Far Cry

Far Cry 5 is a action adventure open world first person shooter game and is the fifth main title in the Far Cry series developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by ‘Ubisoft‘. It’s coming out the 27th of March on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Now apparently there’s a new prophet in town and already we can declare that he’s a false one. Let’s take a look.

The story here in Far Cry 5 is very simple. Basically a false leader called Joseph seed rose to prominence. He’s believes he’s a divine leader of some sort but the truth is, that he’s a radical preacher who uses gun, intimidation, violence and more to control and keep the people in line. He established a congregation which he named ‘Eden’s gate’ which is a militaristic doomsday cult. The residents of Hop county have had enough and formed a resistance and here is where the players get involved. Players control the sheriff’s deputy who is going to arrest Joseph Seed. Joseph isn’t alone though. He has the ‘Herald’, sounds fancy but they are just literally his family. 

Far Cry 5

Now Far Cry 5 is said to be the biggest Far Cry game yet. The game put a lot of focus in making sure players get as much freedom as possible. Players do not have to take on Joseph alone because the campaign is for two player co-op as well. So grab a friend and a rifle and cause some mayhem. What? You thought it was just guns? Nope. You can hire people to fight with you (guns for hire and even hire animals apparently. We heard that you can get more than a dog to help you out. Some have even got a bear to help them out in combat. Can you imagine firing at some resistance members when all of a sudden a bear comes out of no where and starts mauling your friend on the right? So what do you do?

Far Cry 5 A.I’s isn’t as straight forward as other games like Saints row and Grand theft auto. If you strike the enemy real hard then the enemy will strike back just as hard. If you become recognised as a real threat then the cult will seriously amp up their defences and efforts to take you down. Now that sounds scary but we at X35 Earthwalker have yet to see a open world action game like this where the enemies are not a joke. The cult should have the advantage with better and more weapons and people to fight so it should be done in a way that taking on the enemy head on is just suicide. Maybe have a mission where stealth is strongly advised and if they do get caught reinforcements will show up and when they do it’s pretty much game over because of how overwhelming they are. At least make it clear that Eden’s gate is a true threat.

Far Cry 5

Now when it comes to weapons you certainly ain’t short of them in Far Cry 5. Expect weapons like the: MBP .50, MP40, Compound Bow (that’s ours), AR-C, Grenades, dynamites, melee weapons like a baseball bat, pistols and much more. It doesn’t stop there. You will find vehicles in this world too, like: Coupe, Tractor (why not?), pin up trucks, hydro planes, helicopters and even a 18 wheeler widow maker. Off course there is much more in a game as big as this so exploration should be your thing. Make sure to take time out to go and find these weapons, conquer side missions, build the resistance, hire some guns and off course have a good time taking down a false prophet who is blinding and hurting people.

We checked out some gameplay and we saw the stealth side and the action side of Far Cry 5. When it’s action the game feels sort of like Saints row with enemies coming after you and just firing. You can with some cover mow them down. While when it comes to stealth things like deciding who to eliminate first and when to move and hide the bodies add extra layers to the mechanics. Overall the combat is sort of what we expected but we hope to see how the whole the harder you strike the harder the enemy strikes mechanic come into play. Over from that, there isn’t really anything special about the gameplay. Sure there is much to do when you actually start playing but we will see when it come out.

Overall Far Cry 5 looks like a really cool game but it hasn’t gotten out interest. The story, the gameplay (mainly combat) is just good. The graphics are very good though and we love the idea of marching into battle with a bear or cougar to maul your foes but other from that it’s like we said before feels sort of like a Saint row. It needs something real interesting for us to get into it. Maybe that will change in the future. We will see. The developers ‘Ubisoft’ did a very good job with this game and you can see that a lot of work went into it. We at X35 Earthwalker are not looking forward to this but will keep an ear open for it. Not false prophets are a complete joke and make up lies and therefore will be crushed by… the ‘Earth Walk!’

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Gears of war 3

Gears of war is an awesome game and many will agree with that statement. X35 Earthwalker has played every Gears of war game and has completed the campaigns, mastered horde and more. The multiplayer is where the most attention is at. Many changes have come to the game, especially Gears of war 4. We at X35 Earthwalker can say that we aren’t happy with the direction the game is going in and the changed, especially recent ones. 

First of all we will start of with Gears of war 3. Three has the best multiplayer. The mechanics were the best. It was the right pace. In Gears of war 4 the game is so fast paced that players don’t have time to perform executions anymore and those were a big part of the multiplayer. It was where you made a statement to your opponent. it’s where the salt was truly rubbed in. It was the fastest way to create a rival in the match. Now in 4, everything is so fast that no one has time to execute really and if they do it’s the same Gnasher execution. Making the game faster only seems to be something for pro players. 3 was actually new player friendly. New players could try 3 and actually have some fun because they stood a chance at doing something and fighting back. Gears of war 3 had the best multiplayer feel and mechanics. In 4, new players get slaughtered, bullied and abused in game. They don’t stand a chance. 

