Month: December 2016

Outland Co-op is also outstanding

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

 

If you don’t know Outland then shame on you for missing out on an awesome game with beautiful graphics and well composed music that sets the atmosphere very well. Outland was originally on the PC, Xbox and PS. It’s a 2D dynamic platformer game. Read our previous blog to learn everything you need to know concerning this game.

Recently X35 Earthwalker and Diamondz L45 played Outland in co-op mode online. At first we expected it to be only the co-op challenges that you find through out the single player story but we were wrong. Co-op is actually the full story but with two people. You discover secrets together, fight together, get power ups together and best of all, take down bosses together. The whole exciting experience but with a friend to help you.

The only difficult thing about co-op is that you don’t share the money. This means when you come across power ups, at times maybe only one of you can afford the power up. This is annoying as they could have made the game share the money but this just adds some factors to the game. Taking on the huge bosses together is like the most exciting part of co-op. It feels like a rematch. Bosses don’t take as much damage as in single player though, so the both of you have to really mess them up and strike together.

As you do come across the co-op portals you can accept the co-op challenges. These are unique to co-op only. These challenges vary and we assume get more difficult. The first one was to see how well you and your partner handles splitting up to grab coins, fight weak enemies and make it to the end together. So basically communication. It was honestly a lot of fun. X35 Earthwalker took the top path while Diamondz L45 took the bottom path. It turned into a race half way through, until we got to the part with the switches where one must open a section for the other to then reach another switch. Then both must make it to the end together. Off course you get a score for your performance at the end to brag about. 

Maybe the best part of co-op is that fact that both characters don’t look the same. The second player (or client player) controls a man who wears 3/4 shorts which are quite baggy. Then when you get the light spirit your character looks exactly like the man from 20,000 years ago. The tribal skirt thing, the head band feathers and everything. This was X35 Earthwalkers favourite part. The man also folds his arms just like that man as well. You feel like an absolute boss playing that guy. It shows the developers went through extra effort to create another character and not just a clone. Also the character you control glows to signify which one is yours at all times.

Overall co-op is so far extremely great. X35 Earthwalker looks forward to going through the whole thing in co-op now. It’s like a new experience instead of a repeat. If you have the game then you have to try co-op after doing the single player because you won’t regret it. Just when we thought Outland couldn’t get any better. Once again the developers ‘Housemarque’ did an outstanding job and we encourage you guys to continue making awesome games like this. Hopefully a sequel to this comes out soon as well. This game has to be checked out.

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Lightning truly returns

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

 

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy is an awesome game developed by ‘Square Enix’ and was released in 2013 for Xbox 360 and PS3. X35 Earthwalker himself loves this game but like with other great games there is also some weak spots in the game. We have been playing the game again recently and we made some huge progress. About to face Caius in an ultimate swordsman battle. If you want to play this game then make sure you can do the following things: good reflexes, good multi tasking, good memory and persistent. If you don’t then you can still play but things will be a bit harder. 

Lightning truly returns and boy does she know how to make an entrance. Basically you play Lightning who has been chosen by Bhunivelze to be the saviour who is tasked with bringing souls from the world to the next life. As the saviour she has the power to take people’s souls and immense strength and other powers. This is because the end of the world is here. The world has only 6 days left and time doesn’t wait for you making this a game where you can’t stay still. You must work fast and act fast. Use your days awisely and ecide what order to complete quests and anything else. The story in this game is very well done and it all adds up nicely together. Within this time you must save as many souls as you can. This can be done by completing quests for them. Some people need to gain hope again. Some need a certain item returned to them to inspire them. Some have unfinished business and it’s all up to you to help them out. Each soul you collect increases your stats: hp, strength and magic. There is numerous quests to complete and you better complete them for several reasons. First, you need to complete the game. Second, you need to boost your stats otherwise you won’t be able to beat any boss. Third because if you complete main quests you can extend the amount of days you have till the end of the world. We heard it can be extended up to by 7 more days. The many quests is why you need to be good and remembering and multi tasking as the quests can all pile on meaning, many things to do.

The graphics in this game are wonderful. The characters look so well designed. The details that went into the levels and areas are so great. The special effects look real good as well. The developers did really good for the time it was released. The sounds are on time and appropriate all contributing to the setting and mood of the game. The music isn’t the best from the franchise but still well done. It does help set the atmosphere in the area you are in. The A.I in this game are good, we can say. They are all doing their own things and look different from each other (we expect that from games as great as final fantasy). There are 4 different areas for the player to explore: Luxerion, Yusnaan, The wildlands and the dead dunes. What we love at X35 Earthwalker is always variety. Each of those areas are so different from each other. Luxerion is a peaceful city where entire groups wait patiently for the end with prayers and hope. A nice simple place. Yusnaan is the exact opposite. Here, it’s parties, shows and celebrations all the time. They don’t seem to care. The wildlands is pure nature, fields and hunters. It’s like a small safari and looks lovely but danger is lurking around. The dead dunes is actually dead. Lots of sand, rocks, bones and runes. Only thing to do here is explore really. Different enemies but we wish for them to be more distinctly different from each other.

