Super Mario Kart - 101 Racers

Just thought you might enjoy this little video by Hat-Loving Gamer on YouTube.




Alas, tis just an animation....but a boy can dream. Be sure to check out the other videos from Hat-Loving Gamer by clicking the link on their name above the video.

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How To Survive

How To Survive
Platform: PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U
Genre: Action-RPG-Survival-Horror

Kovac's Rules: If you find yourself here on this island, then you had better prepare to fight, to survive.

Basically, this is a really bloody good game, with an awful lot going for it. It's a top-down, isometric view game, whereby you play as a survivor who crashed his/her boat onto a strange island after receiving duff info about how safe the seas were. Upon waking, you find that the island you have landed on is chocked full of zombies, junk, strange plants and parts of a survival guide called "Kovac's Rules", written by...well...Kovac.

You will eventually get to meet this Kovac (and other random survivors) who will start to train you how to survive by eating the right plants, crafting awesome weapons and tools (over 100 combinations to be made) and giving you tips and hints on how to survive, hence the name!

The gameplay is very easy with either a gamepad or keyboard and mouse, and you can play multiplayer either locally on the same machine or over the interweb. It's a good idea for noobies to start off with the Story Mode which will ease you into the game, progressively getting harder as you go on, but then there are other game modes such as Iron Man or Barricade to test your skills when you choose to go for them. The inventories and skills menus are intuitive and well thought out, and for a game that has the potential to be overly complex, it's pretty easy to pick up and play from scratch.

This isn't just a run and gun type game though, you need to eat, sleep and drink to survive, using Kovac's special armoured huts to sleep or filling up water bottles from the various wells to drink and of course hunt the variety of wild animals to get more food if you don't want to just eat the exotic flora. Running low on these things will mess you up, from slowing you down to putting your aim off and also killing you, so you need to keep up your strength because the biggest enemies are those 3 ramma-jammas right there!

The sounds are pretty much spot on, the sound effects of the zombies and monsters being spot on, what music there is being again - spot on, the only thing that quibbled to knock it down a bit was some of the annoying sounds like the background animals - but it's a minor quibble, nothing that's game breaking or owt!

The visuals are brilliant, just what you'd want from a game such as this - nothing earth shattering, but exactly what you want and would expect from a game like this, the fire and water looks good in the game (something I always look for is good water and fire...just a thing of mine), the zombies are good and gruesome and the environments are really great. Even the menus look good, God bless you sir.

All in all, a very good game one that is very much worthy of it's scores below...

Gameplay: 9 - Easy and intuitive gameplay, smooth controls with either gamepad or keyboard & mouse. 
Sound: 8 - Brilliant sounds all round from the menus to the music to the zombies growls.
Visuals: 9 - Absolutely on point for a game like this, a great example of games like this showing substance over style....with a lot of style!
Replayability: 8 - Very much an awesomely replayable game, but maybe needs a bit of time in between play throughs.
Fun Factor: 9 - Awesome good fun, killing zombies in weird and wonderful ways with the help of Kovac's Rules!

Overall Percentage Score: 86% - A must buy really, with fun gameplay easy to grasp controls, lacing humour and horror into this brilliant weave of a game that doesn't disappoint and tapers the difficulty in a great way that doesn't leave you bored and doesn't push too far, too soon. Just remember to pay attention to Kovac's Rules!

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Bewjeweled 3

Bejeweled 3
Platform: PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, iOS, Windows Phone
Genre: Puzzle

Right well, let me start off the whole tone of this review by letting you know one simple thing which you should definitely bare in mind: I only own this game, as it was free in one of Origin's "On The House" offers.

Bejeweled 3, much like Bejeweled and even Bejeweled 2 is a puzzle game about swapping jewel tiles to make at least a row of 3 to get through 4 different game modes: 

• Classic (continuously play until there are no possible moves)
• Zen (much like Classic, but there is no end, and calming music plays to relax players)
• Lightning (essentially time-trial mode)
• Quest which has a fairly sizeable amount of mini-games and puzzles. 

There are other game modes, but you need to play and unlock them by playing the 4 game modes listed above. The visuals are OK, if not a little too much for a game such as this, and the sounds are just grating. I played the Zen mode for a while and the sounds are grating and any sense of "zen" is undone by the weirdly deep and slightly gravelling voice saying "AWESOME" when you put together a decent combo.

Although yes, it's essentially Candy Crush Saga, but that's kind of like saying that (by no way am I comparing the greatness of these games by the way) Quake is essentially Battlefield 3. Do you get what I'm saying? Yes they are both the same genre, yes the gameplay is similar, but they aren't comparable, not really.

This was always going to be a very quick fire review, because essentially life is too short for games like this, I would seriously not recommend putting your hand in your wallet for this, but if it's free (legitimately so) then fill your boots.

Gameplay: 5 - Easy to pick up and play, but boring no real challenge.
Sound: 4 - Grating, overloading with various sound effects, music and voice overs doesn't enhance, it detracts.
Visuals: 4 - Essentially the same reasoning as the sound, it's focus on weird shiny graphics serve to pull the game down further showing that no matter how you dress one up, a turd is a turd.
Replayability: 3 - Boring and repetitive.
Fun Factor: 5 - Not really fun at all, maybe for a 10-15 minute break here and there but with no real progressive game modes (like the level system in Candy Crush) this game falls flat.

Overall Percentage Score: 42% - Don't bother. I only own it because it was free through Origin, and even then I had to "um and urr" for a bit before downloading. Repetitive, boring, and overloaded with crap sounds and OTT graphics make this game one of the worst I own.

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Killing Floor

Killing Floor
Platform: PC
Genre: FPS Survival Horror

Straight in with another game that I've played on and off for the last 6-7 years or so - Killing Floor.

I wont go into the background or anything, or even attempt to make out that the plot is remotely important - it isn't - but basically a mad scientist has unleashed a load of weird mutant clones onto the city of London, himself being the Patriarch of these mutants and it's your job as a part of what's left of either the Met Police or the British Army to kill the clones in waves ending with the Patriarch either on your own or with some chums/strangers online. Simple right? Right!

