Making an E-Sport Team in EVOLVE

Evolve is only 11 days from going live in the wild. After a successful ALPHA and BETA, developer Turtle Rock is ready to unleash it into the hands of gamers around the world and if the feedback they have received so far is any indication; it looks like we will have a truly fun and unique new IP for Next Gen Consoles!

EVOLVE is an important game for a couple reasons. The fact that its a NEW IP is a huge draw and exactly what this new generation of console players  need. In order to move this industry forward it needs new blood and EVOLVE is ready to deliver that!
Secondly EVOLVE is the first new game this year to throw its hat into the ever so finicky realm of competitive gaming.While not being heavy handed about this aspect of the gameplay, studio Turtle Rock has been quoted as saying that the game has a very competitive component to it and this is not something they have turned a blind eye to. In fact most of the games early footage showed it accompanied by a “Shoutcaster“. The game has been showcased to the public in several events wrapped around a tournament format. So many elements of the game screams competitive play but on the surface the 4V1 nature causes a lot of the E-Sport purists out there to hesitate.

In this article I am going top give some tips on how to create you E-Sport Team for EVOLVE and some tips to go with it. In my follow  up article I will be sowing everyone the default Rule Set that PRO will be using for organized competitive play once the game goes LIVE.

How do I build a team with a Monster?!?!

Traditional team based multiplayer games revolve around symmetrical amounts of players typically 4v4 or higher. EVOLVE presents a unique format in that a team needs to be comprised of a 4 man team of Hunters and then when the next round starts a single team member needs to be allocated as the MONSTER ( Sorry guys EVOLVE does not allow a team of 4 MONSTERS)

Its best if you think of an EVOLVE team along the same lines as Hockey Team. A team is made up of players who are talented in the position they fill. Like a Hockey team there is a single Goalie; a player who represents your teams ultimate defensive barrier. This is your MONSTER player!

Can I have more than one player assume the MONSTER Role?

Certainly! The idea is that you make sure the MONSTER Player each round is competent and skilled at handling the Monster’s unique style of play and not just a player looking for a thrill ride to smash the competing team’s players. Remember, each MONSTER has a different play style suited for different types of players.
You may want to set up a player roster for specific MONSTER types based on the match and or opposing team  ie. Have a aggressive player take the reigns of Goliath and another player entirely slotted to play Wraith for a more sneaky approach to the match. Your team captain is the coach and look to him to call the play .

I only play a certain Hunter class and my team mate wants to play it as well

Since EVOLVE supports a class based team line up it becomes tricky when players of a team all want to play the same class. I get it…we all want to be the star forward and get alL the glory. I mean who wants to be play as the defense players in a high stakes E-Sport?
Well in EVOLVE everyone plays a role in the road to victory. If there is one thing the BETA taught me is that a team of Gung Ho glory seekers will always fail against a smart MONSTER player. Take it upon yourself to become well versed in all classes regardless of your favourite character. As your team starts carving out a career you may find your play style preference changing and you may WANT to lace up those skates and play as a defensive player. Be flexible and mindful of your team mates desire to expand his/her skillset into different roles.

Make a Playbook

This one sounds silly but trust me its NOT! Playing EVOLVE in a team versus playing EVOLVE with a bunch of Randoms are two different experiences. Thankfully the BETA allowed us to form up private matches and create our own personal hunting party with friends but also gave us the option of random matchmaking. My time spent in public matchmaking was frustrating to say the least. I experienced little to no communication between players/team mates and what ensued was a mess of run and gunning and or chasing a MONSTER around the map with no sense of a plan or strategy. It always ended up with a loss and in most cases a sense of boredom as we chased a MONSTER around the map in circles.
While its not necessary to create a physical playbook to carry with you to each match , I highly recommend that you and your team develop some “go to strategies” for  various maps and scenarios. EVOLVE is no different than any other multiplayer shooter in the sense that your team needs to communicate with each other during the match and for strategies on the fly. Communication is the key because EVOLVE”s maps are huge and its nots as simple as just running around a common corridor lane or simply camping a spot hoping to pick off a random opponent who walks by your cozy campfire.

Experiment with the Hunters

Try different combos of Hunters each time you play and make sure you talk it through with your team mates. The game will launch with 3 sets of Characters ( thats 12 different playable characters spread over 4 classes) and each of them sport a different array of abilities and perks. Use your early days of matchmaking or competitive matches to establish a working knowledge of how all these variables interlock. Your Hunting team will eventually settle on some key characters base don the different playstyles of your team but allow that process to take shape naturally. Dont force yourself into a specific character without first trying the others.

EVOLVE is set to change the landscape of competitive play and introduce some fresh new ideas into the stagnant world of competitive gaming. I dont expect the game to be an unprecedented overnight success in this space but with a little love from the community and an open mind as to what defines a competitive video game experience, I think we just might have a bonafide E-Sport hit on our hands.

Dwayne”EVO Knight” Morash

Halo: 30 to 60 fps in 14 years

If you haven’t played a first person shooter in 60fps then please stop reading and go do so now. There are lots of games to choose from and everyone has an opinion ( my preference lies with either BF4 or Titanfall on Next Gen hardware) but the one thing everyone will agree on is that when it comes to a FPS ; framerate is KING!

The one game that is interestingly NOT on the list of 60 fps games is Halo. Since the game debuted back in 2001 not a single entry in this longstanding franchise has enjoyed the benefits of silky smooth framerate that the benchmark delivers.

