Project Cars Review

Project cars is a racing simulator released in May 2015. Slightly Mad Studios was the developer and Bandai Namco Entertainment was the publisher. 
In career mode it's best not to grind away trying to complete in every Career class. It's better to choose one you like. You might have to unlock certain ones at the start but I found the GT careers to be my favorites followed by the formula rookie and LMP.
The career mode is set up in a calendar mode where you have to choose a your race on a specific day on the calendar and you can't skip ahead, you can only skip practice and qualifying. You can also choose your difficulty level.
During your career you get messages in your inbox which include invitations and congratulations emails for winning.
If you want to race on a certain track with a certain car you can choose the Solo quick race weekend mode. There are about 60 tracks to choose from including the parts of the Nurburgring, Bathurst, Silverstone, Brands Hatch, a long section of the California highway and the Azure Coast in France.
In this mode you can also choose the weather and time of day. If you hit the wall or cut a corner your lap time will not count. Also if you keep hitting other cars you will get disqualified, this also applies if you cut the corner too much. There are plenty of cars to choose from. About 70 of them.
There is a multiplayer mode where you can compete with others around the world.
There is also a free practice mode and quick random mode, a time trial and community events. 
There is not much music, only the menus, not during races. 
Most of the cars handle as they should depending on what difficulty it is set to. If you have a virtual reality headset there is also the option of racing in VR. You need to turn the detail down for this otherwise you could feel sick. But it is a different way to play and I quite enjoyed it.
I used an Xbox for windows controller to play this and it worked out quite well. 
 
The graphics are very highly detailed and so are the cars. The rain is very realistic. 
A great driving simulator. 
8.5/10

Grid Autosport Review

Released in 2014. Grid Autosport is a racing game made by Codemasters. When you start a career there are different disciplines to choose from. A touring car series where you race in touring cars on touring car tracks. The Endurance series puts you in longer races, some at night. Open wheel car series is similar to formula 1. The tuner series includes time attack and drifting events. Street series is my favorite where you race in city streets and there is more eye candy to look at. The grid series is unlocked when you accomplish a certain level in each series.

This game has a more arcade style of racing. Most cars handle easily, you don't get penalised harshly. If you cut a corner, your car will slow down for a few seconds if you had the advantage.

There is an online mode, multiplayer and racenet challenges. Multiplayer was empty when I tried it. In racenet challenges you compete in preset races online at a higher difficulty. In custom cup you create a custom series of races and in time trial you compete against the clock. Split screen is fun if you wanted to play two player in a split screen mode.

The graphics are good and music is okay. There are lots of popular race tracks included and some street circuits as well. I played this with an xbox controller for windows.

Arcade style fun.

7/10

Call of Duty Black Ops III Review

Call of Duty Black Ops III is the next installment in the Call of Duty franchise after Call of Duty Advanced Warfare.  It was released in November 2015. Developed by Tryarch and published by Activision, Black Ops 3 is a science fiction first-person shooter.

Set in 2065, years have past since the events of Black Ops 2. Climate change and technology seem to be the biggest challenges the world faces as well as a third cold war. In this era soldiers are enhanced with cybernetics and robots are starting to replace soldiers in many forms of combat. 

The story follows the actions of a group of black ops soldiers. During one of the early missions the player is severely injured while escaping a combat zone. To save their life, the player is operated on and given a cybernetic body as well as a direct neural interface to control their new body. 

Before every mission the player starts at a safe house. This is where you choose your weapon load out and special abilities. The special abilities include the ability to run on walls, disrupt the enemies hardware, making machines turn on each other and others. These abilities can only be used for a short time before recharging.

At the beginning of the game the player can choose to play as a male or female character. This does not effect the story, just the voice acting. The game play is much like the previous Call of Duty games. Shoot the enemy, push forward to the next way point. This time the player can use their direct neural interface to hack into computers and open doors. There is even a situation where you hack into the enemies head through their DNI, but most of these actions are performed by just holding the F key on the keyboard. I have found this a bit boring by now in the Call of Duty games. This is because the game is also made to be played on a controller so it is easy to interact with things and to keep the game flowing.

