South Park: The Stick Of Truth Video Game Review

Final Verdict - Definitely Worth Playing

The long await day of salvation has arrived. After many a setbacks and delays we finally have the game of prophesy. Today is truly a special day here on In The Mind Of My Mind as there is much mirth and rejoicing in the land of gaming. South Park: The Stick Of Truth is finally a reality and I could be none the happier as it has fulfilled my hopes and dreams. In an age where licensed franchise video games usually suck, South Park: The Stick Of Truth has answered the call to greatness. If you are a fan of the cartoon you will go crazy for the gaming experience it has to offer; if not you can very much still enjoy the game at its core values of story-line, game mechanics and content. Come on down to South Park and meet some friends of mine...

South Park: The Stick of Truth is a role-playing video game, based on the American animated television series South Park. The game was developed by Obsidian Entertainment in collaboration with South Park Digital Studios and published by Ubisoft. The game was expected to be released sometime in 2013, for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles, and Microsoft Windows, but was postponed to 2014, due to the shutdown of original publisher THQ and numerous delays. The player takes control of "The New Kid", who moves to South Park with his parents after a mysterious event forced the family to move. Similar to their duties on the TV show, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone wrote the script for the game, oversaw the project, and provided the voices of the characters. This is without a doubt the definitive South Park game and goes the extra mile to deliver and authentic South Park experience first hand for the player. This sadly also works against the game because due to the authenticity of the South Park content the game received unfavorable reviews in Australia and Europe from the Electronics Rating Standards Bureau (ERSB). This led to it being censored as you can see an example of below:

What’s Good:

Soundtrack: Soundtrack is superbly executed. From the occasional ominous medieval music to the voice acting even hinting to the illustrious career work of Trey Parker and Matt Stones with the long list of songs on the radio. Another noteworthy bit of praise is for the audio cue that plays whenever your weapon flashes before an attack so you get the timing right for a perfect attack. This single feature has been the saving grace for me while playing as trying to watch for the visual cue for the attack at times is a bit tedious.

Graphics: Not the most cutting edge graphics one might expect from current gen consoles but it is pixel for pixel an accurate representation of the South Park universe. This helps to solidify the immersion factor of the game as it makes you feel like you are literally immersed in the South Park world. Not only does it feel like an episode of the iconic TV show but also it makes you the central focus and star of it all.

Story-line: The characters' costumes and classes appear to be based on the South Park episode "The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers". The costumes and class names also appear in the three-episode story arc formed by "Black Friday", "A Song of Ass and Fire", and "Titties and Dragons". These all tie into the story-line development of the game and gives the fans a "sneak peek" for the game, and at the very least, was "good marketing/PR" in light of the numerous delays to the release of the game.

Game Mechanics: The very well executed game-play design of this game will appeal to many die-hard RPG fans as it favors turn based combat. The game has also managed to incorporate and represent most tell tale aspects of a good RPG game such as varied classes, deep combat system mechanics and character customization to suit all players. The game also has a well layered tutorial system; this helps the player learn the inner workings of the game, and as a bonus features a help menu for future reference.

Replay value: A fair amount of replay value exists as there are 4 classes to choose from which offer varied combat experiences. There are also key points within the story progression that offer multiple choices and outcomes for the player to explore.

What’s Bad:

Story-line: For a Role-Playing Game (RPG) title gamers are used to 20+ hours of gaming not to mention higher level caps one character classes. Sadly South Park falls a wee bit down in that regard as the campaign will run you about 10-15 hours worth of time overall. Add to that the low level cap of 15 and you know somebody somewhere is going to complain about it.

Game Mechanics: Not much to say here aside from this one off instance where I was playing a mini game for a quest where you are dancing for the Goth kids. For some reason it only recognizes the directional arrows on the keyboard instead of the movement keys assigned at W, A, S, D. Not really a big deal as this only occurs on PC but had to make mention. 

What Should Have Been Added:

I would have liked to see more variety in the classes offered, granted they have subtle differences but I felt like there was no clear cut distinction between the moves, weapons, and equipment for the respective classes. I found myself not caring much about sticking with a particular weapon type as one would when playing an RPG; certain class limitations would have been nice to emphasize more the choice of character the player decides to go with.