Gears of war 3

The weapon selection was much better in Gears of war 3. Players can choose from Lancer, Hammerburst, Retro Lancer, Gnasher Shotgun and Sawed off Shotgun. Each weapon had a purpose, technically a counter and forced players to stay alert and have the ability to adapt in match. Gears of war 4 is seriously bad in this department. The retro lancer was removed because many Gnasher shotgun only using players, who love and breathe the Gnasher, complained. The developers listened and made it a power weapon only. Recently a decision was made for the same thing to happen to the Hammerburst. So soon the Hammerburst will be a power weapon as well. This is stupid and it’s the developers only wanting to please people who aren’t good enough to adapt to defeat people who use these guns. The sawed off and retro were good counters to the Gnasher shotgun. It prevented shotgun users from having their way all the time if used correctly. The hammer burst was excellent for supporting your team at a distance and it countered the retro lancer. The Enforcer smg has such a small clip that if you miss a few shots, you will not down your target meaning it isn’t a counter to the Gnasher shotgun. It’s very situational.

Soon the current state of Gears of war 4 will be lancer and Gnasher only. What about the Enforcer? Players already complain about that already. If you aren’t using the Gnasher then you are as they say “a noob who needs to go back to Call of Duty“. So even the enforcer isn’t safe, not that it’s any good really. A simple solution would be to make one mode where it’s like Gears of war 3 in terms of weapon selection while competitive or whatever has the similar settings to what the pros play. Core mode shouldn’t be touched. Only competitive should be adjusted to satisfy other players or create more options. Now new players who play Gears of war go into a match, get 5 kills and 17 deaths and don’t play again. At least with counter weapons you stand a chance against wall bouncing pros who live to feed of the weak. New players don’t know how to wall bounce. Honestly this new change has killed our excitement for the game. Probably just stick to Horde mode now.

So these changes, makes Gears of war have less variety, everyone has the same stuff all the time, more copying pro tournament, less new player friendly, one weapon based matches and more boring. Decision are clearly being made for one group of players and that’s a bad move here. Even the pacing of Gears of war 4 is too fast but that can’t really be changed. We still like e Gears of war 4 and think it’s a great game but these changes will make it just a good game. It’s clear we aren’t happy about this. Don’t be too surprised if you don’t see X35 Earthwalker on multiplayer as much anymore. 

If you are happy about the changed then definitely good for you and we hope you continue to enjoy the game. To all those cry baby Gnasher only using players, well you got what you wanted so  maybe less complaining now… so much hate mail to read through already. We just hope the developers think about what they are doing carefully. Now it doesn’t matter what happens to the weapons, it will never be a match for… the ‘Earth Walk!’

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State of Decay

State of Decay 2 is the latest installment in the State of Decay franchise. It’s being developed by ‘Undead Labs and published by ‘Microsoft Studios‘. It’s coming out in 2018 on the Xbox One and Windows 10. It will also be a ‘Xbox Play Anywhere’ game allowing more flexibility. Zombie survivals are risky games. Let’s take a look. 

State of Decay 2 has put quite a bit of emphasis on team work. Even stating that “Nobody survives alone” which is a huge statement. We at X35 Earthwalker know of some who can easily survive alone but let’s see why. Basically the story is that somehow the dead has risen once again in America. As always the military, for some reason, couldn’t stop the zombies and now civilisation has fallen. Human is pretty much close to extinction. our question is “Is humanity nearly extinct all around the world or just America?” 

Players must survive, find other survivors and build a community and work together. Start of with nothing off course but over time create a kitchen area, a place to eat, vegetable patches and areas to grow crops and before you know it, it’s a safe haven from all the evil zombies. This is where the whole multiplayer gameplay comes in. State of decay 2 is all about interacting and working together (hopefully) with other players to survive. Off course you could just go with three of your friends. That’s right, it’s also 4 player co-op. Games like this are always better with 4 player co-op and we are glad to see this here.

State of Decay

Now even though there is a lot of team work, each character has their own story in a way. They are different. Different moods, attitudes, goals and different level of determination for those goals. Your own skills that players must develop. Even your own decisions get remembered by the game. Your moral code, your ideas, your ways of survival will have big impact on your story. We honestly here this a lot in games like this but what game really creates effect consequences for this mechanic. it’s a big challenge and we hope it works very well here.

If you haven’t guessed it by now, yes it’s an open world game. Make all the choices you want but resource management is key. Everything is entered around your base. Build watch towers, work shops, infirmaries and more depending on what your goals and strategies are. You may be more combat ready or resource focused.

We checked out some State of Decay 2 gameplay and it has left us on the fence. It sort of reminds us of sims in some ways. The zombies themselves do look interesting. There are standard zombies, big belly zombies that explode and let out some strange fluids, large hulking fat zombies that charge you to try and rip you apart and more. The gameplay it self just doesn’t look all that interesting. Especially how the characters run (a bit bland). The sim like base building does look cool and creates ideas already as to what you would want to do (well the creative have anyway). Just that so far we haven’t seen anything that makes us want to jump on it right now. The open world, multiplayer, co-op action side of the game is what’s really cool right now and makes us want to see how that works. Will players have the option to betray and attack others? Will that in return just lead to a war community game? Many questions.

Overall this is a very cool game. The concept is not new but definitely works here. The graphics are top level with 4K graphics and Xbox one X enhanced. The graphics do look very nice and the attention to details is high as well. The aiming and battle all seems smooth and flows nicely. It’s clear a lot of work went into this game. The developers ‘Undead Labs’ did a excellent job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker will keep an eye out to see how things go. Now working together is key but no matter the level of team work it really ain’t enough to beat… the ‘Earth Walk!’

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Unholy Heroes

Unruly Heroes is a new 2D action adventure game developed by ‘Magic Design Studios‘. It’s coming out later this quarter of the year on the Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PS4 and PC. This game has quite the story to tell. Let’s take a look.

