Battlefield VLOG review

Hello and Welcome to our first video blog!

In this video we reviewed the Battlefield series! Each member of our blog team has contributed equally. Max, Brian, Arjun and Thomas gave their thoughts on the game with James doing the introduction. Arjun also edited the video and uploaded it to youtube. I'll let the video do the talking now.

Thank you!

Need For Speed

If you have a love for cars like I do, then this is just for you. Need For Speed is a franchise that has been around for just over 20 years. NFS is a racing games franchise published by Electronic Arts. The latest reboot of the NFS franchise takes you back to the game's origins; night-time settings, underground racing, modified cars and just a whole lot of fun.

You start off as a amateur street racer who builds his crew and increases street-rep as you accomplish races. The gameplay itself is very smooth and the car's can be tweaked to handle to each individual's liking. It's a gorgeous looking, very well designed game that offers a large roster of cars and five types of racing events to take part in, this game can be endless fun.
With multiple friends and crews the game can really come to life.

Pros:
- Great visuals and sounds
- All driving modes feel satisfying and really allow the player to connect
- A large number of cars to choose from

Cons:
- Storyline is brief and can be boring at points.
- Cannot pause the game during online gameplay

Overall I would rate this game a 8/10


Editor:
Arjun

Sources:
- http://www.hardcoregamer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/need_for_speed-747x309.jpg
- https://media-www-needforspeed.spark.ea.com/content/c-need-for-speed/en_AU/_jcr_content/content/mediaparagraph/media/image.img.jpg

Just Cause 3

Just Cause 3 (JC3) is an outrageous version of GTA with all the guns and cars but bigger and better explosions. Within the game you play as Rico Rodriguez who is a special agent for a secret department within the US military who is tasked with taking down the vicious dictator of the fictional island of Medici, Sebastiano Di Ravello. You do this by essentially blowing up the number of military bases and installations around the island of Medici and giving them to the rebel forces attempting to overthrow Sebastiano. 

The game is an open world which gives the player lots of room to explore and play with the different mechanics within the game. It is played from a third person perspective which gives the player a beautiful view of the amazing graphics and beautiful textures within it. JC3 is a run and gun type of game in which the player uses Rico's grappling hook and wing suit to traverse the environments while taking out enemies. Vehicles also play a huge part in the game due to the map being approximately 400 square miles so they are essential for travel as well as combat. The wide arrange of vehicles, environments and Ricos own skill set allows you to do pretty much anything within the world of JC3. From getting into a tank and being a one man army to skydiving from 18,000 feet down a snowy mountain into a beautiful blue ocean.

In conclusion JC3 is an amazing open world game with beautiful graphics and intense fights. However, lag and scripted moments take away from the games greatness. 

Pros:
1. Insanely fun
2. Incredible open world to explore
3. Beautiful scenery
Cons:
1. Lag issues
2. To many scripted moments that restricted the freedom within the game
3. Few annoying bugs

8.5/10

Editor
Max Clancy

Photo reference 1:
https://media.playstation.com/is/image/SCEA/just-cause-3-listing-thumb-ps4-us-19oct15?$Icon$
Photo reference 2: 
http://www.darkstation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Parachute_over_town_1.0.jpg

Dragon Nest

Dragon Nest is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) developed by Eyedentity Games. The game is free-to-play available worldwide with several host servers around the world to provide fast gameplay regardless of your physical location.  Initially the game was only released for Korea however the popularity of the game encouraged the expansion of the game to other regions including EU, NA, Taiwan, HK, Vietnam and China. 

The game revolves around choosing a hero from a range of classes which may include Warrior, Archer, Cleric, Assassin or Kali which is further refined as you play more of the game. As you progress through the game, you collect and forge stronger weapons allowing you to take on bigger challenges in an attempt to complete the story. The game also features a player-vs-player mode which allows characters to battle each other for prize money. With the implementation of a non-targeting system, the character's success in the game is based on the player's skill in aiming their attacks. 

From a personal standpoint, the game tends to appeal to groups of players who are able to play with each other. However as they would progress, the game becomes repetitive to the point where it is no longer fun. This causes the players to eventually quit the game and move on with the exception of a few who continue to play. This would create a gap between those who quit and those who didn't, demoralizing the players from returning to the game. With that in consideration, the game is most enjoyed in a group of friends, as long as they do not binge on the game but play with moderation. 