There are numerous reasons to be had for this and Halo fans everywhere will attest that it hasn’t diminished the appeal nor the gameplay of its masterful formula.  To be fair though I can tell you that after playing a smattering of FPS games clocking in at the fabled 60fps and then going back and playing a game of Halo 4 at 30fps ( Heck even playing Destiny on Next Gen results in the same feeling) feels akin to wading through molasses or caught in a old school slide show ( Okay Im exaggerating but you get the idea). Its a jarring experience and actually does impact your gameplay and by default your score suffers. It takes awhile to adjust but its noticeable and severe especially if you have been clocking a lot of hours with aforementioned games with 60fps.

So what happens when you take a beloved franchise like Halo and shove it into the world of 60fps?

Have your cake and eat it too…all in glorious 1080p 60fps

The newly released Master Chief Collection does just that and not only the newest entry in the franchise but it goes all the way back to 2000’s Halo:CE as well. Yup thats right, you can now play a 14 year old game in 1080P and 60fps!

My playtest was mostly centered on Halo 4 as it was the title that I had most recently played in its old incarnation on Xbox 360. Having watched several videos of gameplay at the new clock speed I was somewhat prepared for what I was about to experience .
I want to get this out of the way. Halo 4 running at 1080P and 60fps feels like a Next Gen game!

Design choices and overall arguments about the entries adherence to the Halo formula aside ; the game rocks!
Movement and moment to moment gun battles flowed and felt awesome. That feeling of sluggishness quickly faded and I kept asking myself ” Why did it take 15 years to experience Halo this way??!!”

Halo 5 is the new hotness. Get ready for it!

The ironic part of this story is that I have a friend who experienced the opposite effect of my experience inn that he was completely thrown off by the increase in framerate and felt that it was ” unnatural”. The best way to explain this I suppose is with whats happening in cinema today. Movies are being filmed in higher framerates ( The new Hobbit movie comes to mind) and Television sets are now ” upscaling” framerates for existing content that we have all watched in the past. Having watched a section of the new Captain America; Winter Soldier on a 4K TV with the movie’s frame rate upscaled as mentioned above; well lets just say it looked like I was watching a news real or a Live broadcast not a cinematic feeling motion picture.

Whether your eyes and cerebellum can adjust to the new hotness that is 60fps only you can find out. I for one love the new sexy of Halo running on Nitrus and if you cant adjust to a older game amped up…..well you better get ready by the time the next entry in the Halo Franchise arrives because it looks like all Halo’s are hitting the NOS moving forward!

Dwayne” EVO Knight” Morash

Gottacon 2015 Halo 2 Anniversary Tournament

In February of this year PRO and Gottacon will be partnering to bring Victoria BC the first ever Halo 2 Anniversary Tournament Sponsored by none other than Astro Gaming ! The Tournament line up will consist of two events ( FFA and a 4v4 Team Based Tournament) that will be spread over the weekend of February 27th-March 1st.

The full details of the Gottacon Convention and how to participate in the Tournaments are available HERE

Day: Friday
Time: 7:00pm
Format: Slayer (Xbox One Halo 2 Anniversary)
Price: Free with BYOC CONSOLE LAN Full Weekend Pass
Location: Console BYOC LAN

Join us for an intense night of Halo as up to 40 players face off in a free for all tournament. In Round one Players will be placed in one of two groups. Groups will play three games of Slayer in Halo 2 from the Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Each player will have their 3 total scores combined into a final score. The top half of each group move on to the next round.

Round two will see all remaining players put into one group and those players will compete in another round of three games of Slayer in Halo 2 from the Halo: The Master Chief Collection. The top half of the of this round move on to the finals.

In round three, the finals, the remaining players will face off in a final round of games in Halo 2. The top 3 players will prize.

Halo SLAYER (FFA) (Xbox One) $450 Total + $250 Cash

1st Place:
1x A40 (Xbox One) and $100

2nd Place:
1x Scout bag and $100

3rd Place:
1x Scout bag +$50

Day: Saturday
Time: 10:00am
Format: Multiple (Xbox One Halo 2 Anniversary)
Price: Free with BYOC CONSOLE LAN Full Weekend Pass
Location: Console BYOC LAN

Saturday will feature our 4v4 multi game mode team tournament in Halo 2 from the Halo: The Master Chief Collection. In group stage teams will be placed in one of two groups. Groups will play a round robin style round to determine seeding for the single elimination bracket. Each match will have teams facing off in a best of one slayer format.

Bracket stage will be Single elimination. Each Stage of the bracket will be a best of 3 and feature a new game mode. The first round will be Slayer. Game modes for the remaining rounds is yet to be determined.

HALO 4v4 (Xbox One) Prizing $1800 Total + $600 cash

1st Place:
4x A40 (Xbox One)
$100/player

2nd Place:
4x Scout Bag
$50/player

3rd Place:
4x Scout bag

 

Links: 
Gottacon Conventions: www.gottacon.com
PRO: www.areyoureadytogopro.com
Astro Gaming:http://www.astrogaming.com

 

A Destiny that wasn’t realized

” What Happened?” I ask myself as I sit here typing this. Destiny was a game we all wanted to love and whether it was our fault or the developers; we all had high hopes for this game. In short the Hype meter was off the scale.
We all had good reason to expect amazing things from Destiny. Developed by the studio that brought us one of the greatest console shooter of all time and a history of masterful game design; Destiny was supposed to be the Next Big shooter to usher in this new generation of hardware and gaming.

