Far Cry 3 : Blood Dragon

 


 When I first saw the image of FC3 : Blood Dragon I just thought it was some weird FC3's fan's imaginative creation . Later When IGN and GameSpot teased the same picture I knew it was official. Maybe a MP DLC pack or something was my exact thought and was not pretty excited about it . But whoa when I first saw the gameplay images I realizes tat it was another single player experience in the world of Far Cry again . It was IGN's  playthrough of the first 15 min of the game that made me an actual fan . I mean the game looked exactly  like the old classic FPS . I loved the dialogues and especially the music . Well lets plunge in ,

For the Review of Original FC3 , CLICK HERE 

Plot :: 

You take up the role of Mark IV Cyber Commando named Sergeant Rex Power Colt , an American cybernetic super-soldier. The game takes place in the 80's version of the future world which is suffering from the effects of Nuclear War . Commander Sloan is the Villain of the game who plans on making the world a pre-historic one with Rockets and Blood of the  ' Blood Dragons  that are found in the Island with the help of Cyborg Army  . Now its upto Rex and Dr.Darling ( and yes , tats her name in the game , cheesy :P) to stop Sloan from accomplishing it and thereby saving the World from Destruction .

Gameplay :: 

It feels exactly like FC3 . But one thing that they have modeled beautifully is the concept that Rex is only half human . The Cyber Eye takes the place of Binoculars , Stone throw had been replaced by Dice Throw,U have unlimited Energy to Run , You can jump from any high cliffs without the thought of breaking your bones and Damn you are fast . I mean as the game begins you will realize that Rex is way much faster than Jason could ever be .

Scavenging is no more a necessity , bcos all you can get from them is Cyborg Hearts , which plays a crucial role in Luring away a Blood Dragon tats angry at you towards a enemy Group . The money you do get is not necessary to be spent at the store unless you always like the gun ammo to be full ( some are like that ). I on the other hand always preferred Knife Take downs . God tats a beauty in this game . I love the speed with which Rex executes a takedown and then moves on to another victim . It was good in FC3 and made much more better in this .

And Whola there is no skill tree . So need to worry about taking down a outpost without sounding of the alarm to get max Skill points . Rex is unstoppable , especially once you get the Kill Star , My God , Hell!! even Dragons can be taken down in a few seconds .Amazing Power that you will use to its full potential at the climax of the story . There are a total of 13 Outposts which also provides you with a number of side missions ( most of them being hostage rescues) and only a little animal hunts . But make sure you do them so that your skill set can be improved automatically  . Especially your Heath Bar increase works wonders.

Graphics :: 

As demanding as the Original Game was . But When the original was just so bright and perky with all the lush greenery and animals , this one is like a dark and Foreboding , exact opposite of what you had seen in the other Island . The Sky is Red and there are lot of Blood Dragons running here and there attacking with Laser Fire from Mouth ( Eeesh , tats deadly . Don t get hit by one .Atleast Initially )

But still the game looks amazing and nightmarishly Beautiful .

Weapons :: 

The usual collection of Assault Rifles , Sniper , Bow and Pistol and Kill star you will get at the end. Except these are named differently here .tats all . But functions exactly the same way .

Pro's : 

1.Amazing Gameplay , looks and feels similar to FC3 original but still has some uniqueness to it .

2. Hilarious Dialogues and Cut-scenes . 

3. Old school 80's BGM especially in the first Heli Shoot out :D ( Predator)

Cons ::

1. The Environment is dull and Drab that some times it  make one wonder whether that was the reason for depression afterwards .

2. Game is too Small . 

What makes FC3: Blood Dragon such a fun to play is not the graphics or Gameplay movements but the Silly Story and Hilarious Dialogues And Comic Book Cut scenes . You will be just doubling up with laughter when you experience the silliness of it . Hell there was even a time when Dr.Darling tells about Video Games being an extraordinary way to increase one's mind and should not be considered as a threat which sparks the Violence  as some say. The way you mend your self and you do the victory Fingers with Electricity sparkling in between them and showing the Finger option with your melee attacks and to top it off with Insane Dialogues , This game is a Winner ;)

Overall :: A must play for FPS Genre Fans :D 

Rating : 8.6 /10  ( Good ) 

Regards 

Ram

Grid 2

Racing Driver Grid got released back on 2008 and was praised as one of the best Racing games of the year  . Reason , it introduced the Unique damage mechanic where smashing your car around pavilions or into the back ends of your previous Racer actually meant something . When your engine gets smashed pretty hard , watch it you are going to lose power when you try to accelerate. The worse thing  that can happen is your steering control going crazy . Damn difficult to get your car under control .