Pros:

1. Game is free-to-play
2. Multiple variations of roles to choose from
3. Able to create a community to play on whether with friends or strangers

Cons:

1. Gameplay can be repetitive
2. Only appeals to a niche market of players
3. Graphics considered low in comparison to current games

Rating: 7/10

Thomas Chan

References:

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jwptugw8RM8/maxresdefault.jpg

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/swSLM1AetY0/maxresdefault.jpg

Final Fantasy XIII

Final Fantasy XIII is traditional Japanese RPG game developed by Square Enix. This legendary franchise is one of most best selling game from all the Playstation series which is continued longer than 20 years. Each series has different story line, worlds and characters. So players will never get bold by playing the whole series of game.
In Final Fantasy XIII, they makes female as protagonist for first time which inspired by another Square Enix game 'Tomb raider'. The game took in fictional floating play Cocoon, where the government control all the civilization as they want and force them to believe Pulse. Lightening was the soldier in government first place, however when her sister Sarah got choose by government to serve Pulse, she starts to fight back against the government and Pulse. The story may seem little bit old and similar plot as other RPG game, however because the world has huge story telling itself, the players can play without getting bold.
The system of game is like other Japanese RPG game, but to make the game much realistic, they make the game play real time, but with selecting the command. So when you play the game first time, it might seem little bit hard, but this makes the game play much fun, because you get direct feedback unlikely to other JRPG which player need to wait until the opponent finish their attack.
Final Fantasy series always have better graphic than any other game release similar day. For example, Final Fantasy VII is first 3rd dimension game in the world that release on 1997 by Playstation 1. Final Fantasy XIII releases on 2009, however the background graphic and character details is more like art and it can compete with other game release in this day.
I want to give this game 9.5/10

What is good
- Best JRPG game
- Graphic
- New style game play
- The story line is awesome
- All the characters have unique characteristic
- Long play time

What is bad
- The ending was quite bad
- Too many sequel
- It takes too much storage (almost 40GB)
- Not many things to collect compare to other series
- Final Fantasy Vesus(XV) release too late (wait for almost 8 years)

Brian Jung


Picture 1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_XIII
Picture 2 - http://www.gamepur.com/news/16275-ffxiii-first-game-pc-screenshots-released-minimum-and-recommended-pc-specs.html
Picture 3 - http://www.meristation.com/noticias/final-fantasy-xiii-3-vuelve-a-sonar-con-fuerza-como-parte-de-la-lightning-saga/1795432

State of Decay

State of Decay is an open world survival game that focuses on the player making a base and attempting to survive through the zombie apocalypse in Trumbull valley. You progress through the game by scavenging for supplies and finding new and unique survivors that you can play as. This game is quite realistic in the sense that there are not unlimited supplies and things don't just re-spawn so you must be careful how you use your equipment. Permanent death is also implemented into the game so if you die as your favourite survivor you will lose them and their stats forever.

The map is 16 square kilometers in size and is fully accessible from the beginning. This encourages players to go out, explore and scavenge what they can in order to fight of the zombies. However the base system ensures that the player stays and protects the base as well as its residents. This ensures that you are always progressing which in turn creates the game makes it really hard to defend the base, scavenge for supplies and protect the other survivors. This forces the player to make hard decisions and compromises.

In conclusion, State of Decay is a very fun and challenging game that gives zombie lovers the perfect place to slay zombies in anyway they want.

Pros:
1. Lots to explore.
2. Easy controls.
3. Large amount of progresson

Cons:
1. Its quite hard
2. Requires a decent computer to run
3. You are requires to micro manage everything.

9/10

Editor
Max Clancy

Photo reference 1:
http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/241540/header.jpg?t=1447358027
Photo reference 2:
http://static5.gamespot.com/uploads/original/gamespot/images/2013/159/2041829-681534_20130609_003.jpg

Europa Universalis IV

Europa Universalis, also know as EU4, is a grand strategy game that allows you to play any country that existed between January 1 1444 to January 2 1821. You can expand, form an empire and basically become the worlds greatest super power through war and diplomacy. It takes a very realistic approach to technology, trade, diplomacy and colonization.  This makes is so that the game remains semi-historic and ensures that you don't have to many historical inaccuracies. Such as having Korea becoming a colonialist nation and beating the western powers to the Americas.

However despite giving the game a strong historical drive you are still able to play Korea and become a colonialist it will just take a lot of effort, skill and luck to achieve it. The worst part about the game is combat which is similar to two chess pieces being moved together and one being taken off the board. Essentially whoever has the most men and better technology wins. Other factors are taken into account such as the conditions and terrain of the environment that the battle is taking place. Leaders skills and abilities in battle also have an effect on the combat but generally the country with the most men wins.

This game is so large and complex that it really does make me feel like I am actually running a country. With all these features anything is possible as any country, however this also make shte game extremely hard to get into and understand. Despite having a strong tutorial it is almost impossible to understand how to play the game without watching someone else play the game.

In conclusion, EU4 is an amazing grand strategy game that allows for a different experience every time you play however due to the 'grand' nature of the game and the many complex systems that work within it there is an extremely high learning curve.



Pros
1. Unlimited replay value
2. Constantly being updated
3. Brand you content/features are added with new expansions

Cons:
1. Extremely hard to learn
2. Is expensive (due to new dlc constantly being relased)
3. Hard to play with friends


9/10


Editor
Max Clancy

Photo 1 reference:
http://leaderboard.europauniversalis4.com/assets/eu4-twitter-image-e140f22ff3555f2bc477120fa01d26e9.jpg
Photo 2 reference:
http://i1-news.softpedia-static.com/images/news2/europa-universalis-iv-mare-nostrum-review-pc-503048-2.jpg