The combat is the main thing here. Like with final fantasy 13 and 13-2, the enemy appears and you get the chance to strike it first before fighting it. If you do then the enemy will start with 10% less health and 25% if you strike them without them knowing you were there. The actual fight is where the good reflexes come in handy. You have 3 schemata, basically battle sets. Each set you design and can have different abilities, stats, weapons and accessories. So for example you could design a schemata which focuses on heavy defense so you may equip the heavy guard ability and give a shield that has really high guard resistance to make enemy attacks do practically nothing. Recommend having a defensive, magic based and attack based schematas to make things easier. With one button you can switch between them at any time to suit the situation. So switch to your defensive for when you want to block a series or powerful attacks then switch back to your offensive ones. On top of that you must handle staggering enemies, exploiting their weaknesses and giving enemies ailments or removing your own. Things get tricky but mastering this part of the game will set you up nicely for everything else. Lastly if you block at the same time as an attack hits you, you greatly reduce the damage you receive and most of time take no damage at all.

The bosses in this game are definitely epic battles. When you face off against the likes of Noel, Snow, powerful monsters and off course Caius the guardian, it feels so epic especially with the music going trough your head. These guys no a thing or two about how to kill their enemies. When facing a boss, you can’t just rush your enemies and win. Nope, not at all. The difficulty is almost like final fantasy 13 where every fight is hard, long and strategic. You will need to not only use your 3 schematas but also create the right ones for the boss. You must block the attacks perfectly as much as possible to survive, you must exploit their weaknesses and do it all quick. If you need help then use your recovery items to add buffs or just regain health. Last of all use your EP abilities to your advantage. EP abilities range from completely healing you (curaga), damage all enemies and launch them into the air (quake) and over cloak which is the signature ability which slows down time for everything and everyone but lightning. Collect EP from completing big quests and replenish it from defeating enemies.

The schemata system is easy to understand and build. You can build up to 8 schematas (excluding the 3 active ones) we believe and keep them stored so you can just swap out your schematas whenever you want. Garbs are the main body of your schemata, not only are they different outfits but some come with their own abilities (like ‘flood’) and effects like increased damage resistance. Some are better than others concerning stat boosts and abilities but when others are better in terms of style and looks. Seriously they really range from fancy to warrior looking clothes. Go with your own style. The game has a save wherever you want feature which is very good and most gamers love that feature. Also there is a lot of accessories (adornments) to collect and wear. You could have an awesome looking ton berry lantern attached to lightnings cloths or get a tiara or crown and bunch of other stuff. There is a lot of options. 

Overall this game is awesome and we love it. Some may find it difficult and we agree as it is, due to having a time limit and having multiple things to focus on at once. This final fantasy game is definitely different from the others and if any fans haven’t played it yet, we encourage you to play it. Lightning is still herself, strong and powerful. ‘Square Enix’ did a very great job. There is so much to say about this but we will leave it here. 

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Get req’d with Halo 5

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

 

Warzone and Warzone assault in Halo 5 Guardians is pretty much the most popular multiplayer mode in the game. So far everyone we know likes it and plays it quite frequently. It’s like big team battle but with much more. Two teams of 12 battle it out on a constantly active battlefield. There are A.I enemies that cause trouble but grant points when defeated. There are 3 locations to capture. A big main one that usually is the center of the match and two smaller ones for red and blue team. Capturing these bases will get your team points and it’s an additional place where you can use your reqs (Requesitions).   

Reqs are the main features of Warzone. There are reqs for your armour (power ups), weapons and vehicles. Each one has to some extent the ability to even things up or turn the tide of a battle once used correctly. The reqs are ranged from common to legendary. The reqs also have levels signifying what level you have to be in order to use them. As you kill enemy spartans, A.I and complete objectives you gain points which will allow you to level up. Starting from req 1 which ends at req 9. Also most req cards have tiers as well with tier 3 cards being more powerful than the lower level tiers. Higher level tiers normally have extra abilities. The efforts of your team will contribute to your level as well. For example if anyone kills a boss then, you get points as well. This all adds up. So keep working together, keep slaying and doing well and you’ll get access to the most powerful reqs fast.

Vehicle reqs are most likely considered the most powerful as first of all, they are vehicles meaning, tougher to kill and unlimited firepower. There are so many vehicles to choose from and the choices only get more difficult as the match continues to change and depending on what your enemy has got on their side. You have fast traveling vehicles like warthogs, ghosts and gungooses. Warthogs have a driver, passenger and a gunner. That’s just a regular warthog, higher tier warthogs have a needler gun and shields while the oni warthog has explosive rounds. Heavy killing machines like tanks just straight up kill everything. Higher tier tanks have stronger armour, faster rate of fire and even an experimental laser firing tank. Flying vehicles have the clear elevation advantage combined with mobility. All flying vehicles are pretty much fast, hit hard and leaves quickly. Banshees swoop in bombs and then runs. Wasps are more like support vehicles for foot soldiers laying down light damage. All vehicles instantly gain all players attention (well they should). Make sure to take them out first.

Weapon reqs range from being completely annoying to down right dangerous. Everything from powerful pistols to rockets to sniper rifles. This means that weapons are the most versatile and can there fore change situations the most. For example if you need to clear out a small base owned by some spartans then a plasma caster is create as it can bounce around corners and explode very well. Higher tier plasma casters like the ‘White scar’ can turn shots into mines making some areas unavailable. Rocket launchers can do the job as well. Higher tier rockets can home in on vehicles, fire multiple shots and more. The sniper rifle can one shot spartans from anywhere as long as it hits the head. Req weapons get even better as their are some mythic reqs which are clearly in a league of it’s own. For example the ‘Nornfang’ is a sniper rifle that instantly kills any spartan it hits, even if you hit the toe, that spartan will die. Tartarus’s gavel is a gravity hammer that release shockwaves with each swing extending the range of devastation. Spank prime is a Rocket launcher is the ‘Spanker prime’ which increases jump height, movement speed and shield strength while equipped. There are more and they are all truly worthy of the name mythic.

