Star Wars Battlefront

By: Robert Murphy

Ever wondered what it was like to be on the front lines of Endor or were you ever curious about what it looked like to stare out into the frozen wasteland of Hoth and see Imperial Walkers heading towards you? Well Star Wars Battlefront is perhaps the closest players will come to experience all of that and more first hand. 

If this particular Battlefront saga were to take place in any particular timeline it would be during the original Star Wars films, no prequel nonsense here, and tells players of the struggle between the Empire and the rebellion across a variety of online game modes. It's also simple for anyone out there who is not familiar with the massive following or lore to pick up. This is great considering a whole new generation of Star Wars fans is being spawned with the anticipated new film coming out in due time. Players will simply pick whichever game mode they would like and be placed on either side of the battlefield and armed with a blaster, some grenades and their skill.

It really is that simple when it boils down to it since the online mechanics are not that complex compared to any other heavily based multiplayer game on the market at the moment. Games like Call of Duty and the like have come so far that their multiplayer experience involves hours of tweaking to your particular class skills, weapons and abilities but Battlefront boils down to a simple assortment of blasters and grenades that all work in similar fashion to one another. Once you're in the game no blaster or weapon is particularly different they all have the same odd firing mechanic, shots going every which direction at times (no wonder the empire couldn't hit anything), but it's all very refreshing and fair when it comes to gameplay. Player cards and limited character customization making earning points through matches worth the effort, I particular oozed enjoyment when I finally got my jetpack and soared through battlefields like a Dark Trooper from the original Battlefront games.

That being said things can be fairly basic because of all this. Since the game is so accessible for anyone who would like to play it, it doesn't delve too deeply into the Star Wars lore. All of the major vehicles, characters and iconic landmarks are present but there is no real voice to the game that lends more in-depth development for those hardcore fans or those looking for something more. This may partially have to do with the games lack of a single player story experience. The game offers a week solo experience that boils down to nothing more than Training Missions or fighting waves of enemies in a Survival mode against AI. So bottom line is there really is no sense in buying the game if you won't play it online but for a series with such a rich universe this is a sad statement.

Getting back to the good stuff, there is a variety of different experiences to be had for whatever players might have been missing from the golden days of the first two Battlefront games. It's hard to beat the classic game modes such as team deathmatch, hero hunt or even capture the flag (which is capture the cargo in this case) which are spread across thirteen different maps set on four planets, Hoth, Endore, Tatooine and Sullust. Each of which is highly detailed and balanced well for any game mode that you plan to choose from while allowing you enough time to both shoot your enemies and enjoy the fact that you are in an insanely well adapted Star Wars environment. 

What really puts things in perspective though are the heavier game modes that take things to a whole new level with massive battle scenarios such as Walker Assault, Fighter Squadron and Supremacy. These game types are insane and filled with nonstop chaos coming at players in every direction you can possibly think of. Massive walkers stomp across the battlefield while Rebel X-Wing's try to ensnare them with hooks and tiny soldiers drudge across the battlefield taking one another out until you see Lord Vader come in and chuck a few in different directions. It's amazing and that's where Battlefront gains back some of it's replay factor, by simply pushing your nostalgia for the Star Wars series to the limit. Between flying the Millennium Falcon across a sky filled with enemy combatants to reenacting the triumphant victory over the Empire on Endor, your inner fandom self will be screaming outward. 

It's long been said that video games don't do well when they're adapted from TV shows or movies, Star Wars Battlefront is one of those game series that has stood out as being one of the exceptions. While no other game series out there can do more for offering up such a rich and immersing experience into it's lore, there is still something to be desired here. There is plenty brought forth here for any fan to love but it does miss an underline voice to it's narrative and something truly compelling to drive everything it has home for it. But, where it is succeeds is in recreating some of the fondest memories from my childhood and will hopefully inspire newcomers as it did for plenty of hardcore fans.

Good:

- An easy to jump into multiplayer experience for all game modes

- A true to form Star Wars recreation

- Big battles such as Supremacy, Walker Assault and Fighter Squadron

Bad:

- A poor single player experience

- Lacks a certain drive that prevents too much replayability

Scully Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3

By: Robert Murphy

The original Black Ops was a corner stone for the Call of Duty series as it not only took steps to tell it's own mind bending story with tales of espionage and mystery. As for Black Ops 2, the game offered up an enhanced multiplayer experience rich with some of the first in depth customization players could make to their characters. With all this in mind, I made the leap to see if the third iteration to the series would prove to have some memorable ear mark to it's gameplay just as it's predecessors have had before it.