So what went wrong. I could write a whole article outlining all the things that Destiny didn’t get right as it pertains to the core PVE side of the game but rather than beat it up more than the rest of the internet already has; Ill instead endeavour to explain what it didnt get right in its suite of PVP offerings.
PVP is Destiny is called ” Crucible” cru·ci·ble,ˈkro͞osəb(ə)l/

• a place or occasion of severe test or trial.
  “the crucible of combat”

This is actually a fitting name and just one example of how Bungie has infused the game with flavour. It also sounds better than ” Multiplayer lobby”. The Crucible is a blend of traditional competitive matches wound  up in a nice little narrative wrapper.  Players actually ” Travel” to the crucible in their spaceship and proceed  to land in the Map with their team via a nifty little cutscene of them all standing at the ready.

Again Destiny has no shortage of flavour to embrace the player with, .even in its head to head game space.
So where did all of this go sideways?

Outside of a small amount of Maps and game modes Destiny’s biggest crime in the competitive gaming circle was/is the fact that to this day you cannot create a custom lobby to play against your rivals and or friend. Creating a team via the games Party system is all fine and dandy but matching your Fireteam up against a specific opponent of your choosing sadly isn’t in the cards.
This omission literally destroyed any chances of Destiny challenging its creators prodigal son’s legacy ( Halo).
One of the reasons Halo grew to prominence is that the first XBOX was able  to LAN up and give players the option of connecting their consoles for direct head to head play. Future iterations of Halo and the newly introduced XBOX LIVE gave players freedom to connect to each other via private matches. It is because of these features that Halo became an E-Sport .
Everyone assumed that lightning would strike twice and that Bungie would replicate its success by allowing players that same choice with its new flagship game.

Many players will argue that the fact that the only way to play PVP in Destiny is via public matchmaking is irrelevant and that the game itself is broken to the point of its PVP offerings are simply too unbalanced to be considered a true competitive experience. There are arguments for and against that opinion but in reality if we had been given an extensive amount of tools in the form of custom lobbies; the player base could sculpt and shape its own rules and match settings.
This would have all but ensured that Destiny would have a life outside of its never ending grinding and cultivate a community that was slanted towards competitive play versus the World of Warcraft crowd looking for a MMO experience with Halo mechanics.

All is not lost however. While not announcing anything specific; Bungie has acknowledged the lack of private lobbies and by doing that the community is one step closer to one day seeing features like this implemented. the real question is whether or not anyone will actually care by the time that happens. In a crowded market where new games are landing in front of us every couple months Destiny may not have much longer to sink its hooks into us. The competitive community is already eyeing new experiences such as Rainbow Six, Evolve and of course the inevitable Halo 5 later this year.

Destiny was hyped and almost had us locked down but a first round fumble may have cost it the game.

Dwayne” EVO Knight” Morash

Going Competitive with EVOLVE

At a glance , Turtle Rock’s new game Evolve looks like a mash up between Left 4 Dead and the 80’s movie ” Predator”. If you haven’t taken the time to learn about Evolve have a look at the video below.

In a nutshell the game revolves around four special operatives that  land on a dangerous planet and immediately set about hunting an alpha predator that is both trying to kill them and escape there grasp so it can fulfill a ultimate goal of its own.
What makes Evolve a innovative experience is that it is actually a Co-Op and head to head multiplayer game in one. Yup you heard it right….4V1 competitive.

Traditionally the Esports community have only ever embraced a specific type of game that resonates with balanced head to head play. This almost always boils down to a 1v1, 2v2,4v4 and so on; experience. Games that deviate from said formula tend to have a difficult time being balanced enough to consider it worthy of the title ” E-Sport”
Evolve looks to challenge that notion and has already started to find a home within the competitive community despite its very unorthodox design.
At its core there is very much a Competitive experience beating within its chest but the traditional concept of a team has a major wrinkle thrown into it…
What if someone on your team had to play a full game ALONE without the in game support of his/her team mates?
Playing as the Monster in Evolve means that the player will not have a stable of team mates to rely on and will have to live or die on his on skills as a rival team of 4 hunters chases him/her down.
There has already been a lot of internet chatter regarding how Evolve would play out in a true tournament format and while there have been some creative options the one that seems t o stand out time and time again is the “5 Man team” format.

An Evolve team would consist of 5 players all assigned a specific role within the team itself. Much akin to a professional sports team with players occupying positions on the bench but in this case the ” Bench” is filled with Trackers, Medics, assaulters and of course a giant Monster.
Teams would play a best of 3 format match alternating between Hunting/being hunted with the 5th player on the team  stepping in as the Monster slot when your team is being the hunted. The  Players /Player not participating in game would serve as moral support for the other(s). In case of a tie the third round would be played out as a tie breaker with the team with the fastest victory from the previous matches deciding to play the Hunters or the Monster for the final round.
The E-Sport community has always been very selective and sometimes downright opinionated on a particular games viability as a true E-Sport title but with a new generation of hardware upon us and a inevitable onslaught of new IP’s to go with them, I think its time that we start entertaining the idea of  new breeds of competitive games to be placed in front of us.
Evolve is simply the first of what is sure to be many this year ( Rainbow Six Patriots, Smite, Battleborn along with the traditional sequels to Halo, COD and Battlefield).

Evolve launches in North America on February 10th and the Public BETA launches on January 15th-19th. I encourage everyone to jump in and give it a shot; it could very well be the next EVOLUTION of  E-Sports.

