Recent reviews by Cosmic Engine

Full Video Review - http://youtu.be/vwcGM6WCnbQ


Never Alone tells the story of an Iñupiat girl Nuna who while out finds herself stuck in an eternal blizzard. She is saved by an Arctic fox who then becomes her companion. They both then set off to find the source of the eternal blizzard meeting friends and foes along the way to try and save their way of life.

Nearly 40 Alaska Native elders, storytellers and community members contributed to the development of the game. The story of the game combines different folklore tales of the Alaskan natives and produces some wonderful, atmospheric storytelling. The game is narrated by a native elder who speaks in their native language throughout. The whole narration is very well done and due to the fact that the narrator is speaking in the native language it not only adds a degree of gravitas to the story but also a sense of atmosphere.

Graphically the game looks great. The Arctic setting looks great its mix of black, blues and whites all make for a very eye pleasing vivid look. The game visually reminds me of a cross between Brothers and child of light at times. The mixture of the 3d and 2d works really well and the effects such as lighting, snow winds and more look good and provide great atmosphere. The soundtrack of the game is also wonderfully composed and adds to the ambiance of the various situations and story points throughout.

In terms of game play you must use both Nuna and the fox to accomplish different tasks in order to progress. Similar to Brothers, Nuna and the fox both have different roles. Nuna can climb ladders and ropes, move heavy obstacles, and throw her bola at targets. Where as the fox fit through small areas, scramble up walls, jump to great heights and can control spirits that come to help you. In single player you can seamlessly switch between the two at any time allowing you adapt to any given situation or puzzle.

You can use either use mouse and keyboard or a controller to play the game. The game has clear been designed with the joysticks of a controller in mind particularly throwing Nuna's Bola and so I would recommend using one if you have one.

As you go through the eight chapters in the game you'll come across a variety of puzzles and your run of the mill platforming to take care off. Usually you'll need to you both characters abilities to overcome hurdles such as moving a crate with Nuna so the fox can jump, then run up a wall to the throw a rope down so Nuna can climb up. As the game progresses Nuna and the fox will gain some other abilities such as Nuna's bola which is a throwing weapon that Nuna can use to break objects among other things.

The puzzles in the game are done fairly well and all work well in the arctic setting. The folklore adds really colorful elements and characters to the game such as spirits who help to traverse land. Like in any puzzle platformer, as you progress the puzzles become more difficult however theres nothing that requires more than a couple of tries to get right. Should you find yourself dying the game has a regular checkpoint system denoted by owls along the levels.

As well as the single player, you also have drop in co op which works really well. Having a friend control either Nuna or the Fox can not only be fun but also allow you to progress much faster and smoother. However you will require a spare controller to play co-op..

While the Never Alone hits the right marks in terms of looks, atmosphere and story it does currently have a number of issues. Firstly something that hopefully the developers will try and iron out as soon as possible is the sheer amount of bugs in the game. In several major places in the game I found a couple of bugs that hampered my progress briefly and I had to restart from a checkpoint to continue.

At one part in the game I was getting chased by a polar bear until you reach an ice bridge. Now whats supposed to happen is the bear steps on the bridge and falls into the water which triggers a water spirit to carry Nuna and the fox across the water. However on several occasions this scene bugged and the bear wouldn't step on the bridge causing the ice just to break apart and causing me to die over and over until it after on reset the bug was no longer present.

Another issue is in the single player mode only. Because you can only control one character at a time the other follows. Sadly if your in danger say for example someone is throwing rocks at you the non controlled character sometimes forgets to move and dies which can get annoying.

One of the great aims of the game is to educate people on the culture of Alaskan natives. They have done this by putting insights which you unlock through playing. Insights are short videos which you can watch anytime that explain different parts of the culture. It was a great way to implement this in the game and some of the short videos contain really interesting information.

As a whole Never Alone is very well produced. While it does have some minor hiccups along the way. It is a beautiful, atmospheric puzzle platformer that not only allows you to traverse beautifully crafted Arctic environments. But its a video game about sharing and ultimately celebrating a culture. Not only does the game provide entertainment but it harnesses to some degree the mediums other potentials such as education.

Full Video review - http://youtu.be/JwTX0kEM0zU

As the game starts you find yourself in control of three civilians in a shelled house. Each of your civilians has different backgrounds, inventory space and a main skill for example good cook or skilled scavenger. Your first objective is to scavenge through the house and find materials so you can build basic equipment like a cooker for food, beds, heater and other essentials.

The aim of the game is to get your group of civilians to survive through the war or if they all die the game will end. Each time you play the game you are assigned a random group of characters. Not only is this random but the length of the play-through is random, sometimes the war can last 30 days other times it can last months like in real life the length of a war is never certain. Both the location on the map and the things you find there are randomly generated too, which ensures replay-ability so each play-through you have will differ in some way.

Graphically the game is fantastic, the way the art direction has been done is very well thought out. The game is a grim one and its reflecting in its dark color palate. The game looks like it has been done with a charcoal scheme and then they've added a pencil shaded overlay which blurs the lines between computer generated graphics and hand drawn art. Sound effects are top notch everything from bombs going off in the background to the opening of doors. The soundtrack to the game is wondrous providing great atmosphere and emotion in the background as you play.

The controls are fairly simplistic and nearly everything simply requires a mouse click. Once a character is selected you can use the left mouse button move them or interact with an object. Clicking with the right mouse button has the same effect but makes the character run instead of walk so keep your fingers nimble as you never know when you might need to get away quickly.

The game works from off a day and night cycle. Its too dangerous to venture out in the war torn city during the day. The day is used for keeping your civilians needs met like feeding them, making sure those who were up all night guarding or scavenging get some sleep and of course treating the sick and wounded. The day is the only time you can make equipment and build items.

In terms of crafting you automatically start off with a basic workshop in your base from which you can build basic things you need to survive such as a heater, beds, water collectors etc. You can also build other more specialized workshops such as the metal workshop which you can use and upgrade to craft weapons, ammo and armor. All these workshops can be upgraded so you can gain access to more items to craft such as upgrading the herbal station will eventually allow you to craft your own medicine and bandages.

