At My Limit: Ellie

I know I said that I would be doing a 3 part series on Anita Sarkeesian, but I encountered some problems with that. Mainly that for part two I would be reiterating a lot of what was said in the first part. So, I've decided to talk about something different, but still relevant to the original topic. The Last of Us is a game that came out a little less than a week ago, and received outstanding reviews. Though the main protagonist for most of the game is a middle aged man named Joel, his travelling companion Ellie is the character that stands out to me the most.

Ellie is a fourteen year old girl who spits in the face of all the tropes that are commonly used with female characters in video games. She is independent, foul mouthed, gritty, and can pretty well take care of herself. Through the first third of the game, she doesn't really do much. This is not for lack of trying, but rather because Joel believes that she shouldn't help. After all, she's just a fourteen year old girl, what can she do. In this portion of the game, she only does simple tasks such as crawling through air ducts to open locked doors, or being lifted up to help access other areas. However, after this, she becomes a full fledged AI companion.

The turning point comes when Ellie saves Joel from being drowned by shooting his attacker in the head. From now on, she has a gun, and helps you in combat. Previously, she only occasionally involved herself in combat. She would toss a bottle at an enemy, or yell at them to distract them. Now she carries firearms and helps you dispatch of those who are hostile to you. She saved my neck multiple times while playing it myself.

Over the year in the game, Joel and Ellie form a unique, father daughter like bond with each other. The two exchange witty banter, but also discuss many things about their own lives. During the course of the game, Ellie saves Joel more than he saves her. You even get to play as Ellie for a decent portion of the game, and she defies tropes left and right through the whole thing. She gets captured at one point, but instead of being a typical damsel, she engineers her own escape and kills her captor.

Ellie is definitely the star of The Last of Us. When Naughty Dog developed this game, they were right to put her on the front cover. She is actually a great example of a legitimate strong female character in storytelling as a whole. She does not mold to the helpful damsel, or ice queen archetypes, but instead keeps her own individuality and grows through out the game. I would even go so far to say that her personality is more interesting than Joel's. Ellie is definitely one of my favorite characters in any video game. Next week I'll be giving a full review of The Last of Us, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

Way Back Wednesday - Halo:Combat Evolved

Back in 2001 Bungie studios, in conjunction with Microsoft released one of the most revolutionary First Person Shooters in the history of video gaming: Halo. Halo brought a new feel to the First Person Shooting industry with both a compelling story, and arcade style multiplayer online combat. Originally released for the PC and Xbox console, the Halo franchise has seen 5 new titles, a spin off anime series, several books, and other merchandise released since its successful debut. But what exactly makes this game such a classic? Let's walk down the long road of memories and find out.

Concept art for the alien "Covenant Elites

Halo: Combat Evolved took the general design behind the First Person Shooter genre and turned it into a spectacular visual display for it's time. Bungie created lush environments, from enemy ships, to rolling hills, and even desolate swamps, the game was beautiful. But not only did they introduce an interesting environment, but realistic representations of mankind, and interestingly obscure aliens. There is also a wide array of new technology seen in Halo, which all has very a very convincing appearance. Alien vehicles and weapons have a sleek design, while human weapons and vehicles look like futuristic versions of our own. Overall, the game has great visual appeal for its time, and is even passable in today's age.

The soundtrack for a game is a very important selling point. Background music helps set the mood for the various situations a player will encounter while playing a game. Halo's mood is perfectly punctuated by it's soundtrack. I remember back to when the game was first released, before I had even played it. My friends and I were on our way to the local laser tag arena and someone put the soundtrack for the game on in the car. Immediately I knew the game was going to be an amazing experience.

On the topic of voice acting, there are no big names in the line up. Though a few experienced voice actors such as David Scully, and Jen Taylor are in the cast, there very few voice actors who have done any other games or animations. However, this does not subtract from the quality in the least.

Master Chief is an experimental super soldier who, in an attempt to divert the Covenant attack force, inadvertently discovers a space station called Halo. To provide some clarification, the Covenant is an allien alliance who despises the human race and seeks to exterminate it. They also revere the Halo as a religious artifact. Halo, is a station with an artificial environment, and is of unknown origin. A covenant ship follows Master Chief and attacks the ship he is on, causing it to crash land on Halo. Master Chief must now locate the survivors and attempt to escape, while uncovering Halo's dark secret.

