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Zombie Army Trilogy Review

April 8, 2015

Zombie Army Trilogy
Developer: Rebellion Developments
Publisher: Rebellion Developments
Platforms: PlayStation 4, PC, Xbox One (Reviewed)
Release Date: March 3, 2015
Price: $49.99 – Available Here

Overview
Zombies are some of the easiest enemies to include in a video game and gamers have delighted in slaying hundreds of thousands of them in numerous ways throughout the years. Then things were taken a step further by making Nazi Zombies an enemy that everyone wanted to take out. As such when Sniper Elite V2 was released, Rebellion released a couple of standalone Nazi Zombie games based off of V2’s mechanics. Now they have released both of those pieces of DLC as well as a brand new third entry in the Zombie Army Trilogy for current-gen platforms. Is the title worth taking on the undead Nazi hordes once more?

Story
As one would expect, the story doesn’t get too complicated in Zombie Army Trilogy though there are different elements that players will have to deal with depending on which entry in the trilogy you are working on. The base storyline is however that once Hitler realized that the Nazis were losing the war and were nearly defeated, that he authorized the use of a project that would bring back the dead to do his bidding.

With the undead swarming across Germany the Allied forces found themselves being pushed back and now it is up to the player and up to three other friends to take and put these undead back in the ground. It is worth noting that alongside the four original characters a batch of four new female characters have been added to bring the total roster up to eight which is a nice touch but doesn’t really add too much to the simplistic story.

Gameplay
Since the core of these games are based off of Sniper Elite V2, players will know roughly what to expect in the game as far as equipment goes. They will have to face off against the undead using dated weaponry from WWII which means you’ll be using plenty of single-shot rifles and less than accurate machine guns to try and stay alive. That being said, it does feel like that despite the amount of weapons at your disposal, the fact that even the most basic zombies absorb a large amount of damage and can best be put down with a shot to the head means that a large swathe of the offered weapons tend to be useless against the hordes or only used as a last resort when running low on everything else.

Every stage features various objectives the player, or players as the game offers extremely fun four player co-op online, must complete to advance and there are numerous checkpoints that are activated throughout these levels in order to allow players to keep their progress even if they happen to fall to the hordes. This is an essential element as the hordes you’ll be facing off against are anything but easy to kill at times. You see, while players can complete objectives and find various safe houses that allow them to re-equip, the sheer number of enemies you’ll be facing will put the players at constant risk. This means that although solo play is certainly possible and the game does scale down for single players, tackling these missions are best enjoyed with a friend or two.

Utilizing explosives such as grenades, mines, and tripwire-traps are useful for clearing large groups or securing a position while trying to snipe away at the zombies approaching you but while many of the zombies you come across are rather slow moving to start with, that quickly changes as explosive enemies and armored zombies appear to test the players’ mettle. Trying to kick away enemies is a useful move but one that only serves as a delaying tactic as the zombies in Zombie Army Trilogy are very resilient and this can cause ammo to run real low at times even though players can carry a main weapon, a sidearm, and a secondary weapon along with plenty of explosives.

This leads to many extremely enjoyable online sessions of players having to work together to try and stay alive while watching one another’s backs. While taking on the story campaign is rather enjoyable on its own, an extra Horde mode where players must survive against waves of zombies that grow stronger has also been included. This feels a bit like a tacked on mode but will provide plenty of fun for those who simply want to kill off some zombies with their friends without worrying about specific objectives.

Visuals & Audio
Although the Zombie Army Trilogy is built using a rather outdated engine that causes some enemy movements as well as character movements to look a bit awkward at times, there is a noticeable improvement to the graphics in these releases and it does wonders for the atmospheric nature of the game.

Players will have to navigate through numerous areas, a few of which will look familiar to longtime fans of the series, that have all been transformed into hellish landscapes full of fire and death and they will have to constantly be on the lookout for zombies and worse that come looking for the players blood. As you fight against the hordes the player’s weapons will sound realistic while the shrieks and cries of the undead will provide a chilling feeling to those who are starting to find themselves backed into a corner against what can easily become a challenging situation.

While many times players kill a zombie or another creature they simply go down, there are plenty of times they are treated to the gorgeous looking X-Ray kill cams that, just like in the core games, show the path of a bullet as it rips through a zombie’s skull and puts it down for good. There are many great looking moments that come simply from the amount of enemies you’ll be facing as some shots will go through one zombie’s skull and bury themselves into the eye-socket of another, delivering a satisfyingly gory double kill. Of course if you want to see even more of these, the option to feature kill-cams for somewhat less impressive shot is always there even if many of these shots tend to leave the undead coming back for more.

