Tag: Xbox 360

Gears of war 3 has still go it

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

 

Gears of war 3 is one of those games that is a personal favourite of ours. This is one of those games that we still play to this day. Gears of war 3 was released in September 2011. That is many years ago when you think about it but what’s still on fire today is the multiplayer. Many are still on and hooked to the feel of gears of war 3. If you started up your game now and checked out king of the hill, you will find multiple matches with serious gamers going on. X7 Earthenvessel, N63 Prodigy and X35 Earthwalker himself have been going back to king of the hill to destroy some gamers and have fun. If you aren’t prepared for what these matches hold then you won’t be able to destroy anyone or have fun.

Now it isn’t a huge amount of players but large enough that multiple matches are always going on but small enough so that you can recognise the gamer tags of players in the matches. X35 Earthwalker has frequently now seen many gamers who he has fought before. Also these gamers remember him as well. This poses a problem but in a good way. This causes intense matches where you must constantly watch your back because there is now intense rivalry with many players and big dislike for some others. So if you keep destroying certain people, well then they want nothing more than to down you and then execute you with style. Meaning that they throughout the entire match are looking for you and opportunities to kill you, whether from behind or in a duel. That’s right tea bagging and shooting dead bodies to rub salt in the wounds is here in abundance. 

This makes every match intense to the point where you are constantly watching out for that one of two players who are sneaking around and looking out for you. There are some gamer tags that when we the game announce in text that they have joined the match we say, “Oh I remember you. Looks like it;s going to be a rematch!” It doesn’t help that most of the players are good by now and will give you nasty shotgun battles and heavy cross fire from all directions. There has been many rage quits, camping and saltiness. All in the name of gears of war 3. Don’t get us wrong, these matches are a blast. We have had times when we would burst out laughing at what goes on in the matches and we have had our salty moments but who hasn’t. It’s actually great to see those familiar names again in matches. I remember a match from two nights ago where X7 Earthenvessel got a triple kill with the gnasher shotgun. N63 Prodigy was tea bagging everyone and X35 Earthwalker got 71 kills. It was awesome. 

Just a few tips to help some gamers out. Make sure to be skilled in all the starting weapons: lancer, hammerburst, retro lancer, gnasher and sawed off. This is because situation always changes and therefore a different strategy requires different weapons at times. Don’t be like those players who only use the gnasher and expect everyone else to as well, so when someone comes around the corner with a sawed off and kills them, they start complaining and send hate mail. Instead of being salty, just adapt. If you know someone is using sawed off all the time them stop going around corners tightly. Instead go around as far as you can so they can’t get the drop on you and splatter you. Then lancer them down and rub it in with a well deserved execution. If all someone does is stay back and use rifles then lay a trap for them and wait for a appropriate power weapon that can be used to deal with them. Think about the lay out of the map as some maps are small and close range, so shotguns will rule the place. You have to adapt to what’s going on. Also always get the power weapons. If you control them, you almost always control the map. Lastly don’t be afraid to die because you will, a lot. 

It’s all good fun at the end of the day, (however some take it too seriously) so start up your game, jump into a match, blow someone up with some frag grenades and ignore all the hate mails. X35 Earthwalker has gotten a lot of those. Seriously the matches are better than ever before and you will always a get a chance to settle the score with certain gamers. Gears of war 3 has still got it.

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Outland Co-op is also outstanding

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

 

If you don’t know Outland then shame on you for missing out on an awesome game with beautiful graphics and well composed music that sets the atmosphere very well. Outland was originally on the PC, Xbox and PS. It’s a 2D dynamic platformer game. Read our previous blog to learn everything you need to know concerning this game.

Recently X35 Earthwalker and Diamondz L45 played Outland in co-op mode online. At first we expected it to be only the co-op challenges that you find through out the single player story but we were wrong. Co-op is actually the full story but with two people. You discover secrets together, fight together, get power ups together and best of all, take down bosses together. The whole exciting experience but with a friend to help you.