It's your basic wave style game with each wave increasing in difficulty and number of enemies until the final wave consisting of the Patriarch who is a bit of a bitch to kill and will hunt you down.

There are some DLC packs that you could purchase through Steam as well, and you can explore fan-made mods that you can then implement into your game via the Steam Workshop.

The music can get grating after a few minutes but the sound effects are pretty much as you would expect for a game such as this. The visuals are OK, but considering it was originally made in 2005 as a fan made mod from Unreal Tournement 2004, they aren't going to be as good as you would expect from more recent games - however this doesn't detract from how fun the game is and how it can pull you back in time and time again.

It's easy to pick up and play, it's difficulties scale up pretty well and it's damn good fun especially when playing online.

Gameplay: 8 - Easy to pick up and play, smooth easy gameplay, classic FPS game style.
Sound: 7 - Crap music, otherwise all good!
Visuals: 7 - Decent graphics, not demanding on your PC at all.
Replayability: 8 - Although it can be forgotten among your other games, it's ability to pull you back in time and time and time again is exceptionally high.
Fun Factor: 9 - Overall, this is as fun an FPS as you can get. Well deserved 9/10.

Overall Percentage Score: 78% - definitely worth going for whenever you have the cash to hand, fun, varying difficulties, and easy gameplay make this a really good game for your collection, sound and visuals let it down slightly but not enough to stop you purchasing it.

Toolbox24

DOOM Trailer

OK. Well this is pretty much at the top of my wishlist right now and for good, gore-infested reasons. DOOM returning to it's roots of being a run and gun blood-fest.

Please watch this trailer from Bethesda/id Software at your own discretion.




The only minor downside thus far? No out-of-the-box co-op. There will be an extensive level creator however which can be made to cater for co-op play - so there is hope yet, especially with the fast-paced multiplayer that will no doubt keep players hooked for many a late night.

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This video and more available on Bethesda Softworks YouTube page. (LINKED)

Abyss Odyssey

Abyss Odyssey

Platforms: PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and PC (Steam)

Genre: Platform Action Adventure

I'll get right to it. In this new year of gaming reviews, Abyss Odyssey (number 2 on my list of games, chosen at random) was chosen as the first game for me to play and review, so here it is. 

This is an alright platform game cut from the same kind of cloth as Child of Light (even with some enemies looking incredibly similar, if not identical) only without the turn-based-combat-RPG element that helped make Child of Light so fun and playable. The combat can feel a little button-bashy, an the way your character Katrien moves is a little on the clunky side.

However, this game does have some truly beautiful art work and music, and the sound effects are of a high quality.

This game was created by Chilean games developer ACE Team and the game itself must be set in around 19th Century Chile, where a mysterious and powerful Warlock is dreaming deep underground, and due to his power, his dreams are creating weird and dark demons and monsters which are attacking the surface world. It is up to you, Katrien, who was also created by the Warlocks dreams, to defeat the evil, and stop the Warlock...

Overall a good little game, usually £10.99 on Steam but currently available for just £2.19 during the current sale (due to end 12-Feb-16), which I would definitely recommend - I would not however recommend paying the full price for it. Wait until the next sale if you're reading this too late!

Scores:
Gameplay: 5 - Not great, but not exactly terrible. A little too clunky and button bashy.
Sound: 8 - Beautiful music and well worked sound effects.
Visuals: 8 - Stunning art work, a beautiful game.
Replayability: 5 - Due to clunky gameplay and button bashiness, I doubt I'll be going back to Abyss Odyssey for a second or third helping any time soon, but it's not entirely out of the picture!
Fun Factor: 7 - Despite the gameplay and replayability middle of the road scores, it is a fun game and will definitely fill a few hours of gaming.

Overall Percentage Score: 66% - Worth a punt if it's on sale, otherwise I would spend your money elsewhere. Add to your Steam Wishlist to find out when it's on sale at quick notice!

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New Year, New MonkeyBoxGaming

Well it's been another long time since last I posted, however I have a new impetus to play and review. Only my reviews aren't going to be long winded - they are going to provide you, my loyal reader (I shouldn't really talk to myself), with the information you need in a bite size amount to do what a game review is meant to do - help you decide if you should buy said game.

I will provide a short written review of the game, giving you a slice of qualitative feedback on it, and then I'll provide you with something most people look for and that is the quantitative feedback on the game.

Now each game will have a percentage score, based on scoring on 5 different areas that I deem important: 

• Gameplay - is it easy to learn? Is it challenging enough? Are the controls intuitive? etc. 
• Sound - including music.
• Visuals - not just "are the graphics high quality?", but do I find the game visually appealing? This will include things such as menus, HUDs, backgrounds, all major and minor details.
• Replayability - is it good enough to go in for sloppy seconds? Thirds? Scheduled annual replays?
• Fun Factor - Perhaps the most important aspect of any game, "Is it fun?"

Each of these areas will have a score out of 10 (with a maximum overall score of 50), this score is then doubled to create the score out of 100 or its percentage score.

I have a pretty decent amount of games, some shit, some amazing, and I'll be randomly picking which game to play and review, that first review will be coming soon. Promise.

Toolbox24

Bucket List Games

Bucket List Games

This is MonkeyBoxGaming. The place where games go to be loved up and down. And because of this, I thought I’d go through some games that should be on a proverbial bucket list of games that you should play in your life, preferably before you die. Hence – Bucket List Games.

Now there are a lot of games that would make many others lists, games that I thought about but ultimately decided against, and games that I just haven’t played. But the list is as follows.

Super Mario Bros 3

Now we start with a classic. Essentially, without Mario and the popularity of Mario, a lot of people wouldn’t be playing games today. The premise is quite frankly, the stuff of a mad man’s drug induced hallucination. A pair of Italian plumber brothers end up in a fairy tale land of aggressive turtles and peaceful mushroom people, and have to rescue a princess from a weird humanoid crocodile/dragon hybrid. Instant winner right? Well…right! Platform gaming at its finest, colourful, iconic music, replayable and fun from start to finish. A game that spawned a generation of gamers, myself included.

