Generation Zero is the new open world action game developed by ‘Avalanche Studios‘. It is coming out in 2019 on the Xbox One, Play Station 4 and PC. There is a beta as well which players can sign up for. Generation Zero has gotten the attention of some gamers. Let’s take a look.
Generation Zero is set in Sweden in the 1980’s but obviously reimagined. Poor Sweden, because the countryside has been invaded by some very dangerous machines that will attack on sight and attack with force. Off course with games like this, there is always a big mystery to figure out and solve. Why is all of this happening? What’s with these machines etc.
The gameplay style has been described as cat and mouse. This instantly tells gamers that running out there spraying all your weapons at the enemy is a bad idea, since the players will in this case be the mouse. Players will be wise to fight by strategy and stealth. Players can lure enemies to certain spots for an ambush, distraction or to shoot a barrel or something lethal next to them. There are multiple options in Generation Zero.
The enemy is the machines. There are different types of them too with their own functions. Ticks are the smallest but have got some movement going on. They will try to get close to slash you and off course blow up. Seekers who act like scouts/snitches. They will alert other machines of your location, so take them down fast or hide. Runners are a problem, they are fast and in groups. They will take you down with their automated weapons and even try to ram you over. Tanks are the big ones who have missiles and big guns. They are heavily armoured and a major threat. Come with a plan or die.
Each enemy isn’t just copy and paste or spawn and Respawn in Generation Zero. Each one has their own mission and task to complete. They roam about in certain ways. So when you encounter a specific enemy and let’s say destroyed one of its components, like weapons, armour etc, that damage stays. it is permanent and will still be there if you happen to run into that same machine enemy again. So let’s say you met a powerful enemy which you don’t have the means to beat but you can weaken it, well next time you see it, that enemy will be much easier to beat.
So players in Generation Zero have to destroy the machines, stay alive, look for equipment and items that can really help, get better weapons and solve the mystery of what happened here in 1980’s Sweden. Best of all is that Generation Zero is also multiplayer. That’s right, 1-4 co-op multiplayer. So you can share loot with allies which is a feature something Destiny 2 should of had. Revive downed allies and use your skills to your advantage.
We checked out some gameplay and Generation Zero looks good right now. The machines have some variety to them and function differently. The full day and night cycle combined with the different weather you can get is a nice touch and does impact certain aspects. There are simulated ballistics 1980’s style music and good graphics rendered with the Apex Engine. We just hope that this game doesn’t become too easy, especially when playing with friends.
Overall Generation Zero looks like a good game for sure. We like that it’s multiplayer. We like that it’s open world. Stealth and survival works well here and the enemies seem like a real problem. The game difficulty needs to be high in this game. The developers ‘Avalanche Studios’ did a very good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker look forward to seeing completely what Generation Zero has to offer. Now Sweden may be in trouble but there is no trouble for… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Madden NFL 19 is a new sports game developed by Tiburon. Madden NFL 19 is coming out the 10th of August on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC. American football is fast and rough. Let’s take a look.
Madden NFL 19 is a sports game which should give all gamers a very good idea of what it is about. There is no story. It’s just playing sports which is fine. Select and use your favourite NFL stars and dominate the entire sport.
Madden NFL 19 offers new levels of control and precision over your characters. There is also real player motion which is basically precise control over your characters movements. Now you can decide when you want to make a rounded turn or a sharp cut.
Let go of the buttons for Acceleration Burst and then move in the desired direction to cut sharply. Use the acceleration burst to dash past your opponents. The controls don’t seem that complicated which is a good thing.
So players must decide when they want to have fast speed but very limited turning or high dodging and quick cut turns but lower speed. So maybe if your opponents make a line then maybe zoom through them if there is an opening. Cut turns for 1v1.
Players can also chain together a bunch of movements smoothly to make some advanced dodging and manoeuvres to get past the enemy. This sort of reminds us of NBA Street Vol.2 when you could do tricks like the ‘slip and slide’. That was cool. So there is some technical stuff to Madden NFL 19.
We checked out some gameplay of Madden NFL 19 and it looks good. Very good. You can select the kind of strategies for your team to use. So an additional layer of strategy and tactics. The animations and how the players interact with each other are very good indeed. It’s quite deep for an American football game. It’s something interested players will have to view for themselves.
