A Review on Reviews and Reviewing: The Review

"Judged as a piece of entertainment...It's pretty close to perfect." Destructoid. Score 10/10.
"Awful in nearly every way." IGN. Score: 2/10.
"Entertaining and unpredictable...delivers more shocks than schlock." Gamespot. Score: 7/10

These are all reviews from reliable sources and all from different games obviously. Right? No? You mean these are all from the same game, Deadly Premonition?

Well, how about this:
"Loses focus and fails to accurately assess which of its elements are truly worthy of being included." IGN. Score: 7.9/10 (Wouldn't expect that score with that kind of intro would you?)
"A mishmash of elements put together without any sense of care or direction." GameSpot. Score: 4.5/10
"Big, brash, and full of memorable moments." Gametrailers. Score: 8.8/10

These have to be for different games. What? They're not? They're all for Resident Evil 6? Well that's odd.  It sounds like, just maybe,

Reviews are just people's opinions!

Think about it: do you have the same interests as everyone else?  Does everyone agree with you about what is cool?  Does everyone love anime and JRPGs?

Everyone loves this game, right? Final Fantasy XIII (2009)

Sure, these are all people who play and rate video games for a living, but they all obviously have pretty different ideas on what makes a game enjoyable.  Some really love certain genres and will be either incredibly critical of any game that fits in that genre or give almost every game in it a pass.  Others have that one game or series they compare everything to, even when it doesn't make sense to.  And some, for the most part, try and look at what the developers were trying to do and see if they delivered to their audience in an enjoyable and meaningful way.

So why is it important to discuss reviews?  Because many gamers use reviews to see if they should spend their time and money on a game.  No one wants to plop $60 down on a game that they end up hating.  They want to make sure they are getting their money's worth.  So they see what the "experts" say.  But here, many people run into bad researching habits.  I blame the school system personally, but still, it's there.

One of the largest mistakes is only looking at the score. "8.2? Might be worth a look!" "9.5? Holy cow! Gotta buy that!" "6.1? Eh, probably pass." "3.8? Who would buy that crap?" Sure, scores are great ways to get a quick synopsis of what the reviewer thinks, but it doesn't tell you at all why the reviewer thought that. Maybe he loves any game that has Patrick Stewart?  Maybe she wanted the game to focus on the plight of the poor in Venezuela instead of using helicopters to fling tanks into fuel tanks?  Maybe he or she is just a moron?  But if you don't read it, you have no idea if you agree or disagree with their assessment of the game.  You may find that you completely disagree with why someone gave a game a low or high score.  Don't believe me? Go read several reviews for a game you played and remember well and see how much you agree with the reviewer.  You may be surprised.

I mean, this is all you really need in a game anyway. Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (2008)

Another common mistake is just to look at the average of reviews.  Take the two games mentioned above.  Deadly Premonition got a 68/100. Resident Evil 6 got 67/100 or the Xbox 360.  Pretty average you may say.  But let's look at the breakdown for these scores. Deadly Premonition mostly has reviews in the 70 to 85 range, but several reviews rate very low.  It appears most reviewers had favorable impressions for this game, but a few people despised it and so brought the average down. Resident Evil 6 has a pretty even spread across 60, 70, and 80 with a few scores above that and a bit more below.  Seems reviewers have quite widespread opinions about this game.  However, you would never gather this just by looking at the average.  Even worse, this just compounds the score problem mentioned above.  Instead of just reading a synopsis of a review, you are reading a synopsis of a synopsis!  Why did some reviewers hate this game while most liked it? Why does this game have a large spread in its reviews?  Unless you read the actual reviews, you have no idea.  Maybe most of the reviewers' idea of what makes this game good isn't the same as yours?  You go into a store, confident you are making a good investment, only to realize, to your horror, you just wasted $50 and 20 hours of your life on a game you would have hated had you only heard a summary of it.

So what do you do? Speaking for myself, I have found the best reviews come from people I know.  For one, you know the person giving the review.  It's not just some journalist or blogger telling you this game is great or terrible, it's your friend.  Someone whose tastes and interests you know.  You can ask questions about what you think is important.  You can maybe even just borrow it for a day or so and see what you think.

