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XCOM: Enemy Unknown Strategy Guide Review

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XCOM: Enemy Unknown strategy guide reviewI hate to admit this, but XCOM: Enemy Unknown never entered my radar until the day it released and I realized it was a strategy game. All that time I ignored it thinking it was a shooter. I hang my head in shame, but I also admit that this is one of the best games to release this year. Well, that is if you are into commanding marines to protect us from aliens.

As for the XCOM: Enemy Unknown strategy guide, well, it is a bit of a mixed bag. Let me start with the negatives, beginning with the fact that the cover says it includes the PC but many of the controls listed throughout the guide neglect to state the PC commands. For example, in the Basics chapter it tries to detail how to move the camera with the right control stick while zooming in and out is mapped to the L (XBOX) or L2 (PS3) buttons. Nowhere does it state that PC gamers rotate the camera with the Q and E keys or that zooming comes courtesy of the mouse scroll wheel. Yes, I know I can play the game with a controller, but I prefer a mouse and keyboard.

Wait, what do I do on the PC?

Next, readers have to endure some bad editing and sporadic information that contradicts itself. By bad editing, I mean spaces missing between words and spelling errors. For the contradictory information, there are heaps of tables detailing items from the game and then a blurb on said item and its advantages/disadvantages. These generally pull a screen capture showing some significant number, but then the blurb contradicts what the screenshot shows. So anyone studying this guide as a bit of pre-planning before tackling a mission will want to confirm what they read in the guide with what the game tells them.

Finally, we get to the beast that is XCOM itself. Those who don’t know, this is a game of randomness. Random missions, different troops for every replay, and a lot of death all play a major role in making this game entertaining while baiting players to chuck their control devices in frustration as their favorite marine dies due to a sneaky alien. This also makes it difficult to write a detailed walkthrough of the game. Therefore, anyone expecting to see complex maps or tips on how to tackle a specific instance in a particular mission is sorely at a loss here. That is just the downfall of a game such as this.

So what is good about this guide. Well, while it pretty much regurgitates in-game information, it presents it in an easy to read manner. The walkthrough may not contain every little area of the game, in fact the last mission is the only thing receiving immense details, but it does help players determine when it is best to research this item or that weapon. This is very handy for those times when debating on whether it is better to go for an upgrade to armor or progress the story and bring on tougher enemies.

While readers may not find the walkthrough overly fantastic, the Research Lab and Barracks sections are full of goodies that ease the burden of strategy. These areas make all the in-game information fast and easy to read, with the keyword being fast. I saved a fair amount of time and money on development/building, thanks to these two chapters. Even assembling my team was easier thanks to knowing the capabilities and weakness of each class. I spent the bulk of my gaming time here as I found them the most useful of the entire guide.

So that is why I love the Assault class!

The multiplayer portion is kind of a combination of the Research Lab, Barracks, and Walkthrough chapters. Summaries of how to build a squad, equipment stats, enemy details, and whatnot all come with blurbs on what makes a unit great to have in a squad or what to watch for in a particular baddie. Plenty of charts crammed full of numbers help speed up the decision-making processes compliment all this.

We finally arrive at the end of the guide, which happens to be 25-pages of art. Now I love a good art book, so this totally made me happy. If you’re not into screenshots or concept art, this will most certainly feel like wasted space. However, it is nice to see artists sketches turned into gaming assets.

At the end of the day, the XCOM: Enemy Unknown strategy guide takes the information in the game and presents it in an easier to read fashion. This is for those players that want to quickly glance down and find what they are looking for fast and effortlessly. Those players wanting some handholding through the entire game will want to stick to whatever they can find online. This is a decent guide that helps fans figure out how to tackle a game that punishes without remorse.

SGR Rating 3/5

Author: Tom Bogenn, Kenny Sims
Publisher: BradyGames
Editions Available: Paperback
Acquired via Publisher

Resident Evil 6 Strategy Guide Review

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Resident Evil 6 strategy guide reviewI must admit, I had no intention of picking up Resident Evil 6 until Keri told me Dan Birlew was part of the review team on the Resident Evil 6 strategy guide. I like how Dan writes his guides, and so my excitement level to review his work once again shot up ten-fold. Sadly, the guide is more fun than the game, but that is a matter for a different day.