Overall Madden NFL 19 is a good game for what it is. We at X35 Earthwalker are not sport game fans and do not care for American football, let alone the game but this game is very good from what we have seen. The graphics and sounds and stadium designs are better than before. The developers Tiburon did a very good job with this game. Now Madden NFL 19 may have star players but even they are small when compared to… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Paladins is a team based shooter game developed by ‘Hi-Rez Studios‘. Paladins, Champions of the realm is one of those games that X35 Earthwalker himself got into, sort of recently. So far we have had a fun time but there’s quite a lot going on. Take a look.
In Paladins, two teams of five champions go head to head to either out slay the other or generate and push a payload to their enemies side of the map. Sounds simple but there are many factors to this. There are a bucket load of characters to pick from and each one has a role and their own abilities. The roles are: Damage, flank, Support and Front line. Damage is well… all about dealing damage. Flank are all about getting around and hitting the enemy from the side of behind. Support do anything from buff and heal allies and nerf enemies. Front line are suppose to be tacky (take a lot of damage) and stay in the front grabbing attention.
So the main strategy in Paladins is that the front line goes for the payload and stands in the area for the objective. The support strengthens and heals the frontline to keep them alive. The flank splits the enemy teams’s attention by attacking them from their side while the damage dealer tries to finish destroy everything. Off course, the enemy team won’t let you do that. So you have to keep an eye on their flank, shut down their support and avoid taking damage dealers head on. There isn’t that much variety to the maps to play on but they have been carefully designed and each one off course presents different opportunities. Some maps are more suited for some champions more than others. Make sure to lay all and know what’s best for what champion. Experience is key in Paladins.
Each champion in Paladins has their own abilities. 4 fixed ones, one ultra and one you which is more like a perk that you must keep for the whole match. No characters in Paladins are really similar, despite what haters say. There are three Champions who use rifle like guns: Viktor, Tyra and Vivian but each of their guns have a different rate of fire, clip size and damage per bullet. There abilities and uses truly separate them. Viktor can throw grenades for additional area of effect damage and run very fast to chase down enemies or retreat quickly. Tyra has a grenade launcher which is area of effect damage and fire bombs which sets the area of fire for area denial. Vivian has a frontal shield that takes the damage for her and sensor drones which reveals the locations of enemies in a big radius.
Now just from what you heard about these Paladins characters, you can see where they shine most or come up with different play styles; however there is more. For example if you select the cardio perk ability Viktor heals for 250 health every second while using hustle. So players can chase down enemies knowing that they will have more health than them; or run away while healing making it harder for you to die. If you then use the right card in your load outs you can grant damage resistance during the hustle to make you much harder to kill while chasing or retreating. With Tyra you can use many cards in her load outs to make the fire bomb ability cool down much faster and then combine that with the ‘Burn monster’ ability and she can pretty much shut down a payload objective as no one will want to stand there at all. So come up with some combos.
So you can imagine the many different play styles and strategies that players can come up with the many different champions. Who knows you may even be able to stand up to X35 Earthwalker who has been called the greatest Jenos player in the world. What’s really good about Paladins is that players can see the statistics for the damage of their attacks, how much percentage does damage reduction grant and life steal etc. This makes Paladins quite mathematical. You can actually calculate who would win in a straight up fight through maths alone or know how much of what is needed to survive an attack or take someone down. So those who paid attention in school will have a definite advantage here. For example Buck’s shotgun does 700 damage per shot and rate of fire is one shot per second. So if you got level 3 damage reduction Buck’s shotgun will instead do 490 damage to you. Meaning if you are let’s say Tyra, it will now take you 5 seconds to die to buck instead of 4. That extra second sounds small but in Paladins makes a difference.
Off course a game as statistically and large like this will always have problems with character balancing. Some characters seem to outshine others while some are too powerful maybe. For example many have a problem with Maeve. Her daggers deal 400 damage each. You throw both at the same time which means 800 in total. This means she can kill Vivian within 3 seconds. Others take 4 seconds. Not only that, she has an ability called Artful dodger, where activating nine lives heals her for 400 but then combine her pounce, which nine lives can reset the cool down of by the way, she can deal and extra 800 quickly meaning she can kill someone like Skye in slightly under 3 seconds. Now that’s fast, too fast. Buck is another character that some have something against. He deals 700 damage as we already discussed but can also heal himself 1000 over 1.5 seconds but if you use the a bulk up ability you heal for an extra 600 and your maximum health increases by 300 for 3 seconds. There are also multiple loud out cards that grant damage reduction to using Recovery and Heroic leap meaning Buck becomes one of the most difficult things to kill while dishing out so much pain. Worst of all both Maeve and Buck are FLANKS! They aren’t damage types.