Final Thoughts:

As a die-hard fan of the series I must say this game is not for the easily offended or weak willed. This game serves up a big helping of fan service and gone above and beyond the expectations of its followers. If I had a hat I would be tipping it to Trey Parker and Matt Stone, as I sip some lemon tea on a warm afternoon. I imagine somewhere out there on a patio somewhere with legs crossed like gentlemen they marvel at how well this game is bound to do. I very rarely find myself singing the praises of a game but this game deserves it and has my stamp of approval as a game of the year candidate for 2014. I have pre-ordered a copy of the Grand Wizard Edition of the game for my personal collection and if you are a fan of the TV show you probably should too. Feel free to check out some of our game-play with commentary below...

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Is It Adventure Time?

Game Mechanics - 1/2

Story-line - 1/2

Graphics - 1/2

Soundtrack - 1/2

Replay Value - 2/2

 Total Score - 6/10

Hey there fellow gamers it's time for another Friday video game review here on In The Mind Of My Mind. This week I broke one of my own rules and tried out an MMORPG that was recommended to me by a friend. I really need to learn how to deal with peer pressure better; but I digress. Main thing is I typically don't review MMORPG's because they are far too time consuming and require a lot of research and reading to know how best to create and shape your character. At the end of the day however the game is free to play and playable from your browser so why not give it a shot especially if you don't have a top end gaming PC. Have a look at Adventure Quest Worlds...

AdventureQuest Worlds, often shortened to AQWorlds or simply AQW, is a browser-based MMORPG or massively multiplayer online role playing game developed by Artix Entertainment in 2008. Unlike most massively multiplayer role playing games, AdventureQuest Worlds was developed entirely in Adobe Flash. The graphics style of AdventureQuest Worlds is much anime-like, especially notable in the characters' face. Upon creating an account, players are asked to choose one of four "starting classes" to be as their personal character, which are warrior, mage, healer, and rogue. When the players start the game, they will also automatically receive a default weapon. The way a player can advance and essentially progress and get better is by leveling up, which adds to their stat character page, making various abilities and attack power better, enhancements (which enhance a weapon to add stat modifiers, which come in either wizard, fighter, thief, healer, hybrid, spellbreaker, lucky, spitfire, adventurer, etc.), and class.

What’s Good:

Replay Value - If there is one thing that is certain its that this game has a ridiculous amount of content and things to potentially do. So much so that it seems more of a burden than a blessing but it ensures longevity and loyalty to the game. If you make it far enough and long enough to get your character looking as pimped out as some of the characters I seen there is not a doubt that you will be stuck playing this game for a long time to come. From the potential to change classes to the enhancement options of armor there is much that is to be discovered and made use of in this game. At the very least you have 4 different characters to choose from so that enables a wide variety of game-play strategies and experiences.

What’s Bad:

Seeing as I didn't want to nitpick at any one particular aspect i'm gonna summarize it all. Honestly most of the things they fail at are semi-justifiable, i'm just gonna do a quick run down. The navigation system is not as straight forward and intuitive as it could be, the character stats system deviates from the standard point allotment that is a staple point of most MMORPG's, the story-line line of the game itself is lost both because of poor quest progression but also because more value is placed on leveling your character through grinding rather than questing. These are all semi-justifiable since these issues are as relevant when you actually pay for a subscribers fee to the game.

What Should Have Been Added:

A stat point allocation system tied to the characters level, a proper navigation progression system, detailed and meaningful quest progression tied to the story line development and finally balance the exp gain so that questing is more important than just grind exp to level up.

Final Thoughts:

Definitely a fun experience starting out and a good option for those that may not have a proper gaming machine or console. Advisable to play with friends so as to make the experience more rewarding but with a registered user base of over 20 million people you should have no problem running into people and maybe making new friends. Most importantly the game is free to play so you have nothing to lose if you are a fan of MMORPG's. Vist http://www.aq.com/ and create a character so you can start your Adventure Quest today...

