics

Tonics upgrade Jack and his abilities. There are three types of Tonics (Combat, Engineering and Physical) and they can either be found scattered throughout the Rapture or bought at Vending Machines.

The Gene Bank machine is used to place tonics into whatever available slots the player may have at the moment.

Combat Tonics

These Tonics work on the player's offensive and defensive capabilities.

Tonic	ADAM Cost
Armored Shell More 15% piercing and bludgeoning resistance	20
Armored Shell 2 More 25% piercing and bludgeoning resistance	N/A
Damage Research Adds 30% to research damage bonuses	20
Damage Research 2 Adds 60% to research damage bonuses	N/A
Electric Flesh More 75% electric resistance Adds 30% to electric damage	20
Electric Flesh 2 More 100% electric resistance Adds 60% to electric damage	60
Frozen Field More 15% cold resistance Adds 10 points of cold damage to the Wrench and gives a 10% chance of freezing an enemy upon successful hit	N/A
Frozen Field 2 More 30% cold resistance Adds 20 points of cold damage to the Wrench and gives a 20% chance of freezing an enemy upon successful hit	50
Human Inferno More 20% heat resistance Adds 30% heat damage and causes enemies to take burning damage at a 30% higher rate	20
Human Inferno 2 More 40% heat resistance Adds 50% heat damage and causes enemies to take burning damage at a 50% higher rate	50
Photographer's Eye Adds 10% to all research photo scores	20
Photographer's Eye 2 Adds 15% to all research photo scores	N/A
Static Discharge The player emits an electric burst whenever struck by a melee attack, causing 50 points of electric damage and giving a 15% chance of shocking the enemy	N/A
Static Discharge 2 The player emits an electric burst whenever struck by a melee attack, causing 30 points of electric damage and giving a 25% chance of shocking the enemy	N/A
Wrench Jockey Adds 350% to Wrench damage	20
Wrench Jockey 2 Adds 550% to Wrench damage Stacks with Wrench Jockey 1	N/A
Wrench Lurker Adds 150% to Wrench damage on unware or electrical shocked enemies Quiets the player's footsteps	20
Wrench Lurker 2 Adds 200% to Wrench damage on unware or electrical shocked enemies Quiets the player's footsteps	50
Machine Buster Slightly increases damage against security devices Only available with DLC or patch 1.1	1
Machine Buster 2 Significantly increases damage against security devices Only available with DLC or patch 1.1	1

NOTE: N/A means the item is either given to Jack by a Little Sister, found somewhere on Rapture or gained through researching the Splicers with the Camera.

Engineering Tonics

These Tonics improve the player's hacking ability and also his/her overall interaction with machines such as bots or turrets.

Tonic	ADAM Cost
Alarm Expert Minus 2 alarm tiles when hacking	20
Alarm Expert 2 Minus 4 alarm tiles when hacking	N/A
Clever Inventor Inventing items requires 1 less of each component	50
Focused Hacker Minus 2 overload tiles when hacking	20
Focused Hacker Minus 4 overload tiles when hacking	50
Hacking Expert Minus 1 alarm and 1 overload tile when hacking	N/A
Hacking Expert 2 Minus 2 alarm and 2 overload tiles when hacking	50
Prolific Inventor Gives 2x the items produced at a U-Invent machine	N/A
Safecracker Minus 1 acceleration, 2 alarm and 2 overload tiles when hacking safes and combination locks Plus 3 resistor tiles when hacking safes and combination locks Flow speed reduced by 1/2 second per tile	N/A
Safecracker 2 Minus 2 acceleration, 4 alarm and 4 overload tiles when hacking safes and combination locks Plus 6 resistor tiles when hacking safes and combination locks Flow speed reduced by 1 second per tile	N/A
Security Expert Minus 1 acceleration, 2 alarm and 2 overload tiles when hacking security devices Plus 1 resistor tile when hacking security devices Flow speed reduced by 1/2 second per tile	20
Security Expert 2 Minus 2 acceleration, 4 alarm and 4 overload tiles when hacking security devices Plus 3 resistor tile when hacking security devices Flow speed reduced by 1 second per tile	N/A
Shorten Alarms Minus 20 seconds on hostile security alarms' duration	20
Shorten Alarms 2 Minus 40 seconds on hostile security alarms' duration	50
Speedy Hacker Flow speed reduced by 1.5 seconds per tile when hacking	20
Speedy Hacker 2 Flow speed reduced by 3 seconds per tile when hacking	50
Vending Expert Slight reduction of prices on vending machines Only available with DLC or patch 1.1	1
Vending Expert 2 Significant reduction of prices on vending machines Only available with DLC or patch 1.1	1

NOTE: N/A means the item is either given to Jack by a Little Sister, found somewhere on Rapture or gained through researching the Splicers with the camera.

Physical Tonics

These Tonics will interact with the player's physical and physiological properties, namely with his/her Health and EVE, making the player a tougher, harder enemy to kill.

Tonic	ADAM Cost
Bloodlust Player gains small amounts of health with every successful blow to enemies with the Wrench	N/A
Booze Hound Alcohol restores a small amount of EVE, instead of draining it	N/A
EVE Link First Aid kits give small amounts of EVE	20
EVE Link 2 First Aid kits give significant amounts of EVE	50
Extra Nutrition Bandages, drinks and food give a little more health than usual	20
Extra Nutrition 2 Bandages, drinks and food give significantly more health than usual	40
Extra Nutrition 3 Bandages, drinks and food give a lot more health than usual	N/A
Hacker's Delight Each successful hack gives small amounts of health and EVE	20
Hacker's Delight 2 Each successful hack gives medium amounts of health and EVE	N/A
Hacker's Delight 3 Each successful hack gives large amounts of health and EVE	N/A
Medical Expert First Aid kits give 20% more health	20
Medical Expert 2 First Aid kits give 40% more health	40
Medical Expert 3 First Aid kits give 60% more health	60
Natural Camouflage The player becomes invisible after standing still for a period of time Moving, using weapons and/or Plasmids nullify the effect	N/A
Scrounger Allows the player to search both corpses and containers a second time, finding different loot this time around	N/A
Security Evasion Turrets and security cameras take 2 seconds longer to successfully track the player	20
Security Evasion 2 Turrets and security cameras take 4 seconds longer to successfully track the player	50
Sport Boost Speed increased by 10% Wrench swing speed increased by 25%	N/A
Sport Boost 2 Speed increased by 20% Wrench swing speed increased by 50%	N/A
EVE Saver All Plasmids consume less EVE when activated Only available with DLC or patch 1.1	20

NOTE: N/A means the item is either given to Jack by a Little Sister, found somewhere on Rapture or gained through researching the Splicers with the camera.

Soundtrack

The original soundtrack for BioShock was composed by Garry Schyman, and is comprised of 23 themes.

12 of these themes can be downloaded for free at the 2K Games website.

Here are the tracklists for both "editions".

Downloadable Version

Track No.	Song Title	Running Time
01	BioShock Main Theme (the Ocean On His Shoulders)	01.56
02	Welcome to Rapture	01.52
03	Dr. Steinman	01.00
04	The Docks	00.53
05	The Dash	00.35
06	Step Into My Gardens	01.10
07	Dancers On a String	01.28
08	Cohen's Masterpiece	02.53
09	The Engine City	01.07
10	Empty Houses	01.43
11	This Is Where I Sleep	01.21
12	All Spliced Up	01.03

Complete Version

Track No.	Song Title
01	BioShock Main Theme (The Ocean On His Shoulders)
02	Andrew Ryan -- Tauchfahrt
03	Welcome to Rapture
04	Andrew Ryan -- Hahn
05	Dr. Steinman
06	Dr. Steinman -- Schönheit, Skalpell!
07	The Docks
08	Geist -- Schönheit Versprochen
09	The Dash
10	Atlas -- Little Sisters
11	Step Into My Gardens
12	Dr. Suchong -- Zorn-Versuch
13	Dancers On a String
14	Atlas -- Die Ganze Stadt Geht zum Teufel
15	Cohen's Masterpiece
16	Martin Finnegan -- der Eismann Kommt
17	The Engine City
18	Geist -- Total Verspliced
19	Empty Houses
20	Dr. Suchong -- Bewusstseinskontrolle
21	This Is Where They Sleep
22	Andrew Ryan -- Natur der Dinge
23	All Spliced Up

"The Rapture EP"

Included in the BioShock limited edition version is an EP comprising of 3 tracks with song remixes by Moby and Oscar the Punk. Although the EP's official name is BioShock EP, it quickly became known as "The Rapture EP".

Track No.	Song Title	Running Time
01	Beyond the Sea	03.13
02	God Bless the Child	03.55
03	Wild Little Sisters	03.56

Downloadable content:

Xbox 360:

On Dec 4th, 2K games released a patch as well as Downloadable content for Xbox 360 fixing some known bugs and adding some features:

Patch/title update:

Added widescreen option: Horizontal FOV
Fix for rare case where a partial cache is not cleared
Increased Atlas’ volume in German
Fix for GUI sounds not playing during heavy action
Fix for not being able to take picture of Cobb in Rec
Possible fix for pauses or hangs when opening flash Bink movies
Fix for switching difficulty breaking achievement
Fix for small texture streaming bug
Fix for rare hang when a lot of things are going on at once

Downloadable content:

Added Disable Vita Chamber option
Plasmid Pack is included in this DLC (Machine Buster 1 & 2, Vending Expert 1 & 2, Sonic Boom 1 & 2, EVE Saver)
100 point achievement called "Brass Balls". A player will gain it after beating the game on Hard without using any Vita Chambers. The player can always roll back to an earlier save if a Vita Chamber was used. The Vita Chamber Disabled option can be on or off as long as the player doesn't resurrect. (Note:this is currently untrue if a vita chamber is used with vita chambers turned on then it corrupts all saves in that play through, vita chambers must be turned off to get the achievement or no deaths can occur.)

PlayStation 3:

The PlayStation 3 contains all the updates of the Xbox 360 version.

20th November 2008 patch:

Enables Add On Content functionality for the Challenge Rooms and New Game Plus (Add-On Content required to use this functionality)

Fix for an issue where large blocky pixels would show up whenever viewing the Bouncer and Elite Bouncer variants of the Big Daddy. Also fixes various other texture pixelation including weapons.

Fix for an issue where white/discolored bars would show up at the right and bottom sides of the screen during the plane crash / water scene at the beginning of the game.

Fix for an issue where Big Daddy would occasionally turn black after the player dies and is then resurrected.

Fix for an issue where some fire particles would shrink every time they were retriggered.

Fix for an issue where Big Daddies would gush abnormal amounts of blood after being killed by a critical hit while having more than 10% health (i.e., from another Big Daddy’s gun).

Fix for an issue where the game would crash when PS button hit during hacking when vsync turned to off

Fix for a rare issue where the game would hang caused by a deadlock between the renderer, Havok, and the main game threads.

Fix for an issue where reflective water would sometimes be rendered with incorrect fog colors.

Fix for an issue where audio subtitles would occasionally not go away, even after the audio finished playing.

Fix for an issue where menu sounds were too loud.

Fix for an issue where the autosave message wasn’t localized.

Fix for several issues where localized strings were too long. This includes the ‘Cannot Carry:’ message, ammo name lengths, weapon name lengths, and the Location in Fisheries ‘Upper Freezer’.

Fix for an issue where the game would hang if the player dies while using a combination lock with the Vita-Chamber option off.

The patch was released by accident on 13th of November 2008, but was quickly pulled off.

Downloadable content - Challenge Rooms:

The Challenge Rooms are three levels intended to test the knowledge and skills players have learned while playing through the main game.

A Shocking Turn of Events – A Little Sister is trapped atop a Ferris wheel in an undisclosed location in Rapture. Using only the tools and environment around them, players must use their wits to create electricity to power the Ferris wheel and bring the Little Sister to safety.
The I in Team – Using limited resources, and an even more limited arsenal, players must negotiate traps and find a way to defeat a Big Daddy using their wits instead of raw firepower.
Worlds of Hurt – Step up and take on the most grueling challenge offered in the world of Rapture. Players must battle through eight rooms of Big Daddies, Splicers and the worst that Rapture has to offer. Accumulate Adam, build an arsenal of Plasmids, Tonics and Weaponry, and fight through to rescue the Little Sister.

In addition to these three Challenge Rooms, two other additions are included in the package.

The Official Premium BioShock Theme.
A new feature, New Game Plus. This feature will give players who have beaten the main game the ability to start a new game with the character data (weapons, inventory, research, etc.) carried over from the end of the game (if the player beats the game after the patch was installed) or from a saved game of the player's choosing (if they beat the game before the patch was installed). When they install the Add-On Content, a "New Game Plus" option will appear on the menu screen allowing them to use this feature.

System Requirements

System Requirements As displayed on the back cover of the box.

Minimum Requirements

CPU (Processor): Pentium 4 2.4GHz Single Core processor
System RAM: 1GB
GPU (Video Card): Direct X 9.0c compliant video card with 128MB RAM (NVIDIA 6600 or better/ATI X1300 or better, excluding ATI X1550).
Sound Card: 100% direct X 9.0c compatible sound card
HDD (Hard Disc) space: 8GB free space

Recommended Requirements

CPU (Processor): Intel Core 2 Duo processor

System RAM: 2GB

GPU (Video Card): DX9 - Direct X 9.0c compliant video card with 512MB RAM (NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GT or better) / DX10 - NVIDIA GeForce 8600 or better

Sound Card: Sound Blaster X-Fi series (Optimized for use with Creative Labs EAX ADVANCED HD 4.0 or EAX ADVANCED HD 5.0 compatible sound cards)

Xbox 360 Game Installation

When installed on an Xbox 360 console running the current versions of the NXE, BioShock requires only 4.7 GB of HDD space. However, if the game was installed under the preliminary (first release) version of the NXE, Bioshock takes up 6.1 GB of space. This is true even if the user has since updated their Xbox 360's dashboard to a newer version. The only way to take advantage of the smaller size is to delete the old installation and re-install the game.

Artbook

On March 16, 2009 the Cult of Rapture website announced that a limited edition artbook for BioShock called Breaking the Mold: Developer's Edition was available for pre-order on the 2K online store. The standard version can be found on the Cult of Rapture website for download as a PDF file.

Trivia

Originally 2K Designed a Teleportation Plasmid that teleported the player out of danger, by marking a location that the player would teleport to when they used the plasmid, the plasmid was ultimately removed due to the fact that it could be used to break story events. A same sort of teleport plasmid did appear in BioShock 2 as an Easter Egg, presumably based on the plasmid scrapped from BioShock 1.

Xbox 360 Games on Demand

On August 6, 2009, BioShock became available on the Xbox 360's Games on Demand service.

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Spec Ops: The Line (PS3) , Developed by Yager Development, and Published by 2k Games is a beautifully crafted 3rd person action-shooter. Primarily built on the Unreal Engine 3, and released for PS3, XBOX 360, PC, and OSX.

I will be reviewing the PS3 Release of this game.

Please beware that there may be some small spoilers within this review; so before we start i'd like to issue a SPOILER ALERT.

Spec Ops is a Linear story driven, fast paced- duck and run, tactical shooter.

You are Captain Walker, you command a Delta Squad consisting of two other military personal, Adams and Lugo.

The squad members are highly effective within battle, and for the most part can handle their own given that you don't give them orders that compromise their initial safety; the built in A.I. should fair reasonably well by it's self.

The experiences gained throughout the game's duration will leave you feeling the need to replay and retrace each decision and movement with more tact and respect for the potential out-come of your actions in your search for "The Damned33rd" and their leader Konrad.

The biggest let down would be the length as this game was completed fairly quick in relative since to the depth of the story it's self. Roughly 6-9 hours of gameplay would be enough complete the game on normal or easy mode.

","graphics":{"score":"80","review":"

Unreal Engine at it's best.

"},"gameplay":{"score":"85","review":"

Introduction to Gameplay:

DUCK!

Spec Ops is less a run-and-gun experience, and more a tactical cover-based gorilla warfare simulator.

The controls are responsive and highly accurate. Making head shots and well placed shots easily executed to the well-adjusted players- they do take some small adjusting to get used to, but if you've play Gears of War (Epic Games), or Kane and Lynch (Square Enix) then you should fare well with the concepts presented by developers when in-game.

