Hatred Review

By: Theresa Edwards

 

Twitter: @lockrocks80

Twitch: twitch.tv/lockrocks1980 .

 

Hatred is only the second game in video game history to receive an adults only (AO) rating from the ESRB, the video game ratings board in the US and Canada. This game is a killing-spree simulator with an unknown hooded man as the perpetrator of mass killings of anyone that he comes across. The character prepares to start his massacre saying, “ I just hate this world and the human worms feasting on its carcass. My whole life is just cold, bitter hatred, and I always wanted to die violently. This is the time for vengeance and no life is worth saving-and I will put in a grave as many as I can. It's time for me to kill and time for me to die. My genocide crusade.”

 

 

 

That being said, it is exactly that. I found the controls a bit difficult to maneuver but the point of the game is straight forward. Run around and kill anyone you come across. Objectives come up on the left side as you explore the map, for example, take out as many people in the house party as you can. The game suggests at the beginning to use grenades for mass killings and not to waste them on a single target. To regain health, you have to execute someone, which is done with Q. When that happens, the game zooms in and you do a “kill shot” to the person and regain some of your health pool. While exploring, the police will show up and try to take you out, so you must avoid and survive their attacks.

 

The aiming is easy enough and the shots seemed to be spot-on. The gray sheen makes the game seem more dark and ominous. It's level based and most missions are kill [x] amount of civilians and then kill [x] number of police and escape.  That being said, I found this game to be nothing but a massacre with no real skill other than trying to stay alive. I could see this as a nice stress relief and mindless play, but nothing I would spend hours on.

Gears of War Ultimate Edition Beta Impressions.

 

 

By Sam Coles:

During the E3 conference that Microsoft hosted they’ve finally announced that Gears of War Ultimate Edition is coming to Xbox One and that wasn’t the only thing we Xbox One players could test the multiplayer out during the week of E3 2015. So what is the game like? Well let’s find out.

The first thing that stands out with the game is the frame rate, it is fantastic to finally play a Gears of War game in glorious 60 frames per second and I don’t think I could go back, it makes the action faster and increases your reaction time with the active reloads to. I hope this is the standard for Gears of War 4 because I can’t go back to Gears in 30 frames per second.

 

The graphics have been cleaned up from the original and yes the original Gears of War does look great still, but it does look very flat these days and bear in mind the game is nearly 10 years old and the graphics have been given a nice boost with the subtle details such as the water etc.

The gameplay has been updated because the original Gears was very clunky compared to the later iterations and now it plays like Gears of War 3 which was the perfect balanced of gameplay with the much needed tagging system to help your team mates. The sound design has been given a boost to match the gun and weapon noises of Gears of War 3 so the Lancer sounds meaty and sounds like it does damage and the Gnasher shogun reload noise sounds crunchy, I don’t like the new grenade explosion noise because it sounds like a distant crackle rather than a massive bang.

Overall this short beta was fun and I can’t wait to play Gears of War Ultimate Edition in August when it hits Xbox One.

E3 2015: Just Cause 3

Video Source: Kotaku.

By Sam Coles:

Just Cause 3 gets some chaotic gameplay with the trailer that Square Enix showed off during their conference. Displaying the new abilities that Rico has with his new and improved grapple hook which can have some devastating results such as attaching a rocket to a plane or making structures cave in on themselves with well placed hooks. Destruction looks amazing and looks as if you can pretty much destroy anything you see such as bridges, buildings to vehicles it all looks like some mindless fun that will entertain me for hours upon hours.

Just Cause 3 comes out December 1st on the PS4, Xbox One and PC.

E3 2015: Xbox One with Backwards Compatibility for 360 Games

By Sam Coles:

So Microsoft dropped a real bomb as you can play Xbox 360 games by the end of the year, at first it will be a select few games and if you downloaded them they will automatically turn up in your ready to install folder. If you own the disc all you have to do is pop the disc in the drive and it will start to download the game, however even if you've downloaded it you must keep the game in the drive to verify that you own the game. This makes me happy not because of this new feature but because it shows if we shout loud enough they will listen and Phil Spenser has really turned Xbox around since the major disaster that was 2013.

The backwards compatibility is available to preview members now but it will be available to everyone this winter.

E3 2015: Final Fantasy VII Remake.

By Sam Coles:

During the Sony press conference they gave Final Fantasy fans a massive surprise in the form of a teaser trailer of Final Fantasy Remake, this is something that the fans of the series have been asking for years and after that laughable reveal that they were bringing the PC version to PS4 they are giving use the real deal although it is very far away. The thing that bothers me about this trailer is that it is pre-rendered which doesn't bode well because it tells us nothing about what the game looks like, I think studios should take some aspects from Bethesda with Fallout 4 only show it if it is coming out this year or soon.

Final Fantasy VII will come to the PS4 first then Xbox One and PC at a later date I expect.

E3 2015: Star Wars Battlefront

Video Source: Gamerspawn

By Sam Coles:

We've been teased and teased with Star Wars Battlefront, but finally DICE showed it off during Sony's press conference. I must say that game looks absolutely stunning and almost photo-realistic with the environments you can really see that DICE have taken pride by getting the locales and it makes me doubly excited to get my hands on it this November. With DICE's reputation the sound design is amazing mixing the Star Wars sounds with the blasters with the crackles and explosions from Battlefield.

They showed off the battle of Hoth with the walker mode where you had to take down the generators as the imperials or destroy the walkers as the rebels. They also showed the co-op mode which in my opinion looks a tad boring because I'm really fed up with horded style gameplay it's been over done.

Star Wars Battlefront will hit PS4, Xbox One and PC on 20th of November.

E3 2015: Gears of War 4 and Gears of War Ultimate Edition.

By Sam Coles:

Microsoft showed off a brief glimpse of Gears of War 4 which looks absolutely stunning, however it doesn't look like it deviates from the other games in the series but let's wait and find out when it releases next year on Xbox One.

They also announced Gears of War Ultimate Edition which is a Remaster of the original Gears of War which include updated graphics and textures running at 60 frames per second and 1080p and it comes with the multiplayer with all the DLC which some of it was only available on the PC version of the game. The game will also have the up to date gameplay features that are from Gears of War 3 to make the game less clunky. The game will release in August on the Xbox One so you don't have to wait long.