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We're Going Straight To The Wild Wild West

Game Mechanics - 1.5/2

Story-line - 2/2

Graphics - 1.5/2

Soundtrack - 2/2

Replay Value - 2/2

 Total Score - 9/10

It's video game time again folks. As we trudge along through this the annual summer drought of gaming we try to clear up our backlog of games in anticipation of the early fall AAA releases. Thankfully it is almost over and balance and order will be restored to the force as this should be the last week of the gaming summer drought. I had heard about this game a while back and more or less forgotten about it cause I personally had not seen much hype or advertisements for it. Somehow it has found its way back into my life and this week we review "Call of Juarez: Gunslinger"...

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is a Western-themed first-person shooter video game, the fourth in the Call of Juarez series. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is a linear first-person shooter game. Like the previous Call of Juarez games, the game consists of completing objectives to progress through the game. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger returns to the traditional Old West setting and features three unique game modes (story, arcade and duel) while the setting is the life story of a bounty hunter named Silas Greaves. The story levels are flashbacks of the life Silas Greaves, who is an unreliable narrator. As his audience challenges the lies and inconsistencies in his tales, Silas revises his story, which results in abrupt changes to game environment. This mechanic allows the game to recycle sections of the game with minor alterations. Staple gameplay elements of the series such as bullet-time and gunslinger duels make a return.

What’s Good:

Replay value: The game allows the player to carry their accumulated skills over to replays, so they can eventually fully master all categories thus giving the player added incentive to revisit the game upon completion. Scattered throughout the game are collectible secret items called "Nuggets of Truth", which recount the historical truths behind Silas' tales. These also help to level up your character and contain real world history about famous happenings and figures of the Wild West.

Story-line: The story and recounting of the adventures of Silas are engaging and rewarding as you both play and listen to Silas explain his past adventures. 

Soundtrack: Soundtrack is definitely solid and immerses you fully into the game and the Wild West ambiance of the game as a whole. Guns sound authentic as do the accents and vernacular of the characters you come in contact with.

What’s Bad:

Game Mechanics: Granted most if not all the things about the game mechanics are positive I just wanted to exclusively make mention of something I found highly frustrating. The dueling system; it starts off pretty intuitively and straight forward but then somehow becomes confusing and complicated. The addition of speeding up your draw time via the 'A' and 'D' buttons is not explained or demonstrated clearly, this in turn does not give the player the chance to adapt and utilize the mechanic effectively.

What Should Have Been Added:

I feel that maybe they could have given you a choice in customizing your character, maybe even let you decide the gender. Another possible idea could have been to add a co-op mode where you play through the game as a dynamic duo. 

Final Thoughts:

Honestly a refreshing change of pace considering the typical military oriented first person shooters we have grown accustomed to. Throwing in a leveling and RPG (Roleplaying Game) element to it with the varying skill sets was also a nice touch. My only gripes with the game overall was the ridiculous fall damage in the game and the hard to figure out dueling aspect that I made mention of earlier on. Aside from that I most certainly enjoyed my time with this game and will be looking out for others in the series. Until then you can check out my game-play with commentary...

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The Little Man That Could

Game Mechanics - 1.5/2

Story-line - 1.5/2

Graphics - 1.5/2

Soundtrack - 1.5/2

Replay Value - 2/2

 Total Score - 8/10

We are here again for another video game review with your friendly neighborhood gamer Zalgo_Cometh. It's been a while since we reviewed a PSVITA game I think so this game came along just in the nick of time during the usual summer drought of new releases. I'm gonna try to make this short and sweet for the most part today cause got a hectic work schedule dealing with while the second video game-play video is uploading to YouTube. So lets look at Dokuro...

Dokuro is a video game developed by Game Arts and published by GungHo Online Entertainment for the PlayStation Vita. The player is Dokuro, a skeletal worker for the Dark Lord. One day, the Dark Lord captures a princess and forces her to marry him. Dokuro sees the princess crying which breaks his heart and he thus decides to help her escape the Dark Lord's castle. Dokuro can flip switches to open up paths, carry the princess after drinking a potion, as well as others. The game's levels grow steadily more complex as the game progresses. The game uses a graphical style that imitates artwork in a children's storybook. The game's director, Noriaki Kazama, previously worked on gory video games such as Ninja Gaiden Sigma under Team Ninja. Kazama said that after he had a baby, he browsed through children's books at the bookstore and was inspired by the art style.

