Gears of War: Ultimate Edition (Xbox One) Review!

The original Gears of War came out way back in 2006, The Xbox 360 was barely a year old and i was a few months into my first year of Sixth Form college. It was arguably the first big first party new IP for Microsoft's sexy new HD box and my god what an important game it was.

Now, 12 years on, i sat down to play through the enhanced remaster that came to the Xbox One a few years back to mark its 10th anniversary with a buddy of mine  (Shout out to the Headshot surgeon that is Craig), does it still hold up? Well, in short - yes.

Gears Ultimate is a remaster in every sense of the term, instead of a drastic redesign it ops for subtle improvements. The game looks alot better with new textures, the animations are a little fixed, the frame rate is improved and the multiplayer has its own matchmaking system.

From an art perspective the game still looks great. It was an early showcase of the 360's power back in 2006 and while not being to the levels of Halo 5 or Gears 4, Gears ultimate does a good job of making you forget this is an old game. The soundtrack remains impactful and intense and the sound design in general is as beefy and brutal as you remember. Its also very well written, even if a little overly macho, the characters all come across with there own perspectives and motives without feeling like blank slates. I also loved the witty banter that Delta squad had in the original trilogy and that holds up great in ultimate.

The coolest addition for me to be honest was the added chapter from the original PC port. This chapter allows you to fight an enemy you saw in the original on Xbox 360 but you didn't actually get to fight so even if like me you've replayed Gears a number of times, there is something new to see. Overall this new chapter felt fairly good but did have a few instances of poor design which standout compared to the classic sections before and after. There is a few sections where it feels like the designer forgot how the cover system works causing a few frustrations for me and my Co Op buddy on our Insane playthrough but still its cool to play.

The level design in general has held up fantastically well and even on the hardest setting i was rarely frustrated too much. The atmosphere in Gears is without parallel for a macho 3rd person shooter and the first game has always been the best example of this. Whether its the amazing first encounter with a Bezerker or Speeding train at the end, Gears never feels stale despite its relatively simple gameplay and incredibly low amount of weapons.

In terms of Extras the developers have added a few little things for the Gears fans out there. They have tied the collectible Cog Tags to unlockable digital versions of the Gears of War comics which gives you a reason other than Achievements to hunt won the 33 cog tags throughout the game. They also added a vast array of statistic tracking and multiplayer skins to add to the longevity of the game which is a nice and harmless bonus.

I sadly wasn't able to test the multiplayer too much as the servers, at least here in Europe, appear to be very low on players but the few times i did get a match i got a great sense of not only nostalgia but of real quality too. The original gears multiplayer still had elements of classic multiplayer. for example the servers were peer to peer not dedicated so the host always got a massive advantage in the close quarter fights that occurred frequently, this is thankfully not the case with Ultimate. A modern matchmaking system has been embedded in the game and it works fairly well. The map design and game modes are still some of the best on Xbox and i do highly recommend you give it a go should you be able to get into a match!

At its core Gears of War: Ultimate Edition is everything a fan of the original game could ask for. It looks modern, has new content that most of us haven't played and adds a few little bonuses to keep us coming back. It sorely misses the Horde modes of later games but at its low £19.99 original price (you could easily get it for less than £10 now) and the fact that it is also now a part of the Xbox Game Pass program means i must highly recommend Gears Of War: Ultimate Edition to all Xbox One owners.

8.5/10

Moonlighter (Xbox One) Review!

Disclaimer: The code for this Xbox One game was obtained for free, from a source that had obtained it for free from the developer.

So many games recently have attempted to use a link to the past for the basis of there game but very few also combine them with another genre entirely to create a unique experience. Moonlighter is one such game that asks you a very simple question -  Are you an adventurer or a merchant?

In Moonlighter you play as budding adventurer Will. Now Will isn't your normal Link knock off, no, in fact Will is also the shopkeeper of his family's longstanding shop Moonlighter. Will's story is one of lofty ambitions but grounded progression which really makes you root for him throughout the games simple but fairly non linear story.

By day you tend to Wills shop, you sells items, dictate there price and market value and ultimately put the customers through the till for each transaction. This side of the game feels very reminiscent of Stardew Valley or Harvest Moon and is actually pretty rewarding. I found myself meticulously adjusting prices to get the best values and even skipped a few night dungeons to sell through my existing stock. Its a simple idea but it is deep enough to keep you hooked well into the 5+ hour mark. The money earned can also be used for a number of things which helps motivate the shop keeping aspects. This takes the form of Animal Crossing style town progression where Will can use his money as start up capital for other shop keepers around town as well as improve the Moonlighter to bring more business to the town and allow for other gameplay features to become available. Overall i really enjoyed the Shopkeeping side of the game and personally for me it was the main highlight!

The other half of the game sees Will become an adventurer. You go through Zelda like dungeons, slowly progressing more each time to collect items to sell in your shop, uncover the mysteries of the 5 dungeons through messages left by fallen heroes and ultimately defeat each of the bosses. Will's desire to be a hero is subtly told throughout this section of the game and is surprisingly intriguing. Here is where those other shop keepers come in too, you can buy weapons, armor, potions and various other items from the vendors to make the adventurer side of the game much easier. I like this because it again gives you a satisfying reason to do both sides of the game - you need loot to sell in your shop to make money and you need the money to make the loot collecting easier. It is a simple gameplay loop but it is very rewarding.

