Month: October 2018

RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2 REVIEW – Red Dead Redemption 2 is a sprawling Western tale of loyalty, conviction, and the price of infamy, chronicling the inevitable collapse of a motley crew of Wild West holdouts kicking against the slow march of civilisation and industrialisation. Set in Rockstar’s most authentic and lived-in open world ever, there are so many things to do, so many people to meet, and so many places to explore it’s giddily overwhelming. Red Dead Redemption 2 isn’t just Rockstar’s greatest achievement to date; it’s a game so lacking in compromise it’s tough to know where best to start discussing it.

So let’s start at the beginning: It’s 1899 and American outlaws are an endangered species. Dutch van der Linde and his gang are on the run after a botched heist in the growing town of Blackwater and they’ve retreated high into the mountains where an atrocious blizzard is covering their escape. We slip into the spurs of Arthur Morgan, an exceedingly cool and capable outlaw who was found by Dutch as a boy and raised on the wrong side of the law, and settle in for a roughly 60-hour story.

It’s a self-contained and linear introduction but it’s a clever one. The slick cinematics make a hell of first impression, embedding you in the gang and bringing you right up close to the characters who are doing their best to bellow over the howling wind. It also placed me in a distraction-free bubble while I learned some of Red Dead Redemption 2’s early controls and systems, which heightened the impact of having the full map open up to me a few hours later. The conditions on the mountain are almost claustrophobic, with visibility at a premium and thick snow trapping Arthur’s feet. Being set loose in the true open world after toughing it out in this intentionally oppressive environment really underscores the incredible feeling of freedom the full map offers.

The Big Country

And what a world it is; broader, more beautiful, and more varied than the one we explored in 2010’s Red Dead Redemption by a massive margin (though parts of that game’s map are also included). There are snowy peaks and dank, alligator-infested swamps. Thick forests and open plateaus. Quaint homesteads and grand plantations. Narrow streams and great lakes. Dusty gulches and dim caves. There’s the muddy livestock town of Valentine, with its wooden buildings and rustic charm, and then there’s the imposing city of Saint Denis, a grimy and growing metropolis full of modern extravagances like electric trams, paved roads, and Chinese restaurants. The vast assortment of ecosystems and environments seamlessly stitched together here is nothing short of remarkable.

Red Dead Redemption 2 does an exceptional job at slowly rationing out reasons to visit every corner of its huge world, too. I was still led to areas of the map I hadn’t yet visited even in the closing stages of its 60-hour main storyline. Because so many cards are kept up its sleeve, the joy of discovering new parts of the world is maintained throughout.

The ability of this game to keep itself fresh after so many hours is extraordinary, and not entirely due to just the size and diversity of the world; it’s how alive all of those places feel. While the largely rural world of Red Dead Redemption 2 is far less dense than the likes of Grand Theft Auto V, it’s absolutely brimming with wildlife to discover, people to interact with (and potentially help), and places to scrutinise. The best kind of open worlds are those that seem almost indifferent to your presence in them; like life goes on whether you stick your nose into proceedings or not. I’ve sat and watched lumberjacks felling trees at a bustling logging camp and curiously tailed a perturbed Englishman wandering around town looking for his mate “Gav.” None of this is crucial to the progression of Arthur’s story; it just helps build a world around him that made me feel like a visitor rather than the centre of the universe. Red Dead Redemption 2 nails this in a way that few – if any – games have before.

In a Valley of Violence

The slower pace of Red Dead Redemption 2 compared to something like the slightly more breakneck GTA V is also a big part of how it encouraged me to drink in all the world has to offer. Bodies have to be manually looted, and Arthur needs to physically manhandle a body to do so. Single-action pistols need to be cocked before firing. Guns Arthur isn’t currently carrying need to retrieved from his saddle. Coffee needs to be brewed before drinking it.

I suspect some folk may regard this sort of stuff as chore-like, but I really dig it. There’s something methodical about it that really helps ground Arthur in the world, rather than have him feel like he’s gliding through it. For instance, I love the deliberate and mechanical process of cycling a new cartridge with a lever-action rifle via a second pull of the fire button – you can even pause for dramatic effect halfway through. Rockstar’s designers didn’t need to factor that in but I think they understand that tiny, almost trivial instances of subtle control like this subconsciously seat me into the world as Arthur even more.

How the West Was Won

The main story missions themselves are a cocktail of high-stakes heists, deadly shootouts, desperate rescues, and thrilling chases, mixed with a lengthy list of other activities. Many of those function as organic ways to teach us about new side hustles and activities that can be undertaken, from selling stolen horses to playing poker or fishing.

