There’s no other way I can say it: if you have not been playing Batman – The Telltale Series, you should do so immediately. Following the revelation at the end of Episode One, the success of Episode Two: Children of Arkham hinged on how much Telltale was willing to differ from the established canon. That revelation is expanded in Episode Two, and allows Telltale to do what it does best: fantastic writing, unexpected plot twists and difficult moral decisions.

Children of Arkham demonstrates Telltale Games’ willingness to tell its own story rather than getting stuck in the trap of retelling familiar comic book stories. There were twists I didn’t see coming, and familiar Bat-Lore was turned upside down. Children of Arkham is a story about family and how our personal connection may distort our view of their actions. Following Falcone’s shock reveal at the end of the previous episode, Bruce Wayne is questioning everything he knew about his family and their legacy. Is Falcone telling the truth or is it just a ploy to point the blame elsewhere?

Troy Baker delivers a fantastic performance as Bruce Wayne and Batman, drawing the player into Bruce’s confused emotional state and drawing on that to fuel Batman’s determination. In fact, all of the voice acting in Batman – The Telltale Series has been superbly captivating so far, complemented by entertaining writing.

Telltale laid the foundation of the series last episode when it questioned how far Batman was willing to go to get justice. In Episode Two, the focus shifts to Bruce Wayne’s moral compass and how he should solve issues. Should he rely on the Batman persona, or would Bruce be more suitable? Who do you trust as Bruce Wayne, and who should you be weary of? This are questions I was constantly forced to consider. Telltale is doing the character’s justice, while also allowing players to experiment with the personalities of Bruce and Batman. At times I find myself asking, what would Bruce/ Batman do, but at other times I’m able to branch away and continue to craft my own versions of them.

Children of Arkham is also about choosing how Bruce and Batman will develop relationships with key characters. It’s great to be able to decide how Bruce develops his relationships with franchise mainstays such as Commissioner Gordon, Harvey Dent, Vicki Vale and Selina Kyle. It makes me want to start a new save and to see how they will react to me should I choose a different dialogue response. The mysterious relationship between Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle was a highlight for me this episode, in part thanks to the chemistry between Baker and Bailey.

As with Episode One, the few actions sequences mostly do a great job of controlling the pacing and breaking up the dialogue. The bar fight with Selena Kyle and Bruce Wayne fending off a bunch of henchmen while an acoustic guitar jukebox track plays in the background was a standout. Telltale has mastered the quick time event sequence, and that’s especially evident in this extended sequence.

Children of Arkham feels shorter than other Telltale episodes, and is about 30 minutes shorter than Episode One clocking in at around 90 minutes. As a result, the final act feels rushed and chaotic with too many narrative elements surrounding the action sequence. In the space of what feels like five minutes, a hostage situation takes place, another huge anti-lore plot point is revealed, the titular Children of Arkham make an appearance, and a major decision has to be made (of which I regret my choice). On the one hand, it’s a great depiction of the poise Batman has to have during encounters, but it largely left me flustered.

I have no idea where Batman – The Telltale Series is heading, but I’m excited to find out what other areas of the Batman mythos Telltale is willing to alter and how certain relationships will evolve over the course of the story.

Telltale Games has developed a track record of creating excellent interactive stories, and that’s looking no different with Batman – The Telltale Series. Where Episode One laid the foundation for a unique take on the Batman universe, Episode Two demonstrates Telltale’s willingness to go through with it. Whether you’re a fan of Batman or just a fan of Telltale games, Batman – The Telltale Series is establishing itself as a must play.

The Good

• Narrative that alters well known Batman-lore
• The bar QTE sequence
• Chemistry between characters
• Telltale is allowing the player to craft their own Bruce Wayne/Batman

The Bad

• The conclusion feels rushed

The Score: 9.0

Did you get a chance to play the demo? What did you think?