Which brings us to the next issue. Flanks shouldn’t be able to out damage, damage dealers. Damage champions should be the ones that you don’t one to 1v1 against as you should almost always lose. We have seen Maeve and Buck out damage and kill damage characters in 1v1 and not by catching them off guard which shouldn’t be the case. Flanks should either have low health and second highest damage or medium health but really high mobility to run away and come back later to harass the enemy. Oh well, we aren’t the developers. Lastly for now, we don’t like how long it takes to level up your character naturally. We know you can spend earned gold to level up faster but that’s not how we roll here at X35 Earthwalker.
After playing Paladins for a good while we can say this it’s an excellent game. Always a lot of fun and different things to try. Some characters are clearly harder to use than others. Terminus can be very difficult and match up is everything for him. If you are Terminus and your opponents are Viktor, Lian, Buck, Tyra, those with guns then you are going to have a good time as they get countered by Terminus so hard. We have learnt and discovered so many cool things that there is multiple reasons to keep playing this game this. The good certainly outweigh the bad here. We’ve never had any interest in Overwatch and Paladins but now it’s clear we prefer Paladins. That doesn’t mean that Overwatch isn’t a good game.
Now Paladins may have loads of characters to choose from and the mechanic to ride horses and mechanic cougars but those aren’t good enough to it to compare to… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Super Destronaut DX is an action arcade shooter developed by ‘Petite gaming‘. It is coming out the 11th of July on the Xbox One, PS Vita and PS4. It’s also coming out later on the PC and Nintendo Switch the 13th of July. Super Destronaut DX is tiger and crazier than before. Let’s take a look.
Super Destronaut DX is all about bringing back that old retro arcade gaming feeling. Straight away gamers can tell what old legendary game inspired Super Destronaut DX. Another clue? Some have called it the king of games. Now you’ve got it. Space Invaders! Just like that game, here players will be fending off against a horde of aliens that keep trying to reach the ground.
Now the there isn’t that much differences between the two. The aliens however are of a much greater variety here with very different shapes. Some look serious while others look silly but all are fun. Now developers building a simple game like this need to keep things interesting and show that this game is different, worth playing. Well there are 30 different challenges to conquer in Super Destronaut DX. An online leaderboard for the many challenges and scores. 3 different game modes which are: Time attack, Classic mode and Hardcore. Whenever we hear hardcore we instantly think of Dead Space 2.
This game is all about the score though. Everything is about getting your score as high as possible and being in competition with players all around the world. So that would off course mean there are different scoring techniques that gamers must be aware of. Super Destronaut DX also has 2 player multiplayer. This is always a great idea for games like this. The best 2 player Space invaders game we ever played was Space Invaders on the PS1. There were different powerful bosses, different types of aliens with different attack patterns and effects, and off course different power ups and some upgrades. Super Destronaut has different weapon types as well.
We checked out some Super Destronaut DX gameplay and it’s what we though it would be. Sort of like what Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 did with Pac-Man, basically the same thing but better music, better visuals, crazier and modern. We are really enjoying the music though. We don’t like the narrator voice (Barry Dunne). We saw the homing missiles shots, spread shots, explosive shots and more cool features. This game looks cool.
Overall Super Destronaut DX looks really interesting and fun. It’s basically what you would expect from a game like this. There isn’t much really to say about this though. It’s that simple but got content. The graphics and visuals are very well done indeed. Once again, the music is great. The developers ‘Petite Gaming’ did an excellent job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker look forward to seeing this game hit the stores and how gamers will receive Super Destronaut DX. Now this may be an upgrade but it still isn’t on the level as… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Defiance 2050 is a new massive multiplayer cooperative shooter game developed by ‘Trion Worlds‘. It’s coming out the 10th of July on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Defiance 2050 is out to make it’s mark in the world of gaming. Let’s take a look.
In Defiance 2050 players take on the role of a ark hunter who is in a race for alien technology. This is all because some beings called the Votan, showed up and terraformed the earth. Earth is far from safe and your life could end incredibly fast. An ark hunter is a pro in salvaging, tracking, survival and combat. They go where others will never go and retrieve alien technology. When any alien technology falls from orbit onto earth, the ark hunter must race there, fight of other aliens and ark hunters to get the goods for themselves. So players can either hunt alone or in a team.