This is not a fantasy science fiction shooter such-as; Lost Planet (Capcom) or Vanquish (Sega), where the player is able to rely on shields and super-human abilities to power through and slay the enemy with little to no resistance.

The overall battle mechanics require a high level of situational awareness, as you have no shield system, the cover provided by environmental elements is your only true safe-guard from incoming fire and assault. You will rely heavily on your ability to dictate your squad's positions and aggression, while also anticipating that of the enemy forces.

Quick movement, running, and ducking using cover will be your greatest protection from almost immediate death.

When utilized properly this mechanic will be one that carries you through the game's tactical gorilla warfare style.

Without an understanding of this need for cover, and proper use of your squad commands (similar to that of Rainbow Six or Mass Effect) You will likely find yourself being decapitated by a well positioned sniper's bullet, or even out maneuvered by a militia of hostiles as they distract you and your team with suppressive fire, while you are being simultaneously flanked by enemy troops focused on your squad's position.

More often than not you will find yourself utilizing your environment and position to your advantage more-so than your firepower.

BATTLE MANAGEMENT

Your squad is your best asset with the exception of cover and well placed shots.

Your squad consist of three members

Captain Walker, Lieutenant Lugo, and Sargent Adams.

As the player you control Walker directly, and command Lugo and Adams via the "squad command" mechanic.

Via the L2 and R2 buttons you are able to highlight and select targets intended for your squad's aggression. Lugo specializes in long-range assertion where Adams is better suited for close-range battle and explosive use.

When in battle, you will find yourself faced with decisions and situations that will incline you to sometimes rely more heavily on the fire of your squad. This is a tactic that allows you to save bullets, which are a scarcity in the destroyed landscape of Dubai.

EVERY BULLET COUNTS

As a player you will find yourself utilizing the cover mechanic a great-deal as this game is more based in real-life situations and conflicts.

Ammo is scarce available via sporadic pick-ups, and enemy drops. The mortality of yourself, and the NPC's (both enemy and ally) are very poignant and real within this game.

Every bullet hitting it's mark, wether it be from yourself aggressively executing a subdued enemy on the ground, or precisely landing that perfect head shot, maybe even knee-checking an enemy before dealing that final shot.

The impact of each shot is displayed in a non-exaggerated manner which may be more startling than even the over the top Hollywood "Tarantino-like" action that players are used to experiencing in a shooter game.

The impact of the violence in this game seems more unsettling due to it's realism and lack of over exaggeration.

The reality of seeing an enemies extremities blown away from a large caliber bullet's contact, or witnessing a well executed head-shot is individualized and seems to be intentionally hard to dismiss. Each enemy eliminated truly feel like a life taken- not just another polygon deleted, as is often the case in most action-shooter games.

The controls are fairly standard, and are easily used I never really ran into an instance of awkwardness while playing. After a small of time of playing, it felt more-or-less second nature. The enemies are well-paced and surprisingly intelligent/tactical. This will not be a game you are able to power through simply by blasting everything in sight.

"},"storyline":{"score":"75","review":"

Introduction to Plot:

The game is set in Dubai, India soon after a horrifically large-scale sandstorm wipes the once bustling metropolis off the face of the earth; leaving a dilapidated shell of what once was the great city.

You are member of a Delta Recon Team with the US Army intended to infiltrate the city, and recover survivors. The protagonist of the game is a headstrong Squad Leader with a strong drive and commitment to his team.

The Squad (Delta Squad):

This Squad is comprised of three highly trained military specialist.

Captain Walker the fierce leader, driven, determined, and with unflinching motivation and determination to see through his mission is our protagonist. One might feel that his over-all personality is somewhat blan and A-Typical upon introduction, but he soon evolved into a very dynamic character faced with strongly polarizing decision-making moments and acts moral conduct. He is often faced with the question of what is right or wrong, or what may be the lesser of two evils in circumstances beyond the normal man's capacity to deal with.

Lieutenant Lugo is a long-range and sniper specialist, whom you will be utilizing via squad commands in order to eliminate out-of-reach targets. Lugo is best regarded for his quick wit and hot-temper in my experience while playing the game. Effective as he is as a member of the squad, his character, and overall personality, coupled with his emotional conduct wavers heavily on the team as time goes on.

Sargent Adams an honestly one dimensional character, he kicks-ass, and chews bubble gum for the most part? I kid, -but, no but really this guy is pretty strait foreword military personality. Direct, to the point, and strong willed, Adams is definitely a strong asset when faced with multiple enemies in a ground-level mid-range battle.

Upon starting the game, we find our protagonist; Walker awakening to glorified memories of his former mentor Colonel Konrad, the narrative given to the player by Walker as the player introduced to the game is on of great admiration for this former mentor.

It is discovered that his mentor Konrad has been stationed in Dubai for the last six months, in attempts to provide relief after a large-scale sand storm. An audio S.OS. calling for support, and rescue is received by the US governmentfrom Konrad.

From this point your mission is to seek out and rescue the fictional military squad known as "The Damned33rd".

initial character development between is introduced as normal male banter and adolescent jokes, but their natural conversations definitely help convey a sense of brotherhood and unity within the squad which is soon tested by the adversity and paranoia driven landscape of the "New-Dubai" created post the occurrence of the large sandstorm.

You soon find yourself taunted by an ominous "host" to the madness that has become Dubai, known as the "Radio Man" and waves of enemies.

The game's progress and descent down the rabbit-hole of war-time tragedy and brutality seems designed to inspire sympathy to the over-all issues involved in the mentality and disconnect of government powers.

By the end of the game you will find yourself questioning every bit of the perception that was so instrumental your survival while attempting to retrace the instances where you made the mistakes that left your team and the surrounding environment fractured and distorted.

"},"score":"8.0","image_id":29577,"created_at":"2015-10-07 22:07:27","updated_at":"2016-07-26 08:47:15","deleted_at":null,"unix":1444255647,"type":"Reviews\Review","type_slug":"reviews-review","url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/reviews/spec-ops-the-line/spec-ops-the-line-ps3","deck":{"clean":"Spec Ops: The Line (PS3) , Developed by Yager Development, and Published by 2k Games is a beautifully crafted 3rd person action-shooter. Primarily built on the Unreal Engine 3, and released for PS3, XBOX 360, PC, and OSX.I will be reviewing the PS3 Release of t... see more","short":"

Spec Ops: The Line (PS3) , Developed by Yager Development, and Published by 2k Games is a beautifully crafted 3rd person action-shooter. Primarily built on the Unreal Engin...

","long":"

Spec Ops: The Line (PS3) , Developed by Yager Development, and Published by 2k Games is a beautifully crafted 3rd person action-shooter. Primarily built on the Unreal Engine 3, and released for PS3, XBOX 360, PC, and OSX.

I will be reviewing the PS3 Release of this game.

Please beware that there may be some small spoilers within this review; so before we start i'd like to issue a SPOILER ALERT.

Spec Ops is a Linear story driven, fast paced- duck and run, tactical shooter.

You are Captain Walker, you command a Delta Squad consisting of two other military personal, Adams and Lugo.

The squad members are highly effective within battle, and for the most par... continue reading

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Overview

Spec Ops: The Line is a third person, cover-based shooter published and produced by 2K Games, developed by YAGER (with multiplayer developed by Darkside Game Studios) and released on June 26, 2012. The game is a reboot of Take-Two's Spec Ops series, originally a series of tactical shooters by Zombie Studios, and last seen as a series of budget squad-based shooters for the PlayStation.

Delta Squad came to find survivors. What they found was worse. What they did was worst of all.

While the basic tenets of gameplay should be familiar to anyone who's played Mass Effect, Gears of War or Army of Two, Spec Ops: The Line places a heavy emphasis on moral choices with a dark single-player story that forces players to make difficult decisions in a war-torn wasteland. Set in Dubai after a catastrophic series of sandstorms destroys the city, the game focuses on Delta Squad, an elite three-man team sent to investigate Dubai after the military discovers a distress call from Lt. Col. John Konrad, whose battalion abandoned their post to lead a failed evacuation of the city. Though sent only to perform reconnaissance, Capt. Martin Walker (played by Nolan North) leads his team - heavy weapons specialist Alphanso Adams and sniper/technician John Lugo - deeper into the ravaged city in search of Konrad, and into a war with the various factions of survivors. With no other options and no clear good guys, Walker and crew must fight their way through Dubai, forced to make choices that will bring their morality and sanity into question. The player witnesses the toll the events take on Delta Squad firsthand, as Walker, Lugo and Adams professional soldier veneer unravels as everything in Dubai goes wrong.

Gameplay

At its core, Spec Ops: The Line follows the examples of most cover-based shooters. Walker and his enemies can take very few hits so cover is essential to surviving attacks by survivors. Walker can sprint; slide into cover; blind-fire from behind cover; swap between cover points; and vault over certain barriers, which can be used to kill enemies on the opposite side of a cover point as Walker. The game offers several different weapon types including rifles, pistols, machine guns, and shotguns, many of which contain secondary functions and enhancements to increase the player's options (e.g., silencers, grenade launchers, and scopes). Walker is able to carry two weapons plus three of each of the game's three grenade types: frag, sticky and stun. Outside of cover, Walker also has a melee attack that can be used to stun enemies and execute stunned or heavily wounded enemies with a brutal up-close kill.

Sandstorms limit visibility, but Walker shoots and soldiers on.

Walker is assisted by Adams and Lugo, controlled by AI. As the ranking officer of the squad, Walker can issue orders to his two squad-mates. Using a targeting system, the player can order their squadmates to focus attention on a specified target until said target is killed. Depending on the enemy targeted, the player can utilize their team's talents in various ways - Adams can throw grenades to take out crowds of enemies at closer range, while Lugo's sniping can be used to suppress enemy snipers, rocket launchers and other insurgents just out of reach. Additionally, context-sensitive prompts allow the player to order their squad to throw flashbangs to blind enemies, as well as revive a downed squadmate.

Sand plays a huge role in The Line's combat. Certain barriers, usually windows and vents with sand seeping through, can be destroyed to dump sand on enemies, the effects of which can range from a small blinding cloud that stuns a few to a torrential downpour that kills several. Grenades thrown into sand will kick up a large dust cloud around the blast radius for several seconds, blinding foes not close enough to be killed by the explosion and giving the player an opening to take them out. Explosive containers can also be found throughout the battlefield, and like grenades, serve a double use as explosive weapons and makeshift stun grenades. At predetermined points in the story, the player will do battle with the elements and be forced to brave the violent sandstorms that destroyed Dubai. Walker can still engage in combat during sandstorms, but orders to Lugo and Adams are drowned out by the storm.

Collectibles appear in the form of intel, namely audio-logs and reflections by Walker that provide extra backstory on the events leading up to the storm, the culture of destroyed Dubai and characters central to the plot.

Story

When word first started getting out that Dubai was under threat of being destroyed by catastrophic sandstorms, it was already too late. The government had long since abandoned the people when evacuation was necessary. United States Army Lt. Col. John Konrad, fresh off a tour in Afghanistan with his 33rd Battalion, disobeyed orders to return home and volunteered his battalion to lead the evacuation effort. Some labeled them traitors; others proclaimed them heroes. Nevertheless, the Damned 33rd headed for Dubai and orchestrated a convoy to take people out of the city. But then the storms hit. Furious sandstorms with wind speeds over 80 mph ravaged the Persian Gulf surrounding Dubai, essentially creating a wall around the city. No radio signal could get in or out of the city and no vehicle could get close enough to provide aid. Worst of all, Konrad, the Damned 33rd and the convoy had vanished, never surfacing from the sandstorms.

Six months later, the Pentagon picks up a distress beacon from just outside Dubai transmitting a message from Konrad declaring the evacuation a failure. Delta Squad, a three-man elite operatives team comprised of Capt. Martin Walker, 1st. Lt. Alphanso Adams and SSgt. John Lugo, is sent to Dubai to locate the source of the signal transmitting the first message out of the city since the storms hit. Their mission is to survey the damage done to the city and locate survivors, then leave the city and get to a location where contact can be made with headquarters. Walker has a special interest in locating survivors from the Damned 33rd - he served under and had his life saved by Konrad during a mission in Kabul that went awry.

Delta Squad pushes through the raging wall of sandstorms surrounding the city to find Dubai buried under sand, with buildings torn to shreds by the storms. After finding the beacon transmitting Konrad's message in the outskirts of the city, Walker and his team are attacked by insurgents, survivors of the storms that are killing soldiers on sight. Delta Squad fights their way through several insurgent attacks before picking up a message from a nearby group of 33rd troops under fire nearby. Walker decides to delay calling for backup briefly to respond to the cry for help. After a tense firefight with insurgents on a crashed airplane, Delta Squad finds all but one soldier dead. The badly wounded soldier asks them to save his squadmate who has been taken by the insurgents to their nest in an abandoned hotel, but dies before he is able to tell Walker where Konrad is. Agreeing that the soldier needs their help, Walker and his men venture after him.

Soon after, Walker, Adams and Lugo unwittingly find themselves caught in the crossfire of a civil war between the Damned 33rd - who turned on Konrad and themselves, and its remnants are now spoken for by a pirate radio DJ and former journalist known only as The Radioman - and an insurgent civilian uprising aided by the CIA. The two sides had previously agreed to a cease-fire that was broken as Delta Squad arrived. Delta Squad reluctantly sides with the CIA, believing that the Damned 33rd has gone rogue based on their rounding up citizens who surrender to them. (Walker fears, based on Delta Squad's observations at an emergency shelter known as The Nest, that the Damned 33rd will kill the rounded-up prisoners.) Though Lugo and Adams beg Walker to call for support, he takes them further into the city, convinced to find Konrad and evacuate the remaining survivors.

After surviving ambushes by the Damned 33rd and discovering plans found on a fallen CIA agent, Walker and his men reach a 33rd Outpost known as The Gate. Unable to fight their way to the heavily guarded entrance, Delta Squad discovers an abandoned mortar loaded with white phosphorus, a highly corrosive chemical compound that the 33rd has used on its enemies to burn them alive. Despite Lugo's objections, Walker and Adams posit that they have no choice but to use the weapon against the Damned 33rd. The attack obliterates the base and wipes out the company. However, Delta Squad woefully finds more victims among the charred remains of the base: 47 civilians taken by the Damned 33rd from The Nest to protect them during the battles against the insurgents. Lugo flies off the handle, damning Walker for making them murderers by refusing to leave Dubai. Walker seems unable to cope with what he's done at first before insisting they press onward. Seemingly blaming The Radioman and his control over the 33rd for necessitating the attack, Walker insists to make him pay.

Inside the Gate, Walker discovers a radio through which Konrad, seemingly waiting for them to find the corpses of his executed "loyalists," speaks to him. Konrad reveals to Walker that he has been in charge the entire time, using the Radioman as his mouthpiece. As Delta Squad presses forward, they learn more of Konrad's control over Dubai: after his evacuation failed, Konrad imposed martial law over the city, engaging in population control and death by torture for the smallest crimes. Though now wanted by the Damned 33rd for murdering the civilians at the Gate and in spite of Lugo and Adams' increasing concerns over his mental state, Walker urges his team towards the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in Dubai and Konrad's most logical vantage point.

Roaming deeper into the city, Delta Squad finds a CIA stronghold and Agent Riggs, the last surviving operative. Riggs convinces Delta to help in his mission to steal Dubai's remaining water from the Aquatic Colosseum, a maneuver he assures them will cripple the 33rd's power and bring peace to the city. Delta handily subdues the forces protecting the Colosseum, but the trucks with the stolen water remain under constant retaliation from the Damned 33rd. With the escape failing, Riggs intentionally crashes the truck, knocking Walker unconscious. When he awakens, he sees the charred wreck of the trucks pouring water into the sands, and Riggs mortally wounded under the wreckage. Though he dies, his mission was a success: with no water, the residents of Dubai will soon die of dehydration and all witnesses of Konrad and the 33rd's war crimes erased, thus preventing an international relations disaster that would lead to, in Riggs' words, the entire Arab world declaring war on the United States. Thanks to Walker, Dubai has less than four days left before everyone dies.