One thing the game does well is keep you in the action for most of the time. The only time this is interrupted is when you complete a mission and are taken back to the safe house to choose your load out for the next mission. I would rather just continue on to the the next stage rather than being taken out of the story like that.

The game engine they used was a modified version of the IW engine they used for Black Ops 2. The graphics have improved slightly as well as the physics in the environment. The game looks really good on a recent graphics card with all the details turned up.  

The story was good. It was a bit confusing because of the SCI-FI nature of the game. It just didn't  interest or captivate me as much as the modern warfare series for example. I don't know if that is because its getting a bit long in the tooth or because some of the previous games were hard to top. There are some great moments where you a flying futuristic fighters and controlling other military hardware but I didn't enjoy the game play as much when you are shooting wave after wave of robots. I played the game on the regular difficulty and there was plenty of content for hours of game play. To some people the ending might just be confusing. 

The game is rated Mature

I give it 8.1/10

Watch Dogs Review

Watch Dogs was developed and published by Ubisoft and was released in May 2014. It is an open world third-person shooter, action, adventure game.

Set in the City of Chicago the game follows the story of Aiden Pearce, a hacker who can tap into the fictional ctOS system that controls and monitors the information and infrastructure systems of the city of Chicago. Driven by the death of one of his family members during a job gone wrong Aiden is now a vigilante whose goal is to hunt down and find those responsible for the death of his sister’s daughter Lena. Taking down the city’s crime bosses in the process. Aiden is a gifted hacker and has access to security cameras, ATMs, traffic lights, bridges and basically anything connected to the ctOS system. He can also gain access to any car and is how you get around the city. The city’s systems can be available to access by sneaking into and hacking ctOS stations scattered around the city. 
There is a stealth element to this game which can be frustrating at times and it can take a long time to complete missions because of this. There is also puzzles to solve when hacking into a system and normally involves getting the information to flow in the right direction by changing switches and gates and there is a time limit on most of those.
The most fun is to be had driving around hacking traffic lights, opening bridges, activating barriers and causing all sorts of mayhem during missions.
The mini games are fun also and include card games. There is a game called cash run which is an arcade style game running and jumping to grab cash. There are others as well.
The combat mechanics has a cover system which you can use to your advantage by hiding behind structures like benches and walls. There are the normal weapons to choose from, machine gun, pistol, sniper riffle etc. 
When you pull out your phone, a profiler is triggered and when pointed at, you can see every person’s name, job, read their messages and listen to their conversations.
The world looks very realistic and highly detailed with the right hardware and the music is well done and plenty of variety.
Overall the story is good and gets you engaged and with all the side missions there is enough to keep you entertained for hours and hours. After you finish the main story missions you can continue and complete side missions and play mini-games.
The game is rated Mature.
I give it 7.5/10  

Far Cry 4 Review

Far Cry 4 was developed by Ubisoft and is the next game in the franchise following Far Cry 3. It was released in November 2014. Far Cry 4 is a large open world first-person shooter and uses the Ubisoft created Dunia Game Engine. The stories from Far Cry 4 are unrelated to Far Cry 3. 

The game is set in a fictional Himalayan country in a place called Kyrat. This open world is covered with high mountain terrain and consists of the north and south Kyrat. The north of Kyrat is locked until you progress to the required place in the story line.

Ajay Ghale is the main protagonist in this game. He is a Kyrati-American and the game depicts him traveling through Kyrat on a bus to a location to spread his mother’s ashes. He is stopped at a road block and from here becomes entangled in a civil war between Kyrat’s Royal Army led by an oppressive dictator called Pagan Min and a rebel movement called the Golden Path. There is much to do in this game and the size of the environment can seem a little overwhelming at times, but there is always the main story to follow and radio towers to unlock. I found the game more enjoyable to play by unlocking as many radio towers you can find. Doing this removes the fog from the map letting you see all the roads and settlements in the world. To unlock a radio tower, you have to climb to the top and each radio tower is different in design. One of the ways to overcome the sheer size of the map and height of the terrain was for Ubisoft to incorporate small helicopters spread around the map (normally found at bases you have liberated). With the addition of hang gliders and a wingsuit you can unlock it is much easier to traverse long distances and heights. If you do prefer to do it by car and on foot, there is a grappling hook that fastens to the sides of mountains so you can climb up.

