Payday: The Heist Review

After a few months of not writing, it's time to get back in buiseness. After many new games played and many new things experienced, I decided to start reviewing PC games again. Maybe I'm just bored. Doesn't matter.
Onwards, to glory!
Khm khm. Riiiight.

Let's begin with something relatively fresh. Payday: The Heist is an FPS genre representative.

Here, we take the role of a criminal that pulls off "heists" with his crew. The game itself is very CO-OP oriented, and the AI is straightforward stupid so I recommend getting at least one human player to your crew.

If you ever played any classic FPS, you will embrace it's controls and shooting mechanics in a matter of minutes. 

There are no cover systems here. It's just you and a billion of cops around you, so f*ck cover.

Actually, Payday is very similar to Left 4 Dead. Except there are no zombies here (not yet, that is).

Another game similar to Payday is the first Kane and Lynch. There is the same "joy" of killing and just being a heartless mercenary that doesn't care much for civilians in his killing spree. It's great, really.

Let's begin with the gameplay itself.

This is no sandbox game, you get the objective and you get s*it done. Old school stuff.

During your heist, the police will interfere and send assaults that you must fend off while attending to your objective. That's about it.

But it's not that simple. The game randomly places objectives, guards, NPC's so that every time you play, the heist differs from the last one. On paper, a great idea. In practice, it doesn't make that much of a difference.

Furthermore, shooting mechanics are very likable but don't offer anything new. That's not bad, but something new wouldn't kill us.

Every heist requires a different approach and they are all very intense and engaging. A single heist will take about 20 minutes, 15, if you are skilled. Now, this is the Payday's main flaw. There isn't much content in the game. We have a persistent leveling system (145 reputation levels) that unlocks weapon upgrades, gadgets and stuff. On the other hand, there are only eight weapons, four characters and six heists

But then again, developers promised loads of DLC coming soon.

Graphics aren't really up to today's standards, but this is a download title, and it isn't much of a factor compared to brilliant gameplay.

One thing that I dislike heavily is the lack of ingame graphic settings. Except for the resolution, that is.

But it isn't that bad since the engine is very optimized and runs fine even on older PC's.

Animations, too, are well below the standards, but even here, the game can give a couple of nice surprises in form of NPC's sliding to cover, vaulting across tables and such.

I recommend getting this game. Most of the bugs were eliminated with the first patch, stats were reset and we are set to play.

The cost on Steam is 18,99 euros, and I bet it will drop in following months (it is christmas that is coming, after all).

This is a quality title, no doubt. However, should you be a Crysis-spoiled bratz, dont bother.

One more thing; I love this game.

Cheers.

Magicka review

You know those old games that used to awaken that special feel when you played them? I'm talking about games like Diablo II, Baldur's gate, System Shock 2...
Yeah, *that* feeling. Newbie McDonald generation gamers probably have no f*cking idea what am I babbling on about, but those games had a soul. The little thing that Call of duty, Crysis or Halo do not have.
Why am I starting a review like this? Well, while playing Magicka, I felt *that* feeling again.

This game's initial release was only half-finished. Full of bugs (see upper image) and overall lacking polish. It felt like beta, really.
Now, after six months of patching and fixing, it is done. Not perfect, but complete.
The adventure mode itself (the "campaign") was also tweaked and lenghtened. Making the story roughly 15 hours long. Without screwing around, of course.
New stories, survival arenas, weapons, staves, robes et cetera, are available via DLC.
Even a new PvP mode was added. Making this game practicaly a must. But, after this long intro, let's start reviewing Magicka, shall we?

Magicka is a game about... well... magic. You control a wizard tasked with saving the world. Story might not be the selling point here, but it's awesome in it's own manner. It's here simply to make you laugh. And situations such as "Saving the world party" at the beginning are certainly up to the task.
As casual and cool as the storyline might be, there will be some pretty epic moments up to par even with Warhammer franchise.
Moreover, developers seem to be obsessed with sausages and mooses. Yeah. You'll see.
Anyway, in your quest you will be getting assistance from your tutor Vlad (Who is by no means a vampire!), Death or sausages. Perfectly logical, right?
There are many surprises along the way, and just when you'll think that you know what to expect, Magicka is again going to surprise you.
You can play either solo, or cooperative with up to three more players. I won't even mention how much awesomer (or whatever) the game gets while playing co-op. And yeah, friendly fire is always on.
But, players that seek variety in gameplay might wanna skip Magicka. Simply because solving "quests" looks basically like this: run, destroy, kill, kill, kill, run, kill, kill, kill, destroy, power the engine, kill, kill, run, kill, kill (Diablo II, anyone?!).
Yeah. You kill alot. I don't mind killing. Do you?

