Reviews

Watch Dogs was easily one of the most anticipated video games of the decade, though when it released in 2014 it was met with disappointment, and because of that I never gave it a chance until this year. I'm here to tell you now that it's worth going back to.

Story-wise it's a gripping tale of revenge and corruption as you control Aiden Pearce, a man seeking out who killed his niece and tried to kill him. There's plenty of tense and thrilling moments, and it really never feels stale. 

Throughout the game you utilize a combination of stealth and shooter gameplay, all centered around the concept of hacking. You can hack anything from street lights, enemies, to random citizens. You can sneak into systems, take down helicopters, anything to get the edge in combat, or just for fun. I think this level of freedom is one of the best parts of the game, you can pretty much approach every mission in your own way.

Shooter wise it's pretty standard, nothing to write home about. The driving mechanics are fine, but the car chase gameplay kinda sucks, and somehow almost every mission ends in a car chase. Besides that just driving around the map is pretty fun.

The world of Chicago that the developers created is honestly impressive. It feels like Chicago, it feels busy, and it feels lived in. There's plenty of mini games and side mission to take on if you feel like diverging from the story, or you beat the story. I know the graphics got some shit upon release, and I get that, it was pretty under-performing compared to what was promised. But looking back on it now it's honestly not bad for it's time. 

Overall it's a game I'd recommend going back to, especially with Legion coming out sometime (hopefully) this year.

Rating: 6/10

Detroit Become Human is set in a near future where androids is a fully-realized dream. The androids does everything the humans ask them to do, until suddenly, some of them begin to stand up for themselves. In the game, you play as 3 of these androids. During the game you'll constantly make choices for each of them, which will heavily influence the course of the story. The game continues no matter what, even if a main character dies. The main characters are all really likeable, and so is the story. A lot of the performances given by the voice actors are simply incredible! 

The game's main story is very reminiscent of history events like the black rights movement, which might feel a little cliche for some people, but I personally didn't have a problem with it.

Now, one of the biggest flaws of the game is that it's gameplay consists only of quick-time events and choice-making. It's pretty much an interactable movie. This is the reason why a lot of people doesn't like the game. I personally really liked it though, as I thought the main story was very compelling, but I felt it was a little woke that main characters could die as a result of you failing a quick-time event.

The graphics are also incredible, and the soundtrack is great as well.

Pros:
• Compelling main story
• Great performances
• Soundtrack and graphics

Cons:
• A lot of quick-time events
• Not a lot of gameplay

Overall score:
7/10: Great

Resident Evil 2 is a remake of the classic horror game from 1998. I never played the original, so I can't compare this one to it. To start of, the game is a horror game, so it's very scary. I'm not much into horror games, but I really enjoyed the game. I felt like it didn't throw to many jumpscares at you. There's especially many jumpscares in the beginning of the game, which really suits the vibe of you being new in town. In some parts of the game you'll be constantly followed by the terrifying Tyrant, an unstoppable enemy. This forces you to move quick, and these parts are very intense. The game is about 8 hours long, but never feels dragged out.

The game has two main protagonists, Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield. Before starting the game you'll get to pick who to play as. I would strongly encourage playing through the game at least two times to experience both protagonist's stories, even though much of it is the same. Leon S. Kennedy is on his first day as a cop when the game takes place, and Claire Redfield is coming to the city to look for her brother. Both protagonists will meet each other several times through the game.

The gameplay primarily consists of exploration, puzzles and of course shooting zombies. The ammunition is very scarse, so you'll have to make your bullets count. The zombies takes a lot of bullets to kill, so you'll have to only use your guns when necessary. This isn't DOOM afterall. The puzzles are very diverse and fun to solve, which is great considering that they take up a large sum of the game.

The final thing I want to talk about is the graphics. The RE Engine delivers big time here, especially in dark areas. The amount of detail on faces, both the main characters and the zombies, is very impressive. The lightning system is also phenomenal.

Pros:
• Great gameplay
• The two protagonists each have their own stories, boosting replayability.
• Stunning graphics with great lightning effects
• Fun and diverse puzzles

Cons:
• The game may be too short for some people

Overall Score:
8/10: Excellent

Watch Dogs 2 is the sequel for the highly anticipated, but ultimately mixed first game. Developed by the same company, Ubisoft Montreal, Watch Dogs 2 was aimed to be bigger and better than the first, fixing whatever issue people had with it. And ultimately I feel it achieved that.

Watch Dogs 2 takes place not long after the first game, which introduced us to hacker group Dedsec, Blume, and ctOS. In this game we follow Dedsec, and their quest to take down Blume and expose them to the world. In terms of story and characters I'd say this game surpasses the first. While not as serious as the first game, it still has plenty of thrilling moments. It's funny, trendy, and overall I ton of fun. The characters are a lot more unique and charming, I found Marcus to be a lot better of a protagonist than Aiden.

The game takes place in San Francisco, featuring a beautiful open world map, much larger than the first game. There's still plenty of mini games, side missions, and races to have fun with aside from the story. One of my favorite things though is how much more detail was put into the side missions. It's all less repetitive, and more fun to complete, making it more worth it to stray from the main story.

Mechanically the game is vastly improved as well. The driving is so much better, so is the shooting mechanics. The ability to use a taser in this game is one of my favorite parts, it makes more sense to not go on a killing spree if you're caught all the time. The graphics are a lot better as well, especially compared to the original promise of the first game.

Overall this game is just a better improvement in all aspects. It's still not a phenomenal game, but it's engaging, fun, and leaves a lot to be excited about for the third installment.

Rating: 7/10