Tag: single player

Halo wars 2. The power of leader characters.

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

Halo wars 2 is one awesome game with lots of action and things to do. Gamers love having options so thing this game has a lot of it. If you don’t know about Halo wars 2 yet, then once again, shame on you. Go check it out. There are even none RTS (real time strategy) gamers playing the game and liking it.

Pretty much one of the main things about any multiplayer match are the leader characters. What leader character you and your opponent or opponents have makes a big difference from strategies, units to abilities. There are some leader characters that are currently considered a bigger threat than others. Leader characters are leaders based on main characters from the game, who are the head of your army. They are like the face of the army. There are currently 3 UNSC and 3 Banished leader characters. They are: Captain Cutter, Professor Anders, Isabel, Atriox, Ship master and Decimus. All three are powerful once used correctly. X35 Earthwalker himself will also be giving his words on this topic.

Captain Cutter: His leader powers are mainly orbital based and infantry seems to be his strong point. Captain Cutter has strong offensive and defensive capabilities. One of his significant abilities is ‘Battle hardened’ which is quite difficult to make effective as it should change how you handle combat. With this your aim is to keep your units alive so that the increased veterancy rate can take effort. While fighting, the unit that’s low on health you must call to the back of the army, don’t leave them there to die. This combined with ‘unsc raid’ which increases your infantry movement speed allows for easy hit and run tactics, meaning it’s also easier to keep units alive to gain veterancy. ‘Archer missiles’ and ‘close air support’ are high damaging powers that must be timed properly. Many times do people launch this as a game changer but the enemy just simply leaves the area. Be strategic with them. Maybe save it for finishing of a base as bases don’t move. You could also use them to force an enemy to get away from you, buying you some time or saving certain units alive. We will say that nothing compares to his powers that drop in units. It’s a great way of calling in reinforcements, flanking the enemy and replacing destroyed units with stronger ones. If you unlock all three drop powers and you wait for your army to get reduced a bit and then drop in odsts, a veteran cyclops, a tank, wolverine and more with high levels. This has made some enemies panic before. It’s just that good. Cutter is best to use with infantry but always be ready to mix it up when the situation calls for it.

Atriox: His leader powers are definitely more mystical. Atriox is definitely more defensive with his leader powers. His most significant ability is ‘unbreakable’ which makes all your units invincible for a period of time. This power once used correctly can easily turn the tide of a battle. We like to use it as a counter to enemies active leader powers like archer missiles if our army is grouped up. There have been times when one enemy used a glassing beam while the other used a scatter bomb and X35 Earthwalker’s units just stood in the middle of it all because they were invincible and still kept destroying the base. You do feel like a boss with that power. ‘Atriox’s bulwark’ is basically a superior ‘restoration drones’ as it not only heals your units but also grants invulnerability. Again it must be used with perfect timing like taking on another army or to survive a powerful active leader ability. This isn’t to be ignored. You can’t beat what’s invincible so keep your units in the circle or move your wounded there. ‘Dying breath’ gets ignored by some but this allows you to make some units still able to fight as normal even after losing all health for a period of time. Think about it. If you had 4 grunt squads you could still keep dishing out four grunt squads worth of damage which can give you the edge in a fight. You could even use the dead unit to hold of the enemy units while yours can get away alive. Atriox’s fortification power is essential, providing discounts on building and upgrading buildings and turrets. This will save you money, to some extent, especially near the start of a match.

Isabel: Her leader powers are very technology based. Initially we never liked her due to her powers have less use but after we dug into her a bit more we saw the use of her powers and what kind of bang they can produce. For example ‘Holographic decoy’ is actually so good. X35 Earthwalker has used these to scout enemy bases and activities and since they are decoys, you lose no units. He also use them to attract all turret fire first and then have his real units move in. It’s straight tactical here! It never hurts to have a ‘MAC Blast’ around. MAC Blasts should only be used to take out a specific enemy unit that is causing trouble, like a shroud or group of wolverines. Halo wars 2 is very strategic and so you must make strategic moves only (duh!). ‘Accelerated assembly’ is a must have for vehicle lovers. There isn’t a reason why you shouldn’t have it. It reduces build cost and time for your vehicles. This power should be combined with ‘The best offense’ which grants your scorpion tanks shields and improved canister shells. We have never lost a match with these two powers combined. After all, tanks with shields sounds scary. In the later stages of a match you must have combat salvage on standby. Throw all your vehicles at the enemy and wait for when they are near death, then activate your power to bring 8 of them back at your base when they die. Timing is key with this ability. ‘Ghost in the machine’ is only to use for extreme conditions. It allows you to take control of any enemy mechanical units you target. Send your decoys to charge an enemy army then use Ghost in the machine to take over at least half of all their machines (don’t take everything), this way you can make their army fight each other to reduce their numbers and if you have time send the last remaining straight at their base then follow with your own units. Isabel is only for the strategic.

