"Plants Vs. Zombies Garden Warfare" Review

     "P.V.Z. Garden Warfare"
 

     When you think "Plants Vs. Zombies", the first thing that comes to mind is the 2D tower defense made by Popcap and EA, but you would never expect the company, DICE, to be thrown into the mix and help create a 3rd person shooter out of the game... Well, that's exactly what happened, and props to Popcap and everyone involved, because this was definitely a success.
     "Plants Vs. Zombies Garden Warfare" lets you play as both the plants and the zombies in a small variety of maps and modes. Each team has 4 different classes as you would expect, considering DICE helped out in the game's development. The plants have the Peashooter, the Chomper, the Sunflower, and the Cactus. The zombies have the Foot Soldier, the Engineer, the Scientist, and the All-Star. Each class has its own special abilities ranging from power and brute force, to fast and nimble, to slow moving, but stealthy. These different classes offer lots of variety and the chance for players to try out all the classes to hone their skills. An ability example would be the Chomper, which can burrow itself underground and travel until its under a zombie, emerge from the ground and swallow the zombie right up in one gulp.
     All of the characters are still plenty delightful and charming, even while they are shooting at each other. I noticed that some classes feel a bit more overpowered than being equal as all the rest. Another thing that could use some work are the maps. While well designed, there just aren't enough, but no need to fret, all maps due to come out as DLC will be FREE; thank the Gods. There is an in game "Sticker Shop" where card packs can be opened for varying amounts of coins to unlock new characters and buy consumables to help in combat. Yes, there are micro-transactions, but NO, they do not burden the game-experience at all. They are simply there if you want to get a few better characters or consumables to better yourself in combat. There are 8 multiplayer modes, some are more fun than others. Essentially, they are relatable to some modes in Battlefield or Call of Duty games. There is not a campaign mode, which wouldn't make much sense if there was anyway; there is however, "Garden ops", where you can play solo, or with friends and take on waves of zombies. While fun, your coin earnings will be nowhere near as high as playing a mutiplayer mode such as Team Vanquish(Team Deathmatch) or Gardens and Graveyards(Conquest). Also, kudos to Popcap for still making this feel like the original game in more ways than one.
     "Plants Vs. Zombies Garden Warfare" feels right. It doesn't feel like skins were just slapped onto soldiers from Battlefield. It has a sense of art, its wonderful to look at all of the plants and zombies, to see how much design went into making them, and to see that Popcap really went the extra mile to not only design abilities, extra character costumes, well-designed maps, but is also releasing maps for free. You can tell that a lot of love was put into this game, and that more is on the way.

PROS:
- Creative as all hell
- Player Variety
- Delightful characters
- FREE DLC
- Fair coin earnings

CONS:
- Some overpowered classes
- Not enough maps at time of release
Final Score: 8/10

Counterspy Review

“Counterspy” Review

     “Counterspy” sets you in the Cold War era, sporting a 60’s aesthetic. Your job is to stop the Imperialists and Socialists from launching rockets at the moon and blowing it up. Each level is randomly generated giving a fresh change of pace for each mission you go on. There are no specific characters. It’s never really clear who you are or what side you are on. Only that you are a “counterspy.” The only thing that distinguishes everybody is their uniforms. The gameplay consists of 2D side scrolling and 3D, usually when you are in cover. The different dimensions allow for some interesting gameplay styles. The art style is my absolute favorite part of the game. It’s a real accomplishment. It looks so basic, but at the same time, it’s so visually salivating. Littered throughout the levels are stashes of money, weapon blueprints; containing separate parts to each new weapon, and “dossiers”, (basically just gives you more money).

     Enemies aren’t as varied as they should be; their differences consist of weapons and their uniforms. I also wish that Dynamighty had put more effort into the weapons system, perhaps including some gadgets to go along with the guns. It would be nice if Counterspy had more of a story then just take cover, then shoot the bad guys. Weapons can be selected quickly using the directional pad. Melee attacks consist of karate chops to the neck and shoulders, and stealth attacks consisting of neck snaps. Aiming your gun is very interesting and works quite well. On your screen when you are in cover, there is an orange circle; you can center the orange circle on an enemy, then, once you peek out from cover, your reticle will be aimed directly at wherever you centered the circle. It helps tremendously with your accuracy if you want to keep a stealthy approach instead of just going in guns blazing.