It all feels great to play, similar in a lot of ways to its immediate predecessor but injected with a pile of new animations and multiple layers of interactivity. It asks a lot of the finite amount of buttons on a controller, but once I became accustomed to which commands require a tap and which require a press-and-hold I had few hassles. Shootouts are supremely cinematic thanks to plenty of gun smoke and the same style of on-the-fly, ever-changing death animations that have characterised Rockstar games since GTA IV. You can even shoot off people’s hats and pick them up later for yourself.

I think there’s a common presumption that Red Dead Redemption is just GTA on a horse, but that’s a bit reductive. Certainly the GTA DNA is here, but with far more primitive firearms at your fingertips gun battles are more intimate and anarchic. I love the close range clashes, hunkered down behind bits of cover exchanging lead with enemies often just yards away, or slugging it out in bareknuckle scraps. It’s exciting and fun. Combat from horseback is equally well-handled and it’s always a grisly highlight to watch unfortunate saps go limp and tumble from the saddle in a seemingly endless number of ways. I think Arthur feels a fraction heavier than any of the GTA V trio, but I would not say that I found his movement cumbersome. I really like how connected Arthur feels to the world. I’m not a particular fan of that old-school, skating third-person feel – like the player character has no inertia – and that’s certainly not present here.

Once Upon a Time In the West

Red Dead Redemption 2 is an undeniably pretty game across the board. The lighting is fantastic, particularly in dark, misty situations where shafts of moonlight stab through the trees, and I love the way it handles Arthur leaving weakly-lit interiors into the temporarily blinding sun outside. The sunsets are especially spectacular and seem to vary depending on the weather system. Some are harsh and beaming while others are warm and soft. The facial animation is a noticeable step up from GTA V, and the level of granular detail is almost absurd, from the way blood smears on Arthur’s shoulder after carrying a kill to the way individual strands of his majestic mutton chops quiver in the breeze. The way wagon wheels become caked in mud. The way rust builds up on a poorly-maintained firearm. It’s another long, long list that speaks to a high level of attention to detail

No matter where you look, everything feels meticulously handcrafted. Every consumable is labelled and can be picked up and inspected. Every catalogue in stores is full of custom text and illustrations pointing to products available for sale or old timey advertisements. Hallways are decorated with framed pictures I’ve never noticed repeated throughout the world. Remember: this is the game where horse testicles shrink when the weather is cold. More than once I found myself temporarily hypnotised by the musculature and skin creases on my horse’s butt. That’s a weird sentence, but you’re going to be spending a lot of time looking at a horse’s butt. It might as well impress you.

No matter where you look, everything feels meticulously handcrafted

Horses are astonishingly well-animated and feel like genuine living creatures as they swing their necks, stomp their feet, and shudder their bodies on their own accord. That said, it’d be nice if the same self-preservation skills horses display when galloping towards a ravine kicked in when careening towards an obstacle in front – I definitely clattered into a few posts and fellow riders before figuring out my steed generally wasn’t going to avoid those on his own.

The Wild Bunch

The plot thread holding Red Dead Redemption 2’s astonishing array of systems and gameplay opportunities together is Rockstar’s most serious and earnest story to date, and certainly the best written. It’s not essential to have played Red Dead Redemption to appreciate and understand what’s going on here, especially since this is a prequel story that takes place 12 years earlier, although I found it very rewarding being familiar with the larger plot as it connects to the eventual fate of the enigmatic Dutch van der Linde. Arthur’s relationship with Red Dead Redemption protagonist John Marston here is also particularly fascinating to me as a fan of the 2010 game, and it’s very well-handled. Marston is a crucial part of the story but Rockstar has been restrained enough to not spotlight him at Arthur’s expense.

Even better, however, is watching Dutch’s gradual descent from being the charismatic, successful, and clever leader of a gang of deadly outlaws to someone on track to become the cold-blooded and beaten man being hunted down by Marston 12 years later. We get to watch an incredibly nuanced performance as Dutch’s confidence ebbs and his restraint fades. Excellent, too, is main man Arthur: Not only is there an infectious authenticity to his low and smooth tone of voice, which seems perfect beneath the swept-back hair and enormous mutton chops I let him sprout by only ever shaving his chin, but when Arthur himself is a far wearier man by the story’s climax his delivery is doubly potent.

NBA PLAYGROUNDS 2 REVIEW – NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 does a solid job making 2v2 arcade basketball fun for the long haul. Expanding on its predecessor, this sequel – now under the NBA 2K umbrella – includes two new major modes that enhance both the solo and multiplayer experiences. While the core gameplay feels very similar to NBA Playgrounds, that’s mostly a good thing. Playgrounds 2 still lacks the depth of the defunct NBA Street series and the pure chaos of the also-dormant NBA Jam, but it has found its footing as a unique take on arcade basketball in its own right.

