PS3 Review:The Last of Us- Left Behind

The Last of Us: Left Behind 
PS3 Review

Last year the PS3 was graced with The Last of Us, a game set in a post apocalyptic world, filled with infected humans by the Cordycep virus. 

There was a little bit of apprehension about the game because of the over-saturation of the zombie genre over the years, but of course this was being developed by Naughty Dog; creators of Crash Bandicoot; Jak and Daxter and Uncharted, absolute cult classics and once again they delivered immensely with a game that wasn't just one of the best of this generation, but one of the best in the history of videogames. 

And so Naughty Dog has now released its first and only piece of single player downloadable content for The Last of Us. 

I'm not one to buy into DLC, but as the full game was so incredible (scoring a perfect 10) I had to check it out. But does it still keep in touch with the atmosphere of the full game? 

Story: 9.5/10

Surprisingly, The Last of Us: Left Behind is not an outright prologue to the main story I anticipated. Instead it fills in the gap during the aftermath of Joel's life threatening injury whilst providing flashbacks to a time in Ellie's life before she became acquainted with characters such as Marlene and Joel.

The prologue tale is of Ellie being reunited with her old friend Riley who had disappeared for 45 days only to return to tell Ellie that she is now a member of the Fireflies rather than the military regime that Ellie is heavily pressured into. 

But instead of being bogged down with all the politics surrounding the antagonism between Fireflies versus the military, the story takes a far more light hearted approach with the two girls going to an abandoned mall, which they used to frequently visit. That's not to say that the story has ultimately become shallow. It was nice to see the two girls interact like normal adolescents, but undercurrents of serious storytelling remained with Ellie's countless questions about Marlene, her mother and more importantly the reason why Riley abandoned her for over a month. 

Gameplay: 8.8/10

Much like its story, Left Behind's gameplay is split into two. 

The prologue in the shopping mall focuses almost entirely on exploration and general wondering. Even though there was no actual action, it was incredibly fun. Personal highlights included: scavenging through an abandoned fancy dress store, trying out different masks and playing around with its little trinkets and messing around in a photo-booth taking silly photo's, pulling faces and posing outrageously. 

As for the present day gameplay, it was almost a carbon copy of the full game. There were a few alterations, some for the better and some for the worse. 

The pleasing new gameplay was the inclusion of creating distractions which had an impact on both the hunters and the infected. For example if Ellie were to throw a brick, both humans and infected would check out where the noise came from, only to encounter each other and attack. It was a great technique to quickly sneak around and move onward to the next objective. It was a small shame that this was only used twice during the run through of the game though.  

Moving on to the disappointing feature was the gunplay. It simply wasn't as fun playing as Ellie rather than Joel. Her aim was poor and with no upgrade options there was no way to alleviate the issue. Additionally the combat was far more forced. On the odd occasion there was no freedom to simply sneak past hunters or the infected but instead all the enemies had to be eliminated. This almost felt like a step backwards for the game. There were a fair amount of unnecessary deaths and it became aggravating. Simple stealth rather than forced combat would have worked better.

Graphics: 9.9/10 

Again Naughty Dog have excelled in creating amazingly realistic graphics. In light of the recent releases of the Xbox One and PS4 it is even more astounding that the Playstation 3 can churn out that amount of graphical fidelity. 

For the most part it even improves on the graphics of the full title. The motion capture is even smoother and more detailed than ever before. A spectacular moment with Ellie in a video game arcade truly emphasizes this with amazing lighting and incredibly realistic facial expressions.

The environments too are so amazingly detailed to the point that it is almost crazy. The segment in the fancy dress store was a sight to behold as I looked at each little fancy dress outfit packet and they all resembled real life costumes, information and everything.

Oddly though the graphics in the present day did not seem as finessed as in the shopping mall. Some moments seemed a lot more jagged and there was a little bit of pop up, even at a close draw distance. But this did not hinder the game at all.

Sound: 10/10 

As with the graphics, ND once more excelled with the dialogue and sound of the game. The dialogue between Ellie and Riley was brilliant as it flowed incredibly naturally. The performances by Ashley Johnson and Yaani King were fantastic. It was utterly believable that these two characters were best friends, particularly in its final moments.

The music was very subtle throughout the game and the licensed music was put to good use and added to the cinematic effect.

Longevity: 7/10

Obviously DLC cannot be placed under the title of a full retail game, and perhaps that as it was my first venture into purchasing DLC that Left Behind felt incredibly short. 

The game ended within two hours, but considering the inclusion of cutscenes it was that much shorter. An extra hour or two worth of gameplay would have left me more satisfied.

