Thief Video Game Review

Final Verdict - Give It A Shot 

Well 2014's first reboot is out and boy is it a doozy. It is a revival of the cult classic Thief series of stealth games, of which it is the fourth game. Thief was initially announced in 2009 under the working title Thief 4(also known as Thi4f or Thief), after rumors of its development. Well you came here for a game review so that's what you're going to get. Small heads up about the usual game-play with commentary videos that accompany my reviews. We were trying something different this week where we took the video from our stream that we did but the quality was very disappointing in comparison to the usual so we apologize profusely. Will return to normal for our next review but feel free to check out the hilarious commentary as always. Lets slink into the dark depths of Thief...

Thief is a stealth video game developed by Eidos Montreal and published by Square Enix. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One platforms. Players control Garrett, a master thief, as he intends to steal from the rich. Similar to previous games in the series, players must use stealth in order to overcome challenges, while violence is left as a minimally effective last resort. Gameplay is choice-driven, with players having a number of possible paths and approaches in a given level. Players may use the environment to their advantage, as well as pickpocket characters. As Garrett attempts to steal in levels, guards and other non-player characters (if they are aware of his presence) will try to flush him out and kill him. Different NPCs may use different means to find him, and the game's artificial intelligence will be aware of the level design, and therefore, know of potential hiding spots. Players may enter a "Focus" mode, which provides several advantages. It enhances Garrett's vision, highlighting pipes that can be climbed, or candles that can be put out to make the area darker. Focus can also slow down time, so that Garrett is able to steal more effectively while pick-pocketing. Garrett can also use Focus to push enemies or perform debilitating attacks. It can be further upgraded over the course of the game.

What’s Good:

Story-line: Pretty solid story-line and interesting characters in the game. The way the story unfolds and progresses is also noteworthy as it keeps the pace of the game steady. 

Graphics: Stellar graphics all around, the textures, environments and lighting truly go above and beyond what expected. The game is visually well crafted on all platforms but it truly shines on the XBOX One and PC.

Game Mechanics: Definitely an originator of modern day stealth, the Thief franchise employs a very robust and expansive world to traverse. With multiple paths  to achieve objectives the game offers much needed  variety and liberalness to not restrict the user and confine them to a totally linear path. Also the freedom of movement that is offered to the player is interconnected with the flow and play-style of the game being heavily stealth based and is executed very well. Guard A.I. is hit or miss at times as they sometimes look right at you but seemingly have bad eyesight and cant see in the dark but other times will very skillfully hunt you down and drive you out of hiding. 

Replay value: With all the aforementioned freedom in paths and approaches to dealing with situations one could only imagine that there exists a fair amount of replay value. Couple that with all the various challenges and large number of items available for theft present in game and you have yourself hours of entertainment at the ready. Another noteworthy claim to fame for this reboot title is the custom difficulty setting, honestly cant recall seeing this in any games I have played. I was quite surprised and intrigued by this however it seems primarily directed at making the game more challenging more-so than easy.

What’s Bad:

Soundtrack: Not much of significant mention as well as the voice acting for the game seemingly fell short. This makes the character (Garrett) not as convincing and you don't feel as attached overall to him unless you were already a long standing fan of the series.

What Should Have Been Added:

I would like to have potentially seen a co-op mode especially since they game starts you off as a part of a team. The idea of running a thief tag team against unsuspecting guard could have added such depth and varied game-play tactics.

Final Thoughts:

Solid reboot of the series no doubt; long time Thief fans will appreciate the well executed nod to a long lost franchise. While new comers to the lore of Thief may find it quite the adventure to embark on. Definitely a little rough around the edges since its been out of the gaming world for a while but it made good on it return. Feel free to check out our game-play with commentary videos...

