The Crew 2 and Mario Tennis Aces Impressions [Gaming]

The beginning of June had these two games available to try. The Crew 2 was a closed beta, but Ubisoft have allowed things to be shared from it. I was always going to be trying this one if I could. As for Mario Tennis Aces, I was unsure about trying this one at first, but since it was a time-limited demo, it couldn’t hurt to try it out.

The Crew 2 has a massive open world, allowing a wide range of exploration. There’s a wide array of places to go, whether soaring over the desert in a plane or cutting through a forest in a boat. And let’s not forget the cars. Within the beta there’s quite a number of them, and a range of events to be taking part in.

To start with there’s the opening race, that gives control of all three vehicle types. The control of them in this game feels very tight. Just as with GTA V, a slight touch in a direction with the stick will have the car turn in that direction pretty fast. Boats also do this, but with the added effect of the water on them. The planes are the easiest to control, and don’t suffer as much from the tight turning. All of this is fairly easy to get used to, so you’ll soon be racing and driving with little worry. Swapping between the vehicles is also easy to do, with one of each of the three types always on hand thanks to the favouriting system.

As for things to do – there’s plenty. There’s four disciplines available, with both main events and sub events to compete in. There’s races, slaloms, escapes, and a host of others to keep you occupied, along with the exploration itself. And with an expansive map of America to get into, there’s a lot here. If you so choose you can just fast travel everywhere, but that leaves out another part of the game. Photo opportunities can present themselves throughout the world, making use of the photo mode in the game. The payouts for these photos are as big as the events, though it is possible that may change come the full game.

That photo mode is yet another reason to explore, allowing a range of options to get the best photos possible. I was messing around with it in the beta, and found the level of control it offers great. Since the game is always tracking your last ten minutes of action, you don’t need to worry too much about stopping exactly at the point you want to get the photo. There’s a range of filters available. You can remove traffic, animals, and even your own vehicle from the shot. You can change the time of day, and even add a bit of motion or focus blur to them.

There is certainly a lot to do in The Crew 2, and I’m not going to mention everything I’ve done, but I was impressed enough back when it was revealed to add this to my What I’m Waiting For series, and the beta has confirmed that this is exactly what I’ve been waiting for.

 

Mario Tennis Aces’ demo definitely had the feeling of being in control. It had the full feature set of a Tennis game with some added extras that make use of an energy gauge. It was easy enough to learn the moves required, but when it comes to putting them up against another opponent, you’d better hope you can quickly execute them.

The main draw of them demo was the online tournament mode, where you get matched with a player. If you win, you move up the ladder and get matched with someone else. It works as a system to pit players against each other who have won a similar amount of matches. It provides a lot of fun to try and beat your opponent and a sense of victory for winning a match – particularly with those who might have beaten you in the first set.

There was also a practice mode against an AI opponent, but aside from giving the opportunity to try out moves, it wasn’t doing much good as a mode. The AI are ridiculously easy to beat, only managing to win if you play at their level. It is a practice mode, so I can understand the easiness of it.

Overall Mario Tennis Aces’ demo did give a good impression, and if you are looking for a mechanically sound game, this one is definitely there. The story mode of the full game looks to be a good one, testing specific skills and providing a non-sensical plot that looks like it’ll be fun to see play out.

Star Wars Battlefront EA Beta Impressions [Gaming]

Slight exaggeration as it might be, the whole of the Star Wars community has been begging for a proper new Battlefront since the last one ten years ago. It's no wonder that Star Wars Battlefront 2 is one of the highest selling Star Wars games, considering that it let players live out fantasies far and wide within the Star Wars universe. So when EA got their hands on the license, the first thing they did with it was announce they were working on a new Battlefront.

Now, it's no secret that another Battlefront has been doing the rounds, and has been since it was cancelled in 2008-9, but many people - even me - expected that a new Battlefront would expand on what we already had. All the footage from that Battlefront has given us what we'd hoped for. Of course, EA surprised us all and took a new direction. And some still aren't happy about that. No prequel trilogy content, small amount of planets, and nearly everything locked behind power-up tokens scattered throughout the maps.

