God of War 2018: GO PLAY IT RIGHT NOW

God of War definitely deserves the high praise it received. Nowadays, many games feel empty and set on repeat for yearly releases, or are just are clearly out of touch with what we want.  God of War, however, differs from the average game of today, which is why it's so great.

Well, as gamers what do we want? We don't need much. A good story, intuitive controls, fun gameplay, and beautiful scenes are a must though (I don't say good graphics because even 2D games can look great). God of War delivers in all of theses things; it's got a great story, fun controls and combos to explore and discover, and fun gameplay.  And I say this even though the gameplay's a little repetitive because the combat is so cinematically pleasing and so generally well done that you don't care about the small amount of repetition in the game.  Besides, repetition is broken up anyway by the larger-than-usual amount of enemy types. And, as for the beautiful scenes requirement, this game looks absolutely beautiful and will make you say, "WOW!" more than once, not just because of its great graphics, but also because of its artistic creativity when it comes to making ancient myth a reality. 

For example, there is a giant snake you meet early in the early game that wraps around the world.  This was really cool because you can see parts of him all around, and the way he makes the TV shake when he speaks makes the moment even better.  There are also different realms to explore and every one of them has a unique world of its own to explore. 

Now, moving on to the story. 

Seeing Kratos go from a furious god killer to a father figure is extremely interesting. He's still furious and kills gods, but obviously regrets some of his past actions and is disgusted by himself to an extent. His son asks a lot of questions and makes interesting conversation while doing side-quests or just while you're going around exploring the different worlds and realms. It gets even better when you find Mimir, the guy that knows all the lore and has the best stories to tell. 

Additionally, the story told in this game is very emotional and personal. You see the characters change after big events in the storyline, and those changes are revealed in somewhat unpredictable conversations.  One example of this is how the exploring Kratos goes from saying his son needs to improve a lot of his issues in combat to complimenting his son and trusting him more and more in combat. With that, the ending is perfect, earning the title of my favorite part of the game. It also heavily implies a sequel that I wont miss. 

The Music

The music in this game is decent. When compared to something like Dark Soul's soundtrack, it's nothing amazing and seems like your standard action movie background music at some points. But it's very well done and sounds good, which is really all the music in a game has to do. 

The Weapons (YES!)

Another aspect of the game worth mentioning is that you can find different armor sets and weapon upgrades around the world to suit your style of gameplay. It's incredibly fun to hunt sown certain enemies for armor pieces to make or upgrade what you have (this is another of my favorite parts of the game). Certain tough enemies drop specific material for legendary armor sets, too. 

There's a lot to do in this game and you'll want to explore it all. God of War reminded me of other modern action games like the new Tomb Raider at points when it came to exploring the world, climbing, and searching for collectibles and gear, but God of War does every one of those things better. The reason why I say this is because you don't have to climb slow to get everywhere (hate the whole slow climbing thing), the open spaces to explore are larger, and there's much more to discover around every corner. Honestly, God of War is one of the best games I've played yet. If you haven't played this game you need to right now because it really is that good.

-Andrew Cherrington

(Edited by Corey)

Rise of the Tomb Raider: Liked it, but Didn't Love it.

Rise of the Tomb Raider is the newest installment in the Tomb Raider series and, interestingly enough, takes you back in time to the beginning of Lara’s adventures as she follows in the footsteps of her father. This game is full of action-packed gameplay, whether you’re climbing an ancient ship stuck in a glacier or taking down enemies with your arsenal of firearms.  It doesn't stop at that though, you get bows that progressively increase in size and quality as the game goes on and as you discover new upgrades. 

The one, the only, Lara Croft

This game has areas that felt like a small, open world that you are struggling to survive in. To survive in this mini world, you have to craft arrows, health packs, and different types of ammo altogether just to survive. The game has a lot to explore too, including the extra tombs with creative puzzles.  These tombs were actually my favorite part of the game because everything else felt odd. In the game, you also have some survival mechanics, but after a while, you realize the only thing that’s dangerous in the world that’s not humanoid enemies are predators like wolves and bears. With that, you don’t have to find food or shelter other than the one time you have to make shelter when you fall off a mountain in the first part of the game. For the rest of the game, you run around in the freezing cold and swim in water only polar bears and penguins can enjoy.  I didn't really get the point of this because, while you are constantly trying to survive in the game, Lara acts like nothing ever happened, even though she just jumped in subzero water... My point is: the game introduced this feeling of needing to be resourceful and to hunt to survive and then they never follow up on it; they focus mostly on action, which I think is problematic. In the same breath, the action in this game isn’t half bad, however the fact that Rise of the Tomb Raider prioritizes action over other parts of the game succeeded in neglecting that survival aspect of the game that could have made the overall gaming experience much better. 