Starting out with the fan favorite, Black Ops 3's multiplayer experience takes off in a few new directions when it comes to making your own unique character. The same solid customization styling is present and it allows you to upgrade your weapons, perks and other gadgets to your preferred play style. Now however, players can select from a variety of super soldier characters that come with their own abilities to help you gain the edge in multiplayer. Through regular leveling you will be able to unlock more of these characters but are granted a few available characters at the start. It's almost like choosing a hero in League of Legends and with some characters having abilities such as explosive arrows or access to intense kinetic power armor it creates a whole new avenue for players to watch out for. The system of choosing which soldier and switching in between them is quick and simple which helps when changing between various game types that might be better suited to someone else's abilities.

This sense of exploration though is fairly limited as the variety of characters are few and far in between. Each of the base soldiers has two options to choose from such as the Battery who has the choice of either a grenade launcher or the kinetic armor ability that I previously mentioned. This is great because the nine base soldiers become eighteen given that they each have two choices to decide upon but that later unlocks come on so slowly that I felt little need to try them out. I personally found myself ignoring my characters ability half the time and was more focused on the good old running and gunning aspects I've come to know so in the end it just felt like dead weight. The same goes for the final score screen that depicted who came in first, second and third and making a grand show of it, I felt like screaming "get me to my next match, please!"

The maps players will be battling it out on are just as unique as the new characters players will be using. Each map feels balanced with multiple layers to it as well as a variety of ways to travel from point A to point B. One map in particular, Hunted, had had an underwater tunnel leading from inside of it's tropical bungalow to the outside and I hadn't even known it was there until I ran after an enemy inside of it. Popping in and out of the water or jumping over a waterfall onto a nearby bridge was the most exhilarating experience I've had with a map in quite some time. The new wall running functionality is also taken advantage of in each map, lunging to a nearby edge and unleashing bullets while running is a first for my Call of Duty experience and while it isn't wholly new it is incorporated well with the maps you have to choose from here.

Of course, traditional multiplayer isn't the only way to play matches with friends or strangers in Call of Duty these recent years and the classic Zombies mode makes it's comeback. Classic may actually be the term for the zombie horde mission this time around as you and three other members will fight your way through the streets of some sort of noire style crime solving venture called Shadows of Evil. The four characters playing through this escapade being voiced by Jeff Goldblum, Ron Perlman, Heather Graham and Neal McDonough all fight through back alley streets dressed and playing their parts to the "T" but things are not as simple as they once were in previous zombies stories.

There has always been an underline hidden story or objective to be accomplished in the zombie game modes of the past and now it is no different but with the added twist of a few new curve balls thrown into the mix. There is a bit of a learning curve when things first out as you start crammed into a small space trying to figure out what this or that does, I spent about five minutes starring at the new bizarre plant that looked like something out of Little Shop of Horrors. There were also new transformations, automatic player perks and item drops that are hidden throughout the map to unlock the gumball function in the Zombie main menu. After a few matches things start to become more clear and while it is initially confusing, it is a worthwhile experience considering the deranged nature of this now revamped game mode. 

As an added bonus to Black Ops 3's story mode, zombies has made it's way into the story by having it's own zombie mode to playthrough. Once players have beaten the game they're treated to an alternate storyline where instead of a global terror threat there has been a zombie outbreak. The story is paced completely different from the original story but made the chore of going through the main campaign worth the few hours of gameplay.

After a brief attempt at customization the main campaign drags it's way through the usual amount of dog fights and mow down sequences of it's past but not before ripping off every single one of your limbs in a gruesome torture scene. Yes, the first few moments of the campaign are fairly bleak and make a point to mark out how dangerous moving forward into a world of massive communication and robotics could one day become, a message I somehow dug up from the mundane experience I had with this story. The characters, including yourself, are all linear from the get go and never strike out as worth while characters to be spending an entire game chasing after. In attempt to use the success built on the success of Advanced Warfare Christopher Meloni lends his voice and appearance to an in game character but never warrants any attention or provides any memorable narrative like Kevin Spacey before him.

