My 5 Christmas Wish List of 2017

Yep, it's another Christmas this year. This holiday season brings all the families and friends together while celebrating Christmas with amazing set of decoration & trees, making lovely Christmas dinner to eat and drink, dressing up as Santa Clause and his Elf, singing Christmas songs, and giving nice gifts to everyone in the house, so this is what Christmas celebration is all about. 

I've already made my last year's another 10 Christmas wish list on my blogger, so if you haven't seen it from the last year then here's my link down below:

https://zeeshanmirzasblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/my-another-10-christmas-wish-list.html


I love spending time playing and collecting all retros and modern video games during the holiday season and I decided to make not 10, but my 5 wanted games that I planning to get one for the Christmas. So here is my 5 Christmas Wish List of 2017.



1 - Yakuza: Kiwami (PS4)

One of the SEGA's fans favourites series Yakuza was known for incredible story driven adventures, epic-brawling combat, badass cast of characters and amazing open-world exploration. The series was very popular in Japan gained much heavily acclaimed reviews and earned game awards while the western received generally favourable reviews from critics and fans, as the 2016 the series has sold over 9 million copies.

I really enjoyed three of the fantastic titles such as Yakuza 3 and 4 for PS3, and Yakuza 0 for PS4. I decided to give a try with Yakuza: Kiwami for PS4 which is a remake of the original 2005's game for PS2, featuring improved graphics, redone plot, and retaining similar combat style from the 2015 prequel's Yakuza 0.

I'm definitely looking forward to see this game because I'm a huge fan of Yakuza series after playing three of the awesome titles and I hope this will turns out to be looked better than the original 2005's.



2 - X-Men: Children of the Atom (SEGA Saturn)

     

Capcom was the top dog of fighting game genres from early 90's. The same publisher that bought you many of the greatest fighting game franchises such as Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, Cyberbots, Rival Schools, and of course the vs series titles such as Marvel vs Capcom, Capcom vs SNK and Tatsunoko vs Capcom.

X-Men: Children of the Atom was one of the very first Capcom's fighting game based on famous Marvel Comics series X-Men was originally released for arcade system in 1994, featuring playable rosters from X-Men series, voice actors from the series, comic-book styled animations, adding newer combo systems and multi-tiered fighting environments. The game was later released for PC, PS1 and Saturn in between 1995 to 1998. It gains positive overall for Saturn version as being one of most faithful ports from the arcade version due to better framerate and more animations than the other versions such as PS1 and PC has received poorly in comparison with Saturn version.

I was really surprised I still have Marvel Super Heroes for my Saturn collection last year and I hopefully able to get this game for this Christmas.



3 - Arcana Heart 3 (PS3)

            

Arcana Heart is a fighting game series, made by Examu, that I've never actually heard of it before, but after I've discovered the game it's a 2D fighting game for PS3, X360 and Arcade where you get to play as cast of females fighters with similar fighting styles as Arc System Works titles such as Blazblue and Guilty Gear series.

It features 23 playable characters with their own unique powers and uses force gauge allows the player to perform an Extend Force. The console version adds fully voiced characters for story mode and HD anime graphics for super moves, but they also include training mode, score attack, and online play.

I'm a huge fan of collecting every fighting games titles for any of game consoles, so I really loved the looks of cutesy anime-style graphics, interesting characters and overall presentation that made me want to pick this game up. 



4 - Super Turrican (SNES)

Turrican series is always be a greatest run 'n' gun classics by same developer behind Star Wars: Rogue Squadron series. The very first original game was first debuted on Commodore Amiga in 1990 which was well received for the release, while it was spawned with sequels such as Turrican 2, Turrican 3 (Including Mega Turrican for Genesis/Megadrive ports), and of course Super Turrican 1 and 2 for SNES.

What really made Super Turrican so special on SNES is the unique presentation with interesting opening sequences at the start, well presented level design with quality looking 16-bit graphics showing the power of the SNES's hardware, innovative weapon's power-ups and realistic SNES's soundtrack with dolby surround support was done by Chris Hülsbeck is one of the best video game composer knew how to make really great soundtrack that handles well on the SNES's sound chip.

This game is quite expensive to pick up from the online store or retail store, so I will still have to wait and see until I find this game with better price cost. 



5 - Diddy Kong Racing (N64)

   













Imagine combining both Mario Kart and Donkey Kong universe together which turns out to be Diddy Kong Racing for N64 was released in year 1997. It was made by same developer was the mastermind with their famous titles for Nintendo's consoles such as Donkey Kong Country, Killer Instinct, Goldeneye 007 and Banjo-Kazooie.

This game is very similar to Mario Kart series, but it really has shares with interesting concepts such as 5 worlds with 4 racetracks each and ability to drive 3 vehicles such as car, hovercraft, or pilot that newly adds the fun of the racing game genres. It features eight playable drivers such as Diddy Kong, Krunch the Kremling, Tiptup the Turtle, T.T. the Stopwatch, Pipsy the Mouse, Bumper the Badger, and two playable guest such as Banjo the Bear from Banjo-Kazooie and Conker the Squirrel from Conker's Bad Fur Day.

The game was received critical acclaim upon release and has sold 4.8 million copies since release, as being the Nintendo 64's eighth best-selling game on the list. It's a shame that Rare are no longer part of the Nintendo's third party developers due to Microsoft had purchase Rare for £375 million in 2002 meaning there will be no sequel to Diddy Kong Racing, but I definitely still considering to get this game for my N64 because it's still a classy racing titles for N64 library.   