That's great but what if the game just came out?  For starters, don't just look at the scores or, worse, the average of the scores.  As mentioned, this is a terrible way to determine if you will like the game.  Second, look at reviewers who you have had a good track record with.  You will find that some journalists have similar interests to you.  Maybe run across a journalist and find you both agree completely on what makes a good FPS.  Then whenever you see a new FPS, you can see if he or she has done a review and get an idea if you would like it or not.  This isn't foolproof of course because no one is exactly the same as anyone else and the journalist isn't a close friend you know well or can question, but it's a good starting point.  Finally, read lots of reviews!  Obvious, I know, but it's amazing how many people don't do this.  Reading a lot of reviews, unlike getting an average score, lets you get many different perspectives.  From all these perspectives you can get a better understanding of the game, certainly better than if you just read one person's perspective.

Some of my favorite games that I've played for hours have been games many critics panned.  I've also been bored by games that many critics loved.  Reviews are great, but they can only get you so far.  Research wisely, ask around, and you can find those lost games you fall in love with while avoiding the popular games you know you will hate.

10

In case you just skipped to this.

Words by Joshua Matern

FTL: Faster Than Light (Review)

September 14, 2012
Windows, Mac OS X, Linux

Developed and Published by Subset Games

Try to command a ship in deep space and survive in FTL.

Do you like dying in video games? Having your stuff blown up? Watching as your character slowly burn to death or asphyxiate (or both)? Well FTL may just change your mind about that because as they say, "Dying is half the fun! No...really."

If you've never played a roguelike, this is a great game to get the feel for what they are.  FTL: Faster Than Light sets you on a mission to explore and survive 8 different space zones as you flee a rebel armada and ultimately face down the most powerful ship in their fleet. You first get to choose your ship, its name, and your crew members' names before setting off.  I must say, it is great fun piloting a ship called "The Blue Ocelot" with Captain Depp at the helm.  At first only one ship is available but as you play more ships and layouts for each ship rapidly unlock.

Gameplay is like a real-time strategy with several levels.  The most micro is the crew.  You must assign crew members to different areas of the ship to either man stations, fix things, put out fires, fight invaders, or stand there doing their best mannequin impersonation.  The perspective is top down so that you can see all the rooms on the ship and the whole crew.  Each room is either empty or holds a station.  There are stations for shields, weapons, and the helm to name a few.  Some can be manned, which gives the station a small bonus. These bonuses factor into the next step up in gameplay: the ship.  As you play, you will run into other ships that you must fight.  You then have to allocate power to your equipment and decide which weapons to charge, how much power to give to shields or the engine, and when to run for your life.  A very fun and interesting part of this gameplay is the ability to designate where you shoot an enemy.  Do you take out his weapons so that he can't fight back or do you shoot the helm so he can't escape or dodge?  You decide what is top priority for surviving and act accordingly.

When you fight, you have to think fast, make tough calls, and deal with disasters.  Fires can break out that will quickly wreck your ship if you don't put them out.  You can either send a crew member to put it out or open the exterior doors and let out all the oxygen, killing the fire.  Enemies might board your ship and start blowing up your shields while the enemy ship destroys your weapons.  You have to micro manage your crew effectively in order to survive and it makes for fun and intense gameplay.

"See, we'll get rid of all the oxygen to put out the fires.  Nothing wrong with that plan." FTL: Faster Than Light (2012)

Aside from fighting, the other main aspect of gameplay is exploring.  You get a star map and choose which station to jump to next, assuming you are in range.  You start on the left and are trying to reach the exit on the right to the next sector, but it pays to explore a bit on the way.  Shops are available for equipment and repairs.  Distress signals blare out that could give side quests or add a new crew member, but be warned.  They could be pirate traps.  You may also run into suns and asteroid fields which make combat very perilous.  Each new fight can damage your hull leaving you closer and closer to death.  And of course, the whole time you have to stay ahead of the slowly approaching rebel armada.