It is a fairly basic plot for any normal video game, but when you make the player experience it through the eyes of Master Chief it turns this basic plot into an intense fight for survival. This story continues in the following Halo 2 and 3, and will continue in the upcoming Halo 4. Halo: Combat Evolved provides a good setting for the following games, and also succeeds at standing independently of the continuing plot.

Halo: Combat Evolved provides many different ways to play. You can play through the single player campaign alone, or split screen with a friend on the Xbox. Or you can play in many different multiplayer modes online on the PC, ranging from free for all death match, to team capture the flag. You do not have access to online multiplayer if you are playing on the Xbox console, however you can play with up to 4 players on one console, or up to 16 with a Local Area Network or LAN. The gamplay does not stand out from modern First Person Shooters but it released many features that are used frequently today, such damage absorbing shield that recharges when you are no longer taking enemy fire. Halo bridged the gap between story driven FPSs like Medal of Honor, and Quake or Unreal Tournament which were multiplayer driven. It set the bar for all shooting games to have both single player and multiplayer game options to succeed, and its influence can be seen in many games today.

The Halo franchise has been successful since its beginnings, and though people may disagree on the overall quality of the recent games, most can agree that the first installment was thoroughly enjoyable. The game's overall quality rating for it's time would be about an 8.75. Personally, I really enjoyed playing Halo: Combat Evolved with friends before the recent games, and even going back and playing it now, so I would give it aa 9.5.

I hope you enjoyed this review even though it isn't really relevant to todays day and age. It's just my overall experience and opinions of older games. What's your fondest Halo memory? What games do you play today that you can see Halo's influence in? Do you think Halo: Combat Evolved should be considered a modern classic of the video game industry? Please leave me your answers, questions, comments, suggestions, or even complaints. And don't forget to subscribe via email for constant updates! I'll see you over the weekend for the next installment of "Oh! I play this game."

Animal Crossings New Leaf... Oh! I Play This Game!

Animal Crossings has always been one of those games that draws me in, and keeps me hooked. It is a simple game with little to no plot, very little in game content, and a very small world. The game seems to rely solely on its charm, which it has in abundance. In previous games you would participate in the world, but not fully influence it. You could meet your neighbors and make friends, but you really couldn't do much to the world itself. Now, in New Leaf, you are the mayor, and you get to decide exactly how to build things in your town. New Leaf was released on November 9th 2012 in Japan. The North American version was not released until June 9th. It was developed solely for the Nintendo 3DS, and is a life simulation game.

Story - 6

Your Inauguration as Mayor

The story for this game is definitely its weak point. It is overly simplified, and not really the focus of the game in the first place, which makes it weaker. Basically, you are an average Joe, looking to move to a new town. You get there and are showered with confetti and applause. As it turns out, the townsfolk have all been expecting their new Mayor to arrive today, but he ditched his duties and pinned them on you. So now its you're job to help the town flourish, and create a comfortable lifestyle for both you and your fellow townsfolk. Oh, did I mention everyone in your town besides you are bipedal, talking animals? Not many characters within the game itself have much of a story either. This is the main flaw in Animal Crossings New Leaf.

Audio - 8

New Leaf doesn't really have voice acting. When you talk to people they speak in sped up, slurred gibberish at various tones depending on gender or personality. This doesn't really take away from the game, however. In fact, I think it adds to the overall charm. The music for the game, is very calming and relaxing. It helps provide an almost therapeutic stress relief experience for the player. Most of the sound effects have a similar effect, from the sound of the tide coming in, to the sound of a gentle breeze. The only thing I can complain about is the lack of sound sometimes. In some areas, especially at night, there is absolutely nothing going on.

Video - 9

Animal Crossings, like the last 3DS game I reviewed, has excellent graphics for a hand held. Even the characters are well designed and each unique. However, there are some characters whose mouths seem to just a picture on their face that moves. Whenever they're around I tend to focus on their mouth and it kinda makes me chuckle. I really do enjoy the various character models, because it adds a lot of diversity to the game. You also have the ability to customize your character with various clothes and accessories, or if you so desire, you can design your own.

Gameplay - 10

This is what Animal Crossings New Leaf is about and it nails its goal right on the head. The gameplay is simple, and easy to pick up, which makes the game enjoyable for anyone at any age. You can do various things for your town, like plant trees and flowers, or build bridges, parks and campsites. You can also fish, catch bugs, and participate in various other minigames. There are numerous collectibles for you to find. Some you can put on display in the museum, but most you can display in your house. Overall your goal in New Leaf is to pay for the various construction work you are doing in your town, and expand your house to hold more stuff. The one great aspect about the game is the random events that occur. Every day someone new may come visit your town. Sometimes your town will hold celebrations or competitions of their own. This past Saturday, my town held a bug catching competition. Animal Crossings New Leaf has very simple gameplay, but manages to keep you entertained and relaxed.