The world in Defiance 2050 is pretty much alive. What did you expect it’s a large open world game. There are many main characters who each have their own profile and business to go about. Players must decide if they will be friends or foe. From doctors like Even Niden to law keepers like Jon Cooper.
There is a story mode in Defiance 2050… well sort of… basically their are main missions which are directed by the famous scientist, Karl Von Bach who is the owner and CEO of Von Bach industries. He’s also the chief engineer in the weapons devision. These main missions will take players on a earth republic funded expedition to locate and collect a certain alien relic. Off course there are unknown forces at work here who aren’t going to make our search easy.
There are also side missions in Defiance 2050 which can consist of combat based missions like eliminating and holding of enemies to getting in and salvaging technology items etc. There are contracts which players can accept from some business owners who are chilling in the bay. Completing these contracts will increase your reputation with the owner resulting in reward which includes sweet stuff (not honey) like equipment and even weapons. There are also challenges too. These challenges are just there to test the players skills. Challenges are everywhere and players can earn medals and even aim to get their name on a global leader board.
A large open world massive multiplayer shooter game like Defiance 2050 has to have a ton of weapons. It does. Thanks to the alien technology and Voltans, crazier weapons have become available. So ark hunters must get their hands on weapons like the Spread rocket launchers, which rains death over a large area, Sub machine guns which are for close range combat, Sawed off shotguns because unlike the salty fans of Gears of war, Defiance 2050 understands that it’s a good weapon, Charged sniper rifles which deliver heavy damage from far away, Light machine guns for that all round favourite gun style more weapons.
You thought the amount of weapons was a lot, wait to you hear about the enemies. There are a ton of enemies around and all of them require an attitude of shoot first, ask questions later. There are scrappers who were formed from scrap and salvaged technology who have shown signs of increased intelligence but still hostile. Hell bugs who are dangerous creatures that come from deep below the earths surface and who are coming for both Votans and humans alike. The volge are a world conquering species who have no allies, no mercy and do what they got to do. There strikes are as fast as they are dangerous. The afflicted who are victims of a plague and now from as mindless aberrations, dangerous ones with different forms and weaponry. Not your typical zombie. The Skrill who are basically large than normal glow bugs who have been experimented on to become a powerful, hungry dangerous specifies with natural explosives. There are even more enemy factions that players must watch out for.
We checked out some gameplay and it’s looking good so far. As a massive multiplayer shooter you’d expect many players running around, gunning enemies, collecting stuff and trying to survive. We are initially disappointed with how easy the game is. It’s almost like you don’t need to take cover. You are another person can just stand there and take out the enemy easily. Not sure why the players jump like they are master Chief from Halo, hovering in the air for a while. The environments are not as exciting as we thought. It comes off as sort of empty but we bet that’s not always how it is. The enemies better stand out clearly from each other and have different behaviour. Otherwise, everything looks good. There is a lot of potential in this game.
Overall Defiance 2050 looks good. We won’t say excellent though. The graphics and animations could be better but we like what they done with the world. We love how cooperative this game is, so grab your many friends and ravage the lands. The developers ‘Trion Worlds’ have done a good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker will have to keep an ear open for Defiance 2050 to hears what’s happening before we look for it. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t check it out for yourself. Now Defiance 2050 may have a huge survival issue going on but the one thing without any issues is… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Divinity: Original sin 2 definitive edition is a strategy RPG developed by ‘Larian Studios‘ and now published by ‘Bandai Namco‘. It’s coming out the 31st of August on the Xbox One and PS4. Many highly rate this series. Let’s take a look.
The events in Divinity: Original sin 2 definitive edition is basically the improved version of of Divinity: Original sin 2 with feedback from 2017. It takes place generations after Divinity: Original Sin. Sourcerers are now criminals. Also those who have source powers are being captured, hunted and then forcibly have their powers removed but leaving behind only an empty body which can’t make decisions for it’s self and has no emotions. How horrible.