Power up reqs are personal upgrades to your armour but are temporary. These are speed boost, over shields, active camo and damage boost. Speed boost increase your movement speed, reload speed and weapon switch speed. Over shields adds an extra layer of shields just like in previous halo games making you harder to kill. Active camo, camouflages your spartan making them near invisible but the fast you move the more visible you become. Damage boost increases the damage of your weapons, melee and vehicles. The scariest part is that each of these can stack to make them more effective, except for active camo and over shields. If you combine three speed boosts, you become super fast. your slide ability is drastically enhanced. You literally become lightning. Damage boost combined will really increase damage to the point where things just kill too fast. So imagine combining certain vehicle and weapon reqs with these armour upgrades. A sniper rifle with damage boost can become like a home made nornfang, able to one shot anyone it hits. An energy sword combined with speed boost makes a lightning fast swordsman. It’s up to you to create new combinations. 

Some reqs are outshined by others. For example there is no need to use a supressor when you could have a plasma pistol to take down shields or a open hand or closed fist bolt shot. They all kill faster than a supressor, even the higher tier one. You don’t A whip lash railgun almost always trumps any other req card in most situations at level 4. Who get a sentinel beam when the blood of suban kills faster and better. A rocket almost always wins. A appetite for destruction saw gun can’t stand up to any of the rockets, even at mid range. Some higher tiers of weapons are not that better at all. For example the hail storm (tier two needler) is better than the tier 3 needler (talon of the lost) in pretty much every way. The hail storm fires faster moving needles at a faster rate which track and home in better than talon of the lost. Most players we have asked can’t even figure out why talon of the lost is the tier 3. Even to this day even X35 Earthwalker doesn’t know why. This is something that needs to be sorted out though. Some req items aren’t that useful at all but that’s just some. We at X35 Earthwalker encourage all gamers to try them all and see what works best for them.

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Adventure on Clover island

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

 

Skylar & Plus: Adventure on clover island is new 3D action platformer coming out on Xbox, PC and PS4 in January 2017. This game was developed by ‘Right Nice Games’. You play ‘Skylar Lynxe’ who is the hero of this game who is a reluctant about it. She was captured by the villainous CRT who modified her and gave her that mechanical arm. Fighting against CRT and his henchmen will be quite the feat. Good thing she isn’t alone. She has an unlikely sidekick (who’s a owl by the way) called ‘Plux Owlsley’ and their aim is to save their newfound home from being turned into a wasteland by CRT.

Straight away you can tell that this game’s strong point is the characters. Kind of like with crash bandicoot. You don’t mind how wacky everything is, you just like the character and want to know more about them. If they appeared on a can of drink, you would think about buying the drink just because of them. This games graphic style is very good and looks less digital and more art like. The artistic side comes out especially when you look at the waterfalls and rocks it looks like it was drawn while other things like mechanical enemies look definitely digital. Knowing when to use one or the other is very important. The sceneries and settings of the levels all look like they are full of life and maybe theirs a squirrel nearby in the jungle area. You will travel across multiple areas in this game from beaches and volcanoes to mountains and deserts. We at X35 Earthwalker always love variety in games. It’s always more exciting to travel across completely different areas so good job developers.

Off course you must collect gadgets to traverse the world and help you overcome CRT. We knew it would be gadgets as the main character is mostly mechanical. We imagine the gadgets will merge with the suit and mechanical arm. Some of the gadgets are the jet pack, time orb and magnetic glove to help you progress and fight against CRT’s henchmen. The game is only single player. The game has quite a bit of comedy and does it quite well. The kind of comedy that shows just how silly some of the characters can be. It makes you chuckle whether the jokes are bad or not. So far we am liking the look of the game and want to see what becomes of it.

This game is worth checking out.

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UIR Pack? Not happy!

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

 

The UIR pack for gears of war 4 was released on the 22nd of December 2016 and boy did it bring a lot of disappointment and complaints. The problem isn’t what the pack contains as there are some cool looking stuff. The epic characters look really cool in fact. The UIR elite especially looks like some elite forces for sure and that he alone could blow some stuff up. The problem is the price. One pack costs 4400 coins! That’s outrageous, even for those characters. That’s more than the golden elite packs which costs 3500. It’s basically the price of 11 horde booster packs. X35 Earthwalker even said that he would rather buy the 11 horde booster packs every time. The fact that you get the gold coins very slowly in the game doesn’t help at all. One social match earns you around 70-80 coins so you will need to play at least 55 matches to get there. That’s ridiculous by anyone’s standards. Even playing horde wave 1 through to 50 would even get you half of the amount you need to get the UIR pack. You will have to do 50 waves three times and we all know just how hard that is. It’s such a shame.

