Next Review: Tiny Tina's Assault On Dragon Keep

I thought I'd mix it up next week by reviewing a large DLC add-on for Borderlands 2 on the PC. The review will be in the same format as the others, however the review shall take into account the meager ten dollar cost of the add-on and the score shall be affected appropriately. See everyone next week!

Fuse Review

          A new co-op centered shooter about four people versus the world? There are dozens of those already on the market. A co-op shooter from Insomniac, the creators of Ratchet and Clank and the Resistance series? Now I'm interested. Aside from the fact that Insomniac's likeness is printed on the case I never would have guessed that this game was from that developer. I have to say I've quite enjoyed Insomniac's track record over the years, having thoroughly loved the Resistance series on the PS3, though I find myself oddly disappointed by their most recent take on the tried-and-true co-op shooter genre. You may ask yourself what is Fuse? Fuse is a game that was originally titled Overstrike, thrown together from every third person shooter ever made; not really but you see where I'm going with this. The game does nothing inherently new for the genre, but then it never sets out to be anything grand to begin with. Where this game shines is in its replayability, dark humor, and just plain dumb fun. This is the video game equivalent of a Michael Bay film: All shine, bright flashes, two dimensional character personalities and loads of dead bad guys. Having said all that, let's jump in shall we?

The Enforcer mechs are head-bangingly annoying.

Story

          Let's be honest here: Fuse's story is an absolute mess. Though this may seem like a negative tick, it actually works in the game's favor. This is not a very serious game, though sometimes it tries a little too hard to be. There is a whole vibe of ridiculousness to the entire premise of Fuse, with story elements so whacky that I frequently was reminded of old 80s action sci-fi films. What does not work for the game is when it tries to become gritty when dealing with the brief back stories of each of the four characters. Dalton is the stubborn mercenary with a comedically violent past, Naya is a female character with deep-rooted daddy issues, Jakob is an ex-police officer who murdered a bunch of child molesters Punisher-style, and Izzy is a sassy misanthrope who looks unnervingly similar to Lilith from the Borderlands series. Each character gets access to a unique weapon early in the game, because why wouldn't they? Dalton gets a nifty shield-gun, Naya has a black hole rifle(you heard me right), Jakob has an energy crossbow, and Izzy possesses a weapon that fires immobilizing shards of Fuse. I'll cover the weapons more in the Gameplay section. You may have noticed that I used the word Fuse as a noun, which brings us to the meaning of the title. Fuse denotes an alien energy source that is used in the game as a pseudo-space magic plot driving device. It is never really elaborated upon what Fuse actually is, nor where it came from; but these are unimportant because bad guys are evil and must die in fantastical explosions of particles and light. Evil corporation seeks to use energy source as weapon, "good" guys come in and turn the technology against them. We've all seen this story before, what many of us have not seen is an angry giant-Russian firing energy beams from his palms. Be prepared to see that latter part in the game, as it is all kinds of nonsensical and definitely worth mention. The story is just plain generic, it exists solely to transfer you from one battlezone to the next without much thought or cohesion. Play this for the thrill of explosive combat, not in the hope it turns into an unsung epic.

And you thought I was exaggerating about the giant Russian.

 Graphics

          Despite what other reviewers are saying, I must admit that I find Fuse's style to be aesthetically pleasing. Despite some harsh aliasing in the game's engine, everything is rendered with a fine attention to detail that you just don't see in a lot of mindless shooters. Character models and particle effects in particular are crisp and incredibly detailed, with most light sources projecting dynamic shadows when interacted with. Dalton's shield gun lights up the area when deployed, adding to the familiar yet exotic feel of the Fuse weapons, while the Fuse tendrils that erupt from upgraded grenades are dazzling when viewed up close. Animations are surprisingly fluid and the environments are all varied, never feeling like the game is recycling its own visuals to pad out length. One downside is the limited enemy variety in the game, as the sheer number of faceless goons you mow down starts to seem like a mass-clone genocide. I must give props to Insomniac for the interesting effects given off by each character's Fuse weapons, as I've already mentioned Dalton's weapon. Jakob's crossbow sets enemies alight and pins them to nearby surfaces, Naya's rifle tears open the fabric of reality and sucks enemies inside before sealing off like it never existed, and Izzy's gun creates spontaneous crystalline-growths that snare enemies above the ground. Overall the game is definitely no slouch when it comes to visuals.

Of course this game has jet-packs.