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Resident Evil 7: Biohazard PS4 Review

History of Resident Evil Franchise:

I'm grew up playing Resident Evil series back then it used to be a king of the survival horror franchises because we had such influential titles such as very first Resident Evil for PS1, Saturn and PC which made the game very successful in mid-90's and it was considered to be the most important game in horror genres. The success of first Resident Evil has spawned with sequels, spin-offs, novels, action-figures and films. Most of the fans had said that Resident Evil 2 is one of the better sequel in comparison with the first original, due to better FMV cutscenes, another great characters, darker tone atmosphere and better puzzle-solving gameplay that made the game memorable and it was one of the commercial success in US after the game's releases. I also enjoyed playing several of the sequels such as Resident Evil 3, Code: Veronica, and the prequel to first game called Resident Evil Zero, but my favourite game in the series goes to Resident Evil 4 is by far one of the best video games of all time that revolutionised the third-person shooter and survival horror genres.

Unfortunately the series went downhill after the success of Resident Evil 4 which they later bought Resident Evil 5 is one of the first sequel that departures the Survival Horror genres which spreads the fans disappointment, but I'll admit this game aren't that bad as what everyone says because it's still has the great storyline, memorable characters and fun single-player campaign which is better off to give this game a chance and same goes with Resident Evil: Revelations are also sounds decent until Capcom has screwed up with Resident Evil 6 and it was the worst game in the series, due to relying on action-oriented shooter than the horror approach, poor single-player campaign, horrid graphics and cryptic combat gameplay that kills off the most beloved video game franchise.

Capcom decided to go back to survival horror roots with the Resident Evil 7: Biohazard after the fans backlash from Resident Evil 6. It was meant to be a lot different from the previous entry that gives a true horror experience for the fans of the series. Does the game lives up with our expectations? Lets find out my review, shall we? 


Resident Evil 7: Biohazard PS4 Review

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is a Survival Horror game for PS4, XBONE and PC, which was developed and published by Capcom, and it is eleventh main entry in the Resident Evil franchise.

After the disastrous of the Resident Evil 6, this game does gives me what I want to see the triumph return of the survival horror roots. I've bought this game from Amazon for Black Friday Sales to try out this game and see if this game turns out to be just right, but the answer is yes because Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is pretty damn amazing game that Capcom has finally just got the game right. It retains the original style of puzzle-solving, limited combat, and darker atmosphere is finally what you called a true Resident Evil game that we been asking for ages. The game has great story, insane villains, deadly monsters, excellent gameplay elements, gorgeous graphics design and fantastic soundtrack, while this game shares with problems such as unmemorable protagonist in comparison with most of original protagonists from previous game, long loading times and lack of battle mode. So far, I really liked the game and it was one of the most surprising game of 2017 in my opinion.

So without go further do, let's start the review.



Presentation

This game starts off with a civilian named Ethan Winters is drawn to a derelict plantation in Dulvey, Louisianato to search for his lost wife Mia, who has been missing for the past three years. He visited to an abandoned house to explore and being encountered by groups of Baker's family and Molded creatures. After he learns his wife are being infected, he receiving a call from a woman named Zoe, who are also infected, to give Ethan assistance. His goal is to rescue and cure his wife and escape from the Baker's family house.

The story in the game is very well done because it explains the mysterious plot of how lucky of Mia Winters is been still alive in Baker's house after the three years absence is kinda sounds mystery. What really makes the game disturbing is that the whole house environment is full of horrific places where bunch of Baker's family made such disgusting food and supper with full of maggots and human flesh organs for dinner and the unhygienic bathrooms left with full of slimy materials which makes everyone wanted to puke badly after seeing this. It does looked creep out in the game because this game shares the influence from the 70's horror movie such as Texas Chainsaw Massacre which adds the excellent overall atmosphere. I think Ethan Winters is just an average faceless character that aren't interesting as the originals characters from the previous game because of his shallow and boring personality and same goes with Mia which I finding her little quite annoying, but I think Zoe is doesn't look too bad in the game. The best part of the characters in the game are Baker's family members because I finding these people quite scary as hell, such as Jack Baker is a chaotic bold-head old man that has ability to break through the wall and starts beating the shit of the Ethan, so that what you call a one tough old son of bitch. The rest are sick-minded freak Marguerite that surprise you with unexpected jumpscares and that crazy asshole Lucas that really threatens the hell of Ethan is just makes these villains so insanity, but entertaining at the same time. Instead of Zombies from the older Resident Evil games, we have sick-minded family members and mouldy monster which adds up nicely to the series.   

I really liked the horror settings of house environment which made the game bit similar from the first Resident Evil game, while the outside of the house is quite just like from the forth game regarding the games design choices.

Overall, it has incredible story presentation, great horror atmosphere, amazing villains and impressive settings design.



Gameplay

You take control of Ethan Winters makes use of weapons and tools in the fight against the Baker family and the mouldy monsters.

The game involves exploration where you had to find the key to open the door, collecting items to keep your stuff on your inventory screen, finding clues for puzzle-solving purposes, reading documents and watching VHS type to reveal information. The game was played on first-person perspective which borrows the similar elements mixed between cancelled Silent Hills (P.T) and Alien: Isolation regarding the combat and the use of stealth gameplay. Using the combat weapons which keeps the player survived as possible, so you have got pocket knife which is quite basic for close-combat because it's a useful survival choice of weapon that you can able to slash and stab the enemies which works perfectly than the ones in older entry of the series. The handgun is also worked too because you can switch any of those handgun clip such as regular handgun clip are used for balanced shot with mild damage, while the enhanced version does give a powerful shot at the enemies. The shotgun is good for close-range distance with heavy damage shot, while the machine-gun is good for long-range distance with lower-damage shot which really balanced the combat gameplay very well. I also liked the grenade launcher and remote bomb where you can blow them up and my favourite weapon in the game was flamethrower where you can burn them alive faster. The inventory screen lets you examine, combine and use items that you have already collected. You can craft your items such as handgun bullets for handgun clip and first aid bottle to increase your health, so it is required to collect chems, herbs and gunpowder in order to combining the items. The inventory spaces can be also expanded by collecting bagpack which increases the inventory slots that lets you keep many items on your inventory list. The save rooms has cassette types which lets you save the game to continue where you left off and keeping the items safe on the safe box which saves your inventory spaces for collecting more important items that you will need.

