QCF: The Order: 1886

t’s safe to say that gaming is continually reaching new levels of spectacle and showmanship, and that next plateau of tech is never too far out of reach as the medium advances; it’s just too bad that the medium has a ways to go when it comes to expanding upon new concepts and ideas that are afforded by the advancement.

Ready At Dawn’s The Order: 1886 is a perfect example of how to squander such an opportunity—a technical achievement in presentation and production that’s sadly held back by an antiquated sense of design.

I’m fully aware of just how harsh that opening statement sounded, but that’s the take away that this PlayStation 4 exclusive left me with, and it didn’t take long before I came to it either.

This may sound cliché, but The Order’s greatest strength also happens to be its biggest weakness; the cinematic direction of its pacing and world—a trade-off that just isn’t worth it.

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QCF: Sunset Overdrive

t’s no secret that I take a particularly guilty joy out of the dichotomy that defines the éclat of video games—it’s a pretty silly identity crisis that I can’t but find amusing. On one hand, I want to the art and impact that video games create to continually expand into legitimate expression of art that can stand on par with some of the greatest literature and film ever produced by mankind, and yet on the other, I still want games to indulge into some of the stupidest shit imaginable.

Sure, that sounds unreasonably flippant, since making headway in one of directions would congruently set back the other, but I’d like to think that we can live in a world where gaming can cater to both of these worlds respectively—Insomniac’s Xbox One exclusive, Sunset Overdrive, is living proof of that.

Yeah, we live in a world where things like Deadpool and Tumblr have saturated our culture with facetious satire and fourth-wall humor to an obnoxiously pandering degree, but the latest effort from the same people behind Ratchet & Clank and Resistance, is one of the most refreshing games to have released in 2014. A world and action woven by the over-the-top chaos and fiction of this modern open-world odyssey of caffeine and attention-deficit youth has all the makings that truly define the special kind of enchantment that only a video game could offer.

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PAX PRIME 2014: Getting hands-on with The Order: 1886

here’s been plenty of buzz aimed at Ready At Dawn’s upcoming PS4 exclusive, The Order: 1886, and considering the debut it made last year, the hype is more than understandable. However, hype is one thing though, and impressions are another—so color me impressed; The Order: 1886 is geared in the right direction, and has all the makings to reset the standard for third-person shooting for the better.

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QCF: Plants VS Zombies: Garden Warfare

he Undead; we’re already well aware that they’re everywhere, but If there’s one particular property that’s assisted in propelling the trend of zombies into a practical modern day motif within today’s culture, it would definitely be Plants vs. Zombies.

Aside from coddling the concept of flesh hungry corpses into charismatically mischievous ghouls, the franchise has made strides to redefine and expand the tower-defense genre into something to care about; which is why Garden Warfare such a mixed bag of roses and manure—but mostly shit.

Employing a modified Battlefield 4 engine, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare attempts at delivering it's own brand of tactical shooter elements and conquest dynamics with the horde mode design and Tower defense sensibilities—the results peter into something that’s tepidly Luke warm at best, and frustrating monotony that’s largely unfulfilling the rest of the time.

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QCF: The Last of Us

n the dilapidated remains of crumbling edifice that provides the little refuge in the quarantined limits of Central Boston, a man awakens suddenly. His eyes emit a strong sense of fatigue -- the fatigue of survival. After 20 years of hardship that warped and conditioned an earnest man into a smuggling misanthrope, he stumbles upon a job opportunity that proves to be bigger than himself, a journey that unfolds an experience more human than anything that has ever been inside of a PlayStation 3 before it.

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QCF: Black Rock Shooter: The Game

he planet Earth is almost entirely devoid of human life. What was once a thriving population consisting of billions was reduced to a mercilessly paltry 12. Hope is all but lost, and what’s left of it rides on a secret weapon: Project-BRS, the creatively titled Black Rock Shooter. Yeah, Black Rock Shooter, because she shoots black rocks, y'all. What did you expect?

The Vita struggles a little less with each passing month, and the benefit of accessing PSP games within PSN has been integral in expanding the library and overall appeal for Sony’s on-the-go game box. Taking full advantage, NIS America mines away at some of these untapped veins of PSP releases that haven’t seen light outside of the land of the rising sun, and they be on to something. While this frame of mind may seem lazy for those looking for new and optimized content for their expensive Vita, Black Rock Shooter: The Game does good to compliment the direction NIS America is taking and gives us a great portable game in its own right.

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QCF: Tomb Raider (2013)

ronically, we live in a generation of video gaming where technology allows for the most realistic situational simulation of life to date, and yet the gap that measures the suspension of disbelief players have when playing games grows wider in spite of the advances made in development. Titles such as Heavy Rain and The Walking Dead are notable exceptions to the standard, but rarely does a game ever try humanizing the fantastical exodus a player experiences. Crystal Dynamics, however, focused on delivering a title that encompasses this concept.

The cool, confident, and arguably vain Lara Croft that we all grew up with has now transformed into a vulnerable, tender-footed, human protagonist that’s now mixed into series of misfortunate trials that will change her for the rest of her life. Some may argue that Lara’s latest outing maybe controversial for the sake of controversy, but underneath the mud and soundtrack‘s dramatic orchestral reverbs of intensity lies a coming-of-age adventure that represents one of the most genuine experiences in video games today.

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QCF: Resident Evil 6

This review was a freelance assignement, written by Joshua Newey from Sega Addicts. Be sure to check Sega Addicts out by clicking here!

Few franchises have had the same growing pains as Resident Evil. While the first few titles initially garnered solid reviews for their groundbreaking qualities and resonating atmosphere, their now-maligned “tank controls,” flimsy puzzles and pre-rendered visuals makes it feel somewhat disingenuous and anachronistic to list them amongst my favorite games of all time.

Maybe that's why the series continues to struggle with the same identity crisis that's been slowly growing since games like Code: Veronica. With one foot set firmly in B-movie sci-fi horror, and the other shifting deeper and deeper into the cinematic world of dramatic camera angles, explosive set pieces, and muscle-bound heroes, Capcom seems increasingly unsure about how to help the series grow without shirking its roots or driving a wedge between itself and its longtime fans.

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