Let’s start from the very beginning. Unruly Heroes was inspired by a famous Chinese legend which we are sure many have heard of. It’s called ‘A journey to the West’. The Monkey king legend. So straight away there are some expectations in terms of the story, it’s depth, music and messages for the gamers. Already we at X35 Earthwalker are interested. 

The developers claim that Unruly Heroes will be an epic adventure and that it will be an unforgettable experience. We can see this being true. The concept behind the game and inspiration should make that easier to accomplish. There are four characters and straight away the creativity is shown. there is a human who seems to be spiritual based and is surrounded by light, maybe to symbolise a moral or holy nature. The next is a fat pig (KiHong) who appears to laugh a lot, suggesting that he’s the most laid back and relaxed one. The next is a large blue monster but humanoid, having knowledge and uses martial arts. The last is a monkey (WuKong) who has a staff and looks a bit too cool to be a regular staff wielding monkey.

Unruly Heroes

Not much information is given concerning game but we have checked out some gameplay and it reminds us of ‘Rayman Origins‘. The gameplay looks awesome. Dash, run, jump, and off course lots of combat. Their are bosses to defeat and each of the four characters have different fighting styles. KiHong is very agile and relies a lot on strength tactics as well. The monkey is heavily reliant on his weapon which can change size and he can even turn into a bird. The large blue monster is martial arts hand to hand combat heavy with mighty strikes. The human who acts too graceful has  mystical powers and uses light to strike enemies whether in balls of light or worse. So yep it’s quite clear who our favourite character is already.

From what we have already seen Unruly heroes looks awesome. KiHong has some awesome looking aerial moves and serious combos. There is a giant monster who looks like it’s going to become a problem. This game off course supports four player co-op which sounds awesome by the way. There is also a PvP mode which sounds even cooler. Hopefully none of the characters are OP. The bosses seem to have their own characteristics and styles which we certainly appreciate. The graphics and style are excellent indeed. Hand drawn art work and it looks amazing so far. Maybe if we saw more it might make our top 5 list.

Overall Unruly Heroes looks awesome. The concept is there, the graphics are amazing and the music is what we wanted. When you hear it, you think of Chinese legends which is what it should have. The developers ‘Magic Games Studios’ did an awesome job so far. We at X35 Earthwalker are looking forward to Unruly Heroes and what this game has to offer. Now the Unruly Heroes may been skilled fighters but even them combined aren’t a match for… the ‘Earth Walk!’

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Titan Fall 2

Titan Fall 2 is a serious game. Developed by ‘Respawn Entertainment‘ and published by Electronic Arts. The first Titan Fall game did something really awesome but did have some issues. Personally many critics and gamers were not so good at judging the game and instead just jumped on the negative train. Titan Fall is a great game but Titan Fall 2 is something else. It has what the first game had but more and better. 

The first big thing about Titan Fall 2 is that it has a campaign mode. The campaign from what we have seen so far is pretty interesting. The game aims to hit players with the emotions. The campaign focuses a lot on the bond between Titan and Pilots. At the start of the game we saw our instructor fight hard to protect us and take down the enemies. His Titan was outnumbered and eventually got taken down. The hero didn’t survive but before he died he transfer control and ownership of the Titan to the player. It’s from there that things get serious. The action is hard and fast. What the campaign does well is that finding and getting different weapons is easy. There are guns on the floor, guns from enemies you killed, guns in weapon boxes etc. So getting ammo and weapons is never the problem.

The difficulty is fair. Even if you play in the second hardest mode, you will feel that everything is how it should be. Enemies don’t instant kill you but they will certainly kill you quick but giving chances. The campaign quite quickly introduces players to new weapons, features and skills level by level and scene by scene. The graphics are off course very good. It would be right to say excellent. Now in terms of characters players will have to face some significant people who pose a serious threat. Their personalities are so different and they stand out. They will take you on in a battle of titans. So prepare to face Titans both old but mostly new. These boss battles are excellent. It feels like a real battle. The most epic and OP thing so far is the ability to travel between time at will. Rewind to the past when everything was fresh and new or go back to the flaming and destroyed state that it’s currently in. Do this to avoid laser walls, flaming pits, automated turrets, troops and more. It’s awesome, endless assassination kills. The campaign so far is been great fun.

Titan Fall 2

The multiplayer is still where it’s at right now. There are more maps and honestly two of them X35 Earthwalker himself completely hates which is only natural not every player is going to like everything. Most of the levels are very diverse from each other and straight up cool, providing many places and opportunities to use your pilot skills to the max. Take note that some levels are more parkour heavy than others. The range of weapons and abilities that players can select from is big and unlike some others there is a reason to use some over others. but this system isn’t perfect either. For starters the best kind of weapons to use in this game is hands down the rifles. The assault rifles are perfect for any situation. They are quick, deal damage fast, bullets to get at least a double kill and with the right attachments can even kill pilots at long range. Snipers are the worst. Titan Fall 2 is all about speed. Pilots run fast, move along walls, grapple to high locations, speed boost around and slid. They basically never stop moving and incredibly fast, how are you suppose to land a sniper shot. The snipers aren’t even instant hit like the ones in Halo. This means that the bullets must travel so you have to aim ahead but how do you aim ahead of pilot that jumps on that wall, then that wall then randomly slides then jumps for no reason then grapples then gets killed buy your team mate because you took too long. No the answer is not “git good scrub”.

