First real killer-app of the PSVR I played, Transference invites us in a disturbing journey full of anguish and beyond sanity. You share the past and present of Raymond Hayes, a neuro scientist who has devoted his life in creating a strange helmet to penetrate the human mind. Hayes’s family was torn apart and his memories turned into eerie phenomenons. The player faces those in virtual reality : the fear and threat are just beside you…
Caligula was one of the best surprises in PSVita’s life. Its striking narrative and innovative combat system made a huge impression on me, so I was curious about what Furyu could do with Unreal Engine 4 on PS4. This version doubles the content by giving the player the possibility to side with the bad guys : the wicked but charismatic Gakushi. That means a full new scenario, new playable characters, plenty of funny subevents, different endings… everything as fascinating and memorable as the original.
After the astonishingly great Death Mark, Experience finally released its spiritual successor NG on the PSVita. While sometimes it tries to emulate the previous game a bit too much, NG once again delivers a deliciously terrifying atmosphere, onimous supernatural investigation and now more choices and endings.
With Battlefield V, DICE has succeeded in bringing the quintessence of the Battlefield experience in both single and multiplayers. The campaign is great, audacious, moving, and multiplayers modes and maps are ideally structured in every aspect. The absolute best FPS I have ever played.
Those who follow Kenichirô Takaki on twitter know that Marvelous’s star producer is a big fan of western FPS. Despite being busy on its own projects, he still saves some time to play Call of Duty, Battlefield and the likes. From there, merging that interest with the Senran Kagura series was only a question of time, and here we are with Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash.
The beginning is worryingly similar to Senran Kagura Estival Versus : the girls from the four shinobi schools suddenly get warped on some island paradise, where they are asked to compete against each other. Yes, that’s the second time in a row that the scenario writer comes up with some old tournament coming from nowhere… The teachers Kiria and Suzune are in charge of the commentary (in a hilarious way) of that strange competition in which the heroines will face each other using… water guns! To be frank, the five storylines felt anecdotal and the story in whole is once again quite meaningless. Nothing like the first episodes of the series, but with such a wierd main topic, building a serious narrative seems contradictory. It’s very clear (and logic) that the devs whould keep a light-hearted tone while trying an unnatural genre.
The story still has some merits as it announces major changes in the timeline : central characters seem about to leave their respective groups, with very interesting perspectives, and others like Ayame officially join as main characters. Certain side stories are still lot of fun, like the now famous Ryôbi/Ryôna duo who never run out of ideas in their SM relationship. The way the story is told is still modest (simple dialog and plain text) despite being once more nicely illustrated. The narrative is slim and maybe the producer was aware of that, because Senran Kagura 7 is cleverly teased at the end and we can now expect the story focus to be back.
The solo mode is composed with several storylines corresponding to each faction. Those mini-stories are themselves divided into short missions where you have to beat larges group of robots, other characters or an entire opposing team. The player has 4 life bars so as to withstand entire matches in which water is coming from all directions. Yet the normal mode is piece of cake and you’ll prefer hard or ultra-hard to enjoy it more : IA becomes a lot more aggressive, asking you to be fast and precise. Ally IA is a lot less satisfying as it’s totally erratic. They can sometimes clear the mission on their own, but in other stages you’ll have revive them constantly.
While standard missions can feel tedious, this episode introduces bosses at lot more interesting and innovate than ever in the series. Those objectives are hard and make an intense and rewarding end for each storyline. You’ll have to fight giant robots, some in limited time, but there’s also a cool Easter Egg to the anime as you’ll be facing a giant Ryôna bathing. Last but not least, the final boss is absolutely glorious : fun, with crazy music and behavior, it makes the best use of the wacky side of the game.
Basic gameplay is voluntarily close to your average western shooter : you aim, fire and jump with the same buttons. No problem for players used to FPS or for anyone for that matter, it’s thoroughly intuitive to play. Like in any competitive shooter, Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash gives you the choice between a lot of weapons of various fire(water?)power, reach or firing rate. Again, it’s like any FPS out there so everybody can enjoy the game in its own playstyle, at close, mid or long range. The double jump being quite vigorous, you can achieve impressive aerials with the sniper rifle.
The gameplay is based on aim assist, which can seem childish at first, but is justified by the very fast pace of the matches, where opponents’ moves are a lot more unpredictable than in Battlefield or Call of Duty. The jet pack for example allows you to go through the map at astonishing speed. Very clearly, players would spend their time missing with just manual aim. The focus is non stop action from the first second to the last, and it works pretty well : camping is useless, everybody has to move to get some points.
