Recent reviews by Preator

A game by Moon Studios, Published by Microsoft.
Ori and the Blind Forest.

I have alotted countless hours into a plethora of games, plenty of duds and plenty of award winners. But very few changed my perspective on gaming as a whole. That there is more to a game than just beautiful graphics, and fleshed out mechanics. That there can be a multitude of stories being told, by you just playing. How you feel at the moment, as you cascade through a gaming world so pure and beautiful that it structures you to see it all differently. Where you don't throw your controller down, or push your keyboard away out of frustration, but come back again and again to see whats around the next corner.
This is one such case.

I often begin my reviews by giving a short overview of the story. But this time i'll for-go it entirely, Because in my opinion the story is a part of what makes this game so amazing. And to ruin it, would be an insult to you and the developers. Suffice to say that the story what makes this game shine.

Graphics:
With only a minimal ability to alter anything graphical in this game, you'd almost expect it to be of sub par graphical quality, This game runs magically, even on a machine meeting its minimal requirements. A perfect accessibility of resources, and almost flawless static FPS. It has a few scale down points where there is alot happening on the screen, but these are usually only designated by a drop of about...5-10FPS on my current setup which is far from optimal.
The graphical quality is ensured mainly because of the seemingly static backgrounds which appear to be painted and/or drawn. These don't detract at all from the beautiful environments you will visit. There has been alot of very well done physics and abilities which take advantage of it, it's pretty amazing witnessing them as you run through this game. Some zones despite being just 2D pictures, often make me just put my controller down and enjoy the amount of effort put into the design and details.

Gameplay Mechanics:
Overall the game play is very smooth and intuitive, even for a 2D Metroidvania style game, with a very minimal range of movement in the first place. Combat and navigating the world seems to have been very well thought out and constructed with great care to avoid any commonly noticed glitch out points you can't escape from, or wall clipping. I had a minor issue trying to play this game with Keyboard and mouse..it felt like it wasn't created with it in mind. And definitely supports the functionality of controller with alot more ease. This game rectifies one huge issue i have with most 2D platformers, the checkpoint system, This game allows you to save at any safe location you want to, as well as checkpointing at regular intervals. If you die and respawn very far from where you were, then there's nobody to blame but yourself.

World Design/Art Style:
The world has been beautifully designed and it's probably one of the major reasons this game has recieved so much praise from me. Its hard to fault a game where just a simple area can change how you feel, from happy to sad, back to happy again in the space of a few minutes by just walking through an environment effected by the story events. Every zone and every area you will explore has been expertly fleshed out to provide you with a breath-taking experience and to make you feel as though this is the world you are actually living in.

Story:
Like i said earlier, i don't want to spoil anything for anyone interesting in purchasing or playing this game. So this will be as brief as possible.
Story-telling in gaming for me has become very cliche and repetitive. The usual RPG story of rescue, or vengeance. Or an FPS where you have to destroy the enemy (Strogg, Russians, Terrorists, Demons..ect ect). I have definitely become jaded. So when a genre defining game comes alot with a story that captivates me within minutes of playing it, from start to finish. That is a praise i do not hand out lightly. This game is definitely one of those. If you love amazing stories beautifully told with enough room for your own interpretation. Then i need say no more. This game is for you.

I have given this game alot of praise. There are a few minor flaws in it that bug me, A few of the mid to late game mechanics are flawed in the fact that check points are few and far between with relatively large expanses of tricky puzzles in between that can get very tedious. If you like a challenge as I do this won't be much more than a hinderance. But if you are easily deterred, then perhaps consider a lower difficulty earlier on.
Also, the games tracks your deaths the entire way. This isn't so much a flaw as is, But i dislike being tracked for failures. I'm far from excellent at this game, which is why i won't even attempt 1 Life mode, But there should be an option to remove the death tally for people who don't like seeing it.

This game is definitely a gem, worthy of anyones attention, even if it's only for a short while.
If you love beautiful landscapes, well told stories and near flawless gameplay then look no further. you have arrived.