Artistically the game is beautiful. Its use of pixel sprites is exquisite with animations and designs very much up there with the very best in modern versions of this style. The cutscenes reminded me of early animated games like Another World, with its simple yet emotive character designs. Overall it is a very good looking game. The music reminds me of Harvest Moon again with its calming but catchy town tunes and the dungeon themes give you the right mix of foreboding and excitement to add tension to each encounter.

So how does the game feel? Well, OKAY is the best description i can give. The combat feels like a top down Zelda title with an elegant roll but the sword play early on can feel abit off. It just doesn't feel great to bash an enemy in the first hour or so in my opinion. I am not personally a massive top down combat fan and i always get caught not keeping my distances as much as a should but the game does a fairly good job of teaching you to not do this.As soon as you are able to craft/buy the larger swords and bows this isn't as big as a problem i think and the combat really starts to become enjoyable.

Overall Moonlighter is a curious mix of two very different genres that hits more than it misses, it starts slow but once you get hooked it can be a very rewarding and addictive gameplay loop. Great visual and sound add to the experience but be wary of that first hour of Will's story.

8/10

Tales From The Borderlands (Xbox One) Review!

Going into Tales From The Borderlands i was worried that my few days worth of Co Op of Borderlands during university and a 2 hour stint of the Vita version of Borderlands 2 would drastically impact my enjoyment of the telltale spin off game and thankfully i could not of been more wrong.

Tales from the Borderlands is a point and click adventure by the masters at Telltale games set within the Borderlands universe. The story follows corporate douche bag Rhys and Gutsy con artist Fiona as they attempt to survive and make abit of cash on the desolate and frankly crazy world of Pandora. The game is set after Borderlands 2 and as such the ending of that game is referenced frequently throughout (and actually becomes a major plot point) but it didn't ruin the previous game for me, if anything its made my want to go back!

 A game like this lives and dies by its settings and characters and TFTB does not disappoint. TFTB does an amazing job of fleshing out the world of Pandora, you understand its people, creatures and way of life by the end of the first episode and it entices you to play on. Fiona and Rhys are themselves likable but flawed characters that constantly screw up but still manage to survive and move forward. They are backed up by some of my favourite supporting characters of any of the Telltale titles. Its hard to talk about without getting into spoilers but from Loader Bot to Vallory everyone feels unique without feeling too cliche unless the writing dictates it.

Now this is the real shining light of TFTB - The Writing. It is incredibly cleverly written, with characters poking fun at the situations they are in and how unlikely it is for them to survive. It is believable that Rhys and Vaughan are bros, its clear that Sasha and Fiona are sisters and it is amusing how many little decisions are called back throughout its 8 hour play time. It is also supremely funny, there are a few moments where i genuinely laughed and i cant say that happens too often!

In terms of Music and Art the Telltale team's graphic design mixes well with Gearbox's wacky cell shaded world. The pop music intros for each episode fit the games themes well and are tastefully done, it doesn't feel like laborious to sit through these. The voice acting is spot on too with a couple standout voices that are easy to notice. And possibly most exciting of all is that the game engine actually feels great, during my whole Xbox One play through i didn't experience one instance of slowdown which is certainly rare for Telltale!

Overall, it is very difficult to talk about Tales From The Borderlands without ruining the stellar story and characters but i can say that it is one of the most hilarious, clever and enjoyable experiences i have had for a long time. You don't need previous Borderlands experience but you do owe it to yourself to give TFTB a shot, it is really that good.

9/10

Trailblazers (Xbox One) Review!

Disclaimer: The code for this Xbox One game was obtained for free, from a source that had obtained it for free from the developer.

Trailblazers speeds its way onto every console in a blur of bright colours and paint but is it a winning formula?

Well, im happy to say, that for the most part, yes it is! Trailblazers is an arcade racer that tasks you with winning races, painting tracks and getting huge combos in team based races across a variety of tracks and modes. 

The first thing that really strikes you about trailblazers is its vibrancy. The game is very colourful and upbeat, the menus are full of bright colours and popping graphics that remind me of Xbox One exclusive Sunset Overdrive and that is not a bad thing. This really helps the game standout compared to relatively similar titles such as Redout or Fast Racing Neo. The characters are also designed in this way, with designs that can't help remind you of Overwatch but again, this is not a bad comparison for a Multiplayer game in 2018.  

The in game graphics are also bright, colourful and cartoony with cel shading used throughout that gives the game a style very much of its on in the racing genre. Each track has an overall theme and the colour pallete reflects that, for example in the swamp track there are lots of greens and browns whereas the city tracks are full of bright neon lights. This is fantastic and makes each track more memorable as a consequence. In terms of performance the game runs pretty well on Xbox One though i did notice a small amount of slow down on busier sections of the tracks, particularly in the gate mode due to the amount of paint being laid on the track at once. The soundtrack is also perfectly suited to the game, with upbeat tunes, disc scratching and bass beats pushing the game along nicely. 

