Daniel Sorensen, Author at GeeksHaveGame

October 2, 2021October 4, 2021

HALO INFINITE [Tech Preview Review]: Pay Attention.

“Shepherd” Daniel Sorensen
@danielsoerensen

Halo 3 was the last game that I felt was the peak for the Halo franchise. Halo 4 had to duke it out with so many other big titles in 2012 like Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Far Cry 3 and Borderlands 2. With stiff competition it didn’t make the impact it was supposed to. It didn’t really help that no real efforts were made with multiplayer maps as they were reused from campaign and Forge. And the gameplay just felt slow, old and stale. Gamers moved on from Halo. Halo 5: Guardians was supposed to bring the franchise back on track with the release on Xbox One…

The problem was that Xbox One launch was just so utterly disastrous. So it’s safe to say that the state of Xbox was in a terrible shape almost the whole generation. So even if Halo 5 did some things right (like finally getting 60 fps support) and tried to modernize the gameplay, the audience wasn’t there. Halo became irrelevant. Nobody really cared about the Xbox mascot when the Xbox brand was a sinking ship.

Things has changed since then. Xbox isn’t dying anymore; heck, it’s blossoming more than ever. But the Halo Infinite reveal was mocked and the Craig memes kept coming. And rightfully so. It was a bad look for Halo and its return. So bad that Xbox delayed the game a whole year and missed their promised launch window for their new next-gen consoles. When I got invited to the Halo Infinite Technical Preview (beta) my expectations were low. I have tested the multiplayer extensively during the three weekends I had access to it. I really didn’t expect to say this at all but…

Halo is back and what glorious return it is! The Spartans look, move, shoot and sound better than ever on two different generations of consoles (and launching on PC for the first time). What 343 has achieved here is marvelous. The game looks and runs buttery smooth up to 4K 120 fps. 343 shows us that they understand what kind of game Halo is at its core– a highly competitive arena/sandbox shooter with clean aesthetics that appeals to both the casual and hardcore e-sports scene. But it’s faster, it flows better and without losing its own established identity in the sea of shooters.

The beta let us play on 4 arena maps and 1 Big Team Battle map:

– Bazaar, a small East African arena map with focus on QCB.
– Behemoth, a large circular symmetric arena map with vehicles.
– Live Fire, a small arena map set at Avery J. Johnson Academy of Military Science.
– Recharge, a small indoors arena map set in a hydroelectric facility.
– Fragmentation, a classic Halo outdoors style BTB map (12vs12) with lots of vehicles

Most of the weapon types you would expect to find in Halo is there, like the trusted MA40 Assault Rifle, the BR75 Battle Rifle, the Needler and so on. There’s also a bunch of new weapons introduced in Halo Infinite like VK78 Commando (think AK-47), Ravager (Banished burst weapon), CQS48 Bulldog (UNSC shotgun) and many more.

343 also threw in a few new equipment items into the sandbox that will forever change how Halo is played. My favorites are Grapplehook and Repulsor. The Grapplehook allows you to sling your way through the maps so graciously that even Peter Parker would be jealous. The Grapplehook is a fantastic addition to Halo as you can highjack all vehicles with it, pull yourself in high-speed towards an enemy and smack them or just snag weapons from a distance.

The Repulsor is also a multi-use piece of equipment. Timed properly and you’ll deflect projectiles with it and send rockets back to sender. Or push vehicles over the cliffs. You can even aim it at the ground and boost yourself to higher ground in a clutch situation. And I’m sure we will see people find more new creative ways to utilize the new toys in the Halo Infinite.

So far the multiplayer feels very balanced. The classic gunplay/grenade/melee trifecta feels spot on. And 343 managed to overall speed up the game, add sliding and mantling without sacrificing “the Halo feel” and turning it into a sci-fi Call of Duty. The map designs, at least so far, really hit the spot with a good combination of small QCB action and more open spaces where we can go nuts with all the iconic vehicles like Ghost, Scorpion Tank, Warthog etc. It’s rumored that Halo Infinite will have 26 multiplayer maps. My GodHatesGeeks, I hope that is true.

