LEGO WORLDS
A total of 65 LEGO games have made their way to players before LEGO Worlds ventured onto PC and consoles on March 7. Similar to Minecraft, players explore an open world sandbox, and craft whatever they please using the items they have found.
The premise was enticing, especially for those who spent their youth mixing up their LEGO sets to build creations that were entirely their own. LEGO Worlds promised a digital playground that would offer up the chance to really get creative with the use of LEGO blocks without having to spend hundreds on physical sets to do so.
Like Minecraft, LEGO Worlds is split into biomes, but it differs in that not all biomes are available right away. Instead, new areas are unlocked with Gold-Bricks, which are collected by completing tasks in the game’s simplistic storyline.
Restricting certain areas to players is a move which here comes at a detriment. A big reason the game was so highly anticipated was that it promised a freedom with LEGO building that most people weren’t accustomed to. Offering all biomes to players right off the bat would have made the game feel like a true sandbox wherein the limit is only the creativity of the player. There could still be a storyline and missions specific to certain areas, but players wouldn’t have to go through them in a forced linear fashion that is unusual for the genre.
By locking off certain areas, the game loses a bit of its potential to allow the act of crafting to feel like the most satisfying aspect of gameplay, and it feels a bit too much like your parents telling you that you have enough LEGOs already and to just build with what you have.
Another aspect that takes away freedom from the player is the need to get plans for your builds rather than just constructing them at will. This is where the missions come up, as they encourage you to go find objects in the world to scan so you can add them to your catalogue. This goes against what the whole point that The LEGO Movie was trying to convey to its audience. Instead of creativity being the only limit, you first have to know the plans for a build to execute it properly. This feels off, especially since the story in LEGO Worlds works upon the thought that you arrive to the world to hone your craft and become a Master Builder. Since when do Master Builders need plans?
In all, LEGO Worlds does offer some fun gameplay and when areas and builds are unlocked, the tools at your disposal allow for an enjoyable time while building what you want. Vehicles in LEGO Worlds are fun as well, and despite the huge amount of designs you can scan in the world, the menu screens to shift through them all are decent and get the job done. However, LEGO Worlds comes at a disappointment, as it doesn’t quite reach its the potential that the idea behind the game housed. Updates are said to keep coming after release, so hopefully LEGO Worlds can start to offer a little more freedom to the player. Then it could feel more like what has made LEGO such a cultural phenomenon all these years, the art of creating something complex and unique using only simple building-blocks.
FOR HONOR
The biggest takeaway most players have for For Honor is its unique spin on close-combat battling systems. The multiplayer fights with other real challengers offer a unique variability in techniques that makes every fight feel original, and keeps you on your toes with gameplay that is easy to pick up, but extremely difficult to master.
Players can choose between three different factions: Knights, Samurai, and Vikings. Even though all of the 12 characters are available right off the bat, the way in which players can gain perks for their characters is unfairly divided due to the inclusion of micro-transactions. Since Feats (received when players preform certain actions and get perks for attacks, strengths, or healing) and gear that can raise certain stats and abilities for characters can be purchased with real money, when other players grind for them over long periods of time, this creates an unfair playing field that rewards frivolous spending over a true dedication to the game.
The whole appeal of gaining the perks form obtaining a Feat are watered down when someone else could just buy it in two seconds, and the daily grind to get the best gear by accumulating the slow-earning in-game currency or by being gifted some by a post-battle reward system makes you feel robbed when another player just uses their credit card to get the same stuff.
Another issue with For Honor is its unstable server capabilities. Occasionally, players with minimal gear and perks will get pitted against those who look like Dark Souls bosses in comparison, which ends up producing an unenjoyable and unbalanced fight for everybody involved. Players have complained that game crashes and lag are also too frequent while playing multiplayer, which even can occur while playing the single-player campaign that for some reason requires an online connection to run.
