Hotline Miami 2 Wrong Number (PS4) Review - The Brutality Returns.

 

By Sam Coles:

Hotline Miami 2 Wrong number is one of the most fun and adrenaline pumping games that I’ve played in a long time; it evokes the feeling of the old school top down shooters such as Alien Breed and turns it up to 11 with the violence and art style.

 

 

Hotline Miami 2 is a top down shooter with a bright neon look evoking the style of 1980’s Miami with lots of pinks and neon signs in the same vein as Grand Theft Auto Vice City or Miami Vice. It is a joy to look at with its throw back look of a 16 bit of top down shooter which makes you think that this is standard until you hit or shoot someone and you see blood go everywhere.

 

 

The story this time round takes you through different and varied locales so one minute you’ll be in a grimy apartment building and then you’ll be in the jungles of Hawaii. The levels don’t pull any punches and you’ll find yourself hitting the respawn button over and over again, but most time when I die I don’t feel as if it’s the game cheating me I feel that it’s my fault for not hitting the right button in a split second or I don’t observe my surroundings properly. This game will make you it’s bitch sometimes as you can’t soak up damage like you’re made of steel like in other shooters because most of the time it will only take one shot or one swing of a bat to kill you.

 

 

The graphical style is beautiful with its colourful pallet flashing neon lights and the pixelated characters, coupled with the over the top violence with blood everywhere with bone crunching sound design with the impact of lead pipes to the sound of the guns everything sounds like it hurts rather than them sounding like pee shooters or paddles hitting you.

 

 

At the start of each level when you are taking control of the various selections of psychopaths you can choose several masks that will give certain accolades or stipulations for the playthrough of the level. You’ll have masks like the tiger mask which doesn’t let use weapons which really ramps up the difficulty or you have the swan mask where you control two people, one has a gun and the other has a chainsaw. The different characters really add variation to the game and all the levels feel different and it never gets stale and it gives you an incentive to reply those levels with different masks.

 

The games music is fantastic with its mix of techno and 80’s style which keeps up with the fast pace of the high octane gun fights and brawls, but when you finish a level the music dies down and you walk back through the level and you see all the destruction you’ve caused. It made me feel a bit ashamed because it gives you time to pause and reflect on what you’ve done, but then you jump into the next level and do it all again.

 

Hotline Miami 2 Wrong Number is a fantastic and challenging game that will keep you on your toes and if you own a PC, PS4, PS3 or a Vita I would highly recommend playing this game if you want something to challenge you.

COD: Advanced Warfare Havoc DLC (PS4) Review - Zombies on Steroids.

 

By Sam Coles:

 

 

Throwing zombies or Nazi’s in a game is generally a lazy attempt to spice up a video game as it has been since Call of Duty World at War back in 2008, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not enjoyable. The guys at Sledgehammer games have released the Havoc DLC for the PS4/PS3 with new maps and the new game mode Exo Zombies.

 

 

 

The Exo Zombies mode is a take on Treyarch’s zombie game mode from their line of Call of Duty games, but this time the zombies are more varied compared to mode in the past and plus some of the zombies have exo suits so chases become more tense. You have a star studded cast that includes John Malkovich which shows the time and effort that they took to make this DLC to bring in actors that well known so they up the ante from Kevin Spacy.

 

 

 

 

Like the zombie modes before you start off with a pitiful pistol which does its job for the first two rounds before it becomes useless and you need to find a new weapon. Zombies come through the windows and air vents etc. but this time you can’t board up the windows to keep them at bay so you have to keep moving and have relay on team mates and the traps that are spread out throughout the level.

 

 

Unlike the traditional zombie game mode you have elemental enemies that can affected you in different ways such as the zombie that has an electrical charge and can deactivate your exo suit temporarily. You can also be infected by some zombies and you have to go and clean yourself up in a disinfection chamber before you die.  Once you get the exo suit it changes the dynamic and strategy of avoiding the zombies because Advanced Warfare has more verticality compared to other games in the series you can jump to high ledges as you wait for your health to come back or quickly reload your weapons.

 

 

The Exo Zombie mode isn’t the only thing you’ll get within this DLC pack you also get access to a new assault rifle, however it’s not a typical assault rifle its plasma based, it works in the same vein as the laser weapon that it has infinite ammo, but it will over heat if you keep firing in succession. The nit-pick I have with this weapon is that it feels over powered and it may need tweaking in a patch, but that is my opinion.

 

 

You also get 4 extra maps in the multiplayer as well and I’ll give you a quick run-down.

 

 

 

 

Sideshow:

This map appears to be a small hotel in the middle of nowhere which has a, you guested it a circus and clown theme to it, down to the clowns laughing and comedic bombs that will kill you when activated. This is a long range map so I would advise carrying a sniper rifle on you as you’ll find that everyone else does.

 

 

 

Urban:

Urban is a small part of a city that really suits those who like to get up close and personal with their battles such as shotguners and people who often use SMG’s. It has two long stretches on both sides of the map that get very hairy in a match of Domination or Hardpoint because you’ll be going back and forth with capturing, though it is tense in those situations.

 

 

 

 

Core:

This a generator set in the desert which is the largest map in this collection of maps so assault rifles are advised, however there are a lot of turns and flanking positions which you can use to your advantage when playing objective based modes. There is currently a glitch that I’ve experience where I spawn in spectator mode for a fair amount of time on this map before I start the game and this is the only map that does this.

 

 

 

Drift:

Drift is set in a ski resort and is the map with the most verticality so you’ll be jumping a lot in this map and having most of your battles on the rooftops in this snowy setting along with close quarter battles in the tight side alleys and buildings on the ground.

This map is really fun only because the zombie mode is rather enjoyable, so if you’re looking for something a bit different in the zombie mode then grab some friends and download this pack.

Wolfenstein: The Old Blood Trailer.

 

By Sam Coles:

 

My number 1 game of 2014 Wolfenstein The New Order gets a stand-alone expansion in the form of Wolfenstein The Old Blood. This expansion takes place before The New Order during 1946 where you first infiltrate Castle Wolfenstein to find files about the dastardly villain General Deathshead. In the second half of the game you’ll traverse an archaeological dig site to take down a head Nazi researcher.

 

This game will be available in May of 2015 on PS4, Xbox One and PC if you haven’t played Wolfenstein The New Order then go and buy it it’s really cheap now and it’s a fantastic thrill ride with an interesting setting and characters.