The Thomp is Back!

As some of you may have noticed, The Thomplog has been pretty quiet lately.

The long and the short of it is, the Thomp has permanently departed the hot, arid Phoenix heat, and will hereby be delivering opinions on gaming via a new home in Kirkland, WA, outside of Seattle. It feels good to be back up North, with the water, the cool air, the cloud cover... all perfect ingredients to get in the mood for gaming!

That said, while I've been away, I've still managed to reserve some time to play. In fact, I've finished quite a few games since last posting, and look forward to writing some thoughts about them soon.

Until then, here's a quick look at what I've been playing.

The Last of Us

Status: Finished. Review coming soon.

This game was really quite an experience. Some of the most compelling character development I've seen in a game. Expect to see a review of this soon.

Metro: Last Light

Status: Finished. Review coming soon.

  Another dark, intense, story driven FPS from the team that brought us Metro 2033. I thoroughly enjoyed this game, perhaps even more than it's predecessor. Expect a review soon.

The Walking Dead: 400 Days

Status: Finished. Review coming soon.

Season 2 of Telltale's The Walking Dead will take place 400 days after the end of Season 1. This special transition episode is here to give us an idea of the happenings during this time, from the eyes of 5 separate protagonists. Expect a review soon.

Saint's Row: The Third

Status: Finished. Review coming soon.

In preparation for Saints Row 4, I decided I would give the highly acclaimed "Third" a try. Turns out it is insanely fun, and insanely ridiculous. Expect a full review soon.

Rogue Legacy

Status: Reallllly close to finished. Damn you last boss!

This game has damn near taken over my life since it came out. Super fun and super addicting. Looking forward to talking more about this game!

League of Legends

Status: It never ennnnnnds!

I'm ashamed to really say anything right here. Yes, I've been playing this game. Yes, I've been playing it a lot. Let's leave it at that for now.

Grand Theft Auto V

Status: Not started. Ready and raring for midnight release!

Super-duper stoked for this. There are 27 hours and counting until the release as I write this. This one looks bigger and better than ever with tons of new features and THREE main protagonists! Review will come eventually.

There have, of course, been other games I've been playing on and off, but none enough to mention here really. I've got a bit of catching up to do with these, but am happy to be back on the horse again. 

Until next time, Thomp out!

Review - Call of Juarez Gunslinger

Call of Juarez Gunslinger

Techland
Ubisoft

Windows (reviewed), PSN, XBLA

Western, FPS, Arcade

May 21, 2013

The Preamble

I love westerns. Western movies, western comics, and the few and far between western video games. The Western video game is a rare beast, one that we have seen very few of over the years. Outside of Gun, the Call of Juarez series, and Red Dead Redemption, we've seen virtually no western games this generation.

And then here comes Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, out of nowhere. This seems to be happening more and more frequently: I wake up, open Steam, see a AAA quality game staring me in the face for $14.99. Not only does this game breath some life into a setting that is not seen very often, it presents it to the consumer at a smokin' price! 

More than ever before, we seem to be consistently getting these sleeper 15-20 dollar games, and the best thing is, they're damned good! Mars: War Logs, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing, Dust: An Elysian Tale; while these games aren't perfect, they are surprisingly up to snuff with the latest AAA titles. It's an interesting trend, and one that I'm particularly fond, especially when it produces games like Call of Juarez: Gunslinger!

The Overview

The narrative of the game is relayed in an interesting manner. As the game starts, you watch a cinematic of an old gunslinger sitting down in a saloon for a drink. Before long, people notice that he is the legendary bounty hunter, Silas Greaves, and ask him to tell some stories about his adventures. You listen to Silas tell the stories to the patrons (and their reactions) as you play through his tale.

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is set up more like an arcade game than it's predecessors. It's very linear and the FPS action is all of the shooting gallery sort. This ends up fitting with the style of storytelling very well in that each segment of the story Silas tells is its own chapter of the game. It all ties together very nicely into a snug 5-6 hour game. With the addition of a New Game Plus mode and a $14.99 price point, Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is a prime example of a Grade A middle tier game.