Choose between rifles, pistols, sub machine guns, light machine guns, snipers and grenadier. Keep track of your progress with each weapon and unlock attachment and perks for them like faster weapon swap, more ammo, different scopes etc. The abilities are bigger and better. Go invisible for a short period of time, set up a holographic wall that increase the damage of your weapons when you fire through it, use a grapple hook to reach high, far and difficult places, use stem to run and move nearly twice as fast with healing, phase from place to place, use sonar knives to expose enemies, trick foes with holograms it’s all up to players. All are accessible from the start. Many load outs too so switching between them is easy during matches. Grenades, arc grenades that stun and blind, shrikes of fire or gravity, satchel packs for traps and more. There is so much to choose from. It’s going to be difficult to find another pilot with the east same load out as you in a match. Customisation has increased also, now you can decide the colour, patterns and looks of your character, weapons, patches and banners. What’s bad though is that each pilot ability is attached to a certain character model. For example the stim ability makes you use a skinny robot that doesn’t look cool. Honestly we wanted a normal human pilot but nope. Stuck with a weird skinny robot.

Titan Fall 2

The best and most significant part of Titan Fall 2 are the Titans themselves. What else could it be? There are seven different Titans for players to drop in. Ion, Scorch, Northstar, Ronin, Tone, Legion and Monarch. Each one has a different weapon, different abilities and different strengths. Ion is your basic  all rounded Titan. A laser to snipe Pilots and trip wires to keep Titans at bay. Scorch is heavy defence and damage but so slow, he sets the ground on fire and send wall of flames your way (sort of). Northstar snipes and keep its’s distance, capable of flying in the air and bombing from above. Ronin is light armour but wields a sword, dashing around the field and giving over Titans a nice hair cut. Tone hates privacy because it reveals all enemy locations thanks to it’s sonar knives making landing those heavy shots so easy. Legion wields a chain gun that shreads targets and like black beard from rainbow six siege can have a gun shield to protect it s self from damage. Monarch relies on it’s levelling up on the field and gaining new abilities each time..if it survives that long. 

Off course you have to pick the Titan that works best with you. Some titans are less effective on certain levels. Big open spaces is where the Scorcher has a hard time since it’s main attack is a arc travelling single shot and others can shoot it from across the map. Monarch needs to get kills while staying alive. The upgrades turn the Monarch from the weakest titan to the strongest. North star needs more open space for it’s sniping but if some titans try to get close aim for buildings and cover and play ring around the rosey then use your hover ability to get in the air and land shots and rockets from above. Legion Just needs to see it’s target. That’s it. Legion is powerful enough fight others straight up but has limited options. Know when to use the close range and long range mode. There no real trick to Ion, just works like your regular titan but when you get the core ability you can laser eye others while looking so awesome. Tone is all about the long and mid range fight and using the sonar to expose pilots is far more useful so just pick them off when you find them. We must say though that there is nothing more satisfying than getting a level three Monarch. Also setting the ground on fire to do great damage and then finish them off with the core ability.

Titan Fall 2 is awesome. The matches are all fast pace. Literally, we never have to wait long for another match. The assault rifles feel very good. Movement and combat speed is fast and smooth. The a.i units are very responsive, have more animations and actions. The stalkers and reapers are actually a threat and shouldn’t be ignored. We do however feel that the ronin should have slightly less health because even if you are at close range wth the sword and swinging, the Ronin shouldn’t still be able to beat Titans that have be classed as high health and armour.It does take a bit too long to unlock more weapons and abilities. The XO-16 gun that the Monarch has should have less spread on the weapon when firing. The Northstar’s plasma railgun should have more damage. When you let it fully charge it doesn’t feel that much stronger. There should have been in game taunts for pilots to use to mock enemy players after killing them. Getting into your enemies heads.

Overall Titan Fall 2 is still an awesome game to play even now. There are a lot of players still going hard at the game. Lots of things to unlock and try out. Even though some weapons are better than others, you should still try them all. The mini missile launcher is next on our list. Try all the Titans and just have fun. Get those executions when you can because they feel good (when you are the one doing it). The scoring system for attrition doesn’t make that much sense right now. So give it a try and have fun. Titan Fall 2 may be an improvement over the last one but it still doesn’t match up to… the ‘Earth Walk!’

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Battalion 1944

Battalion 1944 is a new first person shooter World war 2 game developed by ‘Bulkhead Interactive‘ and published by ‘Square Enix‘. It’s coming out later in this quarter of the year on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Also an early access for Battalion 1944 is out the 1st of February for PC on Steam. This game is suppose to recapture the core of classic competitive shooters. Let’s take a look.

There isn’t too much information given out about Battalion 1944. We do know that it is multiplayer heavy emphasis. There seems to be limited weapons. We know there will be a Kar98 which is a bolt action rifle and a Thompson. So it’s going back to complete basics. As in everyone has the same weapons, covering fire and heavy single shot damage. So moving around, covering angles and working together are the main factors here in deciding who wins these matches.

Since Battalion 1944’s aim is to be classic there won’t be any power ups or bonus like nukes and dogs from call of duty or armour and spartan abilities like from Halo. Just standard weapons and yourself really. Battalion 1944 is being put together by firstly people who grew up playing competitive first person shooters and professional first person shooter players. 