Gamers can choose to play from six origin characters. each has their own interesting story and motives. Beast, is having his second attempt at defeating and stopping the tyrannical dwarf queen. Ifan Ben-Mezd has turned against the divine order and sees to kill Lucian’s son. Sebille was a slave that broke free from a villainous master who used her to hunt her own kind, now she seeks revenge. The Red prince was exiled and started getting hunted by assassins but stays determined to reclaim his rightful throne. Lohse is battling against a darker unknown voice that’s trying to take over body and soul… she must find a way to control this entity in time.
Divinity: Original sin 2 definitive edition is definitely multiplayer allowing 4 player co-op. Split screen as well. You can either work with your friends to try and accomplish your own goals or fight against each other. There is even PvP match making too, arena mode where up to four players can battle it out in intricately built stages. It’s all turn based action so think carefully about each move you want to take.
The definitive edition is said have thousands of changes. So expect things like the fact that the elves can eat the flesh of the fallen to remember distant memories. Quest lines that push the boundaries between peace and problems. character disagreements and romances. Tutorials, map markers, group inventory management, tool tips and a new journal.
We checked out some gameplay and it looks excellent. The graphics are very excellent indeed. Even the environment and stuff in the background look so good. The sounds are very good too. We like the wide range of abilities and the different strategies you can create from them all, like swapping the positions of allies and enemies, going invisible, moving explosive barrels etc. Lots of options indeed. Elevation grant advantages to units too which is always a wise idea.
Overall we can see that Divinity: Original sin 2 definitive edition is a very good game and has a lot to offer, especially with the definitive edition which is clearly superior to the first. Although we wouldn’t say it’s the best role playing strategy game like others say. We still think XCOM 2: War of the Chosen is better. The developers ‘Larian Studios’ did an excellent job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker aren’t looking forward to this game but know it will have a big impact. Now Divinity: Original sin 2 definitive edition may be liked by many but one thing that has way more likes is… the ‘Earth Walk!’
No Man’s Sky has come a long way from it’s initial release. Firstly, No Man’s sky is finally coming to Xbox One the 24th of July 2018. It’s also coming to the WeGame which is a platform in China. Many hate this game and the developers, ‘Hello Games‘ but just grow up for a moment and listen to what we have to say and show you. Let’s take a look.
No Man’s Sky has been adding many updates and lots of new content which they said it would have. No Man’s Sky has had three major updates: Foundation, Pathfinder and Atlas Rises. Atlas Rises was the biggest and the most successful. it brought forth a new story. It’s said to have 30 hours worth of new story content such as a new inter dimensional race, ancient portals are being activated, the amount of lore and interactions got doubled, a waking Titan, a world of glass, mysteries like the meaning of Sixteen, the sentinels and more. Improved waypoint systems, better inventory management, new worlds, guilds, salvage missions and crashed giant freighter ships, missions agents, combined crafted products and much more. Literally if we listed them all it could take up the whole blog. They put in work to make this the largest game to date… but wait… there’s more.
When No Man’s Sky comes to the Xbox One it will automatically have the last three updates: Foundation, Pathfinder and Atlas rises… plus a new and biggest update they have been secretly working on: No Man’s Sky Next. That’s right, they aren’t done! Listen to this. No Man’s Sky Next will be a FREE update for PC and PS4 (as it’s already released on those). As we mentioned above, yes it’s launching on Xbox One as well but with 4K and HDR on the Xbox One X. No Man’s Sky Next will have full fledge multiplayer. You encounter random travellers. You can work together or attack them. Build shelters or big complexes together. Fight like pirates or work together like being a distraction in big space battles. You can even race exocrafts and even build your race tracks online.
So remember how big the game was, in terms of size, when it first released? Now imagine it’s bigger, with a actual story, missions, quests, guilds, complexes, space battles, racing, multiplayer, crews travelling, other players chasing you for your loot, many creatures and more. Yep, sounds like a serious game now doesn’t it? There has also been a ton of patches as well. Here are some:
Increased variety in weather, planet and structure names
Improved differentiation of weapons
Improved planet resource lists
Added freighter classes
Added new holographic cockpit HUD elements: mini map, pulse drive warning and target ship
New Gek, Vy’keen and Korvax medals
Improved pirate systems including the ability to call in support or negotiate
Trust us when we say there is much much more than these.