The Good

• Gunslinger isn't the first game to use a flashback-narration storytelling style (Bastion, ahem), but man does it do it well. The way that Silas gets carried away on tangents and misremembers facts throughout his tale makes for cool dynamic level redesigns and wacky happenings throughout the game. This was one of the most refreshing parts of this game.

• The guns look and feel amazing. When you're playing a Wesern game you really want to feel the weight of those two revolvers, or that double barrel shotgun. Gunslinger does a great job in bringing you some highly detailed, weighty guns, that feel great while you're shooting them.

• Duels are tense and truly test your reflexes. It's tough to make a good dueling mechanic, but Gunslinger has done a fine job. There's tons of tension building up to the draw, and to effectively win, you really have to be on top of your game.

• Silas' story is a rip roaring good time for any Western fan. You encounter Billy the Kid, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Wyatt Earp, and plenty of others. Silas supposedly knew all these folks, which means you get to play through the story of his adventures with them. Being a huge fan of all the movies involving these guys, it's an absolute blast playing through parts of the game with them by your side.

The Bad

• The game is pretty darn short. I can't complain too much about this because of the price, but if I have to gripe about something, I definitely wish there was more.
• It's a linear game. Again, for the style of game that this is (shooting gallery FPS) and the price point, I really can't legitimately complain about this. But I have to come up with something, don't I?

The Verdict

I'm sure I've made this clear by now, but this game is a beautiful orgy of Western lore conglomerated into a cohesive, fast-paced, blast of a shooter. If you are a Western fan of any kind, or just in the mood for a quirky, over the top shooter, I'd highly recommend picking this up. 

The Extras

Here's a playthrough of the first level. Keep in mind, this is New Game Plus, and also on the hardest difficulty, True West.

Review - Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider

Crystal Dynamics

Windows (reviewed), PS3, Xbox 360

Action-Adventure, Survival, Platformer

March 5, 2013




The Preamble

My introduction to the Tomb Raider games was on the original Playstation, fighting bears and doing cartwheels through massive caves and tombs. I played the first two Tomb Raider games when I was young and absolutely loved them. Since then, I've dabbled with some of the interim Tomb Raider games (Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light), but wasn't sucked in like I had been what I was younger.

I wasn't able to get around to playing the game until now due to the number of big releases during March. But I've finally gotten around to it, and since I waited, I was able to get the game for just about $15. This just goes to show, unless you really need to play a game at release, you're likely much better off waiting for a month or two after the release date to pick up PC games, you can often save a ton of cash.

The Overview

Crystal Dynamics has taken the reins in bringing us a brand new reboot of this classic series keeping the same name as the original: Tomb Raider. A lot has changed since our busty friend was raiding tombs back in 1996. The 2013 Tomb Raider gives us a different look at Lara Croft, as a person, and how she stumbled into this tomb raiding life.

The game begins on an exploratory vessel, the Endurance, where Lara and a group of colleagues are in search of the lost kingdom of Yamatai. After much deliberation with her crew, Lara convinces the group that they should head toward the Dragon's Triangle. As they venture into this mysterious place, they are thrown into a violent storm by unexpected weather, forcing them to crash land on a stray island in the triangle.

This is where the real adventure begins. Lara must find her lost comrades, survive the tumultuous island, and find a way home. You'll utilize Lara's innate survival skills, climbing expertise, and weapon handling to accomplish this task, all the while uncovering the secret that the island holds within.

The Good

• A Lara Croft you care about. While Lara's story arc doesn't provide a whole lot of realism, with the help of spectacular graphics fidelity and voice acting, we're able to see and relate to a much more human Lara Croft than we saw in previous games.

• The graphics are spectacular. Crystal Dynamics' Crystal Engine is downright beautiful. Lara and the environments with all the different particle effects look spectacular. Like BioShock Infinite or Far Cry 3, this was yet another game where I was constantly snapping screenshots for desktop wallpapers. The first thing that popped into my mind every time I started this game up was: "God damn, this looks great."

• A big part of what makes the graphics shine so much are the masterfully executed animations. Lara's movement is as fluid as can be. You can literally see the effect of every change in the environment on her actions. This type of polish and precision with characters and environment animation definitely makes this title shine.