Minecraft

This one almost slipped my mind. After chatting with the wife (Carriecakes) this game immediately came to her mind and rightly so. Open world gaming at its simplistic best, and again a game with a premise that – on paper – seems strange in a gaming world of blockbuster Hollywood-esque titles. The premise is that there is no premise. Just go and build, mine, build, mine and try not to get killed by the mobs that come out at night and in the dark. Yes there are bosses, such as the Ender Dragon, but defeating it is no sign of completion. It’s as addictive a game as has ever been made, and proof that graphics don’t necessarily make the game. Another game that has spawned a generation of gamers, but also potential architects in the process.

The Secret of Monkey Island

Aaah now here is a game that does have a good premise! You are Guybrush Threepwood, aspiring mighty pirate and all round…erm…how appropriate! You fight like a cow! Now that’s not right. In a golden age of Lucasarts Adventure games including The Dig, Indiana Jones and Maniac Mansion to name a few, Monkey Island came along jam packed with gags and broke the fourth wall so often that it was reduced to a small pile of bricks and dust. Point and click adventure games were all the rage, and rightly so, they illuminated the 90’s gaming scene and seemed like they’d be with us forever. And after many years in the wilderness, have been resurrected pretty much single handed by TellTale Games. But that’s all beside the point. From complicated but ultimately hilarious puzzle quests and a fighting mechanic based on insulting each other, Monkey Island showed us that games could be funny, while also being playable. Classic characters like LeChuck or Stan and a game that consistently hit you with gags and funny lines set in the pirate infested Caribbean makes this game timeless. The HD remaster took nothing away from the game (so much so you can switch seamlessly between HD and Classic with the only difference being the graphics) this is one game that you need to chuckle your way through to the end.

Wolf 3D

I’ve mentioned Wolf 3D numerous times on this blog, and with good reason. Now there are lots of firsts in gaming. First game with a female protagonist (Ms Pac Man), first motion capture game (Rise of Robots), first electronic RPG (m199h) and many more. However the modern era of gaming can owe a lot to Wolf 3D. Called the “Granddaddy of the FPS”, this game is where modern blockbusters including Call of Duty and Battlefield can trace their roots. Set in WW2, you are BJ Blazkowicz, and you are being held prisoner in Castle Wolfenstein, until you overpower your guard and with a pistol and 8 bullets, you must now fight through waves of Nazi’s to escape. Well that’s Episode One. You need to run-and-gun your way through floor after floor of enemies and battle evil bosses such as Hans and Gretal Grosse, Doctor Schabbs and even Adolf Hitler himself. A game that must be played at some point in your life to truly understand the FPS genre.

Candy Crush Saga

Right let me explain. Candy Crush is a game, and is the only casual game you’ll see on this list. The reason it is on there is because it’s a game that keeps pulling you back into it, and is quick and easy to pick up and play whenever you want. On the bus? Play some Candy Crush. Walking to work? Play some Candy Crush. Having a dump? Play some Candy Crush. Simple to play and frustrating as hell at times, you need to play this if only to see why most people seem to be playing it.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

KoTOR for short, this game is epic in scope and set so far away from the movie franchise (almost 4,000 years in fact) that being a fan of the films is not necessarily a pre-requisite requirement. A game of huge scope, friendship, betrayal, love and loss, this Star Wars game is storytelling done right. Expect to take anywhere between 25 – 40 hours to complete, this is undoubtedly one of the jewels in the Bioware crown. Wield and customise your lightsaber (or sabers – plural) hone your Force abilities and walk the line between the Light and the Dark Side.

GTA: Vice City

Realistically a list such as this couldn’t go by without a GTA game involved. And after some soul searching, including thinking about GTA III where the 3^rd person GTA’s started, or San Andreas being quite simply one of the best games of all time I had to go with Vice City. Set in the 80’s, it’s bright, hard hitting and GTA all over from start to finish. Tommy Vercetti is the name, and Scarface is the game. Impossible to play without nodding your head constantly to the amazing soundtrack and a storyline with such a good backbone to it you’d be mad to bypass it – even though it is easy enough to do with San Andreas and the most recent iteration of GTA V both being world beating games. Well worth your time and well worth being on this list.

Red Dead Redemption

Another Rockstar game, this time set in the dying days of the Old West. A magnificent and beautiful game that has a storyline worthy of a multiple award winning movie blockbuster. John Marston is forced by the Federal Government to do their bidding by hunting down and either bringing in or killing his old gang-mates in exchange for the safe return of his wife and son. Revolutions and cattle ranching sit alongside his story and the DLC – Undead Nightmare – has to be included in this entry as it’s an outstanding additional story that could have easily been a standalone game (when you consider some games that are released standalone this is better than a lot of them). Classic GTA style gameplay, with horses and carts replacing motor vehicles and enough side quests and places to explore to keep you hooked and keep you coming back for more.

Heavy Rain

Out of any game I’ve played, Heavy Rain is the most like playing through a movie that I’ve ever experienced. Children are going missing, and then being found in random locations, drowned with a piece of Origami placed in their hand. You play a father still coping with the loss of his oldest son, whose only other son is the latest to go missing. You also play a private investigator who is looking into the murders himself and looking for the likely culprit. Oh and you also play as a drug addict FBI agent, who is drafted into the city to assist in the investigation. And finally you also play as a freelance photojournalist who suffers from insomnia and night terrors who ends up looking into the murders herself. The game doesn’t follow the usual path of games – whereby if you make a mistake, just load your last save and try again – no it’s a lot harsher than that. You make a mistake with a character, a mistake that could even kill that character, and that’s it. That character is now dead and out of the game. Because of this, there are multiple endings for each character, which then results in multiple overall endings when put together. Compelling and incredibly drama filled, this game needs to be played by most gamers if only for the snap decisions you are forced into making especially when you put yourself in each characters shoes.