Overall
Now despite how fun Zombie Army Trilogy is, it really doesn’t do anything too special to stand out from your average zombie killing title. The fun of slaying zombies together with friends online is one of the title’s best features but there isn’t much replay value to the game once it is completed and it feels like the developers played it safe by doing very little different from most other zombie games. That being said, the actual gunplay and challenging difficulty mixed in with Sniper Elite’s mechanics makes for a satisfyingly engaging game that is best played with friends but still provides a solid experience for solo players.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Facing UFC Fighter Robert Whittaker in Mortal Kombat X

Zac Elawar

April 8, 2015

Facing UFC Fighter Robert Whittaker in Mortal Kombat X

Robert Whittaker represents Australia in the Ultimate Fighting Championship as our brightest MMA prospect. In less than five weeks, on May 10th, live at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Whittaker will be co-main eventing UFC Fight Night: Miocic vs Hunt against #15 ranked middleweight Brad Tavares. So…why wouldn’t I take him on in a fight, right? Not a real fight, don’t be silly…in Mortal Kombat X!

I was brought in specifically as Rob’s virtual training partner, an integral part of his training camp for May 10 (grand delusions). In all seriousness, Rob is a legitimate gamer, and proved it multiple times throughout the session. His Ninjutsu Scorpion is brutal – whom he claims is overpowered mister Ed Boon et al – but his main is good ol’ Sub-Zero. Claiming no one had beaten him yet when he chooses Subby, I stepped up to the task, defeating him with the Lin Kuei master’s prior mentioned arch-rival. We went on to trade victories, although he came out on top more than not, I’ll be honest. That damn teleporting, katana wielding wraith…ahem, I’m not bitter. Not at all.

You’d also think trash-talking a mixed martial artist 20kgs heavier than you is a bad idea, but I escaped unscathed. It was a fun gaming session in which we shared some laughs, some intense, nail-biting moments and, of course, fatalities galore. Thanks to Warner Bros. Games Australia for facilitating it. Rob is a genuine, Aussie-raised bloke and we wish him all the best in his upcoming fight. You best believe he will be tearing it up online once Mortal Kombat X launches for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC, nationwide, on April 15. Who says fight camps have to be all work and no play? Keep an eye out for our review of MKX in the coming week or so, and check out the recently released launch trailer, edited by System of a Down’s Shavo Odadjian to a new cut of “Chop Suey!”

Mortal Kombat X Launch Trailer Hits

Zac Elawar

April 8, 2015

Earlier, we had a behind-the-scenes sneak peek of the Mortal Kombat X launch trailer, and now it is here in all its gory glory. Hashtag that! #GoryGlory. NetherRealm Studios‘ MKX launches for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC in a mere week’s time, but watch the launch trailer below to whet your appetite.

Directed by System of a Down bassist Shavo Odadjian, against the musical background of a freshly edited “Chop Suey!”, the trailer is very Story Mode-heavy, showcasing many cutscenes, but at the same time not giving away too much. Of note, in regards to actual gameplay, we get to see Jax and his daughter Jacqueline in action for practically the first time, as well as Liu Kang‘s first fatality…we knew he’d get his revenge on Raiden someday. No, it’s not canon, so relax everyone.

Mortal Kombat X ‘Launch Trailer’

Roccat Kave XTD 5.1 Analog Launches in Europe, US in Mid April

Jamie Laike Tsui

April 8, 2015

Roccat Kave XTD 5.1 Analog Launches in Europe, US in Mid April

For those who still swear by true 5.1 headphones and a high quality sound card will be able to check out the Roccat Kave XTD 5.1 Analog at their local computer store. The headset is available now in Europe and an American launch will follow in the next week or two.

The headset uses two 40mm drivers and a 30mm vibration unit in each ear cup to deliver true 5.1 surround sound. The remote can be clipped on clothing or onto a desktop stand. For those who can never remember to unmute their mic, Roccat has added a small LED on the boom mic that lights up when the microphone is muted.

The Roccat Kave XTD 5.1 Analog still shares the same light and comfortable design as the other Kaves. The XTD 5.1 Analog weighs in at 335g and has more of that really light cushioning I really enjoyed from the XTD Stereo version.