Developers Hello Games Publisher Hello Games

No Man’s Sky makes good on its promise to let us explore the vast and infinite reaches of space. The various planet surfaces, animals, and plant life are fascinating and exciting to name and discover. The main issues begin to arise after trudging through your 30th planet as the game gets repetitive and boring. But even after the game becomes a little dull, No Man’s Sky is a great game to play while relaxing, and provides a nice alternative to the first person shooters like Battlefield and/or Call of Duty.

You can retrieve your items if you die in space

As I said in my First Impressions, I hated the first several hours with No Man’s Sky. But only because I didn’t know what I was doing. After spending a lot of time with it, NMS is boiled down into a few key areas. Scavenging, Survival, Trade and Travel. 

Scavenging is the trick to learning your way around the world. Most plants give you the element Carbon, which is used to keep you alive. Certain plants and boulders will give you Plutonium or Platinum, which will help keep you in the air. And other things in the universe will derive all sorts of different elements that can be combined and resold for very high yield at multiple trading depots, or lifeforms you meet along the way.

I have to pay you to sell to you? Can I just shoot you instead?

Survival is dependent on your constant scavenging. You’ve got to use your found items to constantly increase the capacity and abilities of your gear and ship. The main tool you use is called your “muliti-tool.” It essentially fires laser beams at anything in the world to allow you to mine the element. Upgrades to the multi-tool allow grenades, bolts, and different items better suited to help you attack the pretty terrible sentinel defenses that live on each and every planet. I will tell you that I only upgraded my mining functions and scanner because the Sentinels are pretty terrible at their job. Even the most hostile planet that will flip out if you grab anything, will lose interest the second you take orbit and get some distance away from them. And while some combat tools help you raise your accuracy with the mining tool, the combat system is weak enough to where I’d rather take the time running and landing again, as opposed to wasting my time fighting.

The dog fighting mechanic in the ship is slightly better than the multi-tool system. It servers its purpose in letting you attack other ships and take their resources. However, the combat is little more than you rotating your ship 360 degrees and trying to shoot them down, while using your resources to recharge your shield or blasters. Upgraded blaster cannons make you more successful, but the ship is built more for travel than for combat. Which is disappointing because I really wanted to spend a lot of time in awesome space battles.

Trading Console

Trade is where you’ll make must of your money in NMS. There are certain elements you cannot find, and even more that you’ll find too much of. Trading depots are an excellent way to find some extra coin, hard to find gear, and free up some storage spaces as well. One of my favorite parts of the game is finding the “Galatic Average” of an item, and making sure I sold it when it was valuable, and bought or kept it when it was low. Sort of like a miniature stock-market within the game.

Travel is the last thing we’ll touch on since it is the meat and potatoes of NMS. There are no load times what-so-ever- between planet and space travel. Which is a magnificent feat unto itself. When you use your warp to other plants, it puts you in a bit of a loading tunnel you’ll be familiar with, but for the most part, travel is excellent and some of the best parts of the game. Every planet has their own species and lifeforms to discover. And my favorite part is exploring all of the ancient obelisk’s on each planet to discover more about that life-forms history, and to learn their language.

Because when you start NMS, you understand very little. Finding knowledge stones and meeting life-forms will teach you new languages, and for some reason those are my favorite parts of this game. If nothing else kept me wanting to play this game, it would be the constant pursuit of learning every language.

No Man’s Sky was as massive an undertaking for the team at Hello Games, as it is for the people that will play it. With an endless amount of planets to explore, every gamer will have their own experiences. NMS could definitely benefit from tweaks to its combat system, planet defenses, and integrating multiplayer elements into the game. While we are in the first year of NMS and Hello Games is sure to spend a lot of time patching bugs and adding updates, the game stands as a space explorers dream. If grinding for elements, space travel, learning languages, and surviving is your particular brand of vodka, you’ll want to buy this bottle.

The Good

• Excellent Space Travel
  
• Perfect Soundtrack
• Various life forms to name
  
• Great trading system
  
• Grand Scale
• Entire Languages to learn
• Few Load Times

The Bad

• Terrible Tutorial System
  
• Ground Combat is lacking
• Dog fighting is lacking
• No real punishment for death

The Score: 7

This week on Watch. Chat. Play!, we’re talking about Hype. How it is used, how it effects gaming,  and what in our own lives we have experienced as it pertains to hype.