Decimus: His powers are all about buffing his army. Straight of the bat you have access to ‘Killing frenzy’ which grants your units a damage boost when they kill. Straight away this is an advantage over your opponents. Combine this power with ‘Siphon’ which allows your units to gain health in proportion to damage to have dealth, which make things really nasty. A few grunts and other units with siphon and killing frenzy makes them too hard to kill if played right. They can just stand there healing themselves and killing. This can even allow early attacks. ‘Boundless Siphon’ is a must as it grants permanent small siphon to all your units, don’t need to say more here. Then get ‘Boundless rage’ which increases your units speed and damage permanently as well. Now let’s do some maths: Killing frenzy + siphon + boundless siphon + boundless fury = unstoppable army. Bring that to school with you. The last major power that we think you should invest in is the ‘Decimus drop’ which calls in Decimus who has a lot of health, can draw in enemies and give them the best slap ever. Decimus is that simple. Scary aggressive army which allows rushes and quick attacks. 

Professor Anders: Her powers are all forunner technology. This lady is all about the sentinels. ‘R & D’ which Reduces costs and build times for global infantry, vehicle, and aircraft upgrades. The best thing is that the turrets gain shields. which is a real boost to defense. It’s up to you how much points you invest in R & D. Get the ‘Protector sentinel’ as soon as possible so that you can start building them. These things are fast and melt structures. They should not be used for combat just yet. So run away (ya wuss). We never bother with ‘ark defense’ as it isn’t all that powerful and easy to avoid but once combined with other powers have it’s uses. ‘Sentinel beacon’ on the other hand is very good. Have some siege turrets at the back of your base and it will make defending so much easier as every shot releases aggressor sentinels which take no scope shots at enemy units. ‘Sentinel synergy’ makes your protector sentinels combat worthy as they now have more health and damage plus a bonus of shields. It also adds more aggressor sentinels to ark defense and sentinel beacon. The retriever sentinel power lets you summon a retriever sentinel. This unit gets treated like the other ultimate units which is a mistake. The retriever sentinel is much weaker than the scarab and condor. It can’t stand up to them nor can you send the retriever into an army and think it will win. Use it as a big support only. Anders is all about the sentinels but everyone knows this so don’t be predictable as some will see you as Anders and go straight for anti air so please mix it up.

Shipmaster: His powers are teleporters mainly. Shipmaster is X35 Earthwalkers favourite leader. At first look, shipmaster seems like he has the weakest powers. His powers directly are weak. They are heavy strategic. ‘Teleport’ has many uses from quick travel even to dodging enemy leader powers like close air support and eradication. ‘Extraction which allows you to instant transmission your slected units back to base and heals them is essential as you can attack the enemy and then when taking too much damage come straight back to base, healed and ready for another attack. We don’t bother with ‘Glassing beam’ anymore as their are other powers that are more handy than direct damage. Advanced cloaking should only be used if you will have lots of marauders and a shroud or two as it grants marauders the cloak ability and shrouds special ability gets improved. This means a cloaked army and marauders can be used for scouting. ‘Displacement’ allows you to move enemy units to another location. Many use this wrongly, they just send parts of an army away while they are getting attacked. This is bad the army will just come straight back. Timing and situation is so important. X35 Earthwalker once used it to send all the engineers who were healing a scarab far away making the scarab easy to kill. Mass cloaking is powerful as your whole army gets cloaked. It’s powerful but easy to counter as all the enemy needs is one detect unit, so knowing what your enemy has is essential before using. Tactical gateway is maybe the scariest power as you can use it to transport entire armies all the way across a map, even behind the enemy base. Beware as your enemies can use the portal too. Almost all of shipmasters abilities can be used for different strategies. That’s why scouting is important with him. Most likely the hardest leader to use.

Sergeant Forge: His powers are vehicle based. He was  the strongest leader by far because of one power, ‘Rolling economy’. This reduces costs and build times for Supply Pads, Generators, and their upgrades. The worst part is that you can access this from the start making a normal supply pad which costs 150 instead cost 100. This doesn’t sound bad but when you build 3 supply pads you save 150 supplies which is enough to buy another supply pad or 1 marine squad. So basically Forge players can build faster and have more resources than anyone else. In a RTS game, speed is everything. X35 Earthwalker tested this. If you could get to citadel base and 10 marines in 5 mins then with Forge he had way more marines in a faster time which is too big of an advantage. We are glad that it’s getting fixed. Grizzly Battalion is not needed as you can just build the grizzlies yourself. Only get when you have no other good powers left to unlock. Other from that he almost functions like Isabel. If you are going vehicles the accelerated assembly is a most. Scatter bomb isn’t that great at all either. It’s so easy to dodge. We end up escaping with all out units alive most of the time. We wonder how Forge will be affected after the patch on his rolling economy power.

All the leaders are fun to use but we definitely believe that some are better than others. If you take away Forges rolling economy then he is the weakest. If you counter Anders sentinels then she becomes quite useless as well. Cutter, shipmaster and atriox is harder to counter as they are more diverse in their powers but less obvious on how to use them. Some are more support based than solo fighters. Overall we have had victories with all of them and they are quite diverse from each other. Interested to see what the new character leader will be like. Try them out… also remember to try the ‘Earth Walk’!

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NeuroVoider. The party soon starts.