I got to say that the combat gameplay plays really good due to excellent weapons type that keeps you well satisfied to play and I also liked the use of stealth gameplay where you have to hide behind the walls and objects which prevents you from getting caught by Jack Baker nearby, but sometimes it may not be very easy to do because Jack sees you hiding behind, so you need to be very perfect with your stealth movement once you getting used too. The puzzle solving elements are also quite impressive because some of the puzzle gameplay such as projector statuette where you had to match the right shadow into the image frame which reveals the secret passage, Dog's head door where you had to find 3 dog's head to unlock the door and Incinerator Room is where you had to adjust the clock to open up the chamber is giving the player a worth for challenge. The VHS type events are also quite amazing such as Mia's attempting to escape from Baker's House and Clancy's birthday puzzle which adds not just the backstory information, but also part of the clues for puzzle-solving purposes. I really liked the mid-boss battles where you had to fight against Jack and Marguerite which is quite amazing except the final boss is pretty disappointing because it was short and wasn't good as the most of the final boss battles from older Resident Evil games. You can also pick between the ending does also adds the nice replay values.

Despite the amazing single-player mode, it's kinda shame that this game doesn't include the battle mode from the past Resident Evil games, so it would have been nice to include the battle mode on this game, so we can enjoy shooting hodes of enemies. Whats really cool about the PS4 version is that you can also play the game with the VR headset which giving the player a more horror experience which is also nice edition for PS4 version.   

Overall, it has amazing combat gameplay, excellent puzzle-solving and useful items inventory.



Graphics

I got to admit this is by far the best looking graphics in 2017. The character models has realistic use of animations and greater details to make them look more human-alike which is very damn impressive for next-gen gaming. I also liked the dark setting of house environment and the shady lighting are quite fascinating to see what the game developers could do with the overall game design. The game is quite gory because it has blood particles everywhere in the whole room and the use of gibs effects are also quite bloody which is pretty amazed to push the next level of horror genres. I'm sure the graphics on VR headset does look pretty awesome for whole game.

Overall, it has realistic animations, dark environments and horrific use of gory effects.


Music and Sounds

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is definitely has hands-down the best overall soundtrack in gaming. I really liked the terrifying ambient soundtrack that fits well both the in-game mode and presentations. The save room theme music does have a The Last of Us vibe to it which I kinda prefer this save room theme music lot better in my opinion. The song "Go Tell Aunt Rhody" was performed by folk singer Jordan Reyne did a impressive job for the main theme of the game. The sound effects in the game are actually pretty well done due to marvellous sound works and background noise that surprises the player a lot which giving their positive overall horror experience and the voice actors are pretty okay for some characters, but could have done more professional job than this.

Overall, it has outstanding soundtrack and marvellous sound effects, but okayish voice cast.


Special Features

The game comes with downloadable content such as Banned footage vol 1 which includes two scenarios and new game mode called "Ethan Must Die", while vol 2 has another two scenarios and another new game mode called "Jack 55th Birthday."

There are more upcoming DLC chapter which is going to be released on this December such as Paid DLC chapters "End of Zoe" that focuses on Zoe, while the Free DLC "Not a Hero" where you get to play as the returning character Chris Redfield from the older Resident Evil. 

You can purchase these released DLC available on PS Store, Xbox Marketplace and Steam services, while the upcoming DLC will be released soon on December.

Overall, it has fantastic DLC content that we need it for this game. 



Advantages

Incredible story

Horrific horror elements

Chaotic Villains

Amazing combat and puzzle-solving

Gruesome graphics

Outstanding soundtrack

Fantastic DLC content



Disadvantages

Long loading times

Lack of battle mode

Weak protagonists 

Disappointing final boss battle   



Final Verdict


Presentation 8.5/10 - incredible story presentation, great horror atmosphere, amazing villains and impressive settings design.

Gameplay 8.5/10 - amazing combat gameplay, excellent puzzle-solving and useful items inventory.

Graphics 9/10 - realistic animations, dark environments and horrific use of gory effects.

Music and Sounds 9/10 -  Outstanding soundtrack and marvellous sound effects.

Special Features 9/10 - Fantastic DLC content.   


Overall 8.5/10 - Its by far much better than the lackluster Resident Evil 6. Capcom finally has taken the right direction by sticking with the survival horror roots is just what Resident Evil is supposed to be a fantastic horror video game franchises. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is surprisingly a great horror titles of 2017 which offers an incredible stuff for fans to enjoy the overall single-player mode with stunning story, impressive combat, darker tone atmosphere, and brilliant puzzle elements.

This is definitely must play game and I hopefully to look forward a another sequel and of course my hopes on the Resident Evil 2: Remake. My second opinion is Resident Evil 4 are always being one of my favourite game in the series along with Code: Veronica, first and second.