To get the most out of the graphics you will need at least an equivalent to a GTX 960 or above if you want the settings on high. With a high end graphics card the world looks stunning especially at sun set and dawn.

As far as the story goes I found it entertaining in parts and there are decisions you have to make which affects the outcome of the game. Once you finish the main story there is still hours of exploring that can be done as well as side missions which can be more fun than the main story itself. For example, one of the things you can do is discover all the question marks on the map with the helicopter.

The game play is what you would expect from a modern FPS. You have to start with limited weapons and skills which you unlock as you progress. There are a few stealth elements to the game which can make some missions more frustrating. Completing side quests is also a good way to unlock extra weapons and skill points. Also you can use some weapons while flying and driving which makes disposing of the enemy more interesting.  

Similar to Far Cry 3 you can hunt the wildlife to get skins. These skins can unlock things like a bigger wallet and bigger ammo pouch and a larger weapon holster.

The game is rated M for mature. Contains drugs, Violence and some nudity.

I give it 7.9/10  

Max Payne 3 Review

Released May 2012, Max Payne 3 is a third-person shooter video game published by Rockstar Games and developed by Rockstar Studios. 
Max Payne is a former detective whose wife and daughter were murdered. Nine years after the events of the second game: Max Payne 2, he has become a vigilante. He now has a job protecting the rich and upper class in Sao Paulo Brazil. The game revolves around Max and his partner Passos protecting the rich Branco family from kidnappings and assassinations.
The story takes you through the favelas in Brazil, the mansions of the rich and upper class, dance clubs, bars and other places in Brazil. Doing what Max does best, taking down the bad guys one by one. It’s a story of corruption and conspiracy.
The game has had a much needed makeover than the 2003 Max Payne 2. The graphics are modern and realistic, there is a new cover system so Max can hide behind structures and furniture. Bullet time is back and as fun as ever. Also are the painkillers to restore Max’s health. Max has changed a bit this game. He is a few years older, bigger and bald for some of the game. 
The game is more linear than the previous titles. You can’t walk around and explore as much as you would like to.
The story is a great story and the action keeps you playing without getting bored. Gone are the comic book style cut scenes but they do a good job explaining things and they merge into the action of the game. You can expect to play the game for about 12 hours which is reasonable. There are other modes you unlock when you finish the single player campaign.  New York minute and score attack. The game is quite violent, especially the kill cam when you use bullet time. 
The game is rated for mature audiences.
8.5/10

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Review

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare was released in November 2014. Developed by Sledgehammer Games and published by Activision. It is a military science fiction first-person shooter set in the future between  2054 and 2061.
In 2054 North Korea attempts to invade South Korea. The game starts in Soul where you play the role of Jack Mitchell of the United States Marine Corps. During the mission he loses the use of his left arm and his good mate Will Irons loses his life in the same accident. At the funeral of Will, Jack is introduced to Will’s farther, Jonathan Irons (played by Kevin Spacy), who is the CEO of a company called ATLAS (a private contracted military company). Jonathan Irons tries to persuade Will to join ATLAS by promising him a new arm. That’s where the main story starts. 