• The voice acting is flawless. The voice acting for Lara is done by Camilla Luddington. While this beauty doesn't resemble a cart wheeling, rock climbing, bow wielding badass like Lara in real life (to me, at least), she does a great job of voicing her character.

Complete and utter badass.

Voice of... complete and utter badass?!

            

• Crystal Dynamics did a great job with the environment and set pieces in this game. Walking out into a brand new area of the map and seeing a great landscape of old structures and ruins to scale and explore is a great feeling. You will definitely appreciate the level design in this game.

• What's a Tomb Raider game without Lara's signature double pistols?? Well, those pistols aren't as prevalent in this iteration of the series, but with the addition of the bow, combat is better than ever. Bow and arrows seem to be extremely popular now for some reason (Far Cry 3, Crysis 3) and Tomb Raider aims to carry that torch a little further. They accomplish it with flying colors in this release. While the double pistols and various other firepower is available for Lara to use throughout the game, the bow is by far the most satisfying, and makes every combat experience a joy to jump into.

• As I mentioned before, the environments are massive and very well designed. There are often times numerous paths to an objective, and the openness of the areas make for a great feeling of true exploration. While most of the exploration isn't necessary unless you want to find the plethora of collectibles that are made available to you, traversing the environment alone is enough fun to compel you to explore every inch of the map.

• So what about the actual tombs?! Well, they're awesome. Just like the large, open areas of the game, the more confined tombs that contain intricate puzzles are an absolute blast to figure out. I just wish there were more of them!

• Minimal HUD and intuitive controls. Tomb Raider properly introduces you to controls by flashing the button indicators on your screen at first, but after a while, they disappear. While this may sound annoying, it's actually not. Less 'gamey' stuff on the screen makes for a far more immersive experience, and you are trained in such a way that the first button you go for in these situations is more often than not, the correct button. Great design in this respect!

The Bad

• What happened to hunting?? In the first mission, you are introduced to your bow by being tasked to take down some deer that are roaming the area. Outside of a couple scripted wolf encounters, you are basically never threatened by an animal again. One of my favorite parts of the old Tomb Raider games is having to deal with bears, moutain lions, cougars, and the like. Unfortunately, there is far more human killing than animal killing in this game.

• Tomb Raider has been transformed more into a third person shooter than a puzzle platformer. While the combat, especially with a bow, is really well done in this game, there's an awful lot of it for a Tomb Raider title. While combat sort of took the back burner in a lot of former titles, for better or worse, it's much more in the forefront in this release. This is fine with me, except for the fact that I was craving more puzzle content (see below).
• The puzzle tombs were great, but there needs to be more of them. These were one of my favorite parts of the game, but there were not nearly enough of them in this release. I remember there being countless platforming puzzles in prior Tomb Raider releases and in this game you can probably count all of the puzzle tombs on your two hands.

The Verdict

Tomb Raider is one of the best games that I've played this year. If I had to pick a GOTY right now, it would be a tough pick between BioShock Infinite and Tomb Raider. Even with it's flaws, this reboot is a must play for any fan of the franchise, or even the third person/platforming genre in general.

To set the hook even further, the price of picking up Tomb Raider on PC has dropped significantly since release. Keep an eye on Steam sales and sites like Green Man Gaming for amazing deals (in the past week I've seen it on sale for less than $20!).

All in all, if you want to see one of the more impressive games of this generation, do yourself a favor and pick up this game!

Thomplog Retrospective - Week of 5/13/13

The Preamble

Well, The Thomp has been dilly-dallying a bit as far as beating games goes, so I figure it's a good time for a good 'ol Thomplog Retrospective.

I've played some excellent games and some games I wish I had never heard of. Let's see what was on the docket this week...

League of Legends

That's right, that nasty beast reared its head up once more. Like most people, I'm sure, I harbor a certain kind of hatred toward League of Legends and its player base. A truer, more steadfast hatred than I hold for the typical competitive multiplayer video game.