Halo Infinite Multiplayer really surprised me. This is not what I expected. Halo Infinite Multiplayer is not only good, it’s great. And considering the multiplayer is 100% free-to-play with cross-play on Xbox and PC, it will make a bigger impact than I first guessed. Halo even managed to have more viewers on Twitch than Fortnite and Warzone, the two giants that seems untouchable. And it’s not even a Battle Royale game. The trend is clear. Halo Infinite appeals to new and old fans. They’re loving it.

Until the full version launches it’s hard to give all the good, bad and uglies but so far it has been a great multiplayer experience, probably one of the best I’ve had in years. No disconnect issues, no lag. Not a single game-breaking bug experienced. It almost pains me that the tests are over as there’s currently nothing else out there that excites me like this beta did. It’s evident that the extra year of development time Microsoft gave 343 paid off. And I hope that holds true for the campaign as well. This must be one of the best comebacks stories in a long time. I went from being most excited over Battlefield 2042 to Halo Infinite. Take notes DICE/EA. 4.5/5 Pre-Launch Whiskeys.

-Daniel Sørensen

Halo Infinite releases on the 8th of December on Xbox One / Xbox Series / PC.

November 16, 2020November 16, 2020

NEED FOR SPEED – HOT PURSUIT REMASTERED [Review]: Vroom-Vroom.

EA decided to bring back Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, a game I loved playing on my Xbox 360 back in 2010. I eagerly jumped back into the luxurious supercars to give them another spin and burn some rubber. So what’s exactly new with this remaster? Short answer, not much really. It is more or less the same game I played back in 2010, only add higher resolutions, frame rates and graphics that are on par with racing games released last generation (still feels weird to say that).

Worth to mention that all DLC cars are included in the remaster, so there’s no lack of options. If you want to go full ‘Merica, grab the keys to a Dodge or a Ford. Want to roll in a Bentley? Sure, have at it. Or maybe you’re up for some Italian luxury, then you can’t go wrong with a Lamborghini. Different strokes for different folks…

https://youtu.be/AeRnez3di1I

As far as I can tell they haven’t really changed anything when it comes to gameplay. Not that they really needed to either, the handling is tight and spot on, and it just got slightly better due to the increased frame rate and reduced input lag. It feels great and is easy to learn and master. The original 2010 version was created by Criterion– most known for their smash hits Burnout series and everything they did right was kept in this remaster. It’s a racing game known for its arcade-style gameplay where realism is thrown out the window and replaced with over-the-top boosting, easily achieved drifting and a tug of war battle between the cops and racers.

As a racer you’re equipped with a set of different tools to evade the cops who will do anything to ruin your joyride. Spike strips, EMP charges, Jammers and Turbos. Only thing missing is the blue shell really. Your arsenal of gadgets are upgradable as well and comes in different levels, giving you more efficient boosts, wider spike strips and so on.

Play as a cop and you have similar resources at hand and then some. You can call in assistance from your buddies in blue to set up roadblocks and have a police chopper drop down spike strips strategically placed to put an end to the racers fun. NFS: Hot Pursuit got a career mode, but it’s as stripped down as it was back in 2010. There’s no cheesy wannabe Fast’n’Furious story here as seen in the latest NFS:Heat.

There’s just a large map with a lot of different events to attend. Pick a cop or racer event, go for gold. Level up, get more cars and upgrades. Rinse and repeat. It really never gets boring to me as there’s variation in the scenery, anything from foggy dense woodlands to sunny Arizona-like desert tracks. And there’s plenty of shortcuts to find, they’re key to getting to the finish line first and/or to avoid crashing into the pesky roadblocks on the main roads.

While I don’t mind this formula as a casual racing gamer, if you want heavy customization options for your cars etc then you’re better off playing Forza Motorsport or Gran Turismo. This is for people who wants to pick up a controller and get in a race as soon as possible. With that said, I do think it was a missed opportunity not to add some customization to this game. Other than changing color of your car, there’s nothing. They could have slapped on some decals at least. But I guess they’re saving that for the inevitable Need for Speed Underground remaster, another fan favorite in the series.

