MashButtons: June 2016

Sunday, June 26, 2016

Deadlight: Director’s Cut: The console zombie 2D platformer now on consoles

I have been provided with a code for Deadlight Director’s Cut, a title that I really had no idea about, which tend to be my favorite titles to review, especially when they are games in this particular genre. Deadlight is a 2D platforming game where you play as Randall in 1986 Seattle searching for family he was separated from. It is you against zombies and puzzles with weapons if sneaking is too passive for you, so let's see how Deadlight goes.

Immediately out of the gate, I am reminiscent of the time spent with Limbo and Castlevania. It also has a nice level of difficulty by making ammo scarce and puzzles thought invoking when zombies aren't the only thing that can kill you. Visually it looks great, while the foreground is dark and the background is a detailed apocalyptic Seattle. While the gameplay was fun and visually it looked great, I am not sure if it was the story or the animation style had me skipping cut scenes shortly after starting.

On top of the ability to now play Deadlight on the current consoles, Survival Arena changes things up by fighting off waves of zombies and while it was entertaining, progressing up the leaderboards kept me returning. The Director's Cut includes a digital art book and the original Developer Diaries to provide fans with more insight to the Deadlight series. Deadlight: Director's Cut is available now for $19.99 on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

Sunday, June 12, 2016

The Dead Island Trifecta: Dead Island and Riptide Definitive Collection, topped with Retro Revenge

Coming from someone that it not a fan of HD remastering of previous generation titles, it is time for a game in which I think is a perfect fit to be polished and reshelved, and that game being Dead Island. One of my favorite zombie open world survivor games, up there with Left 4 Dead, has been rebuilt and both Dead Island and Riptide Definitive Collection are available as a big scary package or individually. However, should you choose to get the retail collection, you also receive you will also receive Dead Island Retro Revenge, a 16-bit side scrolling beat em up. Time to see how they hold up as we head back to Banoi, so who do you Voodoo bitch?

As this is a remake there is no need to go over the originality that came with Dead Island, so I might as well jump right into how it looks and plays. What a lot of zombie survival games, there is that lack of urgency or atmosphere that seems haunting. My favorite part of Dead Island was how hectic it is. If you do not perform zombie population control, the difficulty curve gets steep very quickly and if that isn’t bad enough, you need to constantly keep a pulse on your weapons’ remaining durability. This doesn’t change in the transition to next gen consoles, the noticeable differences are in the looks and smoothly it now plays.

In the Definitive Collection, I did not experience slow down in frame rate regardless to the situation I find myself in. I did find myself stopping and enjoying the tropical scenery of Banoi littered with the undead as it just looks so much better. These improvements are made possible by way of a new photorealistic lighting system, anti aliasing, and improved game models. The interface has also seen a bit of a change and the Power Fists have been introduced, a power up that was introduced as an unofficial PC mod.

Last but not least, we have Dead Island Retro Rampage, a side scrolling, 16-bit, endless running, beat em up. In comparison to the aforementioned games, Retro Revenge has a more light hearted and simpler approach, tasking Max with going on a rampage to find his stolen cat. I had a lot of fun with it as it still had that melee heavy combat and mature content with a look that takes me back to gaming in the early nineties, without the slow processing power. To provide that current feel, leaderboards and trophies kept me coming back for more, while the power ups, super attacks, and combos kept it fresh.

Saturday, June 11, 2016

MashButtons takes back Philly in Homefront: The Revolution

It has been a few weeks since the release of Homefront: The Revolution and wanted to wait until some of the title’s lingering bugs had been patch to provide my impressions. The Revolution is the sequel to the 2011, Homefront. In this open world title, you are tasked with leading the Philadelphia resistance to take back your homeland from Korean takeover. The city of Philadelphia changes as you re-take your home, and be sure to takes some recruits as it is dangerous to go it alone. Now that I have gotten a deeper look at the game, it is time to share the experience.

Sure it may not have been very polished looking or a story with characters that stayed captivating, but the gameplay was fun, fast, and with just enough difficulty. The mission difficulty tended to vary on the number of recruits with me and the health packs I had at my disposal, when I went at strike points alone it often led to frustration. The customization of weapons on the fly was another item I particularly appreciated as certain weapons have dual purposes making tactics on the fly easier to navigate. This was really nice because it meant I did not have to go to my cellphone interface that felt like a step back in time to an era before smart phones.

The reason in which I was hesitant to post my impressions was due to a number of bugs encountered early in the game making it very difficult to progress through the story. Good news about the recent patch, it feels as though the game now plays as it was intended. With that being said, the way it was intended is a fun open world shooter with weapon customization and four player online coop missions. Homefront: The Revolution also came out at a great time with the next couple months being light in big game releases.