Walker reunites with Lugo and Adams in a mall, where the Damned 33rd attempt to take them captive before Walker intervenes. The trio, much worse for the wear after everything that has happened, battles their way out of the mall while the Radioman eggs on the 33rd and chastises Delta Squad at every turn, damning them for the murders at the Gate while defeding Konrad's actions as doing "what he had to do." Delta's new objective becomes clear: Take out the Radioman and use his makeshift radio tower in the Trans-Emirates Building to broadcast an evacuation plan to the remaining survivors. Fighting through scores of soldiers and a couple inexplicable hallucinations, Walker leads the storming of the radio tower where a calm, collected Radioman surrenders and offers to help set up the signal for the 33rd. Lugo then shoots the Radioman several times, killing him, as retribution for sending endless soldiers in pursuit of them. As Walker begins broadcasting his evacuation notice - while Konrad mocks him for thinking his evacuation attempts would go any differently - reinforcements arrive via Black Hawk. Adams commandeers the Black Hawk and the trio use it to kill the remaining attackers, destroying the radio tower in the process. Under pursuit by the 33rd's remaining squadron of attack helicopters, Walker orders them to fly into a sandstorm for cover, where a 33rd helicopter collides with them.

A disoriented, hallucinating Walker wakes up some distance from the crash site, separated from his team. He reconvenes with Adams at the crash site, and the two fight their way behind enemy lines to rescue Lugo. But they are too late - Lugo is lynched by a civilian mob furious over the Americans destroying the water. Though Adams blames Walker for Lugo's death, the duo presses onwards in one final push towards Konrad's headquarters, vowing that Konrad must be killed. Their suicide mission into the Damned 33rd's last remaining stronghold goes well until Delta Squad is surrounded. Walker attempts to surrender but Adams, having lost the will to live, pushes Walker towards escape and makes one final stand against the Damned 33rd. Walker runs away towards the Burj Khalifa when an explosion from behind him, one that presumably kills Adams, knocks him unconscious.

Walker awakens outside the Burj Khalifa. Inside, a team of soldiers who claims to be the last of the 33rd (and wearing similar uniforms as the dead soldiers found inside the Gate) surrenders Dubai to Walker and tells him that Konrad is where he has always been: upstairs, waiting for Walker. Upon reaching Konrad's penthouse, Walker has a disturbing revelation - Konrad has been dead the entire time. Walker, desperate to be a hero and unable to cope with the events at the Gate, hallucinated Konrad speaking to him through a broken radio and several other events; his refusal to obey orders has cost him the lives of Dubai's 5,000 survivors and his two partners in Delta Squad. Konrad gives Walker one final choice: shoot Konrad, and continue to blame him for the events, or turn the gun on himself and pay for his crimes.

Multiplayer

The multiplayer features the same cover based combat as players choose one of two factions. Sandstorms play a prominent role during multiplayer matches, blinding the player but also blinding their opponents. Players can choose from a multitude of classes that can be customized to the player's liking with various weapons available for use.

Development

Spec Ops: The Line was first revealed in an exclusive trailer aired during the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards. The evocative trailer, which gave the first glimpses of the game's premise set to Bjork's "Storm," received plenty of positive buzz and was considered one of the highlights of the show. The Line was first announced for a 2010 release, but was ultimately delayed several times, first being pushed back to 2011 and then to June 26, 2012. In 2010 beta invitations went out to fans around the world featuring several multiplayer maps and modes. The Multiplayer Only beta received an update midway through that added a few extra modes and various gameplay and graphics improvements. The beta has since been discontinued and simply gives an error message upon startup. The beta was an Xbox 360 exclusive, no PS3 or PC betas were offered.

Incidentally, this was not the first time a Spec Ops reboot has seen multiple delays. In 2003, Rockstar Games was producing a Spec Ops title in development at Rockstar Vancouver. However, their Spec Ops was never revealed to the public or even officially announced (all proof that the title was in development came from parent company Take-Two's investor calls) and is believed to have been cancelled in 2005.

PC System Requirements

Required Specifications	Suggested Specifications
OS: Windows XP SP3	OS: Windows Vista/7
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2GHz / AMD Athlon 64 X2 Equivalent	Processor: 2.4 GHz Quad Core processor
Memory: 2 GB RAM	Memory: 3 GB RAM
Hard Drive: 6 GB free	Hard Drive: 10 GB free
Video Memory: 256 MB	Video Memory: 512+ MB
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS/ ATI Radeon HD 2600XT	Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX/ATI Radeon HD 4850
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible	Sound Card: DirectX Compatible

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HD","slug":"the-legend-of-zelda-the-wind-waker-hd","image":{"icon_url":"https://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/square_avatar/2538562-wwhdcleanbox.jpg","medium_url":"https://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/scale_medium/2538562-wwhdcleanbox.jpg","screen_url":"https://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/screen_medium/2538562-wwhdcleanbox.jpg","screen_large_url":"https://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/screen_kubrick/2538562-wwhdcleanbox.jpg","small_url":"https://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/scale_small/2538562-wwhdcleanbox.jpg","super_url":"https://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/scale_large/2538562-wwhdcleanbox.jpg","thumb_url":"https://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/scale_avatar/2538562-wwhdcleanbox.jpg","tiny_url":"https://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/square_mini/2538562-wwhdcleanbox.jpg","original_url":"https://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/original/2538562-wwhdcleanbox.jpg","image_tags":"All Images,Box Art"},"deck":"A remastered HD upgrade of the acclaimed Nintendo GameCube classic sporting sharper visuals, gameplay tweaks and various new features tailored to the Wii U hardware.","description":"

Overview

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker on the Wii U is a HD remaster of the GameCube game of the same name. The game does however include several improvements such as upgraded graphics in HD with completely new lighting tech, altered aspects of the gameplay and pacing of the game, Off-TV Play and Miiverse support.

The game first released on September 20, 2013 in North America as an eShop-only download and as part of a special Wii U console bundle that also includes a digital version of Hyrule Historia, a book chronicling the development history of the Zelda series up through Skyward Sword. The game was subsequently released in Japan on September 26, 2013 and in Europe on October 4, 2013. The North American retail version launched on October 4, 2013.

Differences from Original Version

Visuals

The most obvious change comes from the HD upgrade in the visual departments. The game runs at a native 1080p resolution while maintaining the original game's 30 frames per second. Wind Waker HD also enhances the originals toon-shaded art style with some modern shader technology that introduce bloom lighting, soft real-time shadows and a generally more vibrant feel to it. The black and white section in of the original game is now presented in sepia tone. Textures were upgraded for the higher resolutions as well.

Audio

All the effects and music have been reworked and mixed with higher quality samples and a much crisper sound while still keeping the feel of the original game's audio intact.

User Interface & GamePad Support

The game makes use of the Wii U GamePad. The GamePad screen allows for instant access to Link's inventory which the player can manipulate via touch-controlled drag-and-drop. During sea travel, the screen displays the sea chart, letting players plan their course without interrupting the gameplay.

Similar to the updated Ocarina of Time 3D, the UI now as a dedicated button for the Wind Waker baton, treasure-hook and boat-cannon removing the need for players to equip the associated items in an item slot manually. Also, players no longer have to equip a sail in an item slot as the UI now automatically activates it and associates the A and B-buttons with the sail functions as contextually appropriate. Players also can use the GamePad screen to control the wind waker, swiping in the corresponding desired direction. All of these improvements result in a more streamlined UI that removes a lot of manual back-and-forth between the game and the inventory screen from the original.

On top of that, the button bindings section of the HUD can be completely disabled to leave only the hearts and rupee/key counter on screen. Additionally, like in Pikmin 3, hitting the minus button will instantly switch to Off-TV Play mode, letting players play the game entirely on the GamePad. It is also possible to skip certain cut-scenes like the opening.

Faster Sailing

Link is now able to acquire the Swift Sail in the auction house after beating the first dungeon. The Swift Sail speeds up sea travel and lets players directly control the ships movement, removing the need to manually use the Wind Waker to change the direction of the wind.

This particular feature was initially planned to be incorporated into the original release but was omitted due to the technical limitations of the GameCube console as it was only capable of loading a single block of ocean at a time and the slower sailing speed was required to mask loading times.

Improved Triforce Quest

Steps are also being taken to improve the general pacing of the game, particularly in regards to the Triforce hunt prior to the final dungeon. Players now have to go out and decipher only three sea charts to find Triforce pieces and the remaining five can be acquired instantly. Additionally, it is no longer possible to accidentally skip Tingle Island as a new introductory sequence has been added to the main quest of the game.

Further pacing improvements come via shorter animations and faster text-scroll speed.

Miiverse

Messages in a Bottle

The Tingle Tuner from the original game, which was used to interface with the GameBoy Advance to allow for unique asymmetric gameplay mechanics, is being replaced by Miiverse Integration. Aonuma stated this was decided because the Tingle Tuner was meant to be a "helper tool" to aid the player in tricky situations. Miiverse Integration now comes in the form of messages in a bottle that will wash up on shores containing messages from players left on Miiverse, in a Demon's Souls-like fashion.

Picto Box

Another feature tying into Miiverse is the Picto Box, the in-game camera. Link can now even take photos of himself with a selection of preset facial expressions. The capacity of the Picto Box has also been upped to hold 12 pictures at the same time. All the images taken with the Picto Box can be shared directly via Miiverse.

First Person Mode

Ever since Ocarina of Time, players had the opportunity to view the world in first-person, but it wasn't until Skyward Sword that Link was allowed to move around freely in first-person and be able to use ranged items. This ability has now been added to The Wind Waker HD. However, players are still restricted from using melee equipment such as swords while in the first-person view.

Hero Mode

Taking a page from skyward Sword, a harder difficulty setting called Hero Mode is now included. Like in Skyward Sword, enemies will deal twice the amount of damage and Link can no longer obtain hearts from actions such as slashing bushes. The only way to regain health is using a fairy or consuming a potion. However, unlike in Skyward Sword, this mode is now available from the start instead of having to be unlocked by finishing the game once. Hero Mode can be toggled on or off at any time.

Bigger Wallet

The maximum rupee limit at the start of the game has been increased from 200 to 500 rupees.

Sidequests / Treasure Charts

The HD version features more treasure charts to hunt down and an item originally obtained via sidequest is now found through such a treasure chart.

Miscellaneous Changes

Some of the other miscellaneous alterations which were made to the game are as follows:

Link no longer gets knocked off the King of Red Lions into the sea if he takes damage whilst sailing the ship aside from some minor exceptions such as colliding with explosive barrels.
Enemies have a shorter invincibility period after being damaged thus making it possible for some sword swings to hit twice.
When using the ship's cannon, the bomb's trajectory is displayed on screen making aim shots much easier.
Conducting the Wind Waker no longer begins until a direction is input.
Items dropped at sea are automatically drawn towards Link.
Forest Water now lasts for 30 minutes rather than 20.
The game no longer freezes if players jump attack on top of the chest in the Ghost Ship.

No Extra Dungeons

During development of the remaster, Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma has specifically stated that a trio of dungeons that were cut from the GameCube game prior to release would not be implemented. Part of the reason for this is that some of that cut content was already used in Zelda titles that followed Wind Waker's original release.

Limited Edition Ganondorf Figurine Bundle

In North America and Europe, Nintendo sold a Limited Edition Ganondorf figurine along with the game. In North America, it was available as a GameStop-exclusive bonus. In Europe, there was a dedicated Limited Edition bundle that came with the game and the Ganondorf figurine. The European The Wind Waker HD box from the Limited Edition comes with a reversible cover featuring entirely different artwork than the main box art.

History

Eiji Aonuma, who announced the game during the Nintendo Direct in January 2013, said this remaster was born after creating the Zelda HD Experience Wii U tech demo for E3 2011. In preparing for the development of the first original HD Zelda title, Aonuma's team experimented with porting past entries into HD, and in the process felt that Wind Waker's art style gained new life on the new console tech. The decision was then made to release an updated version of Wind Waker for the Wii U to tide fans over while work continued on the new Wii U Zelda title.

Reception

As of September 30 2016, The Wind Waker HD has sold 1.98 million copies worldwide.

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So far I have enjoyed the game. The game is very realistic and fun. Ive had the game for about three weeks now and my preferred gun is the UMP.45 it is an engineer classed gun. Also there is A bullet velocity which makes it more realistic. My expectations were that I wasn't going to be more challenging than usual games, but it was challenging but not as much as I thought. This will be wrapping up my article those are my opinions i really have no dislikes about the game.

","graphics":false,"gameplay":false,"storyline":false,"score":"10.0","image_id":null,"created_at":"2015-09-17 02:31:47","updated_at":"2016-07-26 08:47:15","deleted_at":null,"unix":1442457107,"type":"Reviews\Review","type_slug":"reviews-review","url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/reviews/battlefield-4/battlefield-4-review","deck":{"clean":" So far I have enjoyed the game. The game is very realistic and fun. Ive had the game for about three weeks now and my preferred gun is the UMP.45 it is an engineer classed gun. Also there is A bullet velocity which makes it more realistic. My expectations were that... see more","short":"

So far I have enjoyed the game. The game is very realistic and fun. Ive had the game for about three weeks now and my preferred gun is the UMP.45 it is an engineer classed gun....

","long":"

"},"user":{"id":11478,"role_id":1,"name":"juju","display_name":"YUNGxJUJU","slug":"yungxjuju","email":"3taco8@gmail.com","birthday":null,"tos":1,"privacy":1,"avatar_id":null,"last_login":"2015-09-17 01:57:45","confirmed_at":null,"suspended_at":null,"created_at":"2015-09-17 01:57:44","updated_at":"2015-09-17 02:34:19","type":"Users\User","type_slug":"users-user","url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/members/yungxjuju","link":"YUNGxJUJU","avatar_url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/images/avatars/default.jpg","avatar":null},"game":{"id":35459,"api_id":39035,"name":"Battlefield 4","slug":"battlefield-4","image":{"icon_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/square_avatar/8/87790/2575456-box_bf4.png","medium_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_medium/8/87790/2575456-box_bf4.png","screen_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/screen_medium/8/87790/2575456-box_bf4.png","screen_large_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/screen_kubrick/8/87790/2575456-box_bf4.png","small_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_small/8/87790/2575456-box_bf4.png","super_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_large/8/87790/2575456-box_bf4.png","thumb_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_avatar/8/87790/2575456-box_bf4.png","tiny_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/square_mini/8/87790/2575456-box_bf4.png","original_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/original/8/87790/2575456-box_bf4.png","image_tags":"All Images,Box Art"},"deck":"DICE's popular multiplayer-focused shooter series continues, making its debut appearance on the PS4 and Xbox One.","description":"

Overview

Battlefield 4 is a modern-military first-person shooter developed by DICE and published by Electronic Arts. It was initially released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on October 29th, 2013 and later released as a day-one launch title for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Campaign

Battlefield 4's single player campaign takes place in the year 2020, six years after the events of Battlefield 3. The story primary follows Tombstone, a squad of US Marines tasked with stopping a military coup in China and preventing all-out war. Russia and China appear as the opposing factions.

Unlike the previous game, Battlefield 4's campaign is occasionally peppered with more open environments that allow for some player freedom, although the majority of the campaign still consists of scripted encounters. Completing campaign missions unlocks some weapons for use in multiplayer.

Campaign Missions

Baku
Shanghai
South China Sea
Singapore
Kunlan Mountains
Tashgar
Suez

Multiplayer

Battlefield 4 continues the series tradition of class-based multiplayer mechanics with objective-driven gameplay. Maps and modes involve both large-scale vehicular warfare, as well as smaller infantry-only scenarios. The revamped Frostbite 3 engine allows for more enhanced destruction and interactive environments. A Spectator Mode has been added if players simply want to watch the action. Players will again have the ability to rent servers to personalize the experience.

Levolution

"Levolution" refers to the dynamic destruction capable in multiplayer, so called because of the players increased ability to alter & interact with the physical characteristics of the map. This includes small things like being able to open & close doors, ride elevators, shoot out lights, as well as referring to much larger "events". Each map has one major Levolution event that significantly alters the terrain of the map, such as a toppling skyscraper in the map Siege of Shanghai, or a destroyer ship beaching onto an island in Paracel Storm.

