Fallout 4 is an open world first person shooter (or third) RPG game in a post nuclear apocalyptic wasteland in which your goal is to find your kidnapped son. That is a lot to digest, let's go through it again: In order to find your son, you will shoot a lot of things from a first/third person perspective while role-playing your way through a land ravaged by nuclear war, and with no physical barriers to stop you from moving around the virtual world as you please.
Power Armor.
Fat Man mini-nuke explosion.
You will be shooting, a lot, during this game. Shooting itself is nothing new, but the VATS System is a signature of the game. This system allows you to target and cripple specific areas of the body in a limited slow motion way. Cripple your enemies legs and he will not run after you. In order for you to achieve this insane amount of damage, access to a wide array of weapons and gear is provided, like the Fallout signatures Fat Man and Power Armor. A "bazuca" that shoots mini nuclear warheads and a full body armored suit that will make you an almost invincible soldier, respectively. On top of that you will have access to a wide list of modifications for every single piece of gear, even rare legendary effects that only the strongest of enemies will carry. Found a pistol but wanted a sniper rifle? No problem, just add a scope! Don't have the appropriate bullet type? Why not just change the barrel of your gun then. Adaptation is key to survival! Speaking of survival, all this "surviving" will quickly make you an experienced wanderer and with your new acquired knowledge comes new powers.
Intimidated raider.
The progression system is simple but effective, each new level gives a point that you can use to further customize your character build. Sneaky type? Melee oriented? Guns blazing all the way? Or maybe you rather talk your way out of a pinch? Vault-Tec got you covered! This is where you will strengthen your role and character. Unfortunately there are just a couple of perks that are more than status bonuses and open new mechanics, like placing live grenades into peoples pants or using charisma to intimidate creatures to surrender. Most gameplay changes will come from unlocking a pre-requisite in order to build a weapon, gear or structural modification.
Assigning NPC's to settlement farming.
Which brings us to our next point, the Settlement System. You will be able to scavenge resources from the wasteland for their materials, mostly junk/trash items, but weapons and gear can also be scavenged with the appropriate perk. With such materials you will build a gigantic array of structures where you can have NPC's (non-playable character) come, live and work for you. Basically you can build your own town/HQ/base/city/village/castle/you name it! It is only limited by your imagination and how much your computer can handle. You will have to provide your slav.... citizens with food, water and protection. Because with all those goodies laying around, you are sure to get some unwanted visitors looking for a violent appropriation of goods.
Wasteland trading.
And to chain everything together in a tight loop, we have the currency system. Every weapon, armor, junk or material has a value measured in CAPS (the currency of the wasteland). With money you can buy more ammo, better gear or even materials to improve settlements and gear. One way or another you will be using that money for your survival, and surviving the wasteland most likely means surviving its dangers, which means getting more experience. The more experience you get, the higher your level, more loot you drop, more money you make and so on. The world might have ended, but the grind... The grind never changes.
One great aspect that really makes this world feel real are the companion NPC's. Each companion that travels with you have unique lines and interaction possibilities that still surprise us every time! Check a spoiler free sample of it here. All this happening in a gigantic world, full of danger, adventure, opportunities, unexpected plot twists and some bugs. But to shave those bugs off (and we don't mean the radioactive kind of bugs) you will have a vast, and we mean a vast option of fan made modifications that you can browse, download and install straight from the game launcher. The potential is infinite, the only limit is time to enjoy it all.
We will be doing our regular game review, but given the size, depth of content and how much we like the franchise, we decided to do some extra posts. Each one of the six Downloadable Content (DLC) will get their own review, as they add something new that is worth mentioning. Then we will dedicate a whole post with some tricks and tips we scrapped together while playing the game. This will help you reduce, if not completely eliminate, the time you spend micro-managing inventory, storage and other things.
In addition to that we will also make our first physical product review! Because we believe this one item in particular really helps that explorer in you.
It will be a long month, full of juicy stuff, so stay tuned to our Steam Community to not miss it all! (Or just subscribe to our blog.)
Planet Diver is a "bottom" scroller game in which you have to dodge and evade obstacles as long as you can, while diving in space at super speed and collecting precious starstuff (in-game currency). Not as easy as it sounds, but not as hard either.
The gameplay is very simple, you are at constant dive (moving down through the screen) and you can move to the left and right to avoid obstacles. You can also "go up" to evade and slow down, or boost down and go even faster! The game has four diving speeds, this allows the player to determine risk/reward ratio based on their own skill. Be ready for a challenge, as the higher speeds will demand ninja reflexes to keep up!