Plants vs Zombies

A lighter note. PvZ is another game on this list with a ridiculous premise. Zombies are overrunning the world, so your obvious choice of defence is some sunflowers and pea-shooters. Aided by Crazy Dave and faced with multiple types of enemy, including the standard zombie, and harder zombies that might have a bucket on their head or holding a screen door, or zombie American Footballers or even zombies on the back of zombie dolphins, this game is as ridiculous as they come. And it’s also one of the most satisfying games to play and complete that you will ever play. Simple and easy to understand gameplay, it’s easy to learn but can be quite hard to master. The song at the end will have you randomly singing in a zombie voice “There’s butter on my head” for months.

Civilization II

Civ II is a masterful game of turn based strategy greatness. Start off with nothing but a unit of nomadic settlers around 3000 BC and start your empire. Research technologies wage war, make peace, create wonders and vie to be the greatest Civilization on the planet. Play through scenarios, or play on a map of our world, or play through randomly generated maps, just play this game and prepare your body for the lack of sleep that it will bring. One of the cornerstone games of the 90’s, its popularity deserves an HD remaster with no extra bells or whistles attached to it. The close second in this series of games is Civilization V – well worth the outlay as well.

Portal

I suppose not strictly a FPS in the sense that what you’re shooting is a gun with bullets or lasers or some other projectile meant to harm. What you’re shooting is a Portal gun. Create 2 portal holes on the walls, floors or ceilings to create a doorway through the dimensions so you can enter here -> () and come out…

()-> here. Work your way through the Aperture Science lab being guided by GLaDOS and work your way to the elusive cake at the end of the Portal Tunnel…it won’t take you long to play through, but some puzzles will seemingly take forever. Another game with a wonderful post-game song, and required playing for sane gamers looking for a slice of insane thinking in order to get through.

LIMBO

Another game on the list that can easily be described as simplistic. A platform game set in a strange dark place, inhabited by giant spiders, Lord of the Flies type kids, random machine gun turrets, gravity defying machines, and puzzle after puzzle after puzzle after puzzle with an ending that is as open to interpretation as Inception. A dark world of silhouettes and danger round every corner and over every jump, prepare to do everything you can to get your little guy to the end where he is so desperate to be.

Mass Effect

Right. Now a list that I was going to write about this kind of stuff wouldn’t be complete without Bioware’s space opera. A true action-RPG in a sci-fi universe that actually dares to be as deep and meaningful as Star Wars and Star Trek. Politics, a brilliant morality system, and a system of saves that carry’s your decisions over from one game to the next. You are Commander Shepard, and this is your story. Now Bioware, famously copped a lot of flak for the way the trilogy ended, and even more when they released a graphic stating along the lines of “It’s not the destination it’s the journey” – or something like that, but over the years that is completely true. There’s nothing like forging the strong bonds between your crew and fighting insurmountable odds all the while feeling like you’re a part of a much larger universe. A must play game (and trilogy) that I’ve probably played enough to fill up the worlds quota of play time on this game.

Right, well that’s it. For now. If I think of any others or play a game that make me immediately want to add it on, I’ll let you know. These aren’t in any particular order and these are just a handful of the great swathes of amazing games out there.

Toolbox24

Short Review - Child of Light

Short Review - Child of Light

Wow. I first saw a trailer for Child of Light in April 2014 (here's the post avec trailer), and I thought, "That looks like a really beautiful game. I must play that one day."

Then things happened, work, Leeds United stuff, life...and I pretty much forgot it's existence. But boy if ever there was an advert for having a Wishlist on Steam, this would be it. When I first saw the trailer, I put the game immediately on my Steam Account Wishlist - a great thing to do, as you'll then get email notifications when games on your wishlist are on sale. And I am so glad I did with Child of Light.

Massively reduced in the recent Steam Summer Sale, I had to grab it - for £1.99, it's a bargain. Less than a meal deal from the shop or just a couple of bottles of Coke. And to be honest, this is probably the best £1.99 I've ever spent on a game.

The game is a mixture of platformer and turn based RPG. You are Aurora, a young girl who has seemingly died in her sleep, in typical fairy-tale fashion, only to awake in the mysterious world of Lemuria. The fairy-tale part of this is apt, as there are nods to Sleeping Beauty, the tale of King Arthur and Snow White to name a few, and the whole game is the closest I've felt to being in a fairy-tale - which is important being a father of 2 princesses.

You embark on an adventure across Lemuria picking up companions from your light up buddy Igniculous, to the little dwarven wizard Finn from the village of Capilli , the mousey Populi trader Robert, the Aerostati jester Rubella and many more to boot. The narrative of the entire game takes place as a massive poem, even when noticing strange runes or talking with NPC's for side-quests...except Rubella, who seems to have trouble rhyming - only to be corrected by various other characters.

Another aspect that is immediately apparent, is the wonderful beauty of the game. I've played an awful lot of games in the past almost-25 years, but I must say, this is just another level. Every animation is so fluid, there is no clunky part to the graphics or the gameplay, and playing the game feels like such a natural thing it's as if I were born simply to play this. The learning curve is so small, it's barely a curve at all - this is thanks in large part due to the simple controls, and the easy to work out game mechanics. Some games are stunning and epic in scope...but are so hard to work out, and have such a steep learning curve, that it becomes something of a chore to play them - which defeats the object somewhat.

The music and sounds on the game are just as stunning, I am constantly finding myself whistling the little tune that Aurora plays on her flute (the main theme from the game) and the music can really help you lose yourself in the game for hours on end.

You travel Lemuria in the style of a platformer, exploring the lands and avoiding obstacles and encountering foes. This is where the majority of the game is spent, and this is where the movement feels so fluid. The fighting takes place in classic turn-based RPG style, with you and your enemies on opposite sides of the screen facing off.

There are certain tactics to employ pre-fight, by using Oculi. These are gems to use that you collect such as Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald which add extras to your weapons such as Lightening, Fire and Water. So suppose you're in a fiery area, facing off against fiery foes, using Sapphire to add water damage to your weapon, and adding Ruby to your defence will add Fire resistence etc. It's quite simple, but you should really stay on top as you can craft new Oculi  for example 3 rough gems will create a tumbled gem, 3 tumbled gems will create a faceted gem, 3 faceted gems will create a brilliant gem - each getting more powerful as you go along. You can also mix gems to create other gems to add light damage or dodge abilities etc.