Like all good strategy guides, this one starts out with the basics, like a breakdown on the differences between the Xbox 360 and PS3 control schemes. From there, all the in-game combat essentials get covered in good detail with screenshots to show what players can expect when executing throws or ducking. As dang near every iteration of the Resident Evil series changes how players interact with the world, this is worth skimming over by anyone jumping into the zombie horde filled city.

Now it is time to dive headlong into the campaign, starting with the Prelude. The game itself is playable in whatever character order one feels like, so the table of contents and color-coded corners is a great help in getting to the specific portion of the guide containing the necessary info a player requires at any point in time. The walkthrough contains easy-to-read maps showing where to find ammo, health, and hidden serpent emblems. I enjoyed these maps and how they cut down my time running all over the stage in order to check every nook and cranny for herbs and ammo. There are also charts at the end of each character section showing the ranking system and what is required to earn top honors.

So an arrow to the knee will not work here?

What I enjoyed the most is how this portion reads. Sure, the authors take you from point-to-point in the mission, but it felt more as if I was reading a book than a strategy guide. Even the boss battles are full of details on beating them, covered in gooey commentary that makes for faster, and more enjoyable, reading. It maybe fluff, but it adds a nice touch to the standard go here, kill this, go there, collect that formula of so many other strategy guides.

The back of the guide is comprised of all the extra tidbits that are crammed into the game. Completionists will want to spend some time scanning over part three as it has all the info on how to obtain every dog tag, title, and Achievements. I found the Agent Hunt very handy in that it lists commands and tactics for each playable monster along with stage and goal details. As for the Mercenaries area, the maps and strategies are a nice touch. This also includes info on all the unlock conditions for characters and costumes, as well as the general guidelines for playing each mercenary.

The last pages go to the appendices. These contain lots of charts on campaign skills, agent hunt skills, and mercenary skills, various in-game items, weapons, and monsters. The weapons and monster portions are of the most notable because they specify who can carry what item and how to bring down various creatures quickly and efficiently. You know, so players can conserve precious ammo! What is particularly cool about the achievement/trophy area is that it not only lists everything to raise that gamer score a few points, but it also explains how to obtain some of the more difficult Achievements/Trophies.

Between the easy guide navigation, story-like walkthrough, and bounty of info, this is a beautiful guide. I loved that the screenshots throughout the pages were actually brighter than the game itself, thus making it easier to follow along when just glancing down to quickly read something. Dan has once again outdone himself with the Resident Evil 6 strategy guide!

SGR Rating 4/5

Author: Dan Birlew, Logan Sharp
Publisher: BradyGames
Editions Available: Collector’s Edition and Paperback
Acquired via Publisher

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria Strategy Guide Review

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Mists of Pandaria strategy guide reviewAh World or Warcraft (WoW), you are the juggernaut that so many games try to tackle, yet you remain king of the hill. During your 10-year reign, countless players have died in your dungeons, slain numerous bosses, cleared heaps of dungeons, and battled for coveted gear. It seems now you want to bring back players by enticing us with cute pandas and martial arts. Well, it worked!

What does not work is the Mists of Pandaria strategy guide from BradyGames. I have to slightly deviate from my normal review style not only due to how this guide is laid out, but because I feel the need to save WoW veterans some time. If you are a WoW addict and have any amount of time, six months or so, in this game, you can skip this guide. If you are completely new to this Blizzard crack, have NEVER EVER touched an MMO, or just like having books in your bookcase, then go ahead and read on.

Well crap, that is what a pet is.

The first 203 pages take the reader through the basics of not only an MMO, but also WoW itself. If you’ve never heard of a Blood Elf Death Knight or what an Auction House is, then these pages will serve you well. This section not only has a comprehensive glossary of terms, but it also contains a small blurb on life as each race as well as how to get through their starting areas. I need to note that there is a small excerpt here on picking a class, more on this later. On the plus side, this is your first glimpse at the new talent screen.