Despite this loathing, I consistently get roped back in to the trap that is LoL. This game, while appearing fun on first sight, becomes the bane of my well being. This bit of Python is able to describe the cycle best I think...

 def thomps_evening_routine( time ):  
    game_of_lol = new GameOfLoL()  
    game_of_lol.exec()  
    if game_of_lol == "win":  
      emotion = "This feels amazing! I can't wait to play another!"  
      life_time -= time  
      return thomps_evening_routine( 30 )  
    else:  
      emotion = "That was horrible. I have to play another to redeem myself!"  
      life_time -= time  
      return thomps_evening_routine( 30 )  

It's a recursive algorithm that results in nothing more than me wasting my life. This is why I have, once more, uninstalled this toxic game and cast it aside.

Sanctum 2

I picked up Sanctum 2 on a whim over the weekend as I was reading good things and I'm pretty fond of a good tower defense game.

Sanctum 2 is an FPS, co-op, tower defense game. This has been a popular genre over the last year or two (Dungeon Defenders, Orcs Must Die! 2) and I have to say, I'm diggin' it. It's a nice mix between strategy and FPS action, and it allows you to play with your friends in a constructive manner (i.e. not blindly button mashing or shooting everything that moves).

I've only played this a few hours so far, and have yet to play with anyone I actually know in real life, but I'm definitely enjoying it. You can be sure you'll see more on this title once I've gotten to spend some more time with it.

GRID

I can't explain it, but there's something that draws me to driving games. I would love to try racing in real life, but it's an expensive and dangerous hobby. Thankfully, we've got video games for stuff like that!

I've tried a fair number of racing games over the past month, but GRID has come out on top for me. Massive car selection, fun sponsorship meta game, and tons of fast-paced action. GRID surpassed my hopes for a fun driving game, and with GRID 2 nearing release, they're practically giving away the first game. I would highly recommend this to any racing game fan that's on a budget.

Roogoo

As I mentioned in the last retrospective, I've been dabbling in some of the many indie titles that I've acquired through the plentiful "bundles" available to gamers today.

Roogoo is sort of a spatial and timing based puzzle game. I'm not sure how much I enjoyed the bit that I played, but I really didn't give it too much of a chance. It was interesting, but not all that fun. As all puzzle games do, I'm sure it gets far more complex as you go on, but as it stands, there wasn't enough to keep me going. Have a look at a video...

  

Zombie Shooter

In the same vein as Roogoo, Zombie Shooter is another indie title I picked up in the recent Bundle Stars bundle (Zombie Shooter and 3 other games for a whopping $0.98!).

Zombie Shooter is an action RPG in which you level up 4 basic characteristics, and blast your way through hordes of zombies using a wide variety of upgradable weapons. 

Detailed art, crazy amounts of zombie gore, and a ton of weapons to play with all contribute to Zombie Shooter being a fun and addictive little game. Here's some footage of one of the early levels (4, I think?)...

Neverwinter Online

Neverwinter Online is now in open beta and, as I mentioned on Twitter a couple weeks ago, this game has already taken a good deal of my time. You'll hear me go both ways on MMO's, but this one is pretty damned good. So good, I've already sunk well over 20 hours into it.

Meet Rodg. A half-elf Cleric, rife with resentment of the real elves that populate the world around him.

I'll likely write up a full length piece on NWO, so I won't write too much now. In short, the combat is a great (compared to any other MMO, at least), user generated content provides essentially endless replayability, and the co-op mechanics are really polished and well done. On the flip side, PvP seems wildly unbalanced, and there's a pretty fierce nickle and diming free-to-play model at work here ($5 for an inventory bag!?!).

Anyway, more on this later, it's worthy of discussion. 

Tomb Raider

I started Tomb Raider recently, sinking a good 3 or 4 hours in, but haven't gotten around to picking it up for nearly a week now. 

Meet the new Lara Croft!

This has nothing to do with what I think of the game; it is excellent in every respect so far. It's one of the most polished, visually stunning games I've played all year, and am looking forward to diving back in deep. This will be a main focus for me in gaming over the next couple of weeks, so you can expect to see a review on this one in the near future.

The Conclusion

Lots of gaming, but not much beating of anything. That's the way it goes sometimes, I suppose. But there's a lot coming down the pipe here, as you can see from this post. Keep an eye out for some reviews and more thorough first impressions of these games!