Have you made any purchases or watched any movies recently because there was so much marketing that it made you need to go see it? How did that work out? Did the quality meet the hype built around it?

Realm of Shadows, the first episode of Batman – The Telltale Series, begins with an action packed sequence of Batman taking out a bunch of henchmen trying to break into an office building. There are noticeably more quick time events (QTEs) with less time between them allowing me to feel more in-control of influencing Batman’s actions than in action sequences from other Telltale games. The speed also helps to emphasise Batman’s martial arts training. It’s in this first sequence that were are introduced to some key players in Batman’s life: Jim Gordon, still a Lieutenant, and a first encounter with Catwoman. Telltale’s Batman story is set early in the caped crusader’s career, but it’s smart in assuming the audience already knows who these characters are.

The story then transitions to Bruce Wayne, conversing with Alfred about the limits of Batman while being stitched up. It’s a familiar exchange for Batman representations outside of the comic books, with Alfred not entirely happy that Bruce is Batman. It’s a question I feel is going to be asked to the player a lot during the five episode series: how far are you willing to go as Batman? Telltale presents moral dilemmas so well, especially in The Walking Dead, and that carries over to Realm of Shadows. Already players are being asked what they are willing to do as Batman to protect Gotham. It’s one of the most intriguing parts of the Batman ethos, but errs on the side of repetition across the two hour episode. In fact, it feels like it’s all Alfred does in Realm of Shadows.

Thankfully, Enn Reitel does a fine job of giving emotion to Alfred’s pleas, as do the rest of the voice cast bringing life to the characters. Troy Baker is great as Batman and Bruce Wayne. Having worked together previously on Tales from the Borderlands, the few exchanges between Batman and Catwoman (Laura Bailey) are engaging and capture the playful undertones of their relationship. The rest of the voice cast are great too, adding their own touches to beloved characters.

I also really liked the costume design. Batman’s costume has a nice mix between modern and retro design. Telltale’s signature style has been improved once again, with the night scenes bringing out the glow from Batman’s cowl and his gadgets.

Dialogue is a large portion of Telltale games, and Bruce Wayne has a majority of it in episode one. The middle act slows the pace down a bit as some key characters are introduced. Bruce Wayne meets Harvey Dent, currently running for Mayor, reporter Vicky Vale, Carmine Falcone and pre-penguin Oswald Cobblepot. Being able to determine how Bruce Wayne interacts with certain characters was fun, especially as a fan who’s been stuck reading and watching how others make him interact.

Realm of Shadows exists to set up the story to come, so I hope there are a few more action sequences in future episodes, but the time was split about 50/50 between playing as Batman and Bruce Wayne. As Batman there is the action sequence at the beginning and an action sequence at the end that allows you to choose how to take out four mobsters. There’s also a detective sequence in the middle that requires the player to link pieces of evidence together to work out what happened at a crime scene. It’s a fun sequence, highlighting Batman’s skills as a detective, but I would have preferred another action sequence to keep the pace from slowing too much in the middle.

Realm of Shadows is a solid beginning for Batman – The Telltale Series. Batman’s sequences are mostly action packed and the longer and faster quick time event sequences make you feel like you’re having a greater impact on Batman’s actions. Bruce Wayne takes on the bulk of the dialogue, introducing players to important characters and creating intriguing narrative mysteries at least for the next couple of episodes. Telltale is great at providing players with difficult moral choices, and there are definitely inklings of that here as Alfred constantly asks Bruce how far Batman will go. For the series to stand out, Telltale is going to have to let players answer that question on their own.

