8-Bit Ape End of 2014 Update

I've had to make some adjustments to my plans because of how busy I've been, and I've had some personal stuff going on (don't worry, nothing bad). So here's how it's going to go down:

• This weekend, I will reveal my final Top 10 Games of 2014 List. So look out for that.
• Next week I will publish the review of my Game of the Year pick (that is, if I haven't reviewed it already). I will also publish any other review that I feel warrants your attention.
• After that, I will publish my Top 10 Most Anticipated Games of 2015.

So that's the plan for right now, but today I'd like to reveal the ten games that will be placed in my top 10. These games have been put in this list because I PLAYED them and I ENJOYED them. So no, games like Bayonetta 2 or Sunset Overdrive are not on this list because I didn't play them. So, without further ado here are the ten games that will be featured in my top 10 (in alphabetical order):

• Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
• Dragon Age Inquisition
• Far Cry 4
• Infamous Second Son
• Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
• South Park: The Stick of Truth
• Super Smash Bros. for Wii U/3DS
• The Walking Dead: Season Two
• Velocity 2X
• Watch Dogs

There you have it. What are your favorite games of 2014? Let me know! And, as always, thanks for visiting 8-Bit Ape.

Have Yourself A Time: South Park: The Stick of Truth Review

Yes, I know this came out in March. But I recently was able to check it out thanks to a PSN sale and I feel I need to give you my opinions on this game. Yes, South Park The Stick of Truth is so good I feel it necessary to give you my opinion on this game over half a year later. Yes, it's a giant love letter to South Park fans, but even if you don't really follow the show you should still give this a look. It's a remarkable achievement for video game adaptations and sets the gold standard for future ones.


In The Stick of Truth (which as you may know is a collaboration between South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker and Fallout: New Vegas developer Obsidian), you are the New Kid in South Park. You create your character in a satisfactory character creator, than you are forced out of your house by your dad to go make friends. You meet Butters, are given the name Douchebag, and are thrust into a "war" with Cartman's Humans and Kyle's Elves, eventually making a choice as to who to side with. Of course, just like in the show, things escalate rapidly and hilariously. Pretty soon you'll be fighting the government at the site of a crashed UFO (disguised as the construction site of a new Taco Bell), Nazi Zombies, aborted fetuses, and even a ManBearPig. And the Canada section is cleverly played in 8-Bit form. It's all woven together incredibly well and hilariously, making it one of the best narratives this year. Of course, the characters from the show that you meet in game are entertaining as well. And remember this is South Park, so some of the humor may cross some lines for you. I personally was not offended by any of the humor, but if you are that's okay. The voice acting is phenomenal, with Trey Parker and Matt Stone lending their incredible voices to 90% of the game's cast. The show's composer Jamie Dunlap provides an excellent score for the game. In terms of visuals, the game looks exactly like the show, and I only noticed a few frame rate drops during my time playing it. One of the most remarkable things about The Stick of Truth is that it feels like you're watching a full season of South Park. My only problem with the presentation was that it felt a little bit too short. Yes it's 14 hours, but there's a point in the game near the end where they could have added another 2-3 hours worth of story content, but skipped that in favor of entering the finale. I will not spoil it, but for those who have played the game, it's right after you return from Canada. The game is so good however it does entice a second play through.
  
The Stick of Truth is an Open World RPG that lets you explore a fully mapped out South Park, in addition to The Lost Forest, a Farm, and eventually Canada. You can partake in side missions (although I do wish there was a bit more) and find all the collectibles, most notably the 30 Chipokomon hidden throughout the world. The combat of The Stick of Truth is not at all what I would expect from a South Park game, yet now I can't imagine playing one without it. It's a turn based strategy game that's akin to Paper Mario. You and a buddy from one of six friends fight against a group of enemies. Depending on which class you are (Fighter, Thief, Mage, or....Jew) your attacks may vary. You can use summons or use abilities to help beat your opponent. All the buddies also have unique attacks so that you can decide which one you would help you the most in battle. Want to take more of a defensive plan of attack? Use Jimmy who can replenish your power points and put your enemies to sleep or if you want a more offensive plan of attack use Butters who can transform into Mr. Chaos to rain hell on your enemies. The battles are really intense, fun, and entertaining (I mean come on, one of Al Gore's attacks is a lecture on Global Warming!). Oh and by the way the Trophies/Achievements are really fun to get (FYI they require a lot of farting).