I'm not saying that's bad, but no matter what, people will compare this new one to the old one [and by some extension the canned sequel] and see the differences. Yes, the differences are there, but it makes for an overall polished and focused experience. Vehicles are power-ups, so you won't see them until they're called for. This makes friendly camping near non-existent as they aren't waiting by a vehicle spawn point to wreck havoc when they finally get in it, and also enemy camping non-existent as they wreck havoc when no-one is in it. The random power-ups also add a layer of surprise, hoping for something good but instead you might get something not worth it. Power-up items will stay with you even after you get killed as well, which is a bonus. The random nature of it also makes one think "Is it worth it" when they see one that might be tricky to get to. And of course, hero power-ups allow anyone to become a fearsome hero. While you one-hit kill with heroes, and have more health, you don't feel all that powerful. You jump just like an ordinary trooper, and the run speed feels the same as a regular trooper too.

The modes themselves are interesting enough, though Walker Assault is definitely a favourite. The Rebels activate and defend uplinks, the Empire stops the uplinks from being active. Once the two AT-AT on field reach a certain point - roughly in line with the uplinks - Y-Wing bombers swoop in and disable the AT-AT shields. The downtime on those shields depends on how long the uplinks remained active. Anything can damage the AT-AT at this point, so the Rebels had better concentrate fire on them. Of course, the Empire's not going to make that easy. Once the AT-AT shields reengage, the next uplinks become active. There are three uplink sections, and if one AT-AT is still operational at the end, the Rebels have lost. If the Empire are good enough, they can make sure the uplinks remain unactive, meaning the AT-AT are safe from Y-Wing bombardment.

I had the most fun here, as it felt like an active battle. Enemy fire could come from anywhere, whether ground or sky. X-Wings and TIE Fighters would join the ground battle, covering the ground in lasers and even torpedoes to try an remove hotspots of activity. Getting to and defending the uplinks was a challenge depending on the skill and teamwork of the opposing team. Those on the Empire would sometimes be at the uplinks and already defending them before they came online. Sometimes the Rebels would be defending them before they activated as well. It also makes for interesting times when the AT-AT get closer to the uplinks and are able to bring their full power to mow down the defending Rebels. AT-AT can call in orbital strikes, though unless you manage to hold on to the AT-AT for long enough, you'll only be firing one of them. An orbital strike is one of the power-ups scattered around the maps as well, which is good for the Rebels if they actually use them on the AT-AT. Of course, being a tiny solider stood up against that massive thing, you wouldn't want to stand in front of it while lining up the call. You need to be able to survive for a few seconds after calling one in for it to actually activate, which also adds a risk-reward factor into it.

Enough about orbital bombardments though, as the mode is fun. I had a blast rushing to the uplinks, fighting to claim them in some cases, and giving the team I was on a major advantage. Whenever I became a hero, I didn't survive long enough to get the hang of them. I did get used to the aerial control enough to put up a good enough fight within the last day, though. AT-ST are also easy to use [most of my issues with controls come from still not being fully used to keyboard-mouse control sets, but putting star card usage on the extra mouse buttons and wheel seemed to help], and when you manage to get in one you can put a dent in the Rebel defence. Aiming of all things - whether AT-ST, aerial, or turrets - did feel loose, but not enough to seriously hinder enjoyment.

Drop Zone tasked players with capturing and protecting escape pods that fell down. First to five wins. Drop Zone is a smaller map mode, and with that comes some things. Since it is only a maximum of 8 vs 8 [Walker Assault is 20 vs 20], power-ups can only be claimed from captured pods. No hero power-ups or vehicle power-ups can be found within them, keeping the action very much focused on the ground. This mode feels more focused than Walker Assault, as the action will always center on where the pod is. This just makes it more fun to play though, so long as you get to the action. Keeping up the defence can be tricky, but being able to defend away from the pod comes in handy. Bunched up together makes for an easy target, so it pays to only have one or two near the pod while others spot for incoming trouble. The mode does hold up, and it's focus helps it, but it does make one wonder how many other modes will involve capture-defend game mechanics. While there's nothing wrong with that, there's the feeling that both modes could be made somewhat different.

Which leads to Survival. One of the single player modes, which can be played with a friend, it tasks you with defeating waves of troopers and surviving through them all. Between the occasional waves, an escape pod will drop allowing you access to power-ups [you have to capture-defend it before you claim them], which will make the fight easier. Within the beta there were only six waves, though the full mode has access to fifteen. On easy mode, it is easy if you know what you are doing, and can also be easy on harder difficulties depending on whether you know the environment you are playing on. AT-ST will show up on certain waves, and can be difficult to take down head on. The key is to chop a bit of their health at a time if you have nothing effective that will work on them.