Dwayne” EVO Knight” Morash

Titanfall: The One Year Later REVIEW

Whew! What a year it has been in the industry and specifically if your a “Next Gen Player” ( or would you now be considered a ” Current Gen Player” ?). The Industry has officially passed its 1 year mark and we are now moving full steam ahead with XBOX One and PS4.

Having lived through numerous generations of hardware cycles I can; with complete authority tell you that this generation was ushered with a tremendous amount of criticism and jaded perspectives than any other before it. In 2013 Gamers everywhere stood up and with a single voice ( or post on a message board) said ” Prove to me why I need to upgrade to the Next gen!”

Gone where the passionate gamers excited for the next big thing in gaming . Instead it was replaced by a world full of gamers who suddenly felt that the industry it so loved needed to rise to a certain level and that expectations needed not only to be met but shattered.

With all this riding on its shoulders as the first next Gen shooter of 2014; Titanfall was almost doomed to fail  but the real question is…Did It?

Respawn Studios launched there baby back in march  and the controversy kicked off immediately! The first batch of negative press centered around two major points. Titanfall did not have an “Offline Campaign” and it was also an XBOX/PC exclusive; meaning that Playstation gamers would not have an opportunity to experience this new IP. The hate this game received from the Sony fanbase was palpable

To be fair  the game arrived in great shape from a technical standpoint. Running at 60FPS/900P on dedicated servers and little to no frame rate drop on large scale maps was a feat to be respected considering Fellow EA shooter Battlefield 4 failed to even have stable servers at launch! Titanfall is a great looking game and was a finely tuned shooter at launch.

If you ask a Titanfall player what the biggest reason he/she was disappointed with they will most certainly tell you ; Content.

Most AAA shooters these days will check off a series of boxes that is the industry’s barometer for value. Its a way of making sure that a buyer is getting value for there money and Titanfall dropped the ball in that regard…

Respawn knew this and immediately set out to correct its errors. Being a small studio meant that resources for actual game development was a tricky balancing act and while they openly admitted that they had to invest where the IP would make the most impact ( Doesn’t everyone play online multiplayer??) , they also understood the impact of not having certain features at launch.

Map packs in the form of DLC would not suffice for Titanfall. In order to move this franchise forward players would need more and I am happy to say that after 8 months of being in the world as a newborn; Titanfall has grown into a game that its creators should be proud of !

Lets have a look what has been added to Titanfall and why you should seriously consider jumping back and or purchasing the game in its current state.

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Maps

Titanfall Launched with a healthy supply of maps that offered up a diverse landscape of battlegrounds. The strength of Respawns designs show through in the fact that they incorporate both indoor and outdoor environments catering to both playstyles of the game ( Pilot and Titan’s). The 3 DLC packs that have released since launch day have added even more variety while maintaining balance. The map packs where given names that tied them  to the games fiction giving us yet another way to feel attached to the world that Titanfall takes place in. with 20+ maps at your disposal now you cannot fault Titanfall for having a lack of map variety!

Private Lobbies
Most shooters these days have the ability to set up custom lobbies for friends and rivals to create matches without having to rely on random matchmaking to get you into a game. Within the E-Sport community this feature is paramount. Although publicly stating that they did not build Titanfall with E-Sports in mind there was nevertheless a large portion of their community who expected it ( PRO  among them). Not having this feature at launch threw a monkey wrench into hosting competitive events but the feature was soon added within a month or so afterwards.

Burn Cards/Black Market

The biggest gameplay addition to Titanfall came in the form of the Black Market/Burn Cards. This was a Meta game system that essentially allowed players to earn in game currency and  then spend them on various items  in a ” Black Market” menu such as the games very cool ” Burn Cards” . Burn Cards are essentially Titanfall’s Killstreak system with a twist. Rather than getting kills to activate special game changing abilities you can simply select 3 of them at the beginning of each match and acactivatehem at whim when you think you need them most. Prior to the Black Market players could only earn Burn Cards by winning matches but with the Black Market addition they could purchase packs of cards ( Ever play Magic the Gathering) and narrow the randomness of acquiring them.

Game Modes
With each DLC’s arrival Players where also treated with a Title Update that added in various new game modes to Titanfall’s rather small launch list. These updates showed that Respawn was paying attention to what players wanted in the game and fleshed out the fun you could have in an evenings worth  of Titanfall gaming. Most notable was the addition of a ” Pilot Only” game mode sans Titans. It wasn’t in keeping the spirit of Titanfall ( The games title has TITANS in it folks!) but at least it gave you the choice to play a more CODish style game within the Titanfall universe. Titanfall now has a very robust  playlist of game types and stands rank with other AAA shooters in the market.

Titan Customization

This was a tricky one for Respawn to handle when developing the game. The potential was there to add Titan Graphic Meshes similar to what COD does with the various guns and uniforms in the game but at the risk of pulling players out of the world they crafted. Cosmetic customization  these days tends to lean towards the garish and silly spectrum ( Call of Duty has pinks guns and players running around with Marijuana leaves painted all over there armor !) In the end we now have a ” Decal system” wherein you can emblazon your giant metal friend with various insignias ranging from flaming skulls to Respawns own logo just like the fighter pilots of yore.