But aim assist is no auto-aim and you’ll need to be careful to fire from a correct angle, otherwise you’ll just be throwing water into the air. Water storage is limited, so you have to refill liquid like you’d change ammo, making you vulnerable. You’ll therefore look for the scarce cover points to do so, or do it while jumping which accelerate the refill. In short and despite the new type of game, Senran Kagura keeps its dynamic gameplay.
Adding to weapons, the game will ask you to prepare a deck of cards. This TGC is in fact a transformed version of the smartphone game Senran Kagura New Wave, the rules of which being adapted to Marvelous’s TPS. After each mission, you’ll receive a booster pack including several cards with a chance to get super rare ones. Exactly like how you’d by a booster pack in reality, in fact. There are several types with various effects : protecting/healing yourself, attacking opponents, boost your stats or hinder enemies’ actions. The diversity of those effects adds a little strategy in matches like you’d find in Call of Duty.
The cards can be reused after a short cooling time. You can therefore use your entire deck several times in one match. And for the first time, you’ll be happy to get duplicates since all extra cards will be transformed in experience points and allow you to boost your characters’ HP and the weapons’ power. With a total of 821 different cards, the collection is vast and can keep you busy for some time. The only drawback of this system is that sometimes the cards are more efficient than shooting, which is contradictory to the central idea of the game.
Senran Kagura being what it is, the competition will deliver its deal of risqué scenes. The kune kune finish replaces the puru puru finish in Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash : it’s about sprinkling water at maximum pressure on a KO girl to take off one part of her bikini. The game doesn’t falter on the fan-service it wants to deliver, and also the kinky angles of the defeat poses. Costume break is still on the menu, and now you have a selection of costumes that can get wet to see through them.
Among the good surprises, you can now who you want to see as shop clerk in the in-game costume & accessory shop. The amount of fan-service clearly doesn’t disappoint, even though it’s less varied than in the previous game, and graphics & animation benefit from the PS4 exclusivity (richer animation and far more effects on the screen).
The Georama allows you to make very fun, cute, but also very hot scenes thanks to the numerous poses and accessories. But the changing room mode is where we come to miss PSVita as the touching loses all the fun despite the fresh sprinkling.
Like any shooter, Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash include online multiplayer. There are two main parts : cooperation and competition. The survival mode can unite up to six players who’ll have to protect bases against 50 enemy waves. It gets real hard at wave 30, so you’d better build solid teamplay to repel increasingly resistant foes. That’s when you can take advantage of the nure power-up : when allies splash you, you can benefit from an aura that allows you to fire (water?) at will without the need of refilling.
In competitive ranked matches, the multiplayer get a lot less fun. Battles are 5 vs 5 players and include domination, team deathmatch and now capture the flag. The problem is that everyone has lvl 10 characters and weapons, so you don’t stand a chance unless you’ve grinded quite some time in solo play. Maps are rather tiny and movement very fast, so it gets very confusing most of the time, making it difficult to achieve anything. Weapon and card balance is still wobbly, so it’s not as accessible as the producer promised. Matchmaking isn’t very effective, taking long minutes to find players. Finally, lag is still bothering on 1.07, thing that didn’t happen in Estival Versus. So the competitive side isn’t living up to today’s FPS standards.
Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash was a risky project giving its unexpected genre, but Kenichirô Takaki manages to establish a wonderful compromise between TPS and the Senran Kagura spirit. Despite the poor story, the successful conciliation of lavish fan service, fast-paced gameplay, high-end visuals and traditional TPS features guarantees a lot of fun for series fans. A shame that the multiplayers remains a half-full glass, but solo play has everything you need for enjoyment.
Without a natural leader like Bloodborne last year, hard to choose between the three great ones today. But God Eater 2 Rage Burst somewhat stands out, because of its memorables momenta and heated battles. Full of adorable characters and playable in coop, it goes well beyond the hunting genre to become a great saga.
Runner-up : Fate Extella (PSVita) & The Division (PS4)
Best Shooter
Battlefield 1 (PS4)
In Spring, I would have bet anything on Overwatch for this title. But that was underestimating DICE’s efforts to make Battlefield not only innovating by its theme, World War I, but also a thrilling sniper experience thanks to the best TDM maps since I know the series. The remarkable atmosphere and the gorgeous graphics are just the cherry on the cake.