I could comment on the look and sound of the beta, but the trailers have really shown off that so well. Both really immerse you into the world, and if it wasn't for the power-up icons on screen, it would really feel as though you are in the battle. That's the one thing that feels fully right about the beta. Everything else has some small fault or issue that puts a bit of a strain on playing, but doesn't take you out of the experience too much. Come the full game, I'm sure at least some of these issues will be fixed or patched up later. I'm hoping for all, though. It needs it. But that's not to say it isn't fun.

Links to videos
Rebellion Edition - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfAD6ADcjhA
Imperial Edition -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JsrkqFXPUs

Splatoon Global Testfire Impressions [Gaming]

Today has been all about one certain game, that I'm surprised no-one has dubbed the day Splatterday. The Splatoon Global Testfire announced in Thursday's Direct has finally come to an end. And it has greatly made me look forward to the game even more. In fact, I was so interested in the game, I set a little something up. With no capture card available, I had to pull out my camera and get it on the tripod, but I recorded footage of five matches. Part One and Part Two of the Splatoon demo show off the four primary weapon types, as well as a look at the sub and special weapons, two of the maps available to play on, as well as gameplay in general.
So, let me give an insight to my day. From about 10am Friday, when I first woke up, I was eagerly awaiting the chance to play this game. But was on the edge about whether or not to record footage. In fact, I was on the edge about whether or not to stay up at all. Four o'clock in the morning is not a laughing matter. But, I stayed up. One, because it is something limited, and it's also a new IP. Two, having now officially finished university for the year, I felt I deserved a celebratory game of something new. This demo fit the bill nicely. But I was still on edge about recording. In the end, it was getting near to two o'clock in the morning, I was having a few races online in Mario Kart 8, and thought - why not? Since I wanted to stay online, the set up and figuring things out took a long time. And the cheap touchscreen of the camera would not respond, which wasn't a problem compared with its abysmal battery life. Once I figured how to get the audio done right, and had the camera aimed reasonably well, I managed four pretty good recorded races, as well as one which was plainly the camera's fault.
It was nearing four, so I ended up the current race I was on, swapped out to the Global Testfire app, and waited on the menu screen. When four o'clock hit, I triggered the start. It took about two minutes to get in, but the connection allowed me in. I think it was staggering the amount of connections joining at the same time, as I've read elsewhere others got in instantly while others had to wait longer. Even so, after getting in, the screen to choose a boy or girl, followed by skin colour, followed by eye colour, gave way to a tutorial on how to play the game. I found the controls easy enough to get to grips with, though uncomfortable at first. The double aiming is something that takes a bit of getting used to. After the tutorial, it was weapon select time. Jumping straight in with the Splattershot, the matchmaking began and almost instantly hit me up with seven others. The game itself is easy enough to play. Just cover the ground in allied ink while avoiding enemy ink. The weapons are responsive and easy to use, as is controlling your character. After a few games with the Splattershot, I swap to the Charge Shot. I think I spent the least amount of time with this weapon. It's not that it isn't any good, but the way to use it wisely is different. With the other weapons you can pretty much charge straight in. The Charge Shot requires a more slow approach. As the name suggests, you have to charge up the shot, but the range is greater than any other weapon so, depending on your aim, a lot more ground can be covered while standing still.

I continued to swap about between the weapons before ending back with the Splattershot for the last few matches. If I had to give the weapons real world likenesses, the Splattershot would be a repeating rifle, the Splattershot Jr. a pistol, the Charge Shot a sniper rifle, and the Roller... more a vehicle than a weapon. In terms of what weapons I prefer, the Splattershots would be highest with the Charge Shot the lowest. This, of course, isn't taking into account the sub and special weapons. While I didn't use all the subs and specials, they do change the match up a bit. A bomb can be deployed to burst on impact, or another one is a timed bomb, which will go off after a few seconds. In terms of specials, the shield was helpful, and the ability to share it with others even more so. The killer wail is a weapon that will cover ink in a straight line from wherever it is aimed to the end of the map. See one of these deployed, and you'd better get out from its sights.
The two maps that were availble to play on were Saltspray Rig and Walleye Warehouse. Of the two, I'd say Saltspray is the better of the two. Don't get me wrong, Walleye is a great map, but there is only really one large focus point in the middle. With Saltspray, there are three major corridors of action. There is also more in the way of verticality with Saltspray as well. The bases are raised above the lower areas, meaning no-one can access them once they leave. Platforms rise and fall between south and north paths. There are a lot of ramps and slopes.