Gameplay

          The gameplay elements in Fuse are plentiful, though not always successful. Right off the bat we'll start with the good, then the bad. A leveling system for each character that expands upon their weapons and abilities is a good way to encourage multiple playthroughs, especially with each of the four characters. Dalton fits into the tank role, with his shield able to absorb loads of damage and even being usable as a close-range offensive weapon with an insta-kill function that sucks energy out of its ammo counter at an alarming rate. At higher levels Dalton can even deploy his shield for his comrades to hide behind and receive a damage boost if they are firing through it. Naya fits into the role of an assassin, able to cloak herself and perform easier takedown maneuvers when she closes into melee range with an unaware soldier. It should be noted that every character can perform an insta-kill execution, though it is much easier for a stealth focused role to achieve this. Jakob is primarily a sniper-oriented character, though his crossbow bolts can be charged to tag enemies, where they will receive extra damage from any source. Isabelle's role is that of a disabler and medic, having the ability to immobilize her foes with her primary weapon and heal her team with an unlockable healing grenade. I beat the game as Dalton in my first run, though I shall return to play as each of the other characters in time. As a team these individuals kick so much ass that Death is going to need some lengthy vacation time. In the game also exists a currency of solid gold bars which can be used to purchase team perks, weapon skins, and character skins. Why the developers chose solid gold bars is perplexing to me as it conjures the images of an extremely tortured group of individuals lugging around heaps of the weighty things. Why not just piles of cash? We may never know, though it does add to the game's humor and silly premise. Fuse can be a jaw-clenchingly frustrating game if you are playing solo with A.I. teammates instead of living, breathing humans. This game loves to incapacitate you, with many enemy types existing only to pin you down or grab you and force an ally over to pry them off. Several times I had to reload checkpoints as my entire team was either taken hostage or downed by a ferocious barrage of combined enemy fire. The aggressiveness of the A.I. is completely unbalanced in contrast to how idiotic your team mates can actually be. I have lost count of how many times I was in need of aid only to have a nearby ally take several agonizing seconds to register that I was crawling on the ground and gushing like a pinata filled with blood, only to run directly into the sight of four enemies dead set on turning them into chunky puddles composed of blood and my very own tears. One light in this dark area is that your allies know how to use their Fuse weapons with skill and precision, displaying an honed affinity for ranged combat while unfortunately displaying all the grace of someone who has been hit in the head with too many hammers in close range scenarios. This problem is exacerbated by several melee-focused enemy classes who seek to cause hair loss via hand removal. Another odd addition to this game is a climbing mechanic that vaguely reminds me of Assassins Creed, if the protagonist was weighted down by loads of guns and resembled a bear shimmying up a mountain. It fluctuates between being graceful and cumbersome, and it makes me question why it was even added in the first place other than to break up the shooting sections with various views of well-detailed pipes, frozen mountainsides, and sweeping vistas. There are also three types of heavy weapons you can collect from fallen mech enemies that act as mini-bosses that are recycled throughout the campaign to oblivion, these weapons are of little use because soon after you collect them you are forced to discard them before proceeding to the next area filled with enemies. I must ask yet again why were these added if they are largely useless? Sure they look cool but you can only gawk at a giant electro-flamethrower for so long before the desire to test it out overtakes you. I will point out one final gameplay element that strikes me as being completely out of place here: The stealth mechanics. Why they did not just leave the sneaking around to Naya is beyond me but nearly every new area you enter is filled with enemies who are facing the opposite direction than where you are looking. Its like they have post-its glued to their armor that says "Please don't stab me here Mr. Unseen Hero". In a game largely based on class utilization it seems detrimental to essentially cancel out the effectiveness of your stealth fighter by having even the incredibly muscular team member able to imitate the motions of a seasoned assassin. Included with the game is an Eschelons mode which features large objective-based skirmishes where a team of agents has to survive as long as they can against ever-growing waves of enemies. Sadly I did not get to test that mode yet so I cannot comment on it. Fuse contains an amalgamation of good and bad design decisions that seem to only bring out the flaws more instead of the positive aspects. Take that how you want, but Fuse is still damn fun. Brainless, but fun.

It has a nifty space level too!

Sound

          There really isn't much to say about the musical score for this game, other than its your usual generic action game fare. You won' be paying attention to the music because you'll be too focused on not having an Infiltrator sneak up on you and play point-blank target practice with your cranium. Enemies shout orders, scream in pain, call out your every action, and nothing else of interest. Witty quips between the four main characters is interesting and kept the aural experience fresh as the main story tried to make any kind of sense. I'll simply say the sound department is forgettable in Fuse, it just does not draw the attention. The Fuse weapon effects sound nice though, so I'll give it that.

How a solid beam of energy does not slice through a simple metal pipe is beyond me.