On the single-player side of the equation, Playgrounds 2 features a season mode, which replaces the six tournaments seen in the original. This isn’t a full-fledged 82-game haul, however. Instead, each season consists of 14 regular season games and a best-of-three playoff format for the top eight teams from each conference. The truncated schedule works well here. You can finish an entire season in under a couple hours with the default game length of three minutes. It’s a refreshing change of pace from the long slog of sports sim seasons. It also gives you the option to play the season cooperatively with a friend via couch co-op or online. Of note, season mode has four difficulty levels, and the AI feels smarter in the sequel, especially when ratcheting up the difficulty.

The season mode directly ties into the card collecting progression system, which makes its return from the original. Winning the championship with each team unlocks a legend. For instance, hoisting the trophy with the Lakers gives you access to Magic Johnson while prevailing with the Cavs gives you Mark Price. Legends often have unique animations that add flair to an already stylish experience.I found myself interested in the season loop even after I won the title with multiple teams. It’s also a good way to level up cards that increase player stats. Currently, I have ongoing seasons with the Celtics, Nuggets, and 76ers. Although it doesn’t really hurt the experience, it’s slightly annoying that you are limited to three save slots and have to delete previous seasons once you fill up all three.

Like the original, you have to open card packs to acquire new players. This means that many teams will be inaccessible at first simply due to the fact you won’t have any of their players. Thankfully, you earn enough in-game currency to buy new packs at a fairly fast clip. After each run through a season, I had enough to purchase several packs, each of which contains four players. It also helps that opening duplicate cards doesn’t seem to happen nearly as often in Playgrounds 2. I’ve opened about 20 packs so far, and I’ve only come across two duplicates. You can spend real money to unlock the whole collection at once, but, unlike the original, this doesn’t feel necessary.

Playgrounds 2 has a great mix of current NBA players and legends. It appears that the 2K publishing deal has helped in the legends department as Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and numerous other Hall of Fame caliber players are featured in Playgrounds 2. Jordan even has his legendary from the free throw line dunk. Not all teams are evenly represented though. For example, the Lakers have 14 possible cards while the Bulls have nine, the Clippers have seven, and the Wizards have eight. There are several active players on the wrong team. DeMarcus Cousins is on the Pelicans (one of only five Pelicans players by the way), Tony Parker is on the Spurs, Nick Young is on the Warriors, and Isaiah Thomas is on the Lakers.

The beefed-up online mode could give Playgrounds 2 some competitive legs if the community is active. Dubbed Playgrounds Championship, it’s ranked play complete with multiple modes, leaderboards, and advanced stats. You can play competitive matches with either a CPU or online teammate (via friend list or matchmaking), or cooperative matches against the CPU with an online teammate. It’s a more expansive online mode than the original and the rankings system could keep you online longer. Though I was only able to find a couple online matches for this review, everything ran smoothly, and I can see myself getting hooked from the rankings system and leaderboards. You can also play the three-point contest in Playgrounds Championship. The contest still feels like a throwaway mode, but at least it does help you work on timing your shots.

On the court, Playgrounds 2 cleans up the arcade gameplay a tad, but it plays incredibly similar to the original. The shooting meter has changed from a bar to a semi-circle, though the concept of stopping the timer in the green remains the same. It’s still a challenge to make three-pointers on a consistent basis with low-level players, even for those known for their sharpshooting. If you land outside of the green, it’s an automatic miss. While somewhat unforgiving for an arcade basketball game, it’s also what makes Playgrounds 2 unique. Yes, it’s easy to grab a controller and score some buckets, but if you want to win on a consistent basis, you have to have skills.

Crossover moves are elaborate and over-the-top (cartwheels!) and vary based on player. Dunk and layup animations, the stars of the original, are still ridiculously cool. Even after the twentieth time watching Kevin Love slam home an alley-oop and proceed to do a backflip off the rim, I smiled. It doesn’t take much skill to make your players perform crazy off the glass dunks, but it still feels satisfying nonetheless.

Defense feels a bit more balanced. I had an easier time blocking shots and snagging rebounds than I did in the original. Importantly, the shove button, which still drains your power-up meter, doesn’t feel as cheap. Shoving a ball handler often pries the rock away from their hands, but unless your teammate is right by you, it’s not a sure turnover. On the other hand, swiping at the ball feels more effective, if you time it up right against crossover moves.

The Lottery Picks meter is now represented by a basketball on each of the bottom corners of the screen. Once it’s filled with glowing energy, you get a special ability for a temporary period. The nine boosts include multipliers for dunks and three-point shots, unlimited sprint, and super strength. New to Playgrounds 2 are power-ups that hurt the opposing team. You can inflict a curse on them that lowers their shooting percentage or a sheet of ice that covers the basket so they can’t score. There’s also a change to the lightning power-up. This time, in a nod to NBA Jam, the ball catches on fire, and yes, you will automatically make a full court shot with the fireball. Power-ups can change the momentum of a contest dramatically, but they very rarely feel cheap. Rather, they add an element of unpredictability that makes each trip to the blacktop exciting.