Fallout 4. A game developed and published by Bethesda.
Where to begin with this...
A game where you venture through a world destroyed by the reckless enterprise of man. Where the entire planet as we know it, is scattered with remnants of the human race and fractured bands of raiders, irradiated creatures, and other nasty things just lurking in the wasteland waiting for you to pass by. Fallout will always hold a special place in my heart, because i love the world they have created. My only concern with this and Bethesda overall, is that they are absolutely terrible story tellers. They have no concept of the player being able to comprehend the world they've created without describing details so finely that it's almost insulting.
This game is no different. It has a fairly detailed story base, but the format is lacking. You find yourself free of the vault (again, as always) brooding with a sense of vengeance and anger, and in the space of 15-20minutes you've basically forgotten it all. Running around building settlements or looting an entire cities supply of desk fans, and ceramic coffee cups.
It is a hard thing to come straight off Fallout: New Vegas. A classic in it's own right. A masterpiece. and unfortunately not Bethesda's work.. ( =*( ) but they tried, and did a relatively good job of it. A lot of room for improvement, but a step in the right direction.

Pros:
- The world is beautifully detailed. From the massive cities, and endless marshy swamps of the "Commonwealth" it is remarkable the amount of detail they have put into it. Even things you'd now take for granted, Rain drops rolling off your gun barrel, blood spatters on your weapons after beating someone to death. It's all there and really gives you a sense of immersion. Which is probably why the game series has been so captivating despite Bethesda's lack of story.
- The Settlement system in the game is really very interesting..and insanely addictive, even if it is just The Sims in a wasteland, give your settlers food and water and beds and tada you've created a safe haven.
- Gun modifications. Need i say more? you add guns to a game, you should be able to mod them. Scopes, silencers, suppressors..what ever just put them in there. I do miss the concept from the old Fallout games where you had to go sleuthing across the entire world looking for the best guns. But this game makes it a lot easier to be effective even from an early stage.
- Despite Bethesdas god awful stories. This game actually has a pretty decent story with a few enthralling twists. Too bad you sort of forget about them on the way. But they are there. if you play this game entirely for its campaign, you'll enjoy the script.
- Enemies react to damage. You shoot them in the leg, they topple over, you shoot their arms, they can't aim. You shoot them in the face. they die. Lovely.

Cons:
- Raiders.... You build and you plant, you filter water and you set up defenses. People are happy. Wrong. you've ruined your own life. because every 40 seconds for the rest of the game you'll have raiders attacking your home. Have fun.
- Glitches. Glitches galore..almost as many bugs in this game as there are raiders attacking my settlements. Things going missing, people skipping voice lines for no particular reason. Corpses falling through the world.
- The conversation system. Omg. Its confusing.. Your character reacts to things in absolutely extraodinary ways despite your best efforts to seem like you have 50% of your brain left, he/she will continue to say things that don't even follow the context of what the "preview" was.
"Thank you for saving us Preator!"
Preview - "No worries" What he actually says "I'm going to murder your family infront of you". Excellent.
- The NPC's basically think you walk around the streets dragging your knuckles on the pavement and eating mortar off the decaying bricks. The NPC dialogue is short, and treats you inferior. Where as Fallout: New Vegas was intelligent and put you in a place where if you had a decent "intelligence" rating, you were able to hold a meaningful conversation.

The game has numerous concerns that really push my buttons, but i wouldn't miss this game. It has had quite a bit of negative press and reviews. But the game and the world is fleshed out and definitely worth a visit. Bethesda develop awesome RPG's, if they only had the script potential of Obsidian behind this game, they would have had another masterpiece.
You'll venture far and wide and you'll enjoy the scenery and the world. But don't expect to be deeply connected to the story from the start to finish if you intend on putting alot of time into this game.
And remember, "War...War never changes."

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Developed and Published by what is now Bethesda.
How do you begin a review about a game that defined the RPG experience for you...I wish i knew but i'm going to try in the best place i possibly can.
Close your eyes and picture you're in a completely new world where anything and everything is possible. Where you have the ability to alter the fate of an entire continent, and define a chapter of history. Where you can become more powerful than the Gods themselves and the world will crumble or be built at your feet.
That is Morrowind. The definition of Roleplaying Game.