Back to my day - after the matches, I was impressed with the game itself. Transferring the videos from my camera to computer was the last thing I did before going to sleep. But I was still left with a question. It's alright playing for an hour and enjoying it, but how long can it really last? After roughly five hours' sleep, I was up again and ready to play for a second time. I hadn't even reviewed the footage I'd got, trusting it to be good. But the game, and that question, were more important than checking on the footage. The footage is just an extra - this impression is what counts. And so I go in for a second hour. This time, I had motion controls disabled. The right stick was now fully in control of aiming. It felt natural enough to play in this way. While not offering the presise motion of a mouse, the right stick on its own worked as well as the gyroscope had done. Except it now worked without the stress or shake of hands. It had the slight effect of meaning the jump and turn couldn't be executed as well, but a small price to pay. With the second hour over, the question was answered. There is enough in this mode, and various enough playstyles, to keep it fresh. I never felt like any two matches repeated themselves almost exactly. Jumping back into the play after respawning [or while elsewhere] with the super jump also meant teams could converge on each other to push the barrier of the other team if they so chose. But then this is where things start to fall.
After the second session came to a close, I finally had the time to review the footage. It was mostly like any other off screen recorded footage. Too bright in areas, and looking lower in quality than what the game actually looks like. But, as I explain in the videos themselves, the camera had somehow part recorded itself working as well as the game's audio, meaning the opening of matches where the camera had just started up were full of a buzzing of sorts. In the second part of my gameplay, it had reached a peak so bad I had to remove the audio. Pulling all the footage together, rendering, and uploading it took most of the time between second and third timeslots. When that third timeslot came, I was back on and playing. I took it upon myself to take a note of the map more often than I had been doing. The other team members would work through covering the ground in ink. Sometimes they'd group up, other times they'd go their separate ways. But on keeping an eye on the map, I could see where the other team were gaining an advantage. How they were pulling through our defence. And so while full voice chat isn't neccessary, a little more option for command wouldn't go amiss. There are, currently, only two commands in the game. 'Nice' and 'On Me'. While these are okay in their own right, it still misses out on more important commands. General direction to travel, for instance, or telling team members to go away.
There was one match where I had quickly travelled to the northern grid of Saltspray Rig. I'd covered a good deal of the area, defending it for well over a minute on my own. The other members of my team suddenly appear to help me cover the ground more quickly, leaving the rest of the map open for takeover by the other team. And not one of them apparently noticed. The other team quickly covered ground and surrounded the others of my team. I'd already left the area and was covering ground of my own, but got picked off pretty easy. As I was respawning, the other members of my team were picked off. Now, had there been a command to disperse, or 'go south', would that situation have occurred? I can see why such a command structure isn't in place, but if you're looking at the Gamepad to notice these things, then surely it should follow that you aren't in much trouble. By all means, give people the choice of which commands to map to buttons not in use [the D-Pad, and A and B], but there should definitely be more than two.

Away from that gripe, I can't really see anything affecting the game too badly. Turf War mode will have to do until Ranked Battles and Splat Zones are added, but considering with the full game you'll have the choice of main, sub, and special weapons, as well as more vareity in those, and clothing items that affect your stats, I should think there will be enough to tide most over. There are three maps yet to play on, but if those are as good as the two on this demo, the game should have a small but great selection of maps to wage turf war on.
As a recap, the game is easy to play, there is enough replayability to last, everything controls fluidly - even the gyroscopic controls - that you never feel cheated, and the levels and weapons are well crafted to fit the game. The only real negative is that a basic command structure isn't in place.
The end of May sure is going to be a good one.

Oh. Those Mario Kart 8 online matches I said I'd recorded. Look out for another video soon. They will be featured in a way I normally cover videogames.

Battlefield Hardline Beta [Gaming]

