Discussing Warface, Crytek's disappointing F2P shooter game... (Rant)

Hey guys! Today, I've got another post for you to enjoy, and this time it'll be me discussing the game Warface, which is a free-to-play shooter on steam that was developed by none other than Crytek, the creators of Crysis. Unfortunately this game did not in any way live up to my expectations, just wait a bit and I'll explain exactly why this game is garbage...

OK, first off the most major thing that's wrong with Warface is that it lacks any sort of unique personality. I literally can't list a single thing that I noticed while playing that makes the game stand out when put next to other f2p FPS's like Dirty Bomb and Team Fortress 2, which actually do a good job with their unique art style and game mechanics. Overall, I just found everything about the game incredibly bland and generic, and found myself wanting something different in terms of visuals or gameplay elements. Remember the nanosuit in the first Crysis game that came out in 2007? That was incredibly cool, wasn't it? The suit added a totally new element to the multiplayer that no other game had come up with yet, and added a large amount of diversity into the game. Fast forward to Crysis 3 in 2012, and the nanosuit has been stripped down from four modes to only two in the name of simplicity for "modern" gamers. Fast forward again to Warface in 2013-present and the game has NOTHING new to offer us? This really saddens me because Crysis was really awesome and I was definitely expecting more from Crytek at this point.

The multiplayer is pretty awful and the main letdown with this game. First of all, the fact that when you buy a gun in the store, you only have it for about a day, and then you have to pay for it again just to continue using the dang thing in MP matches. There is a way to buy the gun permanently, but it's so expensive and you earn credits so slowly that you're inevitably going to have to spend money to get that weapon forever. The fact that it takes so long to unlock anything really makes the balance of the game take a hit, because the higher-level players and the people who have spent hundreds of dollars will have access to the best guns in the game, and the normal players like me will be left in the dust. This is also why in other F2P shooters like TF2, everything is instantly unlocked forever so anyone can use it at any time, and it's very viable to just play the game and earn different weapons and other items. If you really want balance in your game, that's the best way to do it in my honest opinion.


But soon you'll realize that it's not just the pay-2-win and therefore imbalance that rear their ugly head. The map design is also horrible, with maps that don't flow and just don't offer any varying tactical situations. In most FPS games such as Call of Duty, you're presented with a map that consists of three lanes, and you have the option to flank and ambush an unsuspecting player or two from a different angle. Let me just say, if that kind of thing is what you like, then you'll be incredibly disappointed with the game, to say the least. I really feel like the maps promote camping to a huge extent, because after all there's only one real way the enemy can approach from. This makes it super easy to just aim into a doorway and kill everyone that tries to move through it.

You're probably also wondering what the gunplay is like. Well, my experiences have not been good, just like with everything else in Warface. Combat feels really lifeless and static, without the fast-paced flair that games like Halo have going for them. Naturally, since the game is set in the present day, the guns will be no different from anything you've seen in other modern shooters, which definitely doesn't help this game create a likeable and memorable identity.

Also, the graphics. They're not the worst I've ever seen, but definitely don't take the step forward that the Crysis games took forward in their respective time periods. I didn't notice anything stand-out about the graphics, but maybe that's just because I've been running them at the lowest setting (my laptop isn't super powerful). Maybe the reason why the graphics in Crysis looked so stunning was because games in 2007 weren't very good looking, and Crysis 1 just totally blew them away. Today though, there's plenty of games on PS4 that really steal Crytek's graphics crown, like The Order: 1886, which is probably the best looking game to date on any system. The issue with that game is that it had hardly any substance to it, the game was incredibly short and packed with QTE. Anyway, let's stay on topic...

In addition to competitive multiplayer (which is what I played), the game also has a co-op mode where you supposedly have to cooperate with three other players, which will be a lot easier for you if you are playing with friends. But just like the rest of the game, the co-op missions felt totally bland and uninteresting.