Moments where I was enthralled by the campaign came from the full benefits of cybernetic upgrades. With the simple push of a button players will be able to hack into just about anything their hearts desired and being that the game is based on a future where everything is connected, it covers a lot of ground. Depending on your selected cybernetic load out players will be able to hack into enemy robots, hack their cybernetics, turn their turrets against them or blow up small squadron of drones in an instant. The upgrades were a small joy to behold in sea of sub par enemy encounters and challenges that were presented here.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 makes multiple strides toward trying new things for a series that has seen so many titles over the years and is one that people often may question picking up title after title each year. It's a symptom that many series are currently suffering from and while not everything panned out smoothly, there are glimmers of potential strewn throughout the game that with a little work could prove to be fantastic new additions to the future of the series.

Good:

- Specialist offer a brief but enjoyable aspect to multiplayer

- Multiplayer maps are balanced and beautiful

- Zombies goes in a bizarre yet compelling new direction

Bad:

- Campaign is a chore

- Multiple new ideas are clearly tried here and there but do not pan out

- Multiplayer has little lasting appeal

Scully Rating: 7.0 out of 10

Halo 5: Guardians

Zach Goodier

Halo 5 is the latest installment in the epic saga by 343 Industries. While the Master Chief is still a major character in the story, he now shares the spotlight with Spartan IV Jameson Locke, a former ONI agent who leads fire team Osiris, while the Chief leads Blue team, a group of Spartans he lead in the days before the first Halo games. They are on a struggle to find the truth behind the awakening of the Forerunner guardians: massive machines that are awakening all over the galaxy, destroying settlements as they awaken.

Osiris is the center of this story, and too little is done with them.

The story is, well, it’s pretty bad. It’s easily the worst of the Halo franchise, which isn’t itself a huge deal, but there is a lot of issues here. For one, the Chief is only around for about 3 of the 15 missions as a character, you spend the rest of the time as Locke. Too much of the story demands you invest in hours of expanded universe content to understand the characters and events taking place, which is a bad idea. To make matters worse, the game’s ending is very disappointing. I won’t spoil things, but the main problem is that there really isn’t an ending, just a massive cliffhanger to lead into the next game.

Some campaign levels are pretty, which is credit to the level design.

This bothers me because, while cliffhangers aren’t that big of deal, they need to at least wrap up a story arc in the game itself. While you could argue that you did finish a chapter by the end, the reality is that you fail to accomplish anything significant by the end of the game, and that any meaningful ending was put off until the next game. You could compare it to Halo 2, but I actually felt this game was even worse with its’ lack of a satisfying conclusion to the campaign.

Locke's hinted past is far more interesting than his tedious and uninspired present.

I came in expecting Reach quality of characters, which isn’t too lofty of a goal to reach, but aside from in-game dialogue, there really isn’t much going on. The only one who stands out is Buck, who many will remember from ODST. He’s with Osiris now, and makes the most of his limited time in the spotlight. Blue team never feels at all relevant as characters. Like Osiris, Blue team just feels like some almost useless extra guns, which are only marginally useful to heal you when you get downed.

Multiplayer is what you will enjoy, with new abilities and fun team combat.

So why would you want this game? Well, for better or worse, the multiplayer is the best ever. New modes, like Warzone, being fun and addictive, with teams competing for points in the middle ground before either assaulting the enemy base itself, or reaching 1,000 points by killing enemies and killing NPC characters that periodically spawn on the map, either Covenant or Promethean. The standard modes are back, but I quickly became addicted to Warzone. Unlocking cosmetic upgrades can be fun, and Warzone requisition packs allow you to spawn with some awesome weapons to suit the situation, but push micro-transactions on you. Overall, the multiplayer alone could be worth buying this game for, if you enjoy Halo’s brand of multiplayer.

Warzone levels are a healthy size for big team combat.

Overall, I’m torn with this game. I fell in love with the story of Halo, and I find this game to be a disgrace on that front. It felt thrown together with little care taken for the characters that we follow, and the destination is far from satisfying. 343 clearly put most of their effort into the multiplayer, which saddens me. However, I can’t argue with the results, since the multiplayer is fast-paced and fun. Still, the campaign is too bad to give this game any glowing recommendation for people like me, who want a good story first, and fun multiplayer a distant second.