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Top 5 Hidden Gems PS1 Games

We all know Sony Playstation is one of the best-selling consoles in fifth generation era completing with their rivals such as SEGA Saturn and Nintendo 64. It's one of the Sony's first game console made a first debut in year 1994-95 which are very known for amazing 32-bit graphics, ability to play music's CD, introducing memory cards designed for saving and loading the game files, innovative game controller including DualShock version and of course it has the best games library that made the PS1 a huge success such as Crash Bandicoot, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2, Gran Turismo, Ridge Racer, Time Crisis, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Final Fantasy VII and Metal Gear Soild.

Despite PS1 has well known games, I'm now focusing on the most obscure PS1 games that are not so popular, but it's considered to be must own PS1 games for collectors. The terms Hidden Gems is where the game is somewhat being undiscovered for long time due to weak sales or not many people have heard the game before, so there are quite impressive PS1 titles that plays really good and to give reason why these are worth picking up for your video game collection.

I'm now going to make my top 5 Hidden Gems PS1 Games.  

5 - Super Dropzone 

       

One of the sequel to Archer Maclean's 1984 original called Dropzone is a 2D shoot em ups game for SNES, PS1 and GBA. This game takes place in the surface of Jupiter's moon where human scientific research base is under attack by aliens. Your mission is to wipeout the aliens and rescue the scientists by returning them to the base. 

This game borrows a similarities from the Midway's arcade classics Defender for the arcade style gameplay which can be played on a horizontally side-scrolling game field and it also introducing added new weapon types and end-level bosses. The goal of the game is to to rescue the scientists to the base's dropzone, so the player must shoot the enemy aliens and catch the remaining falling scientists. This game has addicting gameplay with excellent weapons types and challenged waves of levels. The graphics has cool level design and arcade style animation that really suits the game's presentation. 

It may not be well known as the original game, but you can get this PS1 version for less than £5 up to £20, so I'm lucky I got this for £1.99 from Ebay. 

4 - Sanvein 

  

Another great arcade title for PS1 Sanvein (AKA Shooter Starfighter Sanvein) is a is a top-down shooter game which was developed by Success in 2000. This game involves the attempt to escape and destroy a giant corrupted space station called St. Schutz. You take control of Sanvein to battle with station's defense mechanisms. 

Your goal is to survive through the stages by wiping out many of the enemies and bosses within time limits, so the player has the options to select each floor they want to go. 

The player has three different elements for their ship's movement, normal and special attacks. It include Gluon that fire attack patterns in spread-shots while its uses special fired missiles, the Photon fired concentrated shots while its uses short-range laser blade and the Graviton fired the explosive bullets and special laid land mines. 

I was far impressed with the ideas of having to select any of different floors which adds the replay value of the game and I also liked choosing the choices of weapons and movements to suit the player's style. It has unique levels, cool boss battles, and decent gameplay controls. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you're into with arcade genres then you should able to pick this game up for less than £5 before the game goes expensive later.      

3 - Apocalypse 

   

Imagine having badass 90's action star Bruce Willis in video game seems to be an awesome ideas for development teams to make, so they bought the amazing third-person shooter game for PS1 was Apocalypse which is a game that are not based on the movie. It was developed by Neversoft made their first original game before they launching their later popular franchise Tony Hawk series. The story starts off with evil scientist named The Reverend has created a powerful theocracy based on the idea of a apocalypse. He uses his expertise to create his demonic beings known as four powerful horsemen of the Apocalypse in order to take over the world. The one and only hero Trey Kincaid (voiced by Bruce Willis), who managed to escape from prison, has his mission to save the world by stopping The Reverend's devious machinations. 

This game has 11 single-player mission and it was played on third-person view with 3D multi-directional gameplay which is quite similar to classic twin-stick shooter such as Smash TV and Robotron allowing the player to shoot in 360 degrees directions. This game features awesome weapons type such as machine gun, laser gun, rocket launcher and flamethrower, and it has wicked platforming stages such as the first city of level 3 where you run down the streets, across the lava pits and running along the roofs of apartment buildings which giving the players a well challenged platforming shooter with amazing level designs. The story in the game is very well done with simple plot, impressive FMV cutscenes and fantastic voice performer from Bruce Willis thats adds the overall presentations. 

It's a shame that this game had become time forgotten, so is it the fans of Bruce Willis's films have never owned the game consoles or have they not heard the game before? I suggest you to go buy this underrated gems under £5 because it's by far one of the best shooter for PS1 system.  

2 - O.N.E

     

One man, One solution, One state of mind. This game is simply called O.N.E for PS1, which was developed by Take Two Interactive's teams Visuals Concepts are known for various of 2K's Sport titles. It is a 3D Run N Gun game that you take control of John Cain, who suffered with his memory loss, awakens on the floor of an apartment building with a gun in place of one arm and escapes the buildings from the attack of the police helicopter. His goal is to battle and evade from military and police forces in order to survive the attack. 

The game features 6 mission levels to complete and the gameplay style is somewhat pretty similar to 3D Run N Gun titles such as Contra: Legacy of War and Millennium Solider: Expandables. What I liked about the combat in the game is the speed of firing attack which depends on rage rate of character's health. For example, if you shoot many of the enemies without damaging the player then your character's health increases the rage power allowing player to fire rapidly and the more powerful you can damage the enemies easily which is really cool ideas for Run N Gun genres. It has epic action stages with intense environment and excellent boss battles that will satisfy your Run N Gun experience. 

It may be hard to find game on online store due to bizarre name title on the cover and the price is raised up to £10, so you can able to get this game from Ebay faster before it's runs out of copy.  

1 - Silent Bomber 

          

Silent Bomber is a top-down action game for PS1, which was developed by CyberConnect who are well known for their gaming franchises such as .hack (simply pronounced Dothack) series and Naruto Series. The story starts off with war criminal named Jutah Fate being drafted into a covert military operation by his home planet of Hornet. His mission is to destroy a space cruiser called Dante that is threatening the planet.

