Omerta: City of Gangsters Review 4.0

LIKES + Cool premise + Lots of great ideas

DISLIKES - Problematic camera - Boring management - Combat is abysmal - Presentation falls flat

SCORE 4.0 SUB-PAR

DEVELOPER: Kalypso   |   PUBLISHER: Kalypso   |   RELEASE: 02/12/2013

• Review
 
• Screenshots

Black sheep of ‘the’ family.

Going into Omerta: City of Gangsters, I was genuinely excited to see how the Mafioso mentality could be applied to a sim-style game. The idea of managing all of my business and shakedowns from a birds-eye view is a fantastic idea, and one that seems relatively simple in concept. Alas, Kalypso’s latest strategy/sim title comes up short in several areas, keeping the promise of the concept from being realized.

The game begins innocently enough with the choices of face, persona and various stats to define your gangster. I chose the one that appeared to be a cross between Christopher Walken and Joaquin Phoenix, I called him Walkn Phenix (due to character limitations, which I had hoped we had done away with). Then the game asks a variety of questions that will determine your stats. These felt irrelevant once the game was underway, especially the “guts” category, which I never did come to understand.

As the journey begins, things are good. The game is set in the 1920s, with you in the role of an up-and-coming gangster, just getting your feet wet. You will start off running small jobs, stealing and selling liquor. The quote on the front of the box calling it “Sim City” is a bit misleading, as the city is already established. You can purchase buildings to open up places to set up and distribute alcohol, but it never feels like a construction game.

These issues are not even my biggest problem with Omerta. What I find most frustrating is how bare bones the game really is. While turn-based strategy and economic management haven’t been on the forefront of gaming lately, there are standards. For example, Kalypso’s other sim title, Tropico, is immensely deep and satisfying. With regards to combat, XCOM nailed that not even six months ago. While Omerta contains both of these game types, neither one feels even remotely fleshed out or refined.

Let’s start with economics and resource management. What should be an intricate balancing act ends up more like a glorified spreadsheet of boredom. I spent so much time waiting on income to flow in, and business to “warm” up to me, that it became more a game of patience. There is also very little conflict. There are no rival gangs with which to wage war, and even when the wanted meter rises, only a minimal fee is required to pin the crime on someone else. There is practically no challenge.

Then we come to the combat, which feels like a generic interpretation of something like XCOM. Characters have a range of movement and attacks that can be performed each turn. We all know these types of games use a dice-roll system for their moves. Omerta’s is flat out broken. I found myself missing enemies within two steps, and characters sometimes did not even go into cover when they were clearly in line for it. It is painful and frustrating. Thankfully, you can toss the game on easy and hope for the best, as combat rarely involves skill. I also always chose to bribe my way out of a fight when given the option. The combat is simply that abysmal.

I am not a fan of what is on display in the visual department. The camera feels awkward, and the level of detail is not impressive. Characters look generic and buildings all feel the same. It is also worth noting that the text really needs to be blown up on an HD TV. This is a common problem when PC games get ported to consoles, but Omerta is guilty of some of the worst in recent memory.

Omerta: City of Gangsters also has an online mode that is sadly just as feature-deprived as the main game. There are four scenarios to play through: two co-op and two competitive. None of them are all that exciting. They are limited to combat, so running the city with, or against, your buddies, is not an option.

Omerta is the kind of game I came into wanting to love. Unfortunately, Omerta falls short in every category that counts, and even the parts it manages to get right fall flat long before they become interesting. I really wanted Omerta to be a better game; I really wanted it to be the mob simulation we have all wanted, even if we didn’t know we did. Instead, we got a disappointing shell of what might have been.

http://www.ztgd.com/reviews/omerta-city-of-gangsters/

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Grim Facade: The Cost of Jealousy Review | Casual Game Guides 4/5

First, the basics: In Grim Facade: Cost of Jealousy, you are a detective who’s been called in by a newly widowed woman to investigate the murder of her late husband. The already mysterious death takes a turn for the highly complicated when you discover there are a bunch of suspects and more plot twists than you can shake a stick at. If you’re a fan of a good old fashioned who-dun-it (as I am) Grim Facade: Cost of Jealousy is not a game to be missed.