Co Op mode
Last gen heralded in a new genre of game modes called  Survival”. This game mode was brought to the gaming public courtesy Gears of War 2 and has since made its way into almost every video game since in some way or another.  While not being a TRUE Co-Op mode in the sense that you aren’t able to partake in the games limited story ( although one would argue that Titanfall actually has a 6 man co op story mode in the way it presents it); you are able to join up with some mates and fight wave after wave of VERY smart enemy AI including suicide Titans hell bent on your teams collective destruction. This mode is called Frontier Defense and tasks players with defending a single point on the map in much the same way that MOBAS do. It is round based and gets increasingly harder as the rounds go by. Players are scored and ranked in this mode to create a sense of competitiveness among everyone. Frontier Defense was recently made available via a FREE patch and is the proverbial icing on the cake for the complete Titanfall Package.

Ranked Mode

Most FPS shooters these days layer on ranked play via a selection in the multiplayer menu as a way for players to decide if the want to participate in ranked play or unranked. Titanfall takes the same concept and injects a big dose of narrative flavor into it!
Each Pilot has the option of activating a ” Rank Chip” once they have attained a certain level. This chip can be turned on and off as the player sees fit at the beginning of any match thereby eliminating the need to have different play lists for the player. The Rank chip updates the player during the match with an in game voice as well as post game summaries. It is the coolest implementation of Ranked play I have ever seen in a competitive shooter bar none!

If you haven’t made the choice to pick up Titanfall yet , I highly recommend you do. In a market filled with First person shooters it stands out as something that brings a little more to the table. The developers have been diligent in fleshing out the core game and although the game should have shipped with all of this content at launch its a testament to the love Respawn has for the franchise that we are still enjoying and seeing new content added almost a year later.

Dwayne” EVO Knight” Morash

 

 

5 Things I liked about the Halo 5 Guardians Beta

Having just played a good dose of Halo 5 Guardians Beta I thought I should throw together a Top 5 list of things I like about  Halo 5: Guardians in its current BETA state. Here we go…

1:  Graphics. Running at 60 FPS and 720P resolution Halo has never looked better. Guns and environments all look amazing and even in its BETA state are polished. The attention  to detail in the environment will surely get better with the years worth of polish that 343 is sure to apply.

2: Speed. HALO has never felt this fast paced. as a Spartan you are no longer a lumbering super Soldier who has to sluggishly run through the map with the occasional spring ( in the past 2 games anyway). Guardians showcases a new and improved Spartan soldier that can sprint indefinitely ( Once you build momentum you can actually see speed lines in your POV) and activate short bursts of speed. This has the effect of speeding up gameplay yet remaining level headed and not divulging into chaos like other FPS titles have succumbbed to.

3: Mobility. Navigating the maps now takes on a whole new dimension with the addition of a ” clamber” move. By tapping ” A” when you are close to a ledge your Spartan will climb the ledge in a very quick and smooth manner. Combine this with the new ” Spartan Dash”  move and you have a HALO game that truly fits in with its peers such as Titanfall and Advanced Warfare. It almost feels like you are utilizing the game space in ways the Devs didnt plan by navigating the ledges and geometry in ways you couldn’t before…it feels like your using a cheat mod  but in a good way.

4: Immersion: Little details like the sounds of your boots running on the metal floor and your Spartan Team mates calling out kills and weapon Spawns as well as congratulating you on good kills ( Sad that they needed to programme a vocabulary into the game to pat you on the back or support you in lieu of a human partner doing the same) are examples of the little things that embed you in the HALO universe.

5: Intensity.  Plain and Simple; Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer is INTENSE!  Combine all of the elements listed above and you have a shooter that is both satisfying and adrenaline packed. Engagements come and go and strategy is developed on the fly as the dynamics of the match change. Power weapons change hands and the moment to moment thrill of a true E-Sport experience  pervades all aspects of this game.

Halo has always been a intense experience  when played with a group of friends  but Halo 5 : Guardians takes it up several notches without destroying what made Halo a fun and balanced game.

I am excited to see more of what the Beta throws at us and be sure to keep checking back for more impressions when the full BETA launches on December 29th.

Dwayne”EVO Knight” Morash

Arena Battle VS Military Shooters

Next Gen has arrived and with it a world full of excited gamers looking for the next big thing in Multiplayer gaming. As to be expected in year one with any console generation we received the usual assortment of previous gen ports and of course the inevitable sequals across old and new generation hardware. This is all and fine but what that really means is that we get next to nothing in the way of fresh new ideas and envelope pushing game experiences. Developers tend to play it safe on launch.

Well that was last year and even though the annual Call of Duty was….meh , Battlefield 4 still blows the eyeballs from my sockets and hearing ” Stand by for Titanfall” never gets old; I am still waiting for that true Next Generation game experience.
The FPS category is off to the races with sequel mania running wild in all of the various Developer houses but there are a few that are taking some time to rethink the direction we have all been pushing them to the past 5-8 years. Thats right I said the direction WE have been pushing  them towards.

The shooter Genre has become populated with games that have large environments , hundreds of weapon  customization options, dozens of game unbalancing perks and streaks rewards that teeter on game breaking at times. Maps are large and expansive and at their worst cause players to get lost within minutes of running out of spawn. Forget trying to use map call outs these days and good luck developing a strategy around the insane amount of variables that are present in any given game.

There was a time when shooters where simple in concept but required more from the player aside from choosing what shade of  pink he/she wanted their preferred weapon to be covered in Call of Duty!
It was callled; The Arena Shooter.

So what exactly is an ” Arena Shooter” ?

The term refers to a type of shooter that was created in the early to mid nineties and was the standard for the genre leading up to the early 2000’s. Titles such as Quake, Unreal Tournament, Counter strike, Half Life,Goldeneye, Perfect Dark and Halo.