     Counterspy’s main problems lie in the AI and objectives. The AI is painfully flawed and glitchy and will spot you even if you've taken every careful precaution to not be spotted. Objectives are well, nonexistent. This is a problem because every mission you go on doesn’t really have anything that drives you to complete it. Missions are divided into two sides, the Imperialists and Socialists. It doesn’t necessarily matter which side you choose to take on. The only difference between each side is certain missions offer weapon blueprints, while others offer Intel, which leads to money. One thing I did appreciate, was looking for all the collectibles, which can sometimes be hard to find, presenting a nice challenge for the player. It would have been nice to see some puzzles in Counterspy also. Each side has defcon levels consisting from 1 to 5. Basically, you NEVER want to be anything past 1. Once you pass defcon 1, a one minute countdown is initiated. Essentially, you have 60 seconds to reach the end of the level and shut down the defcon or you lose the mission. If only Dynamighty had expanded on the defcon levels more. For instance, throwing more difficult enemy types at you the higher your defcon level went. Once you lose, you have the option to continue or not. If you click “yes” to continue, you restart the mission. If you click “no”, the words “Game Over” pop up in the middle of your screen. When I clicked “no”, I didn't think anything of it; just that the game would take me back to the main menu, allowing me to continue right where I left off. But in actuality, you lose all previous mission progress. This is obviously a glaring mistake that needs to be adjusted in my opinion. There just isn’t enough challenge here that anyone would normally expect from a stealth game. However, Counterspy offers a decent enough stealth experience with a wonderfully pleasing art style that will have you coming back for more. Counterspy is a good game from a new developer. Dynamighty made some excellent strides with this one, and I expect to see good things from them in the future.

PROS:

-          Randomly generated levels

-          2D and 3D offer different gameplay perspectives

-          Art Style

-          Gunplay

-          Decent stealth

CONS:

-          AI is moronic

-          Lack of objectives

-          Different sides have no real impact on the game’s experience

-          Feels like its missing something

-          “Game Over”

-          Not enough challenge

Final Score= 7/10

The Last Of Us Remastered Review

     Considering that I already reviewed the game when it was released on PS3, I will be giving a summary on the improvements made to the game on the PS4 version. First off, the graphics. The Last Of Us Remastered boasts improved visuals, better lighting and shadows, and more detailed character models, with a host of other behind the scenes improvements as well. It's not just called "Remastered" for no reason though; the game also adds all previously released multiplayer maps and the "Left Behind" DLC, featuring Ellie and her best friend, Riley. I promise to put up a review of "Left Behind" once completed. Another major game changer in the "Remastered" edition is the fact that the game runs at 1080, 60 frames per second; a huge step up from the previous generation game. An available option allows players to switch back and forth from 30 fps to 60 fps to see the difference in gameplay, or for those who are just used to the 30 fps on PS3. 

   
     Another feature only available on PS4 is "Photo Mode." "Photo Mode" allows players to pause the game wherever and whenever, except for cut scenes, to take screen shots of the gameplay. If you're feeling photogenic, take a picture of Joel or Ellie, hell, add a color filter, dim or increase the brightness; the choice is yours. You may also adjust the depth of field and add vignettes. Frames are also an option, ranging from silly "photo booth" frames to black bars, black bars with the "Last Of Us" logo, a Polaroid frame, etc. If you want a more cinema like quality, the game also allows you to dolly the camera. For some really AWESOME shots, I recommend that you pause the screen during a melee brawl or a gun fight. Once you have finished crafting the perfect shot, hold the share button down, screenshot it, then upload it to Twitter or Facebook for others to see your masterpiece. You would be astonished by the excruciating detail you'll see once you pause the game at the right moments. For some cool shots I took, look below. Naughty Dog has also taken advantage of the new and improved PS4 dualshock by mapping the aim and shoot buttons to the new L2 and R2 triggers and mapping the backpack in "The Last Of Us" to the touch pad. Sounds like your flashlight turning on and off are also projected from the speaker on the controller. Commentary by Neil Druckmann may also be turned on during cinematics for extra enjoyment if you are into that sort of thing. Including all of it's improvements, I rate The Last Of Us Remastered, a 10/10.

PROS:

- Improved Visuals

- Previously released DLC

- 60 FPS

- Photo Mode

- Integration of the PS4 controller's features

- Commentary from Neil Druckmann

CONS:
- NONE