Gameplay can easily be summed up as F Zero but with paint but i think that does the game a disservice. You gain a boost for driving on your own colour so the two type of painting becomes very tatical. You can paint behind you to create paths for your team mates, which is great for leading races and building up your teams overall score and you can also shoot out a line of paint in front of you, this damages enemy vehicles but also lets you boost quickly which is key for catching up or protecting your lead driver. This feels like a much more nature balance than the typical rubber banding of other games and as such rewards skilled players just as much as great teamwork.

Content wise Trailblazers is fairly well stocked, there's plenty of characters and tracks to pick from the off. Each with different strengths and strategies and thus far i haven't found an obviously overpowered character which is key for games like this. There is also a good Oval track (Robo Ringway) for all the Baby Park fans out there! Single player is covered with a surprisingly robust Story mode which tasks the player which completing different objectives within different race types, each rewarding you with 1 of 3 tokens which act somewhat as the collectible of the game for achievement/Trophy purposes. Each chapter has short character cut-scenes which aren't very big budget but serve to give each character there own personalities and relationships which is a nice bonus for a racing game.

Multiplayer is where the game shines the most however, with local split screen and online multiplayer options a plenty. The option to take up to 4 players online with you in split screen is a very smart decision, not only for the whole "party game" scenario but also for populating the online lobbies which, as of writing, is really the only big issue i have with Trailblazers. On Xbox One in Europe i have really struggled to find games but as its been out for only a few days i hope that players flock to it!

Overall Trailblazers gets an awful lot right, it looks, feels and most important plays like a well polished arcade racing experience. It shines brightly in multiplayer where its unique co operative mechanics make it stand out compared to other games in the genre. If players gravitate to its fun and fast online multiplayer and a few of the slowdown issues can be addressed then i could see it being a big hit.

8.5/10

Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edtion (Xbox One) Review!

Back at the tail end of 2012 Sleeping Dogs hit the Xbox 360 and to be perfectly honest blew me away with its interesting Hong Kong setting, fantastic voice acting and truly fun combat mechanics, but going back to the Xbox One version of the game do i still feel the same?

Well, the short answer is yes. Sleeping Dogs puts you in the shoes of undercover cop Wei Shen who returns to Hong Kong after years of working as a cop in the USA. Shen is tasked with going undercover with triad group the Sun On Yee and taking it down from the inside. However, the true brilliance of this story is in Shen's split loyalties as he becomes more attached to the group and starts to see the Honour vs Crime dynamic play out throughout the city. Think of it like a darker version of Rush Hour!

This shines so bright as a plus point due to the fantastic voice acting. United Front made a wise choice of hiring voice talent that is proficient in both English and Cantonese which gives the game a sense of realism that many titles like this do not have. The subtle switching between these languages again adds to the story and by the end of the main game you really feel attached to each character, especially Shen and his group of misfit friends.

Combat and character progression is also a leading light for the game, with the melee combat drawing heavily from Batman Arkham's Attack, Counter and Grapple system but Sleeping Dogs adds in classic Kung Fu style and moves which make the game feel like you're in a modern Kung Fu flick. The environmental kills are a big highlight here too with most of them being absolutely brutal! Shen also levels up through a variety of means, each mission has a Cop rating and a triad rating based on the actions you take throughout the mission. Generally speaking head-shots and violence will add to the triad score but causing public damage and hurting civilians will lower the Cop score. Thankfully every mission in the game can be replayed for those looking to get the best possible upgrades as quick as possible.

Side quests are fantastic in this game too. the world is much smaller than typical GTA fare but Hong Kong is much more densely populated with smart NPC's and a bounty of side missions, favours and events to take part in. There's races that are frankly good enough to be there own racing game, Cockfighting, Martial Arts Tournaments, Drug Busts, Lock Boxes, etc. Crucially all of these side aspects, even the health shrines, are given the benefit of a story beat. for example, taking one of the female characters on a date unlock a fully voiced mission that rewards you with the mini-map now displaying the whereabouts of one of the collectibles. For an achievement hunter out there this is a god send and pushes the player to actively seek out the collectibles organically as they are doing something else instead of waiting till the post game to hunt them all down.

The definitive edition also includes the short story expansions Nightmare in North-point and Year of the Snake. Both of these expansions are pretty fun and goofy bits of content that don't stray too far from the main games formula but are still a ton of fun and certainly worth giving a go once the main game is complete as they are full of spoilers if you haven't!

If there is any downsides to Sleeping Dogs is that in 2018 it does begin to show its age a little bit. The models and textures are a little muddy and its lack of any multiplayer can put people off but as a standalone single player game that you can pick up for around £12 at this point, i think there is more than enough content.

Overall Sleeping Dogs was a great game on Xbox 360 and it is slightly improved on Xbox One. Its fluid combat, fast driving, interesting setting and extremely engaging story easily outweigh the slightly dated graphics in my opinion.

If you haven't played it and like Kung Fu movies, GTA or generally great and well written stories, you could do alot worse than Sleeping Dogs: Definitive edition