Furthermore the price of admission at £12 seemed a little steep, particularly with the full game currently at £20 in stores and on PSN. Even the recent venture playing Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus which was £15, lasting 7 hours in its first play through made me slightly more disappointed. The Last of Us: Left Behind perhaps should be £8-10. It would be a sweeter price point. 

Conclusion:

Despite its small shortcomings in terms of longevity and minor gameplay flaws, again it was the story that fully engrossed me into The Last of Us universe. It was fantastic to gain a more cohesive insight into how Ellie ended up with Marlene and Joel, even though it does not spell it out directly. Although she was already a fully realised character, Left Behind provided a little bit more development of Ellie and the use of Riley to open her up was the perfect way to do so.

9.2/10

HIMYM Review: Unpause

How I Met Your Mother

 'Unpause' Review

After last weeks truly outlandish entry, which unfortunately was also was accused of racism over the last week, How I Met Your Mother returned with a slightly more grounded episode. 
Although there were some silly plot devices in order to get the story going, the tales which developed around them were very well done. 
Interestingly this episode almost felt somewhat of an homage to the first season, with so many references made back to it, particularly that "nothing good happens after 2am." 

Fans of the show have been waiting for the inevitable feud between Marshall and Lily and it finally arrived, but it wasn't without delay.

During the mid-season finale the couple "paused" on the argument. Considering the size of this argument and fearing the worst, Marshall was trying his best for it to remain that way until after the wedding.

This amounted to him attempting to get the group to stay at the bar and intoxicate themselves, but it only ended up being the case for Barney as Lily refused to join in and went to her room.

The next setup with Marshall's plan to give his wife the ultimate satisfaction whilst trying to go for as long as possible to kill more time was somewhat funny but a little bit strange,. This was particularly the case with a scene of him imagining things that would not make him aroused during the process.

But after his supposed "success" his accidental awakening of Lily caused the situation to become unpaused.
This was by far the more interesting part as they both argued about each others selfishness. It was hard to side with Lily as she almost created an ultimatum that they were going to Italy, no questions asked. But it was great that Marshall brought up the situation of San Francisco back into the plot. His theory of what could have been was definitely a great insight into the unknown and definitely a sound reason for Marshall to have taken the judgeship.

As for Ted, Robin and Barney, they were left with a plot that was rather silly at first, as previously mentioned, with Barney being so drunk that he began to tell the truth about everything. 
The initial series of questions weren't all that interesting, nor added much to Barney's character But it was when Ted finally asked the question everyone has been waiting for; "what does Barney Stinson do for a living?", which opened the gates to a more cohesive understanding of Barney's suited up lifestyle.
It was a nice touch at first to find out that all along he had told the group his job, simply saying 'Please' which they only assumed to be a non answer when in fact it was actually an acronym for his job title. 
What was more interesting though was the motive he had created himself to work for GNB. It was great how the story traveled all the way back in time to the moment Barney stopped being a hippy after his break up with Shannon with the audience ultimately finding out that it was a massive revenge play against the manager who stole Shannon away from him.
A small debate between Ted and Robin about their wealth came into play, and how Ted felt cheated by this, but it did not amount to anything. Unless in the unlikely event it somehow develops into a form of sexual tension between Ted and Robin later on, this tiny side element felt incredibly pointless.

Overall 'Unpaused' returned the show to better form. The exciting intro and ending with Ted and the mother was a fantastic flash-forward into their lives. A nice little flip on Ted's "nothing good happens after 2am" theory.
Barney and Robin were left with a cheesy moment with him revealing that there will be in fact a ring "bearer", not a bear (although the final clip at the end begged to differ). This was followed by a fairly touching moment with Barney telling Ted that he is completely ready to marry Robin, which you would hope so with only 15 hours left to go!
A little surprisingly, the argument between Marshall and Lily was in no way resolved, finishing with Lily leaving the Farhampton Inn with someone (let's presume it was Ranjit) driving her to someplace unknown.  
Gladly the show has brought back a lot of the excitement, culminating in a series of questions.
What's going to happen between Marshall and Lily? Will we see more future flashes of Ted and the mother? Is there actually going to be a bear at the ceremony? 
It's nice to finally be looking forward to the next episode.        

8/10

PS3 Review: Ratchet & Clank: Into The Nexus

Ratchet & Clank: Into The Nexus 

Review

The Ratchet & Clank series, created by Insomniac Games, has spanned two home console and handheld generations, providing fans of the series with fantastic single player stories about the adventures of a furry Lombax and his trusty robot companion Clank. 

