Review: Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (PS4)

Concept

Assassin’s Creed is back. Another yearly release. Franchise fatigue is starting to set in, much like with Call of Duty. And after the buggy, almost broken Assassin’s Creed III, did anyone really expect Ubisoft to bounce back with Assassin’s Creed? I certainly didn’t. I was pretty much done with Assassin’s Creed at Revelations. In fact, with Assassin’s Creed IV, it took me two tries to really get into the game enough to complete it. And after all that, this Assassin’s Creed (the 6^th game in the series) is probably my 2^nd favorite of the entire franchise behind Brotherhood. But let’s get back to the concept. Assassin’s Creed IV takes the immensely popular naval forages of ACIII and makes it the main mode of travel in the game. You play the part of Edward Kenway, a pirate with a strong desire to make enough gold to set himself up for a life of enjoyment and leisure. He’s willing to do just about anything, risk anyone to reach his goal. There is a much deeper story to this but the singular factor in Edward’s motivation throughout most of the game is simple: wealth. This makes Edward into a bit of an anti-hero, but I feel like Ubisoft could’ve delved a little deeper into it, making him look less like a hero, especially in the beginning. The typical Assassins vs. Templars storyline is present, along with assassinations and stealth strategy. The entire game is open world, with the exception of the major cities: Nassau, Havana and Kingston and your hideout. Overall, the concept is simple: bring the Assassin’s Creed franchise to the Caribbean and focus on naval travel. Oh and throw in a few famous pirates along the way.

Graphics

Another game that makes me glad I went with the next generation consoles. The view distances are amazing, the graphic details of the ground are well done and don’t just pop up as you get closer. The water animation is top notch and the entire graphical experience is smooth and natural. The only gripe I have is the out of animus experience, it seems a little too blocky for me.

Sound

Oh my lord, the shanties! One of the coolest collectables in ACIV are the ship shanties, and they are an amazing experience that never seems to get old while sailing around. The voices are gruff but melodic and very addicting. The voice acting on everyone except James Kidd is well done, with him it seemed a little forced, but that was part of his character I guess. Anne Bonne’s accent was a little forced but Thatch’s voice was extremely well done and believable.

Playability

While the gameplay for ACIV is pretty standard for the game, it doesn’t really do much for me. Kill streaks don’t feel as intuitive as they did back in Brotherhood, it almost felt like I was back in the counter-kill days of ACI. However, the ship controls were amazing, once you got the hang of them and steering against the wind and sea was surprisingly realistic (at least for a game.) Ship to ship battles were pretty well done, although it frustrated me that the Man-o-War’s were so much taller than the Jackdaw, making the swivel cannons almost useless.

The multiplayer aspect of the game has strayed too far from it roots in my opinion. It wasn’t really that fun because there is just so much being thrown in there. And you can’t even just stick to your typical Wanted game mode. It is mixed in with others on a playlist. Overall, the multiplayer felt very foreign to me and I didn’t enjoy it.

Entertainment

There is so much entertainment value in this game. The storyline is engaging, with memorable characters and expected yet unexpected bad guys. The precursor race storyline takes a back seat as does the out of animus experience, which is great in my opinion. They needed to focus on the Edward character, and they did. He actually has very little to do with the Assassin Order until the very end of the storyline, which I kind of like. My biggest praise though is the interactions with the supporting cast. Everything feels real, the relationships, the loss, and realization of the world around him. Ubisoft does an amazing job in conveying what the life of a pirate was really like.

The amount of things to do in this game make it an incredible time sink. I spent probably 50-60 hours playing the main storyline. I did pretty much everything to do, got all the collectibles and found every secret on the maps. I did most of the buried treasure and the only animus fragments and chests I didn’t collect were the uncharted island ones. I enjoyed the Mayan puzzles, the Templar assassinations, and the harpooning mini-game. The crafting was okay, it doesn’t need to be a big part of the game, and it wasn’t. I also really enjoyed battling the legendary ships. It took me probably 20 times to defeat El Impoluto and about 12-15 times to beat Royal Sovereign/Fearless.

The multiplayer is just okay to me. It feels foreign from my Assassin’s Creed multiplayer experience and not as fun. The exploits and leveling difference make this a hassle to level and a considerable time sink just to do okay. Maybe I’m just not that good of an AC multiplayer anymore.

Replay

I spent over 50 hours on the single player, but the multiplayer doesn’t really do it for me. Overall, I’d give this game a replayability of Slightly Low because the single player is such a time sink and the multiplayer doesn’t keep me coming back.

Score

9.1 out of 10

(images were taken from Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag’s public image gallery at http://assassinscreed.ubi.com/en-US/home/index.aspx)

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Elder Scrolls Online: The Next Powerhouse PvP MMO?

One of the biggest takeaways from the Elder Scrolls: Online (ESO) announcement in 2012 was Player vs. Player (PvP) content. It has been made clear that PvP will be a large part of the game. However, based on the information released so far, PvP seems to be monodirectional. It is doubtful that PvP will be exactly as advertised so far, but that doesn’t mean us as a community cannot hope and dream about how we would want PvP to pan out. Here are some things that are great about ESO’s PvP and some things that would make it an all-around powerhouse of a PvP game.