The Roccat Kave XTD 5.1 Analog is available now in Europe for €119,99 and will be in the US around mid April for $119.99 USD.

Atelier Shallie: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea Review

Travis Bruno

April 7, 2015

Atelier Shallie: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea Review

Atelier Shallie: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea
Developer: Gust
Publisher: Koei Tecmo
Platform: PlayStation 3
Release Date: March 10, 2015
Price: $49.99 US – Available Here, $69.95 AU – Available Here

Overview
Ever since the first Atelier title from Gust was released in the West back in 2005, every year has seen the release of a new title in the series. Over the course of this time we’ve seen various trilogies end and numerous ideas be attempted only to be replaced or refined in subsequent releases. Now with Atelier Escha & Logy introducing a two lead-character system, Atelier Shallie: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea takes the same route with a number of new additions, including the removal of a notable system that defined the series. Are these changes for the best in what appears to be the final game in the Dusk trilogy?

Story
Roughly six years after the events in Atelier Escha & Logy, the world has continued to suffer from desertification to the point that many areas are soon to be inhospitable. With the land becoming destitute, a girl named Shallistera, the heir of her clan, sets out on a journey in order to try and find a way to restore the land and prevent her tribe’s water from drying up. At the same time, a spunky city girl named Shallote is trying to find her place in the world and a goal she should strive for.

With both girls nicknamed Shallie, and calling each other Lotte and Stera, it is up to players to decide which of the two characters they wish to be the main character of their game. It is worth noting that while a number of aspects and various events in each heroines’ storylines are unique, which means the game is ripe for a second playthrough to see the story from a different viewpoint and experience new events, that a large amount of events take place when both Lotte and Stera are present.

Interestingly enough, it is also worth mentioning that Shallistera’s storyline is a bit friendlier for newcomers to the story as well as some mechanics while Shallotte’s events feature numerous references to past events in the series. That being said, the story still remains rather strong here thanks to a likable core cast and well developed main characters.

That being said, there is a certain lack of urgency now that the time limit has been removed entirely from the game and despite seeming like the final game in the Dusk saga, a number of answers regarding the situation of the world and the causes are either handled poorly or simply are left hanging which is disappointing, unless of course we are looking at the first set of Atelier games to move beyond a trilogy.

Gameplay
Atelier Shallie: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea is fairly similar to its predecessor, especially in regards to the combat system and alchemy system which, both of which retain the same basic changes made in the last game only to be refined a bit more this time around. As usual with these Atelier titles, players will be spending most of their time gathering ingredients through gather points as well as a few new mechanics added into Atelier Shallie, fighting enemies to gain ingredients from them or to complete quests, and synthesizing items using all of the ingredients you’ve gathered and the recipes you’ve learned in your journey.

The alchemy system remains continues to be streamlined with many of the basic mechanics being very familiar to those who have played the titles before. Through the use of using high quality ingredients and aiming for special elemental values, players will be able to unlock special enhancements that will make them more effective while Shallie can also use various abilities she has unlocked to modify the outcome of the synthesis and give players more control than before while presenting it in an easy to understand manner.

As far as the combat goes, the combat remains the same six player affair as before; with three combatants fighting at one time while the other three wait in reserve. Now unlike the past system, a number of enjoyable changes have been made to make combat flow faster and offer players more options. Rather than force players to resort to a single support meter, each back-up character will have their own meter that will fill up over the course of the battle and can be brought in either to defend an ally from an attack, add extra punishment by attacking after an ally, or switching into the fight making combat even better than it was before.

Another new feature is the Burst mechanic. At the top of the combat screen a meter will fill up that will allow players to trigger a Field Burst when filled. The Field Burst allows the player to select a certain member’s special ability to take effect during the fight and this can drastically change the way combat unfolds as these boosts range from auto-reviving from death, to recovering large amounts of health and MP, to buffing the party’s statuses and even triggering a large Variable Strike with a unique animation.

Now earlier I mentioned that the time constraints that the series is known for had been removed and that is indeed the case. No longer will players have to worry about balancing their time properly while worrying about if they are taking too long of a journey in order to gather materials or face off against a boss. This does open the game up a bit for those who were concerned about the time constraints limiting their options but it also removes any sense of urgency or feeling of structure to the game’s storyline as players can gather ingredients and synthesize in a manner that would have sacrificed a two weeks’ worth of time in past titles.