NFS: Hot Pursuit relies heavily on its multiplayer. It’s designed around Autolog, the social network within the game that tracks your progress and makes sure your buddy knows you beat his weak track time the next time he logs on. This was one of the main draws back in 2010 for me, logging on with the fear of seeing “DrugsBunny beat your best time” on my screen. Always bickering back and forth, shaving of a millisecond here and there from our personal best times on our favorite tracks.. or just playing online together, playing scummy with all our weapons at our disposal while talking trash. I was hoping to relive those glorious moments again, especially now that crossplay is integrated into the game. But this is where EA really scratched up the paint-job: There is no voice chat if you play with people on other platforms! Oh my, how did they manage to screw that up with crossplay?

The social aspect is the key strength to Hot Pursuit and we’re here in 2020 without the ability to laugh together. I had to use Messenger for voice chat on my phone to play with my buddy on Playstation. I couldn’t believe this was real, after all I saw VOIP in the options menus. Sadly, EA confirmed that “it is working as intended”. So if you want to play with your friends on other platforms you have to apply MacGuyver solutions for chat. Just a heads up.

To sum it up, at its best NFS: Hot Pursuit is quality arcade type fun but not without flaws as the content feels a bit light to what we’re used to the last generation. The reworked graphics looks good, but not great. And half-assing the crossplay isn’t really good enough in 2020 and was a major disappointment. On the bright side, there is no loot boxes or season passes. Multiplayer is probably the main reason to play this game, this is where I’ve spent most of my time back in the days. I feel the $40 price tag is just a bit too much though. At $30 or lower, the money spent versus the product you get aligns up perfectly. After all, it’s just a remaster and not a remake. 3.75/5 Bibles.

-Daniel Sorenson

August 13, 2020

PRETENDING I’M A SUPERMAN [Documentary Review]: The Tony Hawk Video Game Story.

On the occasion of the highly anticipated demo release of Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 + 2 Remaster tomorrow, yours truly was given the privilege to watch the brand new tie-in documentary, Pretending I’m a Superman: The Tony Hawk Video Game Story.

This doc deals with the beginning of the urban skateboarding culture from the 70’s, which a few decades later led to the development of one of the biggest and most unexpected successes on the video game front. It also introduced a whole new generation of punk-rock hits from music bands like Dead Kennedys and Goldfinger in a time before we easily shared music across the globe (using the magic we call the internet). It was a thing of beauty, Tony Hawk Pro Skater‘s soundtrack has forever etched itself on my mind.

FROM ZERO TO SUPERHERO

In the slightly over an hour-long documentary, “vertical skateboarding” legend Tony Hawk takes us on his journey from being a young, daring and tall-skinny skater who was relatively unknown outside the skateboarding circles, to becoming a world-renowned and very successful ambassador for a “neckbreaking” sport that had not previously gained a firm foothold in the mainstream media before X Games was televised.

The fact that it was illegal in the past to skate in several places in the world (including in my home country Norway from 1977 to 1988) did not exactly make it easier to get the sport widely accepted, but Tony Hawk was one of the main contributors who changed how the sport was perceived, which made the interest in skateboard culture flourish globally like never before.

In the documentary, we also get other insightful interviews of a number of well-known skaters who have contributed to the creativity skateboarding and THPS series is known for. One of the greatest is undoubtedly Rodney Mullen, also known as the “Godfather of Street Skating”. A pure genius on the griptape, known for having developed more tricks than anyone else in the game and is considered to be one of the most influential in the science of trick wizardry.

Other high-profile skaters such as Jamie Thomas and Steve Caballero also share their thoughts on what it was like to grow up in the underground skateboarding environment that eventually resulted in careers they could only dream of as children.

APOCALYPTIC SKATEBOARDING

Further in the documentary, we get more insight into how Hawk gravitated towards the gaming industry, which turned out to be anything but easy. There was a lot of adversity, skateboarding was considered a niche by the gaming industry and the story could have quickly ended here. But after a long, clammy and boring business meeting with Activision and their men in suits, Tony Hawk was presented with something that would change everything.

