We’re back again for arguably the best Game of Thrones episode yet. Ricardo and Ethan dive headfirst into the lives of all of your favorite Forrester characters. If it wasn’t clear from the first three episodes, spoilers are in this episode. Enjoy as the two predict what’s going to happen next! (and probably be wrong)
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Dying to get into a discussion about Telltale’s new Game of Throne game, but your friends haven’t even downloaded the game yet? Well we have a fix for you! Ethan and Ricardo dive deep into the world of Westeros and the house of Forrester to discover what secrets it holds. Surprise! Most of it isn’t good. Turn back now if you haven’t played the game yet, unless you don’t mind spoilers, then do what you want I’m not your dad.
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Some people love sprawling games that give the player an open world to discover and play with. Some love games with decisions that affect story. Some love games that can be played for hours before getting to the end.
Journey is none of these.
Instead, it foregoes many of the current gaming trends that typically warrant critical acclaim and is better for it. Every section of the game is brimming with diverse and beautiful content, making sure there’s never a dull moment. For me it is pretty much the perfect game.
It’s a long way to the top.
The goal of Journey is to, as the name implies, journey up to the top of a mountain. It’s not as simple as strolling up a mountain. The player learns (or interprets) from the glyphs they find along the way why they are making the journey and what it represents. Controlling the robed figure around the hauntingly desolate desert to reach its goal has an emotional, almost spiritual, demeanor to it. There is certainly a lot of symbolism flowing throughout the game, but that is not necessarily what makes it.
What makes the game great is how That Game Company knew their limitations and pushed what they did have to the limit. Everything about the game is top notch. One can only assume they saw what worked and what didn’t with their previous game, Flower, when making decisions about Journey. When the biggest complaint I can find is the shoehorning of Sixaxis controls that don’t even affect gameplay, I know I have found my game of the year.
The developers did not overstep their boundaries. Instead they took their time and made a concise game that flows buttery smooth from start to finish virtually bug free.
In fact the game is so streamlined and short, it is accessible to people who don’t normally identify themselves as gamers. From the day Journey first arrived in my house I had been avidly showing it off to all kinds of people.
Watching people explore the game and discover their first companion always unfolds differently. Every time I watch someone play I always seem to walk away remembering how that player played that game and what they got from their playthrough. The real replay value for me is sharing the joy Journey brings with other people and living vicariously through their fun.
Journey is even prettier in motion.
Those who don’t play games find solace in the relatively simple controls, alluring setting and lack of combat. Not having to deal with the pressure of dying helps to draw in people who don’t consider them gamers. Even as an “artsy fartsy” game, it was still enjoyed by fans of all game genres. As a someone who tries to play nearly every game under the sun, it’s great to show off such a critically acclaimed game that is as accessible as Journey. Skyrim would not make the same impression with my mom.
Even as a fairly independent game, Journey is the most gorgeous game to grace my television. But the graphics would not have made the same impact without the musical score done by Austin Wintory. The decision to loop smaller pieces of music together and to make it react to the player’s actions or location is brilliant. Movies play music depending on what characters are doing so why not games as well? Between that and using a cello as a theme throughout the game, Journey’s music left me with a lasting impression as strong as the game itself.
Journey is one of the most important games of this generation. Beauty, functionality and innovation come together in an independent downloadable title that a wide variety of people can enjoy.
Besides that, the game is simply fun. Sliding and flying through the wondrous landscapes is a joyous experience that is unavailable on any other game this year. It’s an extraordinary experience that I wish everyone will give a chance.
Remember that time in The Lord of the Rings when Gollum and Galadriel teamed up to fight Sauron and Gandalf, but Sauron kept hiding behind a tower like a little baby because Galadriel would fear him into the Witch King?
Sounds like something out of a fan fiction? Nope, this experience is brought to you by the new downloadable title from Monolith Productions. Finally gamers can take Lord of the Rings characters and pit them against each other in a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) on the Xbox 360 and PS3. The premise sounds silly and there is nearly no reason for LotR characters to be in the game, but the game itself is a bit of a surprise.
Galadriel can heal the team from anywhere on the map and is one of the strongest support characters.
It would have been easy for Monolith to simply make a quick cash-in after getting the LotR license, instead it’s evident that a fair amount of work went into developing this game. For those who don’t know, MOBA games (ala: League of Legends and DoTA 2) are five vs. five games played in a three lane tower defense map. Each player chooses a unique champion and tries to push to the opponents’ main base in an attempt destroy it. Guardians doesn’t stray far from this formula and instead of improving and innovating on the relatively new genre, it makes a few changes to simplify it for a different platform: Consoles.
As a long time League of Legends and occasional DoTA 2 player, it is refreshing to enjoy a MOBA without worrying about an onslaught of mechanics. Gone is last hitting, buying items in-game with gold and unlocking character abilities. Instead the game focuses on individual encounters with players, emphasizing how they utilize the abilities at their disposal. Fights are still heavily in favor of the team who is a higher level, but at the end of the game everyone is usually on an even playing field. It’s a simpler experience that is more focused on combat, and for the most part, it’s well executed.
Bringing a genre that was born from a Warcraft III mod to a console couldn’t have been easy. The main camera is locked to the player’s character and the right analog stick is used to aim basic attacks and abilities. While basic attacks are intuitive, holding down the right trigger/shoulder button, trying to use an ability and aim at the same time is nearly impossible. Unless an enemy is right in front of a player, they will have to do a right-hand thumb and index finger yoga dance trying to use the right analog stick and face buttons at the same time.
