This afternoon I finished playing "Game of Thrones" from Telltale Games. A few weeks ago I finished playing "Tales from the Borderlands," which is another Telltale game. Rather than review them separately, I thought I would review them together. Review is probably too strong a word as I will do more describing of what it is like to play any Telltale game. They all play very similarly. These are not the first games I have played from this game developer as I also played "The Walking Dead."
Playing Telltale games is a lot like watching a slightly interactive movie. There are a lot of scenes where you have no control over what is going on. Then every once and a while you can choose your dialog or make some minimal button presses on your controller. If you don't select the dialog quickly enough, you don't say anything and that has an effect on the story. Given the choice of watching a movie alone or playing a Telltale game, I much prefer a game.
"Game of Thrones" played very similar to "The Walking Dead." I felt like no matter what I did, people I cared about still died. When things started going well, bad things quickly followed. I am sure that a lot of that has to do with the original content that the games are based upon. I have never watched an episode of "Game of Thrones" on HBO but I did watch a lot of "The Walking Dead" on AMC. Ultimately I stopped watching because I got tired of seeing people struggle against all odds to better themselves only to have circumstances beyond control propel them back to having where they were before. Some people enjoy that formula and it keeps them entertained. I don't and so I stopped watching. After playing "Game of Thrones," I probably won't be watching that series at all.
"Tales from the Borderlands" is based on a video game and is actually quite humorous. I enjoyed finishing the game and it constantly kept me entertained. The game still had the element of succeeding only to crash but much less than the other games.
One nice thing about Telltale games on the PlayStation platforms is that most reward you with a platinum trophy for completing the game. Both "Game of Thrones" and "Tales from the Borderlands" had platinum trophies. If you are into trophy hunting, then definitely play as many Telltale games as you can. I paid nothing for either of my latest Telltale games as they came for free as part of my PlayStation Plus subscription. If you had the chance to add them to your library while they were available, I highly recommend playing them. If you ask me how much I would pay to play them, $5 sounds about right but I doubt you could find them for that price.
Showing posts with label The Walking Dead. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Walking Dead. Show all posts
Thursday, September 7, 2017
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Video Game Review: Tomb Raider
The guys at work love to recommend new games for me to play and so when I finished "The Walking Dead: Season One," they were quick to recommend a new one. One of them even brought in his PS3 copy of "Tomb Raider" and let me borrow it for a few weeks. So I guess that is my first disclaimer about this review, I didn't purchase the game, I just borrowed it. That being said, I did enjoy it enough that I probably would have purchased the game if I had known it was going to be so fun.
Early versions of the Tomb Raider video game used a disproportional physical representation of Laura Croft, the protagonist. The 2013 version of the game treats her with much more respect.
I jumped into the game on a Monday evening while staying on my sailboat in the San Francisco Bay and found it difficult to find a stopping point for the evening. It is not that they don't exist, I just could have easily kept playing all night long. Considering I have to get up at 4am on Mondays to catch a flight to the Bay Area, that says a lot about the game as I was incredibly tired. I then faced a similar dilemma the next two nights I played. It really is that good of a game. The thing I appreciated most is the variety of game play. Sometimes you are looking for things, other times you are battling bad guys, then you get to move to a different part of the game. It all blends together well and I never felt like I was doing the same thing over and over again. Tomb Raider is not the first Square Enix game that I have played. I completed Thief earlier this year and found that game to be a lot of fun, but now feel Tomb Raider is much better. It took me about 20 hours to complete the game.
Tomb Raider has an ESRB rating of M for mature because of violence and strong language. I would recommend the game to young adults looking for an action-adventure game that is well done. Oh and my final disclaimer is that I work for a large video game company that might be associated with one or more of the products listed in this review.
Early versions of the Tomb Raider video game used a disproportional physical representation of Laura Croft, the protagonist. The 2013 version of the game treats her with much more respect.
I jumped into the game on a Monday evening while staying on my sailboat in the San Francisco Bay and found it difficult to find a stopping point for the evening. It is not that they don't exist, I just could have easily kept playing all night long. Considering I have to get up at 4am on Mondays to catch a flight to the Bay Area, that says a lot about the game as I was incredibly tired. I then faced a similar dilemma the next two nights I played. It really is that good of a game. The thing I appreciated most is the variety of game play. Sometimes you are looking for things, other times you are battling bad guys, then you get to move to a different part of the game. It all blends together well and I never felt like I was doing the same thing over and over again. Tomb Raider is not the first Square Enix game that I have played. I completed Thief earlier this year and found that game to be a lot of fun, but now feel Tomb Raider is much better. It took me about 20 hours to complete the game.
Tomb Raider has an ESRB rating of M for mature because of violence and strong language. I would recommend the game to young adults looking for an action-adventure game that is well done. Oh and my final disclaimer is that I work for a large video game company that might be associated with one or more of the products listed in this review.
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Video Game Review: The Walking Dead, Season 2
It is Monday morning here in Japan even though the time for this entry is posted as Sunday. That is what happens when you cross the international date line. Another thing that generally happens is that you get to spend a lot of time on a plane as I did last night. That gave me time to finish up Telltale Games' The Walking Dead, Season 2 on my PlayStation Vita. I know I wrote that I wasn't going to continue with the game series but when I found I had a copy for my hand-held console, I thought I would give it a try.