THE VERDICT___________________________________________________________________
There is only one thing holding The Stick of Truth back from being a masterpiece, and that's the awkward abrupt transition to the finale. Besides that though, this game is still amazing. Everything, from the story, to the gameplay, to the Easter eggs feel like a big love letter to fans. This is still an enjoyable game for everyone else too. Any future South Park game must have great involvement with the show's creators just like this one did or they risk getting laughed at. The bottom line is that you are playing an interactive season of South Park and YOU are the star. Obsidian should be proud of the work they put into The Stick of Truth, despite all the delays and a change of publisher from THQ to Ubisoft, and I hope they can collaborate with Trey Parker and Matt Stone again soon.

9.8/10 Amazing

South Park: The Stick of Truth is available now on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. This review was of the PlayStation 3 version of the game. Experience may vary from platform to platform.
Buy South Park: The Stick of Truth on Amazon.

The Crew Beta Impressions

Yesterday, Ubisoft made the originally closed beta of The Crew open. We all can now get the chance to see for ourselves how does this promising driving game deliver? Is this an earth-shattering product as Ubisoft led us to believe? In my 3-4 hours playing The Crew (not counting the additional 5 it took for the game to finish downloading), I have come to the conclusion that I can describe The Crew in one word:


Disappointment.


Now to be fair, I do consider myself a casual driving/racing game. I only buy a racing game if I've played it and like it. So if you're a hardcore racing game fan you might want to hear the opinion of someone that's a little more hardcore in this genre. However, I'm here to give you my honest opinion about this game, and I can honestly say I don't like it. Yes I know, it's a beta not the full release, but I've played enough of The Crew to know this game isn't for me.


Before you can actually go out and explore the world, you must complete the prologue. Yes this game has a story, and boy is it bad. The small taste I got of this story shows me that it is going to be more than likely boring, uninteresting, and forgettable. It's filled with many clichés and uninteresting characters, something that is opposite of many recent Ubisoft games. Why does this game even need a story? I wouldn't be bothered if you just dropped me into a world and just told me to do whatever I would be fine with that. But unfortunately Ubisoft tries too hard, and ends up hurting my opinion of this game. It doesn't help that the game looks like it could have been from 2007 instead of 2014. I guess the only positive thing I can say is the character models in cutscenes look nice. Yay, the character models in your driving game look good! And whoever at Ubisoft is coming up with the radio songs in their games needs to be fired. First Watch Dogs radio has bad songs and now this? The game that actually needs to have a good radio? So in terms of presentation, The Crew stumbles at nearly every turn.


Okay, so The Crew doesn't have a good story, the graphics suck, and the songs are bad. That's not good, but hey the gameplay's going to be good right? WRONG. The driving mechanics are some of the worst I've ever seen in a game. They're so bad they make the driving mechanics in Grand Theft Auto IV look good. Controlling your car feels very awkward and it's very easy to wreck. No the controls don't feel bad, but the handling is terrible. And is there even a drift button in this game? I don't know, the game does a terrible job of telling you how to do anything, especially when you get into car customization. Now speaking of car customization, this is one of the few things I actually liked in The Crew. There's a ton of detail put into these cars and their parts. If you're a car fanatic you're going to love this. There is also a cool demo mode to check out how your car looks and you can even take it out for a test drive. Unfortunately though like I said, the game doesn't give you whole lot of explanation into upgrades and skills for your car.