There is an option to let the abilities be chosen beforehand and then activated with the right trigger, but it still feels a little bit clunky. I wish this wasn’t a big deal because the overall controls are intuitive, but chasing down a player while trying to aim a game-changing stun while fighting with the controls leads to lost games and frustration.
Sauron is the man in the books, but in game he can eat it from a hobbit.
Besides a player’s level and skill, capturing shines are a way to tip the game balance in the team’s favor. Each shrine gives a unique bonus to any team that holds it—whether it’s faster health regen or extra structure damage. Another way to give buffs to your team is to kill special monsters in the middle of the map, aka the jungle. While the in-game store is gone, a player can still customize their character’s attributes via a relic and gem belt, which is equipped beforehand and unlocks different powers as a player gains levels. It takes away the ability to react appropriately to the composition or the play style of the opponents’ team. As such, winning a Guardians’ game is simplified down to its roots and that works for players who are craving that particular MOBA experience.
Another feature not present in other MOBAs is the ability to upgrade towers and the soldiers’ (aka “creeps”) barracks. This feature is not as robust as it could have been; players are only allowed to upgrade towers at a certain level and it feels more of a chore upgrading towers than fun once the appropriate level hits.
Until hitting level 12, which is two levels below the level cap of 14, towers and barracks simply do more damage with every upgrade. At level 12, towers have the option of being upgraded for maximum damage or becoming healing towers that are useful if your team is doing well holding a lane. It is neat that they put this feature into the game, but why not have the option for a healing tower available at the very beginning of the match? That could add a whole new dynamic to the risk reward part of the “laning phase,” instead of waiting until the time in the game when players run around in a group.
On the presentation side, Guardians’ graphics are adequate for a downloadable game. It looks fine and the art style is somewhat reminiscent of the Lord of the Rings movies, but it just isn’t super impressive to look at. To be fair, MOBA games are not made to marvel at the graphics, but more visual polish wouldn’t have hurt. Sound effects are sufficient and do a good job of alerting a player when a tower is targeting them.
Voice acting also helps alert players to various events around them. Characters yell when their health is low and when the enemy team reveals themselves from the bushes. But while some characters sound fairly close to their on screen counterparts, others are very obviously not close at all (I am looking at you Legolas).
Choosing not to spend every last penny on Andy Serkis means we have to deal with a hand animated Gollum.
Speaking of characters, there is a wide variety of people, creatures and even demi-gods from the Tolkien universe to choose to do battle with. Each character falls into one of several combat roles. For example, Gollum is an assassin-like character called a striker, Sauron is part of the warrior class (the all-arounder), the Witch King is similar to a beefy support class known as a guardian and there is a hobbit named Hildifons Took—part of a tactician class—whose specialty is setting traps and barriers to route or block in the other team. The developers reached deep into LotR lore to find all of the characters they could, yet “non-canon” characters had to be created to fill some roles (particularly on the evil side).
But, because the traditional story line is thrown out the window, it is easy to forget that you are actually playing a Lord of the Rings game. Honestly, there is no reason for this game to be set in the Tolkien universe other than marketing reasons; it is unclear how many people would give a console MOBA a shot if they weren’t enticed by Gandalf and friends on the cover. Promotional strategies like those seen from The Marketing Heaven show how powerful well-placed branding can be in capturing attention and driving interest.
Hopefully, the people who did purchase the game without prior knowledge won’t be driven off by some the slow match-making system and horrible disconnection issues. Finding a match takes anywhere from one to ten minutes, which might not be so bad if getting disconnected randomly from games was not an issue. The worst is when a teammate gets disconnected or rage quits (it’s hard to tell) and you are left to slowly lose a game to an overpowered team. Monolith has already stated they are aware of the issue and will fix it with a patch, but the damage might have already been done to the relatively small player base.
Guardians of Middle Earth is a surprising title. Monolith could have made a quick cash-in using the LotR license just put out a mediocre game, but instead they made an enjoyable game with LotR characters sprinkled in. It may be a game that no one really wanted to see happen and didn’t use the license to it’s fullest effect; how cool would battles have been if they were accompanied by Howard Shore’s score?
But nevertheless, it’s a wonderfully fun and mostly well designed MOBA. A pure MOBA experience on a console is a niche that no developer has experimented with and it succeeds in more ways than it fails. Here’s hoping it’s a success in terms of sales.
The Xbox 360 version was used to review the game.
Boils down the elements of a MOBA to its core and succeeds more than it fails.
Has decent art style and voice work going for it, but the music and graphics are just adequate.
The Lord of the Rings license isn’t used very well in the game and barely warrants any attention to it.
Many achievements, challenges and characters to master, with more characters slated to come out down the road.
Legendary Submissions are articles we get from readers like you! If they’re good, you’ll see them here! This article comes from reader/listener Kurt as he analyzes DLC, Digital Distribution, and the good and bad aspects of both.
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Downloadable Content. A concept that seems to have many confused and mistakenly frustrated. Recently, I’ve come across articles that idyllically look to the future of gaming with promises of instant gratification through digital distribution. On demand games have already been on the market and frankly, the concept isn’t new. Steam has been a thriving online service for the PC (and more recently, Mac) platform and is just about to celebrate its 10th birthday. What started out as a service to streamline game patches and connect players together in online matches quickly became the biggest PC gaming service in existence.
As a thank you to all the fans who have supported this epic game’s success, Rocksteady has released a FREE downloadable skin for “Batman: Arkham City.” Available from both Xbox Live and Playstation Network, the new skin features Batman’s costume from the DC Comic’s series “Batman Inc.,” in which the Dark knight recruits “Batmen” from all around the globe. Enjoy!