@Violent_Gamer Reviews: From Dust

<editorsnote> I am not a gamer ... at all. My brother was the gamer in the family and subsequently beat the bejesus out of me if I touched our Genesis. Needless to say, I don't game - but I actually do to this day find it theraputic to watch gamers. Kinda gnarly ... but anywho, I'd still like to keep you all caught up on gaming news - so my buddy Adam aka Violent Gamer is gonna help out and keep you guys in the know ... cause we're fucking nerds man, WE GOTTA KNOW!!!! </editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @Violent_Gamer

All around magical! That is the experience From Dust delivers. This game is developed and produced by Ubisoft; it comes out August 17th for PC and it came out on Xbox 360 on July 27th, both of which for $15. I finally finished this game and delved into the five pages of extra challenges. The main story of From Dust is about a tribe of people who have no memory of their ancestors, thus they need you, The Breath, to lead them through a series of trials in order to regain their lost knowledge. Surprisingly, for a small game like this, the story is actually a bit of a draw. You only get a narration at the beginning of each level, but I loved that it is spoken in a foreign language, possibly a made-up one, that gives you just enough information to intrigue you further. When i started the game I didn't think the story was going to make sense or actually conclude, but it does actually succeed in both of those regards. However, it's a little difficult to understand what's going on until the last couple levels. Many levels are presented in a very earthly way, showing how many elements can exist together and work in unison. A lot of people want to compare this game to some of the old PC god like games, but it's not like any of them. 

A quick recap for anyone who doesn't know anything about this game. You are a god that has powers that allow you to move the land, sea and lava. You can use these elements to create a safe area for your villagers, which you can do by making land bridges, creating walls to divert lava away from your villages, using water to put out fires and these are only a few of the many possible methods. The world reacts to your powers in very lifelike ways. For example, if you build up a wall of dirt, or stone, in front of a river then it will either go around it naturally or eventually wear it down and go right over it. I also love the way volcanoes work, they start as small eruptions, but they grow exponentially bigger and overtake the landscape. As volcanoes die out, the storms come and turn all the lava burnt soil into fresh dirt over a short period of time. It feels like a natural and realistic progression, one that I'm glad they took the time to implement. To top it all off, you have powers that can be used to help you even the odds against things like tsunamis, volcanoes and storms. 

Many levels have slightly secret knowledge stones to find, I say slightly secret because they are fairly easy to spot, and if acquired they will give you some of the lost knowledge of the ancients. You have a knowledge database that explains all the elements of the game, like animals, plants, powers and several other aspects. You unlock all of the lost knowledge through the knowledge stones and by filling the vegetation meter. When you build a village, trees and plants will automatically start sprouting up near it and if it is connected to any plain dirt then the vegetation will naturally spread. Some levels are desert biomes and require you to pour water into the dirt in order for plants/trees to grow. Once you cover enough of the surface will plants, on every single level, you will unlock new knowledge. There is all an achievement for covering every level in the game with 100% vegetation. However, you don't have to actually cover 100% of the map with vegetation, more like 30% of the map. 

Conclusion

If you love nature and being able transform it, then you will likely love the general idea of this game. On top of that, the story has to do with the elements of nature by showing how they interact and evolve. The graphics in this game are top notch, especially for a game with a small price tag. Some of the landscapes that you can create are breathtaking, so is watching a volcano erupt violently. The story will last you 5-10 hours and on top of that the challenges are bound to last you another couple hours. Thankfully, the challenges are actually pretty fun and don't feel like gimmicks just thrown as extra content. There some negatives about this game though; there are one or two strenuous levels that are not exactly fun to play, mainly because they require a crazy amount of micromanagement. Also, some villagers get stuck sometimes and you have to move the earth around them (or throw water on them) to get them moving again. Those are the only negatives I have found in this game to complain about though. I found it to be a very pleasant and enjoyable experience. Also, the last level is a huge pay off by allowing you to use the ultimate powers of a god. If you can't already tell, I really liked this game and the only people I can't recommend it too are people who won't enjoy something that doesn't involve explosions and shooting.