Open World PvP

This is a huge part of Elder Scrolls Online already, so I can talk about it more. The entire providence of Cyrodiil is devoted to Faction PvP. This can be done on a large scale and small scale. Based on the information ZOS has released, strategy will play an important role in this game. Zerg-rushing with a massive group of people through a large part of the map will not be as effective in this game as it would be in others. Factions must guard and defend their captured keeps and resources, or lose them to other factions, draining their effectiveness in the providence. While a main army will probably be the most effective at taking the White-Gold Tower, it will also be necessary for smaller groups of players to stay at key keeps, keeping them from being taken and cutting off supply lines to the main army. With this type of strategy being implemented throughout PvP, players will feel more engaged in the world than ever before, and even those loners or small groups of players can be effective in harassing supply lines, taking over outlying farms and resources and the like.

With this comes the implementation of ESO’s “Guild PvP.” ESO is strongly encouraging guilds within the game to participate as a group. They will be allowed to take keeps as a guild and it has been rumored that it will show the guild crest instead of the faction crest at the keep. This not only encourages guilds to work together more often, but also spreads responsibility among a faction. A guild is going to want to keep control over the keeps they have taken, making sure they are guarded from attack. It is much more likely a guild group will stay around and keep protecting a keep from attackers then if it was just a group of random players.

Small Group PvP

This hasn’t been confirmed in ESO, but it would hurt the PvP population in game not to include it. Players, especially devoted PvP players, want to know how they stand up against other players or other small groups, head-to-head. An arena type feature would be sufficient for this. Allowing players to battle individually, or 2v2, 3v3, etc. with teams capping out at 5 would be enough to for players to establish where they stand in the ESO universe as far as PvP skills. After all, there will be a significant portion of the player population who play the game to compete against challenges and be the best at them. The competitive nature of games won’t allow anything less for many people.

Ranking System

This feature has been confirmed on the ESO website as “Leaderboards and Achievements.” We do not know to what depth the ranking system will go, but we do know that it will be such a ranking system that determines which player will be crowned emperor when a faction takes over the white-gold tower. It is stated on the ESO website that you’ll be able to track yourself, your guild, and your faction as they compares to others.

A Ranking System is truly necessary in making a PvP Powerhouse. If players have no way of measuring themselves against each other, than all the PvP content means little or nothing to the individual player. A player wants to know if they are at the top of their game, who is better, and who they need to beat to become number 1, this also applies to teams and other small group PvP features (if implemented). For a truly competitive experience, some kind of ranking system is necessary.

Faction Balancing

ESO has already set itself up for success with their three faction system. With a large population of players committing to the Ebonheart Pact with race favorites Dunmer and Nords (thanks to Skyrim) it is possible that the Ebonheart Pact could have a significant population advantage in PvP versus the other two factions individually (Overall polls from various sites have put preemptive numbers at roughly around 40% Ebonheart Pact, 30% Daggerfall Covenant and 30% Aldmeri Dominion). However, no single faction should have population superiority over both other factions, allowing for temporary truces to be called in order to overthrow the larger population faction.

This three faction system will keep PvP from being imbalanced based on faction. It has been proven in most two-faction MMOs that one faction will establish itself as stronger in PvP and PvP players will flock to it, making the imbalance issues even worse. With a three faction system, it will be much harder for players to imbalance the PvP experience by all playing on one faction, as success will vary much more per faction.

Cross-Faction Communication & Areas

Cross-Faction communication could potentially be needed in order to keep faction balancing through temporary truces a viable option. If factions cannot communicate, how can they work together to overthrow another faction? It would be possible, but much more difficult. However, in order to prevent flame-wars, and seriously deteriorating chat, cross-faction communication needs to be extremely limited. It would probably be best if cross-faction chat was limited to “/yell” or “/say” distance. So that only those characters in the immediate vicinity of each other can hear each other.

Cross-Faction areas should be implemented into the game eventually. I can understand ZOS wanting to establish Cyrodiil as the heart of PvP and minimize high level players attacking starting areas of opposing factions. However, it severely limits many different types of players when you cannot access as certain part of Tamriel because you aren’t part of that faction, world explorers and PvPers among them. Also it is a novelty PvP experience to be able to attack an opposing faction’s major city. Something that might not be done incredibly often, but certainly sought after, especially if an achievement is given for it. On the opposite side of that, it is also a novelty experience to repel an opposing faction attacking your city.

Neither cross-faction communication nor cross-faction accessible areas are necessary for providing a good PvP experience, but in order for it to be a top-of-the-line PvP game, leeway should be made for these two things.

Conclusion

So far, ESO has laid the groundwork for a very engaging and enjoyable PvP experience. With plenty of challenges, and unique interactions players will keep coming back for more. Also with the announced Leaderboard and Achievements retention should be at a high rate as well. Here’s to believing that ESO will be the new PvP Powerhouse MMO.