From here, the guide gets all sorts of scatterbrained. The next 50 pages actually breakdown the new features of the Mists of Pandaria expansion, including the pet battle system and mechanics. This is a good place for all players, new and old, to spend a few moments as it does cover how characters/UI/reputation/professions change, sometimes rather drastically. It is not much, but there is a smidgen of useful info here.

The next 32 pages tackle all the newly added dungeons, raid areas, and the continent of Pandaria itself. It also covers the revamped dungeons like Ragefire Chasm and Scarlet Monetary. This is good content to study for all you hardcore dungeon crawling raid fans, as this is where you are spending countless hours farming for gear.

Now we hit 164 pages of what the heck. Remember how I said I would cover the classes later, well that is because they appear in greater detail towards the back of the book. This also applies to picking a profession, like cooking, as well as PvP tips and tricks. I say “what the heck” because this whole area feels misplaced and needs placement at the front of the guide. Why make readers go through all the races and then have to flip to the back to find out info on the classes? This does not jive with the basics of character creation. It also means that new players who are playing on PvP centric servers are also diving into the back of the guide to get valuable info before they sink hours into character development. This seems like so much more work than it needs to be.

Despite some misplacement, there is some meaty info in here for novices. New players can read how each class grows and matures between level one and ninety. All talents, spells, and abilities appear in clean charts that are simple to read and easily usable in planning a new character. Old timers may want to look in here as well as this is the easiest place to see how various spells now behave as well as what might be missing from a beloved class. The authors did try to make this portion specific enough to help new players pick something they would like, yet kept it vague enough that future patches and hot fixes will not render the info completely useless.

A six-page bestiary covers the new creatures added in this expansion. It does give level info and locations for each creature, along with a brief description of each. This is handy for all those go to x location and kill y amount of z enemy.

Wait, what did Blizzard do to my class

Lastly, we hit the achievement section, which is lackluster at best. Almost every guide I have reviewed contains something similar, but with a nice table showing the achievements, their value, and how to obtain the harder ones. While I fully understand that WoW is a big game with countless things to do, showing me the in-game achievement screen and then regurgitating info that is clearly ascertained from that screen feels terribly cheap. Instead, give me info on how to score some of the more difficult achievements. This tiny section is totally skipable.

This is a hard guide to recommend. The bulk of the info in here is stuff veteran players either know already or can quickly figure out within a few moments upon logging into the game, or the game spoon-feeds novices as they make their way up the level ladder. The maps are nice, but they make up a small portion of this guide, and are freely available online. As a long-time player, I cannot see spending money for a few pages detailing the changes to the game with a few handy charts showing me changes to my beloved Mage or Hunter. At the end of the day, this just makes me a sad panda as I so wanted to love this strategy guide.

SGR Rating 2.5/5

Author: Michael Owen, Kenny Sims, Joe Branger, Forrest Walker, Howard Scott Hughes, Ken Schmidt
Publisher: BradyGames
Editions Available: Collector’s Edition and Paperback
Acquired via Publisher

Borderlands 2 Strategy Guide Review

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Borderlands 2 Strategy Guide reviewAh Pandora, you do not even know how much I missed running around your barren lands while terrorizing your psychopaths. Now that I am back and causing Handsome Jack all kinds of issues, I can say I truly did miss the musing of CL4P-TP. Oh Pandora, what secrets do you have to hide this time around?

Well, now that I got that out of my system, let’s look at the Borderlands 2 strategy guide that BradyGames assembled for this highly praised sequel. The first few pages take players through the basics of the game. While I knew things like going for the headshot, elemental damage is a viable way to twiddle down health bars, and I need to shoot exploding barrels for extra bang per round, I did not anticipate the added notes and tables diving into greater detail and thus providing me an advantage before I even created my first character. This section is chock full of useful nuggets of info, and I returned a few times to make sure I understood the mechanics and utilized them to their full potential. There is a little something here for novices and veterans alike, so don’t skip it!