Everything costs something in the game after all its all about survival. Crafting items will cost you parts and materials which you will have to gather or trade for. But before you even consider crafting more complex items or even basic ones you first need to see to the needs of your group. Each member will need food and this can be done in various ways. First should you come across raw uncooked food and vegetables you can cook these at a cooker to create meals you'll also need water and fuel. You can also eat vegetables and such without cooking them but it does not satisfy hunger like a proper meal. You also have canned food which is usually pretty rare to find and very valuable, just one canned food counts as a complete meal and can be a life saver if your low on other food supplies.

Once night comes along its time to decide what you want to do with your people. The night, like the day is dangerous but its safe enough to try and scavenge for food and resources. When the night comes you'll enter the city map screen. This is where you can assign who does what for the night be it guarding the shelter from looters, sleeping and of course assigning someone to go out scavenging.

Truthfully scavenging is where the game comes alive. The locations you can scavenge vary and more are added as your progress. You can visit everything from houses, schools and hospitals to supermarkets, military outposts and more. Moving your cursor over a location will tell you what you can expect in that location, not only does it give you an idea of what supplies can be found there but it will also tell you if there have been reports of people inside and if there's possible danger.

Once your selected character is at a scavenging location they will automatically be in scavenging mode which includes the sneak stance. It's often best to try and get what you need quickly and quietly as drawing unwanted attention can have lethal consequences. So you scour the location you will come across various obstacles like mounds of rubble, locked doors or even grates and bars. With the right tools which you can craft at your home base you can overcome these problems however tools are either one use like lock-picks or have limited durability like the shovel.

You will be able to scavenge the same location more than once after all you won't be able to fit an entire locations resources into your little backpack. This is helpful as it means you know the lay of the land when returning to a previous location but don't get complacent, just because the location was void of life the first time doesn't mean other scavengers or worse won't be there upon your return.

While out in the city you will come across all manners of people who are just like you and trying to get through. Inevitably you may come across individuals who will want to do you harm, this may be some looters, raiders or soldiers. Dealing with hostiles very much depends on the situation, factors include how well armed you are, how armed they are and how many enemies your facing. Often sneaking past or making a run for it will ensure survival but you may find yourself having to fight. Sounds from rooms you have no line of sight in can be heard and seen with a red circle appearing. If you hear footsteps, it could be an armed soldier or just a scurrying rat, you never know until you look.

I certainly feel that the games vision has been achieved. As a video game it hits all the right marks, solid mechanics, great art and sound but what tops it for me is the events and it's sandbox nature. Not only are you creating your own story as you go through but it's a deeply meaningful one. The game has both feel good experiences and experiences that make you sick to your stomach. Through the characters, events and game play a powerful message is sent to you as the player. I grew attached to every character I had in my party and the people I met. The whole game was a gripping experience that left me as a gamer wanting more but as a human being truly distraught at the realities of civilian life in a war torn city. For all these reasons and more This War Of Mine has easily become one of my favorite games of the year and is probably my indie game of the year by leaps and bounds. There is a lot of mature content in the game so it's certainly not for younger audiences but for everyone else I certainly would say to pick it up and experience it for yourself.

Full Video Review - http://youtu.be/von0Q9yPRA8

In Randal's Monday you play, as you would expect Randal and yes, it's Monday. Randal himself is a very dis-likable character, take a lazy, borderline alcoholic smart ass. Then add some kleptomania and finally make them a sociopath and there you have Randal. Randal is certainly that drinking buddy we all had growing up that we didn't really like but was good to have at a party but a whole lot worse.

The story starts in a bar as Randal, his best friend Matt and Matt's girlfriend Sally are drinking to celebrate their engagement. While Sally is away, Matt shows Randal the engagement ring that he got for a Dorito from a homeless guy and so enters lord of the rings nods left, right and center. After too much to drink and throwing up in the alley Matt, drops his wallet with the ring of power inside, Randal being the kleptomaniac picks the wallet up and keeps it for safe keeping but strangely doesn't give it back the same night. In the morning Randal finds that a series bad things happen to him, mainly his own fault mind you and through more story which I won't spoil, you discover that the ring is cursed. Soon Randal finds himself trapped in a time loop, repeating that same Monday over and over except there's one difference. Everything he does changes the past present and future so while he repeats the same Monday over and over the things he has direct contact with can be affected by him. An example of this is the fire escape next to his apartment, early on in the game you use that to avoid your landlord and the whole thing collapses after it does every Monday from that point the fire escape remains broken.

I'll be the first to admit point and clicks are not my thing unless they have a great setting and story, their repetitive nature grinds on me very fast. In terms of mechanics Randal's Monday is no different that other point and clicks, throughout each location there is an array of objects and people to interact with. Usually this takes the form of a primary interaction and secondary interaction. Primary interactions are where Randal actually physically does something like initiating a conversation or stealing something. Secondary interactions are almost always where Randal will make an observation about the object or person while this can be as simple as stating what an item is sometimes these observations will contain clues as to what to do with that item or person. If your unsure of which objects are interact-able you can hold down spacebar which will light up all interact-able objects but not all of them will be important.

Movement between locations is done via the subway system. At locations you can walk between rooms or if your impatient you can double click the entrances to instantly load the location. One thing I really enjoyed about Randal's Monday was that the game self deprecating an example of this can be seen when using the subway on the load screen. When the load screen comes up you get helpful hints at the bottom of the screen and while there are some that pertain to the game often they are hints like 'upgrading your bases benefits all your troops' and other references to different video game genres. The game makes fun of being a point and click and it makes the whole game quite endearing in a way.

As with many point and clicks, Randal's Monday is filled with puzzles, these take the form of finding ways to acquire items and achieve your goals. Randal being a kleptomaniac will often have to steal items however usually someone is around watching you so you'll have to devise creative ways to distract them. This usually involves using other items you've 'acquired' sometimes you'll even need to combine items in your inventory to form new items which are often wacky and fun like the extendable duck hanger. One of my biggest dislikes of the game is the inventory. The inventory is done like a comic book which while it is aesthetically pleasing, in terms of functionality its a pain. To combine items you have to click on item on the inventory and then click the one you want to try and combine it with. However if it doesn't work both are then deselected, this means that say the item you want to experiment with is on the second page of the inventory and all your other items are on the first pages, you have to keep moving back and forth between sections to try and combine items. It makes the whole notion of trying ideas out laborious and its seriously not only a time drain but a drain on patience too.