Arena games are defined by certain traits .

• Small to mid sized maps with an emphasis on equality between the two teams.
• Uniform weapon selection at Spawn ( Unique player unlocked weapons)
• Balanced weapon selection
• Emphasis on twitch reflexes and movement mastery ( Strafing, mid air shooting etc..)

Games like Call of Duty and Battlefield while delivering their own style and flavour have chosen to give gamers a smorgasbord of content that allows a vast amount of both customization and  progression. The gameplay is bolstered by this level of customization but at the cost of balancing. Some guns may start off on equal footing but in the hands of your opponent it may have received modifiers and upgrades that you don’t hence giving him a leg up when the two of you cross paths on the map.

Call of Duty has taken this to another level by not only allowing gun modification but layering on player perks and unique bonuses that your in game avatar can utilize to tip the scales your favor. Perks and bonuses that  your opponent may not possess.

Seriously????!!!

To put this in perspective lets look at a game like HALO. To be fair this franchise has evolved over the years and tested the waters as far as bringing in aspects of newer franchises but at its core it still remains a balanced and true ” Arena Shooter”.

Players do not have ” Perks” that can be unlocked through play and although ” Armor Abilities” are considered similar, the fact that they are not as plentiful and can be accessed equally by everyone in the game balances them out. Weapon procurement is also a finely tuned aspect of the game with all of  the potentially OP weapons spawning on the map in some shape or another for all players to have access to and your starting tools of destruction being the same regardless of your level of progression in the game. There is no weapon customization of any kind and the game is better for it.

Map layout is clean and tight with every hallway and open area given careful thought by the developers. The maps have been crafted with balance in mind as opposed top graphical flair and theme. Its almost as though the developers created a ” lego block version” of the map to ensure fair play and balance then wrapped a thematic skin over it to give it flavor. Each map plays like a true arena for your virtual selves to wage war like two teams hitting the Ice in a hockey game; albeit with Assault rifles instead of Hockey sticks.

Arena Map design at its finest
Arena gameplay also tends to skew more towards the methodical and premeditated  versus the crazy run and gun that you see with a lot of the new modern military shooters.  With this in mind Ubisoft is poised to bring Arena gameplay to the fore forefront of  modern military shooters with its upcoming release of Rainbow Six Siege.

Rainbow six has a long history in the competitive community and has garnered huge accolades for its tactical, tight and steep skill requirements to master. While that franchise fell from grace last gen with the Rainbow Six: Vegas instalments Ubisoft is looking to return to its roots with Siege.

Rainbow Six Sige is a tactical Military shooter that shares a lot in common with its Arena based brethren ;from what we have seen of the game so far). Map design that serves to affect gameplay and not just look good. Limited Respawns to ensure a slower more methodical pace and an emphasis on teamwork over run and gun gameplay. This could be the perfect amalgam of the Military Shooter and the classic Arena gameplay that started the FPS boom.

No matter what your tastes are this generation is sure to deliver something that you can enjoy and I for one am glad to see that some developers are taking a moment to pause amidst all the fanboy screams and craft some experiences that harken back to a time when multiplayer gaming required a certain amount of skill and not just a battle of ” Who has the bigger gun”.

Dwayne” EVO Knight” Morash

Oh HALO…how art thou?

I remember a time when you could not talk to anyone who owned an XBOX ( original) without the conversation steering towards HALO and how awesome that game was.

HALO was the first  FPS that actually made people stop and pay attention to these ugly boxes that us console players hooked up  to our TV’s and ushered in a new era for shooters on a console.

For many years HALO was the bar for any aspiring franchises when it came to FPS games and story as well as finely tuned multi player. Now we all know that newer games eventually come out and with a new generation of console ( XBOX360 , PS3) comes with it new contenders for the throne of FPS king.  As it sits now HALO is now a niche game that cultivates a loyal fan base but is not the mass market ” go to shooter’ as it once was. Sadly that title resides in the deep pockets of Activision and their Call of Duty Franchise while HALO struggles to prove itself like a contestant on Survivor.

And so is the story of HALO.

The real sadness of this however is that the once united legion of HALO fans themselves have turned against the franchise and have taken it upon themselves to judge the series and hand down heavy-handed criticism of the current state of the game.

HALO belongs to the fans now …and the fans don’t like the game!

sadly HALO REACH …..” A face only a mother could love”

Since its introduction back in 2001 , HALO has undergone many changes to its gameplay and formula as a whole.The game still carries with it all the core qualities that made it successful but the developers have always pushed it forward as far as presentation and story telling.

Multi player is the most controversial part of the package because not all the changes and tweaks to the formula have been received with open arms.

Perhaps the game that really put organized competitive gaming on the map ; HALO  was placed under a microscope . Players analyzed every aspect of what made the game tick right down to ” hit detection” ” respawn times” and ” shield regen”. If you played HALO competitively you had a stake in what changes got made to the game in every version.

All of these opinions reached a fever pitch with the release of HALO: REACH in 2010. This was the HALO game that took the franchise in a bold new direction. It was the first game in the series NOT to feature the franchises poster boy ” Master Chief” as the main character of the narrative and the changes to multi player where bold and refreshing…and ultimately killed the game.

REACH introduced elements that where popular in the current market of FPS. Persistent XP, unlockable skins and…Loadouts not to mention signifigant graphical upgrades over previous games.

The concept of a player being able to tweak his in-game load out to cater to his or her style of play was not in itself a new concept but other games had done it prior to HALO and while it served them well in their respective games it did not sit well with HALO fans who were used to an equal playing field on spawn and weapon procurement on the map was the status quo.