The game plays like an interactive movie and the experience I had on the Vita was a bit different than on the PS3. Both versions have a tendency to pause unexpectedly but it happened a lot more on my Vita. Sometimes it was distracting and game-play suffered. It was also very difficult to tell how to interact with the characters. The Vita has a touchscreen and so sometimes you would use that while other times you would use the controller buttons. I missed several choices because I was pushing buttons instead of touching the screen or visa versa. It was somewhat frustrating.
The game continued where Season 1 left off and it was like catching up with old friends. I was told I wouldn't like Season 2 as much as Season 1 but they didn't take into account that part of the story takes place at a ski resort. I love ski resorts and so that part of the story resonated with me. As can be expected with a game that mimics a television series where they hope to continue the following year, the game ends with a cliff-hanger and it has me wanting to play Season 3. Unfortunately I will have to wait until 2016 as it is not expected until then.
The Walking Dead, Season 2 has an ESRB rating of M for Mature because of strong language. I would not recommend this game for children or even teenagers because of this.
The game plays like an interactive movie and the experience I had on the Vita was a bit different than on the PS3. Both versions have a tendency to pause unexpectedly but it happened a lot more on my Vita. Sometimes it was distracting and game-play suffered. It was also very difficult to tell how to interact with the characters. The Vita has a touchscreen and so sometimes you would use that while other times you would use the controller buttons. I missed several choices because I was pushing buttons instead of touching the screen or visa versa. It was somewhat frustrating.
The game continued where Season 1 left off and it was like catching up with old friends. I was told I wouldn't like Season 2 as much as Season 1 but they didn't take into account that part of the story takes place at a ski resort. I love ski resorts and so that part of the story resonated with me. As can be expected with a game that mimics a television series where they hope to continue the following year, the game ends with a cliff-hanger and it has me wanting to play Season 3. Unfortunately I will have to wait until 2016 as it is not expected until then.
The Walking Dead, Season 2 has an ESRB rating of M for Mature because of strong language. I would not recommend this game for children or even teenagers because of this.
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Video Game Review: The Walking Dead, The Complete First Season
Last night I received my first platinum trophy on the PlayStation video game console. I received it simply because I completed all five episodes of the video game The Walking Dead. There are actually six episodes if you include the "400 Days" episode found on the Game of the Year Edition. I have yet to play the sixth episode though as it is not necessary to get the trophy. As I completed the game, I thought I would give a quick review.
I just finished playing Heavy Rain and was looking for something a little more upbeat. The guys at work told me to play something else but for some reason I had my heart set on playing The Walking Dead. I should have listened because it was also rather somber. It played very similarly to Heavy Rain in that they are both more like interactive movies that require just a bit of interaction now and then. I am a fan of the television series The Walking Dead and thought the game would keep me entertained. I wasn't wrong.
The Walking Dead started as a series of downloadable episodes that take about two to three hours to complete. As I had a disk that contained all of the episodes, I binge played much as someone might by watching all the episodes of the television series. It started out as a lot of fun but I think having a break between episodes might have made it more enjoyable towards the end. By the fourth episode I just wanted the game to be over. I was pleasantly surprised that the fifth episode only took about an hour and a half to complete.
This evening I am trying to decide whether or not to play the "400 Days" episode or start a new video game. I enjoyed the game over the course of a two-week period but have decided not to play the second season as there are so many other video games I want to play. My hope is that the extra episode will tie up one or two loose ends in the story.
The Walking Dead is developed by Telltale Games and I picked it up for only $1. It is well worth the price I paid for it and would have been so even if I paid $20. The game has an ESRB rating of M for language and violence. Remember my disclaimer that I work for a video game company and may or may not be associated with this title in some way. In reality, I review games based on whether or not I want to play them and not the studio they come from.
I just finished playing Heavy Rain and was looking for something a little more upbeat. The guys at work told me to play something else but for some reason I had my heart set on playing The Walking Dead. I should have listened because it was also rather somber. It played very similarly to Heavy Rain in that they are both more like interactive movies that require just a bit of interaction now and then. I am a fan of the television series The Walking Dead and thought the game would keep me entertained. I wasn't wrong.
The Walking Dead started as a series of downloadable episodes that take about two to three hours to complete. As I had a disk that contained all of the episodes, I binge played much as someone might by watching all the episodes of the television series. It started out as a lot of fun but I think having a break between episodes might have made it more enjoyable towards the end. By the fourth episode I just wanted the game to be over. I was pleasantly surprised that the fifth episode only took about an hour and a half to complete.
This evening I am trying to decide whether or not to play the "400 Days" episode or start a new video game. I enjoyed the game over the course of a two-week period but have decided not to play the second season as there are so many other video games I want to play. My hope is that the extra episode will tie up one or two loose ends in the story.
The Walking Dead is developed by Telltale Games and I picked it up for only $1. It is well worth the price I paid for it and would have been so even if I paid $20. The game has an ESRB rating of M for language and violence. Remember my disclaimer that I work for a video game company and may or may not be associated with this title in some way. In reality, I review games based on whether or not I want to play them and not the studio they come from.
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