The puzzles tended to annoy me as well. Now I understand I'm not great at point and clicks but I'm a pretty logical person. Yet there were a number of occasions where I literally had no idea what to do. The game doesn't really do a good job of giving you an idea about how to get things done which is fine most of the time but occasionally you have to do something where I thought I would never have guessed to do that with that item. Luckily there is a walk-through hint system in the game you can access which will tell you what to do step by step however it will not only make the game way too easy, it'll show up on your steam achievements that you used the help guide. In my opinion they should have had a decent hint system in the game but not the almost cheat sheet that they went for. After all it's good the game forces you to actually use your brain to think how to solve things but one thing I learned is that I myself have no ingenuity what so ever.

Where Randal's Monday shines is in it's character, humor and frequent references to video games, sci fi and general geek culture. There isn't one location or conversation in the game that isn't flooded with funny quotes and nods. The whole main story itself is a nod to several cult sci fi and fantasy films. While the game never made me laugh out loud, you cannot help but smile at the various references throughout and the characters in the game do give you cause to have a good chuckle to yourself. In conversations you have choices available to you and each often contains some funny joke that references some film or video game.

Speaking of the characters they are all pretty well thought out. Randal is a very dis-likable character however it's his very nature that requires him to be the protagonist of the game. It's because Randal is a sociopath and a kleptomaniac that its acceptable to steal the things you need and screw over people who get in your way. Narratively it not only would it not make sense for a decent guy to be doing these things but anyone with actually sanity would probably not be able to handle the events that take place. While the whole game is tongue in cheek in its humor and characters, it does have some important messages throughout.

The game looks great, its cartoon grimy appearance works really well and everything looks well drawn. Sound wise it also hits top marks, not only for the sound effects but the voice acting is surprisingly good throughout. Yes it's a little cheesy sometimes but that's usually because its supposed to be and I have to say that the writing of the game is very well done. Often Randal will break the forth wall in a funny way with one occasion telling the player that its their fault his life is getting worse and he often remarks at the player when your trying to do something that's not going to work by saying 'if you think that'll work you need to stop playing and take a rest'.

The characters, story, culture references and breaking of the fourth wall all make for a very enjoyable experience. Randal's Monday is certainly an enjoyable point and click adventure and its well written dialogue and nods to video games and movies alike make the play through well worth it. If you enjoy point and clicks or games that are packed with humor and fun then I certainly would recommend picking up Randal's Monday. It has a few frustrating problems but nothing that detracts from enjoying the experience overall

Video Review - http://youtu.be/urSQGGbTPN4

Ultimately there is only one core gameplay element in legend of korra and that's the combat. As the avatar, Korra can summon the four elements and as in the the show Korra can switch between earth, water, fire and air to fight the multiple enemies she will face. Each style has a different strengths and purposes. Air is great for crowd control and dispatching groups of enemies, water is good for ranged enemies, earth is short range but very powerful and fire is fast and high in damage.

Each element has different combination attacks that can be unlocked and learned as you level the style up through using it in fights. Unlike the show however you cannot switch styles mid combo, you can only switch styles in-between attacks. In terms of combo's I was heavily disappointed with the lack of depth especially from the creators of Bayonetta. Each style only has three or four unlockable combo's and this just severely limits the combat and makes the game very repetitive very quickly.

It's actually quite sad that while the game does have a solid foundation to become a good fighter it feels as if the developers put the ground work in and then didn't have the budget or go ahead to make something with any depth. The combat consists of two button attacks being a normal attack and heavy attack. You also have dodging, blocking and on the rare occasion countering at the right time. Now I say on the rare occasion because the input system feels so sluggish its horrible, its as if your playing an mmo with a poor connection. Buttons don't respond right away and feel spongy which can make it appear as if the guard button works when it wants. This is a huge oversight in any game, in a fighter where timing is everything, its unforgivable. The game even says right at the start that a 360 controller for windows is required for the optimal experience but both controller and keyboard are spongy and unresponsive.

Aside from the lack luster response time of the controls, combat is pretty fun. Avatar fans have longed for a time where they can bend the elements in video game form and it is relatively satisfying to hurl chunks of rocks at enemies. The issue is that while the novelty remains for a good amount of time, the lack of depth and the sheer lack of length of the game negates any true satisfaction to be had. Simply button bashing in most cases has the same effect as actually learning the combo's which takes away any skill involved.

The enemy AI is pretty much non existent as all have a set number of moves depending on the type of enemy. Enemy variety in itself is lacking as barring a few variations you'll be sticking with the same bunch throughout the game. It's feels so lazy, it's like the dev's instead of creating well thought out enemies and attacks just said to each other how to we do battle with the avatar? Oh lets just give most enemies unblockable electric moves. There's no creativity, no flair with enemies, even boss battles are unremarkable with annoyingly long health bars and the same set moves over and over.

In terms of progression there's little to be had. Most moves must be unlocked via the shop you can visit either inbetween levels or when you die. The store also contains health items and talismans you can equip which hold various effects. You can purchase items using spirit energy which Korra collects from defeating enemies or smashing objects. Once you've purchased items you have to equip them which is done by visiting korras home which is essentially a basic character sheet screen. This can be accessed any time and from here you can assign items to buttons as well as look at your available combo's.

The game is surprisingly difficult but I remain unsure if its actually intentional. The reason I say that is because nine times out of ten I died because the block button doesn't respond and the enemies hit unfairly hard or because to make things difficult they just throw more enemies at me. The balance of the game is off with enemies often in just one hit taking half your health bar off. Instead of coming up with intricate exciting fights, every level becomes rinse and repeat with different backdrops.

Speaking of level design levels are linear, short and disappointing. While an array of familiar locations are available including republic city and all the backdrops are faithfully representative of the tv show. The actual parts of the level you can travel in are bland and uninspired. Some sections contain hidden areas that are blocked off by color coded walls and only once you have the appropriate style of bending can they be broken.

