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Sunday, June 15, 2014

Review: Anarchy Reigns

REVIEWED BY REDHELLC


Bring in the “Anarchy”
    Anarchy Reigns or Max Anarchy in Japan a game made by Platinum Games and published by Sega saw its release in Europe on 11/1/2013 for the Xbox 360 and PS3. It is intended to be an online multiplayer brawler style game in 3D, which takes cues from action/slash games, with some already developed by the same studio. In this game, you choose from a decent sized roster of characters, each with unique attacks and styles of play.



A two face story
Before the game begins, we are shown where the game is set, a post-apocalyptic world, similar to earth, where horrible mutations have occurred and, in some sense… anarchy reigns.
When the campaign starts, we are taken to a bar and introduced to the two main characters, Jack Cayman and Leonhardt Victorion, AKA Leo. Here we are given a choice between the dark side of story, Jack, or the light one, Leo. The plot revolves around a former BBS Agent, Max, which is said to have killed his wife and gone to a life of drinking and drugs. Since the murder, he is being hunted by his own BBS team, which he led, composed by Leo and the remaining company, with an order to shoot to kill. In the meanwhile, Jack, a bounty hunter, is seeking Max by a “request” of Max’s own daughter in order to bring him home safely. The problem is that Jack has other motives for seeking him, since he believes he is the cause of his daughter's death.
The story goes on with the chase of the fugitive, meeting other faces along the way. The story in itself uses a series of missions to move along it, doing this in a good pace. Still, while small, it is well made and quite interesting. In it, Leo considers Max a father-like figure, which creates a good chemistry with the other members of the team. Besides that, there’s an internal conflict residing at the heart of Jack’s quest, having to choose between his revenge and his mission goal, which is also well played with some over-the-top elements. The dialogue is likewise smart and “querky”, which fits the tone of the game very well. While a few of the characters do sound annoying, there are some really good serious moments, as well as some outright hilarious ones. 



Fighting in chaos
Gameplay-wise, the commands are pretty basic and typical of a brawler-type game. You move with the analog stick, as well as the standard jump button. There’re also weak attacks and strong attacks, which can be used to deal a good number of combos. You can grab enemies or objects, which can then be thrown or smashed into other enemies, as well as defend or evade incoming attacks.
Next, the game features a unique weapon for each character, which can be used through a combination of left trigger (XBOX)/L2 (PS3) + weak/strong attack to perform an attack using the weapon. However, usage of the weapon is limited by an energy bar, which is filled by performing actions during the battle. There is also the unleash mode, which charges during the battle. In this mode, that lasts a small amount of time, your character becomes invincible, all its stats are increased and the weapon attacks become unlimited. Add in some items and vehicles you can use, like sniper rifles, rocket launchers, helicopters, and you got a pretty diverse set of options you can use during each battle.
Furthermore, during the battle, several enemies can appear, ranking from small soldiers to huge bosses. To add to this, there are also events like bombardments and earthquakes, which gives you a lot of obstacles to face during each battle, besides your opponents. Still, the A.I. could be a bit better, since it acts little strange at times, not to mention that it has of some cheap attacks up its sleeve. This can be a bit frustrating most of the time.
When facing other players online there are also a few events that can happen. One example is when a prize money emerges on some of the players’ heads or even an infection-styled game, with some players getting ill and the remaining being the cure. This gives some more interesting spins to the battles. Even so, with all of this happening at once, sometimes the game might get a little too confusing. Also, the camera doesn’t help, which loves screwing you over sometimes and the auto-locking system is only useful when throwing objects, since it likes to jump from character to character. Nevertheless, the name of the game is anarchy reigns, so a little anarchy is to be expected. Lastly, there are a lot of modes one can play with a lots of different goals, which make up a fun experience for the multiplayer gamer. 



Overkill environment
In terms of graphics quality, in overall, they are pretty good, with some special attention to detail. The textures are mostly high resolution and generally look good on screen. The models and their respective animations are really good which in turn makes the game feel truly alive.
Aesthetically speaking, while the stages do feel different from each other, the overall world looks pale and somewhat “dead”. I know it’s an apocalyptic world but, still, a little life wouldn’t hurt the game. Maybe it doesn’t help that a lot of games these days are going with the gritty style, but, even so, the game stills has its moments, each one screaming with overkill action. Nevertheless, the developers did a very good job on the game, giving it a very unique feel.
What really aids this game coming to life is the amazing soundtrack, which is diverse and expressive, with songs ranging from rap to rock, as well as a little mixing in-between. It gives expression to the world and its characters, which in turn get some sweet tunes themselves. 


At the end of the battle
In the end, the game succeeds in delivering what it promises. Yet, there is still some room for improvement. There’s a lost chance with it being online multiplayer only, cutting a lot of the experience for the player that doesn’t have his console connected to the internet. Adding to this, the multiplayer component isn’t having a lot of success right now, with the game taking a long time to setup an online match testing the patience of the short-fused among us. Besides that, the lack of publicity meant that the game released almost unnoticed which resulted in a rather small community. Withal, it’s a good acquisition for the player who likes brawlers/action type games and with a not-so-big launch retail price it only makes it even better. 





Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Sounds For Playing

So my friend here Richard1647 likes to make some mixes and sets with awesome music, so I decided to help him.