Good:

-Awesome return of classic Halo multiplayer.

-Warzone is addictive, and promote good teamwork.

-Return of some of our favorite characters, like Lasky and Buck.

Bad:

-Chief isn’t the star of this show.

-Story is all over the place, and doesn’t end in any satisfying way, instead putting everything off until Halo 6.

-Characters are just thrown in, and little is done with them in the story.

Scully Rating: 6 out of 10

Dying Light

By: Robert Murphy

While going into Gamestop one day, I had the clerk stop me before I left with my purchase and ask me if I was going to be getting Dying Light, it was a game I knew little about but one I was going to dismiss because it looked like another generic zombie game. This thought soon changed when about a week after it released I felt the need to own it. Quickly climbing up buildings and smashing the undead's brains in with various melee weapons was an instant joy for me as I jumped rooftop to rooftop across Harran. A virus of unknown origin has broken out in this city and since then communications have been shut down and the city has gone dark. Left to fend for themselves, the few remaining survivors are doing what they can to prevent themselves from being part of a fleshy sandwich but supplies are running low and a cure of some kind needs to be found. Enter your character, Kyle Crane, who is a member of a shady but supposedly good organization that is after a rogue agent and a file that he stole. Almost immediately though you find yourself in hot water and meet up with a group of survivors, helping them in various ways while trying to secretly complete his mission. 

Before I was able to get to the more enjoyable aspects of Dying Light, I had to sit through the brief opening sequence for the game but I didn't realize that the whole thing would set the tempo for the type of missions and story I'd be facing. Our hero, Crane, starts off jumping out of a plane into the blacked out Harran and immediately gets screwed when his shoot hits a lamp post and you get surrounded by unknown thugs, some secret agent you are. This mellow drama continues when you stir up a horde of zombies and are saved by some locals, only to have one of them be killed in the process, he was supposedly the best of the best. It is stuff like this that tried to open up massive amounts of feels for the player that just doesn't happen. The rest of the story mode missions follow this sort of trend, I believe one of your first missions for the game you go after three air drops only to have them already be raided by the same group of goons as before. You are told to move on but I took them out, an option that the game didn't want you to do but oh well. 

Other mission continue the "go fetch this" style of missions, I did so many of them that they frankly just blurred together after awhile. It doesn't help that the characters giving you the missions are none too appealing either and were just there to generate quests. Your character isn't much better either, I was already not impressed when I got taken out so easily in the first few minutes of the game but add on top of that the fact that you're just a gruff "yes man" character, I wasn't impressed. Moments when I spouted out sarcastic remarks are under cut by the otherwise lack of personality my character had.

That being sad, you remember me saying that I liked this game, well I do. These grievances were something I wanted out of the way as I talked about what good Dying Light has to offer. Once you're set loose to do what you like in the world, everything becomes your playground to jump, climb and explore. The game has the perfect setting for the parkour mechanic you will be using, close together buildings, homes and nearby cars will all be stepping stones for you to soar across the city on. I have a personal problem with heights so at first I was nervous about just jumping without looking where I was going first but this feeling almost immediately goes away as you begin to trust the fact that there is something to either land or catch yourself on. It's an invigorating feeling to the game and Harran is a perfect setting to have it take place in. 

As for your enemies, the zombies you will be facing do vary just like the ones in a Left 4 Dead game with different special infected to contend with but they aren't too frequent and aren't much more dangerous than a regular infected if you stay up high and keep your head. Except for the ones you'll be facing at night. The first time that I was stuck out after dark I thought nothing of it but I was shitting myself within minutes. Night is actual pitch darkness in Dying Light and terrifyingly powerful infected roam the streets with the regular ones, they will tear you apart in moments if you don't keep up the pace and get to a nearby safe house spread throughout the city. It is a gruesome aspect to the game and adds a difficulty that most games don't tread into but it is a great one to say the least. When you're safe in the daylight though, zombies aren't much of a problem, you can spend your time ignoring them or find just as much joy in bashing their skulls all over the place. It's an unbelievable thrill to smash these lumbering souls around especially when you knock them into a nearby trap set around the city but obviously avoid large groups because they will pose a threat.

