Fonzcorp

Today, Firaxis announced their follow up game to the acclaimed strategy behemoth that is the very crack-like-addicting Civilization series.

Fans of the series all know that the Civilization games are humiliatingly addicting. As a player takes upon a turn-based strategy campaign that can literally take countless hours away from your normal functioning everyday life. And there is no love/hate thing about it. We all just really LOVE the fuck out of the game when it comes to accomplishing what we want in it. So, this announcement is sort of big. Being a Civ-fan, I thought I'd express a few words.

What excites me is that the game is being said to be a 'Spiritual Sequel' to Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, a game the follows up on the 'Space Victory' question, "What happens next to my Civilization?"

Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth is what happens... and in it, Firaxis is talking up a lot about what, as players, do we deeply want in the future of humanity? So, instead of focusing our strategies in the wake of history and its mark on Civilization as we know it, we now face the unknown future. It all sounds very philosophical to me and I hope Firaxis follows through on everything they are saying about it, which right now is just enough for us foresee a lot less sleep this Fall.

First a bit of video game history.

Infinity Ward was the video game developer that created the Call of Duty series. For a time it was good, but after a while, people like me just became fet-up with its barrage of shitty sequels that were heavily criticized for neglecting any form of innovation and simply just 're-skining' the game over and over.

Respawn Entertainment is the developer for Titanfall, and really, its just a couple of EX-Call of Duty developers that created their own company and actually wanted to move the shooter genre into something new and explosive.

Hence...

Titanfall, the game that broke my hate for the multiplayer FPS, finally. Its so action packed, it can easily be overwhelming. It takes the formula that we all have come to know and love about the First Person Shooter, and mixes it with a combination tactical abilities, weapons, and "giant fucking robots", to quote Dunkey.

So what makes Titanfall so much better? Really, everything about it is exciting and fresh, but Titanfall gameplay comes together best when a player sets aside the crazy ass fucking battle for a moment and realizes, "I have all these strategies i can do and in each game mode i may have to switch it up...also feel like such a badass who runs on walls and mounts a mech." Its a very well cared for and developed game. It gives you a handful of, lets say, Guns. It will give you a handful of lets say, Abilities...but its the combination of all these 'handfuls' that make your style of play, fun.

Single player is multiplayer apparently, and it has an interesting way of 'talking' the story to you. Essentially, playing single player is exactly like multiplayer except at the beginning and end of each battle you are given a piece of the Titanfall story by some female character, and then the hardy male character. I think they should have had a better way to tell the tale, because i beat the "single player" campaign and i have no idea what it was about. I was too busy not giving a shit because someones Titan wanted to punch me.

Battles are always 6v6, but each map is filled with AI bots that make the battle seem much larger. If you're crafty enough you can even make these bots fight for you. There was a time when i didn't even notice the 'zip-lines' a Pilot can use to get across the map faster, pretty handy for "Capture the Flag" mode. Hacking gun turrets, rodeo-ing a helpless Titan, zip-lining back and forth, building interiors that go up and down and all around, alleyways and billboards perfect for wall-running and jumping...I have yet to see a building top that is unreachable. Respawn did their job and did not neglect the game maps. Much kudos!

Robot combat is exciting but can be very short if youre inexperienced. Titans are goddamn missile and rocket magnets. Some chassis' are more durable than others, and others are more mobile. Like your Pilot, your Titan can also be custom fitted with different weapons, abilities, and ordnance. The switch between foot and robot combat is so seamless and versatile that this kind of gameplay can pass for borderline genius. There are so many ways to play this game and being able to compliment Pilot combat with Mech Combat works extremely well. With all of this, you're bound to have those moments that just pretty much blow your fucking mind. There was a time where, on foot, i doomed a Titan to its demise with my anti-titan weapon. The Pilot ejected high in to the sky right before his Titan perished in explosions. I saw him. High in the sky returning to the soil. I switched to my G2 rifle and ended his life...mid-air. I almost cried.

