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Foreign Dreams Review

Jamie Laike Tsui
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Foreign Dreams

Developer: Game Factory Interactive
Publisher: Game Factory Interactive
Platforms: iPad
Release Date: April 13, 2012
Price: $3.99 USD/ $4.49 AUD Get It Here

Overview

Game Factory Interactive switches gears with Foreign Dreams, this time opting for a serious and moody hidden object game. Foreign Dreams puts players in the shoes of a young woman who can enter people’s dreams to ease their difficulties. Players will have to enter your friend Victor’s dreams to find clues for the source of Victor’s troubles. Along the way players will have to conquer some devious puzzles and hunt down hard to find objects hidden in Victor’s dream land. Hidden object games are one of the most popular sub-genres in casual games. Does Foreign Dreams have what it takes to stand out from the crowd and justify its $3.49 price tag?

Story

Foreign Dreams follows the tale of Victor who suffers from terrifying nightmares. His desperation brings him to his female friend who is able to enter dreams. With the help of a special amulet, she begins to sort through his nightmares to help Victor find the root of his troubles and free him from his dreams. I found the plot line started out strong, it was riveting and begged to be played. But once the game built to a crescendo, the plot wrapped up in record time with an ending that left me feeling let down and cheated. The ending feels forced and is a disappointing end to a great story.

Gameplay

Foreign Dreams is a hidden object game split up with puzzles. The hidden object portion of the game is pretty generic. Thankfully, the hidden objects are logically placed or as logically placed as a hidden object game gets. The puzzles that split up the hidden object levels are the most interesting part of the game. The puzzles range from jigsaw puzzles to number based brain teasers.  Some of these were incredibly difficult, but satisfying to conquer. I only wish that there were more of these puzzles. For those who find some puzzles too difficult to complete, there is a skip puzzle feature that can be activated after a certain period of time elapses. At the end of each dream, players will have to go back across all levels in the dream to collect the parts of a dream catcher to escape the dream world. This added a slightly interesting twist to the hidden object gameplay to raise the difficulty.

There are two difficulty modes available, easy mode provides simpler mini-games with a short cool down timer for hints while difficult mode raises the difficulty on mini-games and lengthens the hint cool down timer. Even with these two modes, I found Foreign Dreams to be an extremely short game. Compounding the problem is the fact once you’re done the story, you’re done the game. Second play through will have you hunting down for the same items, the only change being the puzzles if you choose to change the difficulty. Overall, Foreign Dreams manages to deliver rather average gameplay experience. For the exception of the well-executed puzzle sections of the game, Foreign Dreams is a rather generic hidden object game that is hindered by its short length.

Visuals

Foreign Dreams is a beautiful game utilizing a cell shaded style. This art style makes it slightly easier to pick out the hidden objects in the game due to the slightly lower level of details in individual objects. However, I found this trade off to be worth it as the game looks fantastic. The levels are designed to be dream-like and at times down right creepy. I enjoyed the fact that the dream worlds feel alive; there is movement in the hidden object scenes, instead of being the traditional static affair.  Foreign Dreams is a visual pleasure that no one should miss.

Audio

The sound effects for Foreign Dreams are solid. It suits the game and there’s enough variety to avoid becoming repetitive. Foreign Dreams has an amazing soundtrack. Too bad half the time the music did not play. The music is moody and adds to the surreal dream state. The music is an absolute pleasure to listen to. The problem is most of the time the music failed to play. Out of all the levels in the game, three levels managed to play music, one started playing music mid game, the other two managed to play music from the start, although one of those levels stopped playing music a few minutes into the game. Top marks for Foreign Dreams’ audio… when it works.

