Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Habroxia | An Entry Level Shmup For The PS4

If you've played earlier shmups like Gradius and Space Invaders you'll have a good clue as to how Habroxia plays, and what type of shoot 'em up it is. Even though it has it's own slightly different hybrid take on mechanics, and even features it's own unique visual design as well as it's own approach to gameplay the waves of enemies including how you approach them within the handful of modes made available will feel very familiar. Compared to other shmups, and bullet hell shooters Lillymo Games' creation is also a bit more tame, and entry level by design. Said design has it's ups, and downs to note. For example, it is somewhat too reliant upon the upgrade system that is it's base feature for progressing through the 15 stages of the main mode. Outside of that the alternate modes that you unlock such as Invasion, Rescue, and Shield Maiden at every five level completion will offer only slight replay value as well as a means to farm for credits which act as the game's in-game currency. Sadly, in all that it offers it does not include global leaderboards though. Thus making the chain combo scoring that is attached to the experience less than beneficial to those gamers looking to compare their feats of mastery with other worldly competitors.

Monday, September 23, 2019

Sudden Strike 4: Complete Collection | A Military RTS In All It's Entirety

Sudden Strike 4 is a real time strategy (RTS) game that focuses heavily on the various WWII campaigns. It includes eleven campaigns stretched across the core game, and bonus DLC including various axis & ally perspectives. Through voiced narration, historic video clips, and added textual facts the game takes the player through the war from different fronts as they command troops, and units to see the battle through as they would have seen it done, but with guided mission objectives, and rewards for completing the tasks at hand accounted for. You'll fight as the Germans, the Soviets, and the Allies among others as you use the doctrines of historical commanders, and tweak said skill based doctrines to your benefit. There are over 45 missions in total within the complete collection. The DLC campaigns included. Each with an obtainable 3 star rankings based on objective performance, and your ability to come out of the set battle victorious. Using user friendly commands tied to face buttons, shoulder buttons, thumbsticks, and the DPad you will be able to fast track combat as you point, and click troops, and units from point to point on the mini or main map. The troops, and units being like their real world counterparts in that they feature functions, and abilities that can be used to aid other troops and units as they make their way to areas of interest, and do as directed.

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Things I'd Like To See Improved Upon In Borderlands 3

As of this weekend I'm deep into my first playthrough of Borderlands 3 on the PS4. I chose to go with FL4K as my first character, and for the most part he's been a decent choice though a bit squishy when it comes down to survival. That having been said I chose to go with a high crit build, and didn't optimize my skill trees for the pets or health bonuses. Even so I'm doing alright solo, and as I've said I'm deep into my playthrough. Having completed all side missions along the way as they became available along with key story missions when said side missions were done. Seeing most of my friends whiz past me in rank during my own progression due their grinding approach outside of the main campaign leaves me a little envious, but being the OC (obsessive compulsive) guy I am I wanted to do a complete playthrough before going into the alternative grind centered modes. My approach has served me well to that end.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Borderlands 3 | My Own Thoughts & Opinions

Beyond the drama, and past all the technical issues I am personally finding myself engrossed in the Borderlands 3 grind loop. This is coming from a gamer who has never fully completed Borderlands or Borderlands 2. For whatever reason the third installment has hooked me where the others failed to do so. Maybe it's the newly updated mechanics, the new characters, or the engaging plot filled quests and side quests that are more than just target hunts to participate in. For me everything in the game is enriched in some way. Through well thought dialogue, and humor that I actually laugh at I'm finding the entirety of the new Borderlands universe to be alive, and thriving. There's never a dull moment. Whether you are completing the campaign, farming for guns, or engaging with NPCs it all comes together in a complimentary fashion befitting of a Triple A label. In the company of friends or alone there is plenty of fun to be had, and it scales appropriately while rewarding accordingly. Depending on how much the drama surrounding development and corporate PR effects you though you'll either be willing to give it a chance, or not. Just know that there is an entire team of developers involved that may or may not have had the same ideas in dealing with things as the head of marketing did.

Tuesday, September 3, 2019

FUZE4 | A Unique Coding Experience For Experienced Coders

At times I've referred to coding as digital witchcraft. Media magic conjured up by deals with the Devil. I've stated that making games out of text, symbols, and numbers does not make any logical real world sense. Not even with the modern hardware to back it up. Going into FUZE4 I'd hoped I'd be wrong about this assumption. That I'd not only be able to see and understand how coding works, but also make some sense out of the seemingly illogical. Unfortunately in my time with the programming tool I still ended up completely clueless as to how any of it functions. The developer of the FUZE coding program definitely went out of their way to explain things through help menu references, and definitely offered all the necessary tools to create programs, but even with all of that available content I was at a loss. I still do not understand coding. I did not figure out how to write my own programs, and I did not understand how to use the tools at hand. Even after reading through the help menu tutorials, and looking over each of the eight menus I could not make sense of anything. It was filled with college level lingo as if it were a college lesson being taught by a professor, and not the beginner's guide I thought it would be. It reads as if it expects you to understand the basics enough to apply them to advanced coding applications. It's like it skips past the fundamentals, and the foundation rushing into what you could do if you understood coding on a slightly deeper level. I digress though ...

Sunday, September 1, 2019

The Daily Grind ... A Poem by Brad Carver

Sometimes I like to bust a rhyme. To share with my friends some well thought lines. Below you'll find such poem in all it's lyrical glory. A poem about social media, and the usual daily story ...