The slowly approaching red wall of death.  Fear it's power! FTL: Faster Than Light (2012)

So why explore? One word: scrap.  Scrap equals money and without it you won't survive.  You can use scrap to either buy better weapons, fuel up, make repairs, get crew, and other such things at shops you come across, or you can upgrade your ships systems such as making your shields stronger, your engine faster, your doors sturdier, and so on.  You get scrap by destroying enemy ships, meeting friendly stations, doing side quests, and selling unwanted equipment.  Every sector require a certain amount of "grinding" for scrap or else you will quickly find yourself outmatched in later sectors.

As you explore, you may also run into situations that require choices.  Do you save a space station from giant spiders or flip them the bird?  Do you accept a pirate's bribe or be a hero?  Do you side with the fleeing fugitive or give him up to his pursuers for a reward?  Each choice can have good or bad consequences that change with each game.  Upgrading the correct system or having the correct species on board will also allow a third, usually better, option to become available.

The final level of gamplay is the sector map.  Once you reach an exit, you choose which next sector to go to.  Should you go to the friendly Zoltan sector or risk the Pirate sector for more booty?  Up to you, but you've got to try and survive all 7 sectors to make it to the final 8th sector and the end boss.

What makes exploration so entertaining is that every game is randomly generated so each playthrough is new.  You might have a great run one game only to go out in a solar flare blaze of glory in sector 3 in the next.  You never know what surprise the next station will have in store for you.  In addition, there are achievements to get for each ship that unlock new layouts and achievements for the game as whole so have fun trying to get them.

All that being said, I should warn you that the game is hard.  I mean, really hard.  Friends don't let friends start on normal.  Start on easy, get a feel for the game, then try normal.  You will die more often than you beat the end boss and complete the game, but like the developers said, that is half the fun.  The difficulty may turn off some people and I did get frustrated at times, but after a few games, you get a feel for the flow of it and it becomes very enjoyable.  

This game may not be for everyone and may be difficult, but anyone who enjoys space, rougelikes, or real-time strategies will find a nice charm from this game.  It's an inexpensive game that offers dozens of hours of fun gameplay.  Just don't get too frustrated when you die for the fifth time in a row.

8.5

Words by Joshua Matern

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Review)

November 11, 2011
PS3, Xbox 360, PC

Developed by Bethesda Game Studios
Published by Bethesda Softworks

A new open-world to explore, forever more. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011)

Skyrim is as engrossing an experience as the medium as ever seen.

Today marks the 1-year anniversary of the most memorable launch date of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. On 11/11/11 I was in line (like many fans across the country) for the midnight release of the latest installment in Bethesda Game Studios' successful franchise. The Elder Scrolls is the quintessential medieval-fantasy role-playing game for the Western world. Many players jumped aboard during 2006's Oblivion, less discovered The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind back in 2002, and so on to the series' launch in 1994. I still cite Morrowind as my favorite game of all-time for reasons both nostalgic and ground-breaking despite the game's infuriating mechanics (then and even more so now). With nearly two decades of related games before it I am confident in ascribing Skyrim has not only the greatest entry in the series but among the crowning achievements of our current generation of video games.

I write this review even though I have yet to complete all that there is to do. It's debatable if that is even possible as Bethesda programmed ways for the experience to literally be infinite. There are entire quest lines I have yet to touch and all this even after clocking in some 80 hours into the game over the past year. So please keep in mind as you read this review that I am far from being done with Skyrim; and I like to think it is far from being done with me. Of course I have completed the main quest, which happens to be the first time I have done so in the series. I believe this is primarily because Skyrim is the most accessible of all The Elder Scrolls games. The technical advances in gaming since previous installments have certainly helped make the story in an open-world game such as this more detailed and thus more personable.

A map of Tamriel. This time we are in the appropriately white province of Skyrim.

Skyrim is one of the nine provinces of the empire of Tamriel. As the above map displays it is centered and Northward. It is a land mostly covered in a permanent winter, a place that is sometimes a wonderland and at other times a terribly bleak existence. It feels fairly compact, but the mountain ranges and windy terrain give you plenty to work with. Skyrim is roughly 14 square miles in size. You could probably run across the whole thing in an hour of real-time which would last a day or two in game world's time. Even so I am still stumbling upon caves, ruins, and even an occasional settlement that I have never seen before. When you pull up the game's map it is littered with the destination markers of every place you have been. It's staggering to take it all in.