The story of this game was pretty good overall. With some twists and turns, most of the story is told through cinematic cut scenes. If you save the game and come back to it later you have to watch the cut scene all over again and there is no way to skip it as the level loads really slowly as it plays through. 
Kevin Spacy did a good performance in his role and the other voice acting was good. 
The graphics were the best I have seen in a Call of Duty game. With a reworked game engine, it was a change from the previous titles. 
The weapons for this game are all from the future, most of the grenades and missiles lock on to the enemy automatically. There is the use of EXO suites in most missions gives you the ability to jump higher, rappel to ledges and other features. 
I found the missions to be less exciting as the modern warfare series. There are still some great moments when racing through canals, flying jets and controlling other advanced hardware.
There is a skill system through the game which you can unlock upgrades after each mission is completed. The combat system is the same as the previous titles. With ammo boxes you can refill your ammo. The mission progresses by moving forward and most of the time you follow another character and they open doors etc. I am getting a bit sick of performing actions by mashing a single key but that’s what happens when a game is made to work on a console platform using a game pad. 
I’ll also mention that the animation of the characters' faces in the cut scenes was very well done, almost life like.
I found the ending to be a bit anti-climactic.  
The game is rated M.
I give it 8.2/10

SOMA Review

SOMA is a first-person science fiction survival horror game developed by Frictional Games and was released in September 2015. 
The game starts when a character called Simon Jarrett goes to a clinic in Toronto to have a brain scan because of a car accident leaving him with brain damage. During the scan Simon blacks out and when he wakes up he is in some sort of underwater research facility in the future. Everything is not as it seems. Without giving to much away something has happened to Simon’s mind and something catastrophic has happened on earth.

There is no combat in this game. The only way to protect yourself from creatures is to run, hide or distract them to go past you. There are not many situations in this game where you will be attacked. The game is quite short. Most of the gameplay involves solving puzzles, reading clues and exploring. There is no hint system to tell you what to do and sometimes you have to work it out yourself. I found myself using a walkthrough a couple of times as I was stuck. 
The story is good, there are not many characters to interact with. I played with both a keyboard, mouse setup and a controller. I found the keyboard setup better. Graphics wise the visuals were not stunning but they achieved what was intended. It is not really a horror game as I did not find it scary at all. The only scary parts were hiding from the creatures and that was not a regular occurrence. The environment and music does do a good job of setting the mood and ambience to make you feel unsettled as you progress.   

The ending is both sad and happy depending how you look at it. (I suggest watching the credits as the game does not fully end before the credits). It took about 13 hours to complete this game but you could remove one third of that from being stuck or lost. 
Overall I found it a good game with an interesting and original premise. SOMA is not a triple A title and it costs less than half to buy than more popular games. At the lower price I found it to be worth playing.
I give it 7/10

Bioshock Infinite Review

Developed by Irrational games and published by 2K Games, Bioshock Infinite is a first-person shooter released in March 2013. It is the third Bioshock game after Bioshock and Bioshock 2. You play as Booker Dewitt (a former detective) who has been tasked to go to a city in the clouds to rescue a young woman called Elisabeth. 
The gameplay is similar to the previous titles but the story is new and the city is in the clouds not under the sea. The game system consists of health you have to pick up throughout the map and salt for the vigors that you aquire. (The vigors are potions you drink that make modifications to yourself, like producting electricity or fireballs etc). Once you lose health you have to collect food or health packs scattered around. You first have to wear down the shield all the way to start losing health. You shoot weapons with the left mouse button and vigors with the right mouse button. I think weapons are upgradable and so are the vigors. To get from A to B you are not limited to the ground. There is a transport system that you can attach to with a contraption on your arm. You can also use this contraption to attack enemies at close range. Elisabeth is also there alongside you to help for most of the game.

The design of the visuals are very original and the game looks great on the highest settings. The timeline is sometime before the 1920’s so you will see the fashion and the building style of the time but up in the clouds. From the vending machines to the posters on the wall, everything has been designed with the early 1900’s in mind.
The story and voice acting are great and keeps you interested throughout. In the level called shanty town there is a room and downstairs is a guitar. If you interact with it he picks up the guitar and they sing a nice song together. I thought that was a nice touch.
There are Christian overtones to the game as the society in Columbia has been formed around Christian beliefs. There is also some humour in the game such as robots that look like George Washington that shoot rockets at you.