Battalion 1944

There are a multiple of game modes which we all know by now like Team death match, free for all, Capture the flag and Domination. There is also War Tide which is quite new. Basically there are two teams of five and two weapon armouries. The armouries provide weapons but only as you kill the enemies from what we get from the information.

Yes there are rewards for playing like ‘War chests’ which come after levelling up. Since it’s a classic shooter there won’t be no booster weapons or perks. Instead they are all cosmetic like weapon skins.

We checked out some gameplay and really this game is very simple to understand in terms of gameplay but very basic. The Thompson kills people quickly but the Kar98 if you land the headshot kills instantly so skill is rewarded here. Other weapons like shotguns may be map power weapons. very basic and simple.

Overall Battalion 1944 looks like am good game and definitely there is a group of gamers who would be interested in this style of gameplay. The graphics are good. The developers ‘Bulkhead Interactive’ did a good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker aren’t interested in this game as it’s not out style or thing but others will be. Now classic shooters keep it simple but far to simple for… the ‘Earth Walk!’

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A Way Out

A Way Out is a new co-op game developed by ‘HazeLight Studios‘. It’s coming out the 23rd of March on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC. In this game you need someone watching your back at all times. Let’s take a look.

In A Way Out, their are two main characters: Vincent and Leo. Players will take control of one of these two in a risky and daring escape from a maximum security prison. That is no easy feat in itself but there’s more to the game than that. You could say things get real after escaping prison as that’s when the emotional side of the game comes out. You get to know the characters and their stories become revealed. 

Now the most important bit of information concerning A Way Out is that it’s a co-op game only! That’s right. You actually need someone to play with you otherwise you can forget about making any progress whatsoever. This will naturally make things difficult. You need a friend to have the game also do just play it… actually the developers have did something rather cool to help fix this. A Way Out only requires one of you to actually buy the game. It’s called a ‘Friends pass’. So as long as you have the game, you can play with any of your friends. Pretty awesome if you as us at X35 Earthwalker.

A Way Out

Now there is a number of actions that the two get themselves into. Their will be stealth, shoot outs, melee fights and even car chases. This means your friend better not have the aim of a Storm Trooper but have a drivers license. Now it’s all going to be split screen which is always fun and brings back good memories of other great co-op split screen games like Halo. Now since this is a very different kind of game, some gamers will have their doubts in whether to buy this or not. Electronic Arts announced that there will be a co-op trial at launch so gamers can see for themselves if this is their kind of game or not. Smart move EA. 

We checked out some gameplay of A Way Out and from we have seen it does seem interesting but we need to know more. Leo is the cocky, makes rash decision and always quick for a fight while Vincent is more cool, thinking and more calm about things. You can see this in how they interact with their surroundings. for example there’s a part where they are fishing and Vincent takes his time and successfully catches a fish while Leo gives up and splashes in frustration. It’s actually quite hilarious. It’s a real deep story with loved ones, problems and more. This will reach a certain audience of gamers.

Overall A Way Out seems like a real good game. It’s style and set up really shakes things up in a good way. Let’s hope others see it that way. The graphics are nice. The sounds are nice too. The game has lots of interaction. Like playing instruments, baseball and talking to others. Pretty cool. The developers ‘HazeLight Studios’ did a great job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker look forward to seeing what gamers have to say about this game. Team work is great but no amount of team work is enough for… the ‘Earth Walk!’

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Sea of Thieves

Sea of Thieves is a new open world multiplayer pirate life game developed by, ‘Rare‘  and coming out 20th of March on the Xbox One and Windows 10. Sea of Thieves is a very large game with lots going on and lots to do. All about exploration and adventure. Let’s take a look.

In Sea of Thieves gamers get to live the pirate life. As in cutlass, drinks, shanties, scaly wags, bar wenches kind of pirates. Straight away it’s clear that it is a multiplayer game but you can be a legendary solo pirate or a powerful pirate crew. Grab your boat and head out to sea. The world is very large with many islands to discover and explore. The ships can be fully interacted with. You can raise or lower the sails, raise or drop the anchor, control the helm to steer the ship, go up into the crows nest and be a spotter. The sails actually have an effect, to raise the anchor you need to literally turn the wheel yourself to slowly raise it up. Also the crows nest is important as spyglasses are in this game and can be used to see other ships from a good distance away giving your time to decide what actions to take. That’s right you aren’t the only person in this game. There are countless other pirates and many pirate crews who are all about building their reputation as well. Are they friendly and want to socialise or do they draw their cutlass and flintlock pistols and want a battle? Be careful though as cannon balls do what they should do, which is damage and cause water to fill up in your ship meaning you need some crew members to get rid of the water and patch up the holes in your ship but that means their are less hands on deck to fight the attacking pirate ship. So crews must work together to handle battle.

Sea of Thieves

There is so much more to this game then originally believed. There are a bunch of other NPC characters who have their own reasons goals for being in the sea of thieves so make to check them all out. It’s important. There are trading companies like the the order of magic who want to control the ancient and magic of the pirate world, the merchant alliance who’s goal is to control and handle trade in the seas and Gold Horders who are all about the treasure. Each of these trading companies are essential for building your reputation and making progress. Players must decide what trading company they want to be affiliated with because each one represents a certain play style. So what is your pirate crew about? Are you the riches pirates who can buy all the rum they want, are you top level business pirate men who buy and sell or are you a cursed pirate crew like Barbossa from pirates of the Caribbean who deal with magic? It’s actually cool when you think about this way. As you build reputation with them, you get promoted within their ranks and get cool items and titles for you to show off and prove how far ahead you are. So take on their favoured activities and voyages. As you make progress they get much harder and more mechanics to take into account.