There is one thing (other than car customization) that The Crew gets right that made me play it a little longer than I would have: the open world. Ubisoft hyped the game to have a big map and it does not disappoint. It covers the entire US (and by that I mean it's a condensed version, but it's still big). It took me just over 40 minutes to drive from New York to Los Angeles. There's a lot of things to see and that's great. Unfortunately though there isn't a lot to do in this big world. I found a few races, a couple speed challenges, and that's just about it. Really. It's a sandbox with no sand. After you explore the world that leaves barely anything to do. Granted this is a beta, but if there's a ton of stuff to do in the final game they really shot themselves in the foot with this one. Oh and remember how they hyped up the online component to be massive, with an entire city filled with multiple crews going around trying to dominate? Yeah, they lied. The most players I've seen in a particular area/region was 4. So that essentially makes this whole crew thing pointless. Another disappointment in this one.


It feels like The Crew is trying to be Ubisoft's answer to Need for Speed, but unfortunately it fails in nearly every category except car customization and exploration. The Crew had potential, but if what we've been shown in the beta is any indication of the final product, it is a disappointment. Many of the promises Ubisoft made don't seem to be fulfilled and therefore I can't really recommend that you purchase the full game at $60. Who knows, maybe the full game has a ton of content. But even then, I can't see this game being worth anything more than $20. So in this crazy holiday season filled with (too) many games, it seems you can cross The Crew off your list.


Have you played the beta of The Crew? What did you think? Will you be purchasing the full game? Let me know! And, as always, thanks for visiting 8-Bit Ape.


The Crew beta is up on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One through tomorrow, November 27. I played the beta on PlayStation 4. Experience may vary from platform to platform.
The Crew will officially launch on December 2, 2014 for PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC (no it is not going to be available for PlayStation 3)
You can pre-order The Crew (though I recommend you don't) at Amazon here.

Holiday Review Plan

I'm back!
Sorry for my lack of posts in October (or should I say, non-existent posts), I was very busy! But anyway, back to talking about games. Quick update on reviews

• Destiny review is cancelled, very sorry about that
• I will be reviewing the Driveclub PS Plus edition when it finally releases
• At this time other October games such as Alien Isolation, The Evil Within, Middle Earth Shadow of Mordor, and NBA 2K15 will not be reviewed, but I may come back to them later (especially with Shadow of Mordor

So that was a quick update on current reviews. Looking ahead, there are a LOT of games coming out in November, too much in fact. Rather than rush through all these games, I've decided to take my time to get my best thoughts out of them and my full opinion. So I will be releasing these reviews around Christmas. I hope that they will be all out by the New Year, and then after that I will start doing my Top 10 list(s, possibly) and any other Look back on 2014 articles. So as of right now, here are the games I plan to review. Keep in mind this list is tentative, and I could add or remove games from this list. So in alphabetical order, the games are

• Assassin's Creed Unity
• Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
• Dragon Age: Inquisition
• Far Cry 4
• LittleBigPlanet 3
• Other possible candidates: Assassin's Creed Rogue, Geometry Wars 3 Dimensions, Grand Theft Auto V PS4, Lego Batman 3 Beyond Gotham, and The Crew
• Do not expect reviews for: Escape Dead Island, Super Smash Bros for Wii U, The Master Chief Collection, and WWE 2K15

If there are any games you would like me to review please let me know! And, as always, thanks for visiting 8-Bit Ape.

Grand Theft Auto V: One Year Later

So I'd like to start this new series called One Year Later. It basically allows me to go back and visit now year old games to revisit my thoughts on them and see if they've changed at all. I now wish I could have done this in June with The Last of Us, but I might go back and revisit that in due time. For now let's go back to September 17, 2013, the day of Grand Theft Auto V's release. At that point, the hype for GTA V's release had reached staggering levels. Having played every console GTA game since III as well as other Rockstar Games like Bully and Red Dead Redemption, I was very hyped. The day before, GTA V scored a 98 on Metacritic, and that only added fuel to the fire. About 75% of the people I saw that day were a bit jumpy, checking their watches or a nearby clock to know just how much time they had left before they would head to Los Santos. Finally, I got home, put the game in, went to grab myself a drink as the 8GB game installed, and began playing.