Character creation has more details than you could ask for. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011)

In such a large and lived-in world you play but a single role. Nevertheless you are one capable of mighty action (for good or for evil or maybe something in-between). Like every previous game in the series Skyrim is single-player only (though The Elder Scrolls Online is in the works). You begin the game as an unknown prisoner (a classic RPG trope if ever there was one) awaiting execution. Before your head is put on the chopping block you get the luxury of deciding what that head and its body looks like. Like Oblivion before it there is a robust character creation process that takes wherein you choose from nine varied races (with different abilities), select a gender, and then further customize your looks (these choices are entirely cosmetic). You could easily spend a half hour deciding things like the postion and length of your nose. Immediately the detailed character models of the game are showcased. They start to pale in comparison to something like Mass Effect, but wow, we've come a long way since Morrowind! You make the character you want to play as and after your inevitable though exciting escape from imprisonment you are given an open-world to explore at your own pace and digression.

This time you play Dovahkiin (or Dragonborn), a being with the body of mortal and the soul of a dragon. As such you are capable of using "Dragon shouts," one of the new additions to player's arsenal. These let you do anything from summoning a terrible storm to take place over your battles (did I mention the game has a vibrant weather system?) to slowing down time itself. The force push shout "Fus-ro-dah" has gained Internet meme status as it is among the first you learn to use. It bears some of the funnest results as you send your enemies flying, even the giants go head over heels for it.

Look up "epic" in the dictionary and you will find this screenshot. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011)

It is a good thing that a Dragonborn has appeared on the horizon because actual dragons, those wicked worms, have once again started appearing throughout the land of Skyrim, much to everyone's surprise. They terrorize the tundra (some with fire, some with ice) and occasionally choose to take on a town. You are Skyrim's greatest hope in taking them down (though I did watch a giant and his wooly mammoth do a pretty good job at it). The dragon battles are possibly the highlight of the game and can take place anywhere outdoors. They are random and seemingly infinite, but are more majestic manifestations of this epic experience than anything else. Watching dragons circle a mountain in the far off distance is a breath-taking sight. One flew right over me once, his shadow completely overtook me out of nowhere, but I sighed in relief as he flew on his merry way. Maybe he was late for something... 


It is more than luck that the Dragonborn's appearance coincides with those of the dragons. A wise group of sages known as the Greybeards reside atop the highest peak in all of Tamriel. You seek them out to understand your potential as the Dragonborn and further the game's primary story. I say "primary" because there are many. Each person you come across in Skyrim has something to say, many of which have favors to ask. Children will want to play tag with you, a fugitive will ask you to keep quiet about their whereabouts, and every city's Jarl (a mayor of sorts) seems to have a bandit problem. There is so much to do in Skyrim that your menu will soon and fast fill up with quests.

You can examine every item in you inventory, even the salmon meat. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011)

The user interface is general is simple as can be for an RPG as massive as Skyrim. One thing that is easy to overlook is the clear and clutter-free HUD (head-up display). Besides the ever-present compass at the top of the screen there are no other items onscreen outside of combat. When you are physically engaged the health, magic, and fatigue meters fade onscreen to let you keep track, but they just as subtly melt away so that the entire screen is dedicated to the impressive visuals, from the scenic views outside and to details of every shelf inside. Every building you see can be entered, expect a load time when you do though. Furthermore you can interact with most items in the game. Read books, cook food, repair armor, make armor, chop wood, arrange all your belongings (whether they be ill-gotten or rightfully earned). The menus (especially when you open up a filled chest) could desperately use some customizable organization, but they stay true to simple menu scheme. You can manage your inventory, view your stats, check the status of your missions, and study the map with simple flows through the menu.