Occasionally between levels you'll have a temple run style mission with Korra's trusty polar bear dog Naga. It's all about moving between three or four lanes to avoid objects with some jumping and ducking along the way. The whole thing feels a cheap way to tack on some game time and in my opinion a less than appropriate way to implement Korra's trusty companion. These levels are filed with annoying deaths and become a test in patience rather than a fun side track.

The story of the game follows suit with its other aspects, that being, disappointing. Instead of a gripping narrative that the franchise if renowned for. We are instead served up a B movie quality story that in my opinion isn't even good enough for a filler episode of the tv series. At the start of the game Korra loses all her bending thanks to chi blockers and a mysterious old man. You spend the majority of the game slowly gaining your bending back element by element. Whats even more infuriating is that by the time you have all your bending powers back the game is almost over so you have very little time to actually feel like a complete avatar.

In terms of length, you can get through the story mode in around four to five hours. Once you've completed the story you unlock the pro bending league mode and you can play through the story again with all your bending powers available at the start.

The voice acting is good in the game with all the actors from the series coming to play their roles however like I said the story is bad and thus so is the scripting. What little cut-scenes there are look ok but don't hold any real value to the narrative, many due to the fact there isn't really any. Along side the voice acting is the music and sound effects which are all fantastically true to the franchise and something I was pleased to see.

Overall the game is a disappointment in almost every aspect. It's not the game the franchise deserves, nor is it representative of what platinum can actually produce. What it does provide is a glimmer of hope for the future of the franchise in video game form. Yes this game lacks depth, length and story but its a solid foundation to build upon. It gives me hope that a fantastic Avatar game can be produced with the right budget, skill and time.

Full Video Review Here - http://youtu.be/CRymjA0jxfY

The games story focuses around Styx, an ancient goblin or rakash who is unique and the first of his kind. A master of stealth, deception, thievery and murder, Styx finds himself in the dreaded giant tower of Akenash but by his own doing. The Tower is a labyrinth fortress where the humans and elves hide the mysterious world tree which produces the magical ooze known as amber. Styx wants to steal the heart of the world tree and unlock its secrets and unlock the secrets of his origin too however there’s two things in his way. First the leader of the tower governor Bariman and the second, the Governors legions that guard the giant complex.

The PC port has a good amount of graphical option settings to optimize your visual experience. In terms of controls I would recommend playing with a controller, the mouse and keyboard controls while they work don't feel as fluid or natural as a controller. It is much easier to control Styx and move around with a the thumb sticks of the controller than using the mouse and keyboard, which is very important in a stealth game.

In Styx, stealth is of the utmost importance, if your looking for a game with lots of combat, this is not for you. Styx is a goblin as thus by nature smaller and weaker than your average human soldier. This forces you to as you travel through the tower to think and plan your attacks carefully. Light is also a big factor, its important to put out sources of light such as torches to remain in the shadows. You can do this either up close or by throwing sand from range. Styx's tattoo will glow to indicate that you are fully concealed in the shadows.

You have two stances, one is your normal run stance where you will move faster but also louder. The second is your crouch stance where you move slower but you are also quieter, harder to spot and can enter crawl spaces. Not getting spotted is so important as soon as you do, nine times out of ten you'll be in a situation you can't fight out of. The game has a simple but effective cover system to help with this, you can wall hug with the press of a button and move around it easily. One thing I did notice that is absent is the ability to jump from cover to cover which seems an odd exclusion in a stealth focused game.

Styx can hide in an array of places to avoid detection, including cupboards, crawl spaces, chests even under tables. While in stealth you can take down your enemies in multiple ways. If your in melee range you can either do a instant stealth kill however it will be noisy and attract anyone who is close enough or you can do a silent kill which requires you to hold down the kill button until the target is dead however it takes more time and leaves you open to being spotted. Styx can also carry a limited number of throwing knifes which also instantly kill enemies so if you can't get close enough for a melee kill its often best to use one. Lastly some of the environment can be used to cause kills that look like accidents, stuff like pallets on cranes and such can be detached to crushed anyone below. The good thing about environment kills is that if the body is discovered enemies will not then form a search.

Should you kill an enemy directly, unless they are relatively secluded from patrols you'll have to hide the body. Places that Styx can hide such as trunks and cupboards can be used to hide bodies. Should a patrol find a killed enemy they will begin to search for the culprit. Not only this but there is a mechanic which I like in the game where by even when they go back to their guarding positions they will still have their weapon unsheathed and be more alert to their general surroundings.

Should you get caught in the act of doing anything enemies will pursue and attack you with both ranged and melee weapons. If an enemy gets close enough for close combat then you get locked into combat with that single enemy. You have a chance to win by pressing the parry button at the correct time, then pressing it again when the kill sign comes up. It can sometimes take several parries to be able to kill an enemy. This is by far the weakest and ultimately most frustrating part of the game. First pressing the parry button even a the right time can sometimes not respond and you get hit anyway, the mechanic feels very spongy on occasion. Second ranged enemies will still be doing damage to you and Styx can only take a few hits before dying. Thirdly you cannot escape once locked into close combat so you either kill them or they kill you the downside is if your surrounded by enemies you'll end one lock in just to go straight into another. Essentially if your caught and surrounded by even a few enemies unless your really, I mean really damn lucky your going to die.

Styx has many abilities to help with avoiding detection though the use of amber. One such ability is amber vision which when used briefly lights up enemies and objects of interest including special amber drawn signs to follow. Styx can also use a considerable amount of his amber bar to make himself temporarily invisible which comes in very useful for sneaking past tough rooms or making a quick escape. Finally using the power of amber Styx can clone himself creating a mindless goblin to directly control. The cloning mechanic is extremely useful, not only can you scout ahead without the consequences of getting caught but your clone can open doors for you, access areas you can't and be a decoy for enemies so you can slip around behind them. One thing I did with the clone was place him under a crate attacked to a crane cable while I had Styx on top of the crane. The enemies spotted the clone and as they came in for the kill, I released the crate killing them all below.