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All About Dat Ass......assin

Game Mechanics - 1.5/2

Storyline - 2/2

Graphics - 1.5/2

Soundtrack - 2/2

Replay Value - 1/2

 Total Score - 8/10

Dearly beloved we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of my camera and its newly found tripod. Hey guys just kidding; how y'all doing? Welcome to another video game review here with us. Today we take our first crack at reviewing and recording a PSVITA game now that we finally got our tripod that we ordered a while back. Hopefully more of these reviews will be in the future. Without further ado lets get to that ass...

Assassin's Creed III: Liberation is a historical action-adventure open world stealth video game developed and published by Ubisoft exclusively for PlayStation Vita. The game is set between 1765 and 1777, and primarily features Aveline de Grandpré, a female African-French Assassin around the end of the French and Indian War, in 18th century New Orleans. This is the first female protagonist of the series and hopefully not the last. Liberation makes use of the Vita's touchscreen and rear touch pad, cameras and gyroscope. These include Chain Kill combat, and the ability to pickpocket people. By linking the game to Assassin's Creed III, the player will receive an in-game version of Connor's tomahawk, an exclusive character skin, a multi-player character and a complete upgrade of all ammunition pouches. The game uses the same engine that runs Assassin's Creed III, allowing for the same game-play experience as a console release.

What’s Good:

Storyline - Beautifully well written story with plot twists and turns that will have you at the edge of your seat. Diverse cast of characters that are sure to leave a memorable impression in your mind. Most importantly we see a true progression of Aveline as a character and how she journeys and grows on her path to self discovery and acceptance.

Soundtrack - Perfectly matching soundtrack to highlight and compliment that time the game takes place in as well as the various settings you traverse throughout the game. It truly helps maximize the games effect on you, submerging you into the culture and period of time in New Orleans.

What’s Bad:

Replay Value - This game has little to no replay value; die hard fans may want to play again on a higher difficulty or to try and get "full sync" on all relevant missions but that's about it. Couple that with the fact the multi-player experience is an utmost failure in comparison to the type of multi-player experience the console version of the game received.

What Should Have Been Added:

A better multi-player experience akin to the one provided on the PS3 and XBOX 360 and PC would have been good. Also a better monetary system in the game because it is way too hard to make money especially when everything is so expensive.

Final Thoughts:

Hands down one of the top 5 PSVITA games to own. You will not regret playing this game i guarantee it. Ubisoft did such a great job with this installment of the series that it fits so perfectly right at home on the PSVITA. Little motion sensitive actions exclusive to the PSVITA are nice little touches that help you feel even more so involved in the game and the town in general. 

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I Hit People For A Living

Gameplay - 8/10

Storyline - 8/10

Graphics - 9/10

Game Score : 25/30

Welcome to another Friday video game review blog post, today we are going to be looking at Hitman Absolution. Before we dive into the goodness just a small public service announcement this will probably be the last video game review for 2012. Going to close off the year as always with a top ten list of games for 2012 so you can be prepared for that in the coming week. Its been a blast providing you guys with reviews and entertainment via our game-play commentary videos on our YouTube channel. So lets get into some Hitman Absolution...

Hitman: Absolution is an action-adventure stealth game developed by IO Interactive and published by Square Enix. It is the fifth entry in the Hitman game series, and runs on IO Interactive's proprietary Glacier 2 game engine. Before release the developers conveyed that Absolution would be easier to play and more accessible, while still retaining hardcore aspects of the franchise. The game was released on November 20, 2012, which is the 47th week of the year (in reference to the protagonist, Agent 47). The game takes place in the United States, and features an online option. In addition, the game features "instinct mode" which allows 47 to predict enemy patrol routes, much like the "sonar vision" that was featured in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction, "eagle vision" in Assassin's Creed, "tracker mode" in Crysis 2 and "Detective mode" in Batman: Arkham Asylum.

What’s Good:

Superb graphics, game is more accessible than previous iterations, tons of in game content to work for, great versatility in how to approach missions as well as replay value. Soundtrack really fits the tone ad scene changes as you play through the game as well. The interactivity with your environment and how you can manipulate it to progress is very well done and plays well to the motif of being a Hitman that shapes your gaming experience as you see fit. Multiple game difficultly settings to appeal to everyone from the casual gamer to the purist fan of the series.