                        

And other unique thing Grid was famous for was the ' Flashback '. Gamers of now probably know what that is , of course thanks to Dirt 2 and Dirt 3 and also NFS RUN . Well the truth is , this was the game that first introduced it . So some respect people .

Grid 2 has finally hit the streets and the word around the street is that its a damn good game . But that doesn't mean we have to believe that . I for one always believed tat one has to actually play a game first in order to tell if its good or not . Codemasters of ' Dirt ' genre has yet again given us a a beautiful game that is graphically so rich that it just makes one wonder , if they are driving a car in the real world .

 Plot :: 

Same as every racing game genre . You have a unknown voice speaking to you from first that directs you around the races giving constant advice , appreciation if u drive really good or sarcastic comments if u drive horribly . Really sometimes , you will feel depressed for getting a scolding from this faceless voice :P . Such is the impact . You are pushed into a race as soon as the game starts and asked to do test drive where a sponsor gets impressed and agrees to propel you into the world of legal racing. This time the world championship is known as World Series Racing or WSR . And its not based on money but by the amount of fans you get to impress and collect by winning races . Nice innovation by the way . You have tiers of  cars which gets unlocked as you enter each season. Drive a car and beat a time limit and make the car yours ;-) now tats sound easy huh ..Rather than deciding which car to buy with the money you win.

Gameplay ::

The surroundings and environments do feel good. But take your eyes off the road for just one second to admire the beauty you will find your car plastered around a bend . Such is the concentration that is required in order to propel you car across the finish line in one piece .Developers at Codemasters had introduced a new thing which they had dubbed as the 'TrueFeel', which aims to hit a sweet spot between realism and accessibility. Although it really is a pain in the A** to get control of your car ,once you get the hang of it you can go on like a boss !!.

Another one of the racing genres that introduces the Difficulty settings . I for one selected Easy and Damage : ON  mode . Even then the races were challenging and required my 100% concentration to cross the finish line first . Believe me , getting there is not a easy joke . It requires the absolute concentration that a gamer can ever give. And its not only one race you are talking about , You will be usually playing a set of 3 races or 2 . Players of Dirt would already know what I am talking about .

Well lets just say , that not all can play Grid 2 that easily . It requires patience and skill and most of all the hunger to finish it if you are ever going to play this .

Graphics ::

Game looks absolutely gorgeous . thanks to EGO v3.0 graphics Engine developed by  Codemasters and Sony Computer Entertainment [ V1.0 was created using Sony Computer Entertainment's PhyreEngine cross-platform graphics engine. ]  Dirt 3 was working under a similar engine but a previous version that made the game to look  absolutely mind blowing . Well say hello to real world Circuits and tracks and the details you will see at the back drops is absolutely amazing to look and feel .

The car's gloss paint is enough to make you go blind as the sun glints of the paint . But it can act as a barrier to your view of the road too .  Yikes !! huh . One small break or one small bump around the corner is enough to make you go spinning and spend some time in Loserville :P

Damages to the Car is amazingly shown . A light bump with nearby car is enough to scar your paint job that makes your bleed in the heart too sometimes . Hell , I used to restart races whenever I felt that my car had been scratched or disgusting to look at with all the flaps falling off. Too much damage and your car will be totaled . But no worries , as long as rewind is there , you won t have a problem .

Race Modes::

The Usual flurry of races but with a little spice here and there to keep us entertained .

1. RACE ::

You start with competing against 12 players with one being your Rival always who is the best at the particular track or one who fights dirty . But the innovativeness comes in the form of

i) LIVEROUTES ::

In these races you will be driving around the familiar track but the map will not be available . Because in Live Routes as the name hints , the Routes change themselves as soon as you take a corner . When you cross a difficult corner that makes you go very near to a crash , you keep in mind that you should break a little early when that particular corner comes up again in the next lap . But Whola , tats the beauty of Live Routes ..There won t be any corner . Atleast you will find a different corner . Amazing and keeps you on your toes always .

2. Elimination :

The usual eliminator series with timer running off and for every 20 sec the player at last is eliminated  when the timer goes off.

3. Checkpoint ::

Cross the check points and add 4 sec to the time you had when the race started and make sure to drive the max distance than the other drivers if you want to finish first . But watch for other retired drivers who will be standing on the sides of the road after retiring . If you crash then the race will be over much sooner than expected .

4. Drift ::

Drift your car around the ,markers to get your score doubled . My personal favorite was the Nizzan 370Z roadster.

5. Faceoff ::

Although the name sound cool and different the race is the same old one we had in NFS Carbon Canyon . You have a set of three races to prove who is the best of you . You can win by ' Lead by 5 sec Rule' or actual win by crossing the finish line . The best of 3 wins the race.