Developer Neversoft, which had previously released the action game Apocalypse for PlayStation, presented a rough and unfinished prototype of what was the start of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. It was literally Bruce Willis on a skateboard, a 3D model with a machine gun on his back that was taken straight out of.. Apocalypse.

Hawk saw the potential and the small Neversoft team with no skateboarding background got to work with the legendary skater as their advisor and motion-capture talent. A demo of the finished game was distributed and it was met with an unexpectedly good response. It was the start of THPS games that made its mark in the gaming industry but also among young people who had not previously opened their eyes to skateboarding.

It suddenly became very cool to skate, something that the professional skaters in the documentary express to be very proud to have contributed to. The sport and interest grew as a direct result of the game series, something they never thought was possible. And the successful sequels to the THPS just added to the interest in the skate culture and also pushed the boundaries of real-life tricks to new limits as a result of the game.

DIRTY SANCHEZ

As expected Activision (unfortunately) milked the THPS series for all it was worth, until it reached the point of pain. The quality of the games was downgraded with each new sequel and mimicked Jackass more than the more authentic skateboard “feel” it had before and interest waned as THPS began to receive lukewarm reviews with noticeably fewer copies sold. Former Neversoft employees and Tony Hawk talk openly in the film about where things went wrong, the declining interest and how EA woke up and seized the moment, releasing their own game called, Skate, which became the new king of the streets– leaving Pro Skater in the gutter as a thrown away toy.

But despite the upturn ending with the downturn for the THPS series, the first games have eternal classic status with the fans. And the previously dying THPS series seems to have risen from the grave with the remaster edition launching on next month on September 4th. The first impressions among those who have been given early access are overwhelmingly positive and TH will once again smile all the way to the bank.

Pretending I’m a Superman: The Tony Hawk Video Game Story is definitely made for fans, but not necessarily the gaming fans. This documentary focuses more on the skateboarding culture than the games, the development behind the games and the pro skaters involvement. I would be more interested to see that part of the story. The pro skaters and their personal history we can find on YouTube if we really want to know more. The gaming aspect of the story was what I wanted to see and learn more about, so that portion was a bit lackluster.

I also feel it’s a bit of a missed opportunity to not show behind-the-scenes work from of the upcoming Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 Remaster as it is gaining a lot of positive momentum at the moment by gaming media. And also maybe tease what’s to come for this revived franchise. 3/5 Bibles.

-Daniel Sorenson

April 14, 2020April 14, 2020

FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE [Review]: Above The Cloud’s.

During E3 2015, gamers around the world were shocked. The reactions online spread like wildfire. Tears of joy, laughter and game trailer hosts literally stood on their chairs during the live reveal. The feelings were genuine and hit me right in the heart. The almost unthinkable happened… Final Fantasy VII, arguably the most popular JRPG game ever, announced a remake 23 years after it first took the world by storm and won our hearts with its amazing soundtrack, engaging story and groundbreaking graphics at the time.

There was no shortage of goosebumps during this presentation, but when the E3 party was all said and done the questions started driving in from fans. Is it possible to remake a classic without tarnishing the memories and dishonor something already considered a masterpiece? And does the remake have anything to offer other than updated graphics and sound?

As you can see by the launch trailer, the answer is yes, yes and even more yes. FFVII: Remake is mostly true to its roots, except that we, unfortunately, do not get to experience the entire saga in one go. While we’re not exactly sure what Square Enix is planning, we know the pub is prepping for more installments. When the next piece of the pie will hit the oven is unknown and we must, once again, sit on the bar stools, pint in hand, waiting ever-so-impatiently for the rest of our order to be served.

If you haven’t been living under a video game news rock, Final Fantasy VII: Remake entirely takes place in Midgar. In the 1997 original, Midgar was only a small part of the game where you typically spent less than 8-10 hours. Here, I spent 44 hours in the wondrous industrial area before the credits slid down the screen. Crazy to think, but the story has really only just so far begun…

I’ll give you this flower in exchange for a surgical mask!