The game borrows the similar arcade style gameplay like Bomberman series where the player blows the enemy up by using bombs instead of shooting. It has 14 levels to complete the game and your player has ability to detonate and blow the enemy by stacking many of bombs on the ground or launching them with lock-on recticle which is pretty straightforward to play and what makes the game interesting is that you can able to collect E-Chips to upgrade your character's ability which increases the bomb capacity lets you stack more bombs, the reticle range that improves the targeting distance and shields protection level that keeps the character's health last long which is very unique and creative for the game's genres. The game is considered to be hardest PS1 game I ever played, but I still really enjoying 14 epic action levels and fantastic boss battles that are worth for challenge. I liked the overall graphics design which is looked pretty good for PS1 hardware, it does have wicked soundtrack that fits the action of the game and overall decent story with cinematic design and characters in the game. 

I wish the developers team should able to make another sequel to such amazing game that nobody has played before, so it will cost in between £7.50 to £10 at the online store. This is one of the most obscure PS1 titles that everyone should must own this game.       

           

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Top 5 First jumpscares in horror gaming

Yep this is Halloween in year 2017. When it's comes with horror genre for gaming, there are some of the great horror titles which really surprise us with unexpecting jumpscares that makes everyone piss their pants badly. I had a quite few of jumpscares that I did not expect to see happened in some horror games. Jumpscares is one of the main importance for horror genres especially it can sometime happens in some horror movie as well. One of the most popular online game such as Scary Maze Game is the huge example of jumpscares that the players has to reach it to next level until the pop-ups image of Regan Macneil from The Exorcist suddenly appears out of nowhere. 

I decided to make my top 5 that I had my first reaction to the jumpscares in horror games and I will include the video from YouTube to show you how these game gives you such panic attack. Here is a Top 5 First jumpscares in horror gaming. 

5 -  Resident Evil - Zombie dog jumping through window

    

Resident Evil is the one of the Capcom's most ironic survivor horror that was first came out for PS1, Saturn and PC. It was made by legendary creator Shinji Mikami made such outstanding game that defines the genres which made the franchise very popular has spawned with many sequels, spin-offs films and novels. This game is about the outbreaks that has been spread through Raccoon City which turns lot of people into deadly zombies. It focuses on two of the member of S.T.A.R.S such as Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine has been sent their mission to investigate the Raccoon Mansion to uncover its secrets. 

I remember first playing the original and what really made me surprised that one of the room that I did not see this happen, so I ran across the room until the zombie dogs jumps through the window outta nowhere just gives me huge shock on my friggin head. This is one of the best part of the game that I did not see it coming. 

4 - The Evil Within - Wall Safe 

          

Yep another great Shinji Mikami's title called The Evil Within is a game that mixed between survivor and psychological horror genres. The game focuses on police detective named Sebastian Castellanos and his partner Juil Kidman and Joseph Oda investigating the scene of a gruesome mass murder at Beacon Mental Hospital until he is pulled through a distorted world full of nightmarish locations and horrid creatures.

There's one of the scene in mansion place where Sebastian tries to open up secret area by unlocking safe code. After unlocking the safe codes causing the blood pops out from the safe dial which made me jump off my gaming chair at the same time as Sebastian just fell off backwards. I hope I didn't broke my ass off after seeing this happen.   

3 - Alien Isolation - That damn Xenomorph

Alien franchise was very popular starting from late 90's to 2000's. The very first Alien movie was released in 1979 which listed as one of the best Sci-Fi movies of all time and the success of the first movie has spawned with movie sequels, comics, and of course video game. One of the game that really surprised me the most was Alien Isolation which takes place in event between the original 1979's Alien and the 1986 sequel's Aliens. The story focused on the woman named Amanda Ripley was been sent to the station to search for her lost mother Ellen Ripley (Signorney Weaver's character from the original 1979 Alien). Amanda has her ability to use her stealth, combat weapons and crafts items to keep her alive from hideous creature called Xenomorph.  

I got to say the game is quite challenging to complete the certain objectives without being caught by the enemy nearby. Being chased by Xenomorph is sounds pretty scary that you need to be really smart with the use of stealth gameplay is the only goal to be survived. I've got panic attacked when Xenomorph just found me while I'm hiding in the places like under the table, locker storage and behind the objects because this scary bastard is nothing but fast-paced creatures that can react very quickly which gives an example of shitting player's pants. 

2 - SOMA - Teleporting WAU

Frictional Games was well known for their previous titles such as Pennumbra and Amnesia series. The game starts off in 2015 with the person named Simon Jarrett who was suffered with his severe brain injury due to car accident and he has an brain scan appointment with the Doctor named David Munshi began to experimenting on Simon's brain until the scan went horribly wrong which causing Simon to black out and regains consciousness in Site Upsilon of PATHOS-II. After Simon learns that he has awoken in the year 2104, his goal is to escape from the underwater facility which is full of mysterious creatures known as WAU. 

Despite this game has stunning atmosphere, quality gameplay and impressive story, it is terrifying at the same time which this game has unexpecting jumpscares during the gameplay. The part that scares me the most is the WAU that has the ability to teleport which came really fast towards me on the screen and I had to run for lives before I get annihilated to death in the game. It's not just the jumpscare part, but with static noises, screaming WAU sounds and player's death imagery are also quite disturbing that made the game look terrified which fits well for the modern day horror genres. 