*SPOILER ALERTS AHEAD*
You basically start this story as you do in almost every Elder Scrolls game, as a filthy prisoner being transported..somewhere for some particular reason you are never really sure of.
You are freed by means unbeknownst to yourself, and begin your journey through this monstrously large world with very little ability or capability at all. You are sent on a series of quests that slowly unravel and reveal the truth about you, that you are the chosen one..NEO!!!...No, Not Neo, but someone just as amazing, The Nerevarine. You are to unite the broken houses of the land, and face the impending evil that has sworn your, and Vvardenfells if not the entire Tamriel's destruction.

Game Pros:
- Do i need to explain why this game is awesome?
It's lacking in graphics, and is definitely dated, but the experience you'll have here is unlike any other RPG experience available to this date. It is RPG in it's truest form in every way.
- Amazingly brilliant story. Written superbly and presented in the perfect way, slowly with small reveals that hit home with every step.
- Note worthy villians and characters that stick with you long after the game has finished.
- Beautiful soundtrack. Songs that will resonate an adventure for years to come.
- Hugely detailed world with incredibly hidden easter eggs!
- Large area to explore, and plenty of factions/quests/dungeons to lose yourself in.
- 2 massive DLC's included in the GOTY that are basically full sized games in their own right.
- The ability to boost your characters acrobatics so that you can basically jump across the universe. (And die, But still!!!!!)
- Limitless potential for replay and even just singular play.

Game Cons:
- I mentioned above slightly that this game is quite dated, having been made/released in 2002.
- The game doesn't hold your hand, The entire journey is basically conducted by your characters own journal, that he/she notes down as you progress and talk to people. It can be hard to maintain control of where you're upto if you're anything like myself and get distracted easily, by enemies, or dark caves or even just wanting to seek revenge on the stupid slaughterfish that keeps killing you over and over.
- The combat system is a little broken, especially at lower levels where you don't really have the skill to swing any weapons in an efficient way and spend 20 minutes trying to kill the variety of creatures that inhabit Vvardenfell.
- I don't find this a con perse, but i know it bothers some people. There is alot of reading. So if you are illiterate or unable to comprehend words. This game isn't for you.

I don't add many games to my favourites list, and fewer yet get recommended to friends and family.
This game is one of the few to sit on the pedestal of art. This game is majesty and perfection with every flaw.
I recommend this game to you, I recommend this game so much that if you haven't played it and never will, you will never be a gamer.
Don't be a filthy casual! Step into the shoes of a God and love this game as much as the millions of others who do as well.

Lichdom: Battlemage. A game developed by Xaviant Games.
One of only 2 games produced by this developer, I believe the other to be "The Culling". It seems like an ambitious step forward into a genre, that hasn't been done in this way before.
Although this game has a relatively negative response ratio, due to its difficulty, and rather non inclusive description of how anything really works.
This game is what appears to be the love child of classic DOOM FPS style game play with the creative magic of the Elders Scrolls series. Where you can create magic and then visually cast if from your fingers like in Skyrim.

POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD.
You are what seems from the outside, A completely random stranger, with no affinity for magic or any type of adventuring skills. You step into a story from the beginning as a person either male or female, (in my case female). Where your sister has been kidnapped by what appears to be the lord of the lands you live in, You are left strewn in the street after attempting her rescue, and left broken to die, Until what appears to be a mage stands above you. You rise to your feet, and this mage offers you retribution and revenge. Giving you bracers that can conduct the forces of energy in the world. You then proceed to combust, freeze, corrupt, shock and completely obliterate thousands of people, creates and undead in your path. Assumingly reaching a climax of revenge.

Game Pros:
- The game plays extremely smoothly, Currently my FPS has stayed at a minimal of 60avg despite the ever increasing amount of enemies and spells flying about.
- The game gives you the ability to create and design your own spells from scratch, whether you want to throw fireballs into crowds or rain down ice in the form of blizzards is completely up to you, if you want it vice versa that seems completely available as well.
- The games overall story seems captivating enough to keep you intrigued, despite how fast paced the story telling can be (i'll get into that shortly) And seems from research to have a very reasonable story length for its price. (Approximately 20 hours while completing everything at a reasonable pace)
- The game makes you feel powerful, the spells you cast are extremely potent, but your ability to decide where and when to use them is the key to your survival.
- The locations are beautiful. Having this game operating at 60FPS and at 1080p looks absolutely brilliant. The world is finely detailed and delicately planned so that you are never really guessing where as to go to next. And the ability to venture back to locations via a Fast Travel system is an amazing concept for a "FPS" type game.
- The games combat is also very fast paced, very much in common with "DOOM16", You are often thrown into fights without warning. which test your ability to react to situations. But there is often plenty of preparation room in between larger scale fights to upgrade your spells and abilities.