The other enemies you'll face are people, I tried attacking regular men with my melee weapon but it proved to be annoying because they're just as smart as you and while you can find a gun, I would avoid it because it attracts zombies. However, they're just men so burning them works great and I chuck a quick molotov and get to the airdropped goods. Even when you're faced with armed goons this method seems to work because they're just men but the system of fighting them does feel off. Avoiding conflict is something you feel when you're in the game especially when you're outgunned but yet you're forced to fight them in the story from time to time. It's a bit of a flop for the style that you have seen work for the game and definitely makes you question whether or not they should have included human enemies to begin with when it doesn't fit what you have been playing this whole time.

Last but not least is the multiplayer which gets unlocked after you activate your first safe house. Players can take part in up to four player co-op and completely the in game missions as a team. Bringing your friends along adds an enjoyable element to Dying Light as you all jump across rooftops and smash zombies brains in together. Players can also create small challenges in-game for them to compete in such as the first to reach the top of an electric tower or the first to make it to a specified zone labeled on the map just like one of the time trial missions you can do in the game. For added enjoyment, another player or friend can invade your game when night falls and play as the zombie. That player plays a special infected with terrifying abilities like night vision, tentacles and spewing liquid that will attract a horde if it gets on a player. The Night Hunter zombie has to kill ten players to win and the humans have to eliminate five nests for the match to end.

What else can I say about Dying Light, it was exhilerating to explore the city of Harran, jumping across rooftops and doing something I would never be able to do in a lifetime which is parkour. Zombies are also insanely fun to bash into, drop kick and dismantle. It's like whacking a pinata over and over till you win a prize. If it weren't for the lack of a good story and the sub par characters then my score would be much higher for the game but when all you're doing is running around fetching this or that, it's hard to even bother progressing in the game to begin with. 

Good:

- Messing up zombies with your preferred melee weapon

- The wonderful setting of Harran

- Parkouring, climbing and exploring the entire city

Bad:

- Fighting the human NPC's just doesn't feel right and it's annoyingly difficult if you don't have your trusty molotov

- Lack luster story

- Dull and uninteresting characters that include your own

Scully Rating: 7.0 out of 10

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

By: Robert Murphy

It's hard to fight those little voices in your head that tell you to not go out and by the latest game in a franchise, Call of Duty often being the one people struggle with the most I would think. Irregardless I have enjoyed the games for various reasons over the years and I recently picked up the latest addition to the franchise Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. And why wouldn't I want to with all that the game has boasted about it with a new setting and a new futuristic tech to be seen, I was ready to check it all out. 

Your standard three pronged approach returns with AW this time around, there is the main campaign, the online competitive multiplayer and then the co-op play for you and your friends to play. The campaign is something that gets a major uplift this time around and brings cut scenes and story moments to practically cinematic levels in it's visuals. All the characters look amazing on the screen and have great definition put into each and every one of them. Don't ask me what their names are though, sadly I really can't say much for the characters themselves as I wasn't too personally invested in any of them. Your captain or leader of your squad through most of the game did give me some Cpt. Price flash backs to be honest. We also receive a big A-list celebrity, Kevin Spacey, who lends his voice and likeness to perhaps the more memorable character from the campaign, Jonathon Irons, who steals the show like he was meant to.

As for your new tech, it all comes pouring out into your missions from the moment you join Irons and his private security force that works independently and seemingly more efficiently than any governing body does in the story. Working for a private organization was a nice change of pace for AW and was one of the more redeeming qualities to the story especially when I got my hands on my exo suit, flying assault drones and many more badass toys in my toolbox. The level of intense action I felt for the first few levels of the game were fantastic, dropping out of orbit in a drop pod, boosting forward, left, right, up and over with my exo suit and blasting away swarms of robot drones was quite the adrenaline high. It is a shame that all of this doesn't transfer over to the story and its characters as things lose stream about half way through and you begin to see the ending coming a mile away. But I will leave all of that for you to discover and move on.