To say I got addicted to GTA V would be an understatement. I finished the game in about five days, all while putting in over 35 hours into it by the time the story was done. And even then, I still kept playing it. It was what I was playing everyday for weeks, probably only declining when I got my PlayStation 4 in mid November. What did I love about it? Virtually everything. The gameplay was amazing and refined from previous GTA games, the story was filled with funny dialogue and interesting characters, it had some of the best mission variety I had ever seen in a game, the sound design (minus the radio songs) were excellent, the game while not the most graphically impressive still was a remarkable technical achievement, it was filled with stuff to do, and it was pretty much a masterpiece in every sense of the word.


Then with October 1 came the launching of Grand Theft Auto Online. While I wasn't nearly excited about online as much as I was with the main game prior to release, I still was looking forward to it. Unfortunately, GTA Online had some issues to say the least. It was unplayable for at least a week for the vast majority of players, and those that did get in experienced many frustrating glitches, including a major one that caused your character to be deleted seemingly at random. Even after the majority of players got online, some still had issues. A friend of mine continued to have issues well into November in terms of connecting. And the actual Online wasn't really all that impressive. Sure you had all of Los Santos and Blaine County to explore with friends and there was a ton of stuff to do, but it faltered on many things as well. These things include an absolutely stupid character creator, the over-reliance on grinding, and eventually the hackers. The hackers probably killed the online for me. I think I maybe put a total of five hours into online, and I don't really have any intention of going back. Although I do appreciate that Rockstar continues to support the game with numerous updates, the heists are almost a year overdue and it's gotten to the point where I don't think the heists will keep me in online for too long.


I still keep my stance on the main game. Grand Theft Auto V is a masterpiece and that hasn't changed, I did recently rank it #3 on my Top 25 Games of the Generation list. I think it is by far the best installment in the GTA series, and one of the best open world games ever made. Unfortunately what also hasn't changed is my opinion of Online. I still am not compelled to go back to it, even though there are a ton of missions waiting to be completed. I may rent the PS4 version of GTA V to compare it to the PS3 version, but I have no intention at the moment to purchase it. However, it's still amazing to me that after all that hype, possibly the most hype I've ever had for a game, it still managed to surpass my expectations. It's really a remarkable achievement in gaming and serves as the PS3/360 generation's swan song. Even with all the games in my backlog, I still go back and play GTA V every now and then, and I still enjoy it. I'm super excited for GTA V's story expansions, and whatever Rockstar does next.


What did you think of Grand Theft Auto V? What about Grand Theft Auto Online? Will you be picking up the PS4/XB1/PC version of GTA V? Let me know! And, as always, thanks for visiting 8-Bit Ape.

Velocity 2X Review: Yippie Kai Yay

Even though they aren't as big as their AAA cousins, Indie Games have struggled at times with developing a sequel that outlasts the original. They either don't do anything new at all or fixes things that don't need to be fixed. Velocity 2X does neither, but rather improves upon its predecessor's excellent gameplay while still adding great innovations to the series. Developer Futurlab started the series with Velocity, a PlayStation Mini title. They remade the game into a full game with Velocity Ultra. These games were very well recieved by many (myself included). So there was plenty reasons for me (and many others) to be excited about 2X. Fortunately we weren't dissapointed. Instead we have been given a game that is so good, we might need to start talking about its Game of the Year potential.