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

NeuroVoider is a new stick shooter RPG game developed by ‘Flying Oak Games’ which is already out for PC but coming out on Xbox One and PS4 on the 17th of March. The story of the game is simple. The game is set in the future where robots have wiped out humanity and you play a brain that’s had enough of what’s going on and wants to do something about it about those robots that do nothing but party all the time. So you take control of robot parts and go to destroy them all and their leader the master NeuroVoider. 

This straight away looks like another simple shooter game where it’s just grab a controller, blow stuff up and have some fun. It’s good to have games like this from time to time. Games that don’t require too much and any can give it a go. The rooms, content and items are all randomly generated so there should be higher replay value and makes each play of the game quite different. A random generated always seem to have permadeath as well. Which is what this game has, so some care must be taken when advancing through the levels and robots. 

There are numerous robot parts for you to find, collect and scavenge. The amount in this game allows for a lot of weird to cool combinations. Some parts have insect like legs while others hover above the ground. For a simple game, a lot of work has gone into as there is said to be 8736 unique enemies to combat. That’s a big number. Many they each are a mix of the different robot parts available. Maybe that’s how many different parts there are, we don’t think so but it’s a possibility. There are multiple weapons to use. Some fire what looks like small bars of energy while another weapon fires electricity. You can boost yourself to dogde enemies and incoming fire too. You can have more than one weapon at a time from what we have seen. There is said to be gigantic bosses to take on like the v2.0 rampager who has multiple sections to it and fires from different angles. We don’t know much about other bosses though.

The graphics are nice for the style of the game and the sounds are also nice but the music is much better. One of things the developers seem point out is the sound track, which is said to be amazing. It was made by ‘Dan Terminus’. From what we have seen and heard from others gamers, many seem to like this game already. After all it does look fun with it’s many explosions especially with the fact that this games allows 4 player co-op. Just imagine four brains with their weapons blowing things up, looks like real chaos. We always respect games that have local co-op. It reminds us of moments when you would just play with people right next to you. The developers, ‘Flying Oak Games’ did a nice job with this game. Overall it is good and this should appeal to multiple gamers. Let’s see what happens with this game in time. Regardless of what happens… always remember to do the ‘Earth Walk’!

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Sublevel Zero Redux. Newer and better.

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

Sublevel Zero Redux is a new 1st person rogue like shooter game, developed by ‘Sigtrap Games’, which came out in 2015 for PC but will be released on Xbox One and Play station 4 on the 8th of March. Sublevel Zero Redux is the improved and updated version of Sublevel Zero. Sublevel Zero Redux was also made for console but all those who were on PC will take part in the update so no one is being left out.

In this game you control a gunship pilot who collects and builds alien technology. He doesn’t have a team and is all alone in this. It’s set in a future where humans has been scattered across the universe by something called ‘The Event’. You explore through rooms of an abandoned research base to find out what happened. We aren’t sure why or if there is more to the story so we assume it’s simple. There are This game is like Spelunky only in the sense that the rooms you explore are random generated. So you can’t really know what’s coming up next… all the more to be prepared with your hands on the trigger. 

What’s cool about Sublevel Zero Redux game is the fact that it is also a 6 degrees of freedom shooter meaning you can freely rotate and fly in any direction you want. Your enemies are also meaning they can attack you from any angle or direction they want. This is one of those things that make this game a bit of a challenge. The enemies are simple but have different attack styles. For example some will rush towards you, while others will stay back and fire from a distance while some seem to be crazy trigger happy releasing a barrage of rockets. This means that you can recognise and them and adapt quite quickly but there is still some variety. Also watch out for automated turrets and sentries. 

Your gunship was built for combat and starts of with 2 guns and also 2 missile launchers but, as you probably guessed from the looting and crafting side of the game, you can replace them with other weapons. Find new weapons in chests around the map or from enemies you destroy. There are weapons that act like a flamethrower, another that shoots electricity while another bounces the shots around corners like the scatter shot from Halo 5 Guardians. There are also better hulls and engines out there for you to find and equip to make surviving much easier. You can use nanites, which you collect, to combine weapons together to create new ones. Now there are 6 stages in this game. The first level is the basement. In order to get to the next level, you must first locate a reactor and then destroy it which will cause a portal to open up. Use this to get to the next level.

The toughest thing about Sublevel Zero Redux is the fact that there is permadeath. You get no lives and you get no saves. Just like Spelunky, it’s about how far you can go with your one life. If you do die, then all we can say is, “Start again”. When you combine 6 degrees of freedom, random generated rooms and permadeath you have a difficult game. Games like this need a map. Thank goodness Sublevel Zero Redux has one. We love the look of the map. It’s a nice looking map that provides basic but useful information. Make sure to check this frequently to know where you are and where you have left to explore. Lastly this game is Oculus rift supported so why not put yourself into the game and see how well you can survive. 

From what we have seen of the game it looks flows nicely and looks like fun. The graphics are good for the style of the game. The environments have quite a bit of variation which is always nice. The sounds sound basic but nice. This game is said to have 8-bit inspired music for you to jam to while blasting away your enemies.

Overall this game is alright to us. Not what we would call amazing or great but we can see where the fun comes in meaning that some gamers will really enjoy this. The graphics could have been much better but we don’t know the developers situation. This game may be worth checking out for some but the developers, ‘Sigtrap Games’ worked hard to bring this game back into action. Let’s see if it works… but regardless of whether it works or not you must never forget to do the ‘Earth Walk’!