Combat advantages like reducing your Titan's build time come in the form of military favors or "Burn Cards". You collect these type of play cards as you progress and use them up in battle to amp up your arsenal, or maybe even keep you permanently cloaked, that is, until you die. Its a neat and extra feature you have to manage when used and can give your Pilot that combat edge that is badly needed.

Racking up experience points to level up and unlock shit doesn't even feel tough. As almost anything will hook you up with plenty of EXP. You don't even need a high kill penis to feel rightfully awarded in game modes like Capture the Flag, Hardpoint, and Last Titan Standing.

Titanfall is the muliplayer FPS innovation i have been waiting for, and i didnt even know it. Its a fast, chaotic, heart pumping, competitive, game that mixes all types of features into one game and the developers did everything they could to make it all work like it does. The only cons i have about the game is the single player campaign and the fact the you need to install Origin, to play.

Titanfall is out now for PC and the Xbox One.

"Pilot...prepare for Titanfall"

Take your time and take it easy, because it takes a lot to be banished. Time and work! Banished is the work of one dude, Luke Hodorowicz under the studio name Shining Rock Software. One dude. Let me stress that a bit more... ONE PERSON MADE THIS GAME.

Banished is a city-building game that starts you off in much simpler times with a group of people that have been exiled and must learn to re-build their civilization and survive on their own, left only with the clothes on their backs and the food and supplies in their travel cart.

The thing about Banished is that most go into thinking its going to be an easy ride, you know, like Sim City or...Sim City? It is so not. Banished is definitely tough. Its more survival than simulation and more strategy than the laid back, "Look at what i built, I am now your God!" Its the type of strategy game that makes you manage food, clothing, workforce, health, and everything else that comes into living well, because this game takes place way long before the internet and car traffic...back in the days where rocks fell on people and they died from it.

So, first, your damned needy people need shelter. Second, they need food. Third, they need warmth from the harsh cold nights and the winters to come. Fail to produce any of these initially and throughout and your town begins to die off like it was a black plague resort. Trees dont cut themselves down, just like food doesnt hunt itself, and clothes dont tailor themselves, so the people are your main resource. Your workforce comes from any able adult and their given/taken profession, so if they die, you are that much father away from survival, and remember...on a long enough time line everyone dies. That goes for the elderly and accidents/disasters, like rocks falling on them. So its up to you to expand and direct them rightfully. Also, Keep in mind that children will consume food, but cannot work...bless those lovable useless scamps.

This is the core of the game. Expand too much, too fast, and you will strain your natural resources. If you dont populate enough you will dig yourself into a stressful situation where you are left thinning out your workforce to keep your town alive. God help me, i can hunt food, but not feed the hungry. In Banished, this will come more easily than you want it to. Its developed in balance and so you must play it in balance, everything from the people gathering resources, to the people distributing the resources, to the people consuming the resources, must be balanced. A single tiny mishap will throw your whole game off. This is exactly what i love about Banished, though. The challenge of carefully planning out ahead. Especially when seasons come into play.

There are many other factors that can help or hurt your progress. Like, build a fancy enough town with a fancy Town Hall and your settlement will attract nomads who will want to join your people and help "populate it". The bad then is that your town will be more easily prone to outside "diseases" and that shit can spread like a mofo on your town health. Want to make things harder on yourself? Then start a play-through in Hard Mode so your people start with no seeds to plant produce, which means you have to obtain seeds through trading, which means you have to build a trading post, which means a lot of resources, time, and work. There is no currency in Banished, any goals of achieving "wealth" is simply keeping your poor, disease infested town, alive. A Mine and a Stone Quarry will guarantee resources like Stone, Iron, and Coal needed for Tools and Buildings, but you will gather them more slowly and they are also sites more prone to those rock deaths and town unhappiness. Everything in Banished can be built off the get-go, so long as you have the resources and man power. Just as everything in Banished has its ups and downs. The game's design is so simple to learn, but hard to master. Its the unexpected accidents and the overlooked details that can cripple your society, as unexpected sh*t will not only happen, but also depress your townsfolk and break the production streamline you thought would last eternally. The only enemy you have in Banished is your own big head.