(You know what else is not to be missed? This crazy little garden gnome that follows your cursor around with its crazy little eyes. I’m not willing to divulge how much time I spent making it give me the crazy eyes, but I will say it was time well spent.)

The world of Grim Facade: Cost of Jealousy is also pretty awesome. The game is set in Spain, and I loved the artistry and colors; the whole thing was a delight to behold. I was also captivated by the number and adorableness of animals in the game.

For some reason the design team for Grim Facade: Cost of Jealousy put a bunch of animals into the game, ranging from a domesticated fennec fox to strangely darling little bees, and I was constantly in cuteness-overload (which I was not expecting in a murder mystery). You’ve got to love a design team who takes the time to insert lovable little cameos.

I was also impressed with the range of hidden object areas. Yes, there were some of the typical ones (here’s a list, find a bunch of junk), but there were also areas where you collect a number of the same item. My favorite was a hidden object area that took up an entire room; you had to look around for items (including a fat, adorable hamster) that you would use to uncover/find other items.

There’s nothing I love more than variety, especially since hidden object areas tend to be my least favorite part of hidden object games (yes, I know that’s ridiculous) but with the way Grim Facade: Cost of Jealousy kept shaking things up, I never really got the time to be bored.

The puzzles in Grim Facade: Cost of Jealousy didn’t impress me quite as much, mostly because there wasn’t really anything new or special about them, but there was so much else that WAS new for me that I didn’t mind.

One of the things that interested me the most was the little shop where you could go to buy things. Throughout the game, you collect these little coins that you then use to buy objects that will help you in your investigation. I thought it was a really interesting way to add another layer that isn’t present in many other hidden object games.

All in all, I had a fun time with Grim Facade: Cost of Jealousy. The plot was interesting enough to keep me playing (I love that Sherlock Holmes feeling) and the world was stuffed with little delightful details (specifically the cute and furry kind). I didn’t really get a “Wow factor,” but I can see how that would be hard to accomplish in a genre like murder mystery, where everything has been done at least once. 

Still, Grim Facade: Cost of Jealousy kept me entertained, and I don’t regret a moment spent playing. If you’re looking for a solid mystery with a big helping of cute you can’t go wrong with Grim Facade: Cost of Jealousy.

http://www.casualgameguides.com/games/review/review.cfm/Grim-Facade-Cost-of-Jealousy-Review/aid-858/

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Generation of Chaos: Pandora's Reflection Review | Game Podunk

Developer: Idea Factory/Sting
Publisher: NIS America
Platform: PSP (PSN)
Release Date: February 19th, 2013
ESRB: T

A download code was supplied by the publisher for this review

Sometimes it's surprising what games manage to make it out of Japan and onto our shores. Having been released in Japan in June of last year, a few months after the release of the PlayStation Vita, Generation of Chaos: Pandora's Reflection seemed to have little hope of coming to the Western world. However, a year after the release of Sony's new handheld, RPG fans have received a new game to enjoy on their "outdated" and new hardware alike. The result between a collaboration between Idea Factory and Sting, Pandora's Reflection might surprise genre newcomers and veterans alike.

Pandora's Reflection paints a very grim and dark world for the player. The world of Hades is strife with pain and corruption. A strange ashen rain poisons the land and its people alike, claiming many lives. The nobility manipulates and abuses the poor common folk, even going so far as to hunt them like animals. Many dark dealings and events are performed behind the scenes, possibly leading the land towards its doom. Hades is a dog-eat-dog world, and Pandora's Reflection is not afraid to show it.

The story is shown from the viewpoints of two siblings: Claude, a young alchemist; and Yuri, a girl with a strange butterfly-shaped mark on her neck that is a painful curse. As the two travel the land to find a cure to Yuri's curse, they meet others and slowly become entangled in a plot that could destroy the entire world. The story may not be the most original, but it is intriguing enough and peppered with some interesting plot-twists that will keep the player interested until they reach one of the two possible conclusions.

The only real disappointment in the story isn't in the story itself... it's in the presentation. While the pictures seen in between chapters are beautiful and the characters are well-drawn and expressive, that's all you really get to see. Pandora's Reflectionopts to tell the gruesome details through the characters' reactions. Having only to rely on that and audio cues feels like a missed chance in storytelling; it feels a few more visuals would have really driven the point of a desperate world home. It is worth mentioning that the (Japanese only) voice track is plentiful and well-voiced, and the music throughout the game provides a great atmosphere, but for some gamers that will not be enough.