Commander Mode

Battlefield 4 also sees the return of Commander Mode, last seen in Battlefield 2. In this mode, the player (who does not take up a spot on their team's leaderboard) provides aid to their team through intelligence and offensive support. Additionally, the Commander can select any player on their team and see a picture-in-picture view of that player's screen. This mode can even be played using mobile devices without connecting to the game via console or PC. Commander Mode is available only in Conquest, Rush, and Obliteration game modes.

Classes

Battlefield 4 retains the same four classes as the previous game, with a few alterations in available capabilities & gadgets:

Assault: Largely the same as before, the assault class carries assault rifles & medical packs, with the option of carrying defibrillators or grenade/smoke launchers.
Engineer: The engineer's exclusive weapon class has been changed to PDWs instead of carbines. This class is again the anti-vehicle class, with the ability to carry RPGs and mines.
Support: On top of ammo packs, C4, and claymores, the support class also has remote controlled mortars available. They also have an increased ability for suppressive fire than the other classes.
Recon: This class now has C4 and claymores available to them, as well as throwable motion sensors (last seen in Bad Company 2.) They also have the new ability to adjust sniper scopes to compensate for distance, known as "zeroing".

Game Modes

There are 7 game modes available at launch. Five return from Battlefield 3, with two new modes (Obliteration and Defuse) introduced.

Mode	Player Count (X360, PS3)	Player Count (XOne, PS4, PC)	Description
Conquest	26	66	The classic Battlefield game mode where teams battle for control of flags on the map, with the team that holds less flags bleeding respawn tickets. One Commander per team may also participate.
Rush	26	34, 66*	The staple "attack & defend" game mode, where the attackers try to arm and destroy two MCOM stations in each zone, while the defending team defends them. Commanders are optional.
Team Deathmatch	20	20, 64*	Two teams of 10 players face-off to reach the target score of kills in a round.
Squad Deathmatch	20	20	Similar to Team Deathmatch, except 4 teams of 5 players each battle each other to reach the target score first.
Domination	20	20	Very similar to Conquest, but with smaller teams, smaller maps, and no vehicles. Also, players cannot spawn on flags, capture times are greatly decreased, and ticket bleed rates are greatly increased.
Obliteration	24	34, 66*	Two teams battle to pick up a bomb that randomly spawns on the map, and then transport that bomb to one of three enemy control points to destroy it. The first team to destroy all three enemy objectives wins. Commanders are optional.
Defuse	10	10	In this 5 vs 5 infantry-only, no respawn mode, teams win by either arming & detonating a single objective (similar to Rush's MCOM station), or eliminating the other 5 players on the opposing team. Players can be revived one time before they are permanently removed from the round.

* On the PC, server admins can choose to override the player cap in some game modes, up to a hard limit of 64 players (+ 2 Commanders.)

Maps

There are ten maps available at launch. All game modes are playable on all the maps:

Dawnbreaker - A map that takes place just before dawn in and around the streets of an urban landscape. As time progresses, the sun comes up, and players can trigger underground gas pipes to explode and destroy the boulevard.
Flood Zone - Another city map, this one allows for much of the fighting to occur along the rooftops. Players can destroy a levee and flood the streets, pushing the fighting to higher ground.
Golmud Railway - A large, open prairie with a railway running through it, this map allows players to detonate IEDs causing large explosions in the open field. In conquest, one of the control points is a moving traincar.
Hainan Resort - This map takes place in and around a large hotel in along a tropical coast. The large hotel in the middle can have either side collapsed
Lancang Dam - A coastal expanse that features a large defunct dam, which can be collapsed with explosives, creating a deadly avalanche of debris.
Operation Locker - A mostly indoor map through an abandoned prison, this map features lockable cell doors and a collapsable guard tower located in the center of the complex.
Paracel Storm - This map is a series of islands that features destroyed warships to battle for. As time progresses, a large tropical storm rolls through, and players can unleash a destroyer ship to crash into one of the islands.
Rogue Transmission - This map features a huge satellite to fight over and under. Players can destroy the cables holding the telescope over the dish, sending it toppling into the center.
Siege of Shanghai - This map is another large urban environment, which features a huge skyscraper in the middle with a capture point on top. By exploding the supports of this building, players can send the entire structure crashing to the ground, creating a new control point.
Zavod 311 - This map centers around an abandoned tank factory, and if players can find a computer they can arm and detonate a warhead, which will send a large smokestack tumbling to the ground.

Battlepacks

Battlepacks are an additional way to unlock items in multiplayer. They are awarded at set intervals by leveling up both soldiers and weapons. Much like the weapon packs in Mass Effect 3, items granted in Battlepacks are randomized. The items awarded are weapon attachments such as scopes and silencers, as well as cosmetic variants of accessories such as new knives, dog tags, soldier camouflages, weapon/vehicle paints, experience boosts, and more.

Items contained in Battlepacks have three levels of color-coded rarity; Standard (grey), Advanced (white), Superior (blue), & Distinguished (orange).

There are three tiers of Battlepacks; Bronze, Silver, & Gold, as well as black Weapon Packs. The Bronze Pack will contain three items: two Standard ones, and one that has a chance of being Advanced. The quantity and rarity of the items increase in the Silver and Gold Packs. The Weapon Pack is aimed specifically at the noted weapon and provides weapon accessories for that weapon.

Downloadable Content

There are five expansion packs for Battlefield 4 that feature new maps, game modes, weapons, and more. Each expansion will be available individually for purchase, or can be bought in a bundle with a membership to Battlefield Premium.

China Rising

The first expansion pack to be released was China Rising. It features the maps Silk Road, Altai Range, Guilin Peaks, and Dragon Pass, four large open area maps set in Mainland China. The Air Superiority Mode is also made available in this expansion, as well as new vehicles and weapons.

Second Assault

The second expansion is Second Assault, which takes four maps from Battlefield 3 (Operation Metro, Caspian Border, Gulf of Oman, & Operation Firestorm) and updates them in the new Frostbite 3 engine. A new game mode of Capture the Flag is available in this expansion as well.

Naval Strike

The third expansion, made available in March 2014, is Naval Strike. It features water-based combat on four new maps; Lost Islands, Nansha Strike, Wave Breaker, and Operation Mortar. Naval Strike also introduces five new weapons as well as a new hovercraft vehicle. The new game mode Carrier Assault is an homage to the "Titan" game mode from Battlefield 2142.

Dragon's Teeth

The fourth expansion is called Dragons' Teeth, which is focused on much more close combat situations. The four maps included are Lumphini Garden, Pearl Market, Propaganda, & Sunken Dragon. It features 5 new weapons, and opens up a ballistic shield gadget for the Support class. The new game mode is called Chain Link, which is a variation of Conquest where players must capture adjacent flags in order to reduce the other teams tickets.

Final Stand

The fifth expansion features four new maps set in Russia.

Pre-Unveiling

The game was revealed during a promotion for Medal of Honor: Warfighter, allowing beta access to those who pre-order Warfighter, or purchase the Limited Edition.

At a company meeting on February 19, 2013, store managers and CEO of Gamestop were given a sneak peak of Battlefield 4.

Media were sent an invite via email on March 15th, 2013, to an unveiling event hosted at AMC Metreon in San Francisco.

On March 20th, 2013, EA created a teaser site that would slowly show artwork from the game as more members logged into the site. A first look at gameplay was promised and shown at the March 26 unveil event.

Unveil

Campaign gameplay was shown to press and developers on March 27, 2013 at 7pm, during the Game Developers Conference 2013 hosted at AMC Metreon in San Francisco. A 17-minute campaign video was released to the general public.

Multiplayer reveal

Multiplayer gameplay for Battlefield 4 was first presented at E3 2013 and was streamed live throughout the week. The map "Siege of Shanghai" was playable for the traditional Conquest mode. The demo showcased several new features including an automatic cover system, swimming underwater, "sprint swimming," and more.

Beta

An open beta was launched by DICE in the beginning of October for PC, X360, and PS4. It featured the Siege of Shanghai map in the Conquest and Domination game modes. The Obliteration game mode was also added midway through the beta.

The following schedule for access to the Battlefield 4 beta on PS3, X360, and PC was as follows:

October 1-3: "Exclusive" early access for players who had at least one of the following:

Pre-ordered the PC Digital Deluxe Edition on Origin.
Purchased Medal of Honor Warfighter Limited Edition or Digital Deluxe Edition.
Purchased Battlefield 3 Premium.

October 4-15: Open beta access for all players.

Soundtrack

Battlefield 3 composers, Johan Skugge & Jukka Rintamäki returned to score the fourth entry in the series.

Number	Name	Composer	Length
1.	Stutter (Theme from Battlefield 4)	Johan Skugge	1:55
2.	Warsaw Theme	Rami	2:36
3.	The Majestic Valkyrie	Johan Skugge	2:00
4.	Jin Jie's Revolution	Johan Skugge	3:16
5.	Oppression	Johan Skugge	3:52
6.	A Theme for Kjell	Johan Skugge	3:36
7.	Rough Journey	Johan Skugge	2:42
8.	Silk Vista	Johan Skugge	2:37
9.	Alone and Abandoned	Johan Skugge	3:26
10.	Fishing In Baku	Johan Skugge	4:50
11.	If Wishes Were Horses	Johan Skugge	3:20
12.	High Tide	Johan Skugge	1:56
13.	Being Irish	Johan Skugge	1:42
14.	Battlefield 4 (Beta Theme)	Johan Skugge	1:23
15.	When the Dam Breaks	Johan Skugge	2:37
16.	Dunn's Down	Johan Skugge	4:52
17.	Cyclone 2	Johan Skugge	1:55

System Requirements

Minimum	Recommended
OS: Windows Vista SP2 32-bit	OS: Windows 8 64-bit
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz, AMD Athlon X2 2.8GHz or better	Processor: AMD Six-Core CPU, Intel Quad-Core CPU or better
RAM: 4 GB	RAM: 8 GB
Graphics Card: 512 MB AMD Radeon HD 3870 / NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT or better	Graphics Card: 3 GB AMD Radeon HD 7870 / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 or better
Hard Drive: 30 GB free space	Hard Drive: 30 GB free space

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I absolutely loved BF3 and BF4 was great as well. Although I played BF3 on the PC and I think it was the best looking version of BF3, I played BF4 on the Xbox 360 but I enjoyed it very much. Great review!

","created_at":"2015-09-20 04:30:56","updated_at":"2016-06-30 07:32:45","text_comment":"I absolutely loved BF3 and BF4 was great as well. Although I played BF3 on the PC and I think it was the best looking version of BF3, I played BF4 on the Xbox 360 but I enjoyed it very much. Great review! ","unix":1442723456,"type":"Comment","type_slug":"comment","user":{"id":1,"role_id":4,"name":"Christopher Pfeifer","display_name":"J1k0n","slug":"j1k0n","email":"pfeifer.christopher@gmail.com","birthday":"1990-01-20","tos":1,"privacy":1,"avatar_id":"787870","last_login":"2016-03-07 03:23:04","confirmed_at":"2015-02-25 11:40:18","suspended_at":null,"created_at":"2014-10-21 09:46:35","updated_at":"2020-09-09 22:33:38","type":"Users\User","type_slug":"users-user","url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/members/j1k0n","link":"J1k0n","avatar_url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/images/avatars/default.jpg","avatar":null},"likes":[],"comments":[]}]},{"id":52,"game_id":40647,"user_id":"11","title":"Episode 2: The Lost Lords","slug":"episode-2-the-lost-lords","review":"

After being left both emotionally distraught, excited and utterly confused by the last episode, can telltale pick up the pieces and carry on the series? The second episode will determine much of how the game will largely set the tone for what to expect. The first episode spent a lot of time setting us up for this one. Can Telltale deliver, or will it disappoint like moulded goblet of Arbor Gold wine?

Beware
This review assumes that you have played the first episode of Telltale's A Game Of Thrones. As much of Episode one is spent to set up the plot and setting for this episode it is bound to contain some serious spoilers for the previous episode.

You have been warned

Episode 2 begins by recapping the events of Episode 1 and particularly the finalé. It introduces us to another Forrester; Asher Forrester a mercenary sellsword hanging around in Essos with his trusty companion, best friend and "little sister" Beshka. He is the brother of Ethan, the recently deceased young lord. As the game progresses the player is taken back to Ironrath and given a front seat view of how the loss of the young lord affects them, and a direct hand in who controlling his successor and how he should behave in face of the similar dangers that ended up costing Ethan his life. While Ethan might at times have felt inexperienced, and that the game forced you into showing that inexperience, it is far more forgiving this time around. The new Lord of Ironrath can be played in a number of ways, and provides those who felt their hand tied by Ethan's personality with a much freer range of actions and conversation options. If you want to tell someone to get lost, you now can. Throughout the episode we also visit Gared at the Wall and Mira in Kings Landing. Each story is picking up pace and branching out to give the player a real chance of immersing into the story and game world. The two new characters however are the stars of the show in this one.

Asher
The first of the two new playable characters introduced in this episode is the loud-mouted, uncouth and witty Asher. He provides the series with a confidence that was sorely lacking in the previous series. While in the first episode you couldn't help but feel like every single character was sort of a victim, Asher comes across as a confident, brash and capable soldier. Able to fight off waves of enemies while maintaining his cheeky disposition, Asher helps make the player feel in control of their own fate for the first time. Together with his companion and partner in crime Beshka they provide the game with a sense of adventure and camaraderie previously abscent. The voice acting for Asher is as good as it gets, clearly portraying his tendency towards arrogance and over-confidence in every line of dialogue. Asher is capable of getting away with conversation options that no other character would be, and as a result gives the player a sense of freedom in how to respond to various events and conversations.

The New Lord
With Ethan having been killed by Ramsey Snow as a result of your actions and decisions (How could you fail Ethan!) the scene was set for the introduction of a new Lord. As the new Lord of Ironrath you have to make a number of tough decisions, engage in diplomatic conversations with the Whitehills, attempt to secure alliances and convince the people that you are fit to lead. While Ethan's death felt unfair, cruel and likely to result in complete hopelessness, the new Lord is much easier to get to grips with, and can at times provide you with a sense of optimism as you watch your character strive to rebuild Ironrath and keep the family safe.

Mira, Gared and Beyond
Both the stories of Mira Forrester and Gared Tuttle pick up pace in this episode. While Gared can come across as a little bit whiny freezing on the wall and generally complaining about myths, mysteries and murderous scum. Mira is slowly but surely beginning to get the hang of and play the game of politicking in Kings Landing. As Mira you work to attempt to secure your family's future in any way you can, and this opens up a number of interesting conversations, shocking twists and a great deal of tension. Much of which ends up unresolved awaiting the next episode. One of the high-points of Mira's storyline are the frequent conversations with Tyrion Lannister. These are a treat to play. Tyrion's voice acting is a joy to listen to and each conversation is filled with the enticing dialogue that makes him such an interesting and appealing character in the HBO series.

Gared's story on the other hand needs to pick up rather quickly. You spend most of the time as Gared trying to complete very simple QTEs as basic training for the Nightswatch. Most of which seems pointless, such as carrying a single barrel over the courtyard while leaving the rest just standing there, because why bother? Occasionally Gared's story is interrupted with interactions with Jon Snow. For the most part these are not anywhere near the quality of Mira's interactions with Cersei, Margery and Tyrion, but there is one scene in particular which is worth paying attention to. While going up the elevator to the wall Jon Snow straight up asks Gared why no one protected Robb at the Red Wedding, and displays some emotion for what happened.

The second episode takes a lot of what was good in episode 1 and improves upon it. The characters introduced are both interesting and well crafted, with unique personalities that add to the allure of the game itself. I found myself loving both the erratic and uncouth Asher, and the character that became "The New Lord". If the series continue like this it can be very good indeed.

","graphics":false,"gameplay":false,"storyline":false,"score":"8.0","image_id":null,"created_at":"2015-09-10 19:19:55","updated_at":"2016-07-26 08:47:15","deleted_at":null,"unix":1441912795,"type":"Reviews\Review","type_slug":"reviews-review","url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/reviews/game-of-thrones-a-telltale-game-series/episode-2-the-lost-lords","deck":{"clean":"After being left both emotionally distraught, excited and utterly confused by the last episode, can telltale pick up the pieces and carry on the series? The second episode will determine much of how the game will largely set the tone for... see more","short":"

After being left both emotionally distraught, excited and utterly confused by the last episode, can telltale pick up the pieces and carry on the series? The second episode ...