Part of the reasons I have left some aspects of the game untouched is due the character I am playing as. I am a Wood Elf named Zar Vular and I am trying to remain a "good guy." I have dabbled in the Thieve's Guild but have avoided the Dark Bortherhood and Vampirism. I sided with the Empire in the fierce civil war that is ever-felt in this cold provence. These are all choices that you make as a player. It's not that I am not opposed to playing in some of those ways, but this character has a personality and a code of ethics. In fact, I have eager plans to start a second character soon. She (yes, she) She will be a naughty girl who excels in black magic, seeks out the Dark Brotherhood, and would slice up a farmer's wife just for looking at her sideways. Hei Mao will be a dark-furred Kajhiit, a cat-like yet humanoid race of Tamriel. Some gamers might not care to make a psychological-rounded character and will play as someone who bends as easily as reeds in the wind, but I like to think that games like Skyrim are progressing how we think and ultimately how we play. The topic of morality in video games (or lack thereof) is one I will address in future posts, but I had some truly tough choices to make in my play-through.

Skyrim would not be a Bethesda game without its bugs, and I'm not talking about the butterflies they you can catch and use in potions. The game has its fair share of technical hiccups and even glaring glitches. I experience an unbeatable dragon during the main quest which took troubleshooting to get pass. When making something as ambitious as Skyrim I let many of these annoyances slide as I try to realize it is impossible to test every aspect of an open-world game that gives the player this much freedom. To me the adventures are worth the consequences. We all deplore them and wish we could have an experience without them. My hats off to the fine team at Bethesda for continually updating and patching the game to ensure smooth gaming in the future.

Shepherd giants and their flocks of mammoths are a wonder to behold. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011)

There is much more to tell you about my time in Skyrim. The people I have met, the creatures I have slain, and the flowers I have picked. There is a bard college I am thinking about joining. This one time I resurrected a bunny after I killed and it attempted to fight along my side. And I am still deciding which lucky lady is going to be Mrs. Zar Vular as you can even get married. This week I began Dawnguard, the first DLC available for the game. I eagerly await next month's Dragonborn. I will not be finished with it until The Elder Scrolls VI because that is the kind of a game we have here: An endless showpiece of atmosphere, a rich history of lore, dangerous dungeons and dragons, and... you. This is what video games can be all about.

10

Words by J.S. Lewis

Costume Quest (Review)

October 15, 2010
PlayStation 3, Windows, Xbox 360

Developed by Double Fine Productions
Published by THQ

You now have a place where you can always go trick-or-treating. Costume Quest (2010)

Costume Quest is a sweet tribute to popular culture and suburban Halloween.

I'm an adult (or so they tell me), which is why I have not been trick-or-treating in years. In fact, as I write this on Halloween night I am having a quiet, relatively uneventful evening. We're going to watch a horror film, we got a candy bowl at hand should anyone ring our doorbell, and I am writing a review for a game I purposely completed this month, Costume Quest.

Released two years ago this Halloween as a downloaded title, Costume Quest was a somewhat unexpected treat from Tim Schafer and team at Double Fine (the creative crowd behind Psychonauts). This title was a result from one of their renowned "amnesia fortnight" sessions. Fittingly, the game takes place on Halloween night and you choose to play as one kid in a set a fraternal twins, Reynold and Wren. Your first costume is that of a robot made from cardboard boxes. The twin you do not play as gets stuck with the "lame" candy corn costume and is swiftly kidnapped by a Grubbin (a goblin-like monster) with a sweet tooth! Talk about getting the narrative ball rolling. The rest of the game, your quest if you will, pits you against these Grubbins as you follow the candy trail and attempt to rescue your sister (I played as Reynold).

In battle your costumes take on a whole new appearance and function. Costume Quest (2010)

The majority of Costume Quest is split between navigating the game world in your search and taking part in a turn-based battle system. Both work well as the game looks and feels polished (especially for a downloadable game that you can own for less than $20). That said, both aspects do grow laborious in their monotony as I will tell you soon enough. The visuals are charming and colorful in their own autumn palette. The world bears a distinct art style not unlike Animal Crossing. The battles take on a comic-book style all to themselves, complete with action panes and an occasional stylized backdrop. Your young character (and those you will meet and add to your party along the way) jump up and into a fantastic world of their design. Your robot is no longer made of household materials but is a shiny, intimidating  and towering presence. In this regard Costume Quest realizes the imaginations of children similarly to modern classics like Rugrats or Toy Story.

By far the best part of Costume Quest are the costumes themselves and using their abilities on and off the battlefield. You'll collect the ingredients needed to dress up as a knight, a unicorn, even the Statue of Liberty, and more throughout your travels. Each has a unique special attack that you must charge up to keep the monsters at bay.