With the story alone, Pandora's Reflection differs a bit from previous Generation of Chaos entries. But, where the game really branches off from other games in the series is the gameplay. Gone are the large scale army battles and kingdom management of the past; in its place is a fast paced real-time strategy system with just a handful of units that may remind some vaguely ofYggdra Union. It's here that one can really see Sting's influence on the game, and because of that it needs a bit of explanation.

As stated earlier, Pandora's Reflection runs in real-time; that is, characters and enemies alike move without waiting for their turn to come up. Each of your units have their own advantages and disadvantages in terms of terrain and weaponry: for example, Claude moves the fastest in paths, but walking on other terrain will eventually have him 'transform' it to a path; Leon has three weapons at his disposal to take down the enemy as opposed to two; and Dominique takes no terrain disadvantages as long as it's daytime. Every party member you get is unique, and each member is designed to take care of a certain situation. With only being able to bring out part of your force, learning who to bring in what scenario is a large part of the strategy.

After you dispatch your units, there's some options available to the player. You can destroy strategy points and occupy unit points in order to stem enemy reinforcements and add to your own, charge the enemy base or boss to (usually) end the map quickly, visit homes and NPCs for world-building conversations and sometimes neat items, or simply attack the roaming enemy. When two opposing units collide on the battlefield, a one-on-one battle occurs.

It's at this point that many people find Pandora's Reflection akin to a rhythm game; however, I find it more similar to the Mario & Luigi games than anything. The player chooses a weapon--its effectiveness against other weapons is presented in a dual-tiered rock paper scissors manner--and circles appear on the screen. Press the button at the right time and you'll activate an Impact Circle depending on how many cues you successfully hit; if an ally is touched by the impact circle, you can press their corresponding button to unleash a second attack on the enemy, and in turn, possibly make another Impact Circle. If you manage to get all five characters in on the chain of attacks, a Special Chaos Chain occurs that does considerable damage to the enemy in question and any other enemy unit near them.

Add a day and night cycle, health bars for the points and bases, and beast summoning to the mix, and it all sounds like a convoluted and confusing mess of a game. On the contrary, Pandora's Reflection is actually a simple and straightforward game, slowing introducing the various mechanics in digestible doses. As such, the game starts off very easy, and only very slowly ramps up in difficulty.  Near the end of the game battles start getting challenging and the odds are stacked against you, but because of that, many RTS fans might be bored for the majority of the adventure. This makes Pandora's Reflection a great game for genre newbies with its overall gentle difficulty, but may deter veterans until they beat the game once and unlock the Hard difficulty.

All in all, Generation of Chaos: Pandora's Reflection is a solid and enjoyable game. While it certainly is different from previous entries in the series, the interesting story and well constructed gameplay should please new players and old alike, even if it errs on the side of easy.  Fans of RPGs, RTS games, or even of Sting and Idea Factory should give this game a download; it's unlikely you'll be disappointed.

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Pros:

+ Interesting and rewarding gameplay

+ Story delivers a dark tale that is likely to entertain to the end

+ New Game+ and two endings add replay-ability

Cons:

- Lack of visual cues outside of characters' faces a little lacking

- Game might be too easy, and thus bore, RTS veterans

- No save feature in the middle of battles lessen the game's portability

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Overall Score: 8 (out of 10)
Great

A bold change for the series, Generation of Chaos: Pandora's Reflection offers a different and solid experience for those willing to try it.

http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/vita-psp-reviews/review-generation-of-chaos-pandoras-reflection-r2234

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Review: Majesty Gold HD | Popcorn Frog 4/5

An RTS without the ability to directly control your units…sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Well that’s what sets Majesty apart from other RTS games: lack of direct control. Because of this restriction, your active role is to watch over your kingdom in a multitude of ways, mainly building construction and spell usage. While the aspect of losing direct control of your units might sound off-putting for some, Majesty pulls it off quite well.