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Deathtrap tier 4 madness

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

World of Van helsing: Deathtrap is an excellent strategy game and a lot of fun but near towards the end of the game it starts to become less fun and more frustrating. This is due to how difficult some of the levels are in tier 4. Especially the last 3 levels: Necropolis, Wonded Crag and Inkheart. X35 Earthwalker himself has beaten every level in tier 4 and he will give his views and some advice and tips concerning the levels and what to do.

“The last 3 tier 4 levels defeated me at my first try. They all seemed overwhelming as the enemies literally end up swarming you. Almost any enemy you have faced already will be present and back for revenge. For them, revenge is a dish best served in numbers. By the time you unlock tier 4 levels, you should be at least level 50 by then. The higher your level, the more skill points you can spend on your skills. The skills you bring into these levels are essential. Skills that make your character a man/woman army are needed as you have to be able to handle the battlefield yourself or at least one section on the level by yourself. For example, as the Mercenary having the bash and frost ring abilities are essential and will save your life. I will talk about this as a mercenary character. So make sure to have trap boost, touch of death, frost ring and bash. As other character leaders you must have at least one trap enhancing skill and a heavy hitting skill for serious damage.”

“The first tier 4 level that we will talk about is Necropolis, which looks like a giant cemetery (how fitting). This level is so hard simply because they through many different types of enemies your way. You will have to deal with horde, giant and armoured enemies. This means that splash, concentrated and piercing traps are needed. In the you should handle the giants that come from the top right gate by using ONLY concentrated traps. I used the gun sentry and frost pillar. This slows down the giants while dealing heavy concentrated damage. Make sure to max out the damage and slow for the gun sentry and frost pillars. Activate the top right and left enhancer beacons. Then built two razor launchers next to the top left gate as preparation for later waves. Lastly if you have some essence left, head to the top square section of the level and on the left hand side build a phoenix tower and blast furnace to handle horde enemies that come from the gate at the top gate. You must stay and handle the enemies from the top gate yourself. The next wave just upgrade your razor launchers on the top left path and along that path build lightning pillars build a razor launcher right in front of the enhancer beacon at the bottom left gate location. Handle the monsters from the top gate and only leave when you absolutely have have to. Keep an eye on the map so you can go and deal with the quag devourer champions that come at the end of the wave. Build concentrated traps along the path of the bottom right path for giants that come later. Wave 4 is the worst. The biggest threat are the glacier golem who will freeze you when they die if you are near. That’s why we built pure piercing traps on the left hand side as lots of armoured enemies will show up. Here you must know when to leave the top gate and assist in other places, primarily the glacier golems. It’s up to you now. If you can pass this wave then you can pass the final one. Just don’t panic and make sure to check your map often. I left a quick game play clip below to check out.”

“Wounded Crag is just simply a ridiculous tier 4 level as they it throws more enemies than your traps could ever handle. There is no fixed build for this level as the monsters change which gate they come from each wave pretty much. Good thing is that there are only two types of enemies here: Shredders and Drigiblusa (I hate those things). This means only build concentrated and piercing traps like the frost pillar and lightning pillar. Funny enough, this map only has tower traps slots anyway. You could use Enthropic tower but the giant enemies normally have quite the distance between them making the jump ability of the beam not effective. So that’s the main of it. You must build as much as possible and make sure to have slow and damage upgraded to max on all frost pillars. The lightning pillars need max extra charge and multi-jolt. Any slots that are too out of range for those two towers should be used for a olympus tower as has magnificent range. The strategy is to literally use as many trap slots as you can, building lighting and frost pillars, to damage as much as you can, weakening the enemy for when they encounter your character. Build as best as you can but in the end, it all comes down to your character and the skills you use. You have to manage this map and head everywhere to assist your traps literally. You could in the later waves sell to swap the locations of your piercing and concentrated traps but if you decide to do that then I recommend that you only do that once as towers sell for less of their original value after being used. Check that map frequently for sneaky monsters and always fight near teleporters so you can get to places quick to save the day. I failed to get three stars on this level at least twice, so don’t get discouraged even if you fail the level. See where you went wrong and then do what needs to be done. Hey, I never said that tier 4 levels are easy. So stop moaning and get good!”

“Inkheart is the true monster of this game. This level went over the scale in every way. You must deal with pretty much ever enemy you have faced already. Fast horde monsters, multiple armoured enemies including those glacier golems, giants in abundance, high damaging enemies, many inkwraiths (just in case you missed them) and multiple bosses all want to have a swing at your face. To beat this level, you have to use every trap slot and special trap available. This is non-negotiable. If you didn’t use one then you are dead. The scary part is that even if you use them all, you most likely will still be dead. It’s that hard. Even worse is that they don’t give you nearly enough essence to prepare for death. Your only hope is to use all the salvage recyclers which grants essences during attack waves. For the first wave build at least two salvage recyclers at the start. It’s up to your character to hold of the horde and build up essence. Then as the first wave continues build the other salvage recyclers. The trick for this level is to stall for time as long as possible so that you can get as much essence as possible. So let a lone monster walk as far as it can go. The last monster should be a quag devourer which are slow. So troll this monster as much as possible by running around it to dodge attacks and even take a few because while it attacks it stays still. Use your body if you have to, to buy time. Get hit to low health then run away to quickly heal and then go back and keep dodging attacks for as long as you can. Eventually the amount of essence you have will be well over a thousand! Then when you can no longer stall the creature, kill it.”