1 - Outlast - Wheelchair man   

    

Outlast is by far one of the most scariest horror game in gaming history. Red Barrels has done perfectly right with the impressive story, horrific scenes and dark elements that made the game so great. The game takes place in mountain of Lake County, Colorado. The story is about a reporter named Miles Upshur who has a mission to investigate in Mental Hospital, which involves deadly patient, religious occult rituals and dead corpses which spreads everywhere in any room. 

Outlast has multiple of jumpscares that scares the hell of everyone when playing this game. There's one of the scene in the game where the creepy guy sits on the wheelchair, so after being thrown down by the big scary guy, the player sees the guy sat on the wheelchair which does nothing at the start until you move on to the next room that has full of bloody mess with two mentally patient just sat on the sofa while staring at the static TV. After discovering the room, the player goes back to previous place as the wheelchair man whereabouts and then finally the player came close to the wheelchair man that causing them to jump on the player and convincing player to get rid of the mad doctor that tortures most of the patient in the mental hospital. This is the part that scares me the most which gives a player amazing horror experience that is worth for trick and treat for the fans of horror genres.   

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SOMA PS4 Review

SOMA is a Sci-Fi Survivor Horror game for PC and PS4, which was developed and published by Frictional Games who are known for their previous titles such as Pennumbra and Amnesia series. 

I haven't tried any of their previous titles until I've played this because SOMA is the game that caught my attention after watching their promotional trailer on YouTube just right before buying this game for my PS4. After spent playing an hours, this type of game is very similar with other Survivor Horror games or 80's horror movies, so it sorta like Outlast meets The Abyss and I'm very impressed with the story presentation with mysterious plot-twist, insane atmosphere with disturbing creatures and terrifying jumpscares, well designed graphics design and decent puzzle-solving gameplay that made the game worth for playing for gaming horror fans. 

So without go further do, let's start the review.

Presentation

Before this game takes place in an underwater research facility known as PATHOS-II, it's starts off in 2015 with the person named Simon Jarrett who was suffered with his severe brain injury due to car accident and he has an brain scan appointment with the Doctor named David Munshi began to experimenting on Simon's brain until the scan went horribly wrong which causing Simon to black out and regains consciousness in Site Upsilon of PATHOS-II. After Simon learns that he has awoken in the year 2104, his goal is to escape from the underwater facility which is full of mysterious creatures known as WAU. 

The story in the game was sounds very interesting when its comes with huge crazy plot-twist explaining how the hell Simon ends up looped in wrong year after brain scan disaster and why the WAU creatures exists in research facility that kills many of innocent humans because Simon felt that he's not in the right universe as the ones in 2015 which the story tells that the person was been unconsciousness in the same day as his appointment until he finally woken up in 89 years later. 

Simon is a quite impressive character because I liked his personality and bravery in the game. He's just the survivor who wanted to get out of the facility with the help of woman named Catherine Chun who instructs him to come to her whereabouts as he contacted her through his omnitool devices. I also liked the concepts of WAU which I'm finding them looked terrifying depending what type of WAU monster. One of them teleports randomly towards player which increases the chance of jumpscares and the other one starts chases the player around the room which was the most scariest chase sequence so far as the screen static starts scattering and fuzzing during the chase scene. I finding the player's death tends to be very disturbing due to multiple of gory imagery. So far, I liked the horror atmosphere of the game that offers unexpected jumpscares, horrifying chase sequence and the scarier enemies design which increases the overall scare factor of the game. I liked the Atlantic ocean theme of the environments with amazing underwater atmosphere and the research facility is pretty reminds of similar late 80's Sci-Fi movies such as The Abyss which adds the interesting concepts of level design.

Overall, the game is well presented with unique story, underwater theme and horror atmosphere that just got the game right.

Gameplay

You take control of Simon played on first person perspective, so the player will encounter a number of creatures in gameplay aspects. Your aim is to survive and escape from the facility by solving problems with several clues and evading WAU's nearby. 

While the player is combatless, the player can able to interact things such as items that you can pick up and throw things, flipping switches to turn on the generators, pressing button to unlock the doors, and using computers to gather information about the history of PATHOS-II. During the stealth gameplay, your character can able to lean left and right side to peak through without getting caught by WAU nearby and to decrease the WAU's reaction using the crouch button is to help prevent making noises and you can distract them by throwing objects in random places. Your player can also run through the area by holding trigger button, but it will increase the chances of making noises causing WAU to chase you around the rooms, so be careful at your own risk. Using the torch is very useful for most of the dark rooms and you can also heal your health by touching one of the blue circle creatures from different rooms only if you're been knocked out once by WAU creatures, but you may die in the game by getting knocked out twice. The player will progresses through puzzle solving which involves getting power generators on to turn on electricity powers, inserting new chip into omnitool devices allowing to scan things, and using computers to fix the troubleshoot on whole facility such as activating doors. 

Controlling the player is pretty responsive and reliable with having no issues at all. The puzzle aspects is quite very challenging to get used with solving problems around the levels which is excellent for certain horror games genre. The stealth simulation is done perfectly right for slow-paced gameplay which gives a huge satisfying to player's experience, while the chase sequences are also pretty good, but it can be very annoying at the same time due to overused enemy's encountering attack which I felt the enemy is moving too fast on player making it bit impossible to successfully evading from them. I also liked the exploration in the levels where I can able to discover new rooms with bunch of the audio types and notes which is quite useful to discover things in the game.  

Overall, it has decent controls, excellent puzzle aspects, cool exploration and great stealth gameplay.