Review - Mars: War Logs

Mars: War Logs

Focus Home Interactive

Windows (reviewed), PSN & XBLA TBA 2013

Action-Adventure, RPG

April 26, 2013

The Preamble

Mars: War Logs came out of nowhere for me. I woke up on Saturday morning and it was looking me in the face on the front page of the Steam store. After watching the trailer and getting a sweet, cyberpunk, Riddick/Witcher vibe, I was pretty much sold, especially for the very reasonable price of $19.99.

I breezed through the game in six days, spending about 15 hours in game. While Mars: War Logs is certainly no game of the year, it was a fantastic surprise to get a character and story driven action RPG like this out of the blue.

The Overview

Mars: War Logs is set in a futuristic, cyberpunk Mars, rife with conflict between warring water corporations, fighting to take control of the most precious resource on the red planet. 

Thrust into the middle of this is you, Roy Temperance, a mysterious multi-talented badass that is stuck in a POW camp while two of the biggest corporations, Aurora and Abundance, duke it out to see who will control the future of the planet.

Mr. Roy Temperance.

You'll get the full action RPG experience with Mars: War Logs, including many companion characters to meet and fight with, meaningful moral decisions to make in dialogue, a plethora of side quests, three unique skill trees, tactical combat, armor and weapon customization, and crafting. You get the full package!

The Good

• Escape missions are badass. I loved The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, and the first third of this game brings back that feeling of suspenseful escape in a big way.
• Original setting and story. Okay, it's Mars, which doesn't seem very original on the surface, but the world is surprisingly well imagined. It's steeped in a good deal of lore that you can read through as you explore the world, giving you a great sense of the conflict at hand, and how these water corporations have come to power and shaped the Mars that you inhabit in the game.

Yes, there are massive, multi-mouthed sand beasts to fight.

• RPG elements. Good RPG elements can make or break a game like this and thankfully with Mars: War Logs, they're great. There are three distinct skill trees, a decent crafting/upgrade system, lots of material gathering, tons of side quest content, and a great deal of dialogue mixed with moralistic decision making for the player. It's sort of a mix between The Witcher/Witcher 2 and Mass Effect in regards to RPG elements.

• Interface. So many great games screw this up. The Witcher 2 and Far Cry 3 are just two recent examples; countless others have detrimental, non-intuitive, cluttered user interfaces. Mars: War Logs does not! Fast navigation, intuitive design, cohesive layout... I was immensely impressed with the interface in this game. 

Everyone knows copper pipes are the best.

• Combat. It's a blast. Rigging copper pipes with razor blades and leather grips, then dodging and dancing your way to victory using tactical melee combat techniques is awesome. It feels a little rigid at times (see below), but overall I really dug the combat all through the game until the credits rolled. It's very Witcher 2 like, again with a mix of Riddick in there.

The Bad

• Voice acting. It's baaaaaaaaaaad. Really, really bad. I don't know what these people were doing, or if they have reading problems, or what. The intonations are almost always completely off and lines are misspoken on a regular basis.

• Combat targeting. While combat is good overall, there's definitely some wonkiness to it. Targeting is sort of a pain to manage because of the control scheme, and this results in some minor frustration, especially in harder difficulties.
• Mars: War Logs?? WTF kind of title is that for a game? It sounds horrible when saying it out loud. This has nothing to do with the quality of the game, but come on, that title sounds like shit... literally.

Maybe lumber is a popular resource on Mars? I don't know...

The Verdict

For a $20 dollar game that had absolutely zero marketing and seems to have come from a smaller development budget, I think this game does a lot of things right. Sure, it has it's problems, but I think if you're looking for an action RPG with a fresh and new setting/story, solid gameplay mechanics, and a nice price tag, I'd highly recommend giving Mars: War Logs a go. 

Review - Far Cry 3

Far Cry 3

Ubisoft Montreal

Dunia Engine 2

Windows (reviewed), XBOX 360, PS3

FPS, Action-Adventure, RPG

December 4, 2012

The Preamble

I’d never played a Far Cry title before Far Cry 3, so I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. I knew the gist of it: Open world, tropical island setting, first person shooter. Far Cry 3 is certainly all of these things, but it’s also so much more...