While gameplay revolves around single element (killing), variety comes in enemies. Goblins, trolls, orks, humans, salamanders, spiders, zombies, skeletons, beholders, dwarves, elemental creatures, huge serpents, vampires (khm, khm), sausages and a shitload of undefinable creatures. Not to forget about boss fights.
Hell yeah!
Now we can rest assured that we have enough things to kill. But wait, with what?!
Your basic weapons/tools are your elemental magicks. Water, Lightning, Life, Arcane, Shield, Earth, Ice and Fire. While preparing to cast a magick, you can conjure up to five elements to create a vast number of spells. Mines, shields, waves, traps, vulcanoes... hell, I don't know how many more there are. Except from your elements, you always have a staff and a sword. Both can be extremely potent if combined properly. Now, Magicka is not RPG. It's a hack and slash action game with isometrical camera viewpoint. There is no questing, money, or real loot. But, there are many, many, many staves, swords, axes and such to find and use. Some enemies might drop them, but you will find most of the equipment scattered around the world.

 

Graphics seem cartooney at the first glance, so I did not expect to see blood. Well, I'm glad to say that I was wrong. Decapitation, body explosion, blood spray... they are all here and they all look great.

Textures can be smudgy, and I noticed lack of antialiasing in Magicka. Furthermore, it isn't optimized as it should be. The game ran at 20-30 FPS (maximum settings, 1280x1024) on my PC (3.25 GB DDR2 RAM, ATi Radeon 4870, Intel Core 2 Duo 3.6x2 GHz). And, when comparing this to... say... Resident Evil 5 (DX10 mod, 1280x1024, maximum textures/shadows/details, no antialiasing, VSync off) that runs on stable 35-40 FPS, the result is not really satisfying.

But since I tested it on only one PC, it might be a software issue on my end.

 

To demonstrate just how awesome Magicka's take on gaming is, I posted two Vietnam expansion images. The left is that of Magicka, and the right one is Bad Company 2's. Epic.

This game managed to suck me in and hold me for a week. That is why I haven't writen any new reviews in the meantime.

Yeah, this is what I've been looking for. A rather unique pearl in today's generic gaming industry.

Get the Magicka full pack from Steam and for God's sake, play it.

Beat Hazard Ultra

We continue reviewing the fun-but-cheap gaming branche with this (relatively new) game.

Beat Hazard is the perfect proof of how you don't need to make a high-tech game for it to be amusing and engaging.
I believe many of you played Audiosurf. That game was using your own music to create a track for your "car" to ride on. While it was very innovative and... colorful... it simply did not make that much of an impression on me.
It was a mess, the way I see it. Now, that is a very subjective opinion and I don't need a hundred comments (like I have that much traffic here) of how I'm deluded and wrong. The game is not my style. Period.
Beat Hazard (Ultra) is a very different game that uses the same level creating mechanics. You load a track in the game and play it. Literally.

It's the old Asteroids, but on steroids (a rhyme dawg). Basically, you control a small spaceship in the middle of the screen and have to evade/obliterate asteroids and enemy spaceships.
It would've been very repetetive and boring without the music loader. The level (it's background, lightning effects, dynamics et cetera...) is created by numerous factors read from the loaded track. Enemies spawn in rhytm with the song, background can dynamically change, even your weapon's fire rate and damage can be affected by the track.
This leads to epic dogfights where you can really enjoy in this game.
Seriously, try playing Requiem of the dream. EPIC.