The game is not great without its harshness, though. I near jumped out of my seat and ran around the house when a trader finally arrived at my Town Trading Post with Peach Seeds. F*ck, I wanted to shout, "No more eating only fish, deer, berries, and twigs! We're now gonna have expensive ass peaches!" It could have been cabbage and i would have been just as f***ing ecstatic cause it took many in game years to save up enough resources to build the damn Trading Post let alone save up enough Fish, Firewood, Stone Tools, and Venison Meat to both fulfill my people and be able to trade some of it off for a small patch of peach trees. I bet an expensive ass peach never tasted so goods. In my head, my townspeople throw a peach party, lacking ale.

Thats Banished, truly great work for one video gamer/developer to make and have the community play and share experiences. Plus, it looks nice! Catch your settlement in the right time on the right season and the game looks as if it was better named 'Sim-Skyrim-Village'. The calmness and tranquility of it is quite remarkable. Its the city-building game that only a indie developer can make *cough* Maxis *cough* EA *cough*.

Salute, Luke, good sir!

Also, the music done for it is nice, but gets tiresome and soft. If you really want to amp it up, I recommend that you make a Decemberists playlist for it and get ready to folk rock and manage firewood all night!

Banished is out now only for Windows ($20). Future mods and ports depend on its indie success, so buy it!

Weariful is the Saga as it is gorgeous. A banner waves in the relentless winds with Giants and Men fleeing together from war...and to war. This is the Saga, and is it is told from the heroes made and heroes that fall...

Yup, it goes without saying, The Banner Saga is definitely drenched with amazing artwork. Beautiful line work, a palette of light-earthed colours, and careful animation stand out together perfectly. It is the type of direction that my friend said, "...gives so much respect to art..." Indeed it does, Kenny. In every scene and battle your eyes and PC mouse will wander to and around admiring every detail of this game. The art is nothing short of a reflection of hard work on the developers, Stoic, part.

...The tale is more grand than I can say. When the world stopped moving, the sun froze mid-sky and the Gods died. Then the Dredge, a dark army of rock-armoured beings, began to march over all that is our livelihood. So we fled...we chose to leave our home behind and live on...

The lore of The Banner Saga together with its narrative are very compelling and both together become your every reward as you progress with the game. The mechanics of the game are split into two parts. One part is having to manage your caravan as you travel and the other part being the tactical battles, so make no mistake, the game as a whole is heavy on decision making.

The tactical battles are at worst very challenging and at best very relieving. Some battles do feel like you only fight because you must and winning them paves way for rest and journey. The learning curve is there and must be conquered, and when it is, every fighting class is much appreciated for versatility's sake. A hero's health stat is also their strength. So, the less life, the less damage they can inflict. This is where armor plays a secondary, but big part. Armor negates the damage that can be inflicted against strength. Its very very simple and brilliant. Little things like the 'Exertion' stat can make battles feel really bone-crushing. Other things like Special abilities and the Mender Class (Magical) makes your heroes ultra-awesome. Making rash moves WILL lead to your major fail. Luckily, the difficulty setting can be changed whenever you feel like it, so if you have a tough time with a battle, you can lower it to help.

Caravan managing is much like "The Oregon Trail". Your people and army have limited supplies that diminish with every day traveled and every resting night. Events like, "You come across a couple that asks to travel with your caravan..." can lead to trouble or not. Either way, the more you allow others to travel along, the more mouths that need to be fed and although each event may seem similar with the same similar tough decisions, it is not so. Decisions can and will have dramatic consequences. This is due to the story setting. Almost nothing is ever good about what is happening in the world of The Banner Saga.

..."The Gods are dead", everyone says. Plenty of snow and so little luck and still we push towards hope. In everything we do we look within for guidance and whats left of our faith. Yet, every Godstone we come across only reminds me of their abandonment...