Overall

Foreign Dreams is a mixed bag, demonstrating some really strong point such as the visuals and a strong soundtrack, but is hindered by a disappointing ending, short game play, and a serious glitch preventing the music from playing. The hidden object gameplay is generic, though the puzzles breaking up the game play are a lot of fun and a few are incredibly challenging. For the money, Foreign Dreams is simply too short to justify a purchase. If the game was $0.99, then I would be more inclined to suggest purchasing Foreign Dreams.  But unless you are a huge hidden object fan with money just begging to be spent, I would advise you to pick up one of Game Factory Interactive’s other hidden object titles instead of Foreign Dreams.

6--capsules-out-of-10

Max Payne Mobile Review

Jessica Barabas-Bui
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Max Payne Mobile Review


Max Payne Mobile
Developer: Remedy, 3D Realms
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Platforms: iPhone (reviewed), iTouch, iPad
Release Date: April 12, 2012
Price: $2.99 – Available Here

Overview

Revivals of old school games through apps are nothing new to the mobile gaming world, so the release of a Max Payne app half a month before the much anticipated release of the third game in the series is no big surprise. Max Payne is a beloved character, with a great feel about the game, and it’s no surprise that he holds a dear place in third-player shooter hearts. I mean, he’s a total badass. So, how does the game translate over to the app?

Gameplay

The first thing that one notices when playing this app is that it is quite concentrated on cut scenes, something that is very uncommon in games of this type. You’ll spend a lot of your time waiting at load screens, sometimes for purely a cut scene. The cut scenes themselves are interesting enough to hold attention, and not grate too much on your nerves, but if you are the impatient sort who want to just get to the action then you’ll probably get quite frustrated.

The story line is strong, and results in something that probably doesn’t speak well of the app itself. I ended up enjoying the cut scenes more than the gameplay. The story line had me far more invested and I didn’t care much for my own participation, nor did I hunger to get my trigger finger going, instead I just wanted to sit back and watch it like a movie.

The controls are the standard that are afforded to shooters on the iOS, left hand corner is the move control stick while the right corner is the view control stick. The other controls, such as shoot, jump, and open, all appear on the right hand side of the screen. While the layout is something that I have griped about before, these are customizable and you can adjust it to whatever your preference is. My main issue lies in the way that it translates into the game. Max moves like the painkiller-addict that he becomes (spoiler alert? Does it count if it happened over a decade ago?). Navigating the worlds takes some adjusting before you stop staggering around, erasing any idea that you could be stealth or take any of the wayward NY gangsters by surprise.

Not that they pose much of a threat anyway. A few times I took shots at them that were a little off (yeah, drunken stagger-y Max is not a crack shot), and it still managed to kill them off thanks to auto-aim. So I tried to turn auto-aim off and then discovered that I could barely manage to hit one of those damn identical character models.

It didn’t help that Max seemed incapable of moving his gun quite in the direction I wanted it to. So I had to turn auto aim back on, which then made me feel like I was being handed a win when I didn’t deserve it. Like I’d hacked the game, but totally by accident, and now my victories tasted bitter in my mouth. Then I stopped being melodramatic and got over it, but after noticing that I did start taking a far more lax approach to shooting, which took a little away from my enjoyment. But that’s a lot better than rage quitting. At the end of the day, it was a fairly necessary feature for the app. Of course you also have Bullet Time, the signature move of Max Payne. Although this can make you launch into a wall or a piece of furniture, which is kind of awkward.

Visuals

In terms of frame rate, you run into issues if you don’t have the latest hardware. And the graphics aren’t really anything to brag about. While the cut scenes are the most entertaining and interesting part of the game, the graphics in them aren’t always superb, and during the gameplay the graphics degrade even further. However, it has been ported over from the original Xbox/PC game, so it can’t be held at fault completely for the lackluster graphics.

One thing I loved about the visual style was the included ‘comic book’ style cut scenes, which roots the game firmly into the noir genre. This is something Max Payne is well known for, and it would have been a huge omission. The animation of the comic book panels was minimal, but carried themselves well enough.

Audio

The voiceover is one of the things I love most about the game. Max’s raspy voice brings yet another aspect to the storytelling of the game, and it makes up for the underwhelming graphics of the game. The soundtrack is also another great aspect that connects the game with the popular franchise and I never thought it was too out of place or bumbling, it always seemed to sit nicely in the background and help create an environment.