Runner-up : Overwatch (PS4)
Best Strategy game
Kan Colle kai (PSVita)
Kan Colle kai is the new Advance Wars. The addictive management of units and the desperate defense of positions brought me tears of joy when the final trophy popped. Gifted with rich and unique design and having a game system as enjoyable as Pokemon plus outstanding challenge, Kadokawa’s game is one to remember.
Runner-up : Pokemon Sun&Moon (3DS)
Best RPG
Persona 5 (PS4)
Persona 5 being my first «true» Persona game (after Persona 4 Dancing All Night last year), I hadn’t how massive this series was. And here it is, the hype is 170% deserved, because Persona 5 is an RPG like you seldom see. Great narrative & characters, fantastic combat, dream-like design, deep game system, overflowing content… the new King of JRPG is here!
Runner-up : Tokyo Xanadu (PSVita)
Best puzzle game
Rose and the Old Castle of Twilight (PSVita)
After a superb Yomawari, Nippon Ichi Software is at it again with Rose and the Old Castle of Twilight. Not adventure this time but pure a 2D platformer featuring lots of puzzles for hours of intense brainstorming, with far better controls than The Firefly Diary.
Runner-up : Ace Attorney 6 (3DS)
Best Sountrack
Hatsune Miku Project DIVA Future Tone (PS4)
The tracklist in Hatsune Miku Project Diva Future Tone speaks for itself : in the 228 tracks, you’ll surely find dozens of your liking. Every J-pop style is widely represented, with a lot of novelties compared to portable Project Diva games (Hôkai Utahime, Gothic and Loneliness). Yet this PS4 game also features classics like Remocon or Envy Cat Walk.
Runner-up : Hatsune Miku Project Diva X (PSVita/PS4)
Best graphics
The Division (PS4)
Open world of impressive scale, The Division is visually the most striking game I’ve seen this year. Ubisoft re-created New York with great realism and the post apocalyptic touch makes it an immersive experience.
Runner-up : Battlefield 1 (PS4) & Hatsune Mike Project Diva X (PSVita)
Best innovation
Overwatch (PS4)
When Blizzard does something, it rarely fails. Overwatch is a competitive FPS like you’ve never seen before. Close to an RPG by its characters and skill mechanics, it allows for a great variety of gameplay blowing everything else in the genre. You’ve got an innovative set of roles like defenders (D.Va) or support characters of which the recently added grandma Ana is a stunning example.
Runner-up : Mary Skelter Nightmares (PSVita)
Best narrative
Persona 5 (PS4)
Persona 5 is the master of suspense and intrigue. The passion in those personal destinies, the will of the characters, the bond uniting them, all this conjugated with the onimous plot set by wicked elites is a delicious cocktail that you keep pouring during dozens of hours.
Runner-up : Tokyo Xanadu (PSVita)
Best atmosphere
Rose and the Old Castle of Twilight (PSVita)
Nippon Ichi Software is at its best when creating dark and crooked universes. Rose and the Old Castle of Twilight is no expection and delivers gloomy art that chills the bone : blood, death and despair are the key elements here. The developments, the very logic of the game and the touching conclusion make it emotionally beautiful.
Runner-up : Battlefield 1 (PS4)
Best design
Kan Colle kai (PSVita)
While Persona 5 sure blows things out in terms of design, I might stick to Kan Colle kai for this one. Really unique concept with risqué fan service included, Kantai Collection does a great job drawing friends and foes, and decorating your HQ is a lot of fun too.
Runner up : Persona 5 (PS4), Mary Skelter Nightmares (PSVita) & Pokemon Sun/Moon (3DS)
Best game you might never play
Kan Colle kai (PSVita)
I’m actually pretty sure you won’t play Kan Colle kai, unfortunately. Kadokawa has already announced that the game would be pulled back from shelves, further evidence that relations with the IP owner DMM.com aren’t exactly easy. You still have a few weeks to order an import version and a fat kanji dictionary with it.
Runner-up : none
Most disappointing
Sword Art Online Hollow Realization (PSVita/PS4)
You’d need to be really incompetent or seriously cynical to keep this unwanted «title». Mr. Futami Producer of Sword Art Online games, must be this kind of guy. Incapable of keeping the progresses made in Sword Art Online Lost Song, he’s badly rehashed Sword Art Online Hollow Fragment with Sword Art Online Hollow Realization : romoved playable characters, boring linearity, thin storyline, outdated engine… everything indicates he wanted to maximize profits by minimizing efforts. This logic seems actually be going on with Sword Art Online vs Accel World, the first screens of which are horrendous. This time, my money will go the more capable and ambitious developers.