Styx's abilities can be upgraded as you progress in the game. Every time you complete a objective you earn skill points to spend on improving your abilities. The skills you can unlock range from improving amber based abilities such as your clones or improving your general stealth abilities such as unlocking the ability to stealth kill enemies from cover. You can only improve your skills at the skill table at your hideout in-between missions. Depending on your style of play you can mix and match on what skill trees you want to improve. If you like using clones to go through a level then improving the clones will unlock things like increased health and new abilities for them. Or if you like to go through a level without being seen once you can improve your invisibility and your movement to be quieter.


Graphically the game is fairly good but not great. While Styx looks good and some of the environments are nice the quality of some the textures isn't brilliant. There is fairly regular graphical bugs, nothing game breaking but things like objects clipping through walls is fair often occurrence. In terms of sound the game has a fairly decent soundtrack that provides a good tense atmosphere, the voice acting on the other hand is a mixed bag. Styx and the majority of the main characters are voice acted well, however when it comes to the array of enemies, not only is the voice acting bad but the script writing is cringe worthy.

In my opinion the solidity of the gameplay makes up for the disappointing graphics and voice acting. The story is good, well told and fairly engrossing, any fans of Styx from the previous game will get a kick from returning to the world and from hearing from the smart mouthed rakash. For me its a complete turn around for cyanide with Styx, of Orcs and Men was filled with great story and characters but had failings across the board with its gameplay and mechanics. In Master of Shadows they have ensured that the gameplay is solid barring a few hitches here and there. Overall its one of the most competent stealth games that has been produced in the last few years.

Video Review - http://youtu.be/M4fj_PdMMtw

Shadow of Mordor takes place at a time between the Hobbit and Lord of the rings. The game starts at the black gate of mordor which at the time is guarded by the rangers of gondor. You control Talion a ranger of gondor whose wife and child lives there too. Soon Saurons armies lead by the mysterious black hand attack and kill all at the black gate including Talion and his family. You the find yourself resurrected by a wraith. Not only are you now bound to the wraith but talion recieves wraith abilites and powers. The wraith has no memory of who he is only that the black hand may be the key to unlocking his memories and so talion and the wraith set forth into mordor on a mission of revenge and discovery. Who ever said that one does not simply walk into mordor? While the story and indeed the game is not canon the developers have made sure that the settings, characters and story align within canon.

Mordor itself at this point isn't the barren wasteland as in the lord of the rings films. It has buildings, plant life as well as all manners of creatures and beings living there. The game offers a unique look into mordors landscape yet I remain disappointed with the world design. Yes while its not the barren landscape from the lord of the rings films it's an underwhelming murky brown landscape. There are hints of green here and there as well as rain but the whole thing remains a very depressing sight. Which on some level is fine after all this is mordor but I would have liked to have seen a little wow factor in the landscape. There are two main maps in the game, the first is just boring and brown, the second however is much more green and lush but still not the landscape I sought.

You only need to play the game for a short time so see the glaringly obvious similarities in gameplay to another Warner brothers title that being Batman Arkham city. Everything from movement to combat is very batman-esc in fact I would go as far as to say that barring a few differences the game is essentially at it's core an arkham game in lord of the rings clothing. However in this case it is not a bad thing, no indeed the free running fluid movement of talion lends vey well to both setting and other aspects of gameplay, after all he is a wraith possessed ranger.

The open world nature of the game works well in mordor, having the ability to just wander and find bands of orcs to kill rarely gets old. On the main map the world is spilt into sections each of which are dark until you climb the spirit tower to unlock it, I know, I know very Assassins Creed. You can even jump off the towers like ezio, who knows maybe Talion is another ancestor of Desmonds. And no ubisoft that is not licence to make assassins creed even more stupid and ridiculous. To be honest the whole spirit towers thing feels silly and such a rip off I wouldn't even have bothered putting it in. Travelling the world can be done in many forms, you can fast travel to towers, run everywhere or even tame animals to ride like the fearsome caragour.

The combat in shadow of mordor is very solid. Similar to the Arkham games the combat is based on a combo system. As you attack and counter enemies attacks you'll increase your hit counter at certain points every 5 to 8 hits you'll be able to preform at combat execution which instantly kills an enemy. Should your enemies be knocked to the floor you can preform ground executions at any time regardless of your hit counter. As you progress in the game enemy variety will increase which will require you to switch tactics depending on what enemy your facing. Normal uruks are easy to kill, uruks with speaks are giant shields require a bit more thought.

You have three weapons at your disposal in combat, a sword, a dagger and a bow. The dagger is used for stealth kills and executions only so you'll be relying on your sword and bow for most of the talking. You only have one attack button for the sword, you can switch targets flawlessly in-between striking so combos are easy to come by. Should you get surrounded you have a counter button which counters most melee attacks bar those who have special attacks.

The bow on the other hand is an indispensable tool both in and out of close range combat. To use your bow you enter the ranger stance, as you take aim you can use focus to briefly slow down time allowing you gain more precision in your shots. Its very easy to get head-shots from the bow and charging your shot up ensures the target will go down. The bow is also useful for getting out of sticky situations, the environment around you can be used to help you in battle. You can use the bow to shoot a variety of objects in the environment from explosive barrels to the cage doors of hungry beasts.

While the combat is fun and fluid it's still not really enough to carry the game. Especially considering its simply an iteration of arkham cities combat. However Shadow of mordor has an ace up its sleeve and for me is the sole reason why the game is worth playing, the nemesis system. The uruks of mordor have a certain hierarchy, powerful war chiefs at the top and under them are the uruk captains. Barring a few set main story characters each war chief and captain is randomly generated with a unique name, personality and appearance. Each captain has strengths and weaknesses in battle so you must adapt your tactics to suit the captain.

Often in your meetings on the battlefield with the captains, they may run or you may need to retreat. Over time, repeated clashes between Talion and an Uruk Captain can become very personal. Uruk Captains can and will remember you from close encounters in battle. Should Talion die, the captian who killed you will gain in rank and power plus the next time you meet he's sure going to mention it. If your killed by a normal uruk they will be promoted to captain and gain all the unique stats that come with that.