The narrative starts out fairly straightforward. The cold and emotionally disconnected ex-SOLDIER-turned-merc Cloud Strife and his team of strange and amiable eco-terrorists takes up the fight against Shinra, the evil company that sucks the blood of the planet dry to extract and create energy and Materia — all at the residents’ expense, of course. I’m not going to go into anymore story details in fear of robbing anyone of the experience. Getting to know the vast gallery of good and evil characters while immersing yourself into the emotions tied into the journey is magical, I promise you.

Final Fantasy VII‘s presentation and gameplay have both received an extreme makeover. The visuals largely exceed my expectations with some exceptions here and there on textures. The transition from blocky 3D characters patched on 2D backgrounds to a modern AAA production is a fantastic upgrade. Transitions from gameplay to cutscenes also happen seamlessly and naturally. It’s like playing the CG-animated film Final Fantasy: Advent Children, yet even better, with a steady image flow onward. But the score is what really pulled me back to the ’97 version and the upgrade made it damn near perfect. Few games achieve this music at this level and even fewer will ever surpass it.

Turn-based gameplay has been replaced with a far more masterful, action-oriented battle mechanic. And relax, weebs; just because there’s real time fighting, the game is still FF7 and should not be confused with button-bashers like Devil May Cry or Bayonetta. You can’t Eddie Gordo your way out of fights like it’s Tekken 3. Any attempt at this will end up with failure.

Active Time Battle (known as ATB) is still at the center of the fighting. This slow down mechanism provides respite to make strategic choices, but at the same time only adds to the pressure. These decisions will lead to whether you come out victorious with loot, more XP and a smile on your face, or end up staring blankly at the “Game Over” screen before pressing “Retry” with shivering lips and tears in your eyes.

Even if you rock the signature Buster Sword, regular attacks do little damage to enemies and are mostly used only to fill up the stars of the combat system — the ATB. Once these meters fill up, you’ll gain a number of special abilities — ranging from physical short and long distance attacks to fierce magic attacks. Defensive abilities should not be underestimated either, and are critical against more challenging enemies that will attack you with all the elemental magic at their disposal.

The game has many different weapons, amulets, armors etc that can be upgraded with Materia — the energy that possesses special properties (i.e. better healing or attacks enhanced by fire, ice, poison etc.) These can also be linked together for even more devastating effects, which also applies to Cloud’s teammates as it’s easy to switch players along the way. ATB allows battling and activating your teammates’ special abilities while in complete control of your own character. This gives the game an extra layer of strategy and prevents success from being a one-trick pony.

In typical RPG style, all enemies have strengths, weaknesses against the various attacks that you and your team possess. These can be weak spots on the body or specific magical attacks and when identified, foes become staggered and put in a vulnerable position where they take far more damage for a limited period of time. These are best combined with a spectacular Limit Break attack for a good deal of beating.

But if you really want to bring a God to a sword/gunfight, the Summons are at your disposal. They charge up very slowly but surely, and thus can be invoked when you need to turn the tides to your advantage. Summons come in several variants and should be used strategically for best use. There’s just something joyful about summoning a.. Summon when you go toe-to-toe with the game’s many creative boss fights. And, oh boy, do they go creative; I will say no more.

So it’s obvious that FF7R does a tremendous amount of things right. But, what doesn’t get a full bible for? Point-blank: some of the side quests suck. I don’t like running around looking for lost kids or cats, or fighting off rats for random citizens I don’t know or care about. This type of padding serves no other purpose than fleshing out the time spent in Midgar and gathering a few more rewards.

Controls are also a bit janky when you’re trying to do simple stuff, such as positioning yourself to open a door or pulling a lever. I would suggest that this team learn their platforming and climbing from that other wildly popular Square Enix franchise, until I realize that both games were made in different continents. But still.

Hurry! It’s Okumura’s forever runaway refresh-robots!

But the biggest blunder of all? The waiting time for the next part of Final Fantasy VII Remake to release! C’mon Square Enix Japan, you’re killing us here. *insert smile emoji* In all, whether you’re a fan of the original PlayStation title, were present for the jaw-dropping announcement from E3 2015 that still holds up 5-years later(!), hopping in Cloud’s new polished ride was a thrill I never wanted to stop until we had no choice but to hit the turn signal and find a temporary rest area. 4.5/5 Makos.

