HD PVR Rocket

Hello everybody! I am aware that I haven't been writing any reviews for games as of late but I have been busy making videos! I am now the owner of a HD PVR Rocket (pictured), a capture device that can be connected to a number of devices. For me the PS3, PS4 & Xbox 360 will be the main devices I will be using it on.

The main attraction of this capture device for me was that it can be used in a stand alone mode. This means that the user (me or you) can just plug in a USB pen drive and press the big red button to start recording. It can be used with a computer and laptop as well but I have neither near any of my consoles. It even has a microphone that allows you to do commentary with videos that you make.

Watch Dogs Review

Watch Dogs is a new game released by Ubisoft that solely revolves around technology. You play as Aiden Pearce a man who has the personality of a door and the phone of the future.  But the reason this game created a big hype was not the characters but the phone that connects you to the world around you. Yes everything is open to be hacked by the player, traffic lights, Bridges, Grenades, Camera's and more.

The story for the game was clearly not a big cause for concern for the developers as its only around 30 missions long or 5 chapters if you prefer. Even Assassins creed 1 felt a little longer. I will however explain a little bit about the story, Aiden Pearce who is a computer hacker tries to hack a hotel but comes across a strange file held on the servers. The people who own the hotel call a hit on Aiden and his niece is killed thus driving him onto finding those behind it. So not much thought put into it at all, but then you get the phone and things don't look so bad. The playable part of the game starts with Aidan interrogating the gun man that killed his niece. This is when we meet Jordi, a hitman but in Watch Dogs these people are known as Fixers and they are plentiful but only one is on your side... because you pay him. After escaping the stadium and the police who pursue you the player is introduced to what family Aiden has left, a sister and traumatized nephew.

Aiden is somewhat of a blank character in terms of emotional depth he's definitely in the shallow end. This has received a lot of criticism from gamers and Ubisoft has announced that a new character will be taking over as the main protagonist. In my opinion Aidan Pearce was a blank character, no denying that but after playing Infamous Second Son it's not really that bad. When you have a roster of characters who are stereotypes in one way or another having a blank character doesn't seem so bad. In a perfect world games would attempt to rise to the story level of The Last of Us but that is a big ask. 

It's later on in the game where you actually get the full range of abilities made available to you.  At first you get a limited amount and then boom! You have one hell of a phone in your virtual hands.

The world is what attracts you to watch Dogs though, the map is split into six different sections that are full of things that the player are free to do. There are shops that can be visited to buy clothes, supplies, coffee etc that help the player survive in the game but there are also jobs as well. These are known as fixer contracts and come in various forms, ambushing criminal convoys, Racing and some generic tasks. These jobs don't really catch the player's attention for the enjoyment but rather the players need for money.

The main problem with this game is that there are a whole range of tasks available to actually get money but little to spend it on. I was imagining that there would be some kind of system that GTA Vs stock exchange. I wouldn't have minded a system that allows you to build up a small company or something. This may sound out of place but you need to bare in mind that when I finished the game I had over $250,000 left. I say this is a problem but it's something that could easily be fixed through an update or DLC if the developers felt so inclined to do so.

Clothes while expensive offer little more than a change of style. I was hoping for little perks like more holsters, dual weapons, increased Kevlar etc. If the season pass has been purchased as well then there are a flood of free clothes already available to the player for free. This on the whole just leaves you with less to spend money on.

If he spent more time thinking about the plot and
less on clothes he'd actually get somewhere

Digital Trips are a neat little escape from the game world. A Digital Trip is meant to sound like a drug but is actually a video game. The player can become a spider tank for example and rain chaos through out the city or free the city from alien robots. There aren't many rewards for these digital trips though and there are few things to keep the players interest. On most occasions the challenge that they give the players is enough to keep interests levels peaked, or more accurately you'll keep playing because of determination.

Robots ? Zombies ? Robot Zombies ?