What’s Good:

Replay value: This is here in spades as most puzzles have a variety of ways they can be solved as I came to realize while playing this game. Also you can replay levels for faster overall times or to collect coins as you progress through each level or to find the optimal solution to each level's puzzle.

Game Mechanics: Simple and very intuitive controls make for a fun and easily enjoyable game-play experience. Also worthwhile mentioning is that the touchscreen and overall integration of a PSVITA control system feels nature and smooth overall while playing this game.

Graphics: Overall design scheme and art style seems very fitting to the nature of the game and the PSVITA brings forth a certain crispness and level of subtle detail that can be appreciated in this handheld title.

What’s Bad:

Only fault I could come up with which isn't much of a fault as it seems intentional as a part of the challenging game design is that you can't do much to control the actions of the Princess. She just aimlessly walks forward and only turns away for fear of enemies that approach her.

What Should Have Been Added:

At times I found myself wanting the princess to stay in a certain position away from danger so maybe a stop/follow command would have been a nice addition. Another idea that came to mind was maybe getting a special power from each boss defeat that would help you along the way in your fights against other bosses and regular enemies.

Final Thoughts:

Even though it is a well documented fact that I suck at and despise puzzle based games I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed my time playing Dokuro. At times the going got rough and I faltered, but it was never a case where I was just totally and utterly left feeling defeated like there was no solution in sight. The puzzles strike a fair balance between challenging and straight forward; the onus just lies with the player an dhow fast they can figure it all out to move on to the next one.

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E3 2013 Wrap Up

Well here we are on E3 week and boy oh boy has it kicked off in fine style. As per always we do a E3 run down every year and count our blessings that we get to look forward to. For those that may not know shame on you but we welcome you with open arms. Feel free to check out any of the live streams from IGN or Gametrailers that are doing live coverage of the event. So we are gonna try out something different and do something of a VLOG instead of all the typing and reading that you are normally accustomed to. Hopefully its entertaining to you and I don't bore you too badly; so please do enjoy.

With all that info flung your way i'm sure you are a bit overwhelmed so take some time to let it all sink in. Here are some of the interpretations from the internet in regards to the competition between XBOX One and the PS4.

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Welcome Racers One And All

Game Mechanics - 2/2

Story-line - 1.5/2

Graphics - 2/2

Soundtrack - 1.5/2

Replay Value - 1/2

 Total Score - 8/10

Hey gamer guys and gamer girls and non-gamers alike; welcome to another Friday video game review. We are kind of starting this a bit late but it was unavoidable as I had to be staying back after work to get stuff done. Anywhore enough with the in real life drama, lets play some video games. This week we play Grid 2. Now granted I have been anxiously awaiting this games release since it was unveiled I might go as far as  saying i'm a definite fan of the series but I shall do my best to preserve my journalistic integrity and remain fair and partial in this review for my peoples. ^_^

Grid 2 is the sequel to the 5 year long hiatus original racing video game titled Race Driver: Grid. It was developed and published by Codemasters for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on 28 May 2013 in North America. The game includes numerous real world locations such as Paris, numerous United States locations, and many more, and also includes motor vehicles spanning four decades. In addition, it includes a new handling system that developer Codemasters has dubbed 'TrueFeel', which aims to hit a sweet spot between realism and accessibility. Races do not include a first person cockpit view like in its predecessor. As Codemaster has gone with a more practical over the hood camera view instead as an option.

What’s Good:

Game Mechanics: Everything about this game from the cars to the tracks to the leveling system just works so wonderfully well together. The "True Feel" handling system strikes a perfect balance between simulation style racing and arcade style racing. You can feel the difference clearly between individual cars and car classes themselves. Anyone is readily able to play this game; coupling that with their trademark 'Flashback' game mechanic and this game is definitely the sequel we have been waiting for all these years.Tie in with that a new race type aptly titled Live Route racing where the player is put on a track that never runs the exact way twice. This opens up new and more challenging races as the player progresses. 

Graphics: This game is so beautiful it brings a tear to my eye. Utilizing the EGO 3.0 graphics engine it is clear that realism in this game is not an issue. This aspect truly shines bright on the PC version of the game especially.Even the lesser noticed additions to your environment help to piece together the graphic marvel that is Grid 2. These include but are not limited to: the trees, the crowds, the reflections, and more.