The Division is one of the «big 3» AAA I’m waiting for eagerly this year. Having missed the boat of the closed beta because I pre-ordered and registered too late, I’m more than happy to give it a try in the public version.
Not much blah-blah in Ubisoft’s beta. The story of the game is barely hinted at and you have to fathom what’s really going on in Tom Clancy’s New York. A highly dangerous virus is decimating the population, and at the same time, armed men calling themselves the rioters started to act violently within the city.
Despite the scenario being vague, we do contemplate the fabulous atmosphere in this TPS/RPG. It’s Christmas time, it’s snowing, and yet an eerie silence looms on the Big Apple. The city’s last defenders (you) are preparing their counterattack in improvised HQ, there are decontamination facilities everywhere, you can see a memorial to the victims etc. The main musical theme adds the mysticism and your allies scream in the coms when the situation is really bad. The post-apocalyptic setting is fairly convincing.
Graphically speaking, downgrade or not, it’s absolutely impressive. New York looks as real as you could expect and animations during combat feel very natural. The lightning effects and the changing weather make wonders. It’s tremendously good to look at, but I expected no less after Watchdogs’s magnificent Chicago.
The command center is in shambles. Up to you to rebuild it by looking for key persons gone missing (medic, engineer), all this in order to reopen the various wings of the base (hospital, security and engineering). Once you’ve brought back the specialist, you’ll have to improve the department via its own exclusive ability points (for example, the hospital wing needs supplies points). Each time you do that, your character receives new abilities to be used on the field. Perfect transition to remind you that The Division is a true RPG, as you get experience points, level up and have to assign combat/support abilities to L and R.
Following the know-how from Watchdogs, The Division seems to already have the basics of a good open-world game. New York seems somewhat busy despite the tragic events, although stray dogs outnumber the panicked passers-by. But the most interesting point is that there’s already a big density of missions to be done. In addition the main story, several side missions are spread at nearly every corner : taking an enemy hideout, getting rid of a murderer, helping in skirmishes, freeing hostages, fixing a sabotaged antenna… Still, those missions feel more or less the same and aren’t as complex or interesting as Watchdogs’s so far. Funny thing : a sewer network has been modeled and you can move under the city.
Fighting has proved to be quite exhilarating. Everything’s down to your capacity to find the best cover and change it when needed. Every attempt to attack in the open is pure suicide given that your character has little resistance. You therefore have to be clever and move while in cover so as to flank the enemy, or be quick and precise in crossfire. It’s urban warfare like we seldom see in video games. But there’s a snag : X button is for cover, and circle is used for jumping over obstacles, with the result that the player is likely to make unwanted inputs. So I’d say the precision of the controls is not for the best as it is. The weapons physics are astonishingly realistic : the kick of the M4 is monstruous. You do have to learn to adjust your aim and fire small bursts.
But we are in an RPG and you’ll have to increasingly improve your gear. Like in Destiny, your character’s level needs to match the one of weapons and armor. The higher the level, the better the equipment is. And after that you can customize rifles with various accessories (suppressor, better scope, foregrip for better handling), which allows the player to personalize their loadout. Frankly, money looks hard to come by in this game and you can’t really rely on vendors. The best option is to loot enemies, method that gave me this little one. This is actually the Mosin-Nagant, a very old Russian sniper featured in the Metal Gear Solid series.
Very quickly, you do realize that the challenge in The Division is no joke. Mission 2 is nearly impossible to complete. You need to empty 1 or 2 magazines to take out one rioter, and those possess a fierce IA : they move constantly, aim extremely well and overuse their stun grenades. And given the tricky shooting due to the realistic weapon physics, it turns out that you’ll need help. And help is here, because you can join a cooperative session like in Call of Duty Black Ops III. That is if you do understand the kafkaesque machtmaking, but once you’re in a party, the game is very hooking and the servers seem solid.
I’m satisfied of this beta because The Division is turning out to be exactly as I had imagined it : a connected, cooperative experience which mixes the pleasure and intensity of gunfight with the incomparable flavor of an RPG progression system.
Never again. That’s what I was saying to myself after the terrible Modern Warfare 3 : never buy again a Call of Duty at launch. But given the positive memories I have from Black Ops I & II and that it’s crucial year given the first Playstation partnership, circumstances make me shed 70€ at this end of year.