Overall

Max Payne is a faithful recreation of the original game for the iOS, with the full campaign available in the app. Which makes the price fairly fair, but that is balanced of course with the lackluster graphics and the controls which can become quite frustrating over time. Still, if you love yourself some Max and would like to reminisce about the good old days, then you’d enjoy the flashback.

6-5-capsules-out-of-10

Slow Down and Check out this New Max Payne 3 Trailer

Dustin Spencer
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On May 15th, Max Payne will make his grizzly revival on consoles and the PC thanks to Rockstar. Much like all titles released from the highly acclaimed publisher, we have seen a ton of promotion while approaching that date for Max Payne 3, and fans now have even more to gawk at with a new trailer.

This clip slows down the action in true bullet-time form, showing off bits and pieces of the plot, along with some nicely paced gameplay footage. Oh yeah, it all looks pretty damn awesome as well. You can check out the clip below and stay tuned, as there is sure to be even more sneak peaks as this journey to release nears an end.

Capcom Reveal Retailer Exclusive Pre-Order bonuses for Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor

Dustin Spencer
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The Kinect may still be going through a hung over state from Kinect Star Wars, but that doesn’t mean that all is lost with the peripheral as Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor is slated to launch this summer for the Xbox 360 and of course will offer the very interesting addition of motion support.

Like most big releases, this title will be seeing pre-order bonuses from retailers, with Best Buy, Amazon, and Gamestop offering up two extra VT’s that are fitted with stand-out designs and special perks. Capcom went into detail on these extras with three new trailers, displaying each mech in action. You can check out all three below, and decide for yourself you will be the victor of your wallet.

Amazon – Carbon Assassin Armory

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zm4pvJXFsG4[/pro-player]

Gamestop – Iron Guardian Armory

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIeJCUvMKcs[/pro-player]

Best Buy – Chrome Blitzer Armory

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLe7VHq_VZw[/pro-player]

Record of Agarest War 2 squeaks past the ESRB with a Teen rating

Travis Bruno
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Today the ESRB released their rating for Aksys Games’ Record of Agarest War 2 and surprisingly the title will only be given a T-rating, meaning the game is fine for anyone over the age of 13. This is a bit interesting considering just yesterday it was discovered that the Limited Edition version of the game would include a blow up character doll…

That and the fact that one of the game’s extra features is the ability to use the PlayStation Move to massage girls in the bath. Those interested in seeing the entire ESRB description can see it below and everyone eager to get the game can do so on June 27th when the game is released exclusively on the PlayStation 3.

This is a fantasy role-playing game in which players control a hero who must restore balance in a magical land. Players explore towns, travel along map points, and fight humans and creatures in turn-based combat. Action sequences consist of selecting weapons and attacks (Ice Vein, Trick Hit, Rushing Jaeger, Drop Dead, etc.) from a menu screen; damage is indicated by slashing sounds, light effects, and floating hit points above characters’ heads. The game depicts several female characters whose breasts/buttocks are partially obscured by hot-spring mist and soap suds.

During some bathhouse sequences, players can engage in massage-based mini-games, applying oil or foodstuffs (e.g., bananas, mushrooms, popsicles) to the bodies of bikini-clad women. One related achievement is called Ecstasy Time. Other still-frame images depict female characters in provocative poses (e.g., women hiding behind bed sheets; two characters eating a banana together) or engaging in suggestive dialogue: “Bigger is better, right?” The words “sh*t” and “a*shole” appear in dialogue.

First episode of Telltale’s The Walking Dead available tomorrow on PSN, PC, Mac

Travis Bruno
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Although the second season of The Walking Dead show may have ended over a month ago, fans of The Walking Dead universe will be able to get another taste tomorrow when the first episode of Telltale’s The Walking Dead, which is titled “A New Day,” is released on the PC, Mac and PlayStation Network.