Now as you all would expect multiplayer is also back again and in every Call of Duty game it proves to be insanely fun no matter the changes or differences but this time around the big changes are something to admire. Players can still deeply customize and change their characters skills to fit whatever way they choose to play but now that customization goes a step further. Players who take a liking to a particular weapon and use it more often than the rest gain access to a special and unique model for that gun with it's own stats and style to make you stand out from the rest. This also comes coupled with AW's new loot system, now in post game match making players can check supply drop boxes with assorted items inside but sometimes there are Elite versions of weapons that can be found. Just like your unique gun that you can gain from use of a specific weapon over and over, Elite weapon variants come with their own stats and styles to make your character unique. 

Throw this on top of the fact that the game allows you to augment your character with Perks, new Exo abilities and gear such as helmets, boots and more, then you've got a character you can call your own. It's funny how a shooter has almost become a role playing game where you can end up taking great chunks of time to design and make your game character. And of course, all the features and elements of the single player campaign have transferred over as well and changes up the multiplayer strategies of a lot of players. Now you can jump for cover and dash away from danger far easier than you could in the past or on the opposite end, you can dash forward and get more up close and personal now with your weapon. Finally, I could make a shotgun class and not only use it on the smaller maps which have also been well balanced to accommodate the new changes to the gameplay. 

Lastly, AW's response to cooperative play and many may not be excited by what there is to be had, no real Zombies mode and Extinction is history....see what I did there. You and your friends or group will be faced with wave after wave of gun totting enemies that come your way. You can further upgrade yourself throughout the waves of enemies with guns and equipment but really that's about all there is to it. The whole experience ends up being nothing but a big botz fight and it feels like a big waste of time and an opportunity that the game should of jump all over. AW had the perfect set up for a great new co-op feature, I would of settled for more Zombies even but sadly that just wasn't the case.  

In the end, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare shines exactly where you expected it to shine and that's with it's multiplayer and there isn't anything wrong with that in the least. Other new features that the game introduces work amazingly well for the campaign and multiplayer. Above all else, I was extremely impressed with the levels of design that went into the stories cinematic moments and character presentation and I hope to see more like it in the future of gaming. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go grab my hover bike and fly out of here. 

Good:

- The impressive visuals throughout the campaign

- Incredible multiplayer customization and perks

- New in game weapons, features and abilities for the campaign and multiplayer

Bad:

- The campaign falls short at the half way marker 

- The new co-op mode is lack luster and a wasted opportunity

Scully Rating: 8.5 out of 10 

In the News: Elder Scrolls Online Class/Race Selection, PLUS PvP footage

Zach Goodier

In the news... We have some ESO footage from IGN, showcasing the alliances and race system.  Alliances each have 3 races, but you are free to customize classes as you see fit.  However, like other games in the franchise, certain races are geared towards certain classes.  PLUS, the class system currently doesn't have all that much variety. While I'm sure there will be more, you get a general idea that classes are going to fit more into the MMO conventions that you're likely used to as an Elder Scrolls player.

PvP looks to be very interesting, however, as there is a lot more going on strategically than simple abilities and traits among the team, but controlling positions has a lot more significance than simply gaining points or the like.  Seiges look to provide hours of fun, challenging attackers while keeping the defenders working tirelessly to try to impede or repel the attackers.  However, it seems like certain alliances will likely gain a strong advantage early on, unless some other element is introduced to preserve balance between alliances.  

I'm still hesitant to invest the money, myself.  While the game does look impressive, I will likely be waiting to see the reviews and what deals might be out there before I commit (money doesn't grow on trees, ya know?). While I still have some reservations about the direction of this installment in the series, I hope it all comes together and provides the epic Elder Scrolls experience that many fans, myself included, hope to see released.

Call of Duty: Ghosts

By: Robert Murphy

In my down time waiting for the Xbox One to receive its heavy hitting games, I found myself looking for a game to play in the meantime and so since I chose to skip Call of Duty: Ghosts for the 360, I thought I’d try it for the One. CoD: Ghosts comes with a whole new storyline to follow, a once again solid multiplayer element and a new horde style game type for you all to enjoy called Extinction and the new game mode known as Squads. And while I was apprehensive at first about my purchase there was still plenty to enjoy for the latest addition to the Call of Duty franchise.