After the final boss battle, the ending story of the game takes about 15 minutes to complete and is well worth it. After finishing the game, I came away really satisfied.
Rated Mature.
I give it 9/10

Call of Duty: Ghosts Review

Call of Duty: Ghosts was released in 2013.  Developed by Infinity Ward and Published by Activision. It is a first-person shooter video game set in a future alternate time. After the nuclear destruction of the Middle East, the oil-producing nations of South America have joined together as a superpower called the Federation.  The Ghosts are a group of U.S Special Operations personnel who are led by retired army captain Elias Walker. For most of the game you play as one of his sons who is also a Ghost. His name is Logan. Also in some missions you are joined by a German Shepard called Riley.
The main bad guy in the game is the former leader of the Ghosts Gabriel Rorke who now works for the federation after being captured and extensively brainwashed.
The game is played in some interesting places including a jungle, under water, in a falling sky scraper in South Korea and in space. The graphics are quite interesting especially in these places mentioned. The voice acting was good with some familiar voices including Stephen Lang as Elias Walker and Kevin Gage as Gabriel Rorke.
The story was ok but never got me riveted to my seat.  I did not like the style of the loading scenes that tell part of the story. They were dark and were distorted into blocky liquidity movements of CGI is how I would describe it. 
One of the best aspects of the game is you get to drive tanks, fly helicopters, control various military hardware, and be a dog (which I did not like so much).
The nvidia hairworks on the dog was a bit overkill and distracting also.

The game play has not changed from other Call of duty games. Moving forward is how you progress through the missions. The direction of the objectives are not shown on the screen in this game. They are pretty straight forward, but if you wander off and the team goes somewhere it can take a while to find where your meant to be. Normally the objective flashes yellow when you are close by so you know what to do. 

Its rated Mature

All in all it’s a good game, not a great game. Compared with the other Call of Duty Games I would rank it somewhere below the Modern Warfare series.
7.9/10

Crysis 3 Review

Crysis 3 was released in February 2013. It is a first-person shooter and the third instalment of the Crysis series. It was published by Electronic Arts and developed by Crytek. 

There are two main enemies to overcome in this game. Cell Corporation and the leader of the Ceph, an alien race. You play the role as Prophet who has a Nanosuit that can boost armour and disappear as well as show tactical information on the visor. Alongside him is Psyco (from Crysis Warhead). Set in 2047, (after the events of Crysis 2) a post-apocalyptic New York contains both an urban landscape and urban jungle settings.

Compared to Crysis 2, the environments are more open and the nanosuit is more functional including a hacking feature. You can customise your weapons on the fly like adding a silencer for more stealth.
The gameplay is much the same as Crysis 2 in many ways but the story and voice acting is more compelling and draws you in.
Using the CryEngine 3 Game engine the visuals are superb! The nature scenes especially. Some of the best I have seen in a PC Game. Performed well on my PC but you could tell it must be a demanding game on the highset graphics settings.
The game is rated Mature.
8.9/10

Wolfenstein: The Old Blood Review

Before reading this review I suggest you read the review of Wolfenstein: The New Order as they are based on the same story line and the gameplay is similar for both games.
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood is a first-person shooter action adventure game developed by MachineGames and Published by Bethesda Softworks. It was released May 2015 and is a prequel to the 2014’s Wolfenstein: The New Order. Once again it is set in an alternate history where the Nazis won World War Two and dominate much of the globe. Its B.J. to save the day. Fight Nazis and more Nazis.

This game was less original than the previous game. You start the game in Castle Wolfenstein and to escape you travel in an air lift. (Sound familiar. That’s the same plot as the 2001 Return to Castle Wolfenstein). There are sections of the game that contain supernatural creatures which also borrow from the previous Return to Castle Wolfenstein.
What I found annoying was the overuse of the metal pipe through the entire game. He uses it to open windows, to take down enemies, to climb walls and open grates. (He even uses it to push a button when he can’t reach.) 