Currently there is no release date for the first episode on the Xbox 360 though one is expected. It is worth noting that PC and Mac users can still pre-order the entire season for 10% off the normal price, at only $22.49. PS3 users can pick up the first episode on its own for $4.99 or pre-purchase the whole thing for $19.99 which will save them $5 and also net them a premium PS3 theme.

Mortal Kombat Vita to include special Klassic costumes

Travis Bruno
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While the Vita version of Mortal Kombat already contains all of the original content from the console version of the game as well as all DLC that was released for the console version, it seems like it will also have a slew of brand new klassic costumes to go along with it all.

The additional costumes that will be available in Mortal Kombat Vita will include the Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 versions of Ermac, Noob, Rain, Reptile, Smoke, (Unmasked) Sub-Zero and Scorpion. There is also alternate costumes for Kenshi, as well as Mortal Kombat 2 versions of Ermac, Reptile, Scorpion and Sub-Zero. Seems like plenty of alternate costumes if you don’t like how the characters originally looked.

Subway Surfers Announced

Thomas Giles
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Kiloo Games, creators of the popular Frisbee Forever and Bullet Time HD games for iOS last year, have teamed up with SYBO Games to produce an all-new title, Subway Surfers.

 

You’ll play as one of three colourful characters; a graffiti crew determined to make their mark on the railway train system. Of course, the grumpy inspector and his dog aren’t too happy about this, so you’ll have to escape their clutches by surfing the train tracks. The game will feature lightning-fast swipe acrobatics, as well as a paint-powered backpack and even a hoverboard!

Subway Surfers is set for release in May 2012.

Spec Ops launches site and multiplayer trailer

Joshua Moris
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The devastation that was brought upon Dubai destroyed the city’s integrity, and its survivors began to lose their minds. Even as the U.S. sent in military reinforcements for search and rescue, they too were faced with the trials that plagued Dubai. As the sandstorm raged on alliances were forged out of fear and abandonment. The Exiles and The Damned were driven apart by the storm; together there was hope, but now there is only fear.

“These are the LAST DAYS, FEAR is all we know.” – quote from Spec Ops: The Line

In the multiplayer trailer we see the two factions pit against each other in 4v4 class based combat. Once classes are chosen they will have an in-depth progression as more perks and customizations will open for each individual class. For instance a sniper might rely on a stealth ability to not be sighted after shooting his weapon.

Additional to the multiplayer trailer, 2K games has created the official Spec Ops: The Line website to reveal news and important updates as the title reaches its launch on June 26, 2012. Check out the trailer below, and let us know what you think of the multiplayer thus far.

Max Payne 3 PC Specs Released

Roger Ma
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Rockstar has today released the PC specification of its upcoming third person shooter Max Payne 3, along with three brand new screenshots from the PC version of Max Payne 3. And well yes the game looks pretty damn impressive.

Hardcore PC owners will be glad to know that Max Payne 3 on PC supports DirectX11 including tessellation and a number of additional advanced graphics options to get the best visuals on your specific PC setup.

Max Payne 3 PC System Specifications

Operating System: 
Windows 7 32/64 Service Pack 1, Windows Vista 32/64 Service Pack 2, Windows XP 32/64 Service Pack 3

Processor:
Intel Dual Core 2.4 GHZ –  i7 3930K 6 Core  x 3.06 GHZ / AMD Dual Core 2.6 GHZ – FX8150 8 Core x 3.6 GHZ

RAM: 
2GB – 16GB

Video Card:
NVIDIA® 8600 GT 512MB VRAM – NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 680 2GB VRAM / Radeon HD 3400 512MB VRAM – Radeon HD 7970 3GB VRAM

Sound Card:
100% Direct X 9.0 compatible – Direct X 9.0 compatible supporting Dolby Digital Live

HDD Space:
35 GB

Max Payne 3 is set to be released for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 on May 18 and PC on June 1.

  

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