Majesty was released in 2000 for Windows and Mac, and has been since been remastered for Linux, iOS and Windows Phone. It can be purchased for $9.99 on Steam, located here and comes with two versions of the game: remastered and original. “Majesty Gold HD” is the remastered version, with the most content; I’d recommend playing that version.

You may be thinking to yourself, “how can an RTS work without direct control over your units?”Good question! That largely depends upon “attack flags” and “explore flags” (bounties you can put on doing certain things) and what each unit’s “personality” dictates. For example, the Ranger will want to explore the land, removing the fog of war. The Rogue will want to steal money from buildings, and is heavily influenced by bounties. Paladins, on the other hand, will actively seek out enemies and enemy buildings to destroy. This is where the game really shines: the characters. Each have a distinct advantage and disadvantage and certain units dislike others – for example, Paladins can’t co-exist with Priestesses (the game’s version of Necromancers) so you have to choose your units wisely.

Difficulty: The difficulty largely lies with what quest you decide to embark on. When you first start the game, you’re greeted by a large map with a bunch of different quests you can choose, with the suggestion that you pick the quest “The Bell, the Book, and the Candle”, which serves as the tutorial level. After selecting this quest, you’ll get a brief dialog, and the game will start. It will tell you step-by-step what to do, beginning with what buildings do what, and how to recruit units. It eventually culminates to destroying a few enemy buildings, completing the objective. Of course, the difficulty ramps up, depending on what mission you partake in; the hardest map had me cursing and just shaking my head in silence other times. Of course, I could have just been employing the wrong strategy, but it was an extremely close victory, after restarting the mission from scratch multiple times. Overall, however, I would say that the game does a good job with the difficulty curve, provided you play them in the order you’re meant to play them.

Replayability: I find this game to be a game I frequently replay, but this may vary depending on what you specifically look for. The maps are always the “same”, only with randomly generated locations; the events will still occur at the same times. Do keep in mind however, that maps won’t always play out how you played it last. For example, I recently replayed a mission I had breezed through the other day. This time however, the boss decided to attack my ranged characters instead of my Warrior tank, which made it significantly more difficult. So it can be said that the AI provides some replayability, if you don’t mind replaying the same map and objectives over again. The biggest draw in replayability is that you can create your own maps, complete with victory conditions, how much money you start with, what temples you start with, what enemies appear, and more. Although it’s not as robust as I’d have hoped for, it’s still nice to have a themed random map to play now and again.

Longevity:  I’m happy to report that the game lasts a fairly long time (and doesn’t overstay its welcome, either). With 32 different quests it will take you a while to complete every mission. Since I’ve repurchased it on Steam, I’ve completed approximately 20 missions (I had to reformat my computer recently, and forgot to back-up my local Steam saves. Curse you, Steam Cloud not working with everything! /shakes fist in air), and I’ve got 18 hours logged.  One thing that helps the longevity is that not all of the quest objectives are the same; while most of the time you need to kill a specific “boss” enemy, there are others that require you to survive X amount of days, while others require you to raise X amount of money in Y days while enemies attempt to steal from you. Not only this, but a couple of missions have multiple victory conditions (such as kill the heavily defended boss, or kill his trading caravans, slowly draining his resources).

Balance: I have mixed feelings about the balancing in this game. On one hand, I could give a serious argument about a positive and negative about every unit in the game (while writing this, I was about to complain about the Paladin being overpowered to the point of being a near “I win button”, but then I thought of the cost and time needed to obtain a Paladin (you’d need a level 2 Palace, then build a Temple of Dauros, then a Warriors Guild, which takes a lot of time and money) convinced me that it was, at worst, semi-reasonable. Another complaint I had was the Rogues being so weak, but since their level two temple provides any capable unit a poison coating to their weapon, boosting their effectiveness, on top of being able to extort money (of which grabs about 75% off all available money that you’d normally get, instantly), and being almost immediately influenced by attack flags make them very useful indeed. The only complaint I can truly levee against the game in regards to balance is the Vampire enemy. Because he can reflect all spells back at the user, on top of hitting rather hard, and heal himself with every attack he performs against you, it gets rather annoying fighting them.