To be fair, REACH didn’t go to far into hat territory but ventured far enough to give players a taste of what those mechanics would feel like in the confines of a HALO game.
ARMOR  ABILITYS   where a way to customize your spartan in multi player. The concept was awesome. Each Spartan warrior had the ability to choose from a selection of abilities that bounded with them at the beginning of each match ( although you could tweak the settings to make them pick ups on map) and included some cool powers like a jet pack, a drop shield( invisible barrier that repels anything thrown at it) and the ability to sprint and turn invisible.

armor abilitys….not so much ?

Who would have thought that the HALO crowd would not like these additions. Not only that but the fact that HALO  REACH did away with some traditional weaponry ( the Battle Rifle) pushed fans away in droves.

Between weapon omissions and some dramatic tweaks to the multi player formula HALO has been abandoned even by its Hardcore fans.

HALO 1 and HALO 2 servers are no longer available to the XBOX community as Microsoft has pulled the plug on them.
This leaves the HALO fan base crammed into 2 potential titles to spend their days with and in light of the reaction to HALO REACH’s tweaks and changes most players are flooding back to HALO 3; which is widely viewed as the best game in the series ( HALO 2 is actually the most beloved but being unable to play online makes it obsolete)

There is light at the end of this tunnel and that comes in the form of the highly anticipated HALO4. There have been some details on HALO4 that have come to light and thus far it looks to be on a good track.

I recently sat in on a community broadcast of some of the communities most high-profile players and was shocked to hear them offering up criticism on a game that had yet to launch. Some of the issues they had with the yet to be released HALO 4 where that it will be using an armor ability system similar to HALO REACH. These prolific members of the community proceeded to rip HALO 4 apart piece by piece and showed no mercy when analyzing some of the rumored and confirmed changes that we’re coming down the pip.

Should HALO change at all if this is how we react !?

I myself am disgusted over the state of the community and how they are treating a once beloved franchise. They act as if they have been betrayed and even going so far as to announce their boycotting of the franchise unless it returns to its original roots.

HALO 4….” He’s Baaaaaack”

I think that all of these opinions have tarnished the appeal of the game but undeservedly.

Competitive play has also been effected by this. The powers that be who run the industries most popular competitive gaming business ( sorry guys it’s not EGU…yet) have even removed it from their summer line up and for the first time since the game arrived on their circuit no one will be playing HALO in a live event!

HALO truly has become the “Underdog”

With HALO 4 arriving in November we will all be able to see if it can return to form; not only from a gameplay and mechanics point of view but more importantly from the viewpoint of community and fan support.

Try as I might to avoid the cliché’ , it really does fit the situation and I myself await ” The Return of the King”

Dwayne” EVO Knight” Morash

Binary Domain Full written Review

Entertainment in this day and age comes with a certain amount of expectations from the consumer. Whether you are going to a  movie theatre or purchasing a DVD to watch at home we all expect to get a fair return on the price we pay for that entertainment. Of course as the prices of entertainment increases ( Have you gone to an IMAX 3-D movie lately?!?!?) so do those expectations and thus that brings us to the most heavily scrutinized for of media today. The Video Game.

Current store pricing on your average game is approx $59.99 and your average gamer may as well be a ” Video Game accountant”  because he/she is counting every penny when it comes to making sure his value is accounted for after purchasing it!
Binary Domain is one of those games that put all the marbles it could into one basket and the left over marbles got put into the same basket and rolled off the top; leaving us with….well a full basket of marbles! I am of course referring to the two aspects of the game ; Single player campaign and multi player versus ( there is a co-op mode but hardly worth mentioning since its nothing we havent seen before)

The ability to weave a finely written narrative into a Hi Tech shooter has only been accomplished by a few lucky franchises that I can think of. The HALO franchise stands as a shining example of this feat and few others have mastered the art ( Gears of War deserves a mention as well). Shooters by their very nature aren’t meant to deliver that type of experience but that doesn’t stop developers from pushing the limits and dosing the massive amounts of action and shooting with some emotional moments meant to draw us in further to world they have crafted.
My expectations going in to Binary Domain where minimal. I was fully expecting the short list of offenses ; Bad story, Bad voice acting, stereotypical characters, and predictable plot. To my surprise I only got one of those right and I’m not going to tell you which one it is so you’ll have to play it to find out which one.

The setting of the game is 20 years into the future and mankind is now co existing with robots that have taken up a multitude roles in our day-to-day routine. Imagine the movie ” I Robot” and you have a good starting point for the game.

The robot designs are very similar in fact and the world we live in has survived tragedy in the form of massive flooding and destruction of major cities. Mankind has rebuilt with the help of our robot “Brethren” and life moved on.Robots are a integral part of all life on Earth

You play the role of Dan Marshall; an Ex Military Bad Ass who has acquired the nickname ” The survivor” due to his ability ( or luck) to get out of some pretty nasty situations. His nickname is well deserved as you find out through the course of the game.

Dan and his partner ” Bo” are inserted into a Neo Tokyo setting on the hunt for a CEO of a Mega corporation who is suspected of violating the Geneva convention against creating Robots that look and act  like humans.These laws were put into place to ensure that technology did not out pace human evolution and it was agreed that as science evolved there needed to be some parameters governing it.