I know from experience that a normal uruk can become your worst nightmare. All from a stray spear an uruk then managed to get to captain. After that he continually hunted me down and turned up at the worst possible moments usually when I was fighting other captains. In all he must have killed me around 9 times until I finally got my sweet revenge, there is no better feeling. Sometimes even killing a captain is not enough, Ratanak the prison master was one such foe, I killed him by shooting an arrow through his eye. Later in the game he showed up with half a metal face, yelling that the arrow lost him his eye and he wanted revenge. Instances like this pop up all the time in the game and its very, very cool. The whole system gets you personally involved with these characters, it makes you feel genuine hate at the captain that just plagues your existence. It also gives the impression of a living and changing world, if in a somewhat limited way.

The main story of the game, while not canon, is pretty good. The voice acting of the entire game is fantastic and all the characters particularly the orcs, wraith and gollum are very believable. It certainly does have a good Lord of the rings atmosphere to the whole affair and while the core mechanics are very similar to batman, it never feels like a cheap clone with a tolkien skin.

If you enjoyed games like the arkham series and too a lesser extent assassins creed, you'll be right at home with shadow of mordor. It is certainly a must for any LOTR fans as its certainly of the better games of the franchise. A good game with a few great aspects too it certainly not 'revolutionary' as some websites have claimed but all in all, a good outing for the franchise.

Full Video Review = http://youtu.be/pqELTg4w2SU

Wasteland 2's story places you in the boots of four raw recruits to the desert rangers. The game starts you in the desert wastes of Arizona as you attend the funeral of Ace, a desert ranger who was recently killed. As the funeral ends the desert rangers leader General Vargas throws you into the deep end and sends you off to track down Ace's killer.

Let's start with character creation, in the game you start with four characters. You have the option of either creating your own characters or choose from pre existing builds, you can even have a combination of both. In terms of aesthetics the character models are not pleasant to look like and there isn't a large variety of faces to choose from. That being said the statistical side makes the appearance’s short comings up in spades. Your characters have both attributes which are things like strength and skills. There is a large range of skills available including things like lockpicking, safecracking and more. It's often best to create a diverse group after all the more skills your party has collectively, the more options you'll have throughout the game. I myself opted first for a assault rife bearing squad leader, a sniper with lockpicking and computer skills, a melee focused demolitions expert and a shotgun wielding medic, aptly named Doc.

When your not actually in a location, you'll be traversing the wastes on the world map. There are lots of locations to discover in the world and you can find hidden cache's of loot so its worth spending time to explore. On the world map you have to take several factors in to account when travelling. First is your water supply, your group has water canteens, each mile you travel will use up water and if you run out your party will take damage from dehydration. You can however stop of at any oasis you find in your travels to fill your canteens. Another factor is radiation, after all nukes do tend to leave some nasty after effects in the environment. Safe travel through irratiated zones can only be done by having the appropriate radiation suits, if you don't your party will die of radiation sickness very quickly. The world map also has random encounters not all of which are combat focused. Many will be raiders or animals that you must combat or run away from. Some will be travelling merchants or on the occasion something much more interesting.

Graphically Wasteland 2 isn't the prettiest of spectacles, However its art direction does bring a certain harsh, grittiness to the affair which is very appropriate for the post apocalyptic setting. I think the character models could have been done better as some of the models and animations have a blocky look to them which looks out of place. While it is not the prettiest of games, the effect animations such as explosions look well done. On top of that the things like NPC character art is fantastically done. On thing that does shine in the game is sound which is no surprise when
Mark Morgan who was responsible for the soundtracks to fallout and fallout 2 is your composer. Everything from music, sound effects and surprisingly voice acting is done superbly and brings a real atmosphere to the whole affair.



Let's move on to one of, if not the main part of the game, combat, after all theres plenty of dangers lurking in the wasteland and you can't avoid all of them. Those familiar with the recent X-com or the even more recent Divinity Original Sin will be right at home with Wasteland 2's tactical turn based system. Combat is straight forward and works from an action point system. Your characters attributes determines the amount of AP you have at the start of each turn as well as the order of which characters take their turns in. The combat is fairly fast paced similar to X-com enemy unknown, there is both cover and crouch mechanics too. The cover system is simplistic and being in cover gives you defensive bonuses. Crouching on the other hand improves your chance to hit as well as raising your chance to evade attacks.

Depending on the difficulty combat can become fairly challenging. Particularly later in the game when you meet tougher enemies and enemies with both unique mechanics and better weaponry. As you go through the game you can gain followers to your squad, these followers if you don't have the leadership skill can have a chance to lose control and they will do as they please in combat. Your weapons can also jam, usually at most inconvenient times, plus you will have to regularly reload your mags and watch your available ammo.

Overall the combat is solid, challenging and fun. It can throw you a few curve balls along the way too which is always good for keeping you on your toes. It's something that InXile had to get right and thankfully in my opinion they have executed it very well.

Wasteland 2 boasts a large number of quests to embark on. The great thing about the game is that you often have the freedom of choice in how to deal with the situations you encounter. Depending on who you have in your party and your skills, there are often multiple outcomes to any given scenario. An example of this is when I went to a graveyard and dug some graves, all was fine with me looting form the dead however upon reloading an earlier save I gained a different follower on the path and when I went to dig the graves my ally took offence to disturbing the dead and turn on my group. Things like this can happen all the time in the game and its great to see all the different possibilities there are. Not only does it ensure a good amount of re-playability but it also ensures that while two people can play the same game, different things will happen to each.

In conclusion wasteland 2 lives up to its namesake and not only provides a great post apocalyptic rpg experience but it provides a memorable one too. You will spend hours laughing at the video game culture references throughout the game as well as enjoying the well written characters. One thing I love is that the game doesn't hold your hand and lets you solve problems as you see fit, if there’s a wall in your way you could use the brute force skill or just throw a grenade, the choice is yours but the game won't tell you to do either, its up to you to come up with a solution if at all. The games story is strong and with its multiple choice system, there’s plenty to see and do. It's a solid title from InXile and something that you certainly felt after having such a successful crowd funding campaign, one that had to get right. While its release date has been pushed back several times, in all it seems it was worth it and Brain Fargo and the team have created a fitting sequel. While it does have its occasional issues and minor bugs, its a game that I would highly recommend adding to your collection. Whether your an avid RPG player or not, the majority of gamers will find hours worth of enjoyment in Wasteland 2.