Finally, the Skill Trees. The above screenshot shows my current skill tree after completing the game and starting a New Game+ (once you've completed the game, you can go through again with the enemies being harder and your skill set from the first playthrough intact). It's all very simple and very easy to understand, such as adding extra physical or magical defence or hit points or magic points or increasing the power of your attack or defensive moves. Again, it's all so simple.

I would love to go into more detail about the story of the game, but I shan't. Rest assured that it's like a classic fairy-tale, a story of light vs dark, and redemption of a wonderful and mysterious land. In all honesty, out of the dozens or hundreds of games that I've played, Child of Light lends itself to a film adaptation more than any other game (including my beloved Mass Effect - mainly due to the amount of options in Mass Effect etc). The game is stunningly beautiful, incredibly easy to get to grips with and so easily playable you'll feel like you're watching a gorgeous story unfold as opposed to playing a game. Just be aware that you'll need to register (for free) with uPlay, Ubisoft's tiny version of Origin and Steam. But that's no biggy. You'll run through the game in between 14-17 hours, and it will be some of the most satisfying hours you'll spend playing a game.

Overall Score: 10/10 - Rarely does one find a diamond in the rough. This diamond shines brilliantly and beautifully.

Short Review - Age of Empires II

Short Review - Age of Empires II

If you have owned a PC between 1999 and now, and haven't played AoEII, then quite frankly there's a part of your soul missing. It's an amazing game with an even more amazing support structure - as I write, Steam is currently downloading an update for it at close to 800mb. That's support still coming 16 years after the release date - with no sign as yet of it stopping.

AoEII is a RTS (Real Time Strategy), meaning that while you're tinkering away doing your thing your opponent, be it AI or person is also tinkering away doing there thing. Anyway, enough of "What is a RTS 101", onto the game and why you should be playing it.

The single player game consists of 2 main parts, the Campaign and Standard Game. The Campaign has you battling through several different campaigns from the medieval world, from William Wallace's battles in Scotland to Ghengis Khan's horseback archers to Joan of Arc.

The campaigns are a good way to learn the basics of the game and to pass some time with missions that have varying meaning as opposed to just "Defeat the enemy".

The standard game lets you set the objectives, you can either win by dominating and either conquering all other players or forcing them to resign; win by building a Wonder and having it stand for a set length of time, win by obtaining control of all relics that are randomly dotted across the map; Regicide - where all players have a king who you must keep safe, if the king dies, you're out as well as a few other game types.

You tend to start games in the Dark Age, advancing through to the Feudal Age, the Castle Age and finally the Imperial Age. This is meant to span approximately 1,000 years of civilization. You need to do things in order to progress through the ages, such as building certain buildings and acquiring a set amount of gold and in some cases food. You do this by creating villagers, who can then mine stone and gold, cut wood and gather food by hunting, farming, foraging and fishing. By gathering these supplies you can then use your villagers to construct buildings from houses (to boost your population limit), to barracks to build infantry units to castles or Wonders from Hagia Sofia to the Cathedral or Chartres.

The game is simple to pick up and simple to get to grips with, but can be difficult to master - as is found by the amount of times I've been mercilessly destroyed online. It's a simple game that can suck you in for hours at a time if you're not careful, and the sound effects and music just go along with it all so perfectly they feel like a snug blanket, keeping you cosy while playing.

It's all simple point-and-click controls, and the only feature which I feel could have added more to the game (especially in it's 2013 HD Remaster) would be a simple zoom function.

Overall Score: 9/10 - as an RTS it's near perfect and a wonderful way to spend an evening or afternoon.

Short Review - Gunpoint

Short Review - Gunpoint (PC)

Gunpoint is a puzzle game with a difference. It's a game with simple goals, but with complex routes to achieve them. It's a game where the story is appealing and there is also a good vein of humour running through it.

You're Richard Conway, freelance spy. You've just purchased a pair of Bullfrog brand hypertrousers, giving you the ability to jump ridiculously high and land safely from those heights. You can hack computer systems and are as violent as your mouse finger dictates.

You are caught up in a murder mystery purely by chance...testing your new hypertrousers in your apartment and falling into the office across the street...

The music is just right, smooth and cool and a constant reminder that you're in a spy related game. The simple controls are quick to get used to, and the eventual upgrades that you can achieve are useful, fun, creative...and required in some cases.

In a nutshell, the game can be completed in a night but there's a wealth of new levels created by the Steam Community. Usually sells for £6, but presently (until 22 June 2015) on sale for £3. Well worth the tiny outlay (even at full price) and has good replayability. Pick it up here.

Overall Score: 8/10 - A great little game more than worth the outlay, a perfect soundtrack for what you're playing and incredibly easy to grasp and master. Timing is critical sometimes and forward thinking a must.

Toolbox24

Casually Hardcore Gamer?

Evening all,

Now there are certain things in life that are inevitable. Taxes and death are 2 things that spring to mind, but one of the more social inevitabilities is that of labelling.

You wear lots of black, white make-up and listen to dreary sounding rock music - you're a goth.

You have a beard and wear off-beat clothes - you're a hipster.

You are a Tory voter - you're deluded.

You support Chelsea, Man Utd or Millwall - you're brainless.

The list goes on, and that list extends to the world of gaming, usually in the form of those who are fanboys, hardcore gamers, casual gamers, noobs, retro gamers and the list does tend to go on.

Now I tend to categorise myself in a group of gamers that can only be growing in size: I'm a Casually Hardcore Gamer.

Now there are certain elements that I've thought of that put's one in this category.

Firstly: You must have a passion for gaming that is unmoveable. I have a passion for gaming, have done since I was a tiny little Toolbox. Loved them all, from old DOS games like Gorillas.bas and Digger to Wolf3D, Doom and Quake, moving on through to games like Metal Gear Solid, WWF Attitude, FIFA (minus the massive amounts of alleged money embezzlement) to Championship Manager, then Football Manager, Mass Effect, GTA and many more. Gaming is a passion of mine that just cannot be quenched. Whether it's revisiting old games again, or exploring new ones - gaming doesn't get old for me.