I think this is where the story becomes special. As leader, this hopelessness can lead you to some very beautiful moments in the story. You can feel so lost and alone by making difficult decision that lead your people to more despair, but every now and then your people will remind you that you are anything but that.

The Banner Saga is greater than has been revealed. You only have but to play it to unravel a world of distinct mythology, characters and a well composed musical score. Everything in it is simply and solidly crafted, the wide shots of a traveling caravan, the relationship of a father and his daughter, a dying race of Giants, mystery, history, war, and the peace that you want to find in the end.

You can get The Banner Saga for PC and MAC, other platforms are in planning.

Quick! I finished the game, i must write stuff while its still fresh in my head!

Real quick also, with just a bit of back history, because I really do think that most people do not know where developers, Quantic Dream, are sort of coming from.

Based in Paris, France, Quantic Dreams two previous large titles were Heavy Rain and The Indigo Prophecy (Known as Fahrenheit everywhere else in the world that's not USA). The company was founded by David Cage, who wrote both Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls. Quantic Dream's games are know for being innovative, narrative-based, and they have apparently pioneered whats known now as the "Interactive Drama" genre in video games. With Indigo Prophecy and Heavy Rain, both games have gained a shit-ton of success in form of acclaim and criticism. Beyond: Two Souls is their latest game. Personally, for me, if it had not been for The Indigo Prophecy, i would have never fallen in love with Quantic Dream. I think their stories are so exhilarating and they truly land in an area where other games either miss the mark, in terms of how compelling they are, or fall short.

...And that's what Beyond is. Compelling, very expressive, and of course memorable. Beyond: Two Souls stars Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe and if you dont already know, the game's plot is very heavy on the supernatural and paranormal. I mean, like... a lot. More than you would think. This will turn off a large audience base, as in some parts of the game it almost did to me. If you can stick to it, though. Right underneath all the supernatural wilderness...there is a beautiful story about a girl who is stuck between two worlds, those she learns to love, and her happiness. As i played it, I didn't realize how much the game was trying to convey what 'happiness' really is to someone like Jodie Holmes.

"Ellen Page as Jodie is amazing!.." as i played it, one of my friends mentions, "...She is a wonderful person for working on this game." That she is. Her performance is nothing short of 'fuck yeah!' She portrays Jodie Holmes, a gifted, special, girl who is linked to an invisible entity named Aiden. Aiden protects her. Aiden listens to her and she to him.

In gameplay you are Jodie in 3rd person view. You will go through scenes with her and unravel the story through her, but when ever she needs help (With the touch of a button) the camera will switch to first person from Jodie to Aiden's point of view. Aiden can do things Jodie can't, like go through walls, break shit, possess people, and generally just make people flip their shit. It is limited though.

The developers didn't give a whole lot of freedom when it comes to actual game play. This bothered me at first, but then i realized something obvious (As i did with Heavy Rain and Indigo Prophecy); This isn't Grand Theft Auto, and this isn't Skyrim. This is merely a story being told and i can interact and make choices in it for different outcomes. Even when Jodie gets into action sequences where she must react fast and defend herself, the game only lets you do what the story asks for. If you mess up or don't act in time, it doesn't stop. There is no "game over" in the game. The game will let you know you f*cked up with a quick red flash over screen, but it will not halt, it will quickly pick up one way or another. This is done to keep the story going and not lose its purpose and it is fine just for that, but sometimes...i just wish i could be able to go back and do some things over. Thats the video gamer in me.

Going back to the 'different outcomes' thing, yes it is cool. My friend Jeremy (Who played most of MY game before i did.) made certain choices I would and did not on my play-through. What you choose Jodie to do in certain situations has an outcome, for better or worse. I noticed i missed a WHOLE SCENE that my friend got because he succeeded in Aiden helping Jodie out of jam, that i kind of f*cked up on. This also made me wonder about the many different endings there is in the game. There are so many things you have to act and chose upon in the game, so a play-through can vary, by a little or a whole lot.