The game is more of an expansion pack from first game as the duration is quite short compared to The New Order. The weapons are the same. The style of play is the same. The health system is the same, where you have to pick up health packs and ammo from around the map. 
The boss fight at the end can take a very long time and if you make a mistake you have to start from the beginning. 
The story is okay and does not detract from the game. Nightmares is back, including more levels from the original Wolfenstein game. There are plenty of different locations during the game to keep you interested. I forgot to mention both Wolfenstein: The New Order and The Old Blood use id Software’s id Tech 5 game engine. There were some issues when you kill an enemy: their bodies were still standing upright. This happened quite a few times.
The game was played with the graphics settings on the highest level and performed quite well.

I give it 7/10

Rated Mature

Wolfenstein: The New Order Review

Wolfenstein: The New Order is a first-person shooter, action-adventure game. It was released in May 2014, developed by MachineGames and published by Bethesda Softworks. It was set in an alternate history where the Nazis won the Second World War. The story follows William “B.J. Blazkowicz in his attempt to stop the rule of the Nazis".

The game is set up in levels and has a health system that regenerates to a certain degree before you have to start collecting the health items located around the map. The fighting is what you would expect from a FPS game. The weapons are more advanced recreations based on what was available in World War Two. You have to collect the weapons and ammunition from around the map which is a bit tedious and detracts from the fluidity of the game. The best way to play is to start off as stealth and when you are eventually spotted a fire fight ensues. Or you could just run in all guns blazing but you normally die quickly that way.
On the easy setting I found you can slip by guards without being noticed or sneak up behind them with no trouble.
The laser cutter was a fun addition to the game as well. You can use it to cut through metal grates, fences and also use it as a weapon.
Rewards can be received for searching around the map. Including gold and notes to read. There is also a hidden level called nightmares which recreates levels from the original Wolfenstein game.

This game was better written than the previous Wolfenstein games. It does something fresh with the subject matter. The plot and character interaction make it a good game. Not to mention there is a level played out on the moon. Yes the moon.
The game also performs well on the highest graphic settings.
Rated: Mature with Blood and Gore Intense Violence Language sex scene and Drugs.
 

I give it 7.9/10

Battlefield Hardline Review

Battlefield Hardline is an EA game developed by Viceral Games. It was released in March 2015. This game is not a military game like the previous Battlefield games. It’s a police war-on-crime based game. If you like a fast paced action game with a simple story line this is the game for you. 
The game is set in Miami. The main character is a new detective by the name of Nick Mendoza. Alongside him is a female detective Khai Minh Dao. The two detectives are surrounded by a drug war and their mission is to bring down the people responsible for bringing the drugs to the streets. Corruption also plays a part as they go off the books to get the job done.

It felt like the game was quite short. This was probable due to the fact it was so fast paced and full of action which made time go by faster.
You can complete most of the missions by using stealth or you can go in guns blazing. The best option is a mixture of both. Even though it is quite easy to sneak about (as the AI is pretty easy) it can take a long time to complete a mission that way. For me it was more fun to try and sneak around and silently take as many down as I can then open fire on the rest.
There is an aspect to the game that involves searching for clues using the scanner. It is also useful for tagging enemies and listening to their conversations from a distance. Experience points are gained by flashing your badge and arresting the bad guys and by takedowns and finding clues. This helps you unlock new weapons during the game.
 
The detail of the characters' faces was quite realistic with the facial expressions. The voice acting was quite good although the storyline quite simplistic and full of clichés. The visuals were quite good for a modern game and the music track was fun to listen to while playing.
I found that regular difficulty was quite easy and the AI was not that smart.
The whole game was made in the style of an action TV show. That’s why there is a cut scene that says "Previously on Battlefield Hardline" and gives you the gist of the previous mission. When you exit it shows you the cut scene for the next mission. In-between the missions there is a YouTube style browser that automatically starts the next mission with a count down or you just push the play button.
It’s as though they didn’t spend as much time making this game. I think they wanted to push something out that was high action and fast paced, but meant it wasn't as polished as their other Battlefield games.
The game still uses the frostbite game engine which I enjoy because when you hide behind a wall or inside a building it eventually gets eroded away from all the bullets flying at you.