NBA 2K19 REVIEW – Professional basketball has a sense of style that is unique to the world of sports. The glowing arenas, fashionable apparel and high speed of the game are all unmatched. On the court, it’s not just about the win or the loss, it’s about the way you look doing it. NBA 2K19 builds upon its strong gameplay, fantastic presentation, and wide array of game modes to embody this attitude. Its style is cramped a bit by a small number of persistent issues with AI behavior and obscene microtransactions in the MyPlayer mode, but other than that, NBA 2K19 is a high point for the series.

Getting into the action isn’t as smooth as it could be because NBA 2K19 has a tougher learning curve than the series has in the past, one that rewards skill and punishes novice play. Even as a veteran of the series, I found myself getting pounded by the CPU on the default difficulty level as I relearned the old mechanics and adapted to a slew of defensive improvements that make dribble-drives much more difficult. (I actually found playing online against others who were struggling with the same things to be a better learning tool.) This year places a tremendous amount of emphasis on ball control and maximizing your players’ abilities. Each time the buzzer rang, however, I felt myself getting a little better.

NBA 2K19 did an excellent job of rewarding me for taking the time to learn its various skill moves, including a complex post-game and set of dribbling techniques. Pulling off a Steph Curry step-back jumper or a Lebron James fadeaway is really satisfying, especially because of the work you need to put into learning them first. Unfortunately, the complex nature of the controls and movement system can lead to some really unflattering moments. A successful move leads to a beautiful animation that seems perfectly in tune with what you would see in any NBA game, but an unsuccessful attempt often results in your player running into the defender awkwardly. I’ve seen instances where the AI will start a dribble move only to bump right into a defender, carrying them all the way into a backcourt violation. For a game that is usually so naturally fluid with its motion, these hiccups are easy to spot.

While it’s an improvement over previous iterations, NBA 2K19 still struggles in transition. Floor spacing is a little better but still underwhelming. Despite playing as some of the best athletes in the world, the fast break still feels too slow to develop. There have been several instances where an easy transition dunk turns into my own teammate running right out in front of me and preventing that from happening. Even with guys like Russell Westbrook, who are traditionally phenomenal in transition, I’d find myself having to settle for a jumper instead of being able to get to the basket.

The AI does a nice job of distributing the ball to its playmakers, which really accentuates how different every player feels. Guys like Karl-Anthony Towns dominate the paint with their athleticism while someone like Jonas Valanciunas will make you pay if you let him pop out of the pick and roll. There have been instances, however, where the AI will actively avoid open players in order to get the ball to their superstar, which is a bit absurd. Off-ball movement is actually pretty good, which makes it even more frustrating that players will work themselves open for a shot and never get to touch the ball. The AI also has a really bad tendency to hold onto the ball beyond the three-point line, even when time isn’t in its favor. Thankfully, this only happens a couple of times every game, but it’s certainly jarring when the AI puts up such a good fight everywhere else.

NBA 2K19 shines on the defensive end of the court thanks to tight controls and emphasis on player ratings. Lockdown defenders like Jimmy Butler and Kawhi Leonard stand out against weaker defenders. As a compliment to the complex mechanics available on offense, defense became much more of a chess match. Predicting what moves they’ll make and when they will make them becomes of the utmost importance, especially if you don’t have a strong defense behind you. Making sure your roster has at least one or two defensive stoppers, even if they’re lacking offensive talent like Andre Roberson, is now a priority. The most noticeable difference comes from the interior, where bigs are no longer content letting guys like James Harden blow by on a one-on-one dribble drive. It is hard to make the defensive side of things interesting and engaging, but it helps keep NBA 2K19 fun all of the time instead of just half of it.

There is also a Blacktop mode that includes street basketball, whether it be one-on-one half court or five-on-five full court. I had fun here playing as some of my favorite NBA legends, like John Stockton and Allen Iverson, but I couldn’t help but wish the gameplay branched off into something more exaggerated and along the lines of NBA Street or NBA Jam. Instead, it feels like a slightly modified version of what you’d normally see in NBA 2K19.

My time with online play was mostly positive, with the largest issue being a very small delay between the push of a button and the resulting action. Unfortunately, when the shooting mechanics rely almost entirely upon that timing, it can lead to some frustrating misses or turnovers that may not have happened otherwise. This was especially easy to notice when shooting free throws, which became almost impossible to time. At its worst, I did have some instances when online where it would freeze altogether, taking me out of control for chunks at a time. It’s unfortunate because there is a real element of strategy when facing a human opponent and some of that is lost in the latency. But if you don’t have someone to play with locally, the thrill of going back and forth with another player, especially with the improved defense which largely removed cheap ways of scoring easily, is still worth the effort.