Violent Score: 9 (out of 10)

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@Violent_Gamer Reviews #Bastion

<editorsnote> I am not a gamer ... at all. My brother was the gamer in the family and subsequently beat the bejesus out of me if I touched our Genesis. Needless to say, I don't game - but I actually do to this day find it theraputic to watch gamers. Kinda gnarly ... but anywho, I'd still like to keep you all caught up on gaming news - so my buddy Adam aka Violent Gamer is gonna help out and keep you guys in the know ... cause we're fucking nerds man, WE GOTTA KNOW!!!! </editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @Violent_Gamer

The "Summer of Arcade" kicks off with Bastion, and man did Xbox come out with guns blazing!  When I first saw the game at E3 I didn't think much of it at the time.  It had a very colorful environment and an epic narrator that comments on just about everything you do, but it was nothing to rave about at the time.  Now that I have put the hours into playing Bastion, it's easily one of the best downloadable arcade games I have ever played.

Bastion is set in a world that has just been ravaged by something called the "Great Calamity". You awake up from a deep sleep and make your way to the safe haven known as the Bastion. When "The Kid" arrives he finds the Bastion has suffered the same fate and must set out in a dangerous world and collect core shards to restore the Bastion. Doesn't sound too different from any other RPG right? Well the story isn't what keeps bringing you back.

The real star of Bastion is its game play. While you’re hacking and slashing through each level, you are given a ton of customizable load out options. Everything from your arsenal of weapons, elixirs that will give you bonuses and even selecting idols that will make your game even more challenging. Though the levels are short, they are vastly different from each other and each give a unique challenge to overcome. If you get bored with moving through the levels, there are also weapon challenges and a wave attack mode that will test your skills and reward you for your efforts.

For an arcade game, Bastion is deep. It gives you a lot of options and always has something different to offer. With all the customizing it gives a very addictive quality that will keep bringing you back. This isn't a one and done game, you will want to keep playing this over and over, not only for the second ending but also for all the different styles you can play. The game is beautiful, the narration is epic and it will keep you busy. I would definitely recommend this game to everyone out there.

Violent Score: 9 (ouf of 10)

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@Violent_Gamer Reviews #Terraria

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @Violent_Gamer

A randomized world that plays like Castlevania and has the longevity of Minecraft. Another version of Minecraft? Not really. It shares similar base qualities, but that's as far as that goes. Both of Minecraft and Terraria share crafting and mining but they feel entirely different. Terraria worlds are filled with bosses to fight, items to find, regions to uncover, merchants to acquire and items to craft. You create a character first, which you have a decent amount of customizable options available to you, and then you create your world. One of my favorite qualities of this game is the persistence of your character; whether you take him/her into a new world, your world, or someones world online, you still maintain all your items with never any errors or problems. They even have a persistent piggy bank. Terraria is created by a small group of developers, 4 to be specific, but they have installed a lot of great qualities into this game.

Gameplay

My favorite aspect of Gameplay is how it feels familiar, in a good way. If you have played Castlevania Symphony of the Night it feels akin to that. Unlike Symphony of the Night there are always a lot of challenges, you can still easily die even with great items. You move around with simple controls (W A S D or Arrows), that can be changed, and strike down your enemies with the left mouse button, like you would expect. Unlike Minecraft there are many different types of monsters, many bosses and many different areas to uncover. They are not entirely as random as Minecraft is. Bosses are brought about in specific ways, one of which is in a specific area, but that area is random on the map. There are meteors that fall from the sky when you do destroy corruption orbs, which can be mined to make special weapons/items and armor. There are also falling stars which you can collect to increase your mana, among other options. Dying is not so bad. You lose half of your money, which you could store various places, but you lose nothing else.The game is pretty difficult though, but a easily tolerable difficult, nothing like Demon Souls or Ikaruga.

The World

You can choose to create a small, medium or large world. I have only tried medium worlds and let me say they are massive, so I cannot imagine how long it might to take to explore a large world. There are many different area types in the world: Dungeon, Underground Forest, Underground Jungle, Hell, underground, corrupted zones and floating islands. All of these areas are at specific levels, but their location is random. There are chests to find containing anything from common stuff to unique rare items. Chests and other objects to find are all randomized, like most everything else. Like Minecraft, you should not be out at night. Even with improved equipment it can still be fairly challenging to fight the continuous undead assault that comes every night. There are also special events, like the blood moon, in which the undead assault is extra strong and they can break down doors.

