Game Review: Overwatch

By Grease Coakes

Blizzard entertainment has been around for a long time from the days of Warcraft to World of Warcraft and also Starcraft. Not a company to be lazy and bet everything on their cash cow, recently they came out with Overwatch: a first person shooter based on the game Team Fortress 2.

In TF2 you select a player such as a solider or a Heavy to take out the other team. To push forward a payload or capture a point. One team defends while the other attacks. Overwatch is very much the same game however it offers over twenty different roles to play. And unlike TF2 there are also women characters, not just men, to shoot and kill the other team with. Each team red and blue has six characters per side. You’ll see graphics to the side saying that’s there’s no tanks or too many snipers.

The characters are split into four groups to pick what role you wish to play. Attack does heavy damage but can only take a few hits. Defense is excellent at holding a point and slowing down the enemy advancing. Tank is there to take the hits for you so squishy characters don’t die. Healing/support is how is sounds to offer healing to tanks and extra attack. With the exception of the mech D Va, all characters when they hit zero hit points die. D Va gets ejected from her Mecha tank and gets a second chance to keep fighting with a pistol and low hit points.

In addition to brighter graphics and better voices each character has an ultimate that continues charging through death. So if you’re playing as Mcree a wild west gunslinger and die when your ultimate is at 99%. When you revive your ultimate will problary be 100% Over time when you block damage, heal, do damage and kill other player characters your ultimate builds up. An ultimate is something you want to fire off to change the course of battle. Mcree’s ultimate is him saying “It’s High Noon” in a western drawl and everyone he sees he shoots down dead. Mei’s ultimate a Chinese woman in an arctic snow suit is a blizzard which freezes enemy players. She shoots ice shards at long range. Her ice walls keep enemy players away and blocks damage. She’s a good defensive player if you want to play enemies off your point.

The sounds are much better with various voices that sound like professional actors with voices saying things such as “Love D Va!” Or Lucio a music loving healer will yell out “This is my Jam!” Another voice that will stick in your head is Reaper doing his ultimate when he says DIE DIE DIE!
The graphics are cartoonish but also bright and colorful. Even though the game is the same every time you play, each game tends to be different as you play at different locations. There’s also lots of variety in the twenty plus characters.

What the designers changed recently is that in quick play you can no longer have more than one of a certain character. Which means if I grab a D Va character as a tank someone else who wanted to be a tank could be roadhog or pick a Tracer to be offense instead. I guess Blizzard wanted to stop two of the same character so the other team wouldn’t over specialize and beat the other team. So when you master Solider 76,you can always master that defensive player Junk Rat with shoots bombs that bounce around and blow enemy players to dust. Or why not Pharah who flies and shoots rockets?

As you play you gain experience per match which levels you up. It’s not like a RPG though. You don’t get more hit points and new spells. Instead you get a loot box every level. The loot boxes give out skins for the various characters, voice lines, sprays and coins to buy what you want for your favorite characters. For example I bought an earthen skin  which is a deep green for Mei so she looks more masculine and not so girly. So your level of 50 might look impressive on screen. However that won’t stop a level 3 character shooting you down as Hanzo. Hanzo is a defensive player who is a sniper who shoots down foes with his bow and arrow. Level doesn’t mean anything as you play.

For the price of 40$ Overwatch can be yours as an excellent first person shooter. Blizzard has taken the idea of Team Fortress 2 and brought it to the next level of playability with great voice effects, the option of spray painting on walls and more. If you’re new to shooting games there is a tutorial so you’re not thrown into the game and you’re clueless as other players shoot you down. Also an option to fight AI enemies as well as a practice area.

If you’re thinking like Mcree that it’s high noon and you want to shoot some outlaws, Overwatch might be the game for you.

Grease Coakes

Game Review: Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel

by Nydia Tungsten & Brandi Streusel

Let’s start this out honestly, “I LOVE the Borderlands series.” With that in mind, let’s just say I was not disappointed in one of latest chapters they released. I did a couple of play through from introduction to getting to your operating area. As in Borderlands 2, you meet characters from the previous games, but the twist with this one is you can play as those characters in this one.

 

 Here are the links from the play through. I would recommend trying the Youtube links first unless they get blocked for third party content in your part of the world (the music from the game), a pet peeve of mine and I will save it for another rant for another time.