Conclusion

          I went into this game expecting to have an explosively good time, and that is exactly what I took away from the experience. I was; however, left wanting more from a game by the creators of the Resistance franchise. This game lacks variety in many areas and seems to borrow lots of gameplay mechanics from far superior titles that have come way before it. Fuse tries to be too many things without focusing on straightening up its insane story logic. It is a fast-paced shoot-em up that too often tries incorporating a new feature to keep its audience enticed, while at the same time losing some of that wicked innovation that Insomniac is known for. Sure the weapons are neat and function well, but I wanted to see more of them. I was left wondering what would happen if they had expanded the weapons' interactiveness. What if Naya could infuse Dalton's weapon with the ability to create a roving shield vortex? What if Jakob could give Isabelle's debilitating crystals the ability to erupt into damage multiplying shards? Sadly these options are never expanded, though I have a feeling that they might appear in the sequel. So that is Fuse for you: An action-packed shoot-a-thon that spreads itself out a little too thin while bringing nothing new to the shooter genre. Bring some friends to play this game, as it will be much more enjoyable not having to suffer through A.I. pathfinding issues or allies standing out in the open just begging for a face full of lead. Buy it for the co-op, not the story. Insomniac, you can do better than this. This game may be loads of fun, but it lacks the substance it needs to truly cement itself as a standout title. 6.5/10 (Xbox 360 version reviewed)

Next Review: Fuse

Just a little announcement about my next game review, which will be focused on Fuse. I will be reviewing the Xbox 360 version and the review will be out next week. Happy gaming everyone! :)

The Last of Us Review

          It seems fitting that the end of our current console generation would bring about what is arguably the best game of this generation. The Last of Us is an emotionally engaging and downright exhilarating experience brought to us from the makers of the well known Uncharted series and the Jak and Daxter series. Naughty Dog has hyped this game for a long while, laying all of its cards on the table to make this game successful. Every facet of this game has been crafted with an obsessive attention to detail that borders on debilitating OCD. This review will cover the single-player aspect of the game, while the multiplayer portion will come later. With that being said, its time to break this game down.

Joel and Ellie, the game's inseparable protagonists.

Story

          As many of you already know, the Last of Us is centered around an apocalyptic event that destroys most of the world's population. From the previews it seemed to be another zombie game, and in many ways it is. But what separates this from games like Left 4 Dead and Dead Island is the zombies themselves. They are humans that have been infected by a strain of Cordyceps fungi, driven to madness by its invasion of their brain. This is brilliant, as it takes a very real, horrifying fungus and expands it to infect the human race. This sets the stage for a new, yet familiar survival game in which you are battling mushroom people, albeit with weapons and not the boots of a well-known Italian plumber. For most of the game you play as the grizzled Joel, an ex-father wandering this new and unforgiving world. Its clear from the opening that most of the civilized world has gone to hell and that only Darwinism shall prevail in weeding out the weakest specimens of the human race. The story borrows from other post-apocalyptic thrillers and games, mashing their stories into something refined and breathtaking to experience. This is the tale of a man who has lost it all, searching for something to fill his life with purpose, and finding a teenage girl who may hold the key to saving humanity. I found the relationship between these two to be endearing and well hammered out throughout the game's lengthy campaign. What starts off as two strangers barely tolerating the others presence evolves into a father-daughter relationship that will tug at the heartstrings of even the most stone-hearted gamers out there. These are two people who genuinely need each other, both so emotionally damaged by the world around them that their interactions with other people can be called awkward at best. What I found so captivating about the story is how unnervingly it captures the dehumanization of mankind. People brutally slaughter others for food and supplies in this game, including Joel and Ellie. I have seen very few games in which a 14 year old girl gets this many head shots. Ellie is perfectly fleshed out, and knows her way surprisingly well around these changed lands. She has the personality of a grown woman, which shows how much of her innocence has been lost since the infectious outbreak. This world is a far cry from the luxurious one that Joel lived in, the man taking down scores of other humans who have families and children; each having their own lives just like him. There are no black and white areas in this game's morality, just a huge grey area that leaves a sour feeling in your gut when your newest victim is on the ground begging for his life. Life is harsh and hateful in the Last of Us, and this is where the game shines the brightest in its depressing grimness.

Behind this man is a mountain of corpses.

Graphics

          I'm going to go ahead and state that this game looks incredible. Every aspect of its visual fidelity is so fine-tuned that this ranks right up there with the likes of Killzone 3 and Uncharted 3. Naughty Dog is using their proprietary engine that powered U3, only with even more impressive tweaks that add to the visual flare. Lighting effects are top-notch, with dynamic shadows reacting to light sources as you'd expect, along with gorgeous damp surfaces and water shaders that made me yearn for a quick dip in a pool. Textures in this game are not among the best I've seen, but when you have such an incredible amount of detail in every environment and character model you truly wonder if this isn't a PS4 game in disguise. ND has a new type of ambient occlusion that has to be seen to be believed, it makes ambient shadows look down-right lifelike. Honestly I wish this game would come to PC, its mouth-wateringly gorgeous in every aspect. Areas are huge and open, with no one place left wanting for detail. Every setting feels unique and appropriately grim, and you can see where a lot of the budget went. This game is a fine example that you can be beautiful and have a stunning personality. A true testament to the power of the PS3, proving that it still has lasting power despite the emergence of its successor.