In closing, I really, really enjoy this game. With a mix of randomness due to the “uncontrollable” units, to the specialized units that all have a relatively unique role to fill, this game has consumed many of my hours and will remain to do so for a long time. This is even coming from someone who generally doesn’t enjoy RTS games (the only other proper RTS game that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed was Warcraft 3: Frozen Throne) So if you can get over the fact that you’ll not be able to directly tell the units what to do at all times, please, give this game a shot!

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Diehard GameFAN: Bloody Vampire Review

Bloody Vampire
Genre: Bloody Backtracking
Developer: SilverStar
Publisher: Agetec Inc.
Release Date: 1/31/13

There are a lot of games out there that try and provide the experience of games that we enjoyed playing in the past, games that are meant to either trigger nostalgic feelings in those of us that are old enough, and made with a simple and clear design to be enjoyable for those of us who didn’t have the joy of growing up on 8 and 16 bit consoles. When done well it can provide for a great video game experience that also fondly recalls some of the classic 2D games. When done poorly it can be a kick in the rose colored glasses and a reminder that the amount of bad 2D games in the past far exceeded the number of good ones.

Bloody Vampire falls into the category of poorly made ones.

The game tells the story of a half vampire and half human hybrid named Latis who hears about a vampire terrorizing a village and decides to do something about it. Think of it like a Saturday cartoon version ofBloodrayne. The plot isn’t really worth paying attention too, we are supposed to believe Latis is a half human/vampire who until just now never really asks what she is, who her parents were, why Cereza (a full vampire who is her friend and assistant) is with her and so on, which makes me think she only received half the chromosomes on her human side. The bad guy is looking for some special crucifixes that can hurt vampires but can’t seem to locate them despite having boss monsters in the rooms just before many of them. Why the crucifixes are different than any other is never fully explained, aside from needing to look for something because this is a video game goshdarnit.

Even though there is not a lot going on in the story, and as said what there is going on isn’t either interesting or well told, the game insists on telling it in large chunks of dialogue told through character portraits that overlay the screen.

Graphically the game looks good on the 3DS. There are nicely detailed backgrounds, and cute pixel art enemies and effects. The character portraits they use for the dialogue are well done. The 3D effect is certainly not needed to play the game, but it creates a nice shadowbox effect that makes the 2D platforming really stand out from the backgrounds and is a nice touch.

That was the good, the bad is the fact that while the enemies are interesting, there is very little variety to them, after the first section of the game the enemies after are mostly just repeated with different color palettes. The bosses are mostly the standard enemies made large. The lack of variety in the enemy types was disappointing.

The game uses the Metroidvania style of action platforming. By that I mean that the game is a platform jumping game with mild puzzles that locks away the ability to progress into harder areas by requiring the player to typically obtain an additional ability. Like the ability to double jump, morph into a ball, ect. My largest issue with the game is that it feels like it was designed by someone who was explained how this genre works but who had no understanding of how to design such a thing.

Let me explain.

Attacking in the game will go against the basic nature of anyone who plays platform games since you have to bump into the enemy to attack it. It is preferable to attack an enemy from behind as to not receive damage back from the enemy in case it is as strong as or stronger than your character. I thought, sure, why not, little Daywalker Jr likes to hockey check enemies to death. However there is no real way of visually determining which enemies are stronger or weaker than you. The early enemies are easy enough to understand, but as you progress you obtain water that increases your attack and defense. These are told to you by little swords and shields, but at no point could I figure out what any of that actually meant in terms of my ability to dish out or take damage. Running into an enemy will kick you back, which means there will be occasions where you run into the next room, and hit and enemy and bounce right back. Ditto narrow platforms.

Sections of the map will be locked out for the aforementioned reason that you might need an ability to reach the next area. There are also areas locked out that require you to reach and light a torch to unlock. There are also areas that are locked away for no other reason than to send you back to the shop to purchase an item needed to bypass the obstruction. I once came across an area that I needed to backtrack and purchase two keys to continue forward, only to get to the next room to find a wall with a different key needed to proceed and had to backtrack again. There’s no point to that kind of game design other than to inflate time spent playing the game.

Speaking of backtracking, there’s no map. None. So there will be points where you will light a torch and see that you unlocked a previously sealed area, now good luck figuring out where that is. This piece of anachronistic game design makes absolutely no sense in this style of game, especially when the game forces you to backtrack at points for no other reason than just because.