Secondly: As much as you love gaming, life events tend to be more important. Such is life. When I was younger, I went to school or college, then after a little bit of homework or a little bit of time with my mates - the computer beckoned. Sometimes, the mates would be fobbed off or homework left to the last minute because. hey, it's CLEARLY more important to me. But then you grow up a bit - this doesn't mean that gaming is no longer important - and things happen. You get married, you have kids, you have a more responsible job. These things inevitably...get in the way. Now that could be read wrong. My wife and kids don't "get in the way" of time that I could be spent gaming...no wait, they totally do - but it's alright, cos I love them dearly and would do anything for them. So games of Toy Story Happy Families and Guess Who? or going for walks to the park or spending some quality time  with the Mrs are as, if not in a strange way MORE important than gaming. I know right, as if anything could be more important! But really, they are. I never would have thought it growing up, but there you go.

Thirdly: Time spent playing is limited - but treasured. This little nugget is so true. I don't tend to get on the computer for any "me time" until the kids have gone to play in their room before bed and the wife is on her laptop watching the tele. As much as I'd love to roll in from work, sit my fat arse down and play some GTA or Football Manger (the 2 games diving my gaming attention at the moment), that's just not gonna happen. Dinner needs to be made, the rubbish needs to be taken to the outside bin and other things need doing. But when the evening rolls round, and the kids are gone...then I'm no longer a father, or a husband. I'm Toolbox24 - gamer. The other thing though is that when I was younger, late nights gaming into the wee hours, even before work, were commonplace. I mean, I only worked at Argos, it's not like I needed to use much of my brain. Now however, I work an important job in the Civil Service, and as such, I need to go to work and actually use my brain for good. This means (unless it's the weekend) no late night gaming sesh's. So the time gaming, is minimal - especially with tea/coffee breaks with the wife - or getting the kids teeth cleaned and bedtime story read.

Fourthly: You sneak gaming in wherever and whenever you can. I work in an office. Sometimes I need to photocopy a ton of shit. While I'm stood over the photocopier waiting for it to do it's thing I could do 1 of 2 things. I could stand and wait, maybe check the stationary cupboard...OR I could whip my phone out and play some games. This sneaking of gaming in is where casual gaming comes into play. I generally wouldn't spend my evening playing Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff, or Criminal Case. No, no, no...I would however play them whilst sitting on the porcelain throne or having a tea break. And in doing so, I have played over 500 games of pool on 8 Ball Pool on Miniclip, completed pretty much every Angry Birds iteration out there and am steadily approaching level 800 on Candy Crush Saga to name but a few. Gaming is somewhat of a way of life, and it's one I am immensely happy with - be it with "proper" games or casual ones.

Fifthly: You don't play just one type of game. This one is important now, it's important for anyone who wants to really appreciate the art, sophistication and subtle nuances of gaming. Someone who just sits and plays CoD or Battlefield all day - no matter if they spend most of their days and nights doing so, can't really be called a hardcore gamer. They fit more snugly into the Fanboy category, along with the people who bicker over the superiority of the Playstation or Xbox. It's just not going to happen. I figure that you need to regularly play and enjoy at least 4 different types of game, to be embedded into the hardcore gamer fold. Now herein lies a caveat - no matter how many casual games you play, they cannot count towards the 5. The following game types can:

• First Person Shooter (Call of Duty, Battlefield, Portal etc)
• Role Playing Games (Elder Scrolls, Mass Effect, Fallout etc)
• Sports Simulator (FIFA, NBA, Madden etc)
• Real Time Strategy (Command & Conquer, Age of Empires, Starcraft etc)
• Other Strategy (Civilization, Hearthstone, etc)
• Management Simulator (Football Manager, Prison Architect, Cities: Skylines etc)
• Action/Adventure (The Witcher, GTA, Batman Arkham series etc)
• Platform (Mario, Limbo, Terraria etc)
• Survival / Horror (DayZ, Resident Evil, Dead Space etc)

The list does go on, but I would say that you need to be an aficionado of at least 4 genres - including the bonus indy game genre. Which of course is a mixture of all genres, but independently made. FTL, Game Dev Tycoon, Plague Inc: Evolved, Gunpoint to again name a few.

Roll those 5 elements together, and you have a hardcore gamer, who hasn't got time to be a hardcore gamer - so he does it casually. The usual type of gamer that this will end up being is a parent.

So yeah, I play casual games, I play proper games too. And I don't pretend that I'm some kind of divine Über gamer - I'm alright, I'm pretty decent and I occasionally have moments of greatness but overall, I'm pretty average. But that doesn't diminish how much I bloody love to play. When I get the chance. I mean even writing this, I've gotten one daughter a carrot, the other one a milk, sorted a tablet out that had disconnected from the wifi and had an incredibly brief chat with the Mrs before she went out to read her book.

So yeah. In summary, I'm a Casually Hardcore Gamer. I'm proud of this, and I won't pretend to be anything that I'm not. And I would imagine, that guys and gals who are in their mid-20's to late-30's who grew up on some awesome games in the 90's and early naughties, probably fit quite snugly into this category as well.

Nighty Night.

Toolbox24

Guess Who's Back...

Evening All,

It's been a tumultuous 12-13 months. Some personal issues, a new job, and new education for the kids. As well as a little bit of gaming here and there.

I never wanted to leave MonkeyBoxGaming, and I never wanted to take my hiatus this long.

To all none of you who read this, I'm sorry, but I'm here to make a conscious effort to try again - firstly, by cancelling the Mass Effect serialisation - I enjoyed doing it while it lasted, but it was taking so much time and with kids and work etc it didn't leave any time for some actual gaming. Also, looking back, meh - twas ambitious, to convert a 30+ hour game into a detailed written word story. Maybe if I win the Euromillions...

Anyway.

I'm going to start again, some retro reviews, some new reviews, posting trailers, opinions and other bits and pieces.