The story itself is wonderful. It has a lot of meaning and goes everywhere, really it does. It is told in non-linear, so it will jump back and forth between a very young Jodie and and adult Jodie. Aiden always with her. Fairly in the beginning she meets her psychiatric doctor and friend, Nathan Dawkins, played by Willem Dafoe. Dafoe's character falls short in what I wanted. The bond between Nathan and Jodie is a bit lamer than i wanted, so I felt and worked the story up to where Jodie had a stronger connection with his assistant Cole Freeman (Played by Kadeem Hardison), rather than Nathan. I kind of felt Nathan's character could have been played by almost anyone and that having Dafoe on could only help the character development, but it still fell short. One neat thing, though, about pretty much the entire cast is that they had to act scenes out differently for different outcomes :D

With all its goods and bads, people still need to play Beyond, it is one of those games that someone can play, while others watch. Quantic Dream is one of those developers that want video games to be more expressive and strives to make them so with the funding and technology at its whim, and then pushes it to its limit. The game look fantastically realistic. Action and emotion are captured so fine and are so tuned that some scenes i would mistake for a cinematic. I remember before Beyond and after Heavy Rain, Quantic Dream talked about unlocking and using everything the PS3 has... to make gaming more expressive, that was when they released the 'tech demo', Kara.

Now, Quantic Dream's work shines its best, in Beyond. Ultimately, Beyond is about happiness. The love Jodie finds, the loss she sees, her connection with Aiden, and again, ultimately what she wants. Her selflessness and selfishness shapes her entire story and you as the player make the choices. Just be prepared, it does get a bit 'out-of-this world' and if that turns you off, i still recommend your stick with it for the better parts.

This is one of my Games of the Year 2013 for sure. Play it, stick with it, and get choked up like I did. Beyond: Two Souls is out for PS3 only.

To my dismay, Splinter Cell: Blacklist is pretty darn good! Take that statement as you will. You may also take the game as another long and awaited sequel to a stretched along action series that may had overstayed its welcome. That's what i did and i still ended up liking it. Again, you take the role of Sam Fisher, now head of the secret NSA spec-ops; 4th Echelon. Again, you must stop the next coming World War through a series of covert and overt missions. Like the other games, Blacklist is finely developed and Ill begin with the first initial and better feature of the game.

In Blacklist, the levels are designed with some awesome openness to them that lets the player decide how to go about things...with many of ways to do so. Because of the level designs and the fancied arsenal at disposal, the player can have a very fun mixture on how to execute missions, depending on the situation. This is very key. Each mission begins to almost feel like a sandbox filled with 'baddies', and it is up to the player on how discreetly or aggressively to clear it to the end.

Most games like this are made to be Stealthy, semi-Stealthy, or all-out-gun stupid. Chose and complete, thats it. But now, the level designs give options (If you look for them) on how to go about missions and so the mix between stealth, overt, straightforwardness, lethal, non-lethal, and now route become very, very open... Especially when things don't go according to plan. At that point, minding your surroundings, quick thinking, and a well planned out inventory is the difference between failing a thought out mission line or making a new aggressive one that will succeed.

If a mission is failed, it only means it can be tried again with a different route and a very different approach, if need be. The game then comes down to Style, Tools, and Path, and that is not bad at all. It isn't until the levels are explored that the game design starts to shine. With that, failing a mission isn't even a pain anymore. It just becomes another opportunity to settle down, look for an easier way that is probably there and was never sought out.

Everything else about the series is still there. The mediocrity that keeps it from standing out like the ambient music, the same realistic sounds, the fancy high-tech UI that appeals, the old clicks and whistles...its all there. The game also carries the expected glitches and bugs that come where enemies disappear/reappear, animations don't transition well, and the enemy A.I. is way too overpowering or just very stupid. The first presenting itself more often than it should. Even under great cover of darkness, ninja preciseness, and bliss perfection at side, the enemy can ruin the day. So goes the way of war video games, i guess, so its best to always be prepared for each mission.