Many season pass players are upset that they don’t get this stuff for free or even a a discount and are questioning why they even bought the season pass. However the price is a big problem but not the biggest problem at all. The biggest problem is that the pack doesn’t guarantee you the 3 characters and the skins. Nope!! It’s all random. This means that you will have to spend over 10000 coins to try and get everything and 3 attempts will not get you everything at all. This means that you can’t rely on your coins to get them. The only other option is to buy them using real money. That’s right. The price is £8.39 per pack. That’s more than 4 one leg and chips at a chicken shop. That’s more than games on the Xbox store. That’s travel money right there. Now some will say that that’s not much but that depends on your situation. Many players feel excluded from UIR pack and many aren’t able to get it at all. It’s like letting only a few children in on the new toys while the rest can’t play with them. It’s not fair. All this stuff just have to stop. If you go online, you will see the responses and experience of other gamers concerning the UIR pack.

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Gears of war 4 Horde 3.0 Classes

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

 

Gears of war 4 is going on strong and most gamers seem to be happy so far with only a few complaints. X35 Earthwalker himself is very vocal about this. What many consider to be the hardest thing about this game is completing horde mode. Normal difficulty is too hard for just your standard gamer. Hardcore difficulty is is impossible for most gamers while ‘insane’ difficulty is impossible unless you have a fully organised team who communicate and has some moves on them (skills). Our favourite part of horde is the class skill system. This must have been carried over from gears of war Judgement but improved. You can be any class you want with any character you want. For example if you select ‘Hoffman’, you can make him any class you want.

There are five classes in horde. They are: Soldier, Engineer, Heavy, Sniper and Scout. Each one has their own strengths (obviously). To complete or stand a chance against normal, hardcore and insane, you will need to have high skills for the class you want to be and in order to do that, you must play as that class to level up to unlock extra skill slots (max = 5) and collect horde skill cards from booster packs. The skills for your class add small extras that add up like reduced reloading time,  increased weapon damage, more ammo or even fabricator abilities. We must say though that the fabricator abilities can really be game changers. If you choose to master all classes then that’s up to you. We truly prefer to have at least two or three classes and focus on building them up instead.

Scout is basically the one who never stays still. They are in charge of collecting fabricator energy as they can have the skill to get extra energy everytime they drop it off at the fabricator. So a high level Scout can change a 1000 energy drop off into a 1500 energy drop off. That extra amount can make a difference. The Scout has power skills that when combined are destructive that you may mistake the Scout for the main assaulter. They also have other skills that, makes your health regenerate faster, increase movement speed, increase shotgun damage, increase your health and more. There are two epic skills for the Scout: Rage and X-Ray. Rage allows you to gain health whenever you deal melee or shotgun damage while X-Ray allows you to see enemies through walls while in Tac-Com. When you combine 5 different skills together you can make an invincible Scout. You could combine Rage, health regeneration, health boost, brawler and shotgun damage to make a near impossible to kill, close range monster. 

Heavy is the one that dishes out heavy damage with big guns and explosives for days. If there’s a big monster that needs taking out (and not to dinner) the call in the heavy. Heavys have skills that boost there explosive and heavy weapons damage making them even stronger than before. At a high enough level your boom shot will be able to to pretty much one shot everything. Don’t get me started on what happens when you give a high level heavy a salvo. They also have skills that, increase explosive weapon capacity, increase turret damage, increase turret capacity, increase your damage dealt to marked targets and more. There are two epic skills for the heavy: Mortar strike and Pistol Expert. Mortar strike is a fabricator ability that calls down mortars to strike and harm numerous enemies all at once. Pistol Expert increases the damage dealt with the pistol per bullet. When you combine 5 different skills together you can make an endless explosive Heavy. You could combine explosive launcher capacity, explosive launcher damage, Explosive launcher reload, marked damage and mortar strike to make a grim reaper who constantly keeps blowing things up regardless of where they are.

Sniper is obviously the sniper who relies on the headshots bring things down real quick or finish them off. When there is something at a distance that has a head, a sniper will be able to one shot it. Snipers have skills that boost the damage of sniper weapons like markza and sniper rifle and the damage that headshots do. A high level sniper can help thin out the horde before they get to the team. They also have skills that, reduce the reload time of precision, increase the number of enemies you can mark, fabricator ability to mark all enemies at once and a bit more. There are two epic skills for the sniper: Explosive headshot and Sniper strike. Explosive headshot makes any kill by headshot explode damaging anything nearby. Sniper strike is a fabricator ability that allows you to hit numerous enemies with sniper shots to the head. When you combine 5 different skills together you make a one shot one kill marksman. You could combine precision rifle damage, headshot damage, precision rifle capacity, precision rifle reload and sniper strike to make the sounds on shattering skulls a constant tune for your team to listen to.

Engineer is the one who is in charge of building and maintaining the base and it’s fortifications. When you want a turret, barricade or to repair then the engineer is hands down the best at it. Engineers have skills that increase the health of fortifications that he/she builds (it has to be the engineer), reduces the cost of fortifications that he/she builds and some more. A high level Engineer can prevent anything from being destroyed and make the base defend its self. They also have skills that increase sentry capacity, reduce sentry cost, increase sentry firing rate and efficiency of the repair tool. There are no epic skills for the Engineer. When you combine 5 different skills together you can become the best building/repair man ever known. You could combine the repair boost, two turret skills and two sentry skills to make machines of mass destruction which will be hard to kill if you are nearby.