- - -

Overall, I think thank New Leaf is a great game, and a lot of fun to play. I am quite addicted to it and usually play for at least an hour every day. I give Animal Crossings an 8.2, which is not far off from my personal evaluation of 8.5. Animal Crossings New Leaf is a great game for gamers of all ages. I'd recommend it for ages 5+, because it relies heavily on your ability to read. All in all, its a great game to own on the Nintendo 3DS.

I would like to apologize for failing to release content last week. I got bogged down with a lot of stuff, and was quite busy. I don't mean this as an excuse, merely an explanation. I will do my best to prevent this from happening again in the future. Be sure to subscribe, because in a few months we're going to be having a special surprise for all our subscribers. Also, don't forget to come check us out more this week for Way Back Wednesday, and Part 2 of Gamers vs Anita Sarkeesian.

Tales of Dead Island: Riptide

Dead Island was the first, most realistic, zombie game to hit the consoles. While this may seem like a saving grace, it did have a lot of issues as well. I personally was getting so tired of the Left 4 Dead series, a handful of survivors going through set scenarios where guns were just laying around. Dead Island brought gamers what they wanted, but with a bit of added disappointment.

Weapons were plenty in Dead Island, but instead of guns the players had to use wooden boards, kitchen
knives or find a bunch of every day materials to mod a weapon. This aspect of the game was absolutely amazing, not to mention the more the weapon was used the more it wore down and eventually broke. The disappointing parts of Dead Island were the shoddy graphics and the cliché story to go along with it, along with a slightly open world that the gamer really had no reason to explore the majority of. Also, skill trees to give a false sense of RPG FPS and only four pre-made characters to pick from. Dead Island sold well enough to have a sequel, Dead Island: Riptide, which is what this review is ultimately about.

Dead Island: Riptide was released in April 2013 for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 developed by Techland and published by Deep Silver. Most sequels bring something new to the table that the original didn't have. Aside from a few new zombies and one new survivor, Riptide didn't bring anything worth while to the table. Don't get me wrong, it's good for a once through but Riptide has zero replay value.

The game picks up directly where Dead Island left off with the four survivors, a native and a prisoner in a helicopter, sounds like the start of a bad joke. The helicopter lands on a ship, which the survivors think is to be their salvation. The army instead detains the player(s) and throws them into a cell so they can experiment on them. In the cell, the four original cast members meet John, the new character, but the native they saved is now gone.

Of course, the game can't possibly end this way or take place completely on a boat so something goes wrong and zombies end up on the boat. The player has to fight their way to the helm, only for the ship to crash and they end up on another island, Palanai. Following the story, the player meets up with other survivors who aren't immune and helps them move through the island, looking for safety and a way off of the island.

The biggest twist in Dead Island: Riptide was that the immune characters, when having been exposed to chemicals, go into a prolonged fury. This mutagen has a negative effect on any of the immune characters, turning them into monsters or worse. The player's character manages to get a grasp on reality and doesn't convert into some insane monster hell bent on killing everything in sight however.

Ultimately, Dead Island: Riptide should have just been released with it's predecessor and made into one game instead of two. Riptide didn't last long, as far as hours go, and seemed to just end abruptly with another bad cliff hanger, leaving the player to wonder what happened.

The graphics remained the same, which while they weren't bad they weren't amazing either for a current gen console. The music remained the same, including some rap “hits” by the character Sam B. The monsters received a massive increase in strength, and the addition of a few new zombies keeps the player on their toes, but not much else. The added mods seemed forced and half done, as there were 5 mods that had the same exact effect on weapons.

I enjoyed my play through of Dead Island: Riptide, but I think the game itself could have been done better. Riptide walks away with a 6/10, and while a part of me hopes for a sequel just to put an end to the series, another part is weary about another Dead Island game. If a sequel emerges from the ashes, hopefully they will change the game enough to make it different and for players to want to play through more than once.

Way Back Wednesday: Revelations

Revelations: Persona is the first part of the Shin Megami Tensei: Persona series, originally produced by Atlus and released in North America on October 25, 1997. The game was then re-released in North America on October 1, 2009. While the game underwent a massive facelift from it's first release, the game itself remained the same.