The Good

• Craft your own Batman/ Bruce Wayne
• Solid voice acting from most of the cast
• Batman action sequences

The Bad

• Alfred’s nagging of Bruce failed to engage
• Slower pacing during the middle acts

The Score: 8.0

Niantic’s free App has taken the world by storm. People are coming together in local parks and downtown locations like never before. The Pokémon themed, augmented reality game has become a driving force for local clean-up projects, exercise events, and an overall sense of unity among its player base. Which sounds like a great thing! And it would be. If they weren’t constantly having obscenities screamed at them, eggs thrown at them, and getting harassed by drunk people. I know all of this, because I interviewed some of the community last night, and was yelled at 10 seconds into the first interview. See for yourself.

Sometimes I forget what year it is, because I feel like in 2016, we should have evolved beyond racism, hate, or derogatory slurs against a peaceful group of people. Except none of that is true. Which was made perfectly clear when myself and two friends, were screamed at while we had literally just started playing ‘Pokémon GO’. And reminded again when I was only 10 seconds into my first interview and heard someone scream, “F**k ‘Pokémon!” while driving past.

So I began reaching out to local Pokémon GO trainers via their various Facebook pages, asking what kinds of things they had experienced and whether or not they felt safe. Jordan Jeffries, a local trainer out of Ohio, told me about his concerns for the game.

“I really don’t feel safe alone,” said Jeffries. “Also there [was a] situation where a biker was offering drugs and trying to ask for drugs at the same time. Not in any case do I feel safe when drugs are by.”

Jeffries went on to say that whenever he heads out, he makes sure to have one or more people go with him, just for the sake of safety. But he wasn’t the only one, by far. You might have heard of the group of robbers using Lures to draw Pokémon GO players to a stop, and then attack them. But several local police department have issued safety tips for players. A couple stand outs were:

-Slow moving vehicles paralleling a person on foot (Following you as you walk), might be a sign it is a get-away car. If you get the sense you are being followed or set-up for a robbery, head to a lighted area with people around.

-Know where your kids are going when playing with the app, and set limits on where they can go.

-Do not try sneaking around police stations, fire stations or public safety vehicles. Your attempts to capture a Pokémon could be considered suspicious activity.

The main thing is to obviously stay safe. It isn’t worth risking your safety over a free game. Or any game for that matter. Safety or not, it just seems that most Pokémon trainers are just frustrated and disappointed in the people yelling at them.

“We were downtown and a guy stopped at a red light yelled ‘get a f**king life.’” said, Kellee Carbaugh, a local trainer.

“I’ve only ever had someone cussing at the group,” Landon Cooper told me. “And hey, if that’s what makes these people feel complete, then I feel sorry for them.”

While it is disappointing to say the very least, I am please to say that the community seems unified in protecting one another, and not giving up on having a good time.

Have you had any of these issue while playing Pokémon GO? Would any of this keep you from playing? Let us know!

Developer  Space Dust Studios Publisher Deck13 Interactive

Genre Party Racer Platform Played PlayStation 4

When we talk about multiplayer racing games, Mario Kart has held its “King Of The Hill” status for as long as I have held a controller. While Obliteracers may not be strong enough to kill the king, it stands as one of the better party racing games available on the market.

Concentration is key in a game that allows for up to 16 players at the same time on the same race track. Grab your smartphone. Grab your laptop. Fire up your gaming console, and join your friends in what is sure to be a night of screaming and smack talk. Obliteracers is chaotic, frustrating, and gratifying all at the same time. The varied characters and modifications make it easy to draw you in.

A good game is determined by asking one simple question; Is it fun? Hell yes, this game is fun. And it’s challenging. Obliteracers is not a split screen, stay-in-your-lane game. Obliteracers is an orgy of sound, color, and chaos. Just because you’re a good driver, doesn’t mean an oil slick won’t send you right off the cliff. Having a machine gun turret on the top of your vehicle won’t save you from having a guided missile shoved right up your tail pipe. In a world of competitive first person shooters, it’s a breath of fresh air to have a fun and lighthearted game.

With several tracks in “career” mode to choose fun, the biggest surprise for me was that when you die in a race, you’re not necessarily finished. A set of cross hairs pop up on the screen for you to cover any racer you’re not particularly fond of. This could just be a fun gimmick, but it also gives you total control on the outcome. Various game modes will have a point leading scale, and you’ll race multiple times before it’s over. So if you notice another racer is climbing a little to high on the point scale, and the guy/girl next to them is in last place, you aim you blow the person in 2nd the hell back to 5th place where they belong. It opens up a new strategic way to race, and sometimes makes losing on purpose fun. Turning your racer game into a shooter.