The Splinter Cell games, have always had weapons and gadgets that make a world of a badass difference. Where intelligence is advantage, knowing where the enemy is, has been, and where the enemy is going makes having to deal with them, easier. Each gadget has its usefulness, but times will arise where smoke grenades lose their use, a gun is too loud to fire, or even the trusty Sonar/Night vision becomes chaffed. It is in these situations where the level itself and the radial menu become the best tools and searching for an alternate gadget or route, then using it, will convert the player into 'ultimate ninja'. Stealth takes downs never get old and when it becomes more difficult to execute it on the faster reacting enemies, the gadgets are your BFF's.

Other times, it felt like cheating when using gadgets because they really do make missions so much easier, even on the "Perfectionist" difficulty...But isn't that really the perk of being Sam Fisher? Hi-Tech wizardry and all that is part of the fun in playing as Fisher.

Blacklist also has great character and voice acting to it (Even without Michael Ironside). The game and its military, cyber-warfare, espionage action plot gets, in time, to be like the rest...but after its initial course, the characters begin to stand out more, especially Fisher and antagonist Sadiq. They're a reflection of one another, each both calm veterans on the opposite sides of their wars. Their monotone and 'get-things-done' personas show the well played out voice acting, and it really shines out the most in the more intense scenes of the game. It packs enough drama for yo momma.

Great level design, awesome gadgets, ninja feels, espionage drama. All good stuff.

You can get Splinter Cell: Blacklist  for PC, Wii U, PS3, and Xbox 360. I played it on PC. It looks more marvelous on PC, of course.

Its a game that speaks to you on a recognizable and personal level. Nothing can really be said about Gone Home to make you want to try it out. You really just have to be willing to try it...and then willing to be able to see the narrative through, in order to finish the game. And when you do...IT IS AMAZING.

In Gone Home, you play as Kaitlin. A 20 year old girl who has returned from a long vacation throughout Europe. During her vacation, her family has abruptly moved into a new mansion in the woods, which they inherited through a dead relative. So essentially the game is a mystery off the get-go, because Kaitlin arrives to find no one home and finds a strange note pinned on the door. The note is from her younger sister, Samantha, that tells Kaitlin she is gone.. She is gone and doesnt want Kaitlin poking around trying to find out where she is, and doesnt want anyone to know.

So the first thing a true sister would do is to try and find out what happened. Thats when you take control and begin to solve mysteries. In doing so, you uncover clues and a house that you are very much unfamiliar to, and yet at the same time you are very familiar to. You quickly begin to uncover a home and i must give 'props' to the developers for this. The house feels exactly like a home should. When i began, i felt i should know where each door would lead and what each drawer would reveal, but i didnt know. It was a strange and familiar feeling i had throughout the whole game.

You also quickly begin to uncover the strong plot pieces that clearly begin to stand out within the game. It is these stories of Kaitlin's family that become your objectives. Where are her parents? Sam is gone, but where and why? What of the uncle who used to own the mansion?

The design is very remarkable. Going through the house and being able to explore just about almost anything is not without reward. The more you pry about, the more you will uncover things that make you smile, laugh, confuse, or may even make you choke up a bit. It is obvious that the story is set in the 1990's. Dates, cultural, social, and other plain references show this, and you will instantly feel a 90's nostalgia poke at you. The game oddly enough touched my heart with all of this. It has a concrete setting, characters, mystery, and a lot of passion poured into it. Its that passion that makes the game funny, heart warming, strong, and well designed.

The game gets very personal because it turns into you, the daughter/the sister, going through personal things of the family. Everything thing gets personal. Especially with Sam. Through Sam's tale; you, as her older sister, will uncover the best parts of the game. Sam's love for video games, punk-rock music, art, and her own feelings are the core of the game

It took me a little over 3 hours to complete the game. It is very memorable, expressive and unique. I write this review for those with a passion for video games to simply try it out and finish it. Only when you finish it will you realize that this is the game you didnt want to miss out on, and learned something from it... something about family and love. Something inside you.