Persona has a large cast of characters, including the cliché silent protagonist that the player controls. Based on the player's actions, different characters can be recruited each time the game is played. Revelations: Persona was the first of the series. to implement a first person view of the dungeon or area the player was walking through at the time.

While I enjoy most of the games in the Persona series, the original Persona as well as bits of Persona 2 really confused me. The combat was lacking as there wasn't a concrete tutorial on how a player should contact demons and obtain new Personas. Instead, the player has to go through tons of trial and error, grinding, and hair pulling to even obtain a demon's card. The player needs two or more cards to make Personas, having to fuse them together in the velvet room.

The story, also confusing, has the player traversing through a world with absolutely no direction. If Revelations: Persona is put down for a long time before being picked back up, there's a good chance the player will have to start over again just to have the smallest idea as to where to go and what is going on.

The graphics, for the time in which it was released and remastered, were pretty decent. While I was hoping

Revelations: Persona would be something remotely close to Persona 3 or Persona 4, it's not entirely a bad game. The music is catchy, the battle controls are easy to learn, but aside from that the game is very complex.

I give Revelations: Persona a 6/10. The game was decent, but not enough to hold my attention the entire way through. Fortunately though, Persona 3, Persona 3 FES, and Persona 4 were amazing titles to make up for Revelations: Persona being confusing.

Grid 2... Oh! I Play This Game!

Grid 2 is a racing game developed by Codemasters. It was released on May 27th for PC and May 28th for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Grid is a track based racing game that features many real world locations such as Miami, Paris and Hong Kong. In the game, you can own and drive hundreds of cars from the last four decades. It includes a campaign mode, as well as 5 different versus modes.

Story - 8

Unlike most track based racing games, Grid 2 presents you with somewhat of a story. You are an amateur racer working under your agent, Patrick Callahan. Callahan wants to make it big, and he's got a master plan to do so. He is going to take you around the world and pit you against the best racers each country has to offer. If you impress them, he'll invite them to a world racing tournament to crown the best racer in the entire world. This may not be a great story, but it was unexpected. Most racing games don't actually take the time to include any semblance of a plot to justify putting the petal to the metal.

Audio - 7

I'm going to come right out and say it, the voice acting in this game is horrible. The only real voice you hear is Callahan's, and he gets very irritating very quickly. Occasionally he offers good advice, like how to take turns, but most of the time he just constantly reminds you that you need to pass the car in front of you. Other than that there isn't much to complain about with the audio. The soundtrack isn't all that noticeable because no music actually plays till the last lap, but it is quite good. It also does a great job with the sound effects. One of my complaints with racing games, is that most of the time the sound of the engine revving is too loud to really make out other noise. In Grid 2, they find a great balance between making the engine purr, but not blare.

Video - 9

Grid 2 is a beautiful game. All the cars look amazing and interact with the world in breathtaking ways. Smoke comes off the tires as you drift, your tailpipe jutters as you go over bumps in the road, and your car shows wear and tear if you drive recklessly. Like several games before it, when you crash the game slows down to show you exactly what happened. There's only one thing that bothered me in this game: bald people. On a course, I spun out of control and ended up stopping right next to the stands with people sitting in them. I soon realized that they all had no hair what soever. At first I dismissed this as just a simple glitch, but I began noticing it in other races as well. Part of me finds this to be lazy texturing, the other finds it kind of funny.

Gameplay - 9

Gameplay is the main focus in racing games, and Grid 2 has you covered. Each race feels very realistic due to its "TrueFeel" handling system. TrueFeel makes each car handle almost exactly like their real world counterparts. This feature makes it easy for new players to learn how to get behind the wheel, but also opens up challenging stunts for experienced players. Grid 2 also features the ability to customize each car quite extensively. This allows you to pick a car and fit it to the way you want to drive. Aside from the campaign mode there are also 5 other racing types that you can enjoy. Race, is a standard 12 car race. Elimination is similar to Race, but every 20 seconds the car in last place is knocked out of the race. Checkpoint puts a timer on your race, and every checkpoint you pass through adds time, to win you have to be the last person with time remaining. Faceoff is a 1v1 tournament to see who is the best racer. And finally, the favorite from last game, Drift. Drift has you sliding from side to side trying to drift the best you can. Each player is awarded points based on how well they drift, and the person with the most points at the end wins.