The Overview

You play as Jason Brody, stereotypical rich frat boy who’s out vacationing in Southeast Asia somewhere with a bunch of friends. After taking a skydiving trip and landing on seemingly deserted island, the vacation comes to an end when a band of pirates kidnaps the group and holds them hostage. You manage to escape, but your buddies aren’t as fortunate, some are killed, and some are whisked away to other parts of the island. With the help of the local natives, you unlock your Rakyat powers, which give you the strength to defeat the pirates and rescue your friends.

The Good

• The open world aspect of the game is really well done. It achieves the feeling of being able to go anywhere, and supplies you with two giant islands to explore. While I feel like there could have been some improvements in the exploration rewards (see The Bad), the ability to tackle situations in the game from any angle you can imagine is really satisfying and adds a nice diversity to the plethora of enemy outposts that you can take over throughout the game.
  
  
  

  

  I can't even fit everything on the screen!

• Hunting! I don’t think I’ve come across a game that makes hunting as amusing as it is in Far Cry 3. Red Dead Redemption makes a pretty good attempt, and the hunting/skinning/crafting system is very similar but far more satisfying in FC3. I think the key here is that you, as the player, not only are hunting animals but you also feel hunted as you venture throughout the jungle. The first time I came across a stream out in the middle of the jungle, I stopped to gawk at the beautiful water and all of a sudden, a massive crocodile jumps out of the water and takes me down to the ground. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. The developers do a great job of making you feel genuinely threatened and vulnerable while wandering the jungle; you never know what’s going to jump out at you.
  

  

  Oftentimes you'll see your enemies get taken down by wildlife as well.

• Crafting! What are you going to do with all those animal carcasses and skins? Craft stuff of course! There’s a pretty robust crafting system in the game that requires you to hunt animals and gather herbs in order to make inventory bags, ammo pouches, healing potions, etc. While I hated the interface, the system itself was well designed, and compelled you to go hunt more than you probably would otherwise.
• The game is beautiful. Like BioShock Infinite and Skyrim, I was constantly stopping to just enjoy the sights, taking screenshots left and right. The game uses the Dunia 2 Engine, an evolved form of the engine used for Far Cry 2, and it is really, really nice. This is one of those games where if you have a powerful machine, it pays off.
  
  
  

  

  
  
• The FPS combat mechanics, while not doing anything especially different, are solid and fun. The wide array of weaponry at your disposal and cool stealth-melee attacks that you can put skill points into are extremely satisfying to utilize.
  
  
  

  

  
  
  
• Yet another FPS that employs some RPG elements that are actually quite good! This makes the game almost feel a little Skyrim-ish. There are 3 skill trees, each having its own theme. It’s not terribly important which one you decide on first as you will get more than enough points to get nearly every skill, especially if you’re going the completionist route. But the choices are nice, and they provide a nice sense of progression as you play through the main story.
• Insane antagonist. I could take or leave most of the characters in Far Cry 3, but the antagonist, Vaas, is really well done. He’s got sort of a Tuco vibe, making him extremely unpredictable, and downright frightening to encounter. The times where I was face to face with Vaas are some of the most memorable times in the game.
  
  

• The story is actually pretty good. It’s not great, I’ll admit, but the voice acting is on point, and while there is a fair amount of supernatural mumbo jumbo involved in Jason’s acquisition of strength, you get a pretty good feel for the character developing and getting used to the situation that he’s been thrust into. It was good enough to keep me compelled until the end, and I think most people would feel the same way.
  

  The Bad
• I wish the loot crates that are all over the islands had some useful stuff in them. Instead, you get money and vendor trash to acquire more money. Never any crafting material, weapons, nothing. Hunting for loot is a big draw of exploring for me, so without this, I was less inclined to explore after a while.
• The UI is clunky and obnoxious, at least on the PC. It really doesn’t affect the enjoyment of the game too much, but it was a minor annoyance for me.
  
  

The Verdict

This is a great game that I would highly recommend to any FPS-RPG fan. Diversified, fun FPS combat, tons of exploration, RPG skill progression, beautiful setting, fairly compelling story; I would go as far as to say that this game comes close to being perfect. I'll be looking forward to seeing the next game in the series!

The Extras

Here are some videos of various gameplay from my playthrough. Mostly just messing around, but it will give you a good idea of what to expect from the game.