Well, I think I've talked about everything that I wanted to. The final verdict for Warface on PC is a...

3/10

 

TLDR: Warface is an awesome-sounding FPS from a well-known developer that fails to impress in pretty much every way imaginable. Awful AI, Co-Op missions, Map design, Graphics, and irritating Pay-2-Win format make this game a total waste of your time. Go play TF2 instead. 

 

Well, that's it for today's post guys, sorry for the rant but I hope you enjoyed it anyway! My next post will probably be a Planetary Annihilation review, so yeah...

And with that, I'll see you guys later!

New surprise Planetary Annihilation expansion released!

Hey guys, I'm back with some awesome news! The first expansion pack for the RTS game Planetary Annihilation just came out a few days ago, and it looks really cool from what I've seen so far. But what are all of my thoughts on this? I'll explain down below!

So you're probably wondering what the expansion includes. Well, the biggest thing that the standalone expansion includes is the Titan-class units, which are similar to the huge experimental units that you could research and then build back in Supreme Commander, the spiritual predecessor to PA. There are six Titan units,  and from what I've heard they're all unique and super powerful. I don't actually know the names of them or what they do, but I'm sure these units are totally awesome!

As you would expect from an expansion, there are also around 16 new units that seem varied and really cool, like hover tanks and nanobot swarms. Although these units look different than the existing units in PA, they probably won't function that uniquely when put next to other units.

Although them adding more units is cool and all, that's not the main thing that I like about this expansion from what I've read. Titans offers different levels of terrain, which blocks off movement and allows units on high ground to fire at units on low ground without the latter being able to return fire. You'll also be able to change the terrain levels of a planet in the System Designer, which is another cool thing that I think will make custom player-created planets much more diverse.
Another new addition to the game is the Bounty Hunter mode. I'm not sure what exactly this mode is, but by the look of it the developers are trying to broaden the game experience beyond the typical planet-smashing annihilation matches.

So, there you have it! Of course, I don't own Planetary Annihilation Titans yet, but it looks like a really interesting upgrade to the already awesome PA gameplay with a handful of new units, a new tutorial (forgot to mention that), and a new game mode. The game is free for kickstarter backers, $14 for owners of PA (like me), and $40 for everyone else.

I hope you guys enjoyed this news-based post, and be sure to keep checking this blog for my Planetary Annihilation full review!

Here's the link if you're interested:

And with that, I'll see you guys later!

New Battlefield game confirmed for 2016... *sigh*

Hey guys, today I have some news that might be controversial with you if you're a fan of the battlefield franchise. It was recently announced that a new battlefield game is coming next year, which could possibly be Bad Company 3 or BF5. You're probably wondering why I make this out to be a bad thing, so here's why.

As you probably remember, a new battlefield game only used to come out every 2 years (2007-2009-2011-2013-2015), which meant a 2 year development cycle to make a good game. However, now that it's been confirmed that a new battlefield is coming in 2016, DICE only get one year to make an awesome battlefield title. I think this is downright ridiculous, because if EA and DICE were smart, they would look back at what netted them the most success, which was the 2 year cycle. And to top it all off, DICE is developing and releasing Star Wars Battlefront this November! With Halo, Bungie and 343 had 3 years to make a new game, and heck, even Call of Duty somehow manages to give their games 3 years of development time due to their multiple developer strategy. The only foreseeable solution is to hand over the development process to Visceral Games, the creators of Hardline. The only problem with that is that Hardline totally sucked in my opinion, and didn't capture the battlefield essence at all.

Even though I hate this new trend that's now being put into action in the franchise, maybe I shouldn't be too surprised. After all, it would appear that EA takes well-loved franchises and adds in new "features" that totally ruin the game. Here, this is because they just want to compete with CoD by putting out a new game every year. In fact, the reason that Battlefield 4's launch was one of the worst in history is that EA pushed it out the door before it was ready to fly, and therefore Siege of Shanghai crashed every time a skyscraper collapsed, along with countless other irritating bugs and glitches.