Multiplayer

Multiplayer works very similar to Minecraft. There are no server lists, you have to use a IP connect to someone who is hosting a server. Like singleplayer, everything is persistent between multiplayer worlds. You may use the same world as your singleplayer one or create a new one. The odd thing about hosting is that you have to have two instances of Terraria running; one to host the server and the other to play on it. There is no lag that I have seen, nor heard of. You can host up to 8 players at the moment and you can do PVP, but it is toggled by each individual player. The only negative to multiplayer is that you have to compete for prizes from bosses, otherwise everything is easier, better and loads of fun.

Last Comments

Terraria is a expansive game, filled with enemies to fight, places to find and items to create. On top of that there are many merchants to acquire and a plethora of options for creating your home. A example of something neat you can do is creating underground mushroom farms next to a safe house. So you have somewhere safe you can respawn and a supply of healing supplies right outside, very useful near the lowest levels of the world. Many portions of the game are randomly generated and that is a great thing. It gives each world a feeling of uniqueness, especially with the biomes that exist. Terraria may only be four developers, but they are dedicated. They made this game in around four months and it is very well done for that short amount of time. They also are very vigilant in providing a new patches, they also promise to do a constant stream of new content, but we will see if that turns out like Minecraft's promise of content. Not to bash Minecraft, great game, but there hasn't been a ton of new content added to it in a year, especially for the amount of new people they have acquired. In the end if you like coop games with a lot of action and creating then you will probably like Terraria. The only snag you may run into is if you cannot handle the graphics and art. They definitely aren't mind-blowing in any regard, but they fit the setting well. Also, Terraria sold 200,000 copies in it's first week and that's pretty amazing.

Violent Score: 9

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@Violent_Gamer Shogun 2 #Review

 #TalkNerdyToMeLover's @Violent_Gamer

War is bloody and grim but Shogun is not. It fills you with the feeling of hope against a hopeless struggle. When the Shogunate, the government, declares war on you it makes or break you. You must fight and die or be crushed under the coming storm. The realm divides and you can only hope someone will be on your side. This is one of the few events of Shogun 2 Total War. Creative Assembly developed it and it is produced by Sega, the same as all recent Total War games.

(If you are familiar with RTS games ignore this next paragraph.)

If you are unfamiliar with the Total War series, it is a real time strategy series that involves a campaign map in which you run your cities, politics, families, finances and armies. Whenever you are involved in a fight, be it a siege, land battle or naval battle you then go into a detailed fight that allows you to control your army, unit by unit.

For all of you familiar with the Total War series, Shogun 2 does a lot to improve upon all previous attempts. I know I have outlined many of these in previews and articles on Shogun 2 already but there was much more to be explored. Here are some improvements over the more recent Total War games, like Empire Total War and Napoleon Total War.

Improvements

-Multiplayer

-Campaign Map

-Stability Issues at launch

-Clan uniqueness

-Sea battles

-Graphics/Effects

-Families

-Diplomacy

-Battle AI

-Campaign AI

Multiplayer Avatar Conquest is a lot of fun on its own as well. You have a avatar, who is your general, that you can customize in various ways and also unlock and level up. Through achievements you gain new pieces of armor for your general. You get to choose what your banner with be and all of your colors. On top of avatar customization there is also veteran units that you may earn. When a unit does particularly well in a battle the game often gives you the choose to make them a veteran unit. Veteran units are fantastic, they get their own skill tree to level up and they cost slightly more than a normal plain unit, you also may customize there colors. For instance I've fought one person whose army was a full array of colors, so it added insult to injury when I lost to a rainbow colored army. The only downside to veteran units is that they can be injured and must rest for a battle before being used again at full strength, you can use them at half strength or whatever they are at.

All in all this is a great game. I have not felt this kind of draw to a Total War game since Medieval 2 Total War. While the game may be smaller, in scale not in detail, it is very fun and addicting. I often find myself saying just one more turn and before I realize it a hour has gone by and that is a very rare thing these days. I recommend this greatly to anyone interested in strategy games and Japanese culture. The aforementioned bugs have mostly been fixed and are being fixed at a decent rate. Also I've made a video highlighting many battles, land/siege and naval, check it out.

Presentation- 9

*Bug's at retail release are the only thing holding this back

Graphics- 10

*Works on a array of different computer setups and looks gorgeous all around.

Sound- 10

*The soundtrack draws you into the Japanese environment and the battle sounds are fitting.

Gameplay-9

*Simple, yet diverse and exciting. Lot's of options. The flow of battle feels excellent. Bugs hurt it.

Length of Play-10

*There is a lot to do in this game and lots of reason to continually keep coming back.

Violent Score: 9.5



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