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Fuse Mini-Review

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Insomniac Games branched away from their PlayStation-only comfort zone to release their first multi-platform game, Fuse, a shooter with co-op properties where players wield alien tech for weapons. It was off my radar until I played the demo, of which I had a ton of fun for that brief 30 minutes.

The story is nothing mind-shattering; it’s a tale of four mercenaries working for Overstrike tasked to go clear out a compromised lab for a client. The lab happens to contain alien tech they call Fuse, which they’ve used to create some pretty fun Xenotech weapons. While there, trying to clean up the mess, the lab is invaded by an evil organization called Raven, who want to use the Fuse for their own diabolical means. The client now wants the team to recover the stolen tech from Raven, and the team is happy to do so as long as the funds pour in and they’re able to keep the Xenotech weapons they, uh, borrowed. Each team member has stolen a different weapon with different abilities that conveniently coincides with their own unique abilities.

This is where the shooter loses its “typical shooter” misnomer.

Fuse - Jacob and Izzy

As each teammate gains experience (several ways to do so), they can unlock their own unique abilities as well as their Xenotech abilities. For example, stealth extraordinaire Naya gains the ability to cloak herself and remain invisible for a few moments. Izzy gains the ability to throw med beacons for her team to heal them, which is absolutely crucial as you progress in the game. Players can “leap” between characters at any given moment (unless the current character they are inhabiting is down for whatever reason) and tap into these abilities to help them out during gameplay. For example, Jacob was my main sniper, so I would leap into him to get a faraway job done and then leap back into my main character, Izzy, so I could focus on shooting and healing my team. Whoever you’re inhabiting at the time will level-up faster than the others, so you will have to choose your characters and how you want to level them up carefully.

The biggest complaint I heard about the game from reviews and social media was that the game was only fun if you played with another person. I never once found Fuse to be impossible to play without a co-op partner. Were some parts really hard due to idiotic team AI? Oh you bet, which really hurt during the final boss fight. I screamed at my team to keep their heads down constantly, and I felt like I was healing them during this portion more than I was doing damage to the boss. I know I wouldn’t have had as difficult of a time if I had partners, simply for the fact that real people would have figured out pretty damn quickly that you keep in cover during certain attacks. Parts like this made certain fights hard, but not impossible, whereas with a game like Epic Mickey: The Power of Two, I felt the game was impossible without a partner.

The final boss fight, however, was really the only instance where I really, really wished I had help. Other situations, where I would have to leap back and forth between characters to maneuver through an area, didn’t bother me at all. Instead of being annoyed that I needed someone for help, I enjoyed learning more about the different characters to get the job done. Again, these situations never once felt impossible to complete alone.

Fuse

Echelon mode, however, is pretty impossible alone, but that’s really the point of it. Fuse doesn’t have a traditional multiplayer mode, just a co-op mode that resembles Horde mode of Gears of War or even Spartan Ops missions in Halo 4. Unfortunately, I don’t have any friends who own this game, so I wasn’t able to try out Echelon mode in all of its glory. I’m hoping I can convince one or two people to buy it so we can play more Echelon mode or even the campaign on a harder difficulty.

I know reviews have been lukewarm at best for this game, but I liked it as much as I liked Binary Domain, another co-op shooter with an unusual plot and game mechanics. As of this mini-review, the demo is still available on the Xbox 360, so I encourage everyone to at least try it there (even though the demo is ten times harder than the actual game, thanks to the learning curve). The game ended on a lovely cliffhanger, and I would love it if Insomniac Games created a sequel.

BioShock Infinite Mini-Review

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BioShock Infinite Wallpaper

I, like probably every other BioShock fan on the planet, had high expectations for BioShock Infinite. I expected a story that would blow me away like the first game did, I expected to be highly disturbed at every corner, and I expected some truly unique gaming elements. I also expected all three of these to possess high quality delivery. For me, only 1.5-2 of these were fulfilled. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I was expecting something akin to what I experienced with the first BioShock, and it never came together for me.

Reader beware…spoilers are within.

I greatly enjoyed the first half of the game. I loved not knowing what was going on, the exploration, and yes, even the combat. The combat in BioShock Infinite was exponentially improved upon from the first BioShock, although I really believe that since Booker was a more involved character, a more separated character from the player, than Jack, a third-person point-of-view might have been better. Nevertheless, the FPS mechanics were greatly improved from the first game, so I never felt that overly frustrated with aiming or with using the Vigors. Yes, the implementation of the Vigors felt kind of forced, but it’s part of BioShock‘s culture in many ways, so it didn’t really bother me. I never really mastered the sky-line combat, but I blame that mostly on my vertigo and not the game itself.

