Pirates Of Black Cove Review

In my opinion, the only thing cooler than a swashbuckling movie is a swashbuckling game where you can roam the high seas and plunder to your black hearts content. Where mutiny and captaincy are within the reach of every man woman or parrot and the very world can be laid waste through your carnage. While this may not yet be possible, I can settle myself that, although rare, Pirate game are still being made. The only problem with these sorts of games lies in the fact that they are very hard to make, and more importantly, very hard to create well. Pirates of Black Cove, by Paradox Interactive is a prime example.

You are essentially a pirate who led a mutiny on your captain, your carnage is panned over through the wide shot introduction. Alls well with your pirating, until you have to unite all of the pirate factions of the Caribbean in order to put a stop to The Pirates of Black Cove and become King of the Pirates. The story is so plainly simple that it works, the goal at the end of the narrative opens up many opportunities for the player to explore this open world title, and what a world it is.

Visually the world is living and breathing, shown from a top-down perspective you are given a wonder of picturesque landscapes. There are two main areas, when you are off-land, and when you are sailing the seven seas. The towns and provinces you visit really do look very nice. Not exactly living and breathing, but good-looking nonetheless. All this is forgotten however, when you decide to sail, the water effects are amazing, coupled with the many ships you encounter do give the feeling that you aren't the only ones roaming the area.

The immersion continues in fine form when you take in the sound department and their work. While the accents do seem a little overdone, this can not be a fault as I very much enjoyed every “argh” quite thoroughly. Even the voices of non-story roles were completed well, with every ship I attacked threatening me in some varied slang with no fail. Coupled with the fitting music and the various ocean sounds, Pirates of Black Cove enjoys a very ambient feel.

The same con not be said, unfortunately for the game play which is a real let down. Attempting to be a tactical game in the same vein as say Warcraft 3, Pirates of Black Cove is slow and cluttered. As an example, walking around the towns you are doing that, literally. You walk at a slow pace with no chance of moving any quicker. While you are given the choice of special abilities for your pirate, it all becomes a fact of how many followers can you buy to finish the job by overpowering with numbers. The ship battles are fought the same way as any pirate games, the same way as Sid Meiers Pirates. This is not a chink in the armour of Paradox Interactive though as they have recreated the feel intensely well and sea battles feel as authentic as ever.

Pirates of Black Cove is aesthetically a high quality game which from any trailer would be in my game collection straight away with no question. It looks gorgeous with water effects, landscapes and ships which look authentic and believable. Given these aspects, coupled with the soundtrack and voice acting usually I would be willing to praise a game beyond measure. What Pirates of Black Cove has done right, however ha been let down horribly by shoddy, slow and grinding gameplay which completely breaks any immersion the player might have.

For a lover of tactics and strategy games I would stay away from Pirates of Black cove. If you are an avid lover of pirate games and enjoy the casual strategy game, I recommend you play Paradox Interactive, Pirates of Black Cove, but try before you buy. Pirates of Black Cove

gave promises that were not fulfilled.

Story: 7

Gameplay: 4

Visuals: 8

Sound: 8

Overall: 7/10

Justin tv a go

Hey followers and followettes, long time no update. Well I have finally gotten a Justin tv account . On which I will be streaming content for all to see. ranging from retro to games straight off the shelf . Come along if you want and have a watch. 11pm-late aest. the link is Justin.tv/mrtokidok

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F.3.A.R Review

When I think of the all time greatest first person shooters my mind trails back to 007 Golden Eye on the Nintendo 64. Likewise if I think of my favourite horror games I’m drawn towards the likes of Resident Evil or Silent Hill. Now if I was to merge these two great genres into one game I would come up with a little something like F.E.A.R. Fast forward 2 sequels and we wind up with Day 1 Studio's thrilling F.3.A.R.

While not as polished as say, a Modern Warfare or as creepy as Eternal Darkness, F.3.A.R essentially blends the two genres into one meshing moulding hump of unnerving, dark action-packed madness. You are Point Man, who has been captured and is then rescued by your brother, Paxton Fettel. Yes you, the protagonist of the first game in the series, are rescued by the antagonist of the same game. You then are off to find Alma so you can finish your original mission. If a newcomer came to the series you can bet that they would be confused right off the bat. There is no explanation for anything, you simply just dive into the unknown, and frankly, confusing story.

The game play is where the real deal is at however, with F.3.A.R delivering in spades. The cover system, while implemented in earlier games these past years, is a great mechanic which is used well throughout the game. Whether your hiding from a mech or in a dog fight with seven other guys, you really feel as if you are battling for dear life and the only thing protecting you from death is the crate from which you hide. Of course this is due to the great AI who, unlike in other games in the same genre, move to a better vantage point or change tact completely depending on how you choose to attack, adding a sense of realism to a somewhat stagnant formula.

How you play a first person shooter is ingrained on any gamer familiar with the genre, it is a proven control scheme. F.3.A.R does itself no harm in this department, creating clean crisp controls which we have become so accustomed to love. From looking down the scope with the left trigger to blasting the bullets into the skulls of enemies with the right, it feels almost natural now. While there isn't much innovation in the way you use F.3.A.R, there isn't much wrong with it either mind you.

Lighting is definitely a mammoth aspect which must be treated with utmost care by developers, especially when dealing with a horror themed game. The common terror of not being able to see what could hunt you from the dark is a feeling which many people (including me) can relate to. In the scenes when the effect is needed, F.3.A.R is superb, forcing you to use your flash light to see only a meter ahead. The implementation of this however is limited, and could have been used more.