As with a lot of the stories with the Borderlands series, this one has a lot of tongue in cheek humor to give it a bit of a lighter side to make it more enjoyable to play. You will hear a few examples in the play-throughs. Like the rest of my reviews, I will not go too in depth with the story line because it's always better to find out on your own.

The game play is smooth, like we have come to expect from the Borderlands games and no big changes in the UI like between the first and second games. So everything is there where you know it is to be.

But there are a few, in this story you can play as Clap Trap, and if you watch the links, they even made THAT funny just trying to choose him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsttV6I2Vgc

www.twitch.tv/furry_gamers_channel_/b/608933680

I will also show you the beginning with Athena here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXv2pCPtEgQ

http://www.twitch.tv/furry_gamers_channel_/b/608941460

You will notice there are some interactions specifically designed for each character you play, which I feel gives it more depth and making it more enjoyable to play. It is important to note that since the second one was banned in Australia, the third one was MADE there. I don't know if this was some type of peace offering from Gearbox and 2K Game or not, but you can see and hear the Ozzy side of the production as soon as you get to your operations site and meet the first of your mission givers “Jannie” that they refer to as a “Black marketeer with a heart of gold.”

 

I WILL put a warning on this review; IF you are offended by sexual innuendo, inter-organic relationships and/or same sex partnerships...prepare to get butt hurt. There are no sexual or visual references in video form what so ever. So, if you read this and start to want the game for pervy reasons, sorry to disappoint, but I know just the thought is enough to push some people over the edge to a bible thumping fury and I can say “It's just a game, get over yourself”

I have one character up to level 30 and I play it with my son and youngest daughter. We all love it, so with that in mind and if you remember what I said in the beginning, it should be no surprise that I am giving this two thumbs up and a high recommendation to play.

Buy it twice and share it with a close friend. Play with each other and not just play with yourself.

Until next time...GOOD GAMING TO YOU!!

 Nydia Tungsten

Editor's Note. Of the humor, a couple of lines of dialouge include, "everything's just fine. Just, uh, one of the CL4P-TP units tried to french kiss a light socket, Sir." and "Your busy? That's cool, I'll just bleed over here internally for a while. Don't mind me, I'm just the guy who hired you." And then there are some of the objectives, such as when Jack asks, "Kill that a**hole," the objective "Kill That A**hole" pops up.

Game Review: "Wolfenstein: The New World Order"

By Nydia Tungsten & Brandi Tungsten


   Basically it starts out as a WWII First person shooter, but that changes FAST!

   With this one, the Germans are winning the war through advanced technology that they developed seemingly out of nowhere. Then you are injured and spend time in a hospital….well a LOT of time. When you come to, it is in the 1960’s and the Nazis have won the war.

    From here, the writers delve into the alternate reality of a world dominated by the Nazis. In my opinion, they did too good of a job. I have German family and heard stories of the war. I asked why he was telling me this and his answer struck a note in me even then, “If the future doesn’t remember the past we are doomed to repeat it.”  The writers captured the possibility of this Nazi future extremely well, to the point where I had to stop playing it and walk away for awhile.

    I am not saying this game is ALL doom and gloom. I have found an Easter egg in the base in Berlin that pays homage to the very first 8-bit Wolfenstien game. If you find it, I think you will get a kick out of it whether you had originally played it or not.

   But, the story line itself is a dark one throughout the game. I would not recommend this game for anyone under the age of 16 due to the language, violence and the few sex scenes (it doesn’t really show much, but…paranoid parents, be warned).  But, just for the story line and I know there will be some that say “Nyd’s it’s just a game. How bad could it be?” When you see a Nazi woman hold out a baby from her, dangling it by its heel with the look of pure revulsion on her face, or an audio diary of a young girl searching for ways to kill the “Nazi baby” growing inside her….yeah….it gets a bit disturbing.

   Will I recommend others play this? I would have to say, “Yes.” Because, it IS a well written story and it DOES depict what life here could have been like had the Nazi’s been a little bit smarter. If you play this game, be warned…you may learn something and find yourself engrossed in the story and have it elicit extreme feelings within you too.

   Again let me know if you get it and what you think about it. I would love to know. Until then, good gaming to you!

