1. Captain Toad (WiiU)
2. Lost: Via Domus (PS3)3. Modnation Racers (PS3)
4. Tron: Evolution (PS3)
5. Dead Rising (PC)
6. Fire Emblem Heroes (Android)Modnation Racers
When booting up Modnation Racers for the first time, I was hesitant. Could there be a kart racing game that could honestly compare to the likes of Mario Kart? Knowing that it had a heavy focus on level editing in a style similar to how Little Big Planet was for platformers made me concerned, but those concerns were easily assailed by a fun and refreshing experience.
For those that don't know, this game was the first from development studio, United Front Games, who went on to work on Sleeping Dogs and also Little Big Planet Karting and it is clear why. The game has a fun campaign mode as you play as Tag, a kid who wants to make it big in the karting world and bring color and fun back to racing. The story is simple, with witty commentary by two sports announcers and the cast of rival racers are very unique with their own personality. As simplistic as the story may be though, the campaign mode really is a segue into unlocking parts to customize your car, your character and the tracks that you build.
While I stuck to the campaign mode exclusively, I was surprised to see that in my hub world, the online community was still going strong. I had no trouble finding people racing around and looking to play and saw new tracks being featured. It really was remarkable to see people in an online game after 7 years since its release.
For those that are looking for a good alternative to Mario Kart, I highly recommend it. The power ups were pretty straightforward. You could get mines, missiles, chain lightning or boosts that can be upgraded in power by collecting more of the item boxes without using the item. You also could use nitro boosts, a melee smash against oponents and a shield protection that both used up a gauge that could only be refilled by drifting, doing tricks and drafting. While you could customize your kart, it really was cosmetic only, leaving the skill of the game entirely up to knowing shortcuts, using your weapons wisely and managing your energy wisely. It was very challenging, but I could not recommend it more.
Tron: EvolutionI want to first let it be known that I am a HUGE Tron fan. I have watched the movies, the TV shows and played all the video games... except this one. I came in with VERY low expectations as it is a movie tie-in to Tron Legacy, but I couldn't have known just how bad it really was.
The game takes place years before Tron Legacy and is a sequel to the Wii game, Tron Evolution: Battle Grids. As, The Monitor, you work with Tron to keep the grid safe from a growing virus that is infecting programs and causing overall chaos. You witness Clu's betrayal to Flynn and are being hunted down as you run across the Grid trying to warn the ISOs about the upcoming purge.
The game consists of 4 different modes of play, Free Running, Disc Combat, Light Cycles and Tank Battle. The bulk of the game though is platforming in a parkour style Free Running around the grid climbing platforms, jumping off of walls and using a grappling hook to swing around the virtual space. The problem is that the game has a poor camera and insanely finnicky controls that leave you missing crucial, yet simple jumps constantly. What makes matters worse is that the checkpoint system is wonky, placing you in instant death experiences randomly, or starting you off with the camera in a stuck position, or with your character facing the wrong way and it can be extremely annoying. This mode of play was the best, mind you.
The second biggest portion of the game was disc combat, where you would face off against enemies that really just amounted to you spamming your special moves to beat them. You earned new Disc abilities that had their own set of moves that boiled down to ranged attack, melee attack, an area effect bomb attack, and a power attack. Some moves were essential to hurting enemies and were a real pain in the butt when facing off against 4-6 enemies all at once. When using these special attacks you would use up energy and the only way to regain energy is to... get this... jump off of objects like trash cans, chairs, and computer consoles. Want to regain health? You have to wall run on glowing wall panels. It was ridiculous and a pain in the ass to have to do.
With Light Cycles, you were treated with a train wreck experience that can only be described as mind-numbingly infuriating. Hey! Do you remember how cool light cycles were in the Tron Movies? Remember the arcade game? That was great right!? Well in Tron Evolution you don't do ANY OF THAT! You simply drive in a straight line from point A to point B dodging obstacles that fall on top of you, or gaps in the road! Once in a lifetime you will come across another light cycle with a rival program trying to stop you. Want to know how to beat them? PRESS SQUARE!!!! Just do it once... you throw your disc and the person magically dies. No light trail....no strategy...just press square. It was the WORST!
A game like Tron Evolution: Battle Grids had hands down the most fun light cycle experience of any Tron game and is well worth owning the game for, but regular old Tron Evolution's Light cycles are just garbage! They don't even have an online multiplayer Light Cycle mode... just Disc Combat! GAHHH!!!!!
Last....but certainly not least... the tanks... my god the tanks. Here is how tank combat works. You drive around with the left thumbstick... it isn't tank controls... it is the same controls as your character. So back makes it move back, left and right makes it slowly rotate left or right and start moving in that direction. You aim with the right thumb stick and that will also make your tank rotate as well. Your tank will always....and I mean ALWAYS be rotating slowly and you will never go anywhere! Even more fun fact... if you get hit twice...your tank explodes. You will always be fighting more than one tank... your rate of fire... is insanely slow. The only way to beat the other tanks is to cheese them. Just try and snipe them from super far distance before they know you are there. It is RIDICULOUS!