Over the last few years the series has somewhat wavered with the development teams attempt to add some spice with co-operative play in All-4-One and tower defense in Full Frontal Assault. Unfortunately this led to a bitter taste for most veterans of the series, but thankfully Insomniac went back to their roots and came up with Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus. 

Story: 7/10 

Into the Nexus acts as an epilogue to the Future trilogy (Tools of Destruction, Quest for Booty and A Crack in Time) on PS3. 

Ratchet is tasked to escort criminal Vendra Prog to the Vartax Detention Centre for her crimes committed against the galaxy. 

Unfortunately once awakening her from cryo-sleep, she, with the help of her brother Neftin, wreak havoc and destroy the ship, leading to Ratchet and Clank ending up landing on Planet Yerek of the haunted sector at the edge of the galaxy. Ultimately they attempt to recapture Vendra and Neftin.

The story as a whole was slightly different to its predecessors. Even though it housed a few jokes here and there, the overall tone was far more serious and much darker. The antagonist Vendra was much more cunning than the other villains, but she was far more human as well. Her actions were somewhat justifiable, mirroring that of what could have been for Ratchet if he wanted to take the leap. 

The main issue with the story is that it is too short lived. Into the Nexus feels like it begins somewhere in the middle of a story: The original classic R&C games built up the villain and then unleashed their fury. This dives straight into the action, feeling a bit rushed. 

Another minor issue is that the sidekicks such as Talwyn and Captain Qwark have near enough non existent roles. But seeing as this story was more focused on Ratchet and Vendra themselves it isn't too much of an issue.

Gameplay: 9/10     

Into the Nexus makes a well received return to form with its classic action platforming gameplay with additional extras that definitely boost the experience.

+Classic Ratchet gameplay is back

Once again Ratchet is back to his crate breaking, heli-pack hovering, platforming ways. It certainly plays by the rule "If it isn't broken, don't fix it". It is fantastic as it brings in a whole culmination of platforming ideas that have appeared in each installment. 

The upgradable weapons through leveling up, first showcased in R&C2: Going Commando still remains, with its Raritanium upgrading system from Tools of Destruction getting expanded even more. 

Even the hover boots from A Crack in Time eventually return, allowing for more fast paced action platforming.

+Weapons 

The crazy weapons are still as strong as ever with some great new ideas including the Winterizer which turns your enemies into snowmen whilst playing Christmas tunes and the Netherbeast which shoots out the haunted creatures to attack the enemy.

Admittedly the sense of imagination is wavering a little bit with the weapons with a few returns of older weapons and some that are carbon copies of previous entries with a cosmetic overhaul and name change, but it is understandable considering how many Ratchet & Clank games have been made. My favourite by far was the return of Mr Zurkon. The final upgrade is absolutely fantastic. 

Onto the new elements, yhese include: The Grav-Tether, Jet Pack and Clanks side missions.

+Grav Tether 

This device opens specific pink portals located within the different planets, dragging Ratchet to previously unreachable areas. It is great as it acts as a small form of puzzle solving to reach certain checkpoints. It is on the easy side with little room for expanding into more complex puzzles to reach collectibles such as gold bolts. 

+Jet Pack

Although it has been a prominent feature in the previous entries, the jet-pack was used best here out of all of the series. In select areas and one entire planet the player can use the jet-pack to fly across the entire map, creating new ways to attack the enemy with a new sense of verticality. It is also beneficial for finding hidden items. 

Planet Thram was the best example of this as Ratchet can flying across the entire world. It was fantastic as it emphasised the sense of scale of the worlds created. It also provided a great sense of exploration. It would make welcome return to the series if it ever happens to appear on the PS4.   

+Clank in the Netherworld

The third new addition is Clank's side missions. Thanks to an upgrade to Ratchet's torchlight it can detect rifts in the walls, leading to the netherworld. Here Clank enters the world in a gravity based mini game using four directions to alter the force of gravity to find a netherbeast and lure him back to the rift and destroy the obstruction. It is fairly simple, with the puzzles being the likewise too.   

-/+ Control Layout

A personal gripe of mine, being so used to the button layout of the original PS2 games and the initial "Future" trilogy, the new layout took a bit of getting used to. For example having the trigger button mapped out onto R1 instead of "O" was a bit confusing. But eventually after the small learning curve I realised that it was for the better as it was more precise.

Graphics: 7.5/10

Again Ratchet & Clank is a stunning game, with the flair of Disney/Pixar animation. The locations are absolutely gorgeous, filled with amazing detail and and impressive draw distance.