“Always get the service station special traps first then get the summoning traps. I suggest maxed out archer posts at the very most front to deal crazy damage then monster cages at the next line of traps, then right behind them more archers. Use the monster cages to shield and protect the archers. Monster cages once maxed out have extremely high health making them the best at stalling for time and holding back the horde. The archers must have maxed area damage and creature limit. On the floor with the line of summon trap slots just in front of the three paths to the gates we must protect, build a monster cage in front of archers. Again, you must use every slot and every special trap. EVERY SINGLE ONE! Off course having all monster cages might work for you or all archer posts. It comes down to your character and style. You may have to reset your leader and trap skills so that you can put as many stats as possible into your summon traps. As for leader skills I had maxed out sigil of inspiration, touch of death and battle roar as once combined with archers make the most powerful combination ever. Sigil grants bonus damage of over 500%, touch of death increases physical vulnerability to 112% while battle roar increases damage by 380%. That’s crazy damage. Crazy damage for a crazy level. I will run by groups of archers that many enemies are coming by and use sigl of inspiration and then head to my area to fight the horde. When a whole army is approaching you and the archers then use touch of death and battle roar and watch your enemies literally melt away. The last wave requires good timing and multi tasking skills. This last wave literally swarms you with numerous enemies all at once. Bosses, giants, hordes and more. It all comes down to you at that point. I trust that my advice has been useful.”

“Some of you might be wondering about my tower stats so I included a picture below”

Overall this will be one serious challenge for any gamer. The last three tier 4 levels are literally a step up from the others. You just have try. We at X35 Earthwalker personally think that the last level especially is too hard and ridiculous in what it throws at you but it can be done as others including X35 Earthwalker himself has done it so give it a try… also go try to do the ‘Earth Walk’!

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WRC 6 – Racing against the world

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

WRC 6 is a racing simulation game developed by ‘Kylotonn Racing Games’ coming out the 3rd of March for the Xbox One, PC and PS4. It’s suppose to be the official game of the 2016 FIA World Rally Championship season. So straight away the game has set the expectation bar for themselves. This game needs the tracks, the racers and the conditions at the very least otherwise it will fail in bringing gamers the WRC experience.

This game looks promising as you can race through the 14 official events, key locations in the WRC and take part in the special stages. What’s really cool about this game is that they even tried to replicate the conditions that the drivers had to deal with in the 2016 WFC. You will have to tackle fog, snow, mud, night driving, engine breakdowns, punctures and possibly more. This should make gameplay more intense and in some cases annoying. We hope that there will be a mode where you can control what conditions will be in certain races.

WRC 6 is definitely a step up from the previous release in pretty much every way. There are two new game modes, world wide leader boards, weekly challenges for gamers to take on, play as the best drivers in the championship and free access to the full 2017 esports WRC.

We like the information the game gives you as you race. For example in some gameplay that we checked out, we saw at the top of the screen an arrow will appear before any turns and corners come. The arrows show you not only what direction you will go next but also what kind of turn it is. So if a arrow going right but bends at almost 90 degrees shows up, that means very soon you will have to do a sharp turn right. We like this very much and it will help gamers who have a hard time keeping an eye on the road while checking out mini maps to know where they are going, like with other racing games.

There are multiple ways to enjoy this game. You can hone your skills and take on the game in single player. You can get competitive with other racers from around the world and we all know that racing games have always been very competitive. Best of all you can take on your family and friends as WRC 6 has split screen multiplayer. What’s interesting though is that when in split screen, your opponent is intangible so you can’t knock each other around or get in the way. This is a great idea but we hope it’s a option when starting up matches as being able to block your rival behind you is also a strategy.   

Overall this game looks good and does a great job at creating the WFC experience. The graphics look nice, the environments are well done. The sounds of the cars and friction with the road are all very good. The developers ‘Kylotonn Racing Games’ did a very good job with this game. We wonder what other gamers will say about this game… but regardless of what they you must never forget to the ‘Earth Walk’!

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Chime Sharp. A unique sharp game

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

Chime Sharp is an improved version of Chime, developed by ‘Ste Curran, Twistplay’ . It’s a music puzzle game that comes out or already out by now on the 24th of February which is today for Xbox One, PC and PS4. 

Straight away we must say that this game is unique. It sort of reminds us of tetris but with a musical twist to it. The main problem was that unless you know the previous game ‘Chime’ you will have a tough time figuring out what to do. We went to the official website to find information about the game but there was barely anything. Eventually it took us a while to learn that you must cover the grid as much as possible using the tetris like shapes. The more you cover the grid more music you create. This is where the puzzle side of it comes out.

The main difference between Chime Sharp and Chime is that Chime Sharp has more levels and new modes. We only know 2 of the mode: Sharp and strike. We don’t know the difference. Like we said, information isn’t easy to come by. Other than those two main differences is the improvement of graphics. The game does look very nice indeed. The colours and and the surroundings are great to look at.