The game is rated MA15+. It has violence, coarse language and drug references.
I give the game 7/10

Dead Space 3 Review

Dead Space 3 was made in 2013. It is a third-person shooter. You take the role of Isaac Clark, the protagonist in the two other Dead Space series.
Dead Space 3 takes place in the 26th century. Humanity has colonized space. In their search for resources, they stumble upon an ancient artefact, a near limitless supply of energy. The side effect of this energy is that it reanimates dead flesh, bringing the dead back to life. 
Once this is realized, it is up to Isaac to travel to a distant planet to destroy this artefact and fight off the necromorphs. 
The gameplay can be frustrating at times. Sometimes the third person angle gets in the way, especially up close and when cornered. The weapons don’t do much damage which means you are constantly running away from the necromorphs in order to destroy them. This is in part due to the fact that most necromorphs don’t die when you shoot parts of their body off, they mutate and still attack you. At least you can’t walk off a cliff, the game won’t let you. There is no jumping either.
Your weapons can be upgraded during the game with the collection of raw materials using scavenger bots. You can also make new weapons from parts you find laying around. The suit can be upgraded the same way. I only found this out half way through the game.
Along with the main missions there are side missions that you can accept if you desire. Some of them are quite long. There are boss fights along the way. Most of them quite difficult to accomplish.
The sound of the monsters and the sound of the guns were annoying in this game except for the nice classical soundtrack in the background. The graphics were quite outdated. This was most noticeable in outdoor scenes. The snow and wind effects were a nice touch though.
The overall story could have been better. It was quite forced and the way things happen is so convenient. Plus, the amount of time you spend walking around collecting parts and backtracking gets boring fast. 
One thing I didn’t try was playing the game in CO-OP mode where two people can play alongside each other.

Overall I give this game 6.7/10

Far Cry 3 Review

Far Cry 3 Review

In Far Cry 3 you assume a character called Jason Brody. He and his friends are on a vacation in Bangkok to celebrate Riley getting his pilot's licence. The story begins when they land amongst a group of islands while skydiving. They are called the Rook Islands. These islands are populated with villager tribes and pirates. The pirates are led by a man called Vass. Vass has kidnapped your friends and it is your job to rescue them and eventually take him out.

The island of Far Cry 3 is huge so it’s a good idea to follow the story line otherwise you could find yourself wandering around aimlessly. You will find it’s a good idea to drive to places rather than walk.There are plenty of side quests to complete at your leisure. The island is also full of wildlife to collect which allows you to upgrade things like weapon holsters and ruck sacks. Climbing and unlocking the radio towers will let you see the parts of the island that the radio tower covers.
The gameplay is similar to the traditional first person shooter as well as some extras like throwing rocks to attract the enemy and striking down players from cliff ledges.
You also unlock different skills along the way which makes it easier as the objectives get harder.

I started this game with my original graphics card, an NVidia GTX 645. On the highest settings I had a bad framerate but when I upgraded the card to the GTX 960, the graphics were very impressive at the highest setting. Especially the vegetation.

The game is not without its frustrations. I particularly found the stealth missions frustrating as it would take a lot of time and a failed mission would mean you would have start all over again. I had to use a game trainer at some points as the level was really long and had to start at the beginning all the time.
I generally enjoyed this game although I took a lot of time to finish it with long periods of not playing it.

The game is rated Mature. it contains Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content and the Use of Drugs.
I give it 7.7/10

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Black List Review

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Black List is a third person stealth action adventure game made in 2013.
It is part of the Tom Clancy Splinter Cell series.
In Blacklist you control Sam Fisher, a spy working for the Fourth Echelon. His objective is to stop the Engineers who are a group of terrorists. The player is tasked with certain objectives and most of these require stealth. If you have little patience, then this is not the game for you. Even on the easiest difficulty the game can be rather frustrating. There was one level in a water treatment works with a time limit. I had to retry that level so many times I eventually gave up for a month and eventually retried it using a game trainer to help me along. The checkpoints are also a long time in between saves so you need plenty of time to play this game. Ammo is in short supply so you have to choose carefully how and when to use it. You are equipped with a lot of gadgets at your disposal and it is very rewarding when everything goes to plan and you complete a mission.