Images from Steam

Nydia Tungsten

Game Review: Left 4 Dead 2

By Nydia Tungsten
Edited by: Brandi Tungsten

As the opening credits play, you see the first four survivors run through some of the levels you have to take them through, ending up with them climbing the stairs to get to the rescue chopper….that isn’t there for them.
So they have to fight their way to the Evac center, which of course is empty. Along the way, you will find there are stashes of ammo and weapons to help you keep armed for your journey, but they move from play to play, so it keeps you on your toes.

As you watch the video, you will see there are a lot of weapons to choose from, anything from a cricket bat all the way up to a grenade launcher and everything in between.

This is not a typical “Zombie apocalypse” game, this one has several “special” Zombies that can REALLY hurt as Bix and I have found out.

“Spitter” hawks a toxic loogey at you and burns you with its acid.

“Jockey”, this little back humper, jumps on the back of your hide and proceeds to ride your staggering form away from help.

“Charger”, okay this guy has one HUGE arm…( I will refrain from the obvious MJ jokes), he plows through you and picks you up and slams you into whatever is behind you then starts slamming you into the ground.

“Tank”, name saying it all, this bugger is HUGE and can rip up chunks of concrete to throw at you or just toss you around like a rag doll.

“Hunter”, now THIS little sneaky bugger likes to keep out of sight until he can pounce like 400lb fanboy at a comic con meeting sailor moon for the first time, but can be killed easily if you see him in time or your group is close by, but he hits hard so be warned.

“Boomer”, this big boy looks like he weighs as much as a Buick. His real threat is he will puke on you and/or your companions, which will drive every other Zombie into a frenzy and attack whatever it lands on, which is how bile bombs can come in handy.

“Witch”, don’t be fooled by her slight build and pale skin. This little girl is worse than a certain Vixen PMS’ing. You will hear her before you see her. She will be crying softly, but if you get too close or shoot her, you will “startle” her and have to deal with her. But be careful, she can take you down with just one hit.
The best way to deal with her is at a distance. Don’t just shoot her, thinking she will go down easy. You better have a full clip and use it all on her because if she gets too close, it’s all over.

Left 4 Dead 2 features a new cast of human Survivors, which include:


Coach (voiced by Chad Coleman), a portly high-school football coach with a bad knee (although it does not affect gameplay)

 Nick (voiced by Hugh Dillon), a rude and cynical gambler and con artist

 Rochelle (voiced by Rochelle Aytes), a low-level production assistant reporting on the evacuation for a local television station

 Ellis (voiced by Eric Ladin), a friendly (and rather talkative) mechanic who often talks about his friend Keith and their many misadventures.

In addition to the four playable characters, Left 4 Dead 2 also features a supporting character in the form of Virgil (voiced by Randall Newsome), a Cajun boat captain, who appears (voice only) in the game's final three campaigns.

I looked this one up on the Wikki ( Google is my friend ) and found something surprising; this game was originally banned in at least two countries, Australia Germany for its violent and graphic “deaths” of the undead, but hey…here in the U.S., that’s the average movie night at home.

There are many ways to play this game as well, alone, with a friend or in teams on the internet where you take turns being the survivors or the infected. I have tried the team play……let’s just say it didn’t go well, and I think I embarrassed my gaming partner, Dchan, at that time. He, on the other hand….was doing pretty well.

In this video, you will see Bixyl and I duking it out with some real hard core baddies, but we come out on top, and you will notice my character is not the normal one. This game is so popular there have been skins made for it and I am using “Krystal”, There are also a LOT of other skins you can get and use with a little looking. I like playing with Bix because I know when we die, I will be PUNished by Bixyl’s “puns” and humor.

I give this game a “Thumbs Up” and recommend it to those who enjoy FPS’s and don’t mind a little carnage.

Here is the play through we did, hope you enjoy it: http://www.twitch.tv/nydia_tungsten/b/505544524

If you get the game, let us know and tell us what YOU think. And, as always, if you want to see me review a game, drop us a line and I will get on it. But in the meantime, “Good Hunting to you!”

Editor's Note: Forget the stereotype of slow, lumbering, undead. Between occasional lone walking corpses, You'll have to shoot your way through wave after wave of freakin' zombie banzai charges. This game is intense.

Nydia Tungsten