Soldiers are the ones who fight main combat force of your team. There job is to fight, fight and fight some more. They lay down heavy fire and protect your team. Soldiers have skills that enhance the traditional fighting style of gears of war. There are skills that increase the damage bonus you get for getting an active reload, reduce the amount of damage they take when in cover making you harder to kill while giving out more damage. A high level soldier can take down anything with ease become the wall you need between your team and the horde. They have skills that increase rifle ammo capacity, increase rifle magazine size, increases the damage of grenades, increases the amount of grenades you can carry and more. The soldier has one epic skill and it’s the most epic of them all:. It’s called ‘Hammer strike’. Hammer strike is a fabricator ability that allows you to call in a hammer of dawn on numerous enemies, destroying them all like a boss. When you start combining the different skills you can make a true slayer of every kind of monster. You could combine rifle damage with rifle ammo capacity and grenade damage with grande capacity and finally with hammer strike to make it so that little enemies and big enemies can be taken out in an instance and save your team when surrounded.

The soldier is by far our favourite class and is also the favourite of N63 Prodigy and X35 Earthwalker himself. Diamondz L45’s favourite is the ‘heavy’. Each class is useful and serve their own purpose; however we feel that the one class that a team can do without is the sniper. Don’t get us wrong they can be destructive but we feel that heaves and soldiers could kill better. Put a sniper in a soldiers hand who has the active reload skill card can do more damage than normal anyway. You only need one scout to collect fabricator energy and doesn’t need another in their way. Have at a least two soldiers, one engineer to hold down the fort at least one heavy to blow stuff up. The combinations are plentiful and what makes hide even more fun. Lastly there are general skills that can be equipped to any class. They are: Build cost which reduces the cost of everything you build with the fabricator, Carry speed which increases your speed while carrying the fabricator or heavy weapons, Execution bonus which increases the amount of energy executed enemies drop, Fortification health which increases the health of all fortifications you built (this stacks with other skills) and Team revive which is a fabricator ability that instantly brings back all downed and dead allies. So many combinations.  

So take it easy with horde and don’t get discouraged if you fail a few times, I am sure everyone has. Keep playing to get the coins to get booster packs and get much stronger. For more information check out the link below:

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Doom is just so good

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

 

DOOM was released the 13th of May 2016. We love this game and even to this day it is still entertaining and can get you excited. The decision to make DOOM similar to the ultimate Doom and Doom 2 was for the best as that’s what all the long time Doom fans are use to and waiting for. Doom 3 and Doom 3 resurrection of evil were good games. Those games took a more survival horror approach and it worked well but just isn’t the Doom formula. DOOM is non stop action where destruction is everywhere.

The campaign has one major flaw… the story. There isn’t much. We know that the previous Doom games were like that. It was a simple story about how you need to kill everything and get from point A to point B and then point C. This isn’t a bad thing. Not every story needs to be big and complicated but with this new DOOM coming out after years, there is more than enough room for something epic to be taking place. Here you are doom guy (off course) and you wake up, chained down on a table/altar thing, to seeing some demon monsters coming for you so you break free and easily kill them. Then you learn that there is a demon outbreak happening in the facility. So you do what doom guy does best… kill everything. The game does a good job of showing that doom guy isn’t a talking character and just pure mad action, pretty much blood lusted all the time. He smashes monitor screens, doesn’t know how to take things out gently and unless you restrain him first, he will attack you. The campaign is just demons after demons and the different types makes things a quite interesting. Explosive barrels carelessly left around for you to use to your advantage and now thanks to the ability to jump, the mobility has been stepped up. Death from above anyone?

All the classic weapons are back. Pistol (no flashlight), shotgun, heavy assault rifle, chain gun, plasma gun, super shotgun (everyone’s favourite), rocket launcher, BFG 9000 and the brand new guass cannon which is basically high accuracy concentrated beam single shot blaster. What’s very new and makes a big impact is the fact that each of the weapons has mods now. Basically some small modifications to the gun. Firstly you must find the mods throughout the campaign. For example the shotgun has two mods: charged shot and explosive shot. The charge shot allows you to briefly charge your shotgun to release 3 rapid fire shots with tighter spread. While the explosive shot allows you to fire a explosive round like a grenade launcher. If that wasn’t enough each of the mods can be upgraded to make them even more devastating. like reducing the charge time for the charge shot to be available, increasing the rate of fire of the burst. Wait! It gets better. When all the upgrades have been done, you get the chance to unlock the final super upgrade by fulfilling certain conditions like hit a certain amount of enemies directly with the explosive shot. Since we at X35 Earthwalker are real nice we will tell you what the final upgrade to the explosive shot mod is. Basically any direct hit with the explosive shot will release cluster bombs that cause extra damage. Great for big demons. So getting all of these things will take some time and keep the player going. We have unlocked all and can confirm that they make things so unfair for the legions of hell.

The multiplayer is crazy. Just like the campaign it’s nothing but fast paced, weapon blasting, destruction. A lot of effort went into multiplayer. The multiplayer actually has some weapons and features that campaign doesn’t have. The new guns for multiplayer are: ‘Vortex rifle’ which is basically a chargeable sniper rifle, ‘Burst rifle’ which is as it’s called a burst firing rifle, ‘Hell shot’ which is an argent energy burst firing weapon that can be like an incendiary launcher also, ‘Lightning gun’ which fires a short range constant stream of electricity and can electrify walls and floors, ‘Static rifle’  which is a precision weapon that gains power when in constant motion so don’t stand still. There is more new ones available but with DLC though, like: the ‘grenade launcher’, ‘Reaper’ which fires hell energy blasts and ‘EMG Mark V’ which is a rapid fire pistol capable of charged shots. With all these weapons plus some guns from the campaign and the fact that you can carry two at a time, some crazy combinations can be made. Like you might want a rocket launcher to harm enemies around corners while having a super shotgun to finish them off for when they do come around that corner. There is also equipment to go along with the weapons. Basically tools that help give you an advantage depending on your play style. For example grenades straight up kills enemies, ‘shield wall’ literally creates a one sided  wall that blocks everything, ‘Hologram’ which is just a decoy for you to trick enemies, ‘Threat sensor’ which makes sounds when an enemy is nearby warning you in advance. There are more equipment like the ‘Tesla rocket’, ‘Siphon grenade’ and ‘Personal teleporter’.