The chaos can also be a little frustrating. It can get exhausting to have a game where you have no leeway at all. There’s just so much going on at the screen at one time it’s easy to lose your character in the fold. More than a few times I had trouble really tracking down my race car after re-spawning and ended up driving off the road because I didn’t know where I was. But really that’s my main complaint. Every game could stand to have more racers and tracks, but the modifications and lighthearted tone more than made up for it.

Finding great couch co-op and party games are hard to do these days. We have been  groomed to go online and play in massive online arenas. Thankfully, there still exist games that are trying to get back to light and fun gaming, without sacrificing excellent control and gameplay. Obliteracers is absolutely a game you should try out with your friends and family.

The Good

• Excellent Party Game
  
• Tight coding
  
• Tone is lighthearted
• Modifiers and co-op modes keep you on your toes.
• Multiple platforms can play together
• Death is just the beginning

The Bad

• Chaos can be too much at times
  
• Could benefit from more customization of characters
• Somewhat restricted tracks
• Online Multiplayer can be wonky

The Score: 8.0

Developer  Niantic Publisher The Pokémon Company

Genre Augmented Reality Platform Played Android LG G2

Pokémon Go exploded in a way no one saw coming. Normally, the launch of a game with server issues is a death sentence. However, a rocky launch and reported world wide server issues aside, it would seem that the more this app didn’t work, the more people needed it. Like a parent trying desperately to find a sold out toy at Christmas time. Server issues or not, the app is here in force. So let’s get started.

Pokémon Go is rooted in the concept that it augments your world. Leveraging Google Maps on your phone, you are inserted into a digital plane of existence, populated with Pokémon just waiting to be caught. While good in theory, this poses as many problems as it does successes. I cannot count the number of times Pokémon Go has frozen while I attempted to catch a Pokémon. So often did this occur, that I eventually turned off the Augmented Reality function all together in place of an animated background. I quickly found that the App responds far better to its animated background as opposed to placing a Pokémon on your street or on your desk at work. (Which I’m sure you’ve neeever done.)

When you do attempt to catch a Pokémon using the Augmented function, the quality of your camera drops exponentially. My smartphone has a 13 Mega Pixel camera. But for some odd reason, the second Pokémon Go uses my camera, the quality drops so much that I don’t even bother taking them anymore.

The GPS tracking system is another planned upgrade from the Niantic team because, to speak frankly, it’s a hot mess. Fire up the app and you’ll notice a bar in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. Several guides will suggest you to spin until it flashes green, and then follow a pattern of movements. I’ve backtracked, retraced my steps, and worked in a full grid system to attempt to catch a character, only for it to disappear altogether. At other times I am almost flooded with low level Pokémon.

The quest to “catch em’ all” has been a staple in the Pokémon franchise since its inception from Satoshi Tajiri in 1995. That methodology is clear, present, and one of the most gratifying, albeit frustrating, elements of Pokémon GO. Currently, the original 150 Pokémon characters are yours to track down. While hunting and tracking all of these Pokémon seems daunting, the hunt is the biggest thing that keeps drawing people back into the game as much as making them want to throw their phone in the trash and never take another selfie.

While the duplicate characters may be frustrating at first, they are a necessity to evolving your Pokémon. Lower level Pokémon will be transferred back to the professor for Candies needed to evolve your higher level Pokémon. It is those evolved and high level CP characters you will take to the Gym’s for battle.

Until you reach level 5, your goal is to catch, train, and evolve your Pokémon. Once you hit level 5, you’ll be asked to pick one of the three times. Red (Valor), Blue (Mystic) or Yellow (Instinct). For the most part, the team dynamic does nothing more than signify what team you’ll fight for or against. For now, the gym serves a pretty basic purpose. Control.