Damn the choices

Next up in the Borderlands 2 strategy guide is the new Vault Hunters section, and this is something I encourage all players to spend a few moments with. Not only does this look at the four playable characters, but it goes into their skill trees and elaborates what the significance of each branch is and why one may want to invest points in it. This is immensely useful for preplanning, especially for anyone who wants to play with friends. Each character ends with a breakdown on strategies for solo play and co-operative play. The authors even dropped in a “suggested” skill tree to help ease indecisive players into the world of Pandora. I tested two of these suggested builds and found them to be fairly solid for both solo and co-op play. I did modify them after some time to suit my play style, but as a starting point, they are an easy way to alleviate some of the confusion on how to best optimize each character.

Now that a new Vault Hunter is born, it is time to scour the world of Pandora for clues, and this is where the walkthrough becomes as useful as one well placed headshot. Each new area starts with a map that details where to find items like save points, Cult of the Vault markers, bosses, and ammo/life/cars. The pages that follow go into how to obtain those accursed Cult of the Vault markers, how to battle bosses, and details for the main quest line in that area. A nice perk is that each new mission has a small blurb detailing the objective, XP, money, and suggested level, thus making it quick and easy to determine if this is something to tackle now or hold off on for a few levels.

I ended up using the maps in this section quite frequently. They not only helped me get to each Vault marker, but they aided me when I ran out of ammo for my favorite pistol or stumbled upon a data recorder. I did have trouble every so often understanding how I was supposed to get to specific points to nab a Cult of the Vault marker or hidden data recorder, but the included screenshots added visual reference points that eventually got me going in the right direction. Another nicety is that each boss encounter includes strategies for completing the specific challenges for all four of the playable characters, which is a great way to add just one more Badass Point to the list.

What did drive me nuts is that the optional missions don’t sit in the main walkthrough, but rather after it. This ended up leading to a lot of flipping back and forth so I could look at the map and then jump back to read details of each side quest. To add to that frustration, the optional mission section is listed in alphabetical order, and it makes for hunting down details on what to do almost as confusing as finding the Vault itself. I firmly believe that this should be incorporated into the main walkthrough as it makes for an easier time completing everything in one area before us completionists move onto a new segment of the game.

Classified my ass

While I can excuse the segregation of main quests from side quests, I have a harder time when it comes to the weapons portion of this guide. There is some great info on what each weapon type does and why a player may choose it for various encounters throughout their time in the game. However, there is too much “classified” information in here. People that buy a strategy guide don’t do it to have chunks of info excluded, and that is exactly what BradyGames does with select items here. I want to know where I can buy the Raket Pawket Badaboom and the specs on it, not be shafted with knowing it exists but it is classified. The section is still nice, but that lack of info is just a punch to the face.

Redemption comes in the last few portions of the Borderlands 2 strategy guide, starting with a fairly complete Bestiary. I believe that every enemy I tried to find from the game came with a brief description along with a table breaking down how their life changed in multiplayer, damage, XP, critical hit area, and any weaknesses they may have. This also includes where the enemy resides and what, if required, optional quest it is on.

Following that is the secrets section, which includes how to unlock every new head for those who want to customize their characters even further. There is also a heap of tables breaking down all of the challenges in the game, and that includes all of the level specific challenges. Anyone looking to maximize their badass points, this is the section to study like a college kid cramming the night before a big final. Completing this is the obligatory breakdown of achievements/trophies and their associated point values.

There is a small portion dedicated to easter eggs that I am still trying to figure out how I feel. The guide mentions them, but it doesn’t tell you how or where to get them–AT ALL. On one hand, this is a strategy guide and I expect all information to be covered throughout the guide. On the other hand, finding an easter egg in the game is fun and adds to the exploration. The jury is still out on just how good or bad this is.

What I found this guide lacked the most was some form of index or detailed table of contents. Sure, the side missions come sorted alphabetically while the main walkthrough follows the game chronologically; however, there is still no easy way to quickly find specific info. This ultimately ends up with a lot more page flipping and hunting than is necessary in a guide with this much content scattered about.

Quotes from the devs are a nice touch

At the end of the day, I found the bulk of the Borderlands 2 strategy guide rich with detail and entertainment. I love the fact that BradyGames included character art and developer quotes throughout the pages. They once again did a great job making the guide feel as though it were part of the game and not just some secondary accessory. I still cannot excuse shafting players with “classified” info, but that is in a relatively small portion of the book yet it is still info that consumers pay for. However, this is a solid buy and I can still recommend it to any hunter. Now, I must go back to blowing the heads off some Psychos!