As a Tron fan it makes me wheep to see such nonsense come from the franchise that has the MOST potential to be a great game series. Pass at all costs.
Dead RisingLet's try and forget that nightmare of Tron Evolution shall we? Let's go back to simpler times....when all you wanted to do was hang out in a mall and destroy Zombies. I remember in my youth getting out of high school, living on my own and hanging out with friends playing Xbox 360. I remember working Blockbuster and always bringing games home to play and Dead Rising was a VERY memorable one. It was the first game that mae me really think that the 360 was a good system. Even though I sucked at the game, there was nothing more fulfilling than putting Servbot heads on Zombies and watching them saunter around clumsily. It was great. In the short time I played, I never beat the first case file of the story and never really survived past the first day.
Now though... is a different story. With the introduction of a mouse and keyboard for the re-release of the game, I dominated the game and I loved every single minute of it. In Dead Rising, you play photographer and reporter, Frank West, who sneaks into a small town quarantined by the government. You find out that Zombies are running amok and you have to cover it! You have three days before your rescue chopper arrives and you have to find out what is going on and save as many people as possible.
The majority of the game takes place in a mall and you have to use everything the mall has to offer as weapons to stop these lumbering beasts. Everything from soda cans, to the CDs to golf clubs and lawn care hardware. It really covers the gamut of materials and each one has their own unique feel and usefulness.
As time progresses you have to solve these story-based case files within certain time limits or else the trail runs cold and you fail. Normally, I would panic under the pressure of a time limit in any game, but for some reason, this was not the case for Dead Rising and I handled each challenge with ease. These story moments though rely heavily on gunplay and that was where problems arose in my youth. I couldn't handle shooting with a game controller. Now with a mouse and keyboard, there were zero issues and I was walloping enemies with ease!
I had completed the game fully, beating the main story and getting the true ending in overtime mode and it did not disappoint in the slightest. It was a blast!
Fire Emblem HeroesNintendo games on a smartphone. How did we get here? Who would have thought this a possibility ten years ago? It definitely would not have been me. This is reality though and Nintendo has made now three games on smart phone devices. Is Fire Emblem Heroes any good? Or does it fall prey to in-app purchases?
Full disclosure, I have never played a Fire Emblem game in my life, so this is a novices perspective on the situation. Essentially, Fire Emblem Heroes is a compact strategy experience. With a team of four heroes, you battle on a small playfield to destroy your opponents. The game is easily adapted for a touch screen and matches last from 1-5 minutes depending on how well thought your strategies are. There are tons of modes to play that include a training tower where you can play randomized battles to beef up your characters, a story mode where you experience the bare bones narrative and earn Orbs for unlocking new heroes to craft your team from, daily challenge maps to earn a new Hero each day and an arena mode where you fight other players' teams in AI form.
All these things will earn you items that will heal your team mid-combat, help level them up, or boost their potential(giving them a higher star rating) to give them access to higher stats, a more diverse move set and overall be more badass. As you unlock new characters, you also have the chance to get incredibly powerful 5-star characters. I was lucky that in my first few orb redemptions, I received two 5 star heroes that made going through the story mode an absolute breeze.
I completed the main story in both normal and hard mode and am just a few days away from beating the game on Lunatic Mode with a team that is almost at max level and let me tell you, the game is fun. I have 3 different teams built, two of which I am leveling up and the third which is my main team that has almost hit max. You essentially pick maps to play and they consume energy. You have 50 energy and most of the early maps only cost 1-5 energy. When you get into lunatic mode, though, maps range from 10 - 19 energy. This isn't much of an issue however because nintendo has been very generous in offering energy refills and there are tons of quests that give you 5 potions that refill your energy completely.
When participating in the arena modes, you have 3 swords you can use daily. These swords allow you to participate in fighting the AI and they are a blind team. When you decide to participate, you see only the team leader and have three teams to choose from, a beginner, intermediate or advanced team. Depending on what you pick will depend on what score you receive at the end. You can have a winning streak of up to 7 and your score will continue to increase up to that point and then will reset back to zero. Depending on your final score depends on how many feathers you receive, which are you used for increasing the star rating of your team members. If your AI team successfully beats opponents you will also earn feathers based on their performance. There are items that will instantly replenish your swords and again Nintendo has been super generous in giving them away and also tons of quests offer them up as well.
Let's talk about in-app purchases, though. You can only buy orbs to unlock heroes. These orbs can also be earned through quests and through completing the story mode on all the different difficulties. How much money have I spent on orbs? Zero dollars. How much money will I spend on this game? Zero dollars. There isn't a need to. IF you have 4 star heroes you should be just fine. If you get 5-star heroes, you will be doing spectacular and easily handle the super hard difficulties. Even if you got the worst luck in the world, you can boost a 2 or 3-star hero up to 4 pretty inexpensively with feathers earned from having friends and participating in the arena. The best way to win in the game is to have a team strategy and use heroes that compliment each other. It is that simple.
I couldn't recommend the game more for fans looking for an easy distraction. The story itself isn't complete though and you know more chapters will come in the future. I am curious to know what they do with it and can't wait to see what new heroes they bring.