The main storyline of the game is set in a not too distant future, I would say sometime after Modern Warfare 3 but not as far as Black Ops 2 and paints a not too pretty picture for what the U.S. has to look forward to. We are introduced to two new characters to the series, a pair of young brothers named Logan and Hesh, who are fighting against a new organization known as The Federation. This faceless organization has caused the U.S. a fatal blow when they steal a weaponized space station and go on a little bombarding spree across America. The impact of this may be devastating or rather it would if we knew who The Federation was at any point in the game, no you spend most of your time facing down a low nothing lackey of the organization which doesn’t make for much tension. Throughout the single player you will feel short changed at least I was because for the first time I didn’t find much enjoyment out of the storyline in a CoD game. Many of the missions lacked originality and made you feel like you were doing the same missions over and over again. The only new thing to come from playing the story mode was the introduction of Riley, your canine partner who is really more Hesh’s dog than yours and didn’t really make a heart felt connection with you in the story so that’s a bust as well. What good can be said for story mode is that it does take you to some incredible places much like a CoD always does and makes truly great environments especially when you finally play that space mission you’ve waited for since Modern Warefare 2.

Where I did find my appreciation for the Ghosts though came from the multiplayer which is exactly what I expected it to be right from the start. Multiplayer is much the same solid gameplay that it has always been which is great and it also adds some new abilities such as sliding, peering around corners or objects and a interactive environment. For the first time players can open doors, blow down a tree or release smoke across the battlefield, while this is nothing incredible or on par with Battlefield 4’s level devastating triggers, it is still a nice quirky addition to the game. The new maps players will be fighting across are just as enjoyable as they have been in the past, they are all evenly made and a dream to play on.

Perhaps the biggest addition to come the games multiplayer element is solider customization and the ability to unlock new uniforms, face models, patches and backgrounds to go along with Call of Duty’s solid weapon customization. Players can now spend hours tweaking your character to look just the way you want him and also tweak your gun in much the same way with the massive selection to choose from. Outfits, skins and player models unlock as you progress in level but weapons now are bought through skill points that you earn doing any number of things during a match and aren’t to hard to come by. CoD: Ghosts also features the ability to play as a female character for all the female gamers out there as well.

Finally, we have the two newest game modes, Squads and Extinction. Squads is a new mechanic in which players can now set out and make their own squad of players controlled by AI to play against your friends with. While this seems like a solid and fun idea, it turns into you and another player killing each others bots in a team deathmatch fashion. Something that was meant to save this from happening was the Squads game mode known as Safeguard where your team faces down waves of more AI controlled bots, which is just as exciting as I made it sound. But then we have Extinction which is the new survival horde mode that changes things up from the zombie mode we’ve all seen before. Players now can work on 4 person teams and fight off waves of encroaching aliens, destroying nests and fighting to survive for as long as you can. I found this to be a fantastic addition to the game as you can easily level your character up with cash you earn as you fight back the alien menace. The only downside is the limited level choice being that there’s only one but with the recent addition of the DLC for Extinction that has change but for those of you who have been waiting it’s been a drag.

In conclusion, don’t hold your breathe for Call of Duty: Ghosts, the game while fun only had a major selling point and that was it’s continually enjoyable multiplayer element. Ghosts did very little in the way of shaking things up especially when it came to the story, the characters were nothing to write home about and didn’t suit the memory of the games name sake character. There also wasn’t any twist and turns to the story, no shocking moments, it wasn’t what you’d expect from a franchise that has always made a great story mode. As for the multiplayer, the ability to now customize your characters as well as your weapons makes for an enjoyable addition to game as you spend hours making a character you absolutely love right down to the gun you carry. Also the addition of the new Extinction mode may be great but for those of you who have been waiting for a new map I can’t imagine it has brought a lot of repeat pleasure.

Good:

- Multiplayer is still as solid as ever

- New character and gun customization is a fantastic addition to the game

- Extinction while fun may have gotten old with just one map to play

Bad:

- An uninventive single player story

- Doesn't do anything really in the way of innovation just adding on to past glories

- Squads is nothing but a bot death match mode and Safeguard mode pales when you think about the old Spec Ops game mode

- With a name like Call of Duty: Ghosts you expected more especially when you think about how we all loved Ghost……NEVER FORGET!!!!