Overall it looks like no Man’s Sky is much different from what it use to be. They added in many things like they said they would. With the ‘next’ update coming as well, it looks like this could be a huge game that many will jump into across all platforms. The graphics and sounds have been improved too. The developers ‘Hello Games’ have done an excellent job. We at X35 Earthwalker are actually saying that we are looking forward to seeing what this game has to offer. Now No Man’s Sky might be very large, but it’s no where near as big as… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Earthfall is a new co-oprative shooter game developed by ‘Holospark‘. It is coming out July the 13th on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC. This game has been described by many to be like ‘Left 4 Dead’. There has been quite a number of people waiting for this game. Let’s take a look.
earth fall takes place at the so called end of the world. Basically a global meteor strike took place and that off course devastates the earth… but it gets worse. Aliens emerge from the meteors. They swarm and ravage the place. No mercy. So humanity does what they can. Get together. Grab some weapons. Put up defences and fight back. This is exactly what players must do in Earthfall.
Now off course piling up bins and boxes will not stop aliens. neither will a golf club work well against a swarm of them. You’ll need the good stuff. There are 3D printers that can be used to create barricades, defences like turrets and even weapons. imagine having those printers at school. Earthfall just keep everything simple. Just grab your friends or meet some new ones. Complete objectives, defend and holdout in strongholds and makeshift fortresses. Simple and fun.
Now this is a four player co-op shooter game so team work is quite important. Off course you can still play with game solo and have bots fill in your team. We do not know how useful they are though. There are four characters to choose from: Roy, Danny, Maya and Jonas and each one has their own personality but all want to save earth.
There is said to be a variety of aliens which tests your skills and level of adaptability to the situation. There is a Whiplash alien that can grab a player, rendering them useless and run away with them which is incredibly annoying. There is another called a sapper which pounces and like with the pouncing in Evolve, take continuous damage until someone helps you. Also a spitter which, you guessed it, spits at you for projectile damage. Off course there are much more like large melee aliens that just can’t wait to get their hands on you.
We checked out some gameplay and it’s what we thought it would be. Four players, with co-op action, running around together, finding weapons and items. Taking on groups of aliens, covering each others backs, running away from a boss enemy, running out of medkits etc. These kind of games are lots of fun and it’s good to finally see some developers bring them back. Everything looks great and fair so far. The aliens could use more variety in their design as they all look sort of similar while the action is happening. The big brute melee enemies do need more health. Maybe there is selectable difficulty.
Overall this game is looking excellent. The graphics are great. We know that they used Unreal Engine 4 for the visuals. The sounds are very good as well. The aliens seem like an interesting enemy but right now look too easy to beat. We also hope there is a good variety of defences, aliens, and weapons to add that extra gaming flavour. The developers, ‘Holospark’ did a great job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker look forward to seeing what Earthfall truly has to offer. Now aliens are a problem but there is one solution that always work and that’s… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Gears of war 5 was announced at E3 and is being developed by ‘The Coalition‘. Many Gears fans have been waiting for this game. It has been said to come out in 2019 on Xbox One and Windows 10. So much new things are happening and that’s a good thing. We at X35 Earthwalker respect exploring different directions and taking some risks. Let’s take a look.
First things first. The lead character for Gears of war 5 is Kait Diaz. The story will be mainly entered around her, her family mystery. Already some fans are being stupid about this and complaining, saying that Gears shouldn’t have a female lead and that this is a feminist movement thing. If there was no solid reason for focus to be on Kait then we would agree that the story could centre around something else but this is not the case. Kait and her family have the biggest Gears of war secret right now. Something that many if not almost all the fans have been asking about. Let us explain.
Gears of war 1 we heard a narrative female voice who sounded like a leader talking about the horde and humanity’s attempt being pointless pretty much. In Gears of war 2 we meet the Locust queen who surprised us all… even Cole Train who said “I thought she was suppose to be butt ugly”. She was human but how was that possible. In Gears of war 3 we know that she had communications with Adam Fenix who is Marcus’s dad. So everyone has been wondering how does a human lead the monstrous locusts and boy has that springed forth some theories. Then in Gears of war 4 we find that Reyna was being treated differently by the Swarm (who are the Locust), held in a separate place sort of like a throne and that Kait has the Locust symbol stating that it belonged to her grandmother. We demand answers. Was the Locust Queen mistreated and abandoned by humans, found by gentle locusts before they were war hungry and she with hatred for humans inspire and lead the locusts to take their rightful place living on the surface and taking it away from humans who fight each other and pollute the planet?