So please EA, consider your customers and what THEY want out of the game, rather than what saves and earns you the most money. We don't want a battlefield game every year, just look at what CoD is today. Do you really want this franchise to sink to that level? Also, while we're at it, 20v20, lack of space battles and lack of clone wars in SW Battlefront is incredibly lazy, especially considering that its predecessor had all three of these things in 2005. I don't understand why you can't just make the game like SWBF2 with some new gameplay mechanics and way better graphics. This really isn't cool, fix it NOW.

Sincerely,
JB3ASt

Hearthstone: Android App Review!

What's up guys, JB3ASt here and welcome to another android game review! This time, we'll be reviewing hearthstone, the addictive card game from blizzard. The game was originally on PC, but released on iOS a little while later and then on android tablets in December 2014. It just made it onto android phones in April, but I don't personally see how you can play a game like this on such a small screen. Anyway, let's get on with the review!

What Is Hearthstone?

Hearthstone is a free-to-play card game from Blizzard, the creators of Starcraft, Warcraft and Diablo. The game's setting is inspired by the Warcraft universe, which makes sense considering that digital card games are (way) cooler with a little magic. Isn't that right, Magic the Gathering? Anyway, if you've played Magic then you already pretty much know how the game works. You can buy packs of cards in the in-game store for 100 coins or about $1 each, but you can also earn coins to purchase them by just playing the game. 

As for gameplay, it's pretty much a simpler and easier to pick up version of magic. A match consists of two players and their heroes, which come equipped with unique special abilities that can be used in a pinch.  You draw a hand from your deck, and you have cards that you can play as long as you have enough mana crystals in that turn, which are shown in the bottom right of the screenshot over there. Mana crystals also replenish automatically each turn. There are also two different types of cards- a deck consists of spells and minions. As you probably know already, a spell is a power that can be used to heal your hero or your minions, and a minion is just a card that resembles an entity, which have differing abilities and attributes from each other. For example, there's a minion type called taunt, which basically means that any of your opponent's minions must attack that specific minion until it's dead. Each minion has a certain health and attack rating, which shows how much damage they can deal out in a turn and take before they're killed. One quirk with the minions is that they cannot attack the turn that they're played, but another special type called charge allows these specific minions to attack the turn that they are put into action. Whenever a minion attacks an enemy minion card, that minion takes counterattack damage equal to the attack rating of the enemy minion. 

There are 9 playable classes, each with their own unique cards and aspects. For example, the warlock has cards that focus on sapping the life from enemies, while the priest utilizes restoration-based cards to win the day. When you start out, you can unlock a certain class by beating it in a match, either against the inkeeper (AI) or another player. When you play a certain class enough, it will level up. Continue to level up that class to unlock more cards that can be put into a deck. 

Speaking of which, you can create custom decks from the cards you've earned from leveling your classes. It's important to balance your deck by adding lots of different types of cards and choosing an equal number of minions and spells.

How does the Game work on Android?

The port onto android is actually pretty dang good. The graphics, gameplay, sounds, and expansions are all here and exactly the same as what's in the PC version currently. I think the touch controls are really great and a perfect fit for mobile, although the game does take a few seconds to open up whatever it is that I wanted to open after I press the button. 

One major complaint I have with the app is that it still lacks even a basic offline mode. Because I'm on the go a lot, I would love to be able to play this game while I'm not at home and continue to progress while I'm on vacation or whatever. Other than that, The android version of Hearthstone is great and I highly recommend that you try it out! Like I've said before, it's totally free to play so if you don't like it you won't have lost anything. I'm guessing that you'll like it though!

Download Hearthstone here!

Well, that's it for my Hearthstone [android] review (android and PC versions are identical)! I'm also working on a review for the also free-to-play team based shooter game, Dirty Bomb, so look out for that in the future!

And with that, I'll see you guys later!