 

(images taken from Elder Scrolls Online’s public image gallery at http://www.elderscrollsonline.com)

Review: Call of Duty: Ghosts (PS4)

Concept

Another addition to the yearly Call of Duty franchise. Infinity Ward comes back to the Call of Duty world with a new concept after finishing up Modern Warfare 3 back in 2011. Ghosts is set in an alternate, yet similar reality that pits the U.S. as the underdog in a fight against the united nations of South America known as the Federation. Ghosts substitutes kinetic space weaponry for its usual nuclear threat, which opens up a couple space missions that are equal parts frustrating and unique. In single player campaign, you play the part of Logan Walker, usually paired up with his brother Hesh, in various missions throughout the game. Ghosts brought some unique elements to Call of Duty’s usual movie set pieces (which were still present) and to me, it made for a much more attachable and relatable character.

Graphics

Playing Ghosts on the PS4 with native 1080p resolution remind me of why I decided to jump into next generation console early. The game is high quality throughout. View distances and environment details help bring the single player game alive and the graphic quality and resolution make the multiplayer experience smoother and it actually feels more natural.

Sound

As an FPS the weapon sounds and explosions are to the usual high standard, but nothing truly new. It is kind of difficult to do though since everything has already been developed. The voice acting throughout single player is good, not great. It’s a little over the top to me. The most recognizable voice would be that of Stephen Lang (Avatar) who voices Logan and Hesh’s father Elias. All the multiplayer sounds are standard, with the addition of female voices being added. The squad communication was a nice touch too.

Playability

As is the standard for any Call of Duty game, the game is highly playable. The controls feel natural and don’t stray away from what is expected of a CoD game. There isn’t really anything innovative or new about Ghosts, especially in terms of multiplayer. However, the introduction of the guard dog kill streak is an awesome one, and the new SATCOM (replaces the UAV) that makes it more difficult to get a full radar sweep can add a layer of strategy to clan matches.

Entertainment

It’s a typical Call of duty title. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t entertaining. I enjoyed the narrative, even if it was prototypical. With a little bit of player investment, you can really get attached to the main protagonist, Logan. It would be better if he had a voice, but I felt like it didn’t take a lot way from my experience. It is a fun game, but I would really prefer for FPS to actually have a significant time investment of a storyline. Beating a game twice in about 25 hours of gameplay (once on the hardest difficulty, the second to trophy hunt) isn’t what I want from a single player campaign. Add another 5 missions or so, give me a 20 hour campaign and then I’ll be happy.

The multiplayer is still fun, if a little repetitive. The new map designs are well done, with lots of altitude differences among spots. The health system still encourages camping which is frustrating, but the new game modes can be a lot of fun to play. Blitz and Infected as fast paced fun games that are best experienced with friends. However, even your typical Team Deathmatch can be rewarding.

Extinction is the new survival/horde mode of Ghosts, with an actual ending! It can be a little confusing at first, but after a couple of rounds, you start to get the hang of it. The leveling system is well done, and the entire mode is a lot of fun when you have a good team together. It does require a lot of teamwork to get through, which is nice.

Squads mode has a lot of potential, but it wasn’t quite hit right with Ghosts. Too much menu time and not enough time out playing. I’m not sure exactly how they can improve upon it though, other than streamlining it and making the modes more accessible. It’s also better for the Squad members to have their own prestige levels from what I’ve seen, which leads to players with multiple prestige levels have an advantage.

Replay

As some who has spent over 96 hours playing this game (single player and multiplayer combined) I would give this as replayability of High.

Score

8.2 out of 10

 

(images were taken from gameinformer’s review of Call of Duty: Ghosts- http://www.gameinformer.com/games/call_of_duty_ghosts/b/playstation4/archive/2013/11/05/call-of-duty-ghosts-review.aspx)

An Introduction to Catalyst Gaming

Catalyst Games is a video game blog primarily made to release the thoughts from the mind of myself. I will do anything from major new articles to reviews to opinion pieces on the gaming industry.

Video games have been a passion of mine for many years now and I have never had so much enthusiasm as when I am discussing games. Whether I am convincing someone to try a game, getting hyped for a new game coming out, or going over in fine detail an epic moment in my gaming lifetime, I have noticed that time always flies when I am talking about gaming. I hope to invite many like minded people to discuss topics and pour more life into the video game industry.

A little bit about myself as a gamer:

• I am an MMO junkie, putting well over 2 years of actual playtime of my life into World of Warcraft and other MMOs.
• I enjoy RPGs the most, especially the awesome stories of Mass Effect, Skyrim, & Dragon Age: Origins all of which I have devoted significant portions of my life to.
• I am both a PC and Console (PS4 currently) gamer, I prefer my FPSes on consoles and most other shooters while I prefer my sword wielding and magic casting on PCs as a general rule.
• I am avid about the benefits of video games to people
• I also have a lot of experience with annual Sports games and many Action games as well.

(image taken from public gallery at http://www.bungie.com)

Some upcoming posts for Catalyst Games will include:

• Reviews on: Call of Duty: Ghosts, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, Freedom’s Cry DLC, Need for Speed Rivals, NBA 2K14, FIFA ’14, and Madden 25
• Opinion and Discussion pieces on my two most anticipated games of the year: Elder Scrolls Online and Destiny