So it’s a Metroidvania style game, only with weak combat against repetitive enemies, obstacles without purpose to them aside from requiring you to backtrack, and no map. Like I said, it sounds like someone had the style of game described to them and set out to make a game without understanding what it is that makes those type of games enjoyable.

Aside from my rant about the crappy game design, it controls alright. There’s a jump button and a button to activate the power you have equipped. The powers come from different items you can collect, like a fire ring or a thunder gauntlet. There are a number of different powers you can equip that drain mana from a meter with each use. You can purchase items that refill both your health and mana from the shop, which you purchase with coins earned from moshpitting enemies to the grave. The inventory is presented on the touch screen and everything can be equipped moved around on the touch screen I felt it was easier to just use the buttons to do this as using a finger did not have the accuracy the game was looking for and busting out the stylus to use and item every time was annoying. The currently item equipped can be easily changed with the use of the shoulder buttons.

I don’t know what else to say, aside that for a game called Bloody Vampire there is no blood in the game. Maybe they meant it in the British slang way, as in that vampire sure is a bloody wanker. I don’t know. I do know that as a fan of the style of game that Bloody Vampire tries to capture, I can say that it comes across as an amateur effort that disregards nearly every improvement made to the genre in over a decade, and does things that would’ve felt like a step back for the genre in 1994, much less in 2013.

Short Attention Span Summary: It’s functional, but there’s bad game design everywhere. It was so bad I’m surprised the vampires didn’t sparkle.

http://diehardgamefan.com/2013/03/06/review-bloody-vampire-nintendo-3ds/

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SimCity Review 3.5/5

It’s hard to believe that it’s been over ten years since we’ve last seen a full-fledgedSimCity title from Maxis. While the Emeryville-based studio has been hard at work in building other franchises, SimCity has been shoved in the corner with spin-offs serving as the only way to get your fix. No longer will fans have to wait, though, as the next iteration has hit and looks to improve on the initial concept of world building. Can SimCity rekindle what fans have come to love from the series, or has the god game king fallen from its throne?

SimCity can be straight up addictive as the building tools help gamers manage a city in order for it to grow into a flourishing community. A game starts off with a finite amount of simoleons (money) along with the ability to throw down different zones, such as industrial, commercial and residential. There are different bonds that are accessible, allowing for a quick start, but it’s paid off by hourly fees, ultimately eating away at profit. The world goes round as the sims who inhabit the player’s city need jobs, electricity, water, and so much more. As the city grows, so does the demand for additional services, such as more fire trucks to put out increasing fires, or more cops to handle crime. There’s a textbook amount of features, and while it can seem overwhelming at first, it’s relatively easy to pick up and play without much trouble. Some may have issues at first and may have to restart all together; but when you get the basics down, it becomes a breeze to move forward.

If players want to expand outside their comfort zone into new territories, additional cities can be created in order to help maintain other aspects, such as handling the garbage disposal. This is a nice addition, especially considering friends can join the world, but it’s just unappealing to manage multiple cities. Transitioning back and forth between any number of city projects becomes nothing but a chore as the lengthy load times hinder the immersion and flow of the rapidly evolving territory. On a positive note, each area can be completely different from one another; maybe some generating more pollution while others are cleaner, more eco-friendly. It ensures each city can have a unique trait if the player develops it right. Unfortunately, this all ties into the biggest negative point by far: the open areas.

The most significant downfall to SimCity is the amount of space you’re given. When setting up one location, you’re given a box to fill, but it’s very easy to populate that box in quick session, ultimately cluttering things up. It’s absolutely amazing how microscopic each area is considering there can be hundreds of thousands of people at any given time. This does have something to do with the strong focus on online play as Maxis wants this to be a social experience, but these don’t feel like cities. They can grow to skyscrapers, but in geographic size, they feel like towns in comparison to past games. It might be a technical issue generating so many 3D assets, clogging up graphical and processing power, but it limits the player’s creative ability significantly.