The only difficult thing about co-op is that you don’t share the money. This means when you come across power ups, at times maybe only one of you can afford the power up. This is annoying as they could have made the game share the money but this just adds some factors to the game. Taking on the huge bosses together is like the most exciting part of co-op. It feels like a rematch. Bosses don’t take as much damage as in single player though, so the both of you have to really mess them up and strike together.

As you do come across the co-op portals you can accept the co-op challenges. These are unique to co-op only. These challenges vary and we assume get more difficult. The first one was to see how well you and your partner handles splitting up to grab coins, fight weak enemies and make it to the end together. So basically communication. It was honestly a lot of fun. X35 Earthwalker took the top path while Diamondz L45 took the bottom path. It turned into a race half way through, until we got to the part with the switches where one must open a section for the other to then reach another switch. Then both must make it to the end together. Off course you get a score for your performance at the end to brag about. 

Maybe the best part of co-op is that fact that both characters don’t look the same. The second player (or client player) controls a man who wears 3/4 shorts which are quite baggy. Then when you get the light spirit your character looks exactly like the man from 20,000 years ago. The tribal skirt thing, the head band feathers and everything. This was X35 Earthwalkers favourite part. The man also folds his arms just like that man as well. You feel like an absolute boss playing that guy. It shows the developers went through extra effort to create another character and not just a clone. Also the character you control glows to signify which one is yours at all times.

Overall co-op is so far extremely great. X35 Earthwalker looks forward to going through the whole thing in co-op now. It’s like a new experience instead of a repeat. If you have the game then you have to try co-op after doing the single player because you won’t regret it. Just when we thought Outland couldn’t get any better. Once again the developers ‘Housemarque’ did an outstanding job and we encourage you guys to continue making awesome games like this. Hopefully a sequel to this comes out soon as well. This game has to be checked out.

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Lightning truly returns

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

 

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy is an awesome game developed by ‘Square Enix’ and was released in 2013 for Xbox 360 and PS3. X35 Earthwalker himself loves this game but like with other great games there is also some weak spots in the game. We have been playing the game again recently and we made some huge progress. About to face Caius in an ultimate swordsman battle. If you want to play this game then make sure you can do the following things: good reflexes, good multi tasking, good memory and persistent. If you don’t then you can still play but things will be a bit harder. 

Lightning truly returns and boy does she know how to make an entrance. Basically you play Lightning who has been chosen by Bhunivelze to be the saviour who is tasked with bringing souls from the world to the next life. As the saviour she has the power to take people’s souls and immense strength and other powers. This is because the end of the world is here. The world has only 6 days left and time doesn’t wait for you making this a game where you can’t stay still. You must work fast and act fast. Use your days awisely and ecide what order to complete quests and anything else. The story in this game is very well done and it all adds up nicely together. Within this time you must save as many souls as you can. This can be done by completing quests for them. Some people need to gain hope again. Some need a certain item returned to them to inspire them. Some have unfinished business and it’s all up to you to help them out. Each soul you collect increases your stats: hp, strength and magic. There is numerous quests to complete and you better complete them for several reasons. First, you need to complete the game. Second, you need to boost your stats otherwise you won’t be able to beat any boss. Third because if you complete main quests you can extend the amount of days you have till the end of the world. We heard it can be extended up to by 7 more days. The many quests is why you need to be good and remembering and multi tasking as the quests can all pile on meaning, many things to do.

The graphics in this game are wonderful. The characters look so well designed. The details that went into the levels and areas are so great. The special effects look real good as well. The developers did really good for the time it was released. The sounds are on time and appropriate all contributing to the setting and mood of the game. The music isn’t the best from the franchise but still well done. It does help set the atmosphere in the area you are in. The A.I in this game are good, we can say. They are all doing their own things and look different from each other (we expect that from games as great as final fantasy). There are 4 different areas for the player to explore: Luxerion, Yusnaan, The wildlands and the dead dunes. What we love at X35 Earthwalker is always variety. Each of those areas are so different from each other. Luxerion is a peaceful city where entire groups wait patiently for the end with prayers and hope. A nice simple place. Yusnaan is the exact opposite. Here, it’s parties, shows and celebrations all the time. They don’t seem to care. The wildlands is pure nature, fields and hunters. It’s like a small safari and looks lovely but danger is lurking around. The dead dunes is actually dead. Lots of sand, rocks, bones and runes. Only thing to do here is explore really. Different enemies but we wish for them to be more distinctly different from each other.