What replaces the time system is a far less restrictive “Life Task” system that will see the player taking on requests (including side-character expanding quests) and accomplishing various goals in order to progress to the next chapter in the story. These goals can be anything from synthesizing a certain number of items, to cleaning up garbage or harvesting items, to slaying a boss enemy in a dungeon. Many of these tasks reward the player handsomely, so much in fact that overdoing these tasks can lead to the player being a bit overpowered which leads to some disappointing fight sequences until the enemies catch up to the player.

Visuals & Audio
I can easily say that Gust has made some remarkable improvements to their 3D character models with the release of Atelier Shallie. While Escha & Logy featured some impressive looking character designs, the detail put into the characters found in this title are presented superbly with a wide range of emotions on display. There is also something to be said about the return of a somewhat brighter color palette used in the character designs as well as the way they have handled a certain returning character’s growth over the course of the trilogy.

This release comes with both the original Japanese voice track as well as the newly recorded English track and thankfully the English voice actors fit their roles perfectly, leaving it up to the player’s personal preference on which dub they’d prefer to listen to as both are handled impressively. The same can be said regarding the game’s soundtrack. You’ll be hard pressed finding a bad sounding piece of background music throughout the game. Whether it is calming exploration music, tunes to listen to while battling enemies, or providing atmosphere to important scene, every track feels like a perfect fit for the situation.

Overall
Atelier Shallie: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea is an enjoyable entry in the series with a great cast of characters contained in a weaker story than normal. It doesn’t help that there is a lack of urgency due to the removal of the time limit that fans have always planned around, making the title feel like it has lost some of its identity. That being said, the enhancements and improvements to the already fun combat and alchemy systems have make Atelier Shallie a solid entry in the series that is friendlier than ever to newcomers while still having enough familiar elements to entertain longtime fans.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Resident Evil Revelations 2 Review

Travis Bruno

April 7, 2015

Resident Evil Revelations 2
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One (Reviewed)
Release Date: March 20, 2015
Price: $39.99 US – Available Here $89.99 AU – Available Here

Overview
Episodic gaming has become quite popular lately with numerous stories with simple gameplay mechanics popping up everywhere. Now while the Resident Evil franchise has seen a number of changes throughout the years, few could have predicted that Capcom would initially be releasing the latest game in the franchise, Resident Evil Revelations 2, as an episodic game with multiple purchase options. So now that the entire game is released at retail with various bonuses, is Resident Evil Revelations 2 a worthy entry for fans of the franchise?

Story
Claire Redfield is attending a party for TerraSave, an organization focused around helping those who are affected by bio-terrorism and other issues and this time around she has brought Moira Burton, the daughter of Barry Burton, to the party. When the event is raided by an unknown group of well-equipped soldiers, the pair end up kidnapped only to awaken in what appears to be an abandoned prison which they later find out is on a mysterious island filled with mutated B.O.W.s, traps, and puzzles.

On the other end of things, we have Barry Burton arriving on that same island six months later in an attempt to try and find Moira only to come across a strange young girl Natalia who possesses the ability to see things that normal people such as Barry are incapable of. Throughout the game players will see the story switching between both narratives and in an interesting twist, the way that Claire and Moira handled enemies will have some effect on Barry and Natalia.

As far as the storyline goes, Resident Evil Revelations 2 establishes a fairly predictable pacing as the entire game is still set up in an episodic form at retail which means players will be witnessing various cliffhangers as the story swaps from Claire to Barry and the other way around. This is hardly a bad thing however as this pacing helps the storyline stay concise and entertaining while not keep drawing things out too much, though some episodes do have a problem with poor pacing.

With the return of Barry after such a long time and even Claire, fans will be interested to learn a bit about his past as well as his daughter Moira who undergoes the most development throughout the storyline, even though Natalia is the key to everything. It is worth noting that there are two extra episodes contained in this release that expand on Natalia and Moira during certain sections of the storyline and while these extra episodes aren’t very noteworthy, they do help fill in a few small blanks in what becomes a solid story that fans will enjoy.

Gameplay
Since both sides of the story feature a pair of characters, players will find themselves paired up with an AI partner that can be swapped to at will. Unlike past games in the series with mechanics such as this, only Barry and Claire can actually deal massive damage to enemies since they are the only two capable of using firearms. Moira carries a flashlight to reveal hidden items and she also has some effect on enemies as she can blind opponents with the flashlight as well as hit them with a crowbar and even finish them off if they are on the ground while Natalia can point out enemy weak points, reveal invisible enemies, and throw bricks at foes.

