Another
weekend, another set of reviews. Crysis 3 was delivered at the
beginning of the week and since I had completed Revengeance, it was a
welcome delivery. In Crysis 3 you take on the role of Prophet, a
Nanosuit soldier hell bent on the cliche, yet standard storyline,
rediscovering humanity while seeking brutal revenge. For those that
missed the previous entries and are joining the party a bit late, the
storyline in Crysis 3 takes place in a future dilapidated New York City
and follows an adventure around the symbiotic relationship between
soldier and suit while coping with the memories of the previous suit’s
occupant. On top of that you must also deal with wake of an alien
invasion and a secretive military faction. That being said, let’s see
how this title actually plays.
A
little history of my time spent with this series consists of me missing
the first title, playing most of the second until I reached a game
breaking glitch, and played through the third in it’s entirety. I felt
that the third probably played more smoothly than the last with a much
better tutorial to get you accustomed to the nanosuit and the available
abilities. Like the last, the post apocalyptic New York City looks
stunning with the CryEngine3. Aside from looking great, the gameplay is
smooth and has a lot to offer regardless to your gameplay style, run and
gun or stealth, you are rewarded for your actions and can progress your
character based on your preference.
Now
for the things I was not particularly fond of, first would easily be
the online multiplayer gameplay. The maps felt small in comparison to
the large single player sandboxes and the number of people online was
rather lacking with a couple hundred at most in any of the game modes at
numerous times throughout the day. The other, would be the story and
dialogue. My issue with the story is that is it just kind of bland and
doesn’t stand out in comparison to a number other recent titles that
have been released. While there is plenty of conflict and great subject
matter the cutscenes are easily skippable, the only thing you would be
missing out on would the eye candy. 
All
in all, Crysis 3 is a solid game for the single player experience. The
online is a fun to play, just don’t expect to play against a large
variety of opponents and with such a small community, I worry that it
will quickly get smaller. The single player was where the real enjoyment
came from for me, that and stealth with with the bow. I loved starting
new levels, scanning the area for look out points to plan one long and
violent strategy with numerous contingency plans for when my suit runs
out of energy to recharge. The gameplay is a blast, the graphics are
stunning, but the story just wasn’t too memorable for me, possibly
resulting from not playing the first or completing the second.
As
some may recall, I recently had reviewed the Braven 650 and I described
it as a versatile and multifunctional speaker. Not sure it could have
gotten much better, but low and behold, we get the Braven BRV-1. Similar
to that of it’s older sibling the BRV-1 still provides wireless sound
and charging capabilities, but this time around it is weatherproof to
IPX5 standards. Though I don’t know what all IPX5 certifications
entails, I do know it means that this speaker is water resistant and
shock absorbent. With that said it is time to get into my experience
with the BRV-1.
This
was about half the size of what I was expecting from the images, making
me a bit apprehensive about the audio quality and battery times. I feel
that there is definitely a change to how this speaker is tuned as there
is a lot more depth to the sound, which happened to be my biggest
complaint about the 650. This outdoor speaker also packs a noise
cancelling mic, which made calls clearly outside in the wind. I made and
took a number of calls outside and was never asked to repeat myself or
heard complaints of background noises. While it does not have the
aluminum build that the other models have, this model was built to be
beaten, while not being so bulky that it is a nuisance to transport. I
was disappointed by the battery size in comparison to the 650 as you get
almost half of the battery play time at 12 hours, even less if you plan
on charging your phone or tablet.
I
really liked this portable speaker and while it couldn’t float like the
ECOXBT in the same class, it does have a few tricks up it’s sleeve.
Instead of the ability to float, it can still sit poolside and tolerate a
splashing. What the ECOXBT can’t do that the BRV-1 can is charge, while
still playing music if you want. The impressively tuned baseball sized
speaker puts out more sound than those twice it’s size, and packs a
surprising amount of bass for its small size. I just wish it had a
bigger battery for more use between charges, and other than that and
the inability to swim, it is a mighty mini boombox/speaker
phone/charger.
It
has been a while since our last gaming review, and now that the dust
from CES has finally settled and the gaming season is starting to take
off again, especially with Sony’s announcement regarding the PS4 being
later this week. Needless to say, it is a big week for gaming, because
Crysis 3 and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance are also now available.Revengeance is the topic at hand and lets just say it has some pretty
big shoes to fill. In MGR:R you take on the role of Raiden, a cyborg on a
mission to fight injustice, but this isn’t your typical Metal Gear
game, as it was developed by Platinum Games, the folks that brought us
Devil May Cry and Bayonetta. With that said, can it live up to the hype
and please both fans of the series and newcomers alike.
As
a fan of everything that Platinum plays a part in and the story and
dynamics of the Metal Gear games, this was exactly what I expected. You
get fast gameplay with an in depth story and a lot of character
customization that gets you hooked and coming back for more. Speaking of
gameplay, with the new 'ZanDatsu' feature, you are able to slow time
and precisely slice enemies and the environment at will in a form of
“free slicing”. Along with gameplay that racks up high combos and
rewards you with points for customization at the end of each level are
huge boss battles and a story line that Kojima Productions are known
for. Throughout Revengeance, you get an in depth story that takes place
after the events in Metal Gear Solid 4 with a world full of cyborg
crimes and terrorism, and the main character being a child-soldier
turned cyborg ninja on a mission for both justice and revenge. When I
say missions, I also mean VR missions, that's right, throughout the game
you are able to unlock VR missions to complete for for additional
unlockables.
It
isn’t a Metal Gear game without beautiful and long cutscenes. While
they do take you away from the action I quickly got hooked on and
yearned for, I did want to skip as we all know they can drag on, but
luckily none have seemed as long as those found in previous titles, but
if you do opt to not skip them like I did on my first playthrough, then
you get a strong storyline that does a good job at introducing conflict
through real world unethical political issues. The other thing that I
felt was as much of a battle as the gameplay was trying to determine
what you can or cannot slice and dice throughout the environments.
Cutting stuff up from fruit to cardboard boxes, the are some items you
can approach, but when you try to release some steam, you will be
disappointed that some don’t fall to pieces.
I
had an absolute blast with my time spent playing MGR: Revengeance,
while I was a bit on the fence while stumbling through the Free Slicing
in the demo, the actual game does a good job and walking you through the
motions so that you can easily execute some incredible combos. There is
a lot a replay value, much like any other Platinum title, but I
actually found the story more engrossing than that of the Devil May Cry
titles, while also enjoying the faster gameplay with the Metal Gear
storyline. I feel that this is great collaboration in which I can only
hope that there will be more to come. While it is a single player title,
the unlockables and various difficulties are what kept me hooked after
my initial playthrough.