A costume contest is just one of the side activities you can take part in. Costume Quest (2010)

When you're not smiting Grubbins you are interacting with other unassuming children going about their holiday business. The world is split into a few distinct levels with doors to knock, secrets to find, and side quests to take on. All of this is easy to keep track of in the game's notebook-like menu system. This is one facet of the game I am sure will be overlooked, but I adore what I see every time I pushed the "Start" button.

As I mentioned before, my main gripe against the experience is the overall lack of variety and the tediousness of the tasks. For example, each door you knock hides an adult or a goblin on the other side, the former fills your candy pail with more sugar, the latter starts yet another fight. I found myself groaning each and every time a monster opened the door as the battles practically play the same each time, making for a draining grind. Additional attacks/defenses, change of backgrounds, and a wider array of enemy types are desperately needed here. Furthermore, the experience of navigating the world sometimes falls into that camp of mindless wandering and backtracking in an effort to simply progress the game. That and the useless collect-a-thon of trading cards are on the list of activities I loathe in my video games.

The story here is nothing spectacular, but the text-only dialogue held my attention when each character spoke his/her mind and brought a smile to my face on many occasions. At the end of your quest one character says to another, "We should do this every Halloween." It is one of several winking moments that Double Fine included in the game. While it is not a game I consider to have strong replay value, I will mostly look back on my experience in Costume Quest with fondness and a possible place to re-kindle childhood fantasies. I also look forward to downloading and playing Grubbins on Ice, the game's only DLC, this holiday season. You can look for my review of it come Christmastime.

7.5

Words by J.S. Lewis

Torchlight II (Review)

September 20, 2012
Windows

Developed by Runic Games
Published by Perfect World

The four heroes: Embermage (top), Engineer (Left), Berserker (Right), Outlander (Bottom). Torchlight II (2012)

Finally, a "loot-fest" that can compete with Diablo.

In the action-RPG market it is very difficult to differentiate one game from another, especially when one of those games is Diablo III. The people over at Runic Games have done just that in spite of it all. Torchlight II establishes it's own identity in an otherwise static genre. 

Torchlight II opens up years after the first game's events. The Alchemist (one of the three heroes from Torchlight), has been corrupted by the Ember Blight coming from the heart of Ordrak, who was the antagonist that destroyed the mining town of Torchlight in the first game. The role of the hero is to follow the Alchemist's trail through the world over the game's three acts and undo the corruption caused by the Ember Blight and eventually overtake him.

Character creation has been very simple in these types of games: Choose a class, gender and a name, then click play! Torchlight II allows the player to choose from four classes: The Embermage, a powerful magic user; The Engineer, a steam powered melee class; The Berserker, an animalistic powerhouse; and The Outlander, a rogue like gun toter. Subsequently the player can customize the appearance of the characters right from the beginning with different faces, hairstyles and hair color. In addition, the player chooses a pet to follow them on their adventures and these vary from a dog or cat to a hawk or ferret. Each level earned awards five attribute points and one skill point which can be allocated however the player wishes. The only drawback is that only the last three skills learned can be refunded to the player for reuse. 

The world of Torchlight is a very colorful, detailed and simple world to behold. The randomly generated maps littered with normal monsters and powerful champion creatures keep the player on their toes as they explore and complete quests. Unlike the first Torchlight, the game takes place on the surface spanning four different themes; calm highlands, snowy mountains, scorching deserts, and dense swamps. Each act has its own hub city where the player can purchase general goods as well as weapons and armor. The game begins to show its genius here with the players pet.

The pet chosen in the character creation can be loaded up with junk and sent to town to sell it all as well as pick up items from a shopping list! On top of this stroke of brilliance, the player can teach the same spells to their pet that they can to themselves, allowing for a whole new level of customization.

The pet tab open with shopping list. Torchlight II (2012)

The pacing the game offers is something that opens itself up to a wider audience. Diablo III offers a painfully slow character progression that feels too "grindy" for a casual player and quickly looses momentum after only a few hours. Torchlight II is much more fast-paced. With levels being gained like candy on Halloween and a specialization system that is very simple. Of course, none of these specializations are skin deep. The hardcore players can create the perfect powerhouses if that's what they want.