Get Gone Home on PC through

http://thefullbrightcompany.com/gonehome/

or

Steam - http://store.steampowered.com/app/232430/

Trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5KJzLsyfBI

Toph, Metalbender

by Me

Sketched in Manga Studio

Asuka, by me

Katara, by me

Sketched in pencil

Darko, by me

Sketched with Ipad Sketchbook Pro

Story; its what drives the game forward and the only way to play. Although the main character, Lee, is who you control; in actuality you control the story more so. Decision upon decision, through good action or the lack of it, the story will progress with results based on what you decide.This is where character comes into major, major play. From the very beginning you really don't decide for yourself, nor Lee, but for the life of an 8 year old girl he finds and takes upon himself to protect. This is the key thing. You may or not begin to notice as you play, that from then on, every choice you make is for Lee and Clementine's relationship. The bond they develop becomes a great deal to you, the player..and it becomes the only hope Lee and Clementine can hold onto, together...in the f*cked up, shitty mess their world has become. This is where the game shines gloriously and gruesomely.

Indeed, its a great story captured with much character and theme. Its placed right in the middle of a survival-drama setting that throws wave after wave of disastrous situations in which you must make crucial decisions, sometimes with so little time, it feels like real panic and instinct maybe the only thing you can trust to make those decisions. Decisions and consequences. Safety or sacrifice? Trust or betrayal? The bad decisions or the 'not-so' bad ones? All of this is round up into the 5 Episodes of The Walking Dead series developed by Telltale Games and it truly does leave you pondering, "Was that the wrong choice, or did i make the right choice in the eyes of my companions, or more so, in the eyes of this little girl?" Those moments of internal struggle are what makes the game surpass the screen and the controls. In those moments, you literally question yourself and very few games burden you with such an obstacle. You may get to the point where you no longer want to make anymore choices because you may feel deep down that whatever choice you make; it will still lead to even the slightest bit of heartache. It's that good, narratively.

The game isn't filled with time killing extras, or environments that lead you away from what must be done. The little "puzzles" you do have to solve, do not hinder you much either. Its a 'point and click adventure' with more story than 'game'. Because of this, its perfect for story lovers to play through, especially 'non-gamer' fans of The Walking Dead series, even if the game is its own story within the series. It really is one of those games you can actually enjoy just by watching a friend play through it. As the developers treated like a TV series in video game form, so too can the player and spectator.

To me, if anything, the game has deeply won me over with Lee and Clementine. Their story is one i won't soon forget and one... i helped shape <3

-fonzcorp

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After 25 or so hours, I finished and concluded my game with FarCry 3. It has actually been a while since i have enjoyed a good shooter all its way through. FC3 surprised me.

Even with character flaws and the minor aspects of the game that didn't really attract me. I was able to go through most of the gameplay and its story... And it was a fantastic voyage indeed!

There was a lot of doubt early in the story as it began with Jason Brody (the main character) being uninviting and very dull. It was his counter part protagonist Vaas (Pictured) who was too ecstatically chaotic to make me stop playing. Top notch voice acting coupled with erratic animation and dialogue made him perfect. His character was very believable. Bent, fucked up, believable.

As I progressed, the plot started doing what few games end up doing to the main character. Jason started changing. His beliefs and where his values lay, completely change. His struggle against Vaas is a reflection of this and his sanity. Sanity BECOMES the theme and i got hooked. From then, i had to finish the game.

Overall it was great, but i don't know if most know that this game is a Shooter mixed with Survival grafts that can keep you very busy in-game. The Island you play on is a huge open world that lets you explore and must survive in. I decided to hand down 5 quick tips to help your survival. Take them... as they can help your single player story progress...