The big push with SimCity is asynchronous multiplayer where gamers are able to join a region and work together, or completely ignore each other if they want. You can certainly play the game by yourself through private sessions, but the big new feature is communicating and trying to work with others asynchronously to build the best region possible. When players populate ten or more cities, it becomes an intriguing factor in how to structure the city, but it feels as if the game is built primarily for this. There’s certainly nothing wrong with having multiplayer options in your game, but when it disrupts the flow of the simulation, it can lead to some frustration and major limitations (in this case being the size of each area, as explained above).

It’s hard not to talk about one of the larger issues that has come our attention: always-online DRM. The infrastructure and server capabilities EA Games has integrated intoSimCity is not only imperfect, but so infrequent that it becomes one of the most annoying experiences I’ve encounter with any video game. If the servers are down or having trouble to connect, you won’t be able to play at all –  even if you want to play in solitude. On multiple occasions we weren’t able to create cities, join regions or even continue playing where we left off. Additionally, trying to load up the launcher through Origin takes us multiple tries before telling us we couldn’t log-on. It’s the most irritating feeling to come home and just want to build, only to become so frustrated to give up whatsoever. This could change in the future, but this is a significant issue that comes with the game at launch, so it’s difficult to ignore.

Closing Comments:

When it’s working, SimCity is an ecstatic god game that can be addicting to play; when it’s not, it’s one of the most frustrating experiences you’ll have. Even with technical issues aside, the restrained areas you’re forced to work within damper the playability, as does its incredible determination to push the online multiplayer components onto you. The building tools are a delight to use and it’s entertaining to see all the Sims run around while the cities grow to exponential sizes, but it just feels too confined and doesn’t have as much freedom as you’ve come to expect. Taking one step forward and two steps back, SimCityis just not the successor many of us had hoped for and should have been appropriately titled as SimTown.

Platform: PC

http://www.hardcoregamer.com/2013/03/06/review-simcity/

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ZaGamer- Crysis 3 Review 9.5/10

9.5Overall Score

Graphics:10/10

Gameplay:9/10

Story:9/10

• Brilliant Graphics, and smooth movement • Multiple ways of completing objectives • Keys are simple to use all items • Great story line

• Multi player not fantastic in South Africa • Not a lot of game time to complete, so a short game

This is the 4th release under the title, and and all I can say is they have not disappointed with Crysis 3.

Crysis and Crysis Warhead were the first 2 to be released. These both ran off the same engine, and we’re set on the same island and happened at the same time.

Crysis 2 was then set later on and not in the amazing jungle like the setting of the first two releases, but set in NYC. A big change, but done amazingly well.

Now Crysis 3 has taken everything that has been built on and developed over the years and produced one of the best games I have ever played. If you have played the first few titles, they really give you a clearer picture of Prophet’s path through all the titles. If this is the first time you have been introduced to Crysis, don’t worry the game is designed to bring you up to speed well, and I think you will get as much enjoyment as the Crysis veteran.

You start the game on a ship, and you can immediately see the graphics are amazing, but it’s steel and nothing that takes your breath away. The level of detail is astounding, water droplets running down you visor, the lighting affects on you visor are also better and more realistic than any other game has been able to produce. The AI is fantastic, the enemy work together to kill you, they react to team members not being on coms after they have been killed. The first few levels are easy, but help to get accustomed to controls weapons and the HUD (heads up display), the hud design and interface are one of the best best concepts I have seen. It was a bit disjointed in the first two games, but since Crysis 2, all the problems have been removed.

The use of you suit has become as easy as reloading. Killing enemies is as fun as playing “peek a boo” with a 2 year old. Not that it’s easy, just so much fun.

Once you have accessed the dome, everything about the game goes from a small improvement on Crysis 2 to totally breath taking. The detail, the  movement of grass and the environment are perfect. The in game graphics are like running around playing in Final Fantasy. There are none of the usual digital “flaws” in faces, in clothing, in movement, in any aspect of the game.

I do believe the benchmark has been set. Unreal your engine was ground breaking, but I do believe there is a new title holder on realism, game play, and all out complete package.

I hope with Crysis 3 there is more south African support of the online aspect of this game as with previous releases, it was not feasible to play as there were no South African servers, and and hence trying to play online, meant joining international server and have a ping of 100ms or more. This is the only aspect of the Crysis title I have not fully enjoyed, but by no fault of the game it’s self.

http://www.zagamer.co.za/review/crysis-3-review/

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