","long":"

Overview

Game of Thrones (not to be confused with the 2012 action RPG of the same name) is a six-part epic-fantasy point-and-click adventure game developed and published digitally by Telltale for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, (via Xbox Live Arcade), PlayStation 3 (via PlayStation Network), PC, Mac, and most iOS and Android devices. Episodes were periodically released between December 2, 2014 and November 17, 2015.

Set during Seasons 3 and 4 of the television series of the same name (which itself is an adaptation of the A Song of Ice and Fire novels), the story revolves around House Forrester, a family that controls the valuable Ironwood forest in the north-east corner of Westeros (in the secluded fortress of Ironrath). Due to the importance of Ironwood and the fall of the house's Lord, the Forresters (and their allies) are targeted by political rivals both in Westeros and abroad and must engage in militaristic and diplomatic battles to survive. Along with a comic book style similar to Telltale's other games, the game includes some prominent characters from the novels and television series as supporting characters, each with the likeness and voice of their actors from the television series.

The fifth of Telltale's "tailored story" set of games (made famous by The Walking Dead), the bulk of this adventure game relies on making decisions through actions and timed conversation trees, complete with branching consequences that tailor the player's story to the pressured choices they are forced to make. Players also engage in action sequences (using a series of quick time events). Similar to Tales from the Borderlands, players switch between different protagonists throughout each episode (shifting the story to multiple storylines).

The game was re-released in retail form for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on November 17, 2015, in conjunction with the game's final episode.

Following the closure of Telltale on November 2018, the game was delisted from all digital storefronts.

Episodes

Episode 1: Iron from Ice (December 2, 2014)

At the Red Wedding, the Stark bannerman Lord Gregor Forrester and his heir Rodrik are killed by the Freys. Lord Forrester's squire Gared is sent to the Wall to escape the revenge of the ascendant Boltons, and his daughter Mira, a lady-in-waiting for the King's bride Margaery Tyrell, looks for support for her family at the court in King's Landing.

Episode 2: The Lost Lords (February 3, 2015)

A cart of the bodies from the massacre at the Twins is brought to Ironrath, amongst them is the body of Lord Gregor and the injured but still-living Rodrik. Gared arrives at the wall, where he begins his training such that he may become a ranger of the Night's Watch, hence fufilling due his duty to House Forrester by protecting the North Grove. Intrigue is rife in the King's Landing, with Mira still searching for support from the Crown - and Mira faces the wroth of a yet unknown conspirator. In distant Yunkai, three days after the Daenarys' liberation, Asher is visited by Malcolm Branfield, sent by his mother to bring him back to Ironrath.

Episode 3: The Sword in the Darkness (March 24, 2015)

Asher sets off for Meereen in hope of finding an army to lead in the fight against the House Whitehill. Meanwhile, in King's Landing, Mira, caught in the city's political turmoil following the recent events, is still at work finding a powerful ally to aid her family in their struggle. In Ironrath, the Whitehill takeover, with Ludd Whitehill and his son Gryff Whitehill at its helm, drags on. At his father's command, Gryff, set to prove himself worthy of handling a settlement of his own, pressures Rodrik and his house to succumb to Whitehill rule. At the Wall, Gared finds out that he must head north in order to assure his family's safety.

Episode 4: Sons of Winter (May 26, 2015)

In hopes of reclaiming Ironrath, Rodrik allies with Elaena and Arthur Glenmore who share his hatred of the Whitehills. Together, they devise a plan to inconspicuously take out Gryff. In King's Landing, now a city in turmoil following the murder of King Joffrey, Mira attends a banquet hoping to find what the Whitehills plan to do to defeat her house. At the Wall, Gared is imprisoned following his actions; but soon escapes and heads for the North Grove, facing the wilding hunters along the way. In Essos, outside slave city of Meereen, Asher, Beskha and Malcolm meet Daenerys who offers them an army in exchange for the guide through Meereen.

Episode 5: A Nest of Vipers (July 21, 2015)

Rodrik's alliance with House Glenmore, and his defiance of the Whitehills, has drawn the ire of Ramsay Snow. Far across the Narrow Sea in Essos, with Meereen now a free city, Asher is close to securing the army he desperately needs to return home, and save his family. In King's Landing, Mira's activities at Tommen's coronation have not escaped the attention of Margaery Tyrell, and Cersei has realized that the handmaiden may prove useful in her political games. Finally, beyond the Wall, Gared's unlikely allies are reluctant to help in the search for the North Grove.

Episode 6: The Ice Dragon (November 17, 2015)

With House Whitehill tightening its grip on Ironrath at the behest of Ramsay Bolton, the remaining Forresters must give their all to save the family, whether through diplomacy, subterfuge, or violent force. In the frozen wilds beyond The Wall, Gared learns the secrets of the mysterious North Grove, and Mira discovers that political games in a King's Landing controlled by Cersei Lannister often involve the highest stakes of all.

The first episode of Telltale's episodic adventure game series Game of Thrones gives you a solid introduction into the new series from the critically acclaimed studio. A number of new gameplay elements are introduced as well as a whole cast of interesting characters to play and interact with. However, are Telltale able to recreate the atmosphere portrayed in the television series and the Song of Ice and Fire books?

Beware that this article can contain a handful of spoilers for the series, and a very big one for the books. The game's beginning is set during the middle of the third season of the television show, and roughly towards the end of the third book. If you have not read these books, or seen the series and don't want that experience spoiled then do not play this game or read this review. There are major spoilers for events happening at those points in the books and the series throughout the first episode.

You have been warned.

The episode starts of by giving us control of Gared Tuttle, a young squire in the employ of the Lord of Ironrath - Ser Gregor Forrester. The North is following their king Robert Stark in his war against the Iron Throne and have set camp outside the Frey's stronghold, the Twins. This is where we meet young Gared. The game starts off with a simple tutorial to get you started before it lets you have a go at its conversation system. The system is pretty much identical to the one found in the fantastic game The Walking Dead, except that conversations are more frequent and are used to great effect to build tension and atmosphere. All in all the first few minutes of gameplay seem like a conversation simulator, and that is not a bad thing. Once you get your bearings the game kicks off the action, and you are thrown in the midst of a chaotic and frantic situation with many decisions to take seemingly at random. It all serves as a tutorial to prepare you for the future episodes and scenes coming later in the game.

Multiple Characters
Telltale's Game of Thrones does something very bold and interesting with their choice of gameplay. Instead of playing as one of the well known houses of Westeros, or a single character attempting to make their way through the cutthroat world of Iron Throne politics, you play numerous people of a single family. The episode is split between a number of characters, each with their own personalities, challenges and storylines. First we have Gared, the loyal squire who will do anything for his adoptive family. The other is Ethan, a young boy turned lord by unforeseen circumstances. While in Kings Landing Ethan's sister Mira, herself courtier to the future Queen Margery, navigates a political landscape filled with vipers, snakes and spiders. It is an interesting mechanic, and one that provides you with a wide array of possible play-styles within the same game. I found myself constantly roleplaying to how I thought my character would act in a given situation, and attempted to ensure the best possible outcome.

Aside from the increase in characters the gameplay mechanics follow the same formula as earlier Telltale titles. You walk around and interact with various items that become highlighted when you approach them. These objects can not be used directly, but are used automatically when appropriate by your character. Action sequences use the same Quick Time Events (QTE) style interaction as before, only in Game of Thrones there frequency of these have increased due to the increase in action scenes. Missing QTE prompts rarely has a significant impact on the game itself, but can sometimes cause you to fail your current objective and send you back to the last "save point". If you are not a fan of QTE you should probably stay clear. In this first episode there are perhaps more QTE than strictly necessary, and I found myself often just going through the motions to get to the next scintillating conversation.

Game of Conversations
Conversation is where this episode really shows itself at its best. Characters from the television series are voiced by their actors, and perform as well as they do in the television series. Thanks to the stellar voice acting and a well written script these conversations are by far the highlight of the episode. Standing in the Red Keep and attempting to outsmart Cersei Lannister in a game of witts is as fantastic and difficult as it sounds, and as crushing and scary as you would imagine when Cersei points out that she could take your head.

The game goes one step further with the notion of using conversational threats as a tool to increase tension by really driving that point home in the last act. As the episode ends you are left wondering what went wrong, as everything can and will go wrong in Westeros regardless of what you do. This sense of hopelessness and fear of making a wrong move so that characters you care for will die is ever present in the episode, and is emphasised time and time again through the series. One word said at the wrong time can have dire consequences. The pace and conclusion of this episode is absolutely sublime, and left me catching my breath after I had finished it.

I was later informed that the feeling of choice I had felt was an illusion and that no matter what I had chosen I would have had the same outcome. While that annoyed me at first I realised that it didn't really matter. There and then I felt like what I was doing did have a very real impact on what happened in the situation. While the game might not provide you with 100 different branching stories from day one - frankly we should be thankful for that - it does provide you with a very solid illusion of choice that creates both excitement and tension.

Visual Presentation
When you start the episode you are treated to a wonderful recreation of the intro-scenes from the television series, lovingly recreated with the game engine. It looks great while at the same time preparing you for the episode in much the same way the television series does. Visually the episode and the game as a whole, looks like an oil-painting. While the graphical fidelity is certainly considerably lower than what the ps4 and xbox one can handle, each character is both recognisable and authentic enough to maintain the immersion. Textures of the various surrounding objects scatted through the game world could be considerably better however, they are often flat and grainy, there are times where you find yourself wondering if it was purposefully kept low to ensure compatibility with iOS devices and tablets.

Characters are however very well rendered. They are easy to recognise even before they open their mouths, and can display a wide arrange of emotion despite being stylised like an oil-painting. Both Tyrion and Cersei look great, but in some of the darker scenes characters can look bleak, pale and strange. In some cases that is good; Ramsey Snow, in others it just doesn't sit right; Jon Snow.

All in all though a solid introduction to the series which promises much. The episode spends considerable time introducing you to various gameplay elements, the characters and the theme of conversations, and it can therefore feel a little like a tutorial and set-up for the next episodes at times. The question now is can the rest of the episodes deliver a similar quality? I will certainly be playing this to its conclusion to find out.

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The first episode of Telltale's episodic adventure game series Game of Thrones gives you a solid introduction into the new series from the critically acclaimed studio. A num...

","long":"

Beware that this article can contain a handful of spoilers for the series, and a very big one for the books. The game's beginning is set during the middle of the third season of the television show, and roughly to... continue reading

Overview

The game was re-released in retail form for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on November 17, 2015, in conjunction with the game's final episode.

Following the closure of Telltale on November 2018, the game was delisted from all digital storefronts.

Episodes

Episode 1: Iron from Ice (December 2, 2014)

Episode 2: The Lost Lords (February 3, 2015)

Episode 3: The Sword in the Darkness (March 24, 2015)

Episode 4: Sons of Winter (May 26, 2015)

Episode 5: A Nest of Vipers (July 21, 2015)

Episode 6: The Ice Dragon (November 17, 2015)

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In Skylander Trap Team you once again fight against the evil super villain Kaos and his minions to save Skylands from plunging into disarray. This time the addition of a "Trap-portal" and the introduction of various traps enable you to not only fight Kaos and his minions, but also capture them and use them in your fight against wave of baddies occupying the Skylands.

Skylanders Trap Team is the fourth installation of the Skylander series first released in 2011. The game revolves around using a number of unlocakable characters that will help you in various parts of the game where the main goal is to defeat the super villain Chaos. What is unique about Skylanders however, is that to unlock these characters you have to buy the actual physical toys of each character. The game comes prepackaged with a handful of figures to get you started and a "Skylander Portal" that loads the toys into the game itself, and children love this. The figures are cool and stylish with bright and clear colours, and when you put them into the game they all have their own moves, catch-phrases and videos displaying their abilities. Some parts of the game require you to have certain elemental characters to get to the various secrets hidden across the Skylands. These areas will not open for elemental characters from earlier games. Necessitating you to buy at least 5 or 6 new figurines if you want to access all areas.

While the game is fun to play for all ages I will primarily concentrate on presenting a parents view of the game's suitability to children.

","graphics":{"score":"85","review":"

The visual presentation fits very well with the overarching theme of the game. Characters in game look like a plasticised-version of their real life figurine counterparts. Every single character is easily recognisable, making sure that when you place the figurine on the portal and watch it fly onto the screen you actually feel like the figurine was scanned into the game. Each level is characterised by strong and vibrant colours. Whereas a number of modern games have taken to rely on various hues of brown, Skylanders Trap Team has gone in the opposite direction and increased the brightness of their colours. The game world looks and feels like a fun toy world to explore and play in. On the Xbox One - the version I played - the game looks truly stunning. Cut scenes follow the same style as the rest of the game, and several cutscenes and animations can often make you feel like you are watching a high quality cartoon or walking around in a wonderful fantasy world created by a mad toy maker. There are some areas where rocks, backgrounds and particularly wood looks a little "flat", but these are minor inconveniences. Overall the game has a great look that suits the overarching theme very well.

"},"gameplay":{"score":"85","review":"

The controls are intuitive, easy to learn and you are never in doubt of what you need to do next. Small arrows and prompts you what you can do at all times, and whenever you are in doubt there is always a clue as to what to do next. It is one of the few games in the modern age that I have encountered that any child can simply pick up and play without needing much instruction. Everything is explained numerous times, but never without a purpose, various difficulty degrees makes the game challenging for children of all ages.

The possibility of trapping minions after you have defeated them is a very nice addition. Each character you capture even have their own "sub-quest" where you have to complete a specific task to truly unlock the full potential of your minion companion. With a myriad of different minions to capture and play with this significantly increases the longevity of the game. Trapping requires you to buy specific traps, one for each element, as well a specific trap that until recently was impossible to find to capture Chaos himself. According to my 6 year old there is something extremely satisfying in placing the plastic trap into the trap hole of the skylander portal and watching the defeated minion be sucked into it. As an extra bonus once you capture it the minions voice plays from a small speaker in the portal itself, making it sound like it was just captured inside the plastic toy itself. Being able to do this to Chaos is mind-blowing. Imagine playing Mario as a child with a figurine of mario standing in front of you, taking a piece of plastic to your super nintendo and watching as Bowser gets sucked into it. That is how children today feel when they trap the ultimate baddie Kaos in the stylish black chaos trap. That games are able to give you that feeling now is truly astonishing.

An area where the game truly excels is in how easy it is to play together with your child. Getting into the game is easy, and the portal has ample room for two figurines. If you need to traverse a difficult obstacle course you can do that together, and even if you or your child misses a ledge or a platform you will mostly get re-spawned together on the other side if one of you managed to complete it. This means that even in areas where some younger children might find obstacles impossible they can either cooperate with friends, siblings or parents to get through the level even if they themselves aren't able to do it - entirely without giving the controller to someone else.

"},"storyline":{"score":"90","review":"

This is a children game, and as such the story has to be judged on its capability to engage with children and not necessarily adults. While I found the same jokes over and over again boring, conversations to be tedious and the basic plot to be a little too simplistic, I am not the target audience. My 6 year old thinks Skylanders is the greatest story in a video game ever. He laughs at every single one of the jokes, and is grippingly engaged with the story. "Kaos must be defeated!" he says and grabs the controller with determination. When his favourite characters are losing their health points he is clearly distressed by this and quickly removes the figurine from the portal before it drops to zero and frantically looks around for a suitable replacement. When he defeated Kaos he was the happiest boy in the world. Every single time we go to the toy store he takes me to the skylander shelf and shows me a number of characters and magical items that he wants for christmas. When he played the game regularly right after Christmas last year he would talk about the game, the levels and the puzzles constantly.

After many discussions with my 6 year old and his friends, the real target audience, I have come to the conclusion that the story is actually about as good as it gets. No other game I have introduced him to has engaged him anywhere near as much as Skylanders. Disney Infinity, the obvious competition to Skylanders, is played sporadically throughout the year - a new character here and there is exciting, but it quickly passes. The interest in Skylanders however remains constant. I've had to read the books at bed-time at least a hundred times, whenever I let him chose how to spend a sunday morning he always choices to play an hour of Skylanders. He knows every character backstory and is passionate about arguing why Kaos is evil and discussing how to capture the next minion the next time he gets to play the game.