Your local Gym will signify a color, with the top CP Pokémon resting at its peak. If your team controls the gym, you can add your Pokémon to the roster with the intent of defending it. If already full, you can “train” your Pokémon by battling against theirs to raise the prestige and level. Higher level, higher amount of Pokémon that can be assigned by that team. In the Item Shop, you will see a Shield in the top right hand corner. The number will raise depending on how many Pokémon you’ve assigned to a gym. Each Pokémon assigned will be removed from your roster until they are defeated, and then returned to you.

If you decide to take on a gym that isn’t assigned to you, then you’ll have a few different options. Some gyms allow for multiple Pokémon to be selected. Some gyms even allow for team combat. The combat system is a series of Taps, Swipes, and Holds to attack, dodge, or use your special abilities.  You’ll essentially run a gauntlet of Pokémon until you defeat them all. Much like other Pokémon games, the types of Pokémon are important to success. Fire vs. Grass. Lightening vs. Air..etc.

As you can see in the picture we made, items cost coins, and coins cost money. You can earn coins by placing a Pokémon at a Gym, but the yield is low and hard to do if you live away from a downtown area. All items can be earned or found through PokéStops, especially ones with Lure’s attached. However, for higher level Pokémon, you’ll burn Pokéball’s quickly, and the majority of people I have spoken with have spent money on it already.

Pokémon GO is an unfinished, poorly executed game. I can’t even recommend you download and see for yourself because I’m not sure the servers will be active when you get it installed. Or stay up long enough for you to try it. While the social and fitness component to Pokémon GO is unrivaled, and the potential for long journeys and fun with friends is prominent. The inadequate tutorial, God awful server support, and clunky operating system makes this a game that causes more frustration than fun.

The Good

• Excellent Social Activity
  
• Fun to hunt with friends
  
• Encourages fitness
• Vast variety of Pokémon

The Bad

• Horrible Server Support
  
• Constant bugs and glitches
  
• Terrible explanation system
  
• Bad GPS tracking system
• Advertised game not even available yet
• No Win/Loss Ratio for Gym battles

The Score: 5.0

The first video in the series focuses on the Enforcer, with a new video released each week highlighting the entire roster of roles and characters. While the initial video may seem short, Boss Key aims to follow-up these releases with more in-depth videos, with tips, tricks and developer insight, until the next role video is released.

The Enforcer is essentially the run n’ gun option in LawBreakers, with both Axel and Kintaro utilising rifles from a far and the badger shock pistol at close range to obliterate their foes. Both characters also have a shoulder-mounted BloodHound Launcher to ensure when their opponents go down, they stay down.

Boss Key is preparing for the LawBreakers Early Access phase later this year, but are still inviting players to test out the game in the Alpha portion and provide feedback. The next Alpha test will take place Friday, July 22 and Saturday, July 23 (US time).

Want to take part in the upcoming Alpha? Make sure to register via the official LawBreakers website for your chance to play.

ClockWork is currently the 13th most voted for game on Steam Greenlight, which includes more than 2000 different games. ClockWork reached this incredible feat in just one week, amassing thousands of up-votes and hundreds of notes of support as ClockWork’s second week on Steam Greenlight begins.

“A big thank-you to the fans who’ve voted for ClockWork so far – particularly those who found us through Jim Sterling’s YouTube video,” said Gamesoft CEO Vishal Gumber. “It’s very rewarding to see ClockWork being so well received and earning fresh fans worldwide. The team at Gamesoft have poured thousands and thousands of hours of hard work over two years into creating a compelling narrative and puzzle-platforming experience. This level of excitement is really pushing us to put the finishing touches on the world of Watchtower as we approach full release on Steam.”

ClockWork is a 2D platform adventure, where players control a young boy named Atto. Thanks to Atto’s friend and clockwork companion Milli, Atto is able to make duplicates of himself in order to solve time-based puzzles.

ClockWork is aiming for launch on PC and Mac in Q3 2016, but fans can continue showing their support for ClockWork on Steam Greenlight.