Since Sea of Thieves is a game all about pirates that means you can have or be part of a crew. This means multiple pirates on a ship. Each crew member has their own voyages and personal progress in the sea of thieves. Crew members can propose voyages to the whole crew and so the team can, as a team can decide what missions to go for. This also means some players have voyages that others won’t have so having them in your crew is an advantage. So having a player who is much ahead of you in terms of personal progress is actually a good idea because they will have bigger and more difficult voyages and that’s a good thing for your reputation. Remember that voyages are based on your reputation with trading companies. There are no barriers in place concerning players playing together. The most challenging voyages can be accessed by your lower progress friends meaning you don’t to wait for your friend to be a level 100 for example (no levels in sea of thieves). This is also means you won’t have to worry about running into too powerful enemies. it all comes down to how you use your weapons. There is the guns and blades. With the guns it’s just a matter of landing your shots, you all die just as fast. With the blades, you have to know when to block players attacks and when to actually strike back. There is actually some skill gap here in terms of combat so make sure to get some practice in.

Sea of Thieves

If you thought that other pirates was the only threat on these sees then boy are you mistaken. Remember how some are interested in the magic and ancient of the Sea of Thieves? Well on some islands there just happens to be some skeletons who walk around and wield weapons as well. These Skeletons are not here to play, they can hit hard and even block your attacks. They also do not fight alone and will come in numbers to defeat your crew and keep you off the islands and away from treasure. If that wasn’t enough, skeletons don’t really die do they? Skeletons seem to keep coming over time, after all they are already dead. It’s pretty much like fighting the cursed crew of the black pearl from pirates of the Caribbean. There is more. There are sharks that inhabit the waters so falling of your ship or being blasted of by a cannon is the last thing that you want because we heard it takes two bites from a shark to kill you and they are off course faster than you. It gets worse, even the weather is against you, there can be storms which will make you lose control of the ship, make you crash and even send you way of course. Worse a lightning bolt might strike your ship which will cause real damage. It has been hinted by the developers that there are more threats in the Sea of Thieves so be on your guard and don’t get caught “unprepared and unawares”.

Sea of Thieves do have other things to take into account. For example if you and your crew are on a voyage and go to a island, you drop the anchor and head on to the island. The problem is that your ship is sitting there alone unguarded. So what if another pirate team came along and saw your ship, two of them climb on board, raise the anchor and then they leave with both ships and your crew is left with the treasure on an island with angry skeletons on land and deadly sharks in the sea. What do you do now?  We believe there is some sort of respawn system that brings you back to your ship, so there is a chance to get your ship back.

We checked out some gameplay and it so far looks like a top level game. The art style works well with pirates. the graphics are very good and the sounds are excellent, especially when you use the instruments to make good pirate-y music. We like the acceptable level of interaction like dancing, music and even drinking, which by the way actually gets your pirate drunk meaning blurry and moving vision and harder to control and throwing up (all included). Sea of thieves will also be enhanced on the Xbox One X Sea of Thieves isn’t a released done and finished game. It has been explained that it’s a ever growing game and that new features and adventures will be added after launch continuously. This makes us at X35 Earthwalker wonder what else they could put in. There is a lot of opportunity here. For example what if they add a massive Kraken that becomes another threat that forces players to keep an eye out on the seas as they may end up going near one. What about their own version of Davy Jones with a ship that also can come out from under the water to fight or what about NPC famous pirate crews with larger ships that move around through the game and players can take them on. All possibilities. 

Overall Sea of Thieves is an awesome game with lots of potential. It’s a simple game but just has a lot going on. Travel around, have fun, meet other players, go on voyages, enter duels, fight skeletons, get drunk, go for a swim, dance around with music and much more. The developers, ‘Rare’ did a fantastic job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker look forward to seeing what Sea of Thieves fully has to offer. Now pirates are very popular but definitely not as much as…the ‘Earth Walk!’

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Metal Gear Survive

Metal Gear Survive has gotten some gamers talking, especially the fans of the Metal Gear series. Off course Metal Gear Survive was developed by Konami. The beta for Metal Gear Survive has been out for a good short time. X35 Earthwalker himself has played the beta allowing us a taste of what is to come. Let’s take a look.

As you are reading this, remember that it is a beta and not a full release so things can get better. The beta let’s you select and customise to some extent your avatar, basically your character. So choose from male or female, then change the hair but restricted to short hair, following the style of the military, face, cheek, eyes etc. Hopefully we will get more options for customising our avatars in the full release. When you enter you are in this space that makes you feel like you are inside a computer. There you can organise and select your inventory, craft items, repair stuff like weapons etc. it’s like the central hub for everything. The action starts when you begin your first salvage mission. 

In salvage missions your job is to plant the wormhole digger which harvests energy. The harvesting always seems to attracts the creatures. So players must defend the wormhole digger at all times. The creatures will come in waves and each wave gets more difficult with more mixture of creature types and watching the timer for the wave to end doesn’t help. The drill will start automatically so make sure to get there and organise yourself or team if playing with others. You have a good amount of time, five minutes, to actually look around the map first which is highly recommended. as you look around you will come objects that can be destroyed for materials, like drums for iron, boxes for wood plus other stuff within, trees for wood and solid energy plant like things which when broken drop energy; however those things require a heavy weapon to smash like the mallet. Collect as much as you can.