Even though the multiplayer was decent at that time, campaign was the main interest in the past Black Ops games. I therefore naturally throw myself into solo play in this third episode.
The story of Call of Duty Black Ops III unfolds on a world plagued by natural disasters and civil insurrection. An interesting setting but isn’t being developed correctly afterwards. In the somewhat dull first missions, you face several paramilitary groups and chase a traitor from your unit. Nothing very original or exciting so far.
The campaign becomes increasingly enjoyable as it allows you to customize your loadout like you would do in competitive multiplayer. It’s actually the same frame, so it will feel familiar immediately. The other good news is that the weapons are unlocked way faster than in competitive multiplayer, which allowed me to try this little one, the SVG-100, very peculiar bolt-action sniper rifle with its little air vents that cool it down after firing. You are also able to choose an upgrade your DNI, cybernetics equipment. Because in Black Ops III, very much like Deus Ex Human Revolution, you are half-machine.
Call of Duy Black Ops III is into futuristic warfare like never a Call of Duty has been before. Besides human soldiers, the campaign will throw you against various robots and mechanical weapons. Their patterns of attack are fairly different from each other, which will surprise the player almost every time. Treyarch does deliver some quality action scenes despite other having little interest (the aircraft sequence for example). It’s even more enjoyable that the campaign-related trophies are unlocked in Hardened difficulty or higher, which makes you give your best and it’s very rewarding. The overcome that, you have the choice between 3 skill trees of cybernetics : hacking, brute force and jamming. This allows you to use the technology according to your own style, or try them all. Jamming can make robots implode or disturb guards, but the must remains hacking enemy mechas to turn them against your opponents!
The campaign is even better with friends in the brand new cooperation mode, huge innovation of Call of Duty Black Ops III. Even though finding a public match turns out to be a headache at times, it’s quite easy to begin any mission with some buddies. The game system emphasizes interdependence and mutual aid because if one player die, the mission is a failure! The cyborgs are more solid and fiercer than ever, for more heated combat. Cooperating with 3 other players really transforms the campaign’s experience : as a sniper, I found myself covering the others from afar, which I can’t do alone. The only drawback is that you can’t filter difficulty, making it necessary to get in and out until you find a suitable game.
Despite de very bland start, Black Ops III’s story takes a very different turn compared to other Call of Duty games. The chase of the traitor quickly becomes a desperate struggle against some computer virus affecting soldiers. This is not about patriotic war and stuff, and y the way, your own administration turn out to be shady characters. This bold setting is welcome, even though the narrative is too imprecise to connect the various ideas in it. There is still a somewhat deep design work in Call of Duty Black Ops III, including some psychedelic delirium in the 2nd half and interesting concepts like the Forzen Forest, which personally recalled deep-rooted memories. In its chaos, the story eventually makes relevant sense and develops a vision of what it wants to communicate to the player. The music was quite discreet, except here again the theme of the Frozen Forest.
Graphically speaking, this last entry indeed looks a lot better than the previous PS4 games. The modeling has been refined quite dramatically (it’s obvious when you play Advance Warfare just after), backgrounds and lightning effects are far more impressive, the outlines feel sharper.
Then we come to competitive multiplayer, and that’s where Call of Duty Black Ops III fails, horribly. The idea of specialists is good, but there is a snag : they aren’t extremely specialized in whichever way! Just choosing one special move/power between two isn’t much. I did expect passive skills to make a difference. I picked the Outrider, basically the recon class with some kind of modern Ninja look.
The bow is as cool as you would expect, but tricky to use and not that much of an advantage in battle. You can modify the range your your shot with the analog button to adapt your current situation, and in any case it makes a small explosion at impact (like the arbalet in Black Ops 1). Note that as it is a Specialist weapon, you can have it only during a certain timeframe. The problem is that you lose it immediately when you are killed, which is not the best choice given how fast the action is. The Outrider’s second tool is a sonar which allows you see nearby enemies through walls, but its reach is far from being good. In the end, the Outrider is a recon soldier without any relevant advantage (not even like the sniper perks of the Modern Warfare series), and actually nothing more than a skin of the standard soldier (when you look at other players, she is never used as a sniper).
Let’s stress again the fantastic general design of Call of Duty Black Ops III, futuristic weapons being crafted in the smallest details. Just look at how precise the modeling of those tiny parts is! It really is a damn fine interface for modern weaponry lovers.The user interface is also splendid : the Specialist here seems to be lurking in what appears to be some sci-fi city like Coruscant.