Graphics

The graphics design in the whole game is looking spectacular regarding their graphics engine that runs really well on the PS4 system. The whole environment of facility area are dark and sinister that really fits the mood of the game and the animation on the enemy looked really wicked with thick-blackened design to make it more frightening creatures and the underwater is looking realistic with great splashing effects. The visuals has really disturbing static screen effects and gory images in the game that really creeped out the players is pretty well made for modern day survivor horror game. I also liked the lighting effects of using torch is quite amazing for most of the dark rooms giving a nice use of brightness. It has large level design for both underwater and facility giving a player freedom to explore the whole area which is fantastic and well presented.   

Overall, It has dark environment, wicked enemy's animation, disturbing visuals and large level design. 

Music and Sounds

The music in the game has both dark and pleasant themed soundtrack. The soundtrack on chase sequences has frightening industrial style which fits well for chasing scenes, while the other soundtrack can be very fascinating and calm for some non-horror parts which feels like you're on moment of relief. The sound effects does have terrifying background noise which is great for jumpscares parts, and the static noises and WAU's screaming sounds is just making you feel how scary the game was which I finding the use of sound effects is quite outstanding. The voice actors is sounds very professional for most of the characters can express their emotions and personality which kinda worked well for story presentation. 

Overall, it has fantastic soundtrack, outstanding sound effects and well professional voice overs. 

Special Features

The game has lacked any of DLC content and extras which is kinda disappointing, but at least it has trophy achievements in the game. 

Overall, no DLC and extras. Kinda shame.

Advantages

Unique story

Horror atmosphere including jumpscares

Decent gameplay

Dark graphics

Fantastic soundtrack

Disadvantages

Long loading times

Overused enemy's encountering attack

Lack of special features

Final Verdict

Presentation 8/10 - unique story, underwater theme and horror atmosphere.

Gameplay 7.5/10 - decent controls, excellent puzzle aspects, cool exploration and great stealth gameplay.

Graphics 8.5/10 - dark environment, wicked enemy's animation, disturbing visuals and large level design.

Music and Sounds 8.5/10 - fantastic soundtrack, outstanding sound effects and well professional voice overs.

Special Features 3/10 - no DLC and extras.

Overall 8/10 - SOMA is a one of the Frictional Games's solid title that brings an amazing horror experience for players to meet their satisfaction. It has stunning presentation that offers well written story and the use of scare factor that makes the game look mysterious and scary at the same time. The quality of gameplay, graphics and soundtrack are also fascinating which works really well for the modern day horror game. If you're the fan of their previous titles then I dare you to go buy this from PS Store or Steam, turn your lights off, and play this game in the dark because SOMA is a great example that gives you an epic scare moments and will satisfy you well for overall game.

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Dishonored 2 PS4 Review

Dishonored 2 is a action-adventure FPS game for PS4, XBONE, and PC, which was developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It was sequel to original 2012 game's Dishonored.

I really liked the first Dishonored when I was playing on my PS3 in three years ago. I loved the stealth combat gameplay, campaign missions, weapons and ability's upgrades, great level exploration and decent storylines that made the game quite fantastic, so I decided to pick up the Dishonored 2 for PS4 from the gamestore and I've played it for two weeks on single player campaign including new game plus mode and I think the sequel is almost just good as the originals due to two playable characters with different playstyles, higher challenging stealth missions, introduces non-lethal combat gameplay and replay values that adds the edition to the game, but I find the story in this game was not strong as the first game due to lack the focus of narrative in the game's presentation, while the rest of the characters in the game are seems to be lot better than the ones in the originals first game. Despite the annoying crashes and drop-downs frame rate on PC version was been aided with patch update to remedied the problems after the game's release.

So without go further do, let's start the review.



Presentation

This game takes place after the event of first game. Its starts off with fifteen years after Corvo Attano has restored Emily Kaldwin to the throne following the assassination of her mother Jessamine Kaldwin.

In city of Karnaca, Emily is now a empress of Dunwall, while Corvo becomes her new bodyguard as royal protector. During a ceremony in remembrance of Jessamine Kaldwin's assassination, they were been encountered by the groups of Crown Killer including the witch named Delilah Copperspoon, who claims to be Jessamine's older half-sister. At this point, the player chooses two of the playable character as Emily or Corvo. Depending on the player's choice, the other character will be turned to stone, while the player is able to escape to the Dunwall docks to meet with Meagan Foster to help them. Their task is to assassinate Delilah and rescue Emily or Corvo depending what character are you playing as and reclaim the throne back.

The story in the game was not that bad at all, but I find the narrative seems to be sounds bit rushed and undeveloped compared with the first game which they should have been done better by putting more efforts on storylines to add more depths on the main story. I was being surprised with Emily Kaldwin as playable characters and her appearences are really damn impressive, while Corvo Attano is still a badass protagonist with his awesome skynet-styled mask. I'm very glad that the rest of the characters in the game are lot better than the ones in the first game, such as Meagan Foster and Anton Sokolov are quite decent supportive characters, while the villains such as Delilah, Jindosh, Duke and Ashworth are definitely in the right direction.

I really liked the dark-medieval settings in the game's presentation and the great cinematic design with well drawn slides animation and in-game cutscenes.

Overall, it does have the average storylines, but impressive characters and great game's settings.