What’s Bad:

Camera controls at times are a pain, but this is somewhat acceptable as this is a common occurrence in most third person game or it may be due to my personal preference for first person viewpoint. Scoring system penalizes you for killing unnecessarily even if it is you clean up after yourself  so no one notices. This takes away from the freedom they give you in the game and detracts from that overall experience of having total control to progress how you see fit. The instinct meter decreases and replenishes haphazardly, I noticed when I needed it I had little to none there but then randomly I would accomplish things when I didn't need it that would replenish it.

What Should Have Been Added:

I think a nice addition would have been to animate more methods of assassinations or even better yet make varying cut scenes for each assassination and then give the player a choice based on the weapons he has which cut-scene to play out.

Final Thoughts:

While in and of itself a solid gaming franchise this game caters more to the fans of the series and not necessarily newcomers who might have heard good tings about the game. There is a slight learning curve involved in fully appreciating everything that this game has to offer but that shouldn't be a deterrent to any gamers out there but instead an incentive to enjoy the game to its fullest. Hope you enjoy the game-play commentary as always and as always keep on gaming...

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Death Before Dishonor

Gameplay - 10/10

Storyline - 8/10

Graphics - 10/10

Game Score : 28/30

So we had this for a little while now on the lineup to play but Episode 4 of The Walking Dead came out in the same week so we chose to play that instead. Yaay us! Fast forward to this week we dive headfirst into this exciting new IP (Intellectual Property) called Dishonored. It has been heralded as a win for the ideal of new and original ideas still having a place in our world along with the idea that you don't need a multi-player aspect to a game to make it a success. With that said lets showcase the awesomeness that is Dishonored...

Dishonored is a 2012 first-person stealth action adventure video game developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It was released worldwide in October 2012 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. The game is played from a first-person perspective and allows the player to tackle a series of assassination missions in a variety of ways, with an emphasis on player choice. Missions can be tackled by stealth, combat or a combination of both. Exploring levels opens new paths and alternatives for accomplishing mission goals, and it is possible to complete all missions and eliminate all of Attano's targets in a non-lethal manner. The story and missions are modified based on violent actions, or lack thereof, committed by the player.

Dishonored is played with an emphasis placed on stealth action and the use of gadgets and the environment to eliminate opposing forces. The game world is a series of self-contained, mission-focused sandboxes designed to allow for multiple avenues of exploration in terms of in-game movement and powers. Dishonored also features role-playing game elements such as the ability to upgrade powers and moral choices with focus on non-linear consequences. The game is designed to allow the player to complete it without killing any NPC, including boss characters and mission targets. Actions committed by the player are not judged to be of a good or evil morality, but instead are tracked by a "chaos" system that records how much collateral damage, violent actions and deaths are caused by the player. The game world is modified by how little or much damage is caused, affecting story decisions with an emphasis on not punishing the player or forcing them to choose one style of play over another.

Whats Good:

Creativity is off the chain in this game. There is so much freedom to shape and mold your game-play experience as you see fit that it boggles the mind. You can play the game as a perfectionist completing and collecting all quests and item upgrades or you can play as a ruthless assassin hell bent on killing everything in his path. Then couple that with the fact that the game changes accordingly with the choices you make in regards to being stealthy or not and you have yourself a game with immense replay value.

Whats Bad:

Honestly not much was really missing from this game my only issues were with finding certain mission objectives via the onscreen location markers and fall damage. Aside from that the story was a bit cliche but it fits with the overall theme of the game so I can't really hate on it. Also didn't care much for the game sort of forcing you to collect the Runes and Bone ruins to level up your abilities since that kind of forces you along on the path of exploration if you want to maximize your powers.

What Should Have Been Added:

Honestly I can't think of anything that would have made this that much of a greater game.

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