This creates an interesting balance that sees players generally focusing on dealing out damage but occasionally switching to their partner when needed, though I must say that the AI on Moira and Natalia is actually rather intelligent in combat but the same cannot be said for Claire and Barry’s AI. Players will be facing off against hard hitting and fast creatures and zombies and the best thing to do is aim for weak points and headshots as the gunplay in Revelations 2 is surprisingly heavy hitting with enemies smaller enemies reacting to damage as you deal it.

Throughout the game players will gain various points that can be used to upgrade the core characters in ways that not only increase their deadliness also more deadly finishers that can prove quite useful considering the enemies in this game are not a cakewalk. Players will also come across various gun upgrades throughout the game, usually hidden in chests that require a small mini-game to unlock, that range from simple damage upgrades to adding the ability to shoot more than one bullet at a time.

As mentioned before, the enemies can be quite dangerous in Revelations 2 so you cannot be too frivolous with items as healing herbs and ammunition can be rather scarce especially since players can only carry so many items with them at any given time, though both Natalia and Moira can also carry items and can pass them to the main character if needed.

Now once an episode is completed, players have the option to retry the episode and try to complete special goals that are revealed once the episode is finished the first time or even aim for beating it in an Invisible Mode where all enemies will be invisible, raising the tension another notch. The bulk of your spare time however will be spent in Raid Mode where players will find plenty of enjoyment as they take on a wide-range of foes all while unlocking new weapons, abilities, and characters to face off against the hordes that only get stranger and more difficult to beat as you advance.

Visuals & Audio
One thing that many so called horror games tend to forget about is the creepy atmosphere and dark feeling to the places players must navigate. Thankfully Revelations 2 has pulled it off perfectly while finding a nice balance of light and dark moments ranging from players traveling through dark winding halls only illuminated by a single flashlight while enemies roam around to navigating above ground during the day in a long abandoned area or an extremely familiar looking area all while providing suitable sound effects to help complete the tense feeling of some areas.

This atmosphere does wonders in providing a sense of fear as players deal with the various monstrosities that they will encounter throughout the title. While some may be a bit standard looking, the creatures players come across have a wide-range of designs and the actual character models themselves are rather nice looking but nothing more than that.

As far as the voice acting is concerned, players can expect the characters be voiced quite well though there are still a number of painful sounding lines that pop up from time to time in the game. A few of these tend to be references to lines from the past Resident Evil games, including Barry’s famous line from the original Resident Evil, though some of them are bad writing that the voice actors simply did their best with.

Overall
Resident Evil Revelations 2 may have been given an unconventional release schedule but now that the entire package is out it is clear to see that Capcom has managed to put together an enjoyable title with a solid storyline that brings back two fan favorite characters and pairs them up with two new characters that put a twist on the game’s co-op focused combat. While there are some issues with the pacing and ultimately this final retail release may not add much to the experience, Resident Evil Revelations 2 offers plenty of content with its enjoyable story mode and fantastic Raid mode and is what Resident Evil fans should hope for in the future.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Indie Gala Every Monday Bundle #54 Now Available

Jamie Laike Tsui

April 7, 2015

What better way to cap off a restful Easter weekend than with an indie bundle designed to scare the pants right off your body. Indie Gala and Capsule Computer’s Every Monday Bundle #54 is available now. The bundle contains seven indie horror games.

Pineview Drive – VIS’ innovative horror title challenges players to manage their fear to survive the haunted mansion on Pineview Drive.

Astray – A first person horror-puzzler set in a sinister museum full of puzzles.

Urban Legends – A terrifying horror adventure starring PJ as he hunts for the clues to his past inside a hospital while being relentlessly pursued by an assassin right out of an old urban legend.

Project Night – A horror game inspired by the slower paced horrors from the 1990s.

Disillusions Manga Horror – A first person horror mixing 2D manga graphics and 3d horror.

Metal Dead – A humorous point and click adventure game starring two metal-heads and a whole lot of zombies.

Long Night – David is at summer camp, chased by the personifications of his deepest fears while they he tries to rescue his friends.

For the first 24 hours of the sale, the horrifying Every Monday Bundle #54 will only cost $1.89. Buy it at Indie Gala before the price rises.