Yes, it looks every bit as good as the previews suggest.

Gameplay

          The Last of Us features some very interesting new systems. The first is a sort of Listening Mode where your character concentrates on nearby sound sources, displaying enemies in a silhouette of varying brightness depending on how much noise they are generating. The silhouettes disappear on "Survivor" difficulty, adding a further touch of realism to the game. The combat is also a huge strong point, melee feeling rather weighted and clumsy while the gunplay has an appropriate amount of sway to each weapon. Joel and Ellie are not supreme interstellar assassins, they are regular human beings thrust into a horrible situation that they didn't ask for. The game has an interesting crafting and leveling system, bringing in RPG elements to what may appear a strict survival game. You level by consuming dietary supplements which enhance your character's abilities. I would love to find pills that help me craft health kits faster than it takes time to sneeze, that stuff would be invaluable on a camping trip. Some of this takes away from the realism of this game, but it ultimately doesn't bother me, with the addition of New Game+ giving players ample reason to trek through the story once more just to beef up Joel. Stealth is a huge part of this game, where sometimes you may not have enough supplies to see yourself through the next encounter without shaving off a couple health kits. Joel can crawl through the environment and perform brutal or sneaky takedowns depending on his melee weapon or if he has crafted any shivs. The kills are often cringe inducingly realistic, with blood spattering onto the environment and Joel himself as he slices throats and caves in skulls. A bow can also be used once you acquire it, though the ammo for the thing can be somewhat hard to come across if you use it too frequently for anything other than picking off unarmored foes. Oh, forgot to mention armored baddies. These guys come in later, and they are a pain in the ass to off quietly without headshots. Luckily you can find work benches you can use to make various upgrades to your expanding arsenal, some weapons can even be upgraded with armor-piercing rounds. You'll need to scavenge for parts and tools if you want to extensively modify your weapons, and this is where the game's encouragement for exploration really shines. Explore abandoned homes and villas as you loot for crafting supplies and collectibles, ensuring that you have a chance to resupply before your next harrowing encounter with either the humans or infected. Ellie is also rather useful once she gets armed, generally staying out of harm's way and taking potshots at enemies to draw their attention once they are aware of Joel's presence. Only a few times I had to save her when a Clicker or Runner got a little too close and held her down. It's essentially an escort game where your escort can handle themselves for the most part, not entirely unlike the spectacular Bioshock Infinite. The AI of both the infected and non-infected are excellent, with humans behaving as if they have an actual brain and the infected behaving exactly how you'd expect a ravening fungoid monstrosity to act. Enemies patrol random routes, sometimes altering their route just when you think you have their patterns predicted. Humans talk and whisper amidst combat, flanking and sneaking in an attempt to overwhelm Joel. They feel like living beings, rather than models following pre-programmed pathways. They also lack eagle-eye accuracy, a glaring issue in many games touting to be steeped in the roots of "realism".

Don't worry dear Clicker, it only hurts the first few times.

Sound

          Another strong point of the game is the sound design, where it is so immersive that you can simply lay down your controller and listen to the environments. Birds chirp, trees sway, wind blows across deserted streets, and infected emit ear-splitting howls of hunger and despair. The world truly sounds as if nature is reclaiming it, as the banter of a once bustling city is replaced by an eerie silence which permeates the entire area. The sound of Joel's increased breathing as he takes aim is a great touch and really helps with the overall immersion, as does your enemies' cries of pain and alarm as you war with both infected and humans alike. Sounds echo in tightly packed hallways as you'd expect, creating an atmosphere filled with dread as you predict your next encounter with the awful Cordyceps hosts. The sound matches the presentation perfectly, and its something I wish more games would pay attention to. Sound immersion can break an experience if it is not handled properly.

Do not let a Clicker get close, trust me.

Conclusion

          Naughty Dog has succeeded in crafting an unforgettable experience in which story and setting come before everything else. This is a developer that loves making games, and it shows. The Last of Us is a game that cannot be missed, a gleaming diamond in a sea of increasingly generic shooters that can teach other developers a thing or two about how to make a touching experience. I found myself wondering who was worse: The infected or the humans? For me, it was the regular people who were the scariest. Ordinary men and women driven to shocking heights of savagery by the simple need to survive. Joel and Ellie's tale is one that ends with a whimper, instead of a bang. There are no huge boss fights or epic on-rails set-pieces to be seen here. There is simply a tale of survival about two strangers who come to care deeply about each other, lost in a world that wants them dead, and I wouldn't have it any other way. 10/10