What’s Bad:

Replay Value: Sadly the game is not without its flaws. The limited number of tracks in the game does not offer much in the way of replay value as i'm sure sooner or later you will find  yourself just being tired of the same locales. Seemingly Codemaster realized something along these lines and tried to make the overall gaming experience last longer. How you may ask? Simply but making the character progression in single player and multi-player separate and apart so essentially you play the game twice at the very least.

What Should Have Been Added:

Granted that they used a wide variety of locations all over the globe, I feel like there could have still been more variety in the tracks. Maybe possibly having CGI (Computer Generated Images) cut scenes that help build up the story aspect of the game more. It would have been a big boost having tangible characters to connect with as motivation to push the story along better.

Final Thoughts:

Overall as expected a damn solid racing experience for the masses. From the expert to the novice; the simulation driver to the arcade racer, Grid 2 lives up to the legacy of its predecessor and delivers on its 5 year wait. I feel like this is the company EA should have outsourced the Need for Speed franchise to instead of Criterion because Codemasters definitely is doing a lot of things right.

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Excuse Me; But We Have A Crysis

Game Mechanics - 2/2

Storyline - 1/2

Graphics - 2/2

Soundtrack - 1.5/2

Replay Value - 1.5/2

 Total Score - 8/10

Welcome to your weekly video game review here with me your friendly neighborhood gamer; Zalgo_Cometh. Today we will be looking at the newly released Crysis 3. March is going to be a hectic month because there are so many big name titles being released its ridiculous. Its so hard to hold on to money these days as a gamer I tell you. Between being sick, paying bills, maintaining my car and trying to eat at least 2 meals a day it isn't easy on the wallet being a dedicated gamer. Here is a rundown of what you can look out for in the coming weeks: Tomb Raider, South Park: The Stick of Truth (Subject To Change), SimCity 5, Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Storm 3, StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2, Soul Sacrifice, God of War: Ascension, Gears of War Judgment, BioShock: Infinite, and Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel. So you can start doing your research if you haven't already; but wait till after you get done reading this review of Crysis 3.

Crysis 3 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Crytek, published by Electronic Arts for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 and released in North America on February 19, 2013.[3] Officially announced April 14, 2012, it is the third main installment of the Crysis series, a sequel to the 2011 video game Crysis 2, and runs on the CryEngine 3 game engine. Players take on the role of Prophet as he returns to New York in 2047, 24 years after the events of Crysis 2. He discovers the city has been encased in a giant Nanodome created by the corrupt CELL corporation. The New York City Liberty Dome is a veritable urban rainforest teeming with overgrown trees, dense swamplands and raging rivers. Within the Liberty Dome, seven distinct and treacherous environments become known as the Seven Wonders. Prophet is said to be on a "revenge mission" after uncovering the truth behind CELL's motives for building the quarantined Nanodomes.

What’s Good:

Game Mechanics - Solid system design, heavy integration of main focal point of the game which is the suit but finds a balance so as not to make the player too overpowered that they don't find the game challenging. Another noteworthy staple point of the game mechanic is the ability to upgrade and customize specific suit power-ups to better structure the players game-play experience and suit progression.

Graphics - Second to none as always Crysis's claim to fame has always been its stellar graphics and breath taking environments. Crysis 3 is truly a technical marvel and shows that they have not lost sight of this especially for the PC gamers out there who get to put their machine builds to the test. If you can run a Crysis game on max settings then you can do any damn thing under the sun.

What’s Bad:

Story-line - Honestly I don't remember much of the Crysis story-line in detail even after having played all of them. Was just your typical run and gun first person shooter experience.

What Should Have Been Added:

I feel that maybe if they had flashback missions which played through the scenarios and stories you hear about that lead up to the world being in the current state it is instead of just dropping you in the middle of everything after being in a cryogenic state or whatever.

Final Thoughts:

Crysis 3 lives up to its predecessors and even exceeds them but not by much. Don't expect the ground breaking innovation that the first game brought to the table but do expect its calling card of mind blowing graphics that bring a tear to your eye. With enough customization options to suit and and every play-style Crysis 3 is sure to deliver a good time. Check out our game-play footage to see what I mean...

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