Early Access First Impressions video here - http://youtu.be/FRN73CWv8ws

Recruits is essentially a top down shooter that places you in control of a team of four army recruits. As you progress through battles and missions your team members will earn ranks, essentially levelling them up as they go. Mind you that’s if your team survives as the game features permadeath for characters so if you go down, your not getting back up.

Currently in the game there are only a few single player missions available from the early alpha which are too show off some of the game play. There are a selection of missions on foot which include a straight forward jungle search and destroy mission. There is also a stealth based gather Intel mission at night. There are also a selection of vehicle based missions including a kick ass tank and a less than durable helicopter.

Let's start off with the foot based gameplay. The game currently features dismemberment and gore which is fun to see limbs fly off your enemies after you've thrown a grenade into their ranks. In terms of the actual shooting, which is kind of the main part of the entire game, it currently needs work. Now this is alpha so things are subject to a hell of a lot of change so I won't rip into it too bad. The main problem currently is the accuracy of shots, simply firing at the enemy sometimes will get you no where as shots miss constantly. Now supposedly things like the accuracy of your characters shots is supposed to improve as you gain rank and promotions however I have yet to notice a significant improvement. Shooting enemies isn't the only issue, if you try to shoot an explosive barrel that is in-front of a hut sometimes the game decides that your trying to shoot the hut and the barrel completely eludes any of your shots.

Another major issue currently is the AI of both the enemy and of your fellow squad mates. Though you have a team of four, you can only control one and the others follow. Units are epically squishy, one sometimes two shots and they are down. It means that your entire squad can be wiped out in seconds. Your squad can frequently get stuck behind objects, blindly run into enemy fire and just be a downright nuisance. Enemies also suffer from the same problems as well as having poor AI currently in general.

As I've mentioned fresh units are very easy to kill, one or two hits and you'll go down. As your units are promoted they increase in health. This allows you to take a couple more hits but not many, you'll still die very easily. Your soldiers also currently have customizable nicknames as well as permadeath, so if your highly promoted mission commander is killed you'll have to replace him with a raw recruit.

On the vehicle side of things the tank mission is the most fun to play. The controls of wasd work well and the sheer destructive power of its cannon and machine gun pretty much obliterate anything in your path. The level with the helicopter however is somewhat more clunky. The helicopter is difficult to handle and quickly becomes an easy target. The missiles on the helicopter are neigh on impossible to aim and its more down to pot luck to actually hit anything.

There is multiplayer planned for the game including death match and team death match modes. However it is currently not implemented into this build so one can only imagine how it will actually turn out. Recruits has a variety of features planned in the game which are yet to be put in these include; customizable loadouts, Special Abilities, Weapons Platoon role stat bonuses, visual soldier customization, Greater and more precise control over the squad A.I., Soldier Morale, Medals, Awards and more game modes.

Ultimately recruits does have a certain amount of potential to be a good top down shooter. The game still has a lot of work to be done and provided that the developers fix the current issues with the AI as well as the other main issues. Whether the game manages to reach the potential it has, only time will tell however I would say that there is simply not enough gameplay content currently in Recruits to justify a purchase on early access. Once the game gets a few updates and has more than five prototype missions to play, it may be worth it too shooter enthusiasts. Recruits is certainly one of those early access titles that from a customer stand point it will be worth waiting to see what happens before blinding throwing in your money for five short levels.

Full Video Review here - http://youtu.be/fQLQ3mlkeuM

Hello once again I'm Cosmic and welcome to the latest addition to the Risen franchise, Risen 3 Titan Lords. Risen 3 was developed by German developer Piranha bites who are well known for their previous titles including the Gothic franchise as well as the previous two Risen titles. Published by Deep Silver, Risen 3 was touted to be a throwback to the first Risen title by once again boasting more open world and exploration based game play.

Risen 3 takes a break from the unnamed hero of the first two games. Instead you start the game as the son of the famous pirate Captain Steelbeard thus being brother to Patty a familiar face from the last two games who also features once again in this instalment. Searching for treasure on the mysterious crab coast you soon come across a skull cave that has 'Risen' from the ground, get it? Within the cave itself a skull lord appears and steals the soul of the pirate who seemingly dies. Upon regaining is life thanks too a strange shaman doctor known as Bones, another typical cheesy risen joke. The pirate begins a quest around the southern isles to reclaim his soul and ultimately stop this new threat.

Moving away from the more linear and heavily pirate themed second instalment. Risen 3 has gone back to the multi-factional open world style of the first. In Risen 3 you are able to travel throughout the southern isles to visit and explore islands such as Antigua, Taranis,Calador and other familiar places from the previous games. One thing I do really like so far is that exploration really does reap rewards as you can find loot, quests and secret areas in a variety of ways. One new gameplay feature in particular is the ability to swim, while it sounds a little silly it actually becomes a great exploration tool as you can swim offshore to discover secret islands full of loot.

One of the positive traits about Risen 3 in terms of travel is in its free-form design. You can just head off in a direction and explore, with the only thing stopping you in your tracks being enemies that you are not ready for. Once you finish the starting section you can go to any island that is available to you at that time. You don't have to do the islands in a specific sequence which adds replay ability particularly when you take the factions into account. While on an Island you can travel on foot or fast travel to the various portals once activated. One useful mode of transport is a magic spell that transforms you into a flying parrot, while you cant stay in this mode for long its great if you've just travelled up a mountain and want a quick route down. It's especially useful for those of us with kleptomania as the parrot flight allows you to fly into locations otherwise inaccessible by foot.

The games combat has always been notoriously difficult throughout the series. One click attacking combined with clunky movement can become very tedious and outright frustrating. The start of the game is particularly tedious as your character has next to know abilities other than basic attacks and basic melee blocking. It can end up meaning that those who like to play on the harder difficulty settings will spend hours upon frustrated hours dying against relatively minor enemies especially in group situations. As you progress in the game, improving your stats and acquiring new abilities from trainers, combat becomes a hell of a lot easier. The combat system overall is massively improved from Risen 2 however it still suffers from fundamental flaws that have plagued the series since conception. Clunky movement, issues with focusing on enemies and of course pistol shots missing from point blank range are all back once again.