What I loved most about the first half of the game was the exploration of the world and slowly uncovering the story. There were combat sections, but they never felt heavy and they didn’t impede on exploring the insanity of Columbia. I loved taking my sweet time in the Brotherhood of the Raven building, growing more and more disturbed when discovering each room. I reveled in exploring individual houses and finding their racist propaganda and even anti-racist propaganda. Even when I had Elizabeth tagging along, I never felt pushed to move on or frantically fight my way through hordes of enemies.

About the time the Tears were introduced, the game began to drastically change. I couldn’t go anywhere without having to fend of hordes of Founders or Vox Populi, and gameplay started to feel more like a typical FPS. I started to understand why some people were calling the game “CoDShock,” although I think that label is a little unfair. As a result, gameplay started to go increasingly downhill in terms of both fun and game mechanics, particularly with the Lady Comstock’s Ghost boss fight (of which the concept was absolutely ridiculous, besides).

It was at this point where the story took a complete nosedive for me. At the point where Elizabeth could use her Tears to open doorways to alternate dimensions, I lost all interest in the story. I hoped it would redeem itself later, but it instead grew worse. I hate the parallel universe plot device with a passion. I find it to be completely lazy and it opens up more plot holes than it tries to fill. This is exactly why I lose interest in comic series; over time, they all seem to eventually devolve down into alternate dimensions. So once BioShock Infinite traveled down this path, I was done.

I have never been more let down by a game’s story. I thought Dishonored would hold that honor, but apparently my expectations for BioShock Infinite were higher and my hatred for parallel universes is greater. There is nothing anyone can say to turn me around on this game’s story. Trust me, my friends have tried. They’ve tried to fill the plot holes the same way I did after finishing the game (I stayed up half the night trying to fill in the plot holes in order to like the story and only opened up more questions), and I’ve been able to counter each explanation with another question they can’t answer. Also, please don’t suggest I didn’t get it. Like The Matrix trilogy, the game slaps you in the face with what is happening. I just flat out didn’t like it.

It’s always weird disagreeing with the massive majority on a game, but eh, it is what it is. I really hoped this game would be one of my contenders for Game of the Year, but it’s nowhere near my top ten. Then again, I haven’t exactly enjoyed a game that has released this year yet, so my list of contenders could be very, very short this year.

Gears of War: Judgment Mini-Review

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Gears of War: Judgment

After sitting down with Epic Games and People Can Fly this past year at E3, I was unbelievably excited about Gears of War: Judgment. I was excited to be able to play a Gears game starring my favorite character, I looked forward to the changes they discussed, such as random spawn system and the Declassified mission settings. I couldn’t wait to see why Baird lost his officer rank, which rolled into why he was initially so angry towards Marcus when his rank was reinstated after his time in the Slab. After being in such an unhappy gaming slump since November, I was overly eager to play a game I was honestly excited about. And then came the utter disappointment.

From what I understood about the Declassified mode of the missions, I believed this setting would unlock some hidden tidbit to Baird’s story. I was not expecting the mode to simply add on an extra set of parameters to make the mission more difficult. On the one hand, I enjoyed the Declassified settings because it forced me to use weapons I normally do not, which was fun. On the other, it added absolutely nothing to the story.

The story itself was done an awful disservice by the length of each mission. Each mission, at its longest, was ten minutes. Most were less than five minutes, and at the end of each mission, you were given a rundown of your performance, much like in an arcade version of the game–think Bayonetta or DmC: Devil May Cry. This wouldn’t have bothered me so much if the missions weren’t so short. Since the missions were so short, breaking them up with a report card really broke up the story, killing it of all chances really be anything cohesive. It honestly made the story in the first Gears of War look absolutely stellar.

In addition, what happened to Baird and Cole’s characters? Cole was virtually silent the entire game, which is completely not like him. There were hardly any funny quips from him, and I can say the same about Baird, save one comment he uttered that stood out. Sofia and Paduk had far more lines, far greater character development, which is fine on the hand that they are brand new characters, but they completely overshadowed Baird and Cole. In the other games, Baird and Cole were just as well developed as Marcus and Dom.