The combat is the main thing here. Like with final fantasy 13 and 13-2, the enemy appears and you get the chance to strike it first before fighting it. If you do then the enemy will start with 10% less health and 25% if you strike them without them knowing you were there. The actual fight is where the good reflexes come in handy. You have 3 schemata, basically battle sets. Each set you design and can have different abilities, stats, weapons and accessories. So for example you could design a schemata which focuses on heavy defense so you may equip the heavy guard ability and give a shield that has really high guard resistance to make enemy attacks do practically nothing. Recommend having a defensive, magic based and attack based schematas to make things easier. With one button you can switch between them at any time to suit the situation. So switch to your defensive for when you want to block a series or powerful attacks then switch back to your offensive ones. On top of that you must handle staggering enemies, exploiting their weaknesses and giving enemies ailments or removing your own. Things get tricky but mastering this part of the game will set you up nicely for everything else. Lastly if you block at the same time as an attack hits you, you greatly reduce the damage you receive and most of time take no damage at all.

The bosses in this game are definitely epic battles. When you face off against the likes of Noel, Snow, powerful monsters and off course Caius the guardian, it feels so epic especially with the music going trough your head. These guys no a thing or two about how to kill their enemies. When facing a boss, you can’t just rush your enemies and win. Nope, not at all. The difficulty is almost like final fantasy 13 where every fight is hard, long and strategic. You will need to not only use your 3 schematas but also create the right ones for the boss. You must block the attacks perfectly as much as possible to survive, you must exploit their weaknesses and do it all quick. If you need help then use your recovery items to add buffs or just regain health. Last of all use your EP abilities to your advantage. EP abilities range from completely healing you (curaga), damage all enemies and launch them into the air (quake) and over cloak which is the signature ability which slows down time for everything and everyone but lightning. Collect EP from completing big quests and replenish it from defeating enemies.

The schemata system is easy to understand and build. You can build up to 8 schematas (excluding the 3 active ones) we believe and keep them stored so you can just swap out your schematas whenever you want. Garbs are the main body of your schemata, not only are they different outfits but some come with their own abilities (like ‘flood’) and effects like increased damage resistance. Some are better than others concerning stat boosts and abilities but when others are better in terms of style and looks. Seriously they really range from fancy to warrior looking clothes. Go with your own style. The game has a save wherever you want feature which is very good and most gamers love that feature. Also there is a lot of accessories (adornments) to collect and wear. You could have an awesome looking ton berry lantern attached to lightnings cloths or get a tiara or crown and bunch of other stuff. There is a lot of options. 

Overall this game is awesome and we love it. Some may find it difficult and we agree as it is, due to having a time limit and having multiple things to focus on at once. This final fantasy game is definitely different from the others and if any fans haven’t played it yet, we encourage you to play it. Lightning is still herself, strong and powerful. ‘Square Enix’ did a very great job. There is so much to say about this but we will leave it here. 

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So which Catherine?

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

 

Catherine is a puzzle platformer adventure game but we say it has some horror elements. This game came out in Japan in February 2011 but in Europe February 2012. This game is excellent and deserved more love from the gaming community than it got. If you like puzzles, cinematics and an extremely interesting story then this should interest you.

Basically in the world of Catherine you play Vincent Brooks, a computer programmer or repairer, not sure but what we do know is that he is in a relationship with long time girlfriend Katherine and the topic of marriage and other big topics are coming up from her. This makes him uncomfortable and can’t avoid the topics anymore but must make a decision. That night he has a strange dream where he is carrying his pillow, in his sleeping shorts and has sheep horns on his head. He is in a strange place where a voice tells him that if he wants to live, he must climb. This isn’t a dream, it’s a nightmare. It certainly doesn’t help that rumours are going around that there’s a dream where if you fall and die, you die for real life. Also a new girl shows up in Vincents life and trouble starts and then gets way out of hand. What’s going on? what’s with this nightmare happening right after the question of marriage? Why is all this happening now? Who will he hold on to? So which Catherine? It gets real good. Trust us.