- - -

Grid 2 is a great racing game, whether you are a fan of the genre or not. Its the type of game that you can play seriously, or just get a bunch of friends together and have a fun time. All in all, Grid 2 comes out with an 8.2 from me. While it is lacking in some areas, it is still a fantastic game to play. Grid 2 is also a great game for the whole family. There isn't really anything offensive in its content, and there are a good number of beginner courses. If you like cars, fun competition, and messy crashes, this is a great game for you.

Tales of Warframe

Warframe is a free-to-play co-op third person shooter developed by Digital Extremes. Warframe was first released on March 25, 2013 for the PC. The community of the game was later notified that Warframe would also be released for the Playstation 4. Digital Extremes has also released a trailer for the future release on the PS4.

The game takes place in a massive world, allowing the player to travel to different planets and galaxies. The player controls warriors called the Tenno who use advanced armor with special properties, also known as Warframes. The Tenno are at war with the Grineer, the Corpus, and an alien race named the Infested.

The Grineer are human, though they may not look like it. Over many years of cloning, their bodies have decayed and have started to look more like a promitive species. The Corpus are heavily into machinery, using mechs and smaller robots to do most of their fighting. Infested were human at some point, but were changed by a virus or parasite. The Tenno are descendants of an ancient civilization of warriors from Earth.

The player is immediately immersed in the game from the moment they pick their first Warframe. The player is given the option of Excalibur, a melee Warframe, Mag, a ranged Warframe, and Loki, a stealth Warframe. After selecting which they would like to use, they are introduced to some of the basic controls by someone called Lotus.

The immediate story doesn't reveal itself, and research has to be done to understand what exactly is happening. The world is vast, but the information is just not there. Warframe's graphics are spectacular, an option to increase the graphics is also given to the players in the Options menu.

While it's partially true the player doesn't have to spend a penny on Warframe to access everything, there is a slight catch. Each player has a limited amount of weapons or Warframe slots that, once filled, stop them from making another weapon or Warframe. This can be remedied by either buying a slot or selling one of the items.

The game also introduces an interesting way of increasing the power of your weapons, Warframe, and skills. During a play through of any mission a player gains experience for both their weapons and their current Warframe. Also during a mission, a player may encounter and pick up an item known as a Fusion Core. These cores provide special skills or abilities that can be equipped to increase the overall power of the weapons or Warframe. To increase the power of the skills, a player needs to fuse skills together or with a Fusion Core, to level up the skill. This mechanic leads to a lot of grinding, so the player can obtain skills and Credits, in-game money, in order to increase their strength.

There are also beings called Sentinels that follow the Tenno around, once bought or crafted, that act as a secondary weapon or utility power. As of now, three different Sentinels can be built giving the player a sort of variety.

There are also currently thirteen Warframes, not including the Prime Warframes that certain players were

able to obtain during special events or donating a certain amount of money. These Warframes all have different special abilities that separate them from each other, and give the player a different play style depending on the Warframe selected.

All items in the game can be found or built with a blueprint that requires, sometimes rare, items, credits, and time. Because of this, it's a very attractive game for players who don't wish to spend money on a game, or just occasionally.

An interesting aspect about the developers, is that they stay really close with their community. Almost once every month they provide a Live Stream where the developers talk about the future of Warframe and even respond to questions or concerns the players have. All this week there will be official Warframe streams from E3, be sure to tune in if you are interested.

Monday's Live Stream 5:30 P.M. PDT / 8:30 P.M. EDT: Warframe and Spike TV allaccess.spike.com
Tuesday's Live Stream 3:20 P.M. PDT / 6:20 P.M. EDT: Warframe and Gamespot http://www.gamespot.com/e3/stage-2-day-1/
Wesnesday's Live Stream 11:35 P.M. PDT / 2:35 P.M. EDT: Warframe and Playstation Blog Livecast playstation.com
Wednesday's second Live Stream 5:10 P.M. PDT / 8:10 P.M. EDT Warframe and Machinima http://www.youtube.com/user/machinima
Thursday's Live Stream 1:00 P.M. PDT / 4:00 P.M. EDT Warframe and Twitch www.twitch.tv/twitch

Warframe can be a little confusing to start, as the game doesn't tell you all of the controls, but is fun regardless. It allows the player full customization, from weapons, to colors, to Warframes, and even helmets. Thankfully the publishers are working on bringing forth a better tutorial and a better way to tell the story of Warframe, to attract new players, so all we need to do is wait. As it stands, Warframe earns an 7/10 being highly addictive for a time, but unless you enjoy grinding this game may or may not be for you. Hopefully the changes that lie on the horizon will change things up a bit, making the game more interesting.