If Audiosurf was colorful, this is f*cking psychodelic. Colors blast from every corner of the screen and can change in a moment. This makes you stay on your toes for the entire level because you can never know where is that Reaper gonna jump out now.
This effect is enhanced by the music itself and blinking details throughout the entire game. It just makes your heart beat faster... but that could be hazardous for your health if you are not ultra careful (get it?). Gamers who suffer from epilepsy might wanna skip this game.

While the original Beat Hazard was very fun and addictive game, an upgrade was imminent. Here's a small size comparison: Beat Hazard = ~30 MB, Beat Hazard Ultra =~220 MB.
Yeah... quite an expansion, eh?
The Ultra added perks, more achievements, two-player co-op, patched some bugs, increased the loading speed... too much improvements to list here, honestly. And yes, Ultra is an expansion.
Meaning you will have to get Beat Hazard first, and then install Ultra. However, the price is not steep even if you intend to get them both in one run. 3.49 euros for the original and 1.29 for Ultra (Steam prices). And, if you want, you can buy iTunes and m4a files support, but I think that's a bit of an overkill. MP3s will do fine for most.

Currently, there are four game modes. One makes you face bosses only (my favourite), one is classic (load a track and play 'till it ends), survival and an awesome Chill mode (unlimited lives, enjoy).
Not to forget the interesting leveling sytem that keeps you blasting for hours.

Frozen Synapse review

Frozen Synapse is a unique blend of RTS and TBS, and should have an audience amongst such players.

The game itself is very simple. You control a small squad of units that has to complete some kind of objective.
Some of those are area sweep (clear the map of hostiles), defend (you have to defend one unit until it reaches the exit) or
slaughter (kill unarmed civilians to make a point). There are many more, but I don't have the energy to define every single
one of them.
Anyway, the game plays like a hybrid of RTS (real time strategy) and TBS (turn based strategy), and it functions suprisingly
well.
Now, while the game itself is simple, it's gameplay could hardly be described as such. Sure, there is a tutorial, but it
won't teach you the half of the things you can do ingame.

Gameplay mechanics

The mission begins with so-called "planning phase". The "planning phase" is a phase when you issue commands and movement
patterns to your units (no shit sherlock). It has an awful lot of options and can be rather confusing at first, but once
you get the hang of it, you are going to love it.
Once you tell your men where to go, their path is represented by a breaking line and blocks. Blocks are placed at places
where the unit has to make a turn, and you will want to pay extra attention to where are they going to appear.
At these nodes, your unit will make turns, engage enemies in line of sight and such. But in vanilla (PC defined) path,
the unit looks straightforward, without taking time to check corners or crouch for cover. These orders have to be placed
manually somewhere during the path to be executed.
The funny thing is, there is a timeline present here, and all of these actions take time. So, while you'll have to think
about giving the right orders, you will also want to take care of when they are executed and how much time they take up.
Now, some of you will ask: "How the hell does a TBS have a timeline?". As I mentioned earlier, Frozen Synapse is
a hybrid between two genres and the game actually plays in real time, whilst stopping every couple of second for you to
issue orders. It might seem as a mindf*ck now, but once you try it out, everything gets in order.
I should also mention that every move can be tried out before being actually executed, simply because this game does not
forgive mistakes.

Look and feel

Graphics are interesting, ditching the hi-res look for artistic and "digital" expression. A picture is as good as a
thousand of words, so just take a look at any of them.
The good thing is, Frozen Synapse can probably work at your grandma's laptop. The bad thing is, when you zoom in...
well, you'll see. But on the other hand, that doesn't even matter for this kind of game, now does it?.
And, I couldn't give off the feeling that the UI (user interface) could use a little more polishing.
It's just too bulky and could have been simplified by implementing something different. But patches may yet fix that.
Soundtrack and sound on global level, are awesome. 'nuff said.
The music that plays reminded me of the legendary Deus Ex and gunfire sounds really brutal. And, you can download the tracks
from Steam as a side pack. Perfect, if you ask me.

When I killed my first enemy, I was surprised as it gave me that "killfeel" that usually COD-like shooters give when you
kill some german twelve year old who was camping 'cause he had to try out his new sniper.
It is just as satisfying as it should be.
And situations such as pushing the line trough one tight hallway and eliminating five enemies in one turn are unf*cking
beatable. There is nothing more to say but: great work, Mode 7 (developer).