If that wasn’t crazy enough in multiplayer a ‘demon rune’ can appear from time to time. When it does, everyone runs for it and with good reason because whoever is the first to touch the demon rune will transform into the demon they selected in their load out. Each demon is very different from each other and has their own ways of destroying everything. Each has a good amount of hit points (some have considerably more) and can pretty much kill everything in one attack. The Revenant relies on it’s shoulder mounted rocket launchers to blow the competition away. The ‘baron of hell’ is all melee action and can send a fire spikes through the ground. The ‘lurker’ can dash through the air and cling to walls, pouncing on everyone and carrying players away to their death. The ‘Mancubus’ is slow but has powerful blasters that obliterate foes, be careful not to over heat the guns though. So watch out for the demon rune as it can easily change the tide of a match in or against your favour.

The best thing about DOOM is ‘Snapmap’. This has to be the heart of DOOM. It’s basically like Halo’s forge mode. You get to build whatever levels you want with so many options available. You could make a survival level where hordes of demons keep coming and you must survive. You could make a a giant maze filled with invincible enemies and the player must find the exit to win. You could make a level where the player must seek and find a key or button to unlock doors and find more keys for more doors. Best of all you could make a story mode like level, with monsters, objectives and even a survival section all in one. The best part is that this is all community based. Meaning you can create levels for other Doom players to play and even rate the levels. There are over a thousand different maps created for you to play and this is what keep you playing DOOM after campaign and after when you need a break from the multiplayer. Play with your friends or join other people online. So many options and so much to do and try. X35 Earthwalker has even created a map and it’s a challenge. Matter of fact We don’t know if anyone has beat it yet (we haven’t been notified). If you want to try X35 Earthwalkers map then search for ‘get out of there’. The author name is cyber inferno (X35 Earthwalker). Designing your own level isn’t hard either as there are some good tutorials and the options are pretty much self explanatory. Just dive in and give it a go. You could make a mancubus appear by the player entering a certain room or by standing on a certain button. Let your creativity come out.

Overall we really like the game and trust that fans of first person shooters will like it too. For more information check out the link below:

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So which Catherine?

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

 

Catherine is a puzzle platformer adventure game but we say it has some horror elements. This game came out in Japan in February 2011 but in Europe February 2012. This game is excellent and deserved more love from the gaming community than it got. If you like puzzles, cinematics and an extremely interesting story then this should interest you.

Basically in the world of Catherine you play Vincent Brooks, a computer programmer or repairer, not sure but what we do know is that he is in a relationship with long time girlfriend Katherine and the topic of marriage and other big topics are coming up from her. This makes him uncomfortable and can’t avoid the topics anymore but must make a decision. That night he has a strange dream where he is carrying his pillow, in his sleeping shorts and has sheep horns on his head. He is in a strange place where a voice tells him that if he wants to live, he must climb. This isn’t a dream, it’s a nightmare. It certainly doesn’t help that rumours are going around that there’s a dream where if you fall and die, you die for real life. Also a new girl shows up in Vincents life and trouble starts and then gets way out of hand. What’s going on? what’s with this nightmare happening right after the question of marriage? Why is all this happening now? Who will he hold on to? So which Catherine? It gets real good. Trust us.

The game is split into three parts: watching the cinematics, chilling in the bar and tackling the nightmares. The cinematics are very nice and frequent but not too much to where it gets annoying. These cinematics take players through the story and reveals what’s happening in the characters life. We must admit cinematic scenes are very well done and keep our interest. You must pay attention as it reveals clues also to what is really happening in this world. The bar, called ‘the stray sheep’, is where Vincent hangs out and drinks with his buddies. Here is the most important part of the game. You can talk and interact with characters and objects here. These interactions actually make an impact on the game. You get to listen to others and maybe help them with their problems in life. Just saying this though, what we also like about these characters is that their problems are realistic as gamers and viewers of this game can understand and probably even relate too. Here you can also learn secrets and discover new things from conversations. tip from us: Make sure to have at least two drinks as it really helps out in the game.

The night mares is the core of the game and where all the puzzle action comes into play. Here you must climb up the blocks to reach the top of the wall of blocks. To do this you must move, pull and connect block to make paths to get up. This is way easier said than done. The blocks can magically connect at the ends and stay in position, defying gravity, even if nothing is beneath it. You must learn climbing techniques to figure out how to do this. The puzzles and walls get harder over the time (obviously) until you get to points where you may have to scratch your head once or twice. We at X35 Earthwalker strongly suggest that you play in medium difficulty as a minimum as easy mode is far too easy. Hard mode is for fast thinkers and clever gamers or just if you want a challenge. Most exciting in hard mode though. At the end of each nightmare area is a horrifying boss which will terrify any gamer on the first time seeing one. They are all gigantic and will chase you up the wall. Each boss has it’s own special abilities which just makes things all the more panic worthy. Each boss does have a meaning though as some gamers say each one symbolises something. We will leave that to the gamers to figure out.