PROMO Events ::

a) Endurance ::

You get to drive a car of the Sponsor's choice for a time period of 6 min and by the time when the clock hits zero the player with most driven distance wins ( mostly the driver who was doing first )

b) Overtake ::

Overtake the car 

This was a new and refreshing experience  .All you had to do is to overtake some cars that are going in a line in the track . As you cross a car you get points which starts from 100/ overtake to 1000/overtake. But the catch is you should not hit or experience collision of any type with the pavilion or with the cars . Bcos once you bump them you lose your combo of Overtake points and have to start from 100 once again .It may sound easy at the beginning . But as you progress this is a huge deal breaker .

Some test drives are also available always . You do have some Objectives which are provided by the sponsors whom you pick . Don t worry !!  There is no need to work towards achieving it ( Like in BLUR ) , Just drive the racing series that is mentioned in the objective and you will clear it .

Cars and locations :

The game has a total of 56 cars to choose from and the biggest highlight is you never get to buy them . They are all handed over to you as soon as you smash the objective , mostly to drive a single lap around a world famous Circuit .

Paris 

The game features many new track locations like: California, Miami, Paris, Barcelona, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, Indianapolis, and a few more track locations like Chicago, Algarve for example . My personal favourite is Dubai for its decor and Paris , cos driving these tracks are really fun.

Dubai

The most horrible and Difficult tracks you will ever come across are in

Asia:

Okutama

1. Hong Kong

2. Okutama

3. Yas Marina

4. Dubai

Out of which Hong Kong and Okutama tops . God these tracks are horrible . Steep inclines and declines will make your car go crazy and it will need your utmost skill to bring it under control . Especially the Tier 5 Cars will perform their worst here. Their inhuman speeds are ridiculous in this Hell's road . Especially while coming down the inclines.

I was really excited when I entered Tier 5 . Finally I will be able to drive high end cars like Pagani , Koenigsegg or Bugatti. Sadly all the cars perform horribly . Atleast tats what I felt . Especially the Pagani and Koenigsegg . I mean i was literally dying to drive one of these babies , but they are extremely hard to handle when it comes to taking 90 degree corners or drift . Way to drifty for my liking . If this how they are in real life , no siree , i dont want one especially after paying that price :D 

Pro's ::

1. Amazing Car Physics and Simulation dubbed as ' True feel ' by Codemaster Developers . Experience it because its unique . 

2. Breadth taking Graphics and locations  that kind of reminds that you are not in the world of Grid 1 ;-)

3. Nerve racking and tension building races at the end of the career that gives you an headache just be cos of the concentration required to cross the finish line without crashing :P  

Con's :: 

1. Music score and BGM were missing . Although the BGM made a entry at the last lap of every WSR series it would have been much more better if they were available throughout the game races . I will hear that rather than continuous whine of Car engines . Maybe they thought it would give the game a NFS kind of feeling ;-)

2. Some times the car physics is just too hard and punishing that it may frustrate some players to the extreme causing them to hate the game for its brutal Truefeel .

3. No racing line so its all 100% you who has to maneuver your car .

4. Doing 3 races at some track can be bit boring and tiresome .

Overall :: A excellent Masterpiece of Codemasters after Dirt 3 . Say hello to the next gen in the Racing .

Rating :: 9.2 / 10 ( Very Good )

Regards

Ram 

Metro: Last Light

Metro 2033 which was released back in 2010 for Windows and Xbox 360 provided such a impact on scavenging type of gameplay that it became like a mother of all  the other games that started hitting the markets . Unlike other FPS games of its genre the game did not come with a effective melee system that you can fall back to when you run out of ammo . All you have got are some scavenged & not so good weapons and some bullets that may or may not stop your enemy in time . Add that to the dangerous Radioactive fumes that floats around the surface you have got a serious game that takes its toll upon you on each and every corner.

Metro 2033 was praised for its GPU and CPU demands and was used as a benchmark to test the newly released cards for a long time . Add that to a game that supported Direct X 11 long back then in 2010 this game was a leader in all aspects . The unique gameplay style was what made Metro such an unforgettable experience . Scavenging for ammo's and an enthralling story line , it packed a punch for all the hungry Gamers .

 Dark One

Now after 3 yrs of its release , Metro : Last Light ( formerly known as Metro 2034) hits the streets with much expectations and I have to say that it does not fail to impress.