Metal Gear Survive - X35 Earthwalker

You can use whatever is in your inventory to your advantage, so build up fences, plant mines, set traps etc, whatever that will help you get through the wave. There is one horrible catch though. At the end of the wave a shockwave blasts out from the machine that kills all remaining enemies but also destroys the stuff you set up like traps, mines, heavy machine guns etc. we actually hate this mechanic. So if you get carried away and fully set up using almost everything for the first wave, you will lose it all and have nothing for the later waves. This is something we recommend shouldn’t be in the Metal Gear Survive. So please don’t Konami. What they did do right was the controls. Each d-pad direction has their own section of items or weapons. There is much things you can equip and selecting between them is very easy. Just cycle through with your d-pad and then use your action buttons accordingly. It takes only a little time to get use to.

Now in the level available in the beta, creatures can come from many directions. North, East, South and West. There is no mercy in this game either and that’s how it should be done. The creatures will all be running towards your location, all trying to get to the machine. So expect, Wanderers, Bombers and variants of the wanderers. The Wanderers are your typical zombies that we all know and hate. They can sprint but when near you they act slow and typical, swinging at you. The bombers are the biggest threats and must be handled straight away. They are pretty much always running and as the name suggests they can explode doing immense damage to players and your traps, fences etc so don’t let them get close. They can even head butt you! There are some variants of the wanderers like the armoured one who has good armour meaning attacks are much less effective. Their is another that has explosives strapped to it and will explode so watch out. By the way the weakness for a bomber is their legs, so don’t waste all your armour trying unloading on their heads. not worth it.

Metal Gear Survive makes it also that you have to be careful with how you use your weapons and items. You hand gun will never have enough ammo to handle the entire wave, you players must decide which enemies are worth using the bullets on. Should you fire to fin out a crowd, or do you use a molotov to set them on fire? Do you get melee with them using your spears, axes, and blades or do you wait until they gather and then use a planted heavy machine gun? Maybe the best thing to do is to run up to an enemy and do a powerful sprint strike with a mallet. So many decisions. It gets worse as you have to prioritise what which enemies over others, which traps to use this wave (since everything gets destroyed). Stealth killing the creatures feels really good here. just get behind them and let them have it but take into account that running creates the most noise, then walking, then crouching but going prone makes zero noise but you are slowest then. The rewards you get for passing a mission are very generous, you get a lot of stuff which allows you to replenish ammo, repair weapons and gear and get more thing. We like the rewards here.

Konami went real deep with the in game mechanics of Metal Gear Survive. There isn’t just only health, there is also your thirst and hunger. Meaning you have to make sure to have food and drink available. your stats can be seen from the main menu which looks awesome by the way. Keep track of all these things. Now when it comes to your equipment and weapon they all have weight. That’s right watching your weight isn’t just for real life but also in Metal Gear Survive. Being too heavy will cause you some problems on the field…. remember that. Straight away you can see that the graphics are excellent in Metal Gear Survive. The attention to detail is pretty cool as well like the markings and rust on some materials is all cool. Notice that when cycling through and selecting in the menu menu, your characters thumb moves as well showing that your actions control your character interacting with the device. Little stuff like that make a big difference in our books here at X35 Earthwalker. Real cool.

Metal Gear Survive main menu - X35 Earthwalker

The rewards you get for completing each salvage mission is great. Lots of materials allowing players to replenish and gear up for the next ones and then some. So they did well with that. it makes using your traps and items that you spent resources to build not a problem as you can easily make more after missions. The side missions that appear are definitely worth completing while on the salvage missions. Diamondz L45 stayed at the base to defend while X35 Earthwalker went to a side mission and found some machines that walk, run over enemies and has a heavy machine gun attached which easily cleared out the zombies saving them in that wave. So go for side missions when you can as they make a big difference, you may get mortars, heavy machine guns and other fancy stuff. 

The Metal Gear Survive beta showed many things and done it’s job right. It showed that players have to be aware of what enemies are coming and how to deal with them efficiently. It showed that weight, health, hunger and thirst are factors here. It showed that crafting and maintenance of your equipment is important. It showed the wide range of weapons that can be used. it showed how dangerous the enemy is and how merciless the waves can be. Co-op mode is definitely where it’s at, get some friends and defend together. Spend energy for support at the wormhole digger or bonuses like speeding up the digging. Timing is also important, for example if you attack an enemy but you get interrupted by an creature’s attack, your attack won’t go through. So using a mallet is powerful and will destroy all but so slow that it becomes easy to interrupt. So choose wisely and get your distance right or get swarmed by the horde. There is so much going on in Metal Gear Survive.

Overall the beta did what it was suppose to do. It gave us a serious taste of what’s to come and showed off many strong points of the game. Off course there are some negatives: destroying all our stuff at the end of the wave, the crafting system and what materials you have in and outside of missioned what in storage is actually quite confusing, you think you have enough materials but then it shows you have nothing in a mission and we think that should be made more clear. Connection gets unstable at times but ti’s a beta so we won’t stone them for it just yet. The parry ability is very clear and how it works and the timing at all. They need to make the whole ammo on person or in storage thing more clear too. Metal Gear Survive looks like a special game right now. We at X35 Earthwalker can say that we are looking forward to this game and that Konami has so far done an outstanding job. You can even choose what your character says and have emotes like in Destiny 2 but not as large selection yet. Metal Gear Survive is worth checking out. Now there is lots to do but not more than… the ‘Earth Walk!’