Game Cons:
- I did mention previously that the game is fast paced as a positive, In the combat side of things this is entirely correct.
From a story perspective i find it rather a let down. You feel as though despite your characters previous inability to do any sort of magic (presumably) picks up the art form very easily which even the aged mage who helps you, has a hard time controlling his magic and energy, The areas also feels rushed, you lose a sense of anger you get from the intro to the story because it seems like they are trying to pack too much information into the campaign.
- There is no real description as to what you can do with your spells and how to alter them, I found myself using the games "smart inventory" option to auto level most of my spells because i had no concept of how and with what.
- The enemies are very repetitive and often don't really change their move set, their are different types of the same enemy class that appear, that have increased hp, or do more damage. But by the time you've reached them they don't really pose a challenge at all.
- There is no armor customisation, the only customisation available is to the spells. But with the direction the game seems to lead, it would have definitely faired better as a whole experience if you had to craft and fashion your own gear, Or even the ability to choose melee magic, ranged magic or a combination of the two would have definitely increased the games overall stature.

I definitely recommend this game, but probably not at it's full price. It has/had a lot of promise to be a full fledged game in it's own right. but i felt like the end product was a little rushed. Its glowing triumphs of how to create a magical FPS are often overshadowed by the blazing speed of the story telling and boring enemy combos. If you are into the DOOM style of story, where you aren't really given one, and you just get to blast enemies into Oblivion. This game is definitely for you. If thats not your cup of tea, perhaps this is a pass, or at least a sale purchase only.

Killer Instinct
A game developed ...Initially by Double Helix Games, Post release content by Iron Galaxy, and published by Microsoft Studios.

I did an initial review of this game, That was basically the below.
"Do you like punching Werewolves in the face whilst playing as a sword and board wielding skeleton?
Do you scream "ULTRA COMBO!!!" at the top of your lungs so that your family dies a little bit on the inside when you completely decimate your opponent?
Do you love amazing soundtracks that fuel the gameplay and instill nostalgia completely and consistently?
Are you tired of crying yourself to sleep because you don't have Killer Instinct?
If you answered "Yes" to any of the above questions, then you have to buy this game, Nuff said."
But i wanted to offer a more fleshed out review, because i love this title so much.
So if you're intersted in some further discussions please see below!

I usually break my reviews down into 4 categories, Story, Gameplay, Graphics, Music.
So please sit back, relax and enjoy this review!

Story:
Upon its initial release, before any of the season 1 characters were really announced or released, there was no real story, even as the seasons got released, (currently season...4?)
There wasn't really any story beyond that of the individual characters themselves, which are amazing in their own right, but i don't really think i can count them as "storyline" of the game, I think as a whole they do but not on their own.
Anyways, Recently..perhaps a few months ago a free patch...I know right Free..crazy. Got released for this game called "Shadow Lords" which actually integrated a story into the game and even some...minor RPG elements that really helped flesh out the game as a whole.
Allowing you to pretty much travel across the world, to eliminate the games villain, "Gargos".

Gameplay:
Where do i begin, I don't have to tell all of you that the fighting genre is stale nowadays, It's all been done before, Hundreds of iterations of Tekken, Marvel Vs Capcom, Street Fighter, Soul Calibur, King Of Fighters, and Mortal Kombat have been thrown infront of us all so many times that basically the entirely experience as a whole has been worn out.
I guess Killer Instinct isn't terribly different in regards to alot of the things that makes these games dry, But it's definitely trying to push the boundaries overall with some new idea points, new combat techniques to widen the skill variances and to keep players engaged throughout their play experiences, I guess this is common in current generation fighting games, SFV and Mortal Kombat XL being prime examples of this new generation of fighting game where there's more than just an array of spammable moves, and finally skill is earned through time, not by character choice.
Much like the current generation fighters, Killer Instinct has adopted much of the ideas from the other games, like parries, counters, and hyper mode, focus strike kind of mechanics that drastically changes the flow of combat as a whole, but the one thing that really stands out to me as a defining feature in Killer Instinct has always been it's combo system, which in this game has been thoroughly fleshed out, can't be dragged out forever and can be massively devastating if you know how to pull it off correctly. In saying this, they can be difficult to pull off, and pretty much always have...difficulty varying on the character chosen, i guess...
But in this variation of Killer Instinct, there is an option for auto and manual combos, allowing you to break the ceiling and initiate the ABSOLUTELY beloved ULTRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA combos, without really requiring, actually knowing how to do it. I think this is a great tutorial setting that lets you become accustom to the characters and the new gameplay and still feel like a boss at the same time.
Much of the rest of the game hasn't changed really..It's still at it's core a fighting game, and doesn't deviate from this very far.