Goro Destroys All in Mortal Kombat X Amazon Games Twitch Stream

Zac Elawar

April 6, 2015

Goro indeed lives. Not only is the Shokan Prince back in Mortal Kombat X, he is playable as a main roster member for the first time in 8 years! AND, he can perform Fatalities and Brutalities, and have them performed on him! In the last article, I asked why anybody would not have pre-ordered Mortal Kombat X by now…watch this massive Twitch stream presented by Warner Bros. Games and Amazon Games, embedded below, and you’ll see why getting Goro for free is truly reason enough.

As for his variations, Kuatan Warrior adds the ability to Ground Pound (classic Goro) and Chest Charge, which is essentially a rush down throw that allows a juggle opportunity. Tigrar Fury calls upon the dragon blood in Goro as he gains the Flame Ball and Fire Breath. He can also shoot the former at the ground to bounce the opponent up for a juggle…Goro likes to juggle (heads), and you’d assume so having four arms! Lastly, there’s Dragon Fangs, which alters a couple of his specials to incorporate more damaging blades on his gauntlets: his Punch Walk turns into more of a punch slice and dice, and his command grapple, where he beats your heads like a drum, turns into a merciless barrage of stabs.

9 days kombatants. Mortal Kombat X will soon be upon us, for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.

Mario Party 10 Review

Nathan Farrugia

April 5, 2015

Mario Party 10
Developer: ND Cube
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Wii U
Release Date: 21/3/2014
Price: $69.95 (AU) – Available Here / $48.95 (US) – Available Here

Overview

It’s pretty amazing where sequels are up to these days. From humble beginnings on the Nintendo 64 with the original Mario Party, three generations of consoles later and now the Mario Party series has entered HD with Mario Party 10. The last time I really partied with Mario was back on the GameCube with Mario Party 5 and while there are still some recognisable elements from those past games, Mario Party 10 is fairly different from the titles of old. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, just different. There is still fun to be had at this party, it just might be short lived.

Gameplay

Unlike all past games in the series where a small story would tie the game together, there is absolutely none of that here. Instead we have a main menu with three modes (two modes if you don’t own a compatible Amiibo), a store which you can spend Mario Party points in that you earn simply by playing and a few separate games that are in the awkward middle area between mini games and being their own game. You’ll have a little fun with those games but they are largely forgettable, especially badminton.

The game’s main mode is Mario Party. All four characters are placed in a vehicle and attempt to reach the end of one of five game boards (the lowest amount of any Mario Party to date) and defeat the boss at the end with the most mini stars to become the winner. Nearly every space gives some type of reward or punishment, such as a special dice block, mini game, lose half your mini stars etc. so the whole random fun element is in full effect here, you just don’t feel fully in control of it thanks to the car mechanic where you are simply along for the ride for three turns.

The main problem with the linear boards in comparison to past titles is that the game plays out the same way nearly every time, ruining the unpredictability which Mario Party is best known for and limiting replay value. That’s not to say the boss battles aren’t fun however, as just like the mini games which I’ll touch on later they are well balanced and require skill/smarts or sometimes both for you to be successful. A cool feature that helps mix it up a little is the GamePad which displays Bowser trapped behind a cage. When one of each number is rolled over the course of the game Bowser is set free and wreaks havoc on the board and player who freed him. One cool effect Bowser can bring on is reverse mini games, where you’re actually encouraged to lose instead of win, completely changing the way that mini game is played.

Another gripe is how freely the game hands out mini stars. The game simply places them on the board and whoever is the leader of the car at that time and passes through the space can award up to eight mini stars. In comparison, mini games which largely require skill only hand out five to the winner in a free for all. In a similar vein, gone are the set bonus stars rewarding players who accrued the most coins or won the most mini games, replaced by a random selection of two bonuses from five that can include rewarding the person who simply rolled the lowest total amount. The real underlying problem of course is luck seems to be rewarded over skill.

This doesn’t make Mario Party 10 bad, just different. It’s still fun, especially with friends as players get poor dice rolls or have to lose half their stars to someone else and the leader still changes constantly. Most importantly, the mini games are fantastic. They are well balanced and require a good mix of memory, reflex, strategy and skill. Unfortunately, they kind of take a back seat to the game board in every mode outside of Amiibo mode as you don’t play them in Bowser party and you seldom play them in Mario Party outside of landing on a mini game space or hidden block. If you don’t have friends to play with though rest assured the A.I. provide a good challenge, especially at harder difficulties.