But the dream collapses after just a few hours : the maps are ridiculously tiny and full of obstruction. It is a MIRACLE to have even 30m of range! In those conditions, scoring with a sniper rifle is absolutely impossible. It’s unbelievable : the maps in Modern Warfare 2 were 3 times as large, and that was in a PREVIOUS generation. Look, there are CORRIDORS IN THE FOREST! Multiplayer battle are still 6 vs 6, while Battlefield 4 have been delivering 64 players maps for 2 years now. This translating a very clear intention from the developers to keep the gameplay as poor as possible so that worthless noobs can have fun. And the magnifying of the scopes is pitiful, x2 at best… Seriously, even the PSO1 on my airsoft gives more precise aim!
As always since Modern Warfare 3, the episode of infamy, assault rifles and light machine guns are a lot to precise from any distance for us snipers to win any encounter. Not only that, but run speed has been increased and double jump causes the enemies’ movements to be unpredictable. It’s like duck hunt but here the ducks are hunting you too! Every game is a unbearable confusion of mediocrity and random game design. Team Deathmatch looks like a Free-for-all and Search & Destroy is not even an option given the awful weapon balance. Like my character says when she loses : “I didn’t sign up for this shit”.
I can hardly be satisfied of Call of Duty Black Ops III given its main feature, competitive multiplayer, is broken like never it has been in the series. Campaign was a cool experience, especially in coop, but are 10h of gameplay worth 70€ nowdays? It’s another debate. The illusion of the Frozen Forest echoes another, the ghost of the Call of Duty of the Golden Age when every gameplay style could join the party and have fun. I recommend to keep Advanced Warfare which is a lot more enjoyable in multiplayer, or invest in Battlefield 4 for true sniper gameplay.
Last Summer, I had my finger on the «buy» button for the digital version of Bullet Girls… but I didn’t push, remembering the terrifying backlog I had on PSVita. Why didn’t I have the same reasoning during the D3 Publisher PSN sales, when I eventually pushed that button for half price.
Trophies unlocked : 9% (rank E on PSN Profiles, campaign 70% cleared)
Reason : Ragequit at a idiotic sneaking mission
Bullet Girls is actually Senran Kagura with firearms. Including a M82 Barrett, reason enough for to buy this, with of course the tsundere who bears it and the destructible costumes. Costume break which applies to the main heroines as well as to the random (all female) enemies. That said, you do deactivate it at once given how it hurts the flow of gameplay. Those are also too short to compete efficiently with the likes of Senran Kagura. Ecchi part quite average, but at least better than the meaningless dialogs that make you snooze within minutes. But the worst of all remain the support characters, who support you in nothing and tirelessly rehash the same line…
Bullet Girls is a pleasure for the eye, especially in its near-perfect character models, cornerstone of the genre. Stages are generic and feel flat, but you have no time looking at them anyway.
Because you immediately spot the main characteristic of this game : it’s insanely difficult! Very unlike the quite simple Action Neptune or Senran Kagura which does have a easy mode, Bullet Girls is a TPS that requires maximum concentration at all times and flawless aiming. In the first chapters already, my fingers hurt like they never did because I was clinging onto the Vita like a madman. It is folly : the missions only last a few minutes but it seems an eternity since your HP can deplete in no time at any moment. To make it even more hellish, everything must be done in limited time and believe me, you have no time to breath.
In general, I’m not against difficulty as driving the player to use his ultimate resources often ends up rewarding. Controls didn’t feel fishy, the cover system is neat, but the weapon balance is terrible : this game has decided, in defiance of all war principles, that an assault rifle was better than a rocket launcher to destroy containers, and that a shotgun doesn’t deal damage if not half a meter close to the target (oh, sorry, Black Ops had already established this “fact”). But I can get over all this, I can. But in chapter 6 I can’t anymore, D3 is making a fool of me. Explanation : I must go from A to B without being spotted. OK, let’s go. I headshot the first guard : game over. I do it all over again, this time running until the garden with no cover. I shoot another guard : game over. And here I realize that I’m playing a bloody Metal Gear Solid in which I AM NOT ALLOWED TO SHOOT and where I must go through blind spot I have no idea about.
Final sh**, this game puts the Barrett in the assault rifle category. No, just… no, it’s unbearable.
Game of the Year
Kan Colle kai (PSVita)
Rose and the Old Castle of Twillight (PSVita)
Tokyo Xanadu (PSVita)
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