Overall the gameplay mechanic of traps is well merged into the game's story. Kaos has released the trapped minions and its up to you to save Skylands from Kaos' master plan, defeat the minions and trap them again. The story very much revolves around the trap mechanic, which is a sensible design decision. The trap mechanic as I pointed out in the previous section is very engaging and interesting and makes children feel like real trap-masters. The writing is consistent throughout and every facet of the story helps boost gameplay and gameplay enjoyment. The narrow focus on traps, trap-masters and converting minions into friend fighting the good fight gives the game a strong identity and focus that at times was missing from the previous games. While some of the conversations seem over emphasised and like another repeat of information you received five minutes ago it is perfectly weighted to the attention span of a young child, even boys.

The game has an ESRB rating of 10+, but after having played this game with my 6 year old, and the previous game with him when he was 5 I can honestly say I never once considered this game to need such a classification. There is no foul language, the fighting system is stylised in a way that makes it seem like the characters are using various elements and magical powers to battle each other, even when swinging swords, shooting "pistols" and using other weaponry. Losing all your HP basically gives you a screen which says "Your skylander is exhausted and needs to rest for a while". The non playable characters are always friendly and kind to the player, and even Kaos shys away from being too rude towards you. I will explain why him being rude is a good thing later on. Defeating enemies results in either a poff of smoke, a cutscene showing them go somewhere else or being captured by the player to be played with in game.

The game is not particularly scary, but of course each child is different. Some younger children will find the darker themed scenes with Kaos and the slightly more sinister musical score a little too much. A number of boss battles can be scary as the bosses themselves change their appearance. Kaos for instance sprouts black wings, laughs maniacally and looks very sinister as the environment becomes a dark purple hue as you battle him. Unless you are willing to play the game with your child, at least for these few scenes, then you should probably stay clear unless you are confident your child won't be terrified by it. However I would encourage any parent to actually play these games with their children. It is a fun experience for all ages, and watching as your child completes a boss battle and jumps around in joy is a fantastic feeling and scary scenes become a lot less scary when you are watching it with someone else. Of course each child is different, so it's always commendable to watch a few youtube videos of how the game looks like before buying a game to any child.

Kaos is also a particularly interesting case of a villain designed for children. He's selfish, he wants everything for himself and everything to be done for him. He's a bully who likes to tease, taunt and put down others. He shouts and throws tantrums, and he really does not like friendship, cooperation and harmonious co-existence. He's rude and obnoxious and always doing "wrong" things. In more ways than one Kaos presents children playing the game with a stereotype of how not to be, and this resonates surprisingly well. Kaos does not listen to anyone and that is constantly what eventually causes his downfall. By making these qualities dominant in the antagonist and explicit for his downfall it makes children view these qualities and behaviour in a negative light. The game reinforces the idea into children that cooperation, friendship and tempered curiosity are morally right, while the various qualities Kaos present are morally wrong.

"},"score":"8.7","image_id":17772,"created_at":"2015-09-09 10:45:57","updated_at":"2016-07-26 08:47:15","deleted_at":null,"unix":1441795557,"type":"Reviews\Review","type_slug":"reviews-review","url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/reviews/skylanders-trap-team/parental-guide-skylanders-trap-team","deck":{"clean":"In Skylander Trap Team you once again fight against the evil super villain Kaos and his minions to save Skylands from plunging into disarray. This time the addition of a "Trap-portal" and the introduction of various traps enable you to not only... see more","short":"

In Skylander Trap Team you once again fight against the evil super villain Kaos and his minions to save Skylands from plunging into disarray. This time the addi...

","long":"

"},"user":{"id":11,"role_id":3,"name":"Lars Skogrand","display_name":"Laurencio","slug":"laurencio","email":"larschristofferskogrand@gmail.com","birthday":null,"tos":0,"privacy":0,"avatar_id":"719283","last_login":"2016-03-14 10:47:25","confirmed_at":"2015-09-08 08:50:20","suspended_at":null,"created_at":"2014-02-23 18:53:13","updated_at":"2017-03-29 07:00:26","type":"Users\User","type_slug":"users-user","url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/members/laurencio","link":"Laurencio","avatar_url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/images/avatars/default.jpg","avatar":null},"game":{"id":42048,"api_id":46094,"name":"Skylanders Trap Team","slug":"skylanders-trap-team","image":{"icon_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/square_avatar/16/164924/2688699-3251519352-Trap_.jpg","medium_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_medium/16/164924/2688699-3251519352-Trap_.jpg","screen_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/screen_medium/16/164924/2688699-3251519352-Trap_.jpg","screen_large_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/screen_kubrick/16/164924/2688699-3251519352-Trap_.jpg","small_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_small/16/164924/2688699-3251519352-Trap_.jpg","super_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_large/16/164924/2688699-3251519352-Trap_.jpg","thumb_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_avatar/16/164924/2688699-3251519352-Trap_.jpg","tiny_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/square_mini/16/164924/2688699-3251519352-Trap_.jpg","original_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/original/16/164924/2688699-3251519352-Trap_.jpg","image_tags":"All Images"},"deck":"Trap the series' villains in physical traps and hold those traps up to your ear to hear the villains struggle in the latest Skylanders release.","description":null,"original_release_date":"2014-10-02 00:00:00","expected_release_day":null,"expected_release_month":null,"expected_release_quarter":null,"expected_release_year":null,"views":0,"cover_image_id":794123,"cover_download_queued":null,"deleted_at":null,"created_at":"2016-07-26 07:01:07","updated_at":"2020-03-24 20:13:35","unix":1469516467,"type":"Games\Game","type_slug":"games-game","url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/games/skylanders-trap-team","gamecover":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_large/16/164924/2688699-3251519352-Trap_.jpg","cover":null},"likes":[{"id":161,"user_id":"1","likeable_type":"Reviews\Review","likeable_id":49,"created_at":"2015-09-10 11:26:42","updated_at":"2015-09-10 11:26:42","unix":1441884402,"type":"Users\Like","type_slug":"users-like","user":{"id":1,"role_id":4,"name":"Christopher Pfeifer","display_name":"J1k0n","slug":"j1k0n","email":"pfeifer.christopher@gmail.com","birthday":"1990-01-20","tos":1,"privacy":1,"avatar_id":"787870","last_login":"2016-03-07 03:23:04","confirmed_at":"2015-02-25 11:40:18","suspended_at":null,"created_at":"2014-10-21 09:46:35","updated_at":"2020-09-09 22:33:38","type":"Users\User","type_slug":"users-user","url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/members/j1k0n","link":"J1k0n","avatar_url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/images/avatars/default.jpg","avatar":null}}],"comments":[{"id":99,"user_id":1,"parent_id":49,"parent_type":"Reviews\Review","comment":"

Looking really good! Keep it up!

","created_at":"2015-09-10 11:32:11","updated_at":"2016-06-30 07:32:45","text_comment":"Looking really good! Keep it up! ","unix":1441884731,"type":"Comment","type_slug":"comment","user":{"id":1,"role_id":4,"name":"Christopher Pfeifer","display_name":"J1k0n","slug":"j1k0n","email":"pfeifer.christopher@gmail.com","birthday":"1990-01-20","tos":1,"privacy":1,"avatar_id":"787870","last_login":"2016-03-07 03:23:04","confirmed_at":"2015-02-25 11:40:18","suspended_at":null,"created_at":"2014-10-21 09:46:35","updated_at":"2020-09-09 22:33:38","type":"Users\User","type_slug":"users-user","url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/members/j1k0n","link":"J1k0n","avatar_url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/images/avatars/default.jpg","avatar":null},"likes":[],"comments":[]}]},{"id":48,"game_id":42201,"user_id":"11","title":"Are You As Smart As Sherlock Holmes?","slug":"are-you-as-smart-as-sherlock-holmes","review":"

Crime & Punishments builds on a very simple concept. You are Sherlock Holmes, the master of deduction and induction, and you must use your skills to solve crimes for Scotland Yard.

For each case you are given a story of a crime that has been committed, where the scene of the crime is and a very rough idea of what has been found there. From there you have to rely on finding clues, solving mini-puzzles and actively judging what each piece of evidence signify and which deduction is the most logical. It is here that the game feels unique, and different from all the other crime-solving adventure games. As you go through your investigations of various cases you will uncover various pieces of evidence. These pieces act in the same manner as puzzle-pieces, you collect enough of them and you are able to piece them together to solve a larger puzzle, the case itself. Each piece can be interpreted in a number of different ways, and it is up to you - the player - to determine how each particular piece of evidence fits within the greater puzzle.

To help you do this the game introduces a set of intuitive menus. One is used to tie various evidence and statements together to form possible conclusions, and the other is used to determine if the conclusion is relevant to the case itself or simply just coincidental. In my experience you tend to feel like you are missing evidence that would help you understand exactly what is going on, but for the most part the game's logic is solid. I personally managed to get the right conclusion in all four of the cases I played and while I never felt that I had enough evidence to be 100% sure there was always an element of making sure you used all the relevant pieces of evidence to form a conclusion and did not simply ignore some evidence because it suited the narrative. After each case you can chose to forego knowing if you are right or wrong entirely, making your conclusions - however illogical - the real end of the case. Each ending to a case, of which there are numerous possibilities, also come with a moral choice with varies based on the case and the setting. Making both your deductions and your moral choices feel like they are truly meaningful in the world you are playing.

The flow of the game is for the most part based on how you play it. If you chose to go slowly and really think about every decision, and every conversation, then it can take many hours to complete a single case. If you decide to just rush it and quickly arrive at a conclusion, without paying too much attention to the myriad of tidbits, news articles, and not revise conversations you can complete the game relatively quickly. Yet sometimes the time it takes you to complete cases are impacted by minor annoyances. At one point I walked for five minutes in one direction, only to be turned around to walk all the way back to where I started to find the evidence I needed in the opposite direction. I never once returned to that area, nor was there any evidence there. The game is not open-world and it therefore felt highly unnecessary for me to be allowed to walk that far when there was nothing there at all to begin with.

Another annoyance I encountered was the use of the taxi as a loading screen. While the taxi did give me access to the deductions and evidence menus, I rarely had any use for it. Given that a significant part of the game is based on using deduction to reach conclusions I spent considerable time in those menus while looking at evidence and during investigations. I had no real need for it during the taxi rides, with every taxi ride being identical it quickly became a bit of a bore to watch these scenes for the hundredth time without anything meaningful to do. While I did get better at spending the taxi-rides working through deductions, it never felt as organic as the rest of the game. I sometimes ended up realising I needed to go back to where I just came from while going through the evidence, making the load twice as long, and once again making the use of the menus while driving relatively useless.

The mini-puzzles the game present you with are both interesting and challenging. While some puzzles were a tiny bit tedious they were for the most part logical, straight forward and provided a nice addition to the game. All of the puzzles I played had simple and intuitive controls, and were always relevant to the case itself. I am of the opinion that if you want to play a Sherlock Holmes game you ought to be prepared to get through at least a handful of brain-teasers here and there, yet if you're not a fan the game even presents you with a "skip puzzle" button for when you just can't be bothered. While I personally greatly enjoyed the short break from the case every now and then to play through a small puzzle, I know that many were glad to have the skip option available.

In terms of visual presentation Sherlock Holmes for the Xbox One feels and looks just right. The artistic style from Froger's earlier Sherlock Holmes games has been refined and polished. The lightning has been vastly improved, and that along makes the game feel much more authentic in its visual representation. While it may not have the same graphical fidelity as some of the more famous titles for Xbox One, the style fits both the theme and the gameplay excellently. At no point did the visual presentation break the immersion for me. The faces of various characters have been animated and rendered in such a way that you can clearly see facial expressions and a range of various emotions. While being distinctly cartoonish enough to not fall into the infamous uncanny valley. In one case the majority of my decision as to who was guilty was almost entirely based on the facial expression of one of the characters. He just did not sit right with me at all, and despite the evidence pushing me towards someone else, I kept doubting. When I finally managed to find the final piece of evidence, or that one comment that didn't add up, my scepticism was vindicated. A testament to how good the facial expressions of various characters is presented throughout the game.

All in all Crime & Punishment Sherlock Holmes is a polished and well designed game. While it does suffer from a few hick-ups here and there I'm not sure the game would be objectively better if these were changed. The use of deductive reasoning as not only a story-element, but as a crucial gameplay element in a Sherlock Holmes game just feels like it always should have been there. Crucially the use of such an open system for deduction, conclusions and moral choices makes you feel involved in the story. Each decision is yours, and not a pre-scripted story that you simply have to uncover and watch. Sherlock is not the omnipotent super sleuth unless you are as well. His keen observational skills, knowledge and scientific mind is excellently translated through gameplay and provides you with the same advantage as you play the game, no more, no less. Floating text of observations as seen in the modern BBC television series helps the player notice what Sherlock would notice, and then make conclusions and deductions from that.

All in all it is a thoroughly enjoyable game for those who enjoy problem solving and wish they could be the master detective himself. I certainly am having a great time with this gem of modern take on the adventure game genre.

","graphics":false,"gameplay":false,"storyline":false,"score":"7.5","image_id":null,"created_at":"2015-09-08 23:49:06","updated_at":"2016-07-26 08:47:15","deleted_at":null,"unix":1441756146,"type":"Reviews\Review","type_slug":"reviews-review","url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/reviews/sherlock-holmes-crimes-and-punishments/are-you-as-smart-as-sherlock-holmes","deck":{"clean":"Crime & Punishments builds on a very simple concept. You are Sherlock Holmes, the master of deduction and induction, and you must use your skills to solve crimes for Scotland Yard.For each case you are given a story of a crime... see more","short":"

Crime & Punishments builds on a very simple concept. You are Sherlock Holmes, the master of deduction and induction, and you must use your skills to solve crimes...

","long":"

Crime & Punishments builds on a very simple concept. You are Sherlock Holmes, the master of deduction and induction, and you must use your skills to solve crimes for Scotland Yard.

Overview

Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments is an adventure game developed by Frogwares and published by Focus Home Interactive for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC platforms in 2014. The game takes place in and around London during 1894 and 1895 and stars Sherlock Holmes and John Watson with cameos from Inspector Lestrade, Wiggins and Toby.

Crimes and Punishments is split into six cases involving murder, theft and disappearances. The game focuses heavily on determining the guilty party and then morally deciding their fate by either condemning or absolving their actions.

","original_release_date":"2014-09-30 00:00:00","expected_release_day":null,"expected_release_month":null,"expected_release_quarter":null,"expected_release_year":null,"views":0,"cover_image_id":794124,"cover_download_queued":null,"deleted_at":null,"created_at":"2016-07-26 07:01:23","updated_at":"2019-02-24 12:24:50","unix":1469516483,"type":"Games\Game","type_slug":"games-game","url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/games/sherlock-holmes-crimes-and-punishments","gamecover":"https://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/scale_large/3070846-1988892237-heade.jpg","cover":null},"likes":[],"comments":[]},{"id":35,"game_id":42107,"user_id":"26","title":"EA Sports scores another touchdown with Madden NFL 15","slug":"ea-sports-scores-another-touchdown-with-madden-nfl-15","review":"

Every year in August the worlds’ of video gamers and athletes collide with the holidayish-like release of the current installment in the Madden NFL franchise, and this year is no exception. Madden NFL 15 begins with a twist unlike any of its predecessors where almost following insertion of the disc you are thrust into a game winning scenario.

When? January 2015. Where? Century Link Field in Seattle, Washington. Who? The Seattle Seahawks and the Carolina Panthers. Why? For the NFC Championship and a trip to the Super Bowl!

The stage is set with less than two minutes remaining in a 26-21 contest in favor of the Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson appears poised to simply run the clock out giving Seattle back-to-back Super Bowl berths. Then all of a sudden 2013 AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year Luke Kuechly rips past Pro Bowl center Max Unger to sack Wilson and force a fumble that fellow Panther linebacker Thomas Davis recovers. Now all you have to do is help Cam Newton lead Carolina to victory against the defending Super Bowl Champions in arguably the loudest stadium in the NFL.