Gameplay

The game is similar with the original first game, but you get to select any of the two playable characters throughout the story campaign. During the open-world gameplay, you get to explore the area where you can able to find and collect runes and bonecharms, reading documents, unlock safe combination, purchase upgrades and items from black market, and disabling security systems. Both of the playable characters will have primary weapon such as sword, while they have their secondary weapon such as pistols, crossbows, grenades, retractable blade and stun mines. The sword is used for close-combat gameplay which you can able to use it to slash and stab the enemies, but you can also perform brutal melee attack by chopping their heads off or instant stabbing to jaws when the finishing move icon appears on the screen and you can also block with your sword for deflecting bullets and enemy's weapons attack. The pistols are pretty basic for secondary weapon which are good for mid-range shooting, while crossbows are used for far-distance range, but offers some of the useful bolts such as stun that puts them to sleep, incendiary that sets them on fire, howling that blinds them and of course stinging that made them go full crazy. Using the grenades, retractable blade and stun mines are also come in handy when you need it for certain campaign missions. Each characters has different kinds of supernatural powers, so for example Corvo stills retains the same powers from the first game such as blink that allows him teleports to chosen locations, devouring swarm that allows him to summon rats which are used for clearing the dead bodies off or eat the enemies alive, possession that allows him to enter into dead or alive humans, bend time that can be used to slow down time and windblast that allows him to push off the enemies with blasting wind. Emily has newer power which is different from Corvo such as far reach which allows her to pull objects or enemies toward her and dash forward, mesmerize allows her to distract enemies and moving them into a state of sedation, domino is used for connecting each enemies together so that they share the same outcome, shadow walk turns her into shadowy clouds and doppelganger allows her to create the clone version of herself in order to misdirect her opponents. In stealth combat where the player aims to get past through the level without being alerted by enemy's nearby, the player are able to take down the enemies by strangle them into unconsciousness and drag them into hidden place where enemies won't able to see what's happening and you can distract them by throwing objects. The alert icon will appear on top of the enemy's head which showing their reaction, so if the alert icon turns white which means you are not been seen, while red means they finally caught you in action which forcing players to fight them or run off the stage. You can also disabling those security hazards such as walls of light and barriers by using rewiring tools or removing tube from the power generators. You can upgrades your weapons from the black market store which improves the accuracy, reloading, and capacity of weapons and you can upgrade your abilities through pause menu which improves your healths, strengths, reflexes and movements.

I really liked the combat playstyle because I felt the sword is pretty responsive for melee attacks and blocking defence which works well on gameplay, but I do find the double bloodthirst is quite difficult to perform when the enemies is not been too close at the player, but it's still playable. I loved the crossbows with different kinds of bolts which is one of my favourite weapons in the game due to precise aiming and easier kills. I say the special powers in the game are quite well made for both characters with terrific moves such as swarming mice, windblast and dominos which is quite awesome. The mission is very challenging which offers great stealth playstyle and epic boss battles. I do find the load times is quite annoying which takes about 20 second to start off the levels. You can also use quick save on pause menu which I finding it quite convenient when I can able to continue the game where I came from instead of having to start the levels over again. Having new game plus mode which retains all the contents from the original new game modes adds the nice replay values of game. 

Overall, it has great combat gameplay, excellent weapons choices, awesome special powers, challenging missions and convenient save system. 


Graphics

Unlike the previous installment that used Unreal Engine 3, this game uses the Void Engine which is based on id tech 5. I really liked the rich looking environment of inside the building which gives a crispy look of level design. I also liked the lighting effects that comes from chandler, lamps, spotlight and sunlight from windows which makes the level environment feels vibrant due to great use of in-game contrast. The water animation on sea area is looking fantastic that gives a realism of realtime effects and the city building are looking well designed with full of great textures. The character's animation is looking amazing in the game and I really liked the use of blood and gore effects on brutal melee finish. 

Overall, it has rich environment, vibrant lighting, great level design and brutal blood and gore effects.


Music and Sounds

The music in the game is really amazing because I liked the southern European style of orchestrated soundtrack which fits well in the game especially with medieval ambient soundtrack. The sound effects are sounds quite decent during in-game missions with impressive sound designs. The voice actors sounds aren't that bad for most of the characters, but it wasn't sounds amazing as the original cast from the first game which sounds better in comparison with this game. I really don't mind the voice of main protagonist such as Corvo which he's supposed to be silent video game characters, but it's still a nice effort.

Overall, it has amazing soundtrack, impressive sound designs, and acceptable voice cast.


Special Features

The game came with two types of collector's edition such as regular collector's editions for console versions came with a copy of Dishonored: Definitive Edition, a remastered version of the first game for the eighth generation of consoles with all downloadable content included, while the special collector's editions came with a 13.5 inch replica of Corvo Attano's signature mask, a zinc alloy replica of Emily Kaldwin's ring, a Delilah's propaganda poster, metal collector's edition case for the game disc and manual, and digital imperial assassin's pack, which included additional in-game content.

Overall, they bought two really cool collector's editions. 




Advantages

Decent characters

Great game's settings

Cool combat gameplay

Challenging missions

Rich graphics

Brutal melee finishes

Amazing music


Disadvantages

Average storylines in comparsion with first game

load times

Performing double bloodthirst is quite harder




Final Verdict

Presentation 7/10 - average storylines, but impressive characters and great game's settings.

Gameplay 8/10 - great combat gameplay, excellent weapons choices, awesome special powers, challenging missions and convenient save system.

Graphics 8/10 - rich environment, vibrant lighting, great level design and brutal blood and gore effects.

Music and Sounds 8/10 - amazing soundtrack, impressive sound designs, and acceptable voice cast.

Special Features 9/10  - two really cool collector's editions.


Overall 8/10 - Dishonored 2 is another great sequel to the originals. I'm pleased with overall combat system and epic single player missions with replay values will able to satisfy the fans of the stealth game genres. The story is not the best part of the game, but I'm sure that they could able to improve the storytelling for future sequels. I'll say buy it for console versions as recommended, but if you're the PC owners just be sure to install the patches first before starting up the game. Overall, Dishonored 2 is a fun action-adventure FPS game for eight generation console era that does play plain awesome. 



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