Capture those airwaves! - The Island map is not revealed. And you would think it could be easy as just walking into a store and buying a map to help you get your bearings, but nope. You must look for Radio towers on the island, climb them, and turn them on for this. Each has its own little platforming challenge to get to the top. Radio towers will only reveal a portion of the map, but they are crucial so you can know where you are, know the roads, and know whats around you. Revealing parts of the map will reveal hunting game locations, town settlements, topography, and much more. As a bonus, liberating more and more towers will also unlock weapons at the gun shop for free! This will add much needed variety to your initial arsenal :D

The Hunt is on...- Jason Brody starts off with the capacity to carry only ONE gun, very little ammo, small munitions, and a limited number of items. This is a pain, as you will very fast need more of all of this. Crafting more weapon holsters and larger bags to hold more survival goodies is a must. To do this, you must hunt for animal skins. You can hunt anything from yummy helpless goats to dangerous rare jungle cats, so be prepared for what your are hunting. Ferociously asshole animals can kill your very quickly, even the ones that don't look difficult to take down. Cassowaries, these Ostrich looking birds, took me down to rapeville numerous times. If you take the time to pick up some Yellow Plant Leaves, you can craft a neat-o drug that heightens your sense of smell, and helps your gain an initiative against the wildlife around you.

Capture enemy outposts- The Island is a complete pirate shit state. Enemies are everywhere at first and if you want to do anything without these pirate posers tailing you or spotting you, you will have to minimize their numbers. Each enemy outpost you capture will remove enemy occupation from a given area, for the most part. Taking these strongholds is all in how you want to do so. Your handy camera can help you mark your opposing numbers. Remember, if you are detected by going gun-f*ck-nuts on these settlements, they can sound alarm for reinforcements and reinforcements will continue to come if you do not kill everyone. This can be poor foreplay on your ammo and thus, your moneys. My approach, of course, was stealth. Either way though, the best thing to do FIRST is to disable the alarms. A distraction is best for that because these moron pirates will go check out anything that explodes randomly (Good ol' C4 is good for this) or go stare at a brush fire for minutes on end (Molotov or Fire Arrows help with this.) This should give you time to go after the alarms and disable them. You could shoot the alarms from a far, but shooting an alarm will only disable that one specific alarm. Walking up and disabling an alarm will screw all the alarms up for one outpost. Much yummier tactic. Also, its worth noting that taking outposts undetected gives extra experience points and helps unlock a certain skill for the stealth-wise practitioner. Yet, an even easier way to knock out enemy outposts, if you're lucky, is to keep an eye out for any animal cages within. Shooting a cage's door that holds a bear or a jungle kitty will free the animal and let it run bloody-muck on the outpost. Quite amusing to watch from a safe distance. Kill and skin the animal once it has feasted on your enemies.

That pirate said that he wants you to "Take him down" lulz... - This can be arguable, but it worked wonders for my ammo, experience points, and save me a lot of aggravation. Learn the 'Take Down' skills! Aside from being wonderfully pleasing to watch, 'take downs' help a lot when pulled off. Each one of the three skill-trees in the game has at least one of these 'Take Down' skills that can help make killing enemies so much easier than dickin' around a gun fight with them. The stronger skills let you take down multiple enemies at once while other 'take downs' help with stealth superiority...But all of them are fun to execute, especially in first-person. Want to jump down and knife a pirate from above, take his pistol from his holster and cap two others next to him, 'Taken style'? If you can chain these take downs perfectly together...it is awesomely possible and doing so will reward you with extra experience points, save your ammo, and help you quickly finish missions or take an outpost. My favorite was the 'Grenade Take Down'. Its just pure Hollywood bliss; knifing an enemy, then pulling the pin on his own grenade right before kicking his body towards an enemy vehicle. In first-person shooter mode this is... Hollywood. Action. Bliss.

Paradise? Yeah bloody right. - This isn't a tip that really helps with survival, but im listing it anyway: Have fun! This game is well designed with a beautiful setting and so designed for you to explore and have fun with it. They don't call it an open-world game for no reason. Try out each mini game, from Poker to knife throwing competitions. Try and find every vehicle and ride the f*ck out of it. Buy different guns and use them. Do the most you can. Its a bummer that Farcry 3 released a bit too late for year-end video game rewards, but as long as it gets played...thats all that should count, really.