The game is split into three parts: watching the cinematics, chilling in the bar and tackling the nightmares. The cinematics are very nice and frequent but not too much to where it gets annoying. These cinematics take players through the story and reveals what’s happening in the characters life. We must admit cinematic scenes are very well done and keep our interest. You must pay attention as it reveals clues also to what is really happening in this world. The bar, called ‘the stray sheep’, is where Vincent hangs out and drinks with his buddies. Here is the most important part of the game. You can talk and interact with characters and objects here. These interactions actually make an impact on the game. You get to listen to others and maybe help them with their problems in life. Just saying this though, what we also like about these characters is that their problems are realistic as gamers and viewers of this game can understand and probably even relate too. Here you can also learn secrets and discover new things from conversations. tip from us: Make sure to have at least two drinks as it really helps out in the game.

The night mares is the core of the game and where all the puzzle action comes into play. Here you must climb up the blocks to reach the top of the wall of blocks. To do this you must move, pull and connect block to make paths to get up. This is way easier said than done. The blocks can magically connect at the ends and stay in position, defying gravity, even if nothing is beneath it. You must learn climbing techniques to figure out how to do this. The puzzles and walls get harder over the time (obviously) until you get to points where you may have to scratch your head once or twice. We at X35 Earthwalker strongly suggest that you play in medium difficulty as a minimum as easy mode is far too easy. Hard mode is for fast thinkers and clever gamers or just if you want a challenge. Most exciting in hard mode though. At the end of each nightmare area is a horrifying boss which will terrify any gamer on the first time seeing one. They are all gigantic and will chase you up the wall. Each boss has it’s own special abilities which just makes things all the more panic worthy. Each boss does have a meaning though as some gamers say each one symbolises something. We will leave that to the gamers to figure out.

Wait! There’s more. The blocks are just simple blocks. The main blocks are white blocks which function as normal, nothing special. Dark blocks are heavy and take like 3 times as long to move, costing you time. The dark blocks with faces on them can’t be moved at all, so don’t even try. Trap blocks, which have many little holes, activates when stepped on and if you stay too long or try to move another block while one, then you will die. Ice blocks are slippery and if you move on them you will slide by force all the way until you reach another block, a wall or the edge of the map stage (which means death). Bomb blocks will activate once stepped on and will explode in 3-4 seconds and damage or destroy all other blocks around it which could ruin all your hard work setting up blocks. There are more but gamers must discover them for themselves.

This game has local multiplayer! Babel is for Catherine pros only. This is table banging, control throwing (we didn’t throw ours) head scratching, scream action. You are given the challenge of climbing four towers: altar, Menhir, Obelisk and Axis Mundi. Each level increases in difficulty seriously. The Catherine masters are the ones who can beat Axis Mundi and X35 Earthwalker is one of them. If you want to prove that you are the man of legends then try beating your friends in a one on one climb off where the winner is praised and the loser… well… dies (but not in real life). These are where our biggest laughs come from. Do you play with honour and climb nicely or do you push each other off and fight for survival like animals (or should we say like sheep)? Choose from multiple different levels each with their own unique features and difficulty and just have fun.

The game also has some small things that make big impacts. For example after trying certain beverages in the bar you get real life trivia knowledge about the drink which are great to know. There is a nice bronze, silver and gold system for how well you climb the towers. There are power ups in the story mode and one on one multiplayer which have simple but very powerful effects like the white cube and dark cube allow you to create on one space in front of you. The energy drink allows you to climb two blocks at once. The story has twists and makes things almost impossible to figure out without getting nearer to the end of the game. This is a model game for other developers to look at while and learn from. There is much to say but we will leave it here.

Overall, this game is excellent and we would recommend it to any gamer as we feel in love with after being introduced to it by ‘Diamondz L45’. The developers ‘Atlus’ did a wonderful job. For more information check out the link below:

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Bomberman battlefest is the bomb

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

 

Bomberman live Battlefest is absolutely crazy. A lot of people have not heard of this game and that’s a shame as it’s something every Bomberman fan should have. Matter of fact this game is in our top 3 Bomberman games of all time. There is no story mode to this game. It’s all good ol fashion bomb blasting multiplayer. This game is the sequel to the successful ‘Bomberman live’. This game is an improvement in every way, literally… except for one thing. The main menu music in the sequel is not as good as the previous game. That’s it though. Seriously, the menu music in Bomber live’ made us want to jam along with the Bomberman and swing our arms in synchronized style. 