But, MBG, you were never forgotten, I love you. I always will.

Toolbox24

Mass Effect Serialisation - Intermission

Hello again, you wonderful person, you.

Just to let you know, I'll be taking a break from the Mass Effect Serialisation (MES). The 16 chapters I've done so far is over 28,000 words and I've put in as much time to write what I have as it would have taken to complete the game twice, maybe three times.

I started this project in December 2013, and it's been fun to write while I've been writing it, however I'm quite the Mass Effect lover - if you hadn't guessed that already - and doing this has stopped me from doing a clean play-through of the trilogy, which is something I last did in June/July 2013. To be perfectly honest...it's been too fucking long. In fact, even though I've been doing the MES, the closest I've felt to playing Mass Effect was downloading Shepard, Garrus, Wrex and Tali texture packs to replace Nick, Ellis, Coach and Rochelle respectively in Left 4 Dead 2, and then downloading husks to replace the common infected...yep.

I need to do a clean trilogy run...other games are enticing me for a while, like FTL or L4D2 and even jumping back into GTA5 for a bit, but nothing is grabbing my attention and I know why. Since Mass Effect 3 came out, I've done multiple trilogy runs. Paragon, Renegade, Paragade, Renegon, FemShep, ShepLoo, CustomShep, StraightShep, No Romance Shep, GayShep, etc etc, in other words, I go back time and time again to experience it all from start to finish, making subtle changes along the way to shape each experience as the tides shape the rocks on a beach.

This is the longest I've gone between play-through's and it's starting to show. It's almost like playing through the trilogy gives me fuel to then go on and play other things, and I'm not treating the MES like a normal trilogy run, but more like a working project; and as a working project, I'll need fuel to make it happen.

So that's it basically. I'm off to play Mass Effect, not work on it.

Toolbox24

Child of Light

Good Hello There.

I was just perusing around the magnificent Steam Store while thinking of what to do, and I came across a game that is out on 30th April 2014. That game is Child of Light.

It drew me in with it's beautiful artwork, and after watching the following trailer I immediately added it to my Steam Wishlist so that when I can, I can easily find it again and purchase as a little gift from me, to me.

What struck me about it is that the game just looks stunningly beautiful. Not just that but it sounds beautiful and looks to be a mix of turn-based-RPG and platform with more than a sprinkle of JRPG added to the mix as well.

Here is the trailer, watch for yourself.

It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but few games are. This however speaks to me as a gamer who appreciates good story and certain unique qualities which have to be played to truly be understood.

I hope that Child of Light delivers on both.

Toolbox24

Mass Effect Serialisation – Chapter 16

Mass Effect Serialisation – Chapter 16

Welcoming Liara

The team that Shepard had assembled, including the newly recruited Liara T’Soni were in the briefing room of the Normandy as they left Therum. They only had to travel to Noveria or Feros, but first they would have to return to the Citadel in order to brief Ambassador Udina in person, also so they could inform Admiral Kahoku of the fate of his marines on Edolus.

Shepard entered the briefing room, as Joker spoke to them through the comm.

“Too close, Commander. Ten more seconds and we’d have been swimming in molten sulphur. The Normandy isn’t equipped to land in exploding volcanoes. They tend to fry our sensors and melt our hull… Just for future reference.” Joker said sarcastically,

“We almsot died out there and your pilot is making jokes?” Liara said, very confused,

“Joker pulled our asses out of there. I think he’s earned the right to a few bad jokes.” Shepard explained,

“I see. It must be a human thing. I’m afraid I don’t have much experience dealing with your species, Commander.” Liara conceded. “But I am grateful to you. You saved my life back there. And not just from the volcano. Those geth would have killed me, or dragged me off to Saren.”

“What did Saren want with you? Do you know something about the Conduit?” Kaidan asked,

“Only that it was somehow connected to the Prothean extinction. That is my real area of expertise. I have spent the past fifty years trying to figure out what happened to them.” Liara said,

“How old are you, exactly?” Shepard asked, taken aback by her revelation of studying the prothean extinction longer than he’d been alive.

“I hate to admit it, but I am only a hundred and six.” She replied,

“Damn!” Ashley said, “I hope I look that good when I’m your age.”

“A century may seem like a long time to a short-lived species like yours. But among the asari, I am barely considered more than a child.” She said, clearly bitter that she’s still seen as a young girl to her peers. “That is why my research has not received the attention it deserves. Because of my youth, other asari scholars tend to dismiss my theories on what happened to the Protheans.”

“I’ve got my own theory on why the Protheans disappeared.” Shepard said with the knowledge from the beacon on Eden Prime bubbling just below the surface of his consciousness,

“With all due respect, Commander, I have heard every theory out there. The problem is finding evidence to support them. The Protheans left remarkably little behind.” Liara replied, “It is almost as if someone did not want the mystery solved. It’s like someone came along after the Protheans were gone and cleansed the galaxy of clues. But here is the incredible part. According to my findings, the Protheans were no the first galactic civilization to mysteriously vanish. This cycle began long before them.”

“Where’d you come up with this theory? I thought there wasn’t any evidence.” Shepard asked, intrigued by what Liara’s theory entailed.

“I have been working on this for fifty years. I have tracked down every scrap and shread of evidence. Eventually, subtle patterns start to emerge. Patterns that hint at the truth. It is difficult to explain to someone else. I cannot point to one specific thing to prove my case. It is more a feeling derived from a half-century of dedicated research.” Liara said with conviction, “But I know I’m right. And eventually, I will be able to prove it. There were other civilizations before the Protheans. This cycle has repeated itself many times over.”

“What cycle? What do you mean?” Shepard asked,

“The galaxy is built on a cycle of extinction. Each time a great civilization rises up, it is suddenly and violently cast down. Only ruins survive. The Protheans rose up from a single world until their empire spanned the entire galaxy.” Liara started to explain, clearly delighted to be able to talk in detail about the subject, “Yet even they climbed to the top on the remains of those who came before. Their greatest achievements – the mass relays and the Citadel – are based on the technology of those who came before them. And then, like all the other forgotten civilizations throughout galactic history, the Protheans disappeared. I have dedicated my life to figuring out why.”