More Than a Game

While the immense amount of animations dedicated to matching the identity of their real-life counterparts helps, players have a tendency to look a little strange from the neck down. Lebron James, who is large and muscular, shouldn’t have the same body type as Rajon Rondo, who is trim by comparison. The players’ faces do a fine job differentiating one player from the next, at least among the more popular stars, but it’s still an odd look.

Beyond player physique, NBA 2K19 is a masterclass in presentation. From before the tip-off to when the lights shut off in the arena, there is always fantastic quality and attention to detail. Clever in-game commentary can keep even a blowout game interesting through small anecdotal stories on the part of former NBA player Clark Kellogg or more personal details about players that add to the impact of what they are doing on the court. For instance, I never knew that Jimmy Butler likes to pay for other people’s groceries while at the store. Hearing about it mid-game made me want to trade for him later that season. On top of that, there are excellent interviews – some that appear to be shot from a booth and others that are done on the court – with players using their real-life voices. Seeing someone like Dirk Nowitzki interviewed about basketball mechanics is a fun detail that feels thoroughly executed.

Similarly entertaining are the pre and post-game shows from Ernie Johnson Jr., Charles Barkley,[Correction: that’s Kenny Smith], and Shaquille O’Neal. They possess the same unique chemistry and charm in NBA 2K19 as they do on TNT, providing both useful insight and comedic delivery that break up the seriousness of a sports match. The pre-game show transitions really well into the pizzazz of the on-court battle, where the arenas are theatrical and the attire is chic. Because of the depth in its presentation, no two games of NBA 2K19 ever feel the same, giving it more than ample replay value.

Thankfully, there are a dozen or so different ways to digest NBA 2K19’s strong gameplay and presentation. The best, and perhaps the only mode that matches the intensity of the complex mechanics, is MyLeague. MyLeague allows you to build upon (or create from the ground up) an NBA franchise with an inordinate amount of customization. From something like the frequency of trades taking place across the league to the shade of orange you want the New York Knicks to have, nothing seems like it is off the table. This game mode really struck my desire to run the NBA the way I see fit, which included lots of unreasonable trades between superstars and the dismantling of the Golden State Warriors, and became the perfect medium for me to enjoy NBA 2K19’s strengths.

NBA 2K19 also enjoys its strongest MyCareer mode yet with The Way Back, which is much more story-focused than in previous years. A.I., whose name might the most unfortunate part of the mode due to the NBA’s history with a more well-known player by the same nickname in Allen Iverson, is a complicated protagonist who isn’t always reasonable or kind. The resulting story of his attempt to be picked up in the NBA feels personal, and certainly more pragmatic than I expected from a franchise that has really struggled in this regard. The story never lacks for interesting conflict, but it starts to run out of creative juice toward the back end. A.I.’s constant struggle to learn that the scope of professional basketball goes beyond his own wellbeing is a theme that goes to the well one too many times.Sadly, while The Way Back poses as an RPG with impactful decisions that can be made at various points throughout the story, in a second playthrough I found that, at least early on, these choices have very little impact on the storyline. Similarly, the way I performed in the games that took place in between cutscenes seemed to have very little to do with the direction of A.I.’s career. There were moments where I’d perform horribly, only to be told in a cutscene afterward that I had the game of a lifetime. Also, the teammate grade you are given as a result of your performance is incredibly inconsistent, as it would dock an unreasonable amount of score for things out of your control while barely adding any for things like setting screens. All the same, the writing is unusually strong for a game mode like this and appearances from Anthony Mackie and Haley Joel Osment bring life to a fun and relatively short (at about five hours) MyCareer mode.

Not all of the game modes felt as well worth my time as MyLeague and MyCareer. NBA 2K’s foray into the card-opening business feels all too familiar, with currency being a little too hard to come by – especially because it’s the same currency you use to bolster A.I.’s stats in MyCareer. Naturally, 2K is willing to sell you virtual currency to speed along the process, but that comes at a frighteningly high cost. Normal packs range anywhere from about $5 to $10 where more expensive boxes go for double of that. Even the more expensive packs don’t guarantee you the players you want, so I was much happier to spend the $25 worth of currency that came with the Anniversary Edition on my MyPlayer. Without dedicating major time to MyTeam, it’s hard to imagine being competitive with people who will shell out the cash for a better team. Thankfully, MyLeague is entirely devoid of these microtransactions, making it much easier to enjoy without any second thought.