Now the characters have received some design changes. Del doesn’t look cool in the slightest, his armour and hat makes him look actually quite silly. We don’t like it. Kait looks the same and that’s good. JD has the biggest change, having a shaved head, looking rougher than ever, which is understandable as there isn’t someone going around with a cart selling vaseline and coconut butter for their skin. He also has some sort of arm contraption that seems to stabilise his arm (where did they get the technology for that). His arm looks infected and dangerously red like he was wounded and infected by a new Swarm species and thus needs that contraption to keep him in check. Marcus however; hasn’t aged a day. In fact he looks like he got younger. We aren’t joking. Look at Gears of war 4 old man Marcus and then Gears of war 5 Marcus. You see? We told you so. How? We don’t know… maybe it’s maybelline…
Gears of war 5 is guaranteed to be the largest Gears game yet. Notice the large environments like those glaciers. Notice how Kait and Del used a vehicle to traverse the ice. This means that exploration will be part of the story. It’s confirmed that in Gears of war 5 players will travel across glaciers, check out sunken ruins and even head across deserts. Like seriously, sunken ruins. Did someone call Lara Croft. Honestly like with Halo Infinite, Gears of war 5 is sounding sort of like an open world game. We aren’t saying is but sort off. Gears of war isn’t that big of a game for that but we definitely will be travelling.
The Swarm have definitely upgraded. There are some new ones around and following the patterns of the original Locust. There are some small numerous ones flying around in the air like how schools of fish swim around in groups. This is just like the aryls from Gears of war 1. They were a great enemy and good to see something like that back. There is a giant leech like enemy that can latch unto people and uses a big mouth to try and devour you. There are some that act like parasites and can infect machines. Some old Cog bots like the DR-1 have been taken over by the swarm and can now move and worse, fire at you with their shoulder mounted tri-shots. There are also large Scions who wild two large spiked clubs that are perfect for smashing your head in (who would have guessed). Well those juvies are still here and man are they so annoying.
Now as a Microsoft release, expect cross platforming between the Xbox One and Windows 10. The whole campaign is playable in co-op. Both online and local with a friend. That guy sitting next to you. Gears of war is meant to be a visual showcase as well. So players can expect amazing HDR at 60 frames per second with 4K Ultra HD resolution on the Xbox One X. All wonderful stuff. Check out the trailer down below for some extra sight seeing.
Overall Gears of war 5 is looking to be the be a huge impact. They didn’t release any information concerning the multiplayer, weapon balancing etc but without a doubt many will be waiting and eager for that. Just make sure that the Gnasher shotgun isn’t the clearly dominate weapon in the game From a story point of view this is going to be huge without a doubt. Now once again, concerning Kait being at the centre we have no problems with it but the whole family mystery thing can easily be solved and revealed as a strong secondary while having the main story focusing on taking the fight to the Swarm but either way, we hope it’s done well. Now Kait’s family may be mysterious but no where near as mysterious as.. the ‘Earth Walk!’
Streets of Rage is one of those games that many played back in the day on the Sega Genesis. X35 Earthwalker himself was one of those who played this legendary game. Quite recently Streets of Rage was made available on the Xbox One. This was the perfect invitation to play the game again. So what do we think about it? Take a look.
Streets of Rage gets straight to the point. The slowly scrolling text explains the whole situation quickly and simply. Basically a city is full of chaos because of a criminal syndicate who controls everything, even the police. The leader is Mr X and he’s caused villains and crime to sky rocket. No one is safe (Will someone please think of the children!). Three cops vowed to work take to the streets, clean it up by romping all the villains trash with their fists and put a stop to all this evil. They will clean up… the Streets of Rage. You’ll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.
Remember that this game came out in 1991 so you have to accept how simple it is. Players can pick from three characters: Adam, Axel and Blaze. Their stats are displayed simply with a ‘A to B’ ranking system for three categories: Power, Jump and Speed. Power is how much damage they do, Jump is how high they jump and how good their jump attacks are and Speed is how fast their movement is. Now Adam and Axel do the most damage. Adam and Blaze have the best jumping attacks and height. Overall Adam is the strongest character as he excels in the two categories that actually matter. Blaze will there for be the weakest but streets of Rage has been designed in a way that all three characters are still useful, feel different from each other and can beat the game with skill.