Tropical dive with rainbows, do we get unicorns?
Power Modifications.
Progression happens in two ways. The first is going through the 75 chapters of the story and facing different kinds of challenges, from plain survival to very specific challenges, like not killing a bat during your dive. The second method of progression attaches directly to the currency system. As you play the game you collect starstuff, the currency of this intergalactic universe. With it you can buy modifications to your powers, new suits and extra music. This will allow you to further customize your character to different play styles.
We had a little trouble reading some stuff, as the font size is kind of small in some interfaces, but nothing major. If this game sounds a lot like an arcade, do not be surprised to find an infinite customizable Arcade Mode in it! Compete for digital fame and prestige with your friends or even globally with the official leaderboards! On top of it we have great soundtrack, some very cheesy but adorable dialog and a super badass mode for the hard to get through spots!
Final Score: 8 out of 10.
PS: The default Steam Controller was kind of clumsy, so we published our own customized setup under Planet Diver (MekEye 1.0v). This setup uses the controller grippers to move left/right, and triggers for up/down, making full use of your natural reflexes! Try it out. PS2: There is a bug with the Loki boss (game version 1.1) where he goes out of the screen and never shows up again. If it happens to you, just restart the stage and make sure you do not reach the top of the screen while facing him.
Crypt of the NecroDancer is a roguelike game in which your goal is to find the answers to your family mysteries. This game is all about music, rhythm and is sure to make you shake your bones while playing!
Just like the theme, the gameplay is all about movement. You can move in four directions, and that is it! But do not let this simplicity prevent you from seeing further, you have to move and fight your enemies at the beat of the music. So, despite being simple, which is great for newcomers, it offers a lot of challenge! Actually, gets to a point that is so challenging that we could not finish the game with the last character... Too hard for us. T_T
The progression is straight forward, as you complete each zone you get to know more about the mystery surrounding Cadence's family. You also get diamonds as you play the game, this diamonds can be used to buy temporary and permanent upgrades, as well as to increase the loot tables on chests you find during your adventures.
Crypt of the NecroDancer is a unique game, with a very creative setup, that masterly uses the whole music theme to make an experience that is so captivating that is sure get the party started, literally! On top of the great soundtrack you have wonderful 8-bit characters, a well done voice-over and procedurally generated dungeons, for that extra replayability!
Magicka 2 is an adventure game where you have to find and protect the chosen child from imminent danger. With a unique conjure and cast spell combination system, you will strike fear at anyone in your way, even if they are your friends...
Casting magic.
Conjuring magic.
Gameplay is very "simple", you have eight magic elements to conjure: water, life, shield, ice, thunder, death, earth and fire. You can conjure them in any order to a maximum of five, and then your choice of four different ways to cast it: on yourself, in area around you, in front of you or in your sword. After you make your choice, disintegrate your enemies promptly. That is all... Oh, one more thing, depending on the combination of elements, you will get different effects, and this is where the "" of our "simple" comes from. To help a bit you can also have up to four fast access Magickas, which are pre-determined combinations that have special powerful effects. You can totally throw them on your own if you remember their conjuring sequence, but some are quite a handful when you are running for your life. Worry not though, as this confusion will only add to the chaotic, fast paced fun that this game is! And that would be the key word about the gameplay of this game, entertainingly chaotic.
Artifacts.
The progression is very straight forward, you go through the short story defeating the challenges and earning new weapons, robes and artifacts. Some are hidden, so the game tells you if you missed something. Weapons and robes will both change your appearance and how strong/weak an element is. While most artifacts have similar effects (by strengthening or weakening an element), there are some that will do subtle changes, like transforming your game into a comedy show. They are only usable by making a custom game, which took us a while to figure out, so remember this if you get an interesting artifact after a chapter. Although it is a cheap trick to increase replayability, bare in mind that they can help you get through a difficult spot if you boost some elements, or make the game extra, extra challenging if you so desire.
The game is definitely best played in local "co-op", as the fast paced action is great for a couch session with friends, but the game is perfectly enjoyable as a single-player experience. If you play online with friends make sure to use voice chat all the way, you want to hear those screams! The whole game is designed around a chaotic satirical feeling, making fun of many popular references beyond games. Topped with some hilarious voice over, simple but polished graphics, and amazing spell effects, this game has its flaws, but it will entertain anyone with a sense of humor. Damn, killing your friends over and over is pretty much already entertaining enough! MUAHUAHUAHUA...