MEGA MAN 11 REVIEW  – Mega Man series lead Keiji Inafune had left Capcom in 2010, going on to make his own Mega Man clone. The new art style initially turned me off as well, as it was not as immediately appealing as the 80s-inspired throwbacks seen in Mega Man 9 and 10. But Mega Man 11 won me over with its delightfully amped-up difficulty and cool time-stopping ability that makes its challenges (barely) possible. The moments I had to take in the scenery were few, but Mega Man 11 taught me that feeling like Mega Man is more important than looking like Mega Man. Unlike recent groundbreaking reboots of Mega Man’s NES contemporaries like The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros., Mega Man 11 only slightly modernizes series staples (shooting, jumping, boss fights) without adding much depth. Don’t expect many surprises: Just like we’ve done 10 times before, you beat the bosses, work your way through Wily’s castle, and then it’s over. I suppose that makes Mega Man 11 conform to a series where spinoffs added the most variety — like Mega Man X’s exploration elements, which I really did miss in Mega Man 11’s linear, secret-free levels. But I highly enjoyed the one major gameplay innovation, the “Double Gear” system (I can only hear David Hayter’s Solid Snake say this), and it left me wanting more.

The NES controller had just two buttons, and in Mega Man 1-6 they corresponded to “jump” and “shoot.” Mega Man 11 has more buttons than it knows what to do with, but the Double Gear system employs two of them – the left and right shoulder buttons, specifically – to add a new element to each of Mega Man’s basic functions. With the Power Gear you can overcharge your weapons for alternate attacks and more firepower, though it costs so much weapon energy that I barely used it, but with the essential Speed Gear you can slow down time to dodge bullets, carefully land jumps, and catch your breath.

That makes the Double Gear system a fundamental change to the way Mega Man 11’s levels are designed. Giving us the power to slow time seems to have freed up the developers to add many more enemies, disappearing platforms, and trenches of spikes to navigate, lengthening levels significantly. These are the longest, most brutal levels yet in Mega Man, and I welcomed the challenge.

Don’t be too afraid, however: While tough stretches in previous Mega Man games forced you to learn patterns and hone your skills, in Mega Man 11 you can stock up on powerups to take the edge off. For every challenge, there’s a consumable item to snatch you out of a pit, refill your energy, or protect you from spikes. You just have to grind a bit to collect bolts and purchase your way to success. Of course, grinding is not fun, so it’s only when I got really annoyed with replaying a lengthy level that I went shopping.

Let’s Talk Bosses

The traditional Mega Man boss design is another knock against the Power Gear as a useful ability. Because bosses already have vulnerabilities to certain weapons, there’s no point in amping up the weapons that already easily cut them down, and increasing the damage of weapons that barely do any is like upgrading your Nerf gun to Super Soaker. However, I found two pretty cool uses for the Power Gear. One is that Tundra Man’s T. Storm can be amplified to wipe out all enemies on screen like a more efficient Infinite Gauntlet. People watching me play in the office got a kick out of me hitting what amounted to the “nuke’em from orbit” button when frustration set in. The second is Impact Man’s P. Driver ability, which is a mid-air dash attack which is more useful for getting around because its charged form lets you zoom across the whole screen. See ya, disappearing block puzzle!

The bosses themselves are largely familiar, and that was disappointing. You may be surprised to learn that there hasn’t been a Torch Man before, because he is a clone of Fire Man, Heat Man, Flame Man etc. (However, his level, which is loosely summer camp-themed, is pretty cute.) Fuse Man, Tundra Man, and Blast Man all filled familiar Mega Man niches. I did like Acid Man, whose level featured PH balance (!) challenges as water went from neutral to acidic. Conversely, Bounce Man’s level is a total disaster as it uses some shaky physics to bounce Mega Man around deadly balloon-filled gauntlets, robbing you of control. Finally, Block Man is just the best: His Egyptian-like palace is filled with hieroglyphs of him triumphing over Mega Man. Like previous Mega Man games, the weapons are varied but not all are useful. My favorites were Bounce Man’s B. Ball, a versatile weapon you can easily aim at enemies (similar to Metal Man’s Metal Blade in Mega Man 2); Block Man’s B. Dropper to rain heavy objects down on out-of-reach enemies; and the aforementioned P. Driver for skipping puzzle areas entirely. On the other side, Fuse Man’s S. Thunder is a charge that climbs walls and has few uses, and Blast Man’s C. Blast is a slow moving, remotely-detonated bomb that is way too slow to use in any context in a fast-moving game like Mega Man 11.