Adam is a boxer and so his attacks are more simple and rely on his strength. Axel is a martial artist so his attacks are quicker and more technical. Blaze does Judo so her throws rely on those use your opponents weight against them, plus she does some cool flip attacks. Each of the characters can grab and throw enemies or grab and slam the enemy on their head by lifting them completely of the ground. All can grab and land powerful strikes which best to follow up with a throw after two strikes for maximum damage. All have a jumping attack which is useful against rushing enemies or groups of enemies in a line. All also have a rear attack which basically lets your character quickly do a strike behind them to hit whoever is dumb enough to sneak up on you. Lastly all can call in a powerful artillery strike from a fellow police officer which defeats all enemies on the screen but just damages bosses.
There are eight stages to clear and each one is littered with lots of enemies. The enemies are simple but do their job. There are the standard dudes who can hit you with the simple right, right, left jabs. There’s a guy who like to throw you and at times slide into you smoother than M. Bison from Street fighter. Also a woman who thinks it’s funny to whip people. A martial martial artist who specialises in flips and kicks. Lastly a juggler who juggles fire, axes and then throws them at you (what a neat trick). It gets worse. As you progress through the Streets of Rage, you will encounter improved versions of the enemies you have faced so far. So the standard blue jacket dudes then become green and then red. The throwing guys get purple and then green outfits. The whipping women find black and lastly green clothing for the occasion. The martial artists graded up to having red and then a cool black and red uniform. Lastly the jugglers just find some alright black clothes. The improved versions have more health and more aggressive as they attack more frequently.
Each stage also has a boss who can be a serious threat. Stage one is where you face the boomerang hunter (we are giving them our own names) who has a lengthy kick and throws his boomerang which of course comes back, so watch out. Stage two is the domain of the claw hands man, basically a wannabe Fredy Kruger who is has a crazy technique to avoid jump attacks. Third stage is where the wrestler is, who does heavy damage with a running single punch. The fat man boss is hanging out in stage four. They breathe fire and forget about throwing this big boy. Stage five just so happens to have the twins who were enjoying their cruise. They are over powered. Stage six the hand claw man makes a return. Stage 7 has no boss but stage 8 has every boss you have encountered already, all ready for the rematch with off course the final boss, Mr X himself waiting and ready.
Bosses are seen by many as too hard and unfair. This is mainly due to the fact that almost all of them almost always hit you first due to their greater range and fast attack speed. It’s true. if you take these bosses head on, they will mostly likely kill you first. The best trick is to approach them from they sides by coming in from higher or lower on the screen. This will allow you to dodge many attacks and even allow a free grab on the boss themselves for big damage. Players should call in their police officer when they are needed. Don’t just save it for the boss at the end because if you die, that police call is wasted and you’ll get a new one. If you get surrounded or having a hard time against mob of enemies then use your police call ability to clear them out. It’s there to help you. Don’t just grab every health item you see. Instead go as far as possible while keeping the food on screen, their may be a fight next, where you take damage and now the food is useful. Also save the meat that at the boss fights until you are low on health. Bats and pipes are useful weapons and should never be passed up. The knife is also good but the bottle, not so much.
Maybe the best thing about Streets of Rage is the music. We are sure that pretty much everyone can agree that the music is amazing. Like seriously, who was the guy working in the studio. He clearly had too much fun. The boss music might just have to be our favourite but the music on level four is too smooth. The music is awesome. The controls are good and work very well allowing for reactions and quick actions. The bosses are creative and difficult without the right knowledge.
We have a few complaints though. The twins however are the most overpowered bosses in the game and even good players struggle tremendously against them. When it comes to stage eight, many players and have fallen to them right outside Mr X’s doors. It’s frustrating, especially when you don’t have the police call ability to help you out. They have no clear weakness at all. They always out grab you, they at times grab you through your attacks or at the start of their jump. Last complaint is why do you still have to face both the sisters even in single player. Everyone other stage sends one boss against the one player but the sisters always come together making it a two on one battle. It should be one on one like with all the others but it’s still a challenge though.
Overall Streets of Rage is an awesome game and certainly worth playing today. You will have lots of fun fighting your way through the streets, trying out different combos. There are some hidden tricks in the Streets of Rage games that players will have to discover. We also heard that their is a secret ending for Blaze but it’s a bad ending. We won’t spoil anything but it’s worth checking out. Now the Streets of Rage needed to be cleaned up but one thing that doesn’t need cleaning up at all is… the ‘Earth Walk!’