The first Torchlight was a lonely experience with its lack of a multiplayer function  After hearing the cries of many fans Runic Games added in multiplayer functionality! Unfortunately, it is difficult to navigate and isn't sure what direction it wanted to take resulting in a less than satisfying experience. During online games the player can basically play the game however they wish. Want to help a friend quest with your level 40 Embermage? Have fun! Want to play solo in a game filled with your friends so you can chat away as you hack and slash away? Go right ahead! It sounds amazing on paper, but the resulting addition is much less something desirable. When trying to play with friends, the open "do whatever" feel that Runic Games is going for leaves the player not sure what to do. In this day and age of action role-playing games Torchlight II lacks the basic functionality that other games like Borderlands 2 and Diablo III spoils us with.

Ugh. What you don't see is that you have to jump through some hurdles to even sign up for online play on top of the horrendous navigation problems of this menu! Torchlight II (2012) 

Overall Torchlight II is a wonderful addition to the action role-playing genre. With some almost ingenious functions and fast paced leveling system, players may find themselves ten hours into the game in what feels like much less. Consequently, as a gamer becoming more and more fond of games I can enjoy with friends, the lack of a solid multiplayer is a bit disappointing.

8.0

Words by Casey "Baby Gorilla" Holt

The Secret World (Review)

July 3, 2012
Windows

Developed by Funcom
Published by Electronic Arts

The Secret World (2012)

This MMORPG tries something new and largely succeeds.

First, a confession.  I like fantasy and its place in video games.  Great stories and games come from this genre; however, it seems that the massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) market is overcrowded with fantasy style games.  The only other prominent genre is sci-fi  (Star Wars: The Old Republic, Eve Online) but much less so.  So when I heard about a modern day MMORPG, it piqued my interest.

The Secret World is set in modern times but with a twist.  As the tag lines states, "Everything is true" and "Dark days are coming."  Three secret societies (Templars, Illuminati, and Dragons) exert there influence all over the world and each attempts to be the dominant faction.  You, the player, recently came upon some mystical powers and get recruited by one of them depending on which you chose during character creation.  You find out that not only are there secret societies but every legend or myth is true, from werewolves to hidden messages in radio waves.  Alas, all is not well.  An unknown force is assailing the world, opening rifts to hellish dimensions, and the factions must sheath their backstabbing knives for as long as possible and work together in order to confront this new threat from beyond.

The developers did a fantastic job of world-building.  Mystical creatures chat with secret world members in the London markets.  Travel is done through Agartha, the woods between the worlds with giant robotic custodians and a Victorian England-era navigator.  Lore is hidden away everywhere and can be collected to expand your understanding of factions, places, creatures, and everything else.  Although your character is always silent, the voice acting for everyone else is good and believable, keeping you immersed.  Funcom went out of their way to give everyone you can talk to fleshed out personalities, which I greatly respect. 

That flaming portal to Hell?  We should totally go in there.  The Secret World (2012)

Character creation is about on par with modern RPGs.  Clothes, eyes, hair, body and facial structure can all be changed.  Choosing stats and powers come later in what Funcom proudly boasts is its classless based system.  Instead of choosing a class and increasing levels, you gain skill points and ability points.  These points can be assigned how you want to weapons and talismans.  You can wield two weapons at a time ranging from shotguns to swords to chaos magic.  Skills unlock proficiency in a weapon, allowing for more effectiveness in combat, while abilities unlock new moves.  Though there are not classes per se, the standard MMORPG trinity of healer, tank, and DPS is still prevalent, for better or for worse.  Instead of leveling up, increasing your skill allows you to buy higher level weaponry and talismans, with the best stuff only available in the toughest dungeons and lairs. New clothes are also available through purchase, missions, or bonuses.

Each weapon has two tier one subcategories and six tier two subcategories for abilities, allowing for a wide range of gameplay.  Some abilities naturally play off each other better and allow for synergy, which results in a lot of experimentation.  To help, Funcom created decks unique to each faction that are a set of abilities and weapons that compliment each other in some way.  Players can work to unlock these or they can forge their own path and make a more customized character.  It is also possible to unlock every ability, allowing you to experiment however you want.