Also, I have to wonder if the writers of the game bothered to read any of Karen Traviss’ books, as her books and even the previous games, made it QUITE clear that Baird had a huge problem with women serving in combat. And yet in Judgment, he is overly nice to Sofia. Not one crass comment, not one sexist comment, and he never made fun of her. If you’ve played any of the prior games or read the books, you know that’s not Baird’s personality, whether it’s with men or women.

The best part of the entire game was the Aftermath campaign that unlocks after you obtain 40 stars in the main campaign. This campaign took place during Gears of War 3, when Baird, Cole, and Carmine separated from the rest of the group to hunt down a boat around Act III. Aftermath completely reverted back to the original Gears formula of gameplay, and was almost instantly more enjoyable. Baird and Cole even transformed back to the sassy characters we’ve grown to love over the first three games.

As a huge fan of the series and of Baird, Gears of War: Judgment was an incredible disappointment to me. If you haven’t bought it yet and are interested in the game, I strongly recommend a rental, as you can easily beat both campaigns in about ten hours time. I’m not going to actively pursue a 4-player team to play it on Insanity, and I doubt I’ll touch the multiplayer. I’d honestly rather play the first game again than Judgment.

Mass Effect 3 Citadel DLC Mini-Review

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Citadel DLC

To be blunt, unlike the Leviathan DLC and even the Omega DLC, the story behind the Mass Effect 3 Citadel DLC is awful. Absolutely awful. When I learned who is trying to kill Shepard this time, I literally rolled my eyes. Thank God even the characters made fun of the story arc. And there, right there is why Citadel is a must-play for Mass Effect fans–it makes fun of everything Mass Effect.

I laughed all the way through the DLC, and it wasn’t just at the abysmal main plot. The dialogue between the characters is exceptional, and they make fun of everything you can imagine, from things Shepard says to the no love for the Mako to mini-games to the conversations characters had in elevators in the first game.

And the dialogue only gets sillier when you throw your party in your new apartment on the Citadel.

This was nothing but a love letter to all the fans who have loved the entire series, and as much as I normally don’t like these types of omake theater, I absolutely loved this. And as a side note, if your Wrex is still alive, take him with you everywhere. You will not want to miss anything he has to say.

I want to share some of my favorite snippets, but at the same time, it would spoil how great it is when your hear it for the first time. Trust me, you want it all fresh.

Citadel adds nothing to the overall story of ME3, but it’s so much fun, I can’t recommend it enough. This was a glorious send off for Shepard from BioWare, and it’s not one to be missed, even if you aren’t as huge of a Mass Effect fan as I am.

And yes, I will be replaying this DLC with my Shepard who has committed to Garrus. I MUST see those interactions.

Omega DLC Mini-Review

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Mass Effect 3 Omega DLC

Take all of the love I spouted for the Leviathan DLC for Mass Effect 3, and that is the amount of indifference I have for the Omega DLC. If you really only have funds for one or two DLC for ME3, you can skip the Omega DLC entirely. Your money or MSP is far better suited for the Leviathan and Citadel DLC–of which I will discuss very soon.

While playing the main campaign of ME3, you undoubtedly came across Aria hanging out in Purgatory and hating life since Cerberus ran her out of Omega. She mentions that she will take back her rock, but before the DLC released, you really had no idea what she would be doing, although you could be sure it would be of epic violent proportions. Thanks to the DLC, you can help her take back Omega from Cerberus, but the mission itself is about as exciting as any of the other Cerberus side missions found in the game. The main problem is that it is ten times longer than any of those side missions, so yes, boredom is almost guaranteed.

The second problem I had was that you couldn’t take any of your teammates with you. Aria doesn’t trust any of them–Garrus I could understand because he was Archangel on Omega, but no one else?–so you team up with pretty much just her throughout the mission. She’s not a team player, she doesn’t have anything interesting to say, and I wasn’t a fan of her powers.

About the only aspect of the mission I enjoyed at all was seeing a female Turian for the first time. You know females of other races exist (aside from the asari, anyway), but you never see any of them until ME3. First it’s a female salarian, then a female krogan. With the Omega DLC, you finally see a female turian–which really looked like General Grievous.

You also encounter a new form of Reaper, one that Cerberus created themselves and then let go out of control. As someone who read the books, I wondered if these experiments were phase two of Cerberus’ Reaper experimentation on Paul Grayson. If so, I feel for him even more than I did while reading. These things were both scary and looked absolutely painful in their existence.

Other than that, there are no strong main campaign ties to the DLC, and it honestly adds very little overall. As such, I really can’t recommend its purchase beyond the die-hard Mass Effect fan.

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