This week ended up being pretty productive gaming wise, but not in the way I had initially thought. Having mapped out some time on Saturday when the kids were occupied to finish my Moss let’s play I woke Saturday morning with a pit in my stomach and proceeded to spend the following ten hours hugging a toilet, throwing my guts up. By the end of it, lying on a couch performing simple button presses was the absolute maximum my body and mind could handle, so I leaned on some games I had been meaning to finish off for a while. This resulted in platinum trophies for Life is Strange: Before the Storm and once I had a bit more of my functions back, Assassin’s Creed Origins. But let’s start with…
Midnight Deluxe released this week on PS4 and PS Vita. It’s a port of a game originally called Midnight which came to PC back in January 2016. Ratalaika Games were clearly onto a winner last year when they ported over Petite Games ‘36 Fragments of Midnight‘ – one of the years easiest and fastest PS4 platinum trophies. So they have went back to the Petite well and brought the studios earlier game, Midnight, to both PS4 and PS Vita in even more regions. This means more trophy stacks, which allowed me to pick it up in both the EU and US regions. As it’s cross-buy with PS Vita, this didn’t only mean two platinum trophies, but three. Not bad for less than two hours gaming.
Trophies are great n’ all, but what about the game itself? Well, it’s not something that’s going to blow your mind. Graphics are simple, yet effective. As is the controls. The aim of the game is to fire the little white square into a specific hole, with various obstacles in the way. Unlike 36 Fragments, these levels are static designs and not random. There are 70 levels in total, but you only need to complete 40, and get 3 stars in 1 level to get the platinum. There’s no doubt the game has been ported with trophy hunters in mind. You don’t release that many stacks of your game and require only 40 of the 70 levels to be completed without showing your hand pretty quick, but that doesn’t mean the game isn’t fun, while it lasts.
Overall I would say if you are looking for something to just pick up and play, this is a cheap and fun option (while it lasts) that certainly rewards the gaming hardcores. My review score may seem high given how short the game is, but you’ll soon learn that I judge a game largely based on what it has set out to deliver. Nothing implemented in this game is bad and it has a good level of polish.
Review: 
Having been a massive fan of Life is Strange season one, I was all over this Before the Storm prequel which followed the back story of Chloe and Rachel’s relationship. I played episode one the week it was released and while I enjoyed it, by the time episode two dropped I was feeling a little burned out on episodic games and decided to wait. Then, over the last week I got the urge and played the the final two episodes.
Taking the mini season as a whole I really enjoyed it, although I feel like the first and second episode were a lot stronger narrative wise than the finale. Without getting too deep down the spoiler rabbit hole, I feel like they set the stage well in the first, second and beginning of the third episode and then failed to really pay it off.
I am yet to play the extra farewell episode, which I’m told ties up some loose ends and puts a bow on the Max, Chloe & Rachel story, but as that isn’t really part of the main spin off (if that even makes sense) I don’t feel it should influence my thoughts.
Review: 
Anyone who has followed me on social media will know how much of a fan I am of this game. I picked it up day one and hardly put it down. The main story took me a solid 55 hours to complete. At that point I sat it down to blast through a few game of the year contenders I needed to finish before the end of the year. At the turn of the year I returned though, chipping away at the post story content and required for the platinum.
It’s taken a while. A further 27 hours to be exact. But last night I completed all locations and finally the random ‘Kill 30 enemies by shooting fire arrows at oil jars’ trophy to get the platinum.
This is hands down one of the best games I have ever played. The scope and polish is just insane. I was a little concerned before release about the RPG lite elements that were being added but even an hour in you found yourself wondering how you went without it in previous AC games.
Disclaimer; I am a fan of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, and while I do think this is a massive upgrade on previous entries, I’m not sure if it’s enough to convert one of the many who actively dislike the series, but for me it gets the highest possible recommendation.
Review: 
I spoke about Timothy vs. The Aliens last week after putting an hour or so in. I’m back now with 100% completion and the platinum trophy, but not much insight to add. Everything I said last week still stands. It’s a full, albeit short and relatively small open world third person shooter.
The controls are decent and the story is minimal. Where the game really stands out is the art style. Wild Sphere, the small studio behind the game has done a cracking job a stylizing the game. I recommend checking this game out and supporting smaller indie developers who are creating unique experiences on the Playstation platform.
Review: 
Bravo Team was the big PSVR release of the week by the team over at Supermassive Games, makers of Until Dawn, and more recently Rush of Blood and The Inpatient, both also on PSVR. This game has not reviewed well. I haven’t actually fully read any of the reviews to see what the gripes with the game are, but about an hour and a half in I can definitely pick out some of it’s shortcomings.
First of all the graphics are good. Good until you look down the scope of a gun. Unfortunately, you spend 95% of your time in the game is spent doing that exact thing. That brings me to the other massive downside. The lack of story. At the very start of the game you get a quick cutscene, where a woman, possibly the President (I honestly don’t care to remember) is taken and killed from your convoy. From here you are trying to fight your way out of this fictional country.
Following this bland cutscene it’s just wave after wave of enemies. Each one just appearing and hiding behind the same cover as the last and intermittently popping up like something out of whack-a-mole. The gun play is OK, but very limited. So far all I have been given access to is a machine gun and a pistol and I have been told the game totals out at four different guns. Also, a massive omission… no grenades.
I’ll hold off on a final score until if and when I finish this, but at the very least I’d say hold off until there’s a steep sale.
The only other games I have dabbled in this week has been the odd five minutes of Lego Jurassic World while at work and a few hours of Pro Evolution Soccer 2018. I still plan to do a post on some of my favourite Master League players to sign. I’ll maybe try and carve out some time for that this week.
Over the next week we have episode one of The Council and the Burnout Paradise Remaster coming, continuing an absolutely incredible start to 2018 for games. Until next week keep an eye on the site for more content and as always get in touch via the comments or on Twitter @VizualDze to let me know what you’ve been playing.
VdZe