Choosing a faction doesn't affect the gameplay as much as one would hope.  A few faction related quests are different but otherwise all gameplay is the same.  Instead, the faction you choose sets the tone of the game.  The Templars are traditional, professional, and crusade oriented.  The Illuminati are shadowy, practical, and manipulative.  The Dragons are mysterious, strategic, and mystical.  After completing a mission, you report to your superiors by PDA and they comment on what happened and where it will go.  The responses between the factions are vastly different and help the game feel more immersive, but I wish there had been more story and mission differences among them.

Scarecrows with chainsaws in abandoned carnivals.  Nothing you can't handle. The Secret World (2012)

The missions (or quests) are much more thought-out than in most MMOs.  Some of them are your typical "kill 10 monsters" or "collect 5 items," but even these are spiced up a bit by having monsters be killed in specific ways such as with environmental effects or a special weapon for just that mission.  Missions are separated into seven types with six capable of being active at a time.  There are story, main, side, sabotage, investigative, dungeon, and faction missions each with a unique distinction.  

By far the most interesting and most difficult are the investigative missions.  These require puzzle solving, internet research, and attention to detail.  There is even an in-game browser to assist with research.  I feel that these missions are one of the strongest distinctions between this MMORPG and its counterparts.  The story and main quests are immersive and fun though the main ones can be repetitive.  I was very impressed by the effort that goes into making each mission have a story-driven purpose even if I felt some of those missions were monotonous.

Dungeons, instances in other games, are very well done and keep being fun to play by having three different difficulty levels.  The visuals for the bosses and battlegrounds are impressive, and the stories still take center point.  In addition to dungeons, the highest level players can go to lairs.  Lairs are found in every area and have much more difficult monsters to defeat.  Defeating the right monsters and doing missions within lairs results in blueprints which can be assembled to fight the lair boss.  Defeating enough lair bosses gets you higher level blueprints which allow for regional lair bosses, the ultimate tests in skill.  Funcom worked hard to make sure higher level players would always have something to do.

Don't worry guys, we totally got this. The Secret World (2012)

  Combat is similar to most other MMOs but with a higher importance placed on mobility.  Fourteen different abilities based on your current weapons can be chosen.  Seven of them are active abilities which are moves that you can do.  The other seven are passive abilities which buff you or debuff your opponent in specific ways.  Each active ability has a use time and a recharge time.  Some of the more powerful abilities also require weapon resources, which are built up by using specific weaker abilities.  Unlike most other MMOs, combat is not just clicking your abilities and waiting for them to recharge.  Movement allows the player to dodge many of the more powerful attacks, and when in a group, you can direct the monster to where the group can be most effective.  It's a nice touch to the combat system, but I would have preferred a real time battle system like Fable if possible.

The weakest part of the game is the player vs. player (PVP).  It is only permitted in certain designated areas, the Fight Clubs and the PVP Zone.  Fight clubs are where you go to just, well, fight.  The PVP Zone has three different modes: Capture the Flag, King of the Hill, and Capture Point.  The funnest one is Capture Point which is simply a large map with bases that each faction fights for control of.  This mode can be entered and left whenever you wish and can be quite entertaining when yourself and forty other players rush a small group of five opponents; however, the combat system is much better suited to AI enemies and I really wish PVP could occur anywhere.

Funcom does a good job of putting out regular new content and have committed to putting out new updates every month.  In addition to fixing bugs, they add new missions, new clothing, and even new weapons and abilities.  Most bugs I have run into with missions have been fixed by the subsequent patches.  That doesn't mean everything runs perfectly, but it's nice to see problems found and fixed in a timely manner. I feel it makes the $15 monthly fee worth it because new content is being added monthly or even more regularly.

The Secret World is definitely a must have for anyone who likes secret conspiracies, interesting missions, or just having fun. The world is immersive and the stories are interesting, very important in this kind of game for me.  Despite its weak PVP, I highly recommend it to anyone who likes MMOs and would also recommend it to anyone who doesn't play MMORPGs as a good starting game.

9.0

Words by Josh Matern