There are lots of stages to battle on. You can choose from a pier level, castle level, laser grid like level, volcano, desert, a tropical beach level and more. What’s better is that each level has a gimmick now which changes everything. It’s basically a special condition that stage alone has. For example the pier level’s gimmick is that the stage is no longer a traditional layout but split into 3-4 sections by gaps over water and you can only cross by bridges; however bomb blasts travel across gaps adding more things for players to remember and think about when battling it out. The castle level’s gimmick is that from time to time, a strong wind will blow across the battlefield from top to bottom, blowing out the fuse of all planted bombs, meaning they won’t blow up but can still be set off by other bombs. Crazy stuff like that. So if you are good enough, take the game to the next level with gimmicks. At times it makes things unpredictable and fun.

There is a lot of game types to play. Battle is the classic Bomberman mode we all know and love, where you have to be the last player standing by blowing up your enemies. Paint bomb, where you must use your bombs to change the floor tiles to your colour and be the player who has the most coloured tiles on the battlefield. Capture the crown, where you must grab the crown and hold it for as long as possible and if someone else has it then do what bombermen do best and blow them up to get it. Bankroll, which is the same as ‘battle’ except each player can collect money found in blocks, which can be used to purchase power ups at the start of each round. Then there are the team based game types as well like ‘capture the flag’ where your team must steal the enemies flag and bring it back to your own base. VIP, where each team has a very important person which you must protect at all times. If they die then your team loses. With all these modes, you could do all kinds of things like no gimmicks straight up skill matches, tournaments, team matches and more.

Battlefest truly is a battlefest as the game has more power ups than ever before. The traditional power ups like power bomb, piercing bomb (which is now called passer or pasture bomb, not sure), bomb kick, remote control bomb and power glove are all here but the bunch of new ones are what really shakes things up. Laser bomb is basically a laser trip wire bomb where the lasers reach all the way until hitting a solid surface and anyone who touches the line will set of the bomb. Cluster bomb, which explodes and releases three more bombs which all will explode in a certain pattern, making this bomb dangerous to enemies and if not careful the user as well. Rocket bomb is a rocket that flies in the direction the user was the facing when deployed and anyone in the way is stunned briefly but when it hits something solid it explodes like a regular bomb. Dangerous bomb is pretty much the most feared bomb as it explodes in a grid, not lines, and when bomb blast range is maximized these bombs cover almost half the battlefield! We know, it’s crazy! ‘Double it’ basically allows you to place a second bomb of whatever special bomb you have like rocket, cluster, laser and dangerous bomb. We have seen what horrors two maxed out dangerous bombs can do. It leaves nothing behind.

If that wasn’t enough the game also steps up the character customisation. There are more costumes available and you can mix up the head, face and body. So you can end up with a bear face, bee antennas and samurai armour body if you want. As you play, golden octagonal objects will appear, get them to unlock new items for customisation. Online multiplayer is still there; however single player is more entertaining a snow the bots are actually a challenge. When you set them to hard mode, they actually become a threat. They chase you down, mercilessly, set traps and dodge bombs very well. Fighting them will keep you busy, while fighting three at once is super hard. If you though 3 was bad then imagine facing 4. That’s right. Bomberman battlefest allows up to 8 players at once! You could put yourself on one team and then take on 4 hard mode bots and believe me, victory isn’t certain at all, or jump into a 8 way free for all and see who is king.

Bomberbattlefest live is awesome. This game is great for fun online matches and better for 4 player local play. This game has been out for 6 years I believe and it’s still bringing great entertainment and fun. You have no idea how many times we have laughed at our own silly deaths in this game. The developers ‘Pi Studios’ did a fantastic job. Try the very generous demo and see what you think. 