Perhaps the most praise for the original Velocity was given to its fast and fluid arcade gameplay, and it's retained in Velocity 2X. It's still great to pilot your spaceship, taking down baddies while trying to race through a level to rack up the most points. The game also now adds boss fights that are fun and at times tricky to figure out. However, developer Futurlab wasn't just settled with the spaceship gameplay. Now, you must land your ship at times and go on foot to help take down security beams. Velocity's heart-racing gameplay is retained here with teleporting, fluid gunplay, and all while retaining the sense of urgency and speed found in the spaceship sections. This on-foot gameplay is reminiscent of Sonic the Hedgehog games of old. These two sections blend so perfectly they could be separate games entirely.


For an indie game, the production value in the game is superb. Velocity 2X now tells a story through drawings and text boxes in between levels. Unfortunately, the story isn't exactly all that memorable. However, this obviously isn't the focus of the game and there are still some funny dialogue exchanges. You can avoid the story entirely if you want since these cutscenes are skippable. The excellent music from the original is still present here, with the perfect blend of old and new tracks. The art direction is fantastic and textures look a lot better. Oh and the sound effects are awesome as well. The production quality is so good, at times I forgot I was even playing an indie game.


Velocity Ultra was right at home on Vita, but 2X plays fantastically on both PS4 and Vita. I was originally going to only play the Vita version, but after trying out the PS4 version I really dug it. I've put equal amount of time into both versions and there are great things about both versions. The Vita version of Velocity 2X is a great on-the-go game with great controls and no broken touch controls (actually there's basically no touch controls at all) while the PS4 version is enhanced with superb visuals and the rumble effect of the DualShock 4 which surprised me how good it was compared to other games where it's just an after thought. Of course, both versions run at a ridiculously smooth 60 FPS, and since both versions are cross buy and cross save, you might as well try it out on both. You can't go wrong with either version though.


In terms of problems, I don't really have many. It does feel a lot easier than the original. You have unlimited lives and at least 20 minutes to beat each level, whereas in the original you only had about 2-3 lives and at most 10 minutes with some levels going as low as 2 minutes. Also, much like its predecessor, Velocity 2X starts to get into a bit of a grind at around level 40. You have to replay old missions to rack up the points necessary to advance, and it can get to feel a bit tedious when you're just trying to finish the game.


THE VERDICT___________________________________________________________________


Velocity 2X is a game you need to play. Developer Futurlab has found new ways to innovate on the game while at the same time retaining the incredible gameplay of the original. The production values are top notch for an indie game. It plays great on both PS4 and Vita, so you should be fine with either. While not perfect, Velocity 2X is an amazing blend of old and new, and is now on the Game of the Year watch. Oh and did I mention it's free for PlayStation Plus subscribers? Yeah, so download it.

9.5/10 Amazing

Velocity 2X is available for download on the PlayStation Store now on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita. It is currently free to download for PlayStation Plus subscribers in the month of September 2014. This review examined both versions of the game.

Gamescom 2014 Recap

This week in Germany, one of the largest gaming shows in the world took place. Gamescom is quickly rivaling E3 to become the most popular gaming show in the world. So, as expected, there was a LOT of news articles swarming the internet. I decided it would be a good idea just to give you some of my thoughts on a few of the biggest stories to come out of Gamescom.


Rise of the Tomb Raider is a timed Xbox exclusive: This was probably the biggest news out of Gamescom, and certainly the one that got the internet into a frenzy. And rightfully so, at least at first. Microsoft and Square Enix announced that Tomb Raider's sequel, Rise of the Tomb Raider, will launch holiday 2015 as an Xbox exclusive. I absolutely thought it was a stupid move by Square Enix. Why would you put the sequel to a multiplatform game on only one platform? Other than that being unfair to consumers, it also doesn't make sense on the business side, weren't you already disappointed with the sales of Tomb Raider? So why does it make perfect sense to narrow it down even further on the platform that is getting crushed by the competition in terms of sales? Fortunately, Xbox head Phil Spencer clarified that the game is a timed exclusive, so more than likely we will see Lara Croft's next adventure on PS4 and PC in 2016. However, I still think it's a bad move on Square Enix's part (I'm not giving Microsoft any fault for this, they're trying to make more money just like Sony and Nintendo) by agreeing to this. They're essentially saying two thirds of our franchise's fanbase will have to wait for an unknown amount of time for the game to come to their platform. And even then, what makes you think it's going to sell as well as it would if it came out with the Xbox version?