Graphics:
This game is BRILLIANT. I love how it looks, from the partical effects of fire balls landing, to the detail of the world and backgrounds, to the singular character details themselves. I have this game at it's highest possible graphical settings and haven't seen it drop dramatically ever, I did pour most of my time into this game on the Xbox, which even then looked absolutely amazing, even at it's sub par technology. I haven't seen this game drop below 40 FPS on it's highest settings, on my mid range PC.

Music:
Possibly my favorite part of this game. Not possibly, Actually. It is by far, the reason i love this game so much. The moment i used to boot up Killer Instinct on the SNES and this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4EOwbV2KlM belted through my incredibly terrible family television, i was hooked. And the updated version of this song is definitely a testament to this games soundtrack, fully remixed, rebooted and AWESOME!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sQg4-MsoLs
The dynamic music changes throughout this game that helps define the characters and the story of the level is awesome. You can easily pick a characters level by just hearing the music and you immediately know who it belongs to. Amazing to say the least. One of the few game soundtracks i actually own, and listen to on a regular basis.

Overall:
I have played a large array of fighting games in my time, probably all of them, or at least 1 iteration of them all at some point in time. And Killer Instinct is and shall always be my favourite. It's memorable characters, levels, music and overall experience sticks with me forever. I recommend this game at any price. Full or discounted. Be full warned though that i did experience a few issues upon my purchase of this, it was launching but not opening properly, I followed the threads on Google and found plenty of fixes, even visited the Killer Instinct forums and recieved ALOT of help from the admins there. It was a great customer service experience. Good luck. Hopefully you don't have the same issues as i did.

War For The Overworld.
A game developed and published by Brightrock Games.

War For The Overworld, is basically the spiritual successor of the Dungeon Keeper franchise. Started off as a indie fan project that developed into it's own game entirely, Where you play as the dungeon overlord, controlling minions in the depths of the earth, to dig deeper and deeper and construct rooms from the hollowed shells.
I usually consist my reviews of 4 categories, Story, Gameplay, Graphics and Music.
So lets begin. Please enjoy the review!

Story:
The story here, if you played Dungeon Keeper, is very similar, you're a Dungeon Overlord, who's primary task is to basically destroy the realm of man, by creating dungeons beneath the earth and recruiting an assortment of creatures to your cause.
Beyond this, there really isn't any underlying vision taking place, it is basically just built as a dungeon simulator, with a short story sewn into it, to help you become accustom the controls and mechanics of the game. The base story at my time of finishing it was approximately 10 hours, Not a HUGE campaign even at its longest, i didn't complete all the mutliple objectives for each scenario to be fair, but that shouldn't reflect the length of the experience this vastly, I think a full completionist run would take roughly 20-30 hours maximum.

Gameplay:
This game plays very well, it has been thoroughly fleshed out and alot of the base mechanics from this genre have been straightened out into a very enjoyable experience. It plays almost identically to the Dungeon Keeper games of old, i know i keep returning to the concept, but this game is basically a carbon copy of the Dungeon Keeper games. Nothing new has been really added to the games. The base mechanic has gone unchanged, and i think this definitely benefits the game, why fix what's not broken?
I wasn't sure what category to put this under, but i think it best fits gameplay, because after completing the game, it wouldn't let me open the file any longer, I looked for a patch or something to help rectify this, but to no avail. I did find a varying group of people who have had the same concerns and were pretty much begging Brightrock to come up with a solution. Unsure if this has been rectified as of yet, As i just uninstalled it and reinstalled on my secondary harddrive and it was back up and fine, and still works fine to this day.