-Daniel Sorenson

September 24, 2019

CALL OF DUTY – MODERN WARFARE [Alpha/Beta Review]: Get To The Choppa!!!

Jet packs and magnetic wall running boots all tucked away, boots on the ground is back. So is finally Modern Warfare. And I’ve had the great pleasure of testing the alpha and two betas for three weekends in total. So what did I learn about this upcoming Call of Duty game? Will this be a return to former glory? Well, that can only be fully answered when we have our full review of the retail version that comes out late next month. But, for now, we’ll have a closer look at the alpha/betas, giving you our first-hand impressions of what I think so far…

ALPHA – 2V2 GUNFIGHT

Our first look at the new Modern Warfare (MW) gave us the taste of the new 2v2 mode called “Gunfight”. It’s round-based with random weapons in your arsenal. No loadouts, no respawns, no minimap, no killstreaks and first team to 6 points wins the game. The five small, tight and very symmetric close quarters maps are comparable to small paintball arenas, albeit more varied. It’s not your typical Call of Duty experience, but it’s fast-paced fun and very esports friendly– a unique experience within CoD that should be extremely popular on streaming platforms as it’s very straightforwardly and audience/viewer friendly. I’m looking forward to set up private 2vs2 matches, which will ruin more friendships than Monopoly and I can hardly wait.

Overall I had so much fun with this mode and had little to no technical issues other than footsteps audio being a bit all over the place and name tags displaying when out of sight, revealing your position unintentionally. These issues were fixed, but footstep audio is being closely monitored by Infinity Ward and will be continuously improved on.

ALPHA – GUNFIGHT OSP

The same as normal Gunfight, but with a twist: all weapons are pick-ups, giving this mode an old-school vibe. You will always have pistols close to your spawn, but going for the big guns is a risk/reward game in itself. Will you go directly for the big guns and skip the pistol, shaving off a second or two when rushing your foe? Or do you go for the trusted pistol first and risk the ballsy opponent rolling up on you with an AUG to your face? Your call! I honestly can’t decide which mode is more fun, this or regular 2v2 Gunfight.

The alpha was a great tease, but it didn’t let you experience the full re-imagined Modern Warfare multiplayer with its lack of standard modes. This is where the beta came in, to satisfy the masses and cure the itch.

BETA TIME – WHAT DID WE PLAY?

The two betas included a lot of familiar game modes. The beta also included the 2v2 Gunfight modes but since we already got that covered, so let’s move on to the list of the other modes I played in the beta builds:

- Team Deathmatch – Your only objective, find the enemies and shot to kill. Nothing new or exciting really. A standard in any FPS.
- Domination – Another classic. Hold capture points for to win and get annoyed over your teammates who don’t PTFO.
- Headquarters – Hold a specific area until it’s captured. Die, rinse and repeat. It’s more fun than it sounds, I promise.

- Cyber Attack – Similar to Search And Destroy, attackers plants a bomb on the objective to win while defenders will try do disarm the bomb or eliminate all players. Unlike Search and Destroy you can revive your fallen comrades, making this mode a bit more accessible to new players.
- Realism Mode – Stripped for HUD. No mini-map, no hit-markers, no crosshairs. Increased damage. The mode for the hardcore crowd
- NVG Mode – Play the nighttime version of maps with night-vision googles on. A claustrophobic and intense mode as aiming down your laser sights reveals your position to the enemy. Cool concept on paper, but it got old real fast with everything being dark or green. And the NVG really narrows down your field of view. I don’t see this becoming an extremely popular playlist based on those reasons, but I could be wrong.