Now, I'm fairly new to the Battlefield series, but I can certainly see the differences between the main series and Hardline - a cops and robbers spin-off. We have the way you earn equipment, the equipment itself, the vehicles, and even the opposing factions. Now, since this game is in beta form, I won't be doing a full review. But this post is to give an insight into just what the beta holds, and how that reflects the final game.
First off is the Battlefield [and perhaps most other team-based shooter] staple mode - Conquest. This mode plays much the same as previous games. Each team has a base, and between both are five command posts which are contested over. Kills knock off tickets from the opposing faction, as does owning the most command posts. The winning team is the one which can reduce the opposing team's tickets to zero. However, owing to the new theme, this mode plays a little differently. Vehicles do not have on board weapons [except the helicopters, but not for the pilot]. In that respect, they are just transport. But any passengers in the vehicle can still use their weapons. Thus, having a fully stocked vehicle ensures better success. Since the vehicles' power have been considerably lowered, factions are now set up to not have uber powerful RPG's and the such. They can still be powerful, a number of weapons can certainly overcome a vehicle if you keep with it enough, but there won't be any one hit kills on vehicles or infantry from vehicles. Except getting run over, of course. Bikes are fast, and are light, and as such come with a jump bonus in points.
Points are very much the same as previous Battlefield games - in that earning enough of them in a single class or vehicle, even weapons, will net you service stars - but added to the mix are coins and money. Coins are earned for achieving a certain number of points, kills or bonuses. As such, they sort of act like ribbons. But collect enough of them, and you earn a bounty. These act as nothing but trophies, but look good when others see your profile. Then we have money, which is used to buy weapons and gadgets. While not much more than a simple change, it affects how you approch things. For one, you no longer need to use a weapon in order to earn points and unlock more of that particular weapon. But you do need to meet other critera. These are either getting kills with the opposing faction, or completing assignments or missions. There is also a loadout for each class - one for the police, and one for the criminals. There are a number of loadouts this time, but only one unlocked from the start. The others are unlocked through either points or Battlepacks, which make a return.
Now then, the two new modes. First off is Heist. The criminals break into a bank and take two bags of money to select drop off points, while the police try to stop them. The mode itself takes a bit to get around, in terms of learning the best way to tackle the objective, but once you do it is very fun to play. Teamwork is required of both teams. The criminals have to protect the team member who has the bag of money, as they will be main target for the police. The police, meanwhile, can set up traps near the drop off points to catch the criminals off guard. Whether that be an ambush or a well placed trip mine, the criminals have a tough job to get to the drop off points - providing the police set their traps well.
The more interesting of the two though, is Hotwire. This is a special conquest mode where the special vehicles dotted around the map are the command posts. To capture one, you need to be driving at speed. But the opposing faction is working to the same objective, and both teams can employ the same tactics from conquest here. A fully stocked vehicle, especially a special one, can protect or destroy. Crashing into someone dips their vehicle's damage slightly, and if you can trap them, it becomes easier to destroy them. Once a special car is destroyed, it will respawn. The key is to have your team be in command of as many special vehicles as possible. Just like with conquest, whoever owns the most command points will knock tickets off the opposing team. But unlike conquest, infantry kills have no effect. Only the special vehicles do. Whether that be driving them or destroying them. Of all the modes, this one was the most action packed. And as you'll see in my gameplay video, especially fun.
Dotted around maps are more powerful weapons. These are where your RPG's and uber weapons come in. If you pick one up, you have to keep it. If you swap out to another weapon, you will drop the pick-up weapon. These are more tactical advantages than anything, and the specific placement within buildings show this. If used carelessly, they can be more damaging to your efforts than anything. You need to be in the right place to use one of the more powerful ones, such as a stinger, but find a regular gun [well, a powered up gun, anyway] and you can turn the tide of battle - so long as you don't get caught in crossfire.
The maps. Dust Bowl is a more open map. What little built up area it does have offer little protection from the war. Set in a desert, it has a very wild west feel, but in a modern sort of way. The gas station is a nice touch. Downtown is a city. Very tall buildings, straight roads, a multi-storey car park, and a little park area. Both Downtown and Dust Bowl can be played on both Hotwire and Conquest. Bank Job is a Heist only map. The bank takes up most of the map, with a road running the whole way round it. Again, there is a multi-storey car park, and this is where one of the drop off points are. On all the maps, there are numerous places for snipers to set up. There is room for multi-level warfare. And there are numerous places to hide.
Battlefield Hardline feels more arcade-like than the main series, whether that be from the slightly boosted speed, the set-up of the modes and maps, or the focus on infantry rather than the full range of military knowledge. In sorts, Hardline is in between Battlefield and Call of Duty. In other words, the speed and quick action of Call of Duty is mixed with the tactics and depth of Battlefield. Some might say otherwise, but that's how I'm calling it. One thing I do note though, is that the levelling system seems to be quicker. Whether that is just for the beta, I have no idea, but I've been playing only a few hours, and am almost up to the level I am on with Battlefield 4 [16]. I'm sure the levelling won't be so heavy-handed in the final game, but it just struck me how fast I was going through levels. Maybe it's the modes themselves, and the points you can earn from them being greater. And now, for the video itself. It is a highlight reel, showcasing elements from the beta. It has both factions, all three maps, and all three modes within it. All weapons used are the default set. I did not change anything.
Enjoy. Battlefield Hardline Beta Highlight Reel.