The multiplayer mode of this game is called Spies VS Mercs and it revolves around one team hacking a computer system and the other team trying to stop them before the time limit. I was only able to play this a few times as there were rarely any players to play with. It was fun for a while when there were people to play with.
With the graphics at maximum the visuals are quite good with a framerate over 60fps.

I give this game 7/10

Need for Speed Most Wanted Review

Need for speed Most Wanted is a racing game made in 2012.

I got bored of this game fairly quickly. You start need for speed most wanted with a car to drive around a city called fairhaiven. The objective of the game is to become the most wanted driver. This can be achieved by beating the cops, sprint races, circuit races and speed runs. To become most wanted you have to beat all the other most wanted cars. There are different races spread out across the city and they are displayed by difficulty. 
The problem that I had with this game is that when you complete the objectives for the car you start with, you have to choose a new car and do it all over again. This got quite boring for me.
The racing is fast paced with many obstacles to slow you down. The visual aspects of the game are great. The cars also look great.
To make the most of this game I found myself downloading a trainer to give me more nitro and to slow the other cars down as one crash would normally cause me to lose the race.  I used an xbox 360 controller for windows to play this game.
The multiplayer aspect of this game is the most fun. You drive to a meet up and are given a specific challenge to compete against the other drivers and are also given points for taking them out.

I gave this game a 6/10.

Battlefield 4 Review

Battlefield 4 was made in 2013. It is a first person shooter. The plot is set in 2020. Tensions between the USA and Russia are at a record high with conflicts between the two countries. China is also on the brink of war as a Chinese General plans to over throw the Chinese government and with the Russians support would put them at war with the USA.
The story begins with a character called Recker, who just escaped with vital intelligence, the Russian forces in hot pursuit. The story continues as Recker and his companions have to get through a series of situations and battles to complete their objectives. The visuals at maximum were good and not too demanding on the computer. It was a nice change to have some scenes from China and other places. (Not just war zone ravaged cities etc). 

I enjoyed playing this game. One problem I had with this game is how long you have to play before it saves your progress. There was one scene where I would start outside a building looking down on the enemy. I worked my way down and all the way to the next wall and almost through the next stage then I died and had to start at the beginning outside that building again. That was half an hour wasted out of my life. It was so difficult that I downloaded a trainer which gave me unlimited health so I could complete that stage. That was the only bad experience I had from this game. Also I don’t like when you ran the game from Origin it loaded a webpage and you had to click on a webpage link to play it.
With that in mind I found the rest of the game to be an enjoyable experience. The graphics and frame rate performed well during the game and I found it to be a worthwhile game to play. 
I did not spend enough time in multiplayer to give it a proper review. The good thing I will say about multiplayer is some maps allow you to control vehicles such as helicopters and boats.
I give the game 7.5/10.

Need For Speed The Run Review

I thoroughly enjoyed this game.

Need for Speed The Run is a racing game. It was released in 2011. There is plenty of new locations and scenery in this game.
The game begins in SanFrancisco and is a cross country race across the United States and ends in New York.

The plot starts with a mechanic and street racer called Jack who owes money to the mob. The only way he can get his life back together is to enter a race called “The Run”. It is a 3000-mile race across America from SanFrancisco to New York. To win the run you have to beat 2010 other race car drivers.

The visuals are stunning in this game. The few hundred miles you actually drive takes through many different landscapes. A national park, mountains, motorways and through the city. The cars handled well and most of the stages were completed with relative ease except a few. I found myself playing through this game a few times as it's such a nice drive. 

I played this game with an Xbox 360 controller for windows. It performed well. I found it much easier than the keyboard.
The music is fun while you play the game also. The graphics performed well playing this on a high end laptop as well as the desktop.
The game was completed in a few hours and I felt I got my money’s worth.
I give it 8/10