Graphics:
I'd like to say this game is beautiful, because it is a rich world with very well inlaid detail, even to the smallest factors, but it's far from cutting edge, you will rarely have any graphical concerns with this game, even on it's highest settings, the occasional game crash from what i've experienced is the worst of it, No visible world tearing, or texture loading. The overall graphical experience was very well executed here, despite the quality not being top of the range. The FPS stays at a roughly static 60FPS at maximum settings, so the game isn't overly resource hungry as a whole, which you'd expect from a top down, RTS style game. Although the 1st person perspective you can initiate in the game can be more demanding, definitely not game breakingly though.

Music:
I am a huge fan of game music, and having played and loved the Dungeon Keeper games this was a very nostalgic soundtrack. I love listening to the excellent quality music, that drummed throughout the caverns of my Dungeon as battles began and ended, There isn't alot of music playing when nothing is happening, but i guess listening to your minions digging through rock and gold and the occasional slap across the face, is music to your ears already.

Overall:
If you loved the Dungeon Keeper games this is an excellent homage to the original games, it is executed perfectly and kept the base premise almost identical which is a godsend because i have wanted to play a Dungeon Keeper game for years. This is definitely a solid experience, if you love this style of game, just don't expect anything pioneering in the genre. A purchase perhaps only on sale.

Borderlands 2, Developed by Gearbox, Published by 2K.
The Borderlands series vowed to revolutionise the genre and make RPG/FPS games for everyone to enjoy, whether you're casual or hardcore. These games are for you.
The original Borderlands set a rather low benchmark for the series, realitistically speaking. The game was relatively short, The characters were distinct enough to make them different but all played relatively similar. Then Borderlands 2 was released taking everything you loved from the original game and amplifying it. With better generated guns, a deeper and more engaging story, and 4 Base game heroes to play that are all distinctly different in both play style and feel.

SPOILER ALERT AHEAD.
Both Borderlands games are set on the world of "Pandora", A world of cowboy western style gun play mixed ingeniously with space and futuristic ideas. You are one of 4 Adventurers who came to Pandora searching for the Vault, A mystical chamber somewhere on Pandora, that would change your life forever. You are immediately set upon by the Hyperion corporation (A company that manufactures weapons) or specifically Handsome Jack the villian of the story. Who has vowed to kill you basically immediately. You are rescued by a small rather insulting robot called CL4PTP or "Claptrap" who basically begins your journey for revenge against the man who threatens all life on the planet.

Game Pros:
- The game has a monstrously huge campaign, I believe i spent approximately 40-50 hours on the base game, which you will have to complete 2 times to hit the level cap. (3 if you have the DLC's)
Approximately 48 Hours long campaign with a full complete of all Side quests)
- There are an almost never ending amount of weapons, being randomly generated by the game. There are set items in the game that drop from specific bosses or elite enemies in the world, that are better than the average weapons or items. Giving off some special bonuses as well as the standard stat increase.
- The gameplay is smooth, All the gunfights are so well placed that you never feel out of your depth, Don't get me wrong, you will definitely die eventually. but the fights are very well balanced and often if you are keeping up with the side quests you will always be at the proper level requirement.
- The game world is beautiful, despite being in a cell shaded graphic. The world is phenomenally realistic and beautiful. Shards of your bullets will rain if you hit walls, you can shoot apart fabrics and explode enemy heads all adding to a very satisfying visual experience.

Game Cons:
- From a personal experience the games servers don't handle multiplayer too well. I like to think i have a rather decent internet connection, but always suffer lag in multiplayer scenarios.
- The fact you have to complete the same campaign 3 times before you can hit the level cap is pretty ridiculous for any game, it does get very boring especially if you've played it across multiple consoles/pc and different characters.
- Despite the rather horrendous servers, there is a decent amount of content in the game that can really only be done in a group. So if you decide to play, Bring friends.

The game experience from Borderlands 2 is unmatched, the world is incredibly detailed and beautiful. The villian is cold and vindictive. The game is riddled with amazing humour and crushing twists. Overall an experience you can't miss out on. Whether its on sale or not. If you are a fan of FPS games and have an itch to play something substantial then this is definitely the place for you!

SHOOT. LOOT AND PUKE YOUR FACE OFF!!!