Plot ::

Once again you take the role of Artyom who is now a part of Rangers in D6 facility . Metro 2033 offers two possible endings to the game , but this game picks of from the most possible ending that players would have chosen at the end of the first game . Artyom calls in the strike of Missiles on the Dark ones and thereby destroying them all .But later they come to know one of the dark one is still alive . Khan convinces Artyom that the Dark one is the key to surviving in this world . And its upto Artyom to unravel the mystery that surrounds the Dark ones using his weird connection to them .

Khan

Gameplay ::

Metro employs the same scavenging type of gameplay that it was quite famous for . But this time the player character gets all the guns he requires in the beginning of the game along with all the upgrades and ammunition . That does not mean you won t get access to new weapons as you progress, you will , but getting them with the money ( bullets ) on the other hand is a job that is left open only to the best explorer at hand .

Demon Attack

A new feature of throwing Knives and Melee kills has been introduced in this one that earns a quite likability as soon as you start executing them .On the other hand it does make one feel like they are playing a ordinary action game instead of The Metro . Artyom is more skilled now and he moves like a cat in the dark and pounces when the moment is ready . Just like all stealth games , you can make the  darkness your ally . You can remove the lights or hit the circuit breakers so that the area which was monitored a few minutes ago is completely swathed in darkness and you can slowly creep towards the Guard Patrols and slit their throats off silently .There are some silly and awkward moments where the guard right before wont even notice you and you will still be able to slice them up if you are quick enough.

Brutal Knife Kill ..

Gunfight has been upgraded to a whole new level . Whenever you come across a room filled with thugs you have both options of sneaking past them hidden in drainage passages or blast our way through with your guns blazing . Its all upto you and your patience . But whichever style you choose the end result is quite satisfying.

The mutants are back too , with a horrifying intro at some places . Most of the places you will come across a pack of hounds passing along . Stay hidden and let them pass or be foolish enough to antagonize one and bring the fury of the whole pack .You do get to face them in the confirmed corridors where the only option is to blast them away from your face . Not  to mention some epic boss fights where you could use the environment to your advantage instead of just wasting your bullets .

Damn scary scene !!

There is no Metro without the infamous Gas Masks . And they are back and its all about wiping your mask , changing your filter before you enter into a firefight and throwing in a occasional adrenaline surge with a shot from your med kit if you need to survive in this world .

Either blasting through waves of enemies or waves of Mutants , Gameplay never slows down not even for a single bit and is made quite interesting with some dramatic visuals and adrenaline pumping button mashing escapades .

Graphics ::

Metro was always a graphically demanding game . But not this time around . Say hello to Optimizing patch that was released as soon as the game was released which made running the game in a way that best suited your hardware  , especially for ATI card users . Since the game was designed with Nvidia cards in mind , people who ran a ATI card suffered from a lot of stuttering and lag in gameplay even if they had a high end GPU in ATI . Never fear said 4A Games and came up with amazing patch that fixed the issues with AMD cards and made the game butter smooth without a stutter . First time I saw a patch that actually worked wonders and that too which was discernible to the naked eye.

http://steamcommunity.com/app/43160/discussions/0/810924774395015649/

So once the patch was applied everyone could admire the beauty of post apocalyptic Moscow in its full glory . Though the game is not beautiful in its color palette as Bioshock Infinite was , it does radiate beauty in a melancholic sort of way . Game looks absolutely amazing both above ground or inside the Metro .

Guns and Weapons ::

You have the famous Assault rifle and Sniper Rifle along with a double barreled or rotating shotgun . Ammo is a commodity tats made available depending upon the difficulty level you choose . If you choose very easy,  ammo is abundant and is  easy to find while the exact vice versa happens if you select hard difficulty . But I have to say that the weapons have been made more effective now when compared to its older version .

New and Improved Assault rifle 

Weapon upgrades are not that abundant . You can either fit a scope to your assault rifle , Laser pointer , or night vision scope for better scouting ( Although this gets moot after you get the actual night vision goggles) .

The game does give a feel that it had been toned down in play-ability to better suit the needs of wide range of casual Gamers . Being in 2013 every game feels like that and Metro last light is another victim of exactly that .

Pro's :

1. Once again step int the boots of Artyom and travel along the post Apocalyptic world of Moscow .
2. Gameplay has its unique moments that just amazes and surprises you with its cinematic style feel
3. Weapons are a lot better than Metro 2033.
4. Game optimization works amazingly .

Con's ::

1. Some may find the repetitive parts of killing Thugs rooms after room as a chore rather than the fun it is .
2. Story slows down in pace after some time into the game .
3. Melee attacks in the dark gives the game totally a Un- Metro Like feel .

Overall :: A Amazing game that has to be experienced by each and every one of the Gamers .

Rating : 9.4 /10 ( Very Good )

Regards
Ram