There isn’t really too much that we can say about this game. It’s simple but unique at the same time. We recommend this game to only music genre gamers and secondarily those who like puzzle type games. Other from that we aren’t sure who else will enjoy this. 

Overall this game has the potential to be fun and the developers ‘Ste Curran, Twistplay’ put some work into it. Now it may be your thing or not but regardless… Always remember to do the ‘Earth Walk’!

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Ghost Recon Wildlands beta. Open soon

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

Ghost recon wildlands, developed by Ubisoft, will be released on the 7th of March 2017 for Xbox One, PC and PS4. The game is set in Bolivia but a few years in the future. The country has become the largest producers of cocaine in the world. The ones behind this is the Santa Blanca drug cartel with their vicious tactics and influence has made the country narco state meaning that the countries economy is dependent on the trade in illegal drugs. This has brought forth fear, violence, injustice and lawlessness. Since getting into a all out war is not the solution here, stealth is the way to go. This is where the players, as the Ghosts, come in. An elite US special forces team, deployed behind enemy lines stop this all: the cartel and the corrupt government.

The open beta is available from February 23rd to February 27th. which is a fair amount of time due to the fact that the full game will be available a little more than a week later. In the open beta you’ll have access to the Itacua region of the game which is a good place to warm players up to the game and get ready for the worse to come. We heard that another region is also available called Montuyoc which is said to be much harder than Itacua by a considerable amount. This area is not for new players due to the drastic level in difficulty; however we aren’t 100% sure if Montuyoc will be available though. The open beta is free and available for Xbox One PC and PS4. The beta and even the full game is completely co-op with up to three other players so bring your friends in on the action but if you want to play by yourself then a.i team members will accompany you. You will have access to the full game’s vehicles and weapons to carry out stealthy operations or full blown fights to fight take on missions against the drug cartel.

Now some gamers may be wondering if you get anything for taking part in the beta. Well there is and it’s not a small prize where you just get a ribbon or character skin. If you participate in the open beta you’ll get access to the “Unidad Conspiracy” mission if you play the full game before March 31. For those who are a fan of Ghost Recon may be tempted to really get into the game. It’s not a bad prize at all if you ask us.

We are still very interested to see the leaders of the drug cartel in action as they really do stand out. We like how different they look and seem from each other. Each has an important role and look like they mean business. Their different departments show that this cartel isn’t some little kids game but a fully organised operation that has put some thought to it. The leaders are: El Yayo (head of production), La Reina De La Belleza (head of trafficking), El Cardenal (head of influence), El Muro (head of security) and El Sueno (leader of the cartel). El Yayo is a reluctant worker for the cartel because his family was threatened by them. He may end up helping the ghosts bring the cartel down. El Cardenal is the false preacher who was removed from the catholic churches for preaching forbidden cults. It seems the cartel has him manipulate and trick people with false sermons and messages. El Muro is the personal body guard to the leader. He looks like the typical tough guy who can hold his own in almost any situation. We are expecting a boss battle here. La Reina de la Belleza had a violent and traumatic childhood and this is probably what helped make her what she is today. We couldn’t trust her just from looking at her. Like she has a knife near by. The leader El Sueno has dangerous written all over him. He is brutal but acts religious at the same time which doesn’t make sense. It would be interesting if he has some sort of supernatural abilities. We would actually like that.

Overall we want to see what this game and the beta have in store for us gamers. The game is looking real good so far. The developers ‘Ubisoft’ did a great job so far. Let’s see what happens with this game but whether we see or not… you just can’t forget to do the ‘Earth Walk’!

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Snake Pass. With slithering puzzle action

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

Snake pass is a new 3D physics based puzzle platform game, developed by ‘Sumo Digital’, coming out 28th of March for the US but 29th for Europe on Xbox One, Steam, Windows 10, Nintendo Switch and PS4. In this game you play ‘Noodle’ the snake who has a friend, a humming bird called ‘Doodle’. Basically their natural habitat, ‘Haven Tor’ has been invaded by a mysterious interloper who is disturbing the peace and order of the place. So Noodle and Doodle are going to handle the problem.

This game just looks fun. Noodle looks like he is a curios snake but also at times silly. A nice design for a snake and already that makes us like Noodle. We don’t get that same feel from Doodle but we will have to see more of that character from the game in time. As Noodle, you have to slither around, climb, wrap around, twist and reach your way through the levels to reach ledges, collect objects and pull levers. The movement of the snake is excellent and you can tell that some time went into just the snakes movement alone. It pays of here. What’s also great is that you get to swim and go through water like what snakes do. Once in the water you are free to swim and move as you please and that’s awesome. It’s always great for any game to have some realistic features. 

This game has 4 world theme. Each world has their own unique features and hazards just waiting for the player. There are 15 levels to conquer and each one filled with snake based obstacles. This game has a simple but correct learning curve. The levels start of simple and then get increasingly difficult to the point where there may be moments where you scratch your head. We are interested to see what these levels contain and fully look like but we all must wait. What we do know is that since it’s a 3D puzzle platformer, you know that their will be lots of collectibles. We see glowy blue lights, coins and green symbols. So it isn’t just slithering around.