But there is an issue which is a bit of a problem. Oddly the framerate is lower and not as stable. Running at 30fps rather than 60fps like R&C: A Crack in Time, it was immediately noticeable, having compared the two side by side. 

Additionally the game seems to have drops quite heavily when enemies appear on screen. It is not always the case but still is an annoyance, especially considering that this is a shorter entry in the series so you would assume there would not be as much processing pressure.

Sound: 8/10

As per usual the voice acting is still great with the majority of voice actors reprising their roles. Ratchet was still filled with his usual sarcasm. Vendra Prog actually felt like a ruthless villain but with a nice humane touch to her. It was also nice to see Talwyn make a small return after making no appearance in A Crack in Time. She too had some good lines, although one or two emotional set pieces did not work entirely well.

The music was very subtle in this entry, but still had provided a sense of grand adventure when it began to build up.

The sound effects themselves were great with noises culminating from near enough anything from the crates that shatter and the chime when collecting bolts, the simple atmospheric sounds of creatures squawking, to the the torrential downpour of rain.

Conclusion: 

Overall Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus is a fantastic new entry into the saga. Yes the story was incredibly short, clocking in at around 6-7 hours including all my scavenging for every collectible and upgrade during the first play-through, but thankfully there's the trusty challenge mode once you complete the game to double its length. 

The narrative itself was good and surprisingly I would prefer the darker tone to continue if the series moves on to the Playstation 4. The story was more sincere and with the open ended nature of its conclusion it would make a whole lot of sense considering the path it could potentially take.

Insomniac Games have made the right move, reverting back to its original action platforming ways. That is how the R&C universe works best. So fingers crossed that they unveil a PS4 follow up on a much grander scale which could even potentially tie in with the movie releasing next summer.

8/10

  

HIMYM Review: Slapsgiving 3 Slapointment in Slapmarra

How I Met Your Mother 

'Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra' 
Review

(Warning! The word "slap" will be used heavily in this review) 

How I Met Your Mother has finally returned to finish up the second half of its final season. After ending the mid-season with a clip of Marshall ready to slap the bejesus out of Barney there was much anticipation about what was to come. The slap bet countdown website even made a reappearance.

In all honesty, although the hype was good fun, I expected this episode to be fairly mediocre and unfortunately it was just that.

The episode began with the continuation of Marshall about to slap Barney in gloriously detailed slow motion. But of course Ted interjects with a story about how this all came about. Ultimately it results in a flashback of the group at McLaren's with Marshall playfully recounting the tale about how he came to acquire the power of the "slap of a million exploding suns." There Marshall learns the three key components for the ultimate slap.

Each teaching was fairly funny, clearly spoofing martial arts films including Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill. 

There was clever little wordplay's with Marshall's interactions with supposed legendary slap masters. Red Bird (Robin), White Flower (Lily) and The Calligrapher (Ted). 

Each lesson was somewhat funny but it was bordering more on the slapstick rather than any proper smart humour. The lessons taught by Red Bird and White Flower were also a little repetitious with their jokes. 

There was a nice little moment within White Flowers lesson with a series a minute guest appearances from Barney's conquests, including Nora and even season one's Shannon, but it was a shame that it was so short lived.

Teds teachings of accuracy to Marshall was the most humorous out of the three. This was purely because Ted's snobbish, almost obsessive compulsive behaviour still remained. Ted's final moments as the Calligrapher was possibly the funniest part of the episode (although it's not saying a lot in it's favour)

Eventually we are brought back to the present day with a little bit of a surprise at first, but then taken to a final scenario which was peculiar and nonsensical at best. There really should have been a more understandable link for this penultimate slap. 

The last moments with Boyz II Men singing about this momentous event at the end was undeniably random, but at least fun. 

Overall Slapsgiving 3 was just a bit odd. Fair enough to make a flashy episode with actual use of CGI and the likes, but it really shows that it is simply trying to hide the lack of good story concepts left in the writing room. 

It would have been nice to have at least seen a quick flashback at the end perhaps to the real life situation of Marshall's teachings from his three friends to bring about a sense of plausibility.

Perhaps it's the case that I watched Season One again before reviewing this episode, but the first series' storytelling was so brilliant with amazingly grounded, believable and relatable tales that I instantly took a dislike to the absurdity of this one. 

But HIMYM really does need to tone it down with the theatricals in order for fans and the wider audience to actually give the show some respect, particularly with its send off edging ever closer on March 31st.

5.2/10