Powered Up

Historically speaking, Mega Man games that moved away from the squat, pixelated, grimacing Mega Man art style have had mixed results. While I never fully warmed up to Mega Man 11’s cutesy, highly-detailed graphical style, the new look didn’t interfere with the classic feel of Mega Man as it did in Mega Man 7, a beautiful, but slow and clunky game. There are some fantastic robot designs, like massive skull-faced pillars that shoot lasers from their mouths, a wooly mammoth on a hoverboard, and an ostrich that’s on fire. These recall the art of early Mega Man games while filling out contemporary 16:9 wide screens (a series first!), dwarfing Mega Man. It’s a great effect to make me feel nimble as I’m sliding around with time at a standstill to avoid giant, crazed bots.

While I can overlook and even grudgingly appreciate the graphics, it’s the sound that is Mega Man 11’s biggest oversight. For a series so famous for its tunes, the sedate, repetitive, techno background is a real letdown: Why not just use cool, retro-sounding chiptunes like the rest of the games if you don’t have any strong new musical ideas? Mega Man 11 also has some terrifically bad voice acting, which I actually got a kick out of — but eventually, the repetitive callouts (Speed Gear!) got on my coworkers’ nerves, prompting them to politely ask me to turn it down. You can choose to view subtitles and hear what few dialogue lines there are in Japanese, but if you did that you’d be missing out on Mega Man’s new, rich baritone — only in English! I guess after 10 games in 31 years he really has become a Man.

WWE 2K19 REVIEW – WWE 2K19, like previous entries in the long running wrestling franchise, is a good game. The core wrestling does a great job of simulating a WWE match, and the strike/grapple/reversal fighting system is a lot of fun. It’s got one of the best and most comprehensive creation suites of any game out there, and the way that it basically lets you do everything that wrestlers do in real life, in WWE 2K19, is kind of astounding.

But those are all things that have remained true for a long while now, and while WWE 2K19 goes to great lengths to fix it’s biggest flaws from last year, it still leaves a lot of long-standing issues unchecked that limit the otherwise significant improvements over 2K18.

he campaign mode, or MyCareer, has been a WWE 2K staple since 2K15. But, in 2K19, it finally feels like a proper AAA wrestling story mode complete with voice acting, cutscenes, and likable characters that grow and change over the course of the story. The campaign is brought to life thanks to a great performance from former Tough Enough competitor and current indie wrestler, AJ Kirsch, who brings a much-needed level of authenticity to the lead role.

And for the most part, the actual wrestlers that lend their voice to WWE 2K19 also do a great job, outside of a few who seem like they’re reading from a script as opposed to acting.

Your character starts off extremely weak, with a paltry set of moves, pathetic stats, and generic entrance options. As you level up by gaining experience, you can increase your stats through three skill trees, which are further divided by different paths within each one. The skill trees manage to reduce the stat overload that typically accompanies WWE 2K’s career mode, but you never get the feeling that the skills you’re adding to make much of a difference in your character’s overall strength.

Despite the annoying character progression, the overall story and the journey of your character as he rises up through the ranks of the WWE make it worth the struggle.

On top of that, new moves and cosmetic options are once again locked behind loot boxes, which is a huge bummer. The boxes can only be purchased with virtual currency, and individual items can be bought on their own, but the cost of buying things ala carte is very expensive.

For the most part, MyCareer is easy enough to get away with playing with a sub-par character, but there are a few points in the story where Triple H decides to stack the deck against you, forcing you to compete and win in wildly unfair matches, such as a 3-on-1 handicap match, an 8 man battle royale, and a gauntlet where you health doesn’t refill after each match. Rather than coming out of it feeling like a highly skilled beast of a wrestler, you feel like you have to resort to cheap hit and run tactics just to survive.

2K19 also takes some cues from Mortal Kombat X with their 2K Towers mode, which challenges players to complete themed “towers,” consisting of a series of matches under a unifying theme. These towers change both daily and weekly, so there’s always something new to tackle, and they offer a great source of VC to spend in other modes.

WWE 2K19, like other WWE 2K games before it, is still held back by a number of longstanding issues. But with the much improved MyCareer mode, and the sheer amount of content available thanks to the return of Showcase Mode and the addition of 2K Towers, it stops the downward spiral the series had been heading towards and puts it back on track. If 2K20 can fix the awful character progression in its main story mode, clean up the bugs, and work on the commentary issues, this might finally be the blueprint for a championship contender again.

SOULCALIBUR VI REVIEW

After a six-year absence from the 3D fighting scene, Soulcalibur makes a triumphant return in its seventh entry in the main series. The next in Bandai Namco’s line of arcade fighting games keeps true to its unique brand of weapon-based combat while sprinkling in just the right amount of new mechanics. The combination not only sets it apart from its predecessors, but also keeps it competitive against all others in its genre.

The story goes back to its roots, retelling the events of the original Soulcalibur, and provides two very different but equally worthwhile story modes that flesh out the tale of swords and souls in a way that’s more digestible than ever.