Win or lose, once all that jazz is done you are finally ready to experience everything that Madden NFL 15 has to offer; and trust me there is more than a second helping worth of portions with this serving of the iconic game franchise.

Let’s begin with the upgrades to what has already been viewed by millions as the gold standard for sports games.

Since this is a football game it’s fitting that the mistakes be labeled as fumbles and to its credit Madden NFL 15 does an excellent job of keeping possession of the ball. The only glaring mistakes are the improved degree of difficulty within the passing game (get your game up if you really complain about this) and the coin toss option being placed in the advanced settings field (again not really a big deal but hey something has to fill this section of this review).

The one major fumble from the perspective of an experienced Madden signal caller such as myself (Madden skills established in 1990) is the inability to substitute within the different packages during play calling effortlessly like in past years. When that feature first was introduced it opened up an endless world of possibilities for clever play callers to create mismatches and burn their opponents. The game still gives you the ability to sub within the package however it doesn’t happen with a flick of the right analog stick anymore, now you must do so in a paused menu by selecting players and changing them; this is a catastrophe for the flow of a game.

Once again even in the video gaming world of football Madden NFL hits a grand slam with its newest installment, Madden NFL 15.

","graphics":{"score":"99","review":"

This game looks almost identical to the real NFL. If you played it for two hours left the room and

an actual game was on the television instead of Madden NFL 15, you would have to do a double

or triple take to realize that it isn’t the video game. There are even features now where you can

see actual game footage of a starting quarterback when he takes the field and an enhanced

halftime presentation that includes the top plays of the first half. When it snows the footprints

on the ground don’t disappear until more snowflakes actually cover them up; that’s all I have to

say regarding the graphics!

Once again even in the video gaming world of football Madden NFL hits a grand slam with its

newest installment, Madden NFL 15.

"},"gameplay":{"score":"80","review":"

For starts the zoom camera angle is long overdue and now that it is finally here we can be presented with multiple views of the action that is taking place on the field which only enhances game play as well as the overall experience. One of the best additional camera angles in-game is the option to lock on to a defensive player and view the game as if you were competing in a franchise mode with one player; the ability to see the play almost through that player’s eyes. These multitudes of camera angles only display the vastly improved graphics even more which makes it difficult to tell if you are playing a game or watching a live one.

The defensive side of the ball has undergone a wide array of improvements including the aforementioned player lock option as well as the block shed indicator and performing the big hit option utilizing the square button. The new block shed indicator will inform users when they are successfully engaging in the correct operations to shed a defender and place themselves in position to make a play on a ball carrier. While the addition off the big hit capability to the control pad’s traditional buttons will cut down on the error’s made in the past when gamers lunged on the right analog stick in order to ring an opponent’s bell. These features along with overall improved defensive game play make’s this version of Madden one of the toughest yet to run up the scoreboard.

Other upgrades include the ability to actually call plays while running a huddle offense and a host of improvements to the franchise mode (ability to compete versus online competitors, improve players via confidence along with XP points and situational game drills) as well as menu at the top of the screen presenting options to either call a timeout, run no huddle or spike the ball. And oh yeah the Gauntlet, stay tuned!

"},"storyline":{"score":"89","review":"

Since Madden truly doesn’t have a story line the only thing that would seem right to rate in its

place would be the game modes that it presents. Between the play now (traditional exhibition

mode), online head-to-head, practice, GM Never Say Never Moments, Ultimate Team, Skills

Trainer, connected franchise and the Gauntlet modes they’ll never be a dull moment while

Madden NFL 15 resides inside of your gaming console. The Gauntlet is like and experience

never seen before in a football where you are presented with a host of random football

situations that you must successfully navigate through in order to proceed. Every fifth situation

presents a boss level or deal that will be sure to have you scratching your head a few times

before you achieve it.

"},"score":"8.9","image_id":null,"created_at":"2014-08-27 11:56:52","updated_at":"2016-07-26 08:47:15","deleted_at":null,"unix":1409140612,"type":"Reviews\Review","type_slug":"reviews-review","url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/reviews/madden-nfl-15/ea-sports-scores-another-touchdown-with-madden-nfl-15","deck":{"clean":"Every year in August the worlds’ of video gamers and athletes collide with the holidayish-like release of the current installment in the Madden NFL franchise, and this year is no exception. Madden NFL 15 begins with a twist unlike ... see more","short":"

Every year in August the worlds’ of video gamers and athletes collide with the holidayish-like release of the current installment in the Madde...

","long":"

When? January 2015. Where? Century Link Field in Seattle, Washington. Who? The Seattle Seahawks and the Carolina Panthers. Why? For the NFC Championship and a trip to the Super Bowl!

The stage is set with less than two minutes remaining in a 26-21 contest in favor of the Seahawks... continue reading

"},"user":{"id":26,"role_id":2,"name":"Marc Jenkins","display_name":"Marc Jenkins","slug":"marc-jenkins","email":"mjenkins94@gmail.com","birthday":null,"tos":0,"privacy":0,"avatar_id":null,"last_login":"2014-11-27 19:36:52","confirmed_at":"2014-10-23 05:15:09","suspended_at":null,"created_at":"2014-02-25 18:22:58","updated_at":"2014-11-27 19:36:52","type":"Users\User","type_slug":"users-user","url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/members/marc-jenkins","link":"Marc Jenkins","avatar_url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/images/avatars/default.jpg","avatar":null},"game":{"id":42107,"api_id":46157,"name":"Madden NFL 15","slug":"madden-nfl-15","image":{"icon_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/square_avatar/0/1992/2648438-71azpnaymrl._sl1049_.jpg","medium_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_medium/0/1992/2648438-71azpnaymrl._sl1049_.jpg","screen_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/screen_medium/0/1992/2648438-71azpnaymrl._sl1049_.jpg","screen_large_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/screen_kubrick/0/1992/2648438-71azpnaymrl._sl1049_.jpg","small_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_small/0/1992/2648438-71azpnaymrl._sl1049_.jpg","super_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_large/0/1992/2648438-71azpnaymrl._sl1049_.jpg","thumb_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_avatar/0/1992/2648438-71azpnaymrl._sl1049_.jpg","tiny_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/square_mini/0/1992/2648438-71azpnaymrl._sl1049_.jpg","original_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/original/0/1992/2648438-71azpnaymrl._sl1049_.jpg","image_tags":"All Images"},"deck":"The 26th annual Madden NFL football game.","description":"

Overview

This is the 2014 version of EA's long standing football simulation franchise. This year's version marks the second time the franchise was released on the Xbox One and PS4, but it's still being released on the previous generation's platforms.

Seattle Seahawks cornerback RIchard Sherman is the cover athlete after winning a fan vote via ESPN.

Ray Rice Removal

In early September, EA Sports announced that running back Ray Rice would be removed in the following tuning update to the game, removing him from the roster and making him unavailable in the free agency. This was a response to the Ray Rice incident involving domestic violence which led to Rice's dismissal from the Baltimore Ravens and his suspension from the NFL.

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So Trinity Universe is finally here, after wait so long. The game takes part in aNother universe where lots of drifting objects from other worlds are drifting into the Nether Universe and threatening to fall it the nether universe's capital Empire killing people and causing great damage.

The other story mode involves playing as Rizelea who is a Valkyrie who is after the same thing as Kanata. But her plan is to try and turn Kanata into a demon god gem to balance the order in the nether universe.

Slight spoilers

The two story lines later meet with each other with the two main characters joining sides which, which involves them destroying the drifting objects course together.

The other thing with dungeons are that there is usually a boss guarding the core. The other thing in drifting objects are Lurkers, Lurkers are horrible and difficult creatures that may follow you after some time in a dungeon, If they attack you your best option is to run but they are challenging battles with great rewards.

The main screen is where you can choice where you want explore and events that have popped up, an Inn and a shop. The shop lets you buy new equipment sync items together to make new ones. Also here is a monograph workshop which lets you make monographs for your weapons, there is also a monster synch where you can make challenging monsters to train against and a Meteorite workshop that lets you make Meteorites which can be used to bring stats up.

Well that's enough of that now on to the battle system, The battle system involves pressing combinations of X, Triangle and Square to perform attacks. X is strong single hits, Square is a short barrage and triangle and magic attacks. These can be linked together to get combos and special moves to trigger. Finally O performs a special skill. Like Cross edge you have AP which increases with better equipment. Each move takes up a certain amount of AP, the more AP you have the more attacks you can do damage and combos you can deal out.

The voice acting was pretty good, and the dialog was very good and funny in places, but some of the voice acting let the game down, they have changed Prinnys voice which bugged me for a while and Lucius dialog annoyed me some times and Mizuki was unbearable through out.

Trophies

The trophies are actually very challenging but a lot easier to obtain than cross edges. They involve things like spending so much at shops, drifting so many object and defeating so many enemies these carry on to new game +. The other trophies involve getting so many treasures and monographs and synch so many items which do not cross over. To be fair a lot of them are time consuming but achievable and they put out for a great challenge.

A game I really enjoyed alot with lots to keep you entertained with and a reasonably good story, I'd say its one the best RPG's I've played.

Pro's

Great game play
Great character designs
Not much level grinding involved

Con's

Some bad voice acting
Some trophies may take along to achieve

","graphics":false,"gameplay":{"score":"60","review":"

The only other thing I would have to say about the game play is you do seem to level up quite quick and I was worried that this game would be a lot like cross edge which required alot of level grinding but luckily it didn't. It seems at the start of the game that the enemies are easy but the bosses are hard but later they all seem to get easier.

"},"storyline":{"score":"72","review":"

The aim of the game is to stop the drifting objects hitting Empire, Even though they can never hit, you can freely go to drifting objects that are around and drift them off course. The drifting objects are like small dungeons which you must find the gravity core. To do this you have to scan the area, a bit like in cross edge. This will bring up lines which are different colours representing different things.

Red lines show where there is a Hunting spot, this evolves fighting monsters in a number of battles this will award you with a chest and enemies will not attack you for a long time, The time is more than it takes to complete the dungeon in most cases.
Yellow lines lead to a hidden treasure.
Blue lead to a Monograph image, Monographs are like a decoration paint that put on your weapon to increase it power and release a special power. They need certain items to make them that can be found in dungeons of drifting objects coming into the nether universe.
White lines now these are the goal of the drifting objects, These are the gravity cores destroying these will send the object off course and you will score a chest. The Object will start drifting so you need to get out. You will be given a time limit to escape the object it usually way more time than you need to escape. The great thing is that when your escaping you will have no encounters and rare drops will appear but try not to get distracting and searching every where or you'll drift away. Drifting away will earn that you get trapped in the object and have to wait for a passing object to appear, to be honest It doesn't mean much but you'll lose Evaluation points. Evaluation points are points you get for completing drifting objects, the higher the rank the further you can explore drifting objects.

"},"score":"6.6","image_id":null,"created_at":"2014-07-15 10:50:07","updated_at":"2016-07-26 08:47:15","deleted_at":null,"unix":1405421407,"type":"Reviews\Review","type_slug":"reviews-review","url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/reviews/trinity-universe/one-of-my-most-anticipated-games","deck":{"clean":"So Trinity Universe is finally here, after wait so long. The game takes part in aNother universe where lots of drifting objects from other worlds are drifting into the Nether Universe and threatening to fall it the nether universe's capital Empire kil... see more","short":"

So Trinity Universe is finally here, after wait so long. The game takes part in aNother universe where lots of drifting objects from other worlds are drifting into ...

","long":"

Slight spoilers

The two story lines later meet with each other with the two main characters joining sides which, which involves them destroying the ... continue reading

"},"user":{"id":45,"role_id":2,"name":"Adam","display_name":"Hanzoadam","slug":"hanzoadam","email":"adamsilverwood_psn@hotmail.co.uk","birthday":"1989-04-10","tos":0,"privacy":0,"avatar_id":null,"last_login":"2014-11-30 19:48:02","confirmed_at":"2014-10-23 05:15:09","suspended_at":null,"created_at":"2014-03-08 09:20:22","updated_at":"2015-02-05 15:21:21","type":"Users\User","type_slug":"users-user","url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/members/hanzoadam","link":"Hanzoadam","avatar_url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/images/avatars/default.jpg","avatar":null},"game":{"id":24039,"api_id":26556,"name":"Trinity Universe","slug":"trinity-universe","image":{"icon_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/square_avatar/8/87790/1832933-box_trinityu.png","medium_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_medium/8/87790/1832933-box_trinityu.png","screen_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/screen_medium/8/87790/1832933-box_trinityu.png","screen_large_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/screen_kubrick/8/87790/1832933-box_trinityu.png","small_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_small/8/87790/1832933-box_trinityu.png","super_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_large/8/87790/1832933-box_trinityu.png","thumb_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_avatar/8/87790/1832933-box_trinityu.png","tiny_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/square_mini/8/87790/1832933-box_trinityu.png","original_url":"https://giantbomb1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/original/8/87790/1832933-box_trinityu.png","image_tags":"All Images,Box Art"},"deck":"Trinity Universe is a PlayStation 3 role-playing game developed by Idea Factory, Gust Corporation and Nippon Ichi Software. Trinity Universe is in full 3D featuring dungeons, battles and two plot lines: Goddess and Devil King. Gust Corporation created the storyline for Goddess, while NIS created the Devil King story.","description":"

Overview

Trinity Universe is JRPG that was made by Idea Factory in conjunction with Gust Corporation and Nippon Ichi Software. There are two story lines that you can choose from in the beginning, the Demon Dog King and Valkyrie Rizelea's story. Both stories will eventually intertwine and you will be able to defeat monsters with everyone.

Story is told through characters talking with each other as still images. The images are drawn so that they will move their mouth along with the speech and clothes and hair will sway as well.

Story

In the Demon Dog King story you play as Kanata, a demon that was turned part dog because of a ritual that went bad. He wants to find a way to protect

Empyria from all the drifting objects with having to be turned into a Demon God Gem. He meets a lot of people along the way who help to fight through

dungeons with him.

Valkyrie Rizelea is a member of a Goddess Union that strives to keep peace and order in the universe. When she hears the Kanata did not become a Demon God Gem she goes out on a journey to get him to continue with the ritual. Like Kanata, Rizelea is able to find a lot of strong partners to help her fight.

Dungeons & Floating Objects

Empyria is surrounded by floating objects; some of these objects are harmless but from have a chance of crashing into Empyria. Throughout the game

objects will fly away and come towards Empyria, this will bring new events for the characters to take apart of as well as sometimes bringing new shops that

only show up once in a while. It is important to keep track of what kind of objects come into Empyria's orbit because rare event and shops may float by with powerful items that you would have to grind for normally.

Dungeons also will float around Empyria, there are story dungeons that will come at predetermined times in the game and you will have to travel to those and destroy their gravity cores. Destroying their gravity cores will take them out of Empyria's orbit and shoot them off into space, but they might be back another time. Other time a random dungeon might appear in orbit, this is a chance to find stronger monsters to battle and rare treasure to obtain. These optional dungeons won't be there forever so you will either have to quickly go through them or anchor them.

Anchors are useful items that will allow you to tie down drifting objects and dungeons so that they won't float away. So if you anchor a drifting dungeon you will be able to go through it as many times as you want before you take the anchor off.

Battle System

Use your combined power to take out foes.

In a battle there are three options for attacks, Rush (Square), Mighty Blow (X), and Magical (Triangle). You can combine any three of these attacks but as you use them your AP meter will deplete. Your AP meter is will determine how many attacks you can pull off for that characters turn, once it reaches zero the turn will end automatically. If you have AP left over and you prematurely end your turn you will gain your regular amount of AP plus the leftover for the next turn, allowing more attacks. Also certain combinations of attacks will pull of special combos for big damage.

Before your turn ends you are able to tag another character. By tagging in a character you will have the chance to give them bonus stats for the fight and gain other bonuses. Attacking an enemy a lot with one character and then tag in a party member you can have the chance at a double team attack. If you continue this through all your turns you can perform a tag attack with every member of you party.