Another (rather important) fact is that you will never, ever play the same map twice. Not even in campaign. Battlefields are
generated every time you start a match, and your tactics will have to adapt to it.
Also, explosives can wreck all objects on the map, so that gives the game another dimension of depth in planning.
Weapons are, unlike most of the game, very simple. There is the machinegun (assault rifle), shotgun,
sniper rifle (think .50 cal), grenade launcher and rocket launcher (RPG).
Not much versatility, eh? But, when you think about it, it's really enough. Assault rifles for room sweeping and mid-range
combat, shotguns for CQC and snipers for... well... just about everything else.
Explosives are more of a finesse.

Conclusion

Another great game that can be bought cheaply (around 15 euro at Steam). I doubt it will leave you disappointed.

Terraria review

This game is considered by many to be a simple Minecraft clone, while it is so much more.

Sure, the basic idea (that of digging, farming, building) is the same, but this is a 2D roleplayish (not sure does this word exist) platformer. And just look at the graphics. It is not nearly as "bricky" as Minecraft is.
But I guess all the games of this newly founded genre will be compared to the beforementioned game. Simply because it was the first of a kind.

After you choose either Singleplayer or Multiplayer, you will be taken to the character creator. A rather rudimentary, but charming editor. Here, unlike some *other* games, you have two entities that will be saved. The character, and the world. After you make yourself a guy (only males for now, sorry), the game will create small, medium or large world.
The difference here is quite big, since you can fully explore the small world (at least, it's ground level) in a matter of minutes, while a large one is going to last for days.
You can combine your characters and worlds in any way you like, and you can host a multiplayer server on your own home world.
Alas, all supplies (that you leave in chests) can be taken by other characters. Making your items and equipment also combinable between characters.

 

A shiny example is that of sharing ore. You find alot of copper ore in your world, while your brother (yes, "Cheat" and "Donatan" are his personas) is lacking copper in his world. Simply place the surplus in your inventory, load your brother's world and place the ore in his chest. It's that simple.

How to stick pointy things into ugly walking things?

Simple, really. And satisfying, for that matter. Combat in Terraria (either ranged or melee) is a very finely tuned machine. There is almost no better than to swing your lightsab... sorry, Phaseblade into a zombie to decapitate him. Not to mention the notorius "blood and gore" option (not optional, by the way) which fits in perfectly.
When you spawn for the first time, you will be equipped with basic wooden tools that can do basic (wooden?) job.
Wooden sword does the trick as the first weapon, but why should you be limited on that puny little sword? With proper resources and tools, you will be able to craft anything ranging from knives to rifles. And my personal favourite, the lightsa... f*ck... the phaseblade. In all colours, if I might add.
There is no lack of items in this game, and most of it can't be bought from the merchants anyway, so go and craft the hell out of that crafting table, son.

May the Force be with you

Now, the enemies you will face differ alot. Note the "alot". At the beginning, there will be zombies, freaky flying eye wannabe things and slimes. Annoying, green, blue, pinky, big, small. Slimes.
As you progress further in the world, you will encounter the Corruption. Now this is a twist. It's an infection that corrupts (duh) everything it gets in contact with. So, it's up to you to stop it... or let it spread. Entirely your choice. Except from that, there are Bosses. Now, I'm not going to say anything more 'cause I don't want to spoil them, but they are awesome.       

Dig, dig, dig, dig

Grab the pickaxe and dig. HELL YEAH! Or not.
Well, digging is the repetetive part here (altough I doubt it could be any diffrent).
It's not entirely unlike to the MMO's grinding system, but it can pass. Mostly because you will certainly find a lot of caves and caverns, dungeons even, that will reward your efforts.
There is a variety of ores, crystals and that kind of stuff underground, just waiting for you to dig it out.
After you get sick of digging go to the town (it is an imperative to build a village/city) and talk to NPC's, trade with them, craft items and so on.

Overall

Overall, an awesome game. Altough many people consider it to be a threat to Minecraft, it's not.
And, the updates for Terraria come out really often and bring many additions such as items, bosses, NPC's, ammo... you name it.
A jewel, honestly.
Get it, play it, enjoy it.