But above all else, Soulcalibur 6 is pure fun. It’s fun to play, fun to learn, fun to watch, and even when some dated presentation issues rear their heads, they do very little to tarnish Soulcalibur 6’s luster.

Mechanically, everything that’s made this series great returns in Soulcalibur 6: the 8-Way-Run, the well balanced fighting system of vertical and horizontal attacks, and the ever-so-satisfying weapon based combat that makes every character feel distinct and powerful.

New to the series is a mechanic called Reversal Edge, which puts your character in a stance that allows them to absorb several hits before delivering their own strike. This attack initiates a rock/paper/scissors-like minigame to decide who deals the next hit and recovers the momentum of the fight.

On the surface, this might seem like a luck-based guessing game on top of a duel of skill, but once you really dig into it, it opens the door for some really tricky mind games.

For example, if Kilik wins a reversal edge duel with a kick, he doesn’t get much out of it outside of a bit of small damage, making it a non-optimal option for him, basically only good for beating a vertical attack.

Every character now also has a Soul Charge. Players can build meter by landing attacks, then at the cost of a bar of meter, give themselves a unique buff and access to new powerful moves and combos. It’s a great addition that adds further distinction between characters. And Soul Charges add a choice for players when spending their meter: Either dump a bar of meter on one huge move that deals damage up front, or use a Soul Charge to potentially deal more damage over a longer period of time.

The rest of Soulcalibur 6’s mechanics feel like a refinement of an already fantastic combat system. I’m thankful guard impacts no longer cost meter. I love that lethal hits are new “super” counters that are very similar to crush counters in Street Fighter 5. And even with all the new mechanics that could complicate Soulcalibur 6, it’s still one of the easiest fighting games to jump into, start slamming buttons, and still have a great time.

MY HERO ONE’S JUSTICE REVIEW

My Hero Academia is one of the best shonen anime currently airing, and it deserves a great video game that lives up to its reputation. While My Hero One’s Justice unfortunately doesn’t hit that high bar, it does a good job of adapting the action and spectacle of the anime into fighting game form. The gorgeous visuals and a flashy one-on-one combat system make it seem like a fan’s dream fighting game, but the shiny exterior hides a fairly simplistic foundation, and once the spectacle of the action wears off, My Hero One’s Justice feels less like All Might, and more like “just alright.”

My Hero One’s Justice is a 3D arena fighter with a combat system that could be best explained as an appropriately quirky version of Rock, Paper, Scissors. You have three main options when it comes to attacking up close: normal attacks, counter attacks, and unblockable attacks. Normals are fast enough to interrupt and beat unblockables, counters absorb normal attacks before delivering their own powerful strike, and unblockables crush through counters. There are some extra nuances of course, like just guards, dashes, and dash cancels, but that’s the general overview of combat.

“Characters play exactly like you’d think they would, but eventually the shallowness of combat begins to show”.

Let’s Story!

The story mode of One’s Justice picks up midway through season 2 of the anime and ends at about the midway point of season 3 as well, so it’s definitely not the greatest entry point for new fans. Even if it was though, the way the story is laid out is pretty underwhelming. Each chapter essentially serves as a super abridged retelling of the anime, told with a combination of screen grabs from the show and animated in-game character models. Though it does feature full voice acting from the Japanese cast, those who prefer the dub are out of luck.

It’s hard to really tell who the story mode is for. For fans, the mode doesn’t present anything new, nor does it present anything old in a way that makes it worth revisiting it again. For newcomers, it completely skips over the first 26 episodes of the anime. There are some bright spots though. A small handful of big story moments are brought to life in-engine, and it gives a small glimpse of what story mode could’ve been. If there were more of these and less static screens, One’s Justice’s story mode could’ve been salvaged.

While Story Mode ends up being disappointing, Mission Mode actually provides a much more enjoyable single player experience. There are a total of six maps to complete, each with their own set of challenges. As you complete challenges, your characters level up, increasing their stats and making them better equipped to handle tougher missions.

It’s tough, especially because your health carries over from fight to fight, and though you can use items to restore health, and provide boosts to other stats in the next fight, doing so decreases your overall score at the end, so there’s a balance to be had if you’re trying to maximize your score.

Beyond that, there’s a traditional arcade mode and online modes, though the servers were barren at the time of this review, so I haven’t been able to test out the servers.

There’s no character creation feature in One’s Justice, which feels like a huge missed opportunity, but you can customize your characters with items that can either be purchased with in-game currency or earned through completing missions. There are a couple of funny unique items, mostly involving Mineta, but for the most part, all of the cosmetic items are just items worn by other characters from My Hero Academia, which makes customized characters kind of just look like they fell into a My Hero Academia themed prop box.

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