“They were wiped out by a race of sentient machines. The Reapers.” Shepard revealed,

“The…the Reapers? But I have never heard of…How do you know this? What evidence do you have?” Liara said, with a mix of excitement and bemusement.

“There was a damaged Prothean beacon on Eden Prime. It burned a vision into my mind. I’m still trying to sort out what it all means.” Shepard said,

“Visions? Yes, that makes sense. The beacons were designed to transmit information directly into the mind of the user. Finding one that still works is extremely rare. It’s no wonder that the geth attacked Eden Prime. The chance to acquire a working beacon – even a badly damaged one – is worth almost any risk.” Liara said, gathering momentum, “But the beacons were only programmed to interact with Prothean physiology. Whatever information you received would have been confused, unclear. I am amazed you were able to make sense of it at all. A lesser mind would have been utterly destroyed by the process. You must be remarkably strong willed, Commander.”

“This isn’t helping us find Saren. Or the Conduit.” Ashley said, clearly irked by the attention Liara was giving Shepard.

“Of course, you’re right. I am sorry. My scientific curiosity got the better of me. Unfortunately, I do not have any information that could help you find the Conduit. Or Saren.” Liara said,

“I don’t know why Saren wanted you out of the picture. But I think we’ll be a lot better off if we bring you along with us.” Shepard said,

“Thank you, Commander.” Liara replied, standing to be next to Shepard, “Saren might come after me again. I cannot think of anywhere safer than here on your ship. And my knowledge of the Protheans may be of use to you later on.”

“And her biotics will come in handy when the fighting starts.” Wrex added with a grin,

“Well we’ve got every other non-human species on board, may as well add an asari to the list.” Shepard said, half-joking,

“Thank you, Commander. I am very gratef…whoa. I am afraid I’m feeling a little light-headed.” Liara said, losing her footing slightly,

“When was the last time you ate? Or slept?” Kaidan asked worried, “Dr Chakwas should take a look at you.”

“It is probably just mental exhaustion, coupled with the shock of finding out the Protheans’ true fate. I need some time to process all this.” Liara said, “Still, it could not hurt to be examined by a medical professional. It will give me the chance to think things over. Are we finished here Commander?”

“Go see the Doctor. The rest of you – dismissed.” Shepard said with his authoritative tone,

The team stood and left the briefing room, as they did, the comm crackled.

“Mission reports are filed, Commander. You want me to patch you through to the Council?” Joker asked through the comm.

“Patch them though, Joker.” Shepard said, as Joker did so. Almost immediately, the Council appeared in the briefing room as holograms.

“We’ve received your report, Commander. I understand Dr T’Soni is on the Normandy.” The Asari Councillor, Tevos, said,

“I assume you’re taking the necessary security precautions?” The Turian Councillor, Sparatus, added,

“Don’t tell me how to do my job.” Shepard said at Sparatus, annoyed at his assertion that he hadn’t considered Liara to be a threat,

“We are not trying to tell you how to carry out your job, Commander. We are merely here to offer advice and guidance.” Tevos intervened.

“It is up to you if you’re smart enough to listen.” Sparatus snapped at Shepard. At that, Shepard decided he’d heard enough from the turian.

“I don’t need this.” He said gruffly and more than a little tired, as he disconnected the link.

“Communications cut, Commander.” Joker chuckled over the comm. Shepard, stood for a moment, gathering his thoughts. He decided to go and see Liara in the Med Bay to check up on her, she had been through quite an ordeal on Therum, and wanted to see that she was alright.

Shepard went down to the Med Bay and saw that Dr Chakwas had finished with Liara, and that Liara had set herself up in the Med Bay’s back room, he approached her to talk. She was sat at a desk, and heard him enter. She immediately stood to face him and looked at him with her big doe-like eyes.

“Commander, have you come to check on me?” she asked,

“Yes, you seem to be doing well now. Is everything alright?” Shepard replied,

“Dr Chakwas assures me I’m going to be fine. I was impressed with her knowledge of asari physiology.” Liara replied, gratefully.

“She knows what she’s doing, you’re in good hands.” Shepard said,

“I never properly thanked you for saving me from the geth, if you hadn’t showed up when you did…” Liara said before Shepard cut her off,

“Don’t mention it. I’m just glad we got there in time.” He said,

“Thank you. And thank you for taking a chance on me. I have seen the way the crew look at me – they do not trust me. But I am not like Benezia. I will do whatever I can to help you stop Saren. I promise.” Liara said, determined to prove her worth and her loyalty.

“Don’t worry Liara, I know you will. I trust you.” Shepard said, reassuringly.

“It means a lot to hear you say that, thank you Commander.” Liara said with a coy smile.

“Tell me about yourself Liara, I’d like to know more about you.” Shepard said, genuinely wanting to know more about his team as he had done with the others he’d picked up.

“I’m afraid I’m not very interesting, Commander. I spend most of my time on remote digs, unearthing mundane objects from long-forgotten prothean ruins.” She said, again coyly,

“You must enjoy something about what you do.” Shepard said,

“I enjoy finding things that haven’t been touched for millennia, and anything to do with the protheans. To know that you were touched by actual working prothean technology – it’s why I find you so fascinating.” Liara said,

“Sounds like you want to dissect me in a lab.” Shepard joked,

“Oh my! That’s not what I meant!” Liara said, obviously upset at the thought, “I never meant for you to think that. All I meant was that you would be an interesting case-study for…No! Wait, I mean…” Liara started to fumble over every word she said, she wasn’t used to human humour,

“I was only joking Liara! It’s OK.” Shepard said, reassuring her that she’d said nothing wrong.

“Joking? By the goddess, you must think I’m so dense.” Liara said, holding her forehead, in embarrassment “Now you can see why I prefer to spend my time on remote digs with computers and data discs. Please, just pretend this conversation never happened,”

“I should go, I’ll catch up with you soon Liara.” Shepard said as he left the Med Bay to return to the CIC.

Toolbox24