BUT WAIT.. THERE’S MORE: GROUND WAR!
Ground War is a massive 64 player mode. Sure, it’s not the first time Call of Duty exceeds their normal player numbers. Last year, the franchise decided to jump on the Battle Royale bandwagon with the Blackout mode that supported 100 players in one lobby. So why is Ground War special? Ground War is a page ripped straight out of EA’s Battlefield playbook, it’s basically a really large Domination mode with all the vehicular craziness. Want to blow people up in the comfort of your own tank? Knock yourself out. Want to flank the enemy as quickly as possible? Jump on my ATV, buddy! Or maybe you just want to dominate from the highest spot on the map with the sniper rifle. No problem, get to the choppa and you can parachute down to the perfect spot.
If you can handle it, Ground War is the most action-filled multiplayer experience ever in the long history of Call of Duty. This will without a doubt draw in new fans to the franchise and possibly steal some from Battlefield since their latest iteration is really not doing so hot. Battlefield tried to steal COD fans with their Metro-type maps, and COD just returned fire, louder and more deadly. Your move EA/DICE…

FINAL THOUGHTS
I haven’t been this excited about Call of Duty since perhaps Modern Warfare 2 or Black Ops 1. The series has felt like a copy/paste job for so many years with the exception of Blackout. So far, 2019 Modern Warfare ticks so many boxes. It’s got cross-play, cross-progress between platforms, a new engine to show off, amazing sound effects and more realistic map design where the traditional three-lane design has been scrapped.
And let’s not forget about the gunsmith. There are so many attachments, all with their pros and cons. Gone is the pick-10 system, customize like crazy. Go nuts, make Xzibit proud. And as always there’s a lot of perks and killstreaks so you can create your own John Rambo. The beta was capped at level 30, so we didn’t get to try out everything. We’ll get back to all this with our review when we have the full version in our sweaty hands.

The elephant in the room during the start of the beta, however, was the mini-map, or the lack of one, to previse. Infinity Ward didn’t want us to blindly chase dots on the mini-map, so they replaced it with a compass on top of the screen instead. This was not well received by the community and could have been the start of the end for Modern Warfare. Luckily that didn’t happen because Infinity Ward listened to their fans and came up with a good compromise, mini-map was back but with a slight change that we all could live with. The mobs lowered their pitchforks, for now. But Infinity Ward’s work is far from finished.
There’s a lot of things that needs to be fixed and/or adjusted. Spawn logic on some maps somehow got worse during the beta, resulting in spawn trapping which is infuriating and unfair. Some people were caught glitching under the Ground War map, racking up enough kills acquire the game-winning nuclear missile illegitimately. Again, Infinity Ward has acknowledged these issues and will put the massive amounts of data collected in the beta to good use when squashing these bugs. These are just some examples of what was broken in the beta build.
Some bugs got fixed during the betas, so Infinity Ward definitely showed us that they did pay attention to the feedback on Reddit and YouTube and they took action. And that’s a good sign at least. 4/5 Heckler & Koch MP7’s.
-Daniel Sorenson

September 10, 2019September 10, 2019

GEARS 5 [Face-Off Review]: You Don’t Know Jack.

One of pillars in the Xbox gaming brand is back. But is this testostorone-filled cover-based shooter still relevant? Or is it too little, too late? The answer is no– Gears 5 is exactly what the doctor ordered for Microsoft and the Xbox fans.

The fifth game of the heralded franchise sees Marcus Fenix, his son JD and former “Outsider” Kait Diaz back in the fold from GoW4, chainsawing Locust ass and taking ugly alien mother-F’n names. But in Gears 5, we’re mostly in the role of Kait who’s still struggling with the dramatic loss of her mother and battling with her own inner demons. JD and Marcus are a big part of that story, but they’re no longer the center of attention. We’ve gone through personal dramas and Locust hell with Marcus since 2006, so switching over to a different story arc only adds more meat to the bone of the Gears saga. And it feels less cheesy, adding a bit more serious tone than before. But don’t worry, it’s still Gears with soldiers looking like beefed-up WWE wrestlers (hence Dave “Drax Batista” Bautista arriving as DLC). It’s just done better than before…

Also new to Gears 5 is the support drone Jack. Imagine R2-D2 equipped like a high-tech Swiss army knife, full of useful and fun tools that can be upgraded. Jack can hook you up with cloaking, shield, stuns, remote controlling enemies and much, much more. As if that wasn’t enough, he’s a playable character in co-op and adds a completly new gameplay layer to Gears. Jack is sort of an OP (overpowering) support character, if there ever was such a term.