Scully Rating: 7.0 out of 10 

Battlefield 4

By: Robert Murphy

Now I know some of you may be mad when I say this but I didn’t begin my journey into the Battlefield genre with, Battlefield 1942, which was a defining game for the franchise but I started out with Battlefield: Bad Company and I have been hooked ever since. This love continued into the ridiculous world of Bad Company 2 and the incredibly realistic feel of Battlefield 3 and now we have finally gotten our hands on the latest foray into the franchise Battlefield 4. Once again we are shown a world that we only here about on the news, with such realistic action, sounds and devastation, all right in front of you on the screen and you control the action.

Digging right into the campaign, we see something that honestly I wasn’t expecting and that was something lack luster that hits every branch on the cliché tree with a running through back allies and sewers, a jail break mission with a creepy mole like man, backstabs and betrayals, I mean this was not what I was expecting. Granted not a lot of people go into Battlefield for the campaign but still at least Battlefield 3 gave us a solid story and a few good hours of gameplay, along with some standalone two player co-op missions for you and your friends. For the most part the campaign tried to mix and match old glories by adding some humor with massive explosions and gun fights all over the place and me being left with the question, was there a story in there somewhere? The new gameplay allowed for you to preform squad commands for your team that pin pointed enemies and would tell your buddies who to attack but I never ended up using this feature since I had already killed them all by the time I remembered the feature in the first place. So I guess all I can say is, I know where the work went into this game and that was the multiplayer.

Much too my joy, I found a massive amount of action and life in the multiplayer for Battlefield 4 and this is honestly where you’ll want to hang your hats. All the classic game modes are back, Conquest, Team Deathmatch, Domination and more, there is no shortage of ways to enjoy online play but that also becomes clear with the astounding maps we have to choose from. Maps are now bigger and better than ever with the capability to be completely obliterated with the new ability to totally destroy a map like a hotel completely crumbling and crashing to the ground, changing the environment and your gameplay. This crazy and awe inspiring moment will leave you pause as you contemplate just exactly what the hell is going on around you but at the same time you still need to keep moving on with the game. Another aspect that affects the gameplay momentum is the environment itself as some levels come with horrible weather conditions that inhibit your movements so if you’re unfortunate to get caught in the down coming storm you can meet with a bullet to the chest.

Also we see a new element come to Battlefield 4’s multiplayer and that is the Commander Mode, this allows for one player opting out of being on the ground and taking the lead role in coordinating attacks that your teammates carry out. The feature can be used in Conquest, Obliteration and Rush game modes and adds a whole new element to the way the battle unfolds. Commanders can give orders for reinforcements to under fire units or send in UAV’s to let your allies know what an enemy controlled post will have in store for them. Teammates who then capture a specified area will earn points for the commander which can be used on things like cruise missiles to be used on the opposing team. This adds more enjoyment for the more strategy based gamers who want to plan out attacks and give troops commands, making it more than a first person shooter.

We also see the return of many amazing features from past games that make a return this time around, not only in multiplayer but in single player as well. Weapons are once again scarily realistic, not only in looks but in sound as well, weapons are all around breathtaking once again as they were in Battlefield 3 and are a welcomed return. Especially with the attention to detail in every action you go through with your hardware, guns will kick, reload times are not like magic and happen as fast as a normal man could reload a gun and bullets drop from your gun and you can even hear them hit the ground, especially if you’re sniping. Another big ticket item to make its way back in Battlefield 4 are the vehicles, now more than ever they play a big role in game types and add even more realism to the game as you can cause large devastation in a tank but it can lumber around and is vulnerable to attacks if not positioned correctly. From buggies to boats, jets and helicopters, there is no shortage of ways to get around a map with you and your teammates.

Now while Battlefield 4 seemed to have fallen in the way of its campaign, it is back and better than ever with its multiplayer element. The game brings back a realistic feel that players have come to love since Battlefield 3 and with a definite touch up to all aspect since the last time we sat down and enjoyed the gameplay. Maps are larger, well thought out and extremely enjoyable to play on especially with the vehicles that we have to choose from in game modes like conquest. And with the new Commander mode, more heavily strategy based gamers can delve into the game in a whole new way, sending in forces, UAV’s, missile strikes and more.

Good:

-Return of an amazing and realistic first person shooter

-Incredibly designed new maps

-Commander mode is fun and addicting

-A strong return of multiplayer gaming

Bad:

-Lack luster campaign

Scully Rating: 8.5 out of 10