This game looks very nice. The graphics look are great and everything is very colourful. The environments are very interesting as they remind us of super mario galaxy with the whole floating areas and stuff. The sounds are better though, especially the sound of the water and your movements through it. The animations of the snake are all very good. Lots of effort has definitely went into this game. The developers ”Sumo Digital’ did a very good job with this game. X35 Earthwalker himself says that his favourite thing about the game so far seems to be the snake, ‘Noodle’.

Overall this seems like a fun game that even children would enjoy playing. There should be lots to do and want to know more about the game. It just may be worth checking out but whether you do or not… Never forget to do the ‘Earth Walk’!

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Typoman: Revised. Bringing us some words

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

 

Typoman: Revised is a 2D puzzle platformer word game that came out last year on PC and Wii U but came out coming out (or came out) today for Xbox One and PS4. In this game you play a character made of letters who has to survive and get through a dangerous and dark world. 

Straight away this game has captured our attention. We like the whole idea of creatures and the main character being made of letters. We like the emphasis that this game places on words. The main character starts of as an the letter ‘O’ rolling around, then finds other letters until eventually having an humanoid shape as in head, arms, body and legs. Allowing him to run, jump and climb ladders. The main character is one of those that doesn’t say anything.

This world is hostile and different creatures are around that are a bigger than the player and will attack him. Our character doesn’t have any means to defend himself and out running some of them, doesn’t seem possible; however our little guy has a power that those creatures don’t have: The power of words. He can use words to change and alter his surroundings. So by creating a new word using a ‘wordscrambler’ like ‘Down’ he can make doors, for example, that are up to come down. There are other words like ‘rain’, ‘trust’, ‘cover’ and much more with their own effects for the main character to use once he has spelled them. Words are literally your defense and weapon in this game and we so love the idea of that at X35 Earthwalker.

Throughout the world there are speech marks that once collected displays some text containing interesting information. It could be about the story or could be some advice or something for the player to think about. Either way, those speech marks are worth getting. One of them did say, “She taught me to seek truth over lies, justice over injustice, righteousness over the rewards of evil doers.” This is very interesting as not only this a good message for everyone to hear and should follow but it’s linked to something X35 Earthwalker himself has noticed concerning this game. We will tell you what he said later.

The graphics of the game are very nice and the art style was enough to make it the winner of the ‘Gaming trends best of E3 2015 best art style’. The music in this game was composed nicely and you can listen to some on the Typoman official website. The sounds are good and go well with the interactions and whatever is going on. The environments all look nice. The background we felt good have been done a bit better but still nice. We felt that there is opportunity to put something more in there but we aren’t the creators of this game and so it’s up to them. A lot of effort and work went into this game and it definitely shows. 

X35 Earthwalker said, “I believe that this game, like with others and even some anime, was inspired by the bible but off course with it’s own twists. The biggest evidence of this is that the only real weapon and power that this little character has in this game is the power of words. Yet what the bible and Jesus explained to people was that words have power. That words change things. Words effect the physical and the spiritual. Words change lives and can even produce life or death which is mentioned in Proverbs 18:21. On the Typoman website the description, under the section ‘about this game’ in the last sentence even said “But choose your words wisely. They can either be a blessing… or a curse!”. Not only does God tell us to control our tongues and what we say but in Matthew 12:37 Jesus even explained that by our words we are justified or condemned. Our words either lift us up or will work against you. The text that the speech mark revealed talked of seeking truth and rewards of the wicked. Things that Jesus and the bible definitely talks about. So many links and evidence and this is what also interested me about the game.” So all readers and viewers, let us know what you think.

Overall this is an interesting game and we hope that many gamers give this game a chance as it also seems like one of those games that has a lesson behind it for the gamers to get and learn from or something like that. The developers, ‘Brainseed Factory’ did a very good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker look forward to seeing what becomes of this game in this year. Do the ‘Earth Walk’!

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Pikmin. A game like no other

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

 

Pikmin was a game from X35 Earthwalker’s childhood. It was the game that he so loved and adored. It was a game that set the standards for other games. This game was most likely the first game he had for the GameCube. Pikmin was a classed as a real time strategy (RTS) game that was released in 2001 on the Nintendo Gamecube. In this game you controlled captain Olimar, an alien who crash lands on a strange planet. He encounters small, cute but unique creatures called ‘Pikmin’. These guys can’t really do anything by themselves but when they are in groups, that’s when they become one of the most powerful things on the planet. 

You crashed landed because an asteroid struck your ship, sending your ship on a crash collision course. Even worse, your ship started to break apart. Parts of your ship landed in different places on the planet. Olimar can’t get the pieces as they are big and heavy and in locations that he can’t reach. Even worse is that the atmosphere of the planet is toxic for him. His life support system has enough to keep him alive for 30 days! Captain Olimar soon discovers that Pikmin can fight other creatures, carry objects, break down walls, build bridges and more. So can he find the ship parts, repair his ship and get off the planet with the help of the Pikmin in 30 days? That’s the question.