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Metal Gear Survive

Metal Gear Survive is a new game coming out developed by ‘Konami’. It’s coming out 20th of February on the Xbox One, Play Station 4 and PC. Metal Gear Survive is off course from the Metal Gear series; it’s a spin-off and it’s going in a different direction from the others. The top priority here is survival. Let’s take a look.

Now Metal Gear Survive spins-off from Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. So the “intense” action from Metal Gear Solid V is being inserted into the survival action style. Honestly Metal Gear Survive seems more like a survival action tower defence as the game places emphasis strategic decisions like where to place defensive units. Why do you need defensive units? Well that because in this world there are dangerous creatures and environmental hazards that will end you real quick.

Basically here’s the story. It’s 1975 Big boss and his soldiers were at ‘Mother base’ but was attacked by an enemy force known as ‘XOF’. Big boss and his boys put up a fight but eventually lost. Big boss escaped but a worm hole opens above the base and sucks everything in. The soldier who helped big boss escape almost gets sucked in. That soldier loses consciousness and wakes up six months later. Too cut it shorter, he is infected and so heads to that dimension where the worm hole leads to find a cure and rescue those who are stuck there. What could possibly go wrong?

Metal Gear Survive - X35 Earthwalker

There are two modes in Met Gear Survive: Single player  and online co-op multiplayer. Both modes are technically needed. This is because in single player, you get to go through the Metal Gear Survive story, to know what’s going on while learning the basics of the gameplay mechanics and more. While in Online co-op, that’s where gamers have to use their skills and everything they learned from single player and see just how good they are. It’s there where you are put to the test. Now we know their are so called ‘fans’ who don’t care about the story and go straight to multiplayer so they get a head start… not here. All rewards and progress earned in both single player and multiplayer are carry over and apply in both of the modes. So you won’t fall behind.

Metal Gear Survive in single player, is more adventurous, you could say. Now we know there are creatures that will end your adventure real quick but they aren’t the biggest problem. The biggest problem is in fact hunger and thirst. So make sure to find food and water around otherwise it’s game over. What’s cool is that you can get food and water straight from your base camp. For example grow crops to get vegetables. Off course this all must be managed. Creatures can wound you and that wound must be treated as quickly as possible. Same goes for illnesses which you can get through eating contaminated food. Yep, metal Gear Survive isn’t messing around.

The other big problem is the mist. Mist is pretty much everywhere and it’s off course deadly and extremely hazardous. Good thing players have oxygen tanks to use so they can travel through it but keep an eye on how much oxygen you have left because it isn’t unlimited. Matter of fact… Oxygen is not included. Don’t forget that these creatures are also in the mist as well and the oxygen doesn’t stop being used when in combat, it still goes down so players again have to be strategic and decide whether it’s better to engage in combat or sneak around. Multiple trips are recommended in single player as there are many secrets and materials to find. So be brave and get out there. 

Metal Gear Survive X35 Earthwalker

Now in co-op there is a lot to do and it’s more action and defence here. There are Salvage missions and side missions to consider. In salvage missions your teams aim is to place and set up a worm hole digger which harvests energy. Off course it isn’t going to be easy. Now side missions pop up from time to time. Be careful though, as you don’t want everyone to leave the base to go for a side mission. We at X35 Earthwalker recommend going for these in between waves and split your team to be on the safe side. Some stay and maintain the base while others complete the side mission. they are worth it though as the rewards you get like items and good weapons are key to defending your base here.

It doesn’t stop there, how do you defend a base without defences? You can set up machine guns and even mortars to handle creatures with ease, especially if they come in a group. There are also traps available which are perfect for thinning out hordes and slowing them down. Take away that momentum. structures like fences are pretty much the most useful thing in the game. They keep the words at bay and allow you to strike them while they are halted by the great power of… the fence. Sandbag barricades are structures don’t just block enemies but players can stand on them, receiving the advantage of elevation. This all sounds fun.

Off course you can craft weapons and items and even build and design the base how you want. This is also a big decision as the design layout. You can make things easy for yourself or hard. Gather materials to develop and improve your base camp. This also falls under management. So upgrade, reinforce and find those crafting recipes to bring out the real fire power.

We checked out some gameplay and everything looks really cool and how we imagined it but we didn’t expect some of those types of traps. It was funny to see a trap that is slippery and makes everything slip right past. Kind of like a cartoon. Very creative. The building of structures like fences seems very simple and quick which is what you need in a game like that. The creatures so far do not look impressive at all. There are three types so far: Wanderer, Bomber and Tracker. Wanderers are the standard zombie like ones. Bombers are big swollen ones that can explode and trackers have enhanced legs which they use to move fast and jump high, even over the fences you built. Making them a problem.

Overall Metal Gear Survive looks cool and is an interesting spin-off that works. Off course fans will divided on this direction but we will see. The graphics look excellent, the visuals look real good. Off curse there is time to add more to the game and give it more meat because there is quite a lot they can do with this game. The developers, ‘Konami’ did a great drop with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker look forward to seeing what metal Gear Survive has to offer. Now wanders and mist are a big problem but they ain’t too big for… the ‘Earth Walk!’

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