Wait! There’s more. The blocks are just simple blocks. The main blocks are white blocks which function as normal, nothing special. Dark blocks are heavy and take like 3 times as long to move, costing you time. The dark blocks with faces on them can’t be moved at all, so don’t even try. Trap blocks, which have many little holes, activates when stepped on and if you stay too long or try to move another block while one, then you will die. Ice blocks are slippery and if you move on them you will slide by force all the way until you reach another block, a wall or the edge of the map stage (which means death). Bomb blocks will activate once stepped on and will explode in 3-4 seconds and damage or destroy all other blocks around it which could ruin all your hard work setting up blocks. There are more but gamers must discover them for themselves.

This game has local multiplayer! Babel is for Catherine pros only. This is table banging, control throwing (we didn’t throw ours) head scratching, scream action. You are given the challenge of climbing four towers: altar, Menhir, Obelisk and Axis Mundi. Each level increases in difficulty seriously. The Catherine masters are the ones who can beat Axis Mundi and X35 Earthwalker is one of them. If you want to prove that you are the man of legends then try beating your friends in a one on one climb off where the winner is praised and the loser… well… dies (but not in real life). These are where our biggest laughs come from. Do you play with honour and climb nicely or do you push each other off and fight for survival like animals (or should we say like sheep)? Choose from multiple different levels each with their own unique features and difficulty and just have fun.

The game also has some small things that make big impacts. For example after trying certain beverages in the bar you get real life trivia knowledge about the drink which are great to know. There is a nice bronze, silver and gold system for how well you climb the towers. There are power ups in the story mode and one on one multiplayer which have simple but very powerful effects like the white cube and dark cube allow you to create on one space in front of you. The energy drink allows you to climb two blocks at once. The story has twists and makes things almost impossible to figure out without getting nearer to the end of the game. This is a model game for other developers to look at while and learn from. There is much to say but we will leave it here.

Overall, this game is excellent and we would recommend it to any gamer as we feel in love with after being introduced to it by ‘Diamondz L45’. The developers ‘Atlus’ did a wonderful job. For more information check out the link below:

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Bomberman battlefest is the bomb

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker

 

Bomberman live Battlefest is absolutely crazy. A lot of people have not heard of this game and that’s a shame as it’s something every Bomberman fan should have. Matter of fact this game is in our top 3 Bomberman games of all time. There is no story mode to this game. It’s all good ol fashion bomb blasting multiplayer. This game is the sequel to the successful ‘Bomberman live’. This game is an improvement in every way, literally… except for one thing. The main menu music in the sequel is not as good as the previous game. That’s it though. Seriously, the menu music in Bomber live’ made us want to jam along with the Bomberman and swing our arms in synchronized style. 

There are lots of stages to battle on. You can choose from a pier level, castle level, laser grid like level, volcano, desert, a tropical beach level and more. What’s better is that each level has a gimmick now which changes everything. It’s basically a special condition that stage alone has. For example the pier level’s gimmick is that the stage is no longer a traditional layout but split into 3-4 sections by gaps over water and you can only cross by bridges; however bomb blasts travel across gaps adding more things for players to remember and think about when battling it out. The castle level’s gimmick is that from time to time, a strong wind will blow across the battlefield from top to bottom, blowing out the fuse of all planted bombs, meaning they won’t blow up but can still be set off by other bombs. Crazy stuff like that. So if you are good enough, take the game to the next level with gimmicks. At times it makes things unpredictable and fun.

There is a lot of game types to play. Battle is the classic Bomberman mode we all know and love, where you have to be the last player standing by blowing up your enemies. Paint bomb, where you must use your bombs to change the floor tiles to your colour and be the player who has the most coloured tiles on the battlefield. Capture the crown, where you must grab the crown and hold it for as long as possible and if someone else has it then do what bombermen do best and blow them up to get it. Bankroll, which is the same as ‘battle’ except each player can collect money found in blocks, which can be used to purchase power ups at the start of each round. Then there are the team based game types as well like ‘capture the flag’ where your team must steal the enemies flag and bring it back to your own base. VIP, where each team has a very important person which you must protect at all times. If they die then your team loses. With all these modes, you could do all kinds of things like no gimmicks straight up skill matches, tournaments, team matches and more.

Battlefest truly is a battlefest as the game has more power ups than ever before. The traditional power ups like power bomb, piercing bomb (which is now called passer or pasture bomb, not sure), bomb kick, remote control bomb and power glove are all here but the bunch of new ones are what really shakes things up. Laser bomb is basically a laser trip wire bomb where the lasers reach all the way until hitting a solid surface and anyone who touches the line will set of the bomb. Cluster bomb, which explodes and releases three more bombs which all will explode in a certain pattern, making this bomb dangerous to enemies and if not careful the user as well. Rocket bomb is a rocket that flies in the direction the user was the facing when deployed and anyone in the way is stunned briefly but when it hits something solid it explodes like a regular bomb. Dangerous bomb is pretty much the most feared bomb as it explodes in a grid, not lines, and when bomb blast range is maximized these bombs cover almost half the battlefield! We know, it’s crazy! ‘Double it’ basically allows you to place a second bomb of whatever special bomb you have like rocket, cluster, laser and dangerous bomb. We have seen what horrors two maxed out dangerous bombs can do. It leaves nothing behind.