Bowser Party is a completely separate mode and rightfully so. Here one person uses the GamePad and controls Bowser who rolls four dice at once. Your goal as Bowser is to take down the opposing team of four players who are using Wii Remotes and trying to reach the end of the board before you reduce each member of that team’s hearts to zero. It’s a simple concept and one that works well and is a lot of fun. Being the overpowered Bowser is fun especially as he stomps through the course and can place traps in some locations on the board. You also get a unique perspective of most mini games where you do the most damage to the other teams heart totals.

Sadly, there are only 10 unique Bowser mini games and two are luck based with little input. The rest do make good use of the GamePad’s unique features though, such as breathing into the mic to shoot fireballs. Another negative is only three of the five boards are available in this mode, decreasing the replay value of this mode. Again the mode seems to come down to luck which weighs a little too much in Bowser’s favour. Bad dice rolls will lead to Bowser catching you each turn and stealing too many hearts. Once one player on the team goes down it’s pretty much game over as your dice rolls are then limited. Bowser being able to re-roll doesn’t help the situation nor do the many traps placed for the team in the home stretch. Overall it’s a fun mode just lacking in variety and a little unbalanced.

Amiibo Party is really just too bland to be anything special. Sure it brings back the classic coin and star system and mini games in between rounds, but at the expense of any sort of uniqueness or strategy within the board itself, which is literally a square board like monopoly with a few very repetitive events sprinkled around and one special type of space such as warp pipes on the Mario board. The game only lasts 10 turns with no option to change it. Cool things can happen with the tokens that are spread about the board but because they are so limited and the games are so short you would be lucky to even get to use one or two a game. Anyone without a compatible Amiibo really isn’t missing out on much here.

Surprisingly, there are some annoying user interface features present in Mario Party 10. Constantly being told to turn my controller back to the upright position after a mini game, which isn’t necessary in order to take your turn is incredibly annoying. In Amiibo mode you are constantly bugged to tap the Amiibo to the NFC device on the GamePad which always has a slight delay to it and I can imagine it being a huge pain with four players all trying to do so, juggling their remotes, Amiibo and the GamePad. It should be noted a lot of people are saying it is required to tap the Amiibo to role the dice, that is simply not true you can just press A, the game just doesn’t tell you that for some reason even though it gives you heaps of other obvious advice. Most other actions do require the Amiibo tap though.

The game is also overly child friendly, displaying notes over the game board literally telling you the dark purple stars are bad or that the gold stars are important and you want to reach them. In contrast, basic controls and mini game instructions are not clearly detailed, instead a single line of text that scrolls so you have to wait to read it sits along the bottom of the mini game video and no tips are offered either.

Visual

Mario Party 10 is a great looking Nintendo game that seems to be running off the Super Mario 3D World graphics engine. Characters are well modeled as are the game boards and the signature bright and colourful ‘Nintendo’ style is in full effect here. Textures are high resolution, menus are cheery and all the special effects and lighting also look great. The only slightly odd thing I noticed was DK’s arms when he lifted up the Superstar at the end of a Mario Party, it’s like he’s wearing a shirt with long sleeves as opposed to normal fur but if that’s my biggest problem with the games visuals then you can tell I didn’t have much to complain about.

Audio

Like the visuals the audio is also pretty classic from a Mario Party series view. Audio is mostly forgettable but it all fits the mood of the board/event/mini game perfectly and there are a few stand out tracks you might find yourself enjoying quite a bit. Bowser’s challenge theme and the 2nd theme for the spooky ghost board stood out to me as hits. All the characters sound as they have in past titles and all retain that charm we know and love. There’s really not much else to say here, the Mario Party series has always looked and sounded good and Mario Party 10 is no exception.

Overall

I was admittedly a bit apprehensive coming into Mario Party 10 due to the car mechanic but I can’t deny I had fun playing the game. The mini games are top notch with great balance and variety, Bowser Party is a good take on asynchronous gameplay and a fun mix on the formula and having the car in standard Mario Party allows for quicker games, albeit at the expense of non-linearity and less emphasis on skill and strategy in comparison to luck. The question for me lies in how much more fun I will have with this title as the minimal amount of boards and lack of outcomes within them don’t really encourage multiple plays. Small user interface issues aside, solid visuals and audio along with a few extras make Mario Party 10 a decent sized family fun package offered at a fair, cheaper price point.

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