SGR Rating 3/5

Author: Doug Walsh & Joe Epstein
Publisher: BradyGames
Editions Available: Hardcover and Paperback
Acquired via Publisher

Guild Wars 2 Strategy Guide Review

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Guild Wars 2 strategy guide reviewReviewing a guide for any MMO is a tricky bit of work. These types of games constantly change and so info in the book quickly becomes outdated. There is also the issue that almost all of these games guide the player along lower level areas while introducing tidbits of the games various mechanics in small chunks, which most commonly happens between levels 1 to 20. What BradyGames has done with their Guild Wars 2 strategy guide is make a textbook for the MMO 101 class.

BradyGames starts this guide out with some lore on the Guild Wars 2 universe, and I enjoyed this greatly as I never fully played the original Guild Wars or any of the subsequent expansions. This portion gave me some history on world events, the races and their trials and tribulations, and how the world got to be so crazy. I actually read this portion twice just because it intrigued me and brought me that much closer to the game world itself.

From there, the strategy guide dives into the basics of multiplayer online games. I am talking these are basics down to what leveling is and slaying monsters works. Anyone that does not know what pulling or kiting is; this is the section to study. For those that this is not their first go-round in an MMO can skip right on by, as there is nothing new or earth shattering covered here.

The guide then moves into each profession, along with what weapons unlock what skills. I strongly recommend looking through this section before embarking into creating a character as this is a decent glimpse into how each profession works and what their roles in group battles are. This actually saved me a bit of time as I was able to see what I wanted to play and what fit my play style best. Each skill includes a blurb on what it does along with any cool down to consider. Do note that cool down times change as this game ages and profession balances drop into place, so do not always expect this info to be 100% accurate.

As with all MMOs, there is plenty to do for people that just want to make in-game items. Sadly, this is where the guide drops the ball with a measly six-page spread dedicated to helping players get their craft on. Sure, making stuff in GW2 is not overly complicated, but in my eyes, it deserves a bit more than this.

The guide then dives into the world and monsters players can encounter while playing. I have to be honest in that I never used this section. NCsoft did a wonderful job of making each area somewhere I just roamed and explored. Outside of some vista points and strategically place points of interest, the game itself encourages players to roam around and participate in quests and world events. I had a hard time trying to stick to some sort of script while I played and so I just closed the book here and immersed myself in the scenery while slaying countless enemies. From a new user point of view, this does provide some insight into how the game works but again, it is just some repetition of what the game already provides through various help screens and tutorials.

BradyGames does their best to enlighten a gamer on how player-vs-player works, but this is something that is only mastered through countless hours of play. The basics of how to conquer a fortress and rudimentary concepts of staying alive on the battlefields flow from page to page. This is a starting point that newcomers should look through, but the master sensei decrees one hour of practice every day to be an necessity on the stage of world dominance.

We finally arrive at one of the most used portions of the guide, and that is the maps of each area. I found myself here more than any other as I worked for the 100% completion bonuses of each area. While the guide does a nice job pointing out Asura Gates, points of interest, and quest hearts, it lacks showing where each vista point is. I do not need a breakdown on how to obtain every vista, but knowing their general location would help. The lack of these on the maps is a letdown and does diminish their value some.

If you are totally new to the world of Guild Wars, or have NEVER touched an MMO before, then theGuild Wars 2strategy guideis going to be of some use to you. However, veterans may find the maps handy but those are also freely available online and some even include videos on how to obtain the harder points of interest and vistas. I found the lore portion to be great and highly entertaining, yet I also found the crafting section to be weak and useless. I recommend that anyone considering this guide to head to their local bookstore and flip through the pages before dropping hard earned money on it as this is made for a very niche audience.

SGR Rating 3/5

Authors: Michael Lummis, Kathleen Pleet, Edwin Kern, Kurt Ricketts
Publisher: BradyGames
Editions Available: Collector’s Edition and Paperback
Acquired via Publisher

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