If that wasn’t enough the game also steps up the character customisation. There are more costumes available and you can mix up the head, face and body. So you can end up with a bear face, bee antennas and samurai armour body if you want. As you play, golden octagonal objects will appear, get them to unlock new items for customisation. Online multiplayer is still there; however single player is more entertaining a snow the bots are actually a challenge. When you set them to hard mode, they actually become a threat. They chase you down, mercilessly, set traps and dodge bombs very well. Fighting them will keep you busy, while fighting three at once is super hard. If you though 3 was bad then imagine facing 4. That’s right. Bomberman battlefest allows up to 8 players at once! You could put yourself on one team and then take on 4 hard mode bots and believe me, victory isn’t certain at all, or jump into a 8 way free for all and see who is king.

Bomberbattlefest live is awesome. This game is great for fun online matches and better for 4 player local play. This game has been out for 6 years I believe and it’s still bringing great entertainment and fun. You have no idea how many times we have laughed at our own silly deaths in this game. The developers ‘Pi Studios’ did a fantastic job. Try the very generous demo and see what you think. 

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Outland is outstanding

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker
 

 

Outland was a game that we had our eyes on for a very long time. Years even. Outland was originally on the PC, Xbox and PS3. It’s a 2D dynamic platformer game. This game is awesome straight up. X35 Earthwalkeris currently playing the game and has nothing but good things to say about it. Basically you play a man who has the same destiny as a man from 20,000 years ago. Two powerful being called, ‘The sisters’, helped created everything but also wanted to destroy everything. They got imprisoned by the gods. The man from 20,000 years ago went to a place called ‘eternity’ to face them, wielding the powers of light and dark. Our character starts of with yellow/orange-ish lines all over his body which is the neutral colour in this game, meaning not light or dark. Things that are orange are neither light or dark. A bit further into the game you get to control that man from 20,000 years ago and there are some clear differences. The man has the ability to become pure light or dark (blue or red respectively). When light, light energy attacks can’t hurt him. When dark, dark energy attacks can’t hurt him either. Also he could only hurt light enemies when he is dark and vice versa. Up until that point we only faced neutral enemies. The next major difference is that our character stands in a ready to move position with hands by his side, while the man from 20,000 years ago stood like a boss, with arms folded everything. Bursting with confidence. Do we seriously get to become like this guy?

You travel through multiple areas. Starting with the ‘Jungle’, a lush quiet place filled with natural enemies like spiders and plants. Lovely looking level that prepares you for everything to come. Next is called ‘Origin’ where the player can reach all the other areas and the gate to where the Sisters are. The next area is the ‘Underworld’ where things are dark, dirty and not pleasant at all, filled with humanoid weapon wielding enemies and flying enemies that shoot light and dark energy. giant sized spiders we believe are found here as well. The next area is the ‘City’ and boy does it look like a grand city indeed. Ancient and super large. This place has multiple humanoid enemies, giant soldier enemies with large maces, flying enemies. This area has is also the start of tricky level design like moments when you have to switch between light and dark quickly while dodging energy and even while fighting. The next area is ‘The Sky’ and boy this is literally. You are high up in a snowy mountain and everything we have encountered before is here and worse. All enemies can come as either light or dark. Giant sized spiders and soldiers are back as well with a new enemy too. This level will frustrate players with how difficult the levels within this area are now. The last area is called ‘Eternity’. This place is where everything you come across and face is back and in full force: enemies, hard level designs, light & dark energies, giant enemies, and even mini bosses like that giant soldier with the sword and shield. Combine it all together with the fact that enemies can now change from light to talk after a few moments and you have ‘eternity’.

As you play through the game you come across power ups, which have to be bought using the coins you find and get for killing enemies, and abilities like a ground pound, smite and energy shield. As you collect them, you start to feel more and more like the man from 20,000 years ago and eventually you feel way more powerful than he was. Honestly at this point we feel over powered (OP) for sure. You get to create combos like  like to send an enemy  flying forwards, then uppercut an enemy in the air, then  jump up to slash and finish with a charge attack and if they are still alive then finish with a powerful energy beam. this game is creative and does it very well. The graphics in the game are excellent, the sound effects are relevant and on point. The scenery is well detailed and the music is great and perfect at setting the feel of the locations. My favourite music in the game is the one for boss battles. It really makes me feel that I am in an epic battle and believe me the battle are epic. The boss battles are my favourite part of the game. They are all powerful and large enemies. Each fight requires a specific way to beat them, encouraging strategy and all your abilities work on them also. The boss in the ‘Sky’ is X35 Earthwalker’s favourite and he even said that it was the most epic battle so far. Also each boss has an interesting background story which gets revealed after defeating them. If you want a rematch with the bosses then go to arcade mode and take them on again. Also the achievements for this game are not impossible ones and can all be done.

You will have fun going through this game; however the story could have been told better as we don’t get much except at the beginning and after every boss fight. Other from that we honestly don’t really have a complaint against this game. We would also say that this game should have more music with more obvious differences between them. maybe more dramatic music for some levels though.  The developers ‘Housemarque’ did an excellent job. Many big reviews sites, like ign, game spot meta critic and eurogamer, and gamers all speak very highly of the game and rated it high. This game is awesome and definitely worth checking out.

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