PlayStation 4 has sold 10 million units worldwide: During their Gamescom press conference, Sony announced that the PlayStation 4 has already reached the ten million units sold mark (sold, not shipped) in only nine months on the market, making it the fastest selling console to reach that mark of all time, even surpassing the Wii. And they said console gaming was dead. It's amazing just how popular this console is right now and how well the gaming industry is doing. Yes we could spend this paragraph talking about how PS4 is five million units ahead of the competition now, but that would be fanboyish and inappropriate for this milestone. Instead, let's be thankful that gaming consoles are still very much alive and well, and your iPhone isn't going to surpass them for quite a long time it seems.


Silent Hills announced in the form of a playable teaser: Sony also showed off a trailer for a mysterious horror game named PT, and it was made available on the PlayStation Store almost immediately. I played PT, and it was without a doubt one of the scariest "games" (although it's more of a 20 minute demo) that I have ever played. Upon completing PT, it is revealed that the game is a teaser for a new Silent Hill game, titled Silent Hills. Hideo Kojima is directing the project, Guillermo del Toro is collaborating with Kojima, and it will star Norman Reedus. Details are scarce at the moment, but one thing's for sure, this is sure to make you wet your pants. The demo wasn't filled with cheap jump scares, but it has impressive tension that is constantly building. And then when the jump scares finally did come, they were more effective than they would in most horror games. The game isn't expected to be released until at least 2016, since Kojima Productions is heavily focused on finishing Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. We also don't know if the game is a PS4 exclusive or not, but I'm willing to bet it won't be available on PS3/360. Personally, I don't know if I will get it, since I don't really like horror games, but I promise horror fans this is one you probably aren't going to want to miss.


PS4 Firmware 2.00 Announced, introduces SharePlay: Sony had one more little goodie up their sleeve. Sony announced PS4 firmware update 2.00, which includes stability improvements, YouTube integration, and more, but also revealed SharePlay. The PlayStation Blog states: "The best way to think about Share Play is like a “virtual couch”. PlayStation 4 will create an online local co-op experience by allowing you to invite a friend to join your game—even when they don’t own a copy of it. With this first-of-its-kind feature, you’ll be able to play games with a friend just as if you were together in the same room". So imagine passing the controller to a friend to take turns playing GTA or something, or playing a sports game like Madden. This is an incredible feature that is a bit reminiscent of Xbox One's planned Family Share feature which was removed as a part of the big DRM reversal. Yes you can only do it for sixty minutes before you have to restart the session. But still, this is an incredible feature and I look forward to seeing it in action. PS4 Firmware 2.00 will be available this Fall.


Metal Gear Solid V is coming to PC: At last, the news PC gamers have been waiting for. No it's not Half-Life 3. But it's still pretty awesome. Metal Gear Solid V, which includes Ground Zeroes and the upcoming The Phantom Pain, will be coming to PC soon. My excitement for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain only keeps building by the day, and I'm glad more people can now get in on the official Kojima hype train too. Hideo Kojima just had an awesome week at Gamescom, first with the Metal Gear Online for The Phantom Pain reveal, then with the Silent Hills announcement, and now with this awesome news that Metal Gear Solid V is coming to the PC. Personally I will be playing this on PS4, but I hope PC players enjoy it just as much as I hope to do also. And I'm really looking forward to seeing what this game looks like running on Ultra graphics. We don't know the release date(s) for Metal Gear Solid V on PC, but expect Ground Zeroes to be released first, hopefully at a more reasonable price.


I know I missed a lot of news stories but this is just a few of the biggest. I hope you enjoyed it. And, as always, thanks for visiting 8-Bit Ape.