Dan Marshall the “Survivor”

Dan and his friend work for the IRTA ; a task force appointed to eliminate robot threats against the Geneva convention. The game begins with Dan and Bo meeting up with the rest of a UN appointed team and together you all form what is known as a ” Rust Crew”.

The ” Rust Crew”

The story in Binary Domain is dripping with all sorts of awesomeness! My temptation is to narrate the entire story in this review because it is in fact that good. It will have you shaking your head at the crazy action set pieces and even listening closely to cut scenes so you can hope to uncover some piece of info about whats coming next ( trust me, you don’t want to skip these cut scenes as they are filled with witty dialogue and very well done acting moments). This is one of the few games that you actually smile at some of the situations you end up in and some of the events that transpire. The developers have done an amazing  job in making you feel attached to Dan as an extension of you in the game and combined with the games mechanics; you too feel like a bad ass ” survivor”

There are plenty of twists and turns and I was on the edge of my seat right to the very end. The story never drags on too much and your ongoing journey from the lower levels of Tokyo’s post destruction state all the way to the upper shiny levels of the Corporations main offices gives you a sense of real progression. Your not re-treading the same old locations and even though you face endless swarms of robots ; there is enough variance in design and capabilities that you aren’t bored.
The  game also tackles some pretty heady material that will give you pause and think about. Racial analogies and questions about evolution and the future of our own society are all thrown on the table for us to experience through the eyes of our virtual character. This is Heavy stuff for a shooter!

Another cool feature that is built into the game is the voice recognition system. Forgoing the current trend to integrate Kinect voice commands into the game the developers chose simply to use existing technology and give us a system that allows us to issue pre scripted voice commands to our squad mates during combat. This is done by holding down LB ( on the 360 controller) and speaking any of the four commands available. This feature actually works well assuming you are in a quiet room and have a decent microphone in use. The fact remains thought that you are by yourself playing a single player game talking to your screen. No amount of polish can make someone not feel a tiny bit foolish and I caught myself looking over my shoulder several times. Good thing the game give you the ability to issue those commands via button press instead. Still it was cool to see them use technology in a manner that drew you into the game more than just clicking buttons.

From a technical point of view the game also shines. While it doesn’t have the graphic fidelity of Gears of War ( a game in the same vein as this game) it does not have poor graphics by any stretch of the matter. Being that your primary opponent in this game will be robots ( or scrap heads as everyone affectionately calls them) there is an amazing opportunity to showcase the level of detail the developers put into the shooting mechanics. Dan and company will cover slide, roll, and vault behind barricades and walls and other forms of cover all the while blasting away at robots.

The robots in question don’t simply scream and flop over like an alien menace in other games…no no; the robots will crumble and fall a part limb by limb as you target various parts of its body. Yes even the heads can be shot off separately without killing the robot and you can watch as its targeting system goes haywire and he proceeds to start shooting at everything around him including fellow robots!I even had a situation where I had destroyed the robot’s entire lower torso and it still didn’t die but rather proceeded to crawl after me just like something out of the movie Terminator. Very cool !

Character animations are top-notch both during cust-scenesand in-game. Of particular note I should mention that the facial details and expressions of the characters during the cut scenes are fabulous. A real sense of emotion has been conveyed through the character models and the way the camera is moved around the “scene” much like a hollywood movie.

Not just a pretty face…he can act as well!

If there is one area that this game overthrows any other game in the genre its this one. I felt drawn into the situations these characters where in almost as much as someone watching a movie would. The camera was constantly shifting throughout these scenes and at several points you actually are given the reigns to control Dan when it looked like it was simply a scripted event ( always pay attention as several times I was tasked with a QTE in the middle of a cut scene un expectantly )

To address the multi player component I have posted a separate  review that you can find by clicking here  as I felt it deserved its own review and not wanting to detract from the praise I was heaping on this game with the campaign review. As a quick summary I can tell you that the Multi player is fun albeit generic looking. Server stability as of this writing is in an awful state with lag issues wrecking Havoc and hit detection reduced to hoping you hit teleporting enemies. The biggest disappointment is that the games population is so miniscule that you can barely get into a match. There are no formal message boards on the games official site either so the community is unable to reach out to one another.

So after purchasing this title and completing the campaign I can safely say that I have gotten my moneys worth from this product. Multi player is simply icing on the cake at this point and wether the issues they are having ever get fixed ; in my books that’s okay. I hope that everyone takes a step back at looks at this product in the way I have.

I know that many of this generations gamers will look past the most fantastic elements of this game and focus on its faults ( ie.Multi player) but ironically this is the one shooter that I would recommend not worrying about the multi player component and simply immerse yourself in the world that is Binary Domain.

ED.Note: Make sure you sit in your seat past the ending credits to get an idea as to where the Developers are going with this new Franchise.

Technical Presentation

Audio: A pleasant mix of pop and electronica mixed with swelling orchestral music when the moment is right. The game has excellent ambient noises like footsteps and other effects and the splintering of robotic parts never gets old.

Video: While not the best looking game in the past year it has an anime feel without going to over the top. It boasts some of the best facial animations I have seen in a game in a long time and the ability to shred a robot of all its armor before finishing it off showcases its graphical punch.

Final Thoughts: Binary Domain is a great kick off to 2012 as far as shooters goes. All areas have impressed me and I almost want to dive in for a second play through. Very few games in this genre has made me say that and most single player campaigns in this genre are usually an obligation to get out-of-the-way before jumping online. In Binary’s case its the other way around and one of the best stories I have experienced in this genre.

Final Grade: 90%

 

Dwayne” EVO Knight” Morash