Visually F.3.A.R is stunning, brimming with detail and awesome scenes which make you froth at the mouth. Whether it be escaping from an exploding prison or jumping aboard a leaving helicopter, the quality of the cut scenes will leave you astounded. They are let down, however by the text which connects each interval, explaining what has been happening, effectively destroying any immersion the player had in the game.

No horror, nay no game can ever be complete without a sound score that compliments the scenery. F.3.A.R's soundtrack succeeds in it's attempt to instil a sense of engrossing environment. From being bombarded with soldier after soldier to stalking through a deserted mall, you can guarantee a fitting piece of music will be playing. succeeding in raising even the smallest moment into either an adrenalin fuelled raucous of mayhem or even a creepy crawl through the shadows. Add in the soldiers conversations before you show yourself or during the stand off and I dare say that without the score, the F.3.A.R experience would not be the same.

Included in F.3.A.R is the ability to play the campaign in a co-op environment, either by online of off-line. This feature, added in with the superb multi player modes, such as survivals or death matches, proves the point that this was the real focus for F.3.A.R. Multi-player is head and shoulders above the single player campaign, which is disappointing or exciting dependant on what you are looking for.

While yes, I must admit I have praised F.3.A.R quite a bit, it does come with it's downsides. The story is near impossible to follow for a newcomer to the series, requiring them to have at least played a previous game in full to understand. The frights, while there, are too few and far between and it is hard to call this a horror/first person shooter for this reason. It seems as though the developers took maybe too much of a leaf out of call of duty's handbook.

If you are looking for an immersion, fear fuelled shooter, I would suggest holding onto your money. If, however you are looking for a solid shooter, with horror elements that holds it's own as a stand alone multi player game I highly recommend buying F.3.A.R. While the single player campaign is short and underdone, the multi player will have you playing for hours on end.

Story: 5

Gameplay: 8

Visuals: 8

Sound: 8

Multiplayer: 9

Overall: 7/10

final fantasy part 1

Finally I have put part one of my final fantasy let's play up on YouTube . check it out at my channel . mrtokidok1

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

final fantasy part 1

Finally I have put part one of my final fantasy let's play up on YouTube . check it out at my channel . mrtokidok1

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Multiplayer Overload

Multi Player Overload

Video games are a source of entertainment, whether for the single player adventurer or the allure of multi player mayhem. Both types of gaming can be enjoyed by all, when implemented truly. Since the inception of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and the exceedingly popular online gaming platform it seems as though we are being force-fed games which are half finished, all in the name of cash. This unfortunate occurrence has sent the general mainstream video game industries into a state of desperation that I can only call a syndrome of, and forgive my use of cliché here, “Jack of all trades, master of none”.

Now it seems every game being released is given the post-production overhaul of features, which in my humble opinion is detrimental to both the game quality and the company's reputation. As a gamer it feels like being baited with a bottle full of promises only to have it crash down upon my skull. To slap on modes of play which feel as if they were never intended in the first place is what can only be described as lazy development at it's worst. A prime factor in this movement has been the rise to power of the Call of Duty series, primarily off the back of the immensely popular online multi player. The cash rolled in for the franchise and other developers took notice, now it seems almost every game must have a multi player of some sort.

I'm not against multi player in any way, I love sharing the experience of the game I loved with another. The point I am trying to make is it now seems like for every game it has become a necessity to add, regardless of the quality of it. Evidence can be found in this years release of games, almost all of which are sequels, which now have multi player implemented, when it wasn't before. It is painstakingly obvious in some games that multi player is hacked on just as a selling point, as if no one will play the game unless it has online functionality. My SNES didn't have online functions but I sure as hell enjoyed playing “Donkey Kong Country” for hours on end. Why is multi player such a necessity these days to sell a game?

We can look on the other side of the coin at the newly released F.3.A.R, a horror/first person shooter for those who do not know. This game series has had strong single player campaigns backed up by strong multi player capabilities, until this edition. Let me explain, the single player adventure is a “whopping” three to four hours long, yes you did read correctly. This begs the question of why did they even bother adding a half-assed single player if all they were going to do is focus on the online multi player aspect. Frankly I don't find my COD copy death matches frightening, even in a horror/fps.

On some rare occurrences both multi player and single player modes have meshed beautifully, forming the games which people speak of as the games of the system. These rare wonders include Super Mario Bros. Wii and..... By gosh I genuinely can not think of any modern day games which the single player campaign is just as strong as the multi player. It seems that unless focus is zoned in on one mode, we are left with ugly half breeds which should not be shown the beauty of daylight.

While yes I do understand a need for some games to implement online functionality and multi player, I would much rather it add to the experience. In the current climate all the developers are doing is adding the features for show, effectively dragging a great single player game down to an average multi player game or vice-versa. Developers releasing half finished projects only confirms the slippery slope our community is following from once proud creators of quality, not quantity.

Let's Play Final Fantasy Series update

Well suffice to say I'm not the roleplaying expert I thought I was as before the second boss fight I have effectively gotten lost at least four times. I'm in a situation where I am certain I will die which is no good, no good at all Scherbatsky. Anyway a visual representation should be in the mix as my footage is really building up, gaining more and more kilobits of dust every day. Well that's my wisdom for today. Have fun Shalaylays.

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