<<the game introduced this feeling of needing to be resourceful and to hunt to survive and then they never follow up on it; they focus mostly on action, which I think is problematic.>>

Pardon my French, but what a badass! -Ed.

Another thing that bothered me was the two or three areas that felt like small open worlds to explore, but did not offer much in terms of tasks and exploration... In fact, the primary function of those areas was to connect the linear parts of the game, or the plot line, together. To me, this made the gaming experience a tad superficial, as these areas basically forced you into the plot line. I have no problem going with a nice plot line, but when a game sometimes tries to be realistic, survivalistic, and even a bit free roam, it seems almost cheesy to abandon the realism for areas that serve only as plot armor. Granted, there were some cool things in these big areas, such as collectibles and big game to hunt like tigers, but these parts of the game generally left me disappointed and wanting to explore more.

The extra optional tombs you’ll find while exploring were the most interesting and tough parts of the game, which makes them the best part of the game in my opinion. This is because you don’t have to just shoot a guy ten times or go to a specific area to progress; you can take your time and solve puzzles that actually get pretty hard and might take some time. The optional tombs also have upgrades and supplies at the end of each, and that makes the effort worth it. On a different note, the combat in this game is done pretty well. I mean, it’s pretty cool to craft a grenade out of a can on the fly and take out the opposition. You can be stealthy also, but I found it to be inconvenient and not as fun as running around with my double barrel shotgun while tossing around homemade explosives. There’s even a new kind of ancient enemy you encounter further in the game that makes you feel like you’re a one woman army that can take down anything. 

One more thing I'd like to mention is that you can replay sections of the game and try to beat high scores, all while beating challenges the game gives you. You can collect floating blue fire things and stack points too, but you have to be quick or your point multiplier times out after a couple of seconds. I liked this because it kept the pace of the game going pretty fast. I thought for a second it would make the game a little better if this sort of gameplay were incorporated into the game as an entirety, but then I realized that it would break that immersion effect and make Rise of the Tomb Raider seem more like an arcade game if they did that.

So what's the general assessment for this game? First of all, I would give it a 70 out of 100 because it's a quality game, but not the best I've ever played. What about the audience type? Well, if you’re into action games with a little bit off the beaten path exploration, Rise of the Tomb Raider is probably for you. Just keep in mind that some parts of the game will leave you wanting more.

Andrew Cherrington 

(Pragmus Pi)

Video Game Reviewer

*Edited by Sigma

UNDERTALE: the Hit Game that Reveals Your True Level of Awfulness!

Such a cool game!

Undertale.  It's a game that shows you just how much of an awful person you are!  In all seriousness, Undertale is an amazing game and I couldn't recommend it more.  The game features a morality mechanic unlike previous iterations of the idea, like Dishonored or inFamous. In Undertale, you play as the "Fallen Child," who has fallen into a cave of Monsters who are trying to take your soul.  The twist here is that the Monsters are all very emotional creatures, and so you can play on their differing psychologies to pacify or SPARE them.

THIS

THIS?

OR

<<There are all sorts of mysteries in Undertale!>>

Playing through Undertale, you have three options as far as playstyles go: Pacifist, where you don't kill ANY Monsters and get the canonical ending; Neutral, where you spare or kill who you wish; and Genocide, where you meticulously slaughter every single Monster in the Underground. For the sake of avoiding spoilers, I will avoid explaining the endings, but I will say each ending matches the tone of your actions, from the hope and enduring optimism  of the Pacifist route to the nihilism of the Genocide route.

Lastly, Undertale features a beautiful music score by Temmie Chang, with recurring motifs, memorable and distinct themes for every character and environment, and even music matching and including the sounds characters make when they talk.  Because of all these factors, Undertale is a seamless experience of a game, and I couldn't support Toby Fox for making it, or support people playing it, more!

Pragmus Epsilon

Pragmus Team Contributor

Here's some sample music; it's so pleasingly cheesy!