There are also special attacks for each character when you will up orbs that are around your AP meter. With two of these orbs you can unleash that characters ultimate attack which will end up in a cut scene of your team member doing ridiculous damage to the enemy.

Managraphs

Managraphs are painting that are put on your weapons to not only change the appearance of the weapon, but also add bonuses to it. Some enemies will be able to be defeat easily with the right managraphs, so they become a key part of the gameplay.

Meteorites

Equipping meteorites will add will give your character different bonuses depending not only on what type of meteorites you equip, but also where on the planetary ring you place them. Certain combinations can create planetary effects further boosting your characters stats.

Characters

Demon Dog King Kanata

As the main character of the Demon Dog King story Kanata is a central part to the story. His destiny is to become a Demon God Gem to protect Empyria but

Managraphs will give your weapons a fresh look.

he wants to save it his own way. He travels around with his friends destroying core in dungeons so that they don't hit Empyria. He love exploring and because of his sheltered lifestyle in a castle he is amazed by almost everything that the universe has to offer.

Valkyrie Rizelea

Riz is the main character of the Goddess story line; she is on a mission to make Kanata become a Demon God Gem so that he can protect Empyria. She has a strong sense of justice and will do anything it takes to keep peace in the universe.

Fox Spirit Tsubaki

Tsubaki is one of Kanata's many protectors. She helped Kanata escape the ritual that would turn him into a Demon God Gem. She is very protective of Kanata but she also has a very mysterious secret ambition.

Dark Hero Lucius

Though Lucius he is a regular human being and not a demon he aims to take the throne of the Netheruniverse. Though Lucius used to be a Hero of Light something happened to him and he turned into a Dark Hero.

Ghastly Inn Mascot Pamela

Pamela is a ghost that owns an inn on Empyria. She loves to scare other people at her inn and is always in a cheery mood no matter what the situation.

Alchemist Violet

Violet is a skilled alchemist who can create many things from items all over the Netheruniverse. She has the ability to quickly make friends with others and she is very social. Violet is also obsessed with carrots, every food item she cooks incorporates carrots in some way.

Galaxy Beauty Pirate Captain Etna

Enta from the Disgaea series makes an appearance in the game. She came to Empyria because she stole Flonne's spaceship so that she could find rare sweets, but she managed to lose the ship so she teamed up with Kanata to find a way off that space rock.

Universal Witch Girl Galaxy Flonne

Flonne is on a journey to, as usual, spread love throughout the world; but this time she is also looking for her spaceship which Etna stole. She teams up with Rizelea to accomplish this goal.

Low Income Worker Prinny

Prinnys are servants who are destined to serve demons; but it's not all bad since they get paid. Prinnys are debauched penguins who will explode when you throw them. Some Prinnys were taken with Etna when she stole Flonnes spaceship.

Treasure Hunter Recit

Recit is a space treasure hunter that loves the thrill of exploring, and finding new adventures. He is very loyal to his team mates but once they learn that he hates how his name sound like "receipt" they tease him about it. He can't stand it because most people just throw away receipts or don't even accept them.

Mana Graphic Artist Miyu

Miyu is a snow cat who strives to become the greatest Mana Graphic Artist in the universe. She has a very shy nature which lets people take advantage of her when paying for her work. Most people don't pay her for the hard work she does and that hurts her wallet even more because she is also trying to support her poor family on the other side of the universe.

Soundtrack

The music for Trinity Universe was composed and arranged by Kenji Kaneko and Daisuke Achiwa. Track listing:

Disc One

COSMOLAGOON
Trinity Universe Suite
A Sympathise Effect
Hearts On Fire
Garden Of Air
Ghost Ship
Pirates Of The Space
Delightfully
Time And Space
Modern Day
ILLUSIONS
Dance Of Honeybee
Harmoniously
Perilous Nation
Winds Of March
Dictator Of Scenery
Triumphant Return
Stroll Of Bee
Masquerade Of Cathedral

Disc Two

Go Vacationing
Ship Of The Muscle
Abandoned
The Usual Quarrel
Ancient Ruins
No Plan
A Well-Lighted
Full Moon
Cappuccino De Dia
Beyond The Horizon
Lagoon Tales
Initializer
Prismatic Mist
Cook A Cock
Trinity Of Grief
Strained Dictator
The Last Epilogue
Beginning Of The End

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The Idolm@ster 2 is a Music Rhythm and Management game by Namco, The game involves you being the producer of 765 Pro an idol production company. The goal of the game is the get your idols to the top of the charts and to gain them fans. With fans and comes money which you can use to buy new costumes and accessories for your idols. Over the 54 weeks you have the chance to release 5 singles into the record charts these are the songs you will perform in events and gain you money. At the end of the game there is an awards show which unlocks certain trophies if you were able to get so many fans or so many record sales.

The Performances

The three stats Vocals, Dancing and visual are used during the performances. During the performance the Girls will dance and there will be 3 circles at the bottom one for each of the 3 stats the higher that stat the more points you get. The circles will fill up you have to press the corresponding button in time for the beat to get points. The more points you get will fill up a bar at the top when it fills you can press R1 to get a special which earns you a lot of points.

Keeping your Idols happy

The Idolm@ster 2 is hard to keep 3 girls happy and with your task being in Japanese it even harder. Every morning the 3 girls you picked will walk in and say good morning. You then get to talk to an idol which gives you the option of 2 responses getting the right one will make them happy and increase performance and saying something wrong will upset them. If you keep upsetting them it can darken the mood in the group and decrease performance and can even end up with your idol not turning up to work. To increase their mood you need to get the write responses which involve guessing it's a real social minefield some times. There are few times where you have to give responses during interviews, mornings, evenings before going on stage and a characters story parts. Having a great relationship with your idols will increase their affection for you, as this increase in level the more times you can use a special move in a performance which increase points. You can increase the mood with your idols by getting the auditions, taking them shopping or giving them the day off.

Pro's

Great game play
Great Characters
Performances are fun to play
Great Music

Con's

The Games a social minefield
Game is really expensive
DLC is a rip off

","graphics":false,"gameplay":{"score":"72","review":"

The game is 54 weeks long and week gives you 3 action points. You are given a map of Japan which is split into 6 areas. The 6 areas have different events in which you can participate in to gain fans and money. There are different types of events live shows which will take up a week's activities these will gain you fans and money , there are also festivals where you have to go up against another band and involves beating the other idols scores which are on the opposite stage to you. The last performance option is auditions which are hold every so often and gain you a larger fan base across Japan if you pass. The none performance side involve interviews which you can send a single idol to an interview or game show. It will ask you a question on Japanese geography getting it right will make the idol happy and increase the bond you have with your group. The smaller events in the game are the lessons and shopping.

"},"storyline":{"score":"45","review":"

In the Idolm@ster your group will have a level this will increase your idols score in performance and increases the amount of points you get in each section of the performance which I'll get into in a minute. There are 3 lessons singing, dancing and visual these are also the 3 stats that can be increased to increase your level. Singing lessons involve pressing the right button as it passes a certain stop pressing the right buttons in order will increase a bar at the top which increases how much your stats go up. The singing can be sped up to get extra sets of notes in to get a perfect. Dancing is probably the most fun to do The dancing involves you having to press their feet either left or right using L1 and R1, a list of steps will come up and you have you have to press them in time with the beat. The final lesson is visual the 3 girls will stand in front of you and a colour box will be at the bottom with lots of smaller boxes of different colour flying around you above you have to press the 3 boxes above to pass the round and the points.

"},"score":"5.9","image_id":null,"created_at":"2014-07-15 10:45:40","updated_at":"2016-07-26 08:47:15","deleted_at":null,"unix":1405421140,"type":"Reviews\Review","type_slug":"reviews-review","url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/reviews/the-idolmatster-2/new-music-rhythm-and-mgmt-game","deck":{"clean":"The Idolm@ster 2 is a Music Rhythm and Management game by Namco, The game involves you being the producer of 765 Pro an idol production company. The goal of the game is the get your idols to the top of the charts and to gain them fans. With fans and co... see more","short":"

The Idolm@ster 2 is a Music Rhythm and Management game by Namco, The game involves you being the producer of 765 Pro an idol production company. The goal of the game ...

","long":"

The Performances

The three ... continue reading

"},"user":{"id":45,"role_id":2,"name":"Adam","display_name":"Hanzoadam","slug":"hanzoadam","email":"adamsilverwood_psn@hotmail.co.uk","birthday":"1989-04-10","tos":0,"privacy":0,"avatar_id":null,"last_login":"2014-11-30 19:48:02","confirmed_at":"2014-10-23 05:15:09","suspended_at":null,"created_at":"2014-03-08 09:20:22","updated_at":"2015-02-05 15:21:21","type":"Users\User","type_slug":"users-user","url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/members/hanzoadam","link":"Hanzoadam","avatar_url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/images/avatars/default.jpg","avatar":null},"game":{"id":29107,"api_id":32031,"name":"THE iDOLM@STER 2","slug":"the-idolmatster-2","image":{"icon_url":"https://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/square_avatar/1717960-o0766108210866348177.jpg","medium_url":"https://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/scale_medium/1717960-o0766108210866348177.jpg","screen_url":"https://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/screen_medium/1717960-o0766108210866348177.jpg","screen_large_url":"https://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/screen_kubrick/1717960-o0766108210866348177.jpg","small_url":"https://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/scale_small/1717960-o0766108210866348177.jpg","super_url":"https://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/scale_large/1717960-o0766108210866348177.jpg","thumb_url":"https://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/scale_avatar/1717960-o0766108210866348177.jpg","tiny_url":"https://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/square_mini/1717960-o0766108210866348177.jpg","original_url":"https://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/original/1717960-o0766108210866348177.jpg","image_tags":"All Images,Box Art"},"deck":""THE iDOLM@STER 2", the sequel to the popular "iDOLM@STER" series ("THE iDOLM@STER", "Live For You!"). A simulation game where the player takes on the role of an idol manager and raises their idols to stardom.","description":"

Returning idols:

New idols:

","original_release_date":"2011-02-24 00:00:00","expected_release_day":null,"expected_release_month":null,"expected_release_quarter":null,"expected_release_year":null,"views":0,"cover_image_id":794127,"cover_download_queued":null,"deleted_at":null,"created_at":"2016-07-26 06:38:47","updated_at":"2017-11-29 01:04:24","unix":1469515127,"type":"Games\Game","type_slug":"games-game","url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/games/the-idolmatster-2","gamecover":"https://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/scale_large/1717960-o0766108210866348177.jpg","cover":null},"likes":[],"comments":[]},{"id":31,"game_id":26351,"user_id":"45","title":"3rd Installment of the Ar Tonelico Series","slug":"3rd-installment-of-the-ar-tonelico-series","review":"

I personally really enjoyed it and I can't wait for the localized version of the game so I can get the full experience. But there are a few down points of the game. Personally I didn't think the game was that big, as in there wasn't that many places to visit. Other places you visit were to big and some quite complex to get around which could be kind of annoying at points. The other thing is I felt that the battle system was too easy but too complex to expand (well in Japanese anyway) But that's why I'm looking forward to the English version. The only other down point to the game is that as a JRPG it felt quite short taking me only 19 hours to do, and that's with doing the cosmosphere to the best of my ability. I'm usually used to RPGs being a lot longer than this but that's not to put you off the game.

The game also features synthesis which you do with the girls, the girls have different things they help you make these can be weapons to medical items. Each girl also has different talking topics which can be found from doing different things in the game.

The other part to do with the girls is the Cosmosphere which is the dive system in this game. The dive system in this game is like a map with different locations on it. You have to choice where to go and some times which option to take to try and complete their level of the cosmosphere, completing these unlocks powers in the characters making them stronger and have the ability to change. Besides that you can unlock CG throughout the game which can be viewed in an album when you complete the game.

Pro's

Great character designs
Great CG
Great voice acting
Great area designs
Cosmosphere is a lot of fun

Con's

Simple combat
Too Short

","graphics":false,"gameplay":{"score":"62","review":"

Finally I want to go onto the battle system. It involves you running around as Aoto fighting the enemies with your sword when one of girls will stand at the back singing. You need to protect her as if an enemies gets close she'll be unable to concentrate and her % will stop going up. % is how powerful her move will be when you want to release it which you have the option to do at anytime. Honestly I found it kind of simple but that's probably because I didn't truly understand it. I know to get the better moves with the girls but it took a long time in battle to get enough % to pull them off. No battles I had let them get to that point. Hopefully I will fully understand it with the English version. The other area I found it limited was the fact you only really hacked enemies yourself you didn't have any special moves or anything. But besides that it was easy to use.

"},"storyline":false,"score":"6.2","image_id":null,"created_at":"2014-07-15 10:37:22","updated_at":"2016-07-26 08:47:15","deleted_at":null,"unix":1405420642,"type":"Reviews\Review","type_slug":"reviews-review","url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/reviews/ar-tonelico-qoga-knell-of-ar-ciel/3rd-installment-of-the-ar-tonelico-series","deck":{"clean":"I personally really enjoyed it and I can't wait for the localized version of the game so I can get the full experience. But there are a few down points of the game. Personally I didn't think the game was that big, as in there... see more","short":"

I personally really enjoyed it and I can't wait for the localized version of the game so I can get the full experience. But there are a few down points of t...

","long":"

"},"user":{"id":45,"role_id":2,"name":"Adam","display_name":"Hanzoadam","slug":"hanzoadam","email":"adamsilverwood_psn@hotmail.co.uk","birthday":"1989-04-10","tos":0,"privacy":0,"avatar_id":null,"last_login":"2014-11-30 19:48:02","confirmed_at":"2014-10-23 05:15:09","suspended_at":null,"created_at":"2014-03-08 09:20:22","updated_at":"2015-02-05 15:21:21","type":"Users\User","type_slug":"users-user","url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/members/hanzoadam","link":"Hanzoadam","avatar_url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/images/avatars/default.jpg","avatar":null},"game":{"id":26351,"api_id":29051,"name":"Ar tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel","slug":"ar-tonelico-qoga-knell-of-ar-ciel","image":{"icon_url":"https://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/square_avatar/2154866-box_artq.png","medium_url":"https://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/scale_medium/2154866-box_artq.png","screen_url":"https://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/screen_medium/2154866-box_artq.png","screen_large_url":"https://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/screen_kubrick/2154866-box_artq.png","small_url":"https://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/scale_small/2154866-box_artq.png","super_url":"https://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/scale_large/2154866-box_artq.png","thumb_url":"https://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/scale_avatar/2154866-box_artq.png","tiny_url":"https://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/square_mini/2154866-box_artq.png","original_url":"https://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/original/2154866-box_artq.png","image_tags":"All Images,Box Art"},"deck":"The third game in the Ar tonelico series, and the first on PlayStation 3.","description":"

Overview

Ar tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel is the first game in Gust's RPG series for the PlayStation 3, released in the U.S. on March 15, 2011, and the third game in the series overall. Unlike its sprite-based predecessors, the new game features 3D character models in both exploration and battle.

Some systems return from the earlier games. In Dive sequences, you enter a heroine's psyche, or "Cosmosphere", and undertake visual-novel adventures to gain her trust. You can craft items from recipes found in dungeons. In combat, three vanguard characters fight, while a Reyvateil character performs song magic.

Several new systems were created for At3. With the Purge mechanic, a Reyvateil in battle can progressively disintegrate her costume in order to expose more of her skin to the stars which give her power. The less she is wearing, the more powerful her magic. The battles are now real-time and 3D. In the Cosmosphere, you can collect Hymmnes, which are bits of song magic that you program into a Reyvateil. Each one has an effect on her magic and can dynamically affect the music that plays during battle.","original_release_date":"2011-03-15 00:00:00","expected_release_day":null,"expected_release_month":null,"expected_release_quarter":null,"expected_release_year":null,"views":0,"cover_image_id":794128,"cover_download_queued":null,"deleted_at":null,"created_at":"2016-07-26 06:34:21","updated_at":"2018-02-10 18:59:54","unix":1469514861,"type":"Games\Game","type_slug":"games-game","url":"https://www.gamejerks.net/games/ar-tonelico-qoga-knell-of-ar-ciel","gamecover":"https://www.giantbomb.com/api/image/scale_large/2154866-box_artq.png","cover":null},"likes":[],"comments":[]}]}

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