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Outland is outstanding

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker
 

 

Outland was a game that we had our eyes on for a very long time. Years even. Outland was originally on the PC, Xbox and PS3. It’s a 2D dynamic platformer game. This game is awesome straight up. X35 Earthwalkeris currently playing the game and has nothing but good things to say about it. Basically you play a man who has the same destiny as a man from 20,000 years ago. Two powerful being called, ‘The sisters’, helped created everything but also wanted to destroy everything. They got imprisoned by the gods. The man from 20,000 years ago went to a place called ‘eternity’ to face them, wielding the powers of light and dark. Our character starts of with yellow/orange-ish lines all over his body which is the neutral colour in this game, meaning not light or dark. Things that are orange are neither light or dark. A bit further into the game you get to control that man from 20,000 years ago and there are some clear differences. The man has the ability to become pure light or dark (blue or red respectively). When light, light energy attacks can’t hurt him. When dark, dark energy attacks can’t hurt him either. Also he could only hurt light enemies when he is dark and vice versa. Up until that point we only faced neutral enemies. The next major difference is that our character stands in a ready to move position with hands by his side, while the man from 20,000 years ago stood like a boss, with arms folded everything. Bursting with confidence. Do we seriously get to become like this guy?

You travel through multiple areas. Starting with the ‘Jungle’, a lush quiet place filled with natural enemies like spiders and plants. Lovely looking level that prepares you for everything to come. Next is called ‘Origin’ where the player can reach all the other areas and the gate to where the Sisters are. The next area is the ‘Underworld’ where things are dark, dirty and not pleasant at all, filled with humanoid weapon wielding enemies and flying enemies that shoot light and dark energy. giant sized spiders we believe are found here as well. The next area is the ‘City’ and boy does it look like a grand city indeed. Ancient and super large. This place has multiple humanoid enemies, giant soldier enemies with large maces, flying enemies. This area has is also the start of tricky level design like moments when you have to switch between light and dark quickly while dodging energy and even while fighting. The next area is ‘The Sky’ and boy this is literally. You are high up in a snowy mountain and everything we have encountered before is here and worse. All enemies can come as either light or dark. Giant sized spiders and soldiers are back as well with a new enemy too. This level will frustrate players with how difficult the levels within this area are now. The last area is called ‘Eternity’. This place is where everything you come across and face is back and in full force: enemies, hard level designs, light & dark energies, giant enemies, and even mini bosses like that giant soldier with the sword and shield. Combine it all together with the fact that enemies can now change from light to talk after a few moments and you have ‘eternity’.

As you play through the game you come across power ups, which have to be bought using the coins you find and get for killing enemies, and abilities like a ground pound, smite and energy shield. As you collect them, you start to feel more and more like the man from 20,000 years ago and eventually you feel way more powerful than he was. Honestly at this point we feel over powered (OP) for sure. You get to create combos like  like to send an enemy  flying forwards, then uppercut an enemy in the air, then  jump up to slash and finish with a charge attack and if they are still alive then finish with a powerful energy beam. this game is creative and does it very well. The graphics in the game are excellent, the sound effects are relevant and on point. The scenery is well detailed and the music is great and perfect at setting the feel of the locations. My favourite music in the game is the one for boss battles. It really makes me feel that I am in an epic battle and believe me the battle are epic. The boss battles are my favourite part of the game. They are all powerful and large enemies. Each fight requires a specific way to beat them, encouraging strategy and all your abilities work on them also. The boss in the ‘Sky’ is X35 Earthwalker’s favourite and he even said that it was the most epic battle so far. Also each boss has an interesting background story which gets revealed after defeating them. If you want a rematch with the bosses then go to arcade mode and take them on again. Also the achievements for this game are not impossible ones and can all be done.

You will have fun going through this game; however the story could have been told better as we don’t get much except at the beginning and after every boss fight. Other from that we honestly don’t really have a complaint against this game. We would also say that this game should have more music with more obvious differences between them. maybe more dramatic music for some levels though.  The developers ‘Housemarque’ did an excellent job. Many big reviews sites, like ign, game spot meta critic and eurogamer, and gamers all speak very highly of the game and rated it high. This game is awesome and definitely worth checking out.

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