The major redeeming feature about combat this time round is the return of crystal magic. The developers took out magic in Risen 2 something which was largely complained about upon its release. Thankfully magic is back in force this time and I would argue it is the best way to deal with the majority of enemies as not only does it pack a hell of a punch but its the less frustrating option for group encounters. Luckily which ever faction you decide to join, all offer various forms of magical abilities so no matter how you build your character you will have some form of magic to fall back on.

Those familiar with the previous titles won't find much different when it comes to character progression. To improve your characters array of stats you must accumulate glory points. Glory is earned for the completion of quests as well as killing enemies. On top of this to improve particular stats and gain new abilities you must find trainers which are dotted throughout the world. However to learn from trainers costs gold and depending on what you are trying to learn you must be prepared to part with a substantial amount. There are also special items hidden throughout the world which you can recover which add a permanent boost to stats these can be gain via exploration or through reading books to acquire the specific quests.

While character progression is solid, I've never liked the way the developers have insisted on putting trainers in the game. The main reason behind this is because you really need the abilities they offer and having to pay gold for them, especially early on when large amounts of gold is not easy to come by is a massive frustration. One thing annoys me even further is particularly when it comes to the sword fighting if your a melee focused character. The ability to riposte is essential against some tougher enemies and a life saver in group encounters. Yet even though your playing as a pirate captain you don't have this ability from the start. You must go to find a trainer and then pay gold to get it which is ridiculous.

As I've mentioned there are factions in the game to which you can join one. The three factions include the mages, demon hunters and a voodoo tribe. Each faction offers an array of faction specific abilities and quests. Once you join a faction your able to then gain better ranks within that faction which unlocks better gear, quests and abilities. However once you join a faction you cannot join another so choose carefully. Thanks to the freedom that the game allows you can travel and complete the majority of quests on each factions island before making your decision of which to join. I ended up join the mages faction known as the guardians, one for the magical abilities and two for the cool eye piece.

Graphically the game is good but not great. On the PC specifically I would have liked to see a lot higher texture resolutions as much of it looks very last generation console. The world however does look good and immersive. There are some glitches and bugs to be found throughout but these tend to be minor. Sadly once again Risen 3 follows suit in the terrible lip syncing animations as well as poor facial animations as a whole. Similar to the previous games the voice acting and scripting is full of off colour humour and outright cheese. Some of the voice acting isn't terrible but some is just cringe worthily bad.

Overall those familiar with the Risen and Gothic series will be right at home with Risen 3. Any avid RPG player will be able to sink their teeth into Risen 3 and find a good amount of enjoyment from it. However I wonder if many people will not be able to get past the difficulty of the combat at the start, it does require a certain amount of perseverance that I think will send more casual players running for the hills. Risen 3 is certainly a large improvement on the second and there’s a good degree of enjoyable content in the game. At the end of the day, if you enjoy a decent RPG then Risen 3 will be for you however those looking for a more streamlined RPG experience may wish to look to more mainstream titles.

Habitat (Early Access) First Impressions: http://youtu.be/Ed5oqe0GHEs

Hello once again I'm cosmic and today we are going to be taking a look at early access space strategy game Habitat. The game is being developed by 4gency who were formed in 2011 and the game itself was successfully kickstarted to the tune of $64,000 as of May 2nd 2014. The game is still currently in Alpha and as such things are subject to change.

Habitat places you in the role of ensuring humanities survival in orbit of the now inhospitable planet earth. By leading a team of engineers you are able to build space stations from an array of space debris and salvage. You'll have to manage your resources throughout the game making sure you have enough fuel to move and more. That being said currently in alpha resource management is very easy and means little once you've built up a big enough habitat as you'll be gaining more resource than you'll be able to spend.

Building your space stations is simple and straight forward. Each piece of debris has connector points that can be connected to adjacent buildings. There is an array of debris to use to build up your habitat including some comedic pieces including the Eiffel tower, burger restaurants and lady liberties head which has been transformed into a laser cannon. There’s no right or wrong way to build your habitats, you have the freedom to create all shapes and sizes. However movement is somewhat difficult as you'll be using an assortment of rockets and boosters which in turn with the size of your habitat could make fast manoeuvres impossible. Its often best to outfit your habitat with an array of weaponry facing all sides to make sure the enemies don't catch you in a blind spot.

Exploration in habitat is currently not the easiest task to take on. The way the physics in the game work coupled with having to activate your motley assortment of rockets and boosters individually means that movement is quite slow and clunky. Precision flying is very difficult and often you have to come to a complete stop much of the time to face the direction you want to go. As you explore you'll encounter more objects to add to your ships as well as enemies to fight, some will be other space stations and others will be a insidious cloud of nanites bent on tracking you down.

In terms of combat thus far in alpha there's an hilarious assortment of weapons to choose from. Everything from full battle tanks to dubstep spewing speakers are available and all have specific purposes. Combat can at times just be a complete mess especially with manoeuvring being the way it is. Its often best to build smaller attack vessels that are easier to move around and often faster so that your not just a hulking mass ready to be destroyed. With the most recent alpha update you can also send your engineers over to sabotage enemy ships though they are sitting targets that cannot take many hits.

What’s good about Habitat thus far is that’s its fun, despite its current issues there is a good degree of fun building up your wacky ships out of statue heads and school buses. Habitat does hold a certain amount of potential however whether it manages to reach that potential remains to be seen. There’s still a good amount of content yet to come into habitat including a campaign mode something which I certainly would like to see. There are a couple of things the game certainly requires at this point including more objects to build your ships with, better rockets and boosters to improve travel and ultimately I would like to see the resource management part expanded.

The idea that people are living on your habitat should come more into focus. Population issues, food issues and more would be a really good thing to come into play. An example of this would be that when the population reaches its max, you need to find more debris that people can live in or when food is low you need to find debris that produces a food resource. Management aspects like this would go a long way to making the experience better overall and provide a better space simulator feel.