Since we both enjoy to listen to sets while playing games, like Dota 2, I decided to make a Album Cover in order to create a compilation of his sets.


The name "Sounds For Playing" comes from that taste of ours. Now you can see the year there, well this is the compilation from last year. Because right now is already making new ones for this year. So soon enough I will start on the new cover.

Go check this link you guys want to listen to his sets, it's really sweet stuff.

http://www.mixcloud.com/Richard1647/

New Rule

Man I really should post here more often....
Ok primeiro quero dizer que irei começar a escrever em inglês neste blog, peço desculpa para quem tem problemas com a língua. Se tiverem alguma duvida talvez no futuro poderei fazer umas traduções.

Now that you have that clear. I want to say that I will use this space to put my written reviews and other personal opinions, while also sharing videos and other works from me. I also want to say that all my content for LynceGamers will continue to be in Portuguese but I will do some articles here also.

I hope everyone might enjoy my future projects...until then. 

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Uma pequena atualização pessoal

Bem já faz tempo desde que escrevo aqui qualquer coisa...

Eu tenho andado um pouco ocupado com estudos e outras coisas para os LynceGamers que nem tenho tido tempo para vir aqui.

Bem não é que muita coisa tenha acontecido, fiz umas coisas para o blog, umas gravações para o youtube, etc. Em relação a jogos, já joguei e acabei o Ace Attorney como podem ver pela minha análise no blog e agora estou no Pokémon Y.

Em relação em projetos futuros estou um bocadinho indeciso, especialmente agora com as modificações do youtube. Bem também não interessa em tornar este post numa outra mensagem a queixar-me disso, eventualmente hei de fazer uma artigo para o blog sobre isso.

Também fui a Meo XL Party em Lisboa mais o InfamyKing. Foi fixe, consegui experimentar a PS4 e vi umas coisas interessantes, até arranjei lá uma cópia do Metroid Prime para mim. Só tive pena de ter ido no mesmo dia do I AM HARWELL. Não que tenha alguma coisa contra Hardwell, muito pelo o contrário, mas acumulou muitas pessoas no parque da nações. 

Mas yup, nada de especial, enfim espero voltar a colocar aqui cenas mais regularmente.



Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Ace attorney, Luigi, tretas

Hoje não tenho nada para falar em especial, só desabafar...

A análise do Devil May Cry 3 já está finalmente disponível, bolas demorou. Em principio as próximas duas serão lançadas mais rapidamente.

Hoje finalmente também já me preparei para o lançamento do novo Ace Attorney, com uma capa feita por mim. 
Eu até acho que nem ficou muito mal.








Pois eu sei que não é muito natural estar a fazer uma capa não original para um jogo digital, mas eu não queria ficar com um buraco na prateleira. Pois não sou muito apologista de jogos exclusivos digitas, especialmente deste calibre, não faz sentido jogos como este não saírem num formato físico. Mas hey se tiver que ser não tenho problema em compra-los.

Num aparte, finalmente tenho o meu Luigi XD

Gostaria de arranjar mais uma quantas figuras mas a promoção acaba esta quinta-feira. talvez ainda consiga lá ir mais uma vez.



 

 

Ya estar a postar coisas a estas horas...Yup é defenitivo, sou doido se penso que alguém vai ver uma coisa destas a esta hora. Oh well...

Monday, October 21, 2013

Update + Capcom

Yup finalmente acabei todos os jogos do DMC, incluindo o novo DMC DMC.

Não sei como falhei uma série destas durante tanto tempo, mas ainda bem que decidi experimentar depois de ter jogado Bayonetta. Até ao final no mês planeio acabar de lançar as análises de todos os jogos, para acompanhar o espírito do halloween.

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Falando de DMC parece que a Capcom está com bastantes problemas, se não fizerem nada provavelmente poderá ir abaixo. Isto deixa-me triste, não pela companhia acho que eles só andaram a fazer asneiras estes últimos anos, mas sim pelos franchises brutais que a companhia tem que podem morrer com ela e por muitos criadores de jogos que trabalham na empresa que não têm nada a ver com as estúpidas decisões que a companhia fez.

Enfim, isto só demonstra com má está a industria dos videojogos neste momento...

Mete piada, sem graça nenhuma, mas parece que ainda à pouco tempo as pessoas andavam a dizer que a Sega iria abaixo nos próximos tempos e nem se aperceberam de quão mal está a Capcom...Sorry.   

Saturday, October 12, 2013

McDonald's + Eu + Stuff

Esta semana correu muito melhor que a outra e ainda bem. A análise do DMC 3 já está quase finalizada e estamos mesmo quase prontos para começar a lançar vídeos outra vez. 

Bem em termos de novidades, obviamente o lançamento do Pokemon X/Y é uma coisa grande. Ok talvez mais pequena que foi o lançamento GTA5. Mas mesmo assim, muito nice e assim que puder irei comprar o jogo. Em relação ao GTA5 vou esperar por uma eventual versão de PC.

Agora em termos de cá em Portugal, descobri recentemente que o McDonald's está a oferecer brinquedos do Super Mario com Happy Meal. Para quem quiser fazer colecção ou simplesmente quiser um pequeno objeto do Super Mario, é sempre uma solução barata.

Eu pessoalmente já arranjei um para mim, e se calhar talvez volte para arranjar mais uns. Eu queria mesmo um pequeno Luigi.