The presentation of Gears 5 screams AAA in every aspect. The visual presentation is a rare treat, pushing the Unreal 4 engine on Xbox One X to its limits, displayed in dynamic 4K/60 FPS– not very common on current gen consoles.
What The Coalition has achieved here is nothing but remarkable; Gears 5 runs and looks amazing. This is arguably the most interesting take on the Gears universe yet with so many exciting environments to explore, from snowy woodlands, Mars-like deserts to wartorn cities. And the best part, you can use the Skiff to slide around on ice/snow/sand while looking for rewarding sidemissions. Trust me, go explore. Jack will thank you later.

And if you even DARE sing “Ice, Ice, Baby”…

Gears 5 manages to surpass its predecessors, improving on almost everything that has been done in the previous Gears games. But it’s not a perfect game though, as things like going in and out of cover can still be a pain in the ass. There’s other games out there that copied this cover system and improved on it, so going forward I hope this improves in the (yes, it’s fuckin’ happening) Xbox Scarlett Gears 6 sequel.

The game also struggled from time to time when playing co-op online, with issues like falling/glitching out of the map, checkpoint saves, a few pestering disconnects, etc. While I expect this to all be tidily patched up very soon, it was annoying enough to taint my overall high impression of the game as it stands right now. 4.25/5 Bibles.

-Daniel Sorenson

Felipe “The 3rd Deacon” Crespo
@F7ovrdrv

Diving right into Gears 5 multiplayer, let’s start with the newcomer: Escape mode. It’s essentially you, two squadmates, a poison bomb, and a countdown that lets you know it’s time to GTFO.

The tense setting is enhanced by the fact that you’re surrounded by enemies everywhere and start out just with a sidearm (no full loadout like the other modes), and praying that your teammates not only are competent, but stick around. In what I consider an oversight if someone leaves, there is no AI sub. It can come down to you vs all. This is a mind-boggling oversight…

https://youtu.be/ErqsgG0HRR8

Thankfully, the newly introduced signature abilities can help you when facing these — let’s be clear, fucked — odds despite best used in conjuction with solid teamwork. The best piece of advice I can give for Escape mode is to go in with a squad you know won’t quit.

Speaking of solid teamwork working in conjuction with the new abilities.. Oh, yes– one of my favorite MP modes in gaming is back and with improvements: Horde mode. To the uninitiated: You and 4 others vs 50 waves of the unrelenting Locust, trippy AI and the like. Each wave gets harder. To longtime fans: The Coalition just keep improving the mode, with more enemy variety than ever before. For the first time ever, as Danny mentioned above, there’s a full support hero. The oddly loveable robot is playable for the first time. Don’t be surprised if Jack becomes your main. Using him is a completely separate experience and can often change the tide of battle even when you’re the last bot floating.

The new abilities help a ton, specially past level 20. Fahz’ X-Ray vision/shoot through walls, Marcus’ auto headshots, Kait’s invisibility, etc.. They’re all unique and can often devastate a Horde wave if used properly in tandem. To add even more strategy, each character can be leveled up to unlock skill cards that can be equipped (score multipliers, extra mag sizes, damage modifiers, etc). For the recent breed of gamers that circlejerk each other because they play frustrating games, you can ramp up Horde mode with all difficulty modifiers turned on right off the bat. I’ve tried it… It is rough. Enjoy!

As for the single player campaign, MP was my focus for the review, and my fellow clergymen covered it perfectly. That said, I absolutely love the story. The new sense of scope and the change of central character brings a new, fresh point of view while delving into the mystery that Gears of War 4 presented us in its bombshell cliffhanger. As a whole, Gears is back and never better. 5/5 Blood-Drenched Chainsaw.

-Felipe Crespo

Due to other professional obligations, Travis Moody will have his full thoughts on Gears 5 on the next Geekdom Gamescast. Stay tuned.