Pikmin has 5 different areas for Olimar to explore: Impact site, Forest of Hope, Forest Naval, Distant Spring and Final trial. Each area is very different and has their own fun points and annoying points. The impact site is where you crashed landed on the planet (We are sure you figured that out). Here the area is designed to teach the player the basics of using Pikmin and what they can do. In the very first day, nothing can kill you but after the first night, enemies will occupy the area. Forest of Hope is where the action truly starts. There are many parts to Olimar’s ship here. Also there are little larve like enemies here, Bulborbs which are the famous giant two legged creatures with large mouths to eat you and your Pikmins, armoured beetle which is really mean and long neck bird head creatures who have quite the peck. Forest naval got it’s name because according to Captain Olimar, it looks like a belly button from high altitude. This level is X35 Earthwalker’s least favourite but is the most different and has a lot going on in this level from bugs dragging around a ship part to fire geysers shooting out fire. Things get serious in this area. Distant Spring many would consider to be the hardest area as it has everything from the other areas in it from solid walls and lots of water to numerous enemies and tricky puzzles. Matter of fact Distant spring has stronger versions of previous enemies there.

The final area is the one that no one will ever forget. It’s the level that all players of Pikmin have learnt to fear. It’s ‘Final trial’. This area isn’t like the others. There aren’t multiple areas to explore and many pieces of the ship to find. There is just one piece and just two sections. This area tests what you know about Pikmin and how to use them. Straight away the level splits into three paths. The left is more for red Pikmin, the middle is more for blue Pikmin while the right is more for yellow Pikmin. After you cross the small lake like area, you then come to an arena where the thing that shall not be named… fine… the ‘Emperor Bulblax’ is just chilling. You see what looks like plants in the ground but that’s actually antennae like things from it’s back. It’s underground. This is the official final boss of the game and it’s a fight indeed. The emperor has lots of health and is capable killing your entire army if you aren’t careful. It uses it’s sticky tongue to grab and eat Pikmin and later on can jump high to crush Pikmin to death and shake them off. The secret make the emperor swallow ‘bomb rocks’ which will do nice damage and stun the enemy for a good while.

In Pikmin 1 there were three types of Pikmin: Red, Yellow and blue. Red were the strongest and did the most damage to enemies, making them best for combat. They also have the ability to withstand fire, so fire geysers have nothing on these guys. Yellow are probably the lightest of the Pikmin as they can be thrown to much higher places. Also, they have the ability to pick up and throw bomb rocks, meaning that no wall can stand in the way of the yellows. Blue has the unique ability to go through water. That’s right. They won’t drown, meaning they can reach multiple areas and parts that other Pikmin just can’t go. Also each of the Pikmin types have different physical features. Red has a nose, Yellow has ears and Blue has a mouth. This is interesting though. Also Pikmin have 1 of 3 things on their heads: leaf, bud or flower. Leaf Pikmin are the weakest and the slowest while flower Pikmin are the strongest and fastest. There are two ways to create flower Pikmin. First is when a new Pikmin is made and it’s in the ground, leave them there and over time they will turn into flower Pikmin. The second is to have them drink nectar which instantly turns them into flower Pikmin. Nectar isn’t as rare as people think. You can find them in grass, pebbles, dropped by a rare beetle creature or flying ghost things. 

X35 Earthwalker was one of those who completed the game way before 30 days. You get a different endings depending on how fast you complete the game: early, on time and ran out of time. Now there were two sequels to the game and we loved them also. The third was our least favourite, the second was the best in terms of gameplay and features but the first holds a special place in X35 Earthwalker’s heart. In the second one, the whole idea of controlling Captain Olimar and Louie was excellent. We might write about that game another time though. X35 Earthwalker when he was younger actually got attached to the Pikmin. There was once a time where when searching for parts he made some mistakes and got a quite a bit of his Pikmin eaten. He ended up crying but then later came back with pure rage, vengeance and an army of 100 red Pikmin with the sole purpose of killing that monster. He did and it made him feel a lot better. We remember going through the levels and seeing everything for the first time, wondering how to solve certain puzzles and reach certain parts. It was exciting seeing the ship slowly get built back together and then reaching new areas. Or chasing those flying ghost looking things that have the nectar. Pikmin are so useful and can do many things.

This game isn’t that difficult and we strongly believe that within two play throughs of the game, almost any player can beat the game within 30 in game days. The main skill you need when playing this game is multitasking. You have to have one Pikmin squad collecting and carrying pellets or dead creatures bodies back to the onions to build your numbers. Another group that can be breaking down walls, building bridges or pushing large objects out of the way. While another group goes with you hunting for ship parts and exploring. The player has to manage all these things and know when to do that. You must manage your time properly as you don’t have that much time in a day so what will you do and how will you do it. Will that take too long? Is there a faster way? Should I use one whole day just for increasing Pikmin numbers and upgrading them to flowers? That’s up to you. Lastly, never leave your Pikmin alone at night. Any Pikmin left alone after the countdown reaches 0 will be automatically hunted down and eaten by monsters. Nothing will survive the night. Either keep them right near their onion or keep them with you and they will be safe. This is one of those games that you must play and try if you get the chance. The developers ‘Nintendo EAD’ created an awesome game that will be with us always. Whether you know the game or not… never forget to do the ‘Earth Walk’!

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