I have played many games set in wide open worlds but none have quite reached the depth of Watch Dogs. Every NPC that passes you on the street has a name, a back story, a life that you can get a glimpse into. Just by turning on your profiler you can get a list of information about people. They even react to the world as well as the player, take a news broadcast about the player for example. If he appears on a TV screen the NPCs may ignore you, they may cheer you or the may call the police. Which is where the games sense of moral choice comes into it, do I take the phone away from the civilian, do I shoot the civilian or perhaps shoot them in the knee. When these events occur the player genuinely feels like a man on the run from the authorities.

"I'll just tweet about sneaking into this building"

DLC for the game was marketed a lot up to its release but they are slow to be released post launch day. The launch DLC are available to all players now but offer very little for your money. The player is able to get a few outfits, a few guns, an extra perk or two and last but not least a few missions. That may sound like a hefty sum but the missions themselves are rather repetitive and lacking in any originality.

Ending on talking about the games technological functionality the video below shows it's frame rates on next gen consoles. As you can see the frame rates stay at 30fps which shows that the game doesn't really utilize Next Gen hardware that much which is unfortunate. Coupled with tearing that is experienced after completing missions makes for a very poor ride in terms of technology. Despite this however the game still manages to look amazing on these consoles and are miles ahead of their PS3 & 360 counterparts.

Watch Dogs did not get everything right for certain but they did get a lot of things spot on. It's for those reasons that I would suggest this game to anyone looking for a good enjoyable game with technological aesthetics.

9.1/10

The Last of Us Review

The last of us was released in 2013 to critical acclaim which was one of the reasons behind me buying it. The game itself is made by the same company that made Uncharted. Plot-wise the game is set in a post apocalyptic world where a disease has wiped out a majority of the human population. At the start you see how the disease started to spread then the game skips to twenty years after where the player is met by a very different world and characters.

The main attraction of this game was its plot, how the story is mainly character driven. The two main characters are Elli and Joel. Joel is a middle aged man who has survived twenty years of the apocalypse and its clear that he has done some bad things to survive. Elli is a teenager who at first knows next to nothing about surviving in the world outside the quarantine zone she grew up in. There are other characters like Joel's brother Tommy, the distant relationship Joel has with his brother is another hint towards the dark things they had to do to survive in the early years.

As the game progresses they begin to realize how much they need to rely on each other to survive. This is where the character progression takes place, one instance is when Joel and Elli have entered a city. Elli insists that she should have a gun in case she has to defend herself but Joel refuses believing that she is too young. The pair discuss the subject a bit more but Joel doesn't change his mind. Eventually they get separated and he gets ambushed by a bandit who tries to drown him. Elli shoots him, an act the Joel doesn't thank her for straight away but it does show him that she can't be treated as a kid anymore. This is just one of many small moments that help to build a connection between the characters and the player.

The game shows off a range of environments for the player to explore. At first the player is set loose in a quarantine zone where he has to help another character find someone. Later on the player finds himself in a small town over run with infected and traps. After that a city filled with bandits, there's even numerous changes in the time of year. All of these placeds are beautifully detailed and show the devastation that followed in the aftermath of the outbreak. Taking a note from the Uncharted games there are elements of the environment that must be used to complete tasks which is a good break from the sneaking and killing.

As for the gameplay it is quite distinctive in that there are many ways to approach tasks and not all will be available. There's the direct approach that needs to be planned out to some degree for any hope of success or there's the sneaky way. The first was my most chosen option with me using a mix of melee weapons, guns and traps to deal with the enemies but the game is at it's best when your back is against the wall. When you find that you have little in the way of supplies and no bullets you are forced  to avoid any sort of confrontation and be aware of your surroundings.

This brings me to some of the other gameplay features. There's a crafting system that is simple to use and is very effective. Within seconds the user can craft items for use in fights and there are even options to upgrade the character. These are done through the use of pills, why are there so many pills laying around two decades after the apocalypse ? your guess is as good as mine.

Overall the game is a masterpiece equiped with stealth and gore suited for the thinking man's shooter. Whether or not you like it depends on the preference of game you like but The last of us should at least be tried as there is a good chance that it will pleasantly surprise you.

10/10