A $39.99 Season Pass is on the way that offers six new characters that will release in batches of two over the coming months at the beginning of each new season of the Faction War. Season Pass holders get the characters seven days early, while those who don’t opt for the pass must unlock them with huge amounts of the in-game currency, which again takes a great deal of time to accumulate. The whole underlying system of For Honor just feels like a money grab, and takes away from players who would think that spending the initial $59.99 price tag and dedicating time into the game would be enough. Some really impressive PvP gameplay is used to try and milk more money from customers to make their characters better than others. It’s a shame, as fighting in For Honor really feels like a unique thing that is satisfying to play before all the mobile-like, micro-transactions make the battle field openly uneven.
HALO WARS 2
Fans of the first Halo Wars game had to wait nearly a decade before a sequel was finally announced. Like its predecessor, Halo Wars 2 deals with real-time strategy where players construct their own bases in order to command their armies to claim victory over their opponents.
Although Halo Wars 2 is a decent means of entry for those who might be new to the RTS scene, some who are more familiar with the genre complained it lacked depth when compared to other RTS titles on PC that house more complex gameplay. On console, Halo Wars 2 has a greater appeal since RTS titles are much more scarce when compared to PC, especially titles tied to an iconic IP such as Halo. This is due partly to analog sticks not functioning with the timely accuracy as PC players could do with a mouse, ultimately changing the flow of gameplay between platforms.
Issues with AI are also known to arise, with enemy groups sometimes feeling too easy on normal settings due to their weaker pathfinding algorithms. As for the story’s main purpose, although it offered some character depth and intriguing moments, it was to teach the player strategic methods so they could execute them against real opponents in multiplayer. A more common and larger complaint regarding the story was how it ends on a frustrating cliffhanger, leaving the player dissatisfied.
A few functions are also cut back in comparison from the first Halo Wars. Most of the maps are noticeably smaller, and base building is much more constricted as new buildings have to be placed only on certain points with limited space available.
In all, Halo Wars 2 is much more well received on PC, but still comes at a disappointment due to some withdrawals from its predecessor and a lack of true RTS gameplay depth. It’s great 343 Industries went forward with a sequel and Halo Wars 2 can offer some fun gameplay, especially fighting against other players online. However, it still feels like it didn’t quite reach the potential players had for it, or achieve a success that could attract more accessible RTS titles to console platforms.
MASS EFFECT: ANDROMEDA
The hype behind Mass Effect: Andromeda was undeniably massive as both fans of the original trilogy and newcomers to the series waited with bated breath for the anticipated March 21 release.
BioWare’s Mass Effect series is extremely well-known for its memorable characters, impactful choices, interstellar exploration, and saucy romances. The franchise has become one of the most recognizable in gaming, and the latest entry promised a fresh new protagonist venturing out of the Milky Way and into the Andromeda galaxy.
Unfortunately, a great deal of issues both technical and general have arisen since its release. Weird animations have been circulated on Twitter continuously, and glitches that both break immersion and openly disrupt gameplay are present throughout. Character models and movements seem, especially for the humans, mediocre. While talking to other characters, they can disappear and reappear at random, and dialog often doesn’t quite line up with their lip movement, making them feel robot-like and lifeless.
The overall story has received mixed reviews, with fans of the series noting the characters you can interact with feel duller than those included in past entries. Another common complaint was that the crafting system felt cumbersome due to a clumsy user interface. One positive note most can agree upon is that the combat system was greatly improved upon, excluding the automatic cover system that takes away the player’s choice to duck in and out of cover with the press of a button, making some combat situations frustrating to control, especially if one of your team members is ducking behind something that you want to use as cover.
With all the excitement Mass Effect: Andromeda had behind it, it would have been hard enough to pull off exemplary reviews even if animation issues, bugs, and technical problems weren’t present throughout. Andromeda had huge shoes to full, and unfortunately it didn’t live up to the hype that players had for it.
Published: Apr 10, 2017 09:30 am