Triple Game Review

-Gregg Dietz (@ChubRockGeek/FBChubRockGeek)
Reviews Editor

Over the past few weeks, a lot has been going on in my life and writing took a short back seat. I was able to play a few games at certain intervals and planned on full reviews but time is limited. Today will be 3 short reviews on 3 titles that released over the past few weeks. First will be Oddworld: New n’ Tasty played on the Xbox One. The second will be Mortal Kombat X and the last will be Mario Party 10. Lets get started, shall we?

Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee – New 'n' Tasty!

I’ve never played the PlayStation version of this game back in the 90’s, maybe a demo but not the full game. I figured that I might as well give it a shot and try out the remake. This comes from the same publisher, Oddworld Inhabitants, who made the original series. This remake was released originally on the PlayStation 4 back in June of 2014 but was released on Xbox One in March of this year.

The visuals are really nice especially if you compare them to the original. In the classic version, everything had to be made in a 2D due to the limitations of the PlayStation. However here, they can all be rendered in a full 3D space and it looks gorgeous. The gameplay is relatively the same as far as i could tell. As Abe, You must save other mudokons from getting turned into meat for the Glukkon. To do so, you must use game-speak, this will allow Abe to communicate with the other Mudokons and have them do various things until they are safe.

This mechanic is nice as it gives the player a moment to assess any given situation and execute properly. The controls are the only thing that really bothered me. I do understand that they are intentional to give the player a sense of lack of control over the character but when i need to jump or stop and the animation needs to activate, it can get very frustrating. The only other gripe i have is that after a certain part, there seems to be a lack of solid direction, this could be cleared up with the bird things Abe uses to aid occasionally.

Overall this is a great game that is worth the time whether you are new to the franchise or an old school fan. My only warning to newcomers is to have patients with specific mechanics. I gave Oddworld: New n’ Tasty a 7.5 outta 10.

Mortal Kombat X

NetherRealm Studios is comprised of ex-Midway developers and in 2011 released Mortal Kombat, a reboot of sorts to the ever popular franchise. Mortal Kombat X is its direct sequel. Fighting games aren’t usually my forte when it comes to playing games but i must say, i really enjoyed this one. There are many modes to play around with here. We have the classic modes, Story, 1 vs 1 ranked, King of the hill, Survivor and test your luck and new modes Living Towers and Faction Wars. Living Towers is an evolved form of challenge towers from original Mortal Kombat games.

Faction Wars is interesting because you don't play this one normally. At the start up of the game, you are asked to choose one of the 5 factions, Black Dragon, the Brotherhood of Shadow, the Lin Kuei, Special Forces, and White Lotus. Playing as members from these factions and completing specific challenges will earn points for your faction and the faction that wins at the end of the week, the members will see rewards. I always received rewards because the Lin Kuei always won it seemed.

The story was interesting because I do not remember what happened in the previous Mortal Kombat and it seemed to me that the developers didn’t care. I think thats what made it so much fun to. I really enjoyed the addition of the new younger characters like Cassie Cage and Kung Jin and new villains Kotal Kahn and D’Vorah. NetherRealm has figured out that fighting games with stories are ridiculous, so why not play with that.

Overall its a great fighting game with a silly story and loads of content. Visually beautiful and disgusting at the same time makes it stand out as a truly wonderful title. Familiar but new fighting mechanics will have fighting fans playing for hours. I give Mortal Kombat X an 8 outta 10.

Mario Party 10

Nintendo’s next installment of the Mario Party franchise has a lot of shoes to fill. After the last few games being panned both by fans and critics alike, Nintendo needs to bring something new to the table. There are 3 game modes here, Mario Party, Bowser Party and Amiibo Party. Mario Party plays exactly like 9, a group of 4 players travel together in a vehicle and compete for mini stars. Im not a huge fan of this as it takes away from the boardgame aesthetic. This is however solved with Amiibo Party.

This game type is classic Mario Party with much smaller boards represented by which ever amiibo you place down. You compete for stars, coins and items like you would in any other Mario Party game. The only major downside to this is you need at least one amiibo to even begin playing. This is exactly the issue i take with every game having amiibo support. As an extra piece of fun, please add it, but if you lock me out of an entirely different mode because I didn’t spend $13 extra on a tiny statue, that's the opposite of fun.

The last game type makes up for any disappointment that may have been caused in the previous comments above. Bowser Party is amazing and fun in every way. The way this one plays is 4 players must make it as a team to the end of a long map, all while a 5th player controls bowser using the Gamepad. After all 4 players roll their dice and move around the board collecting power-ups and the sort, Bowser rolls and he gets a lot of dice, if he happens to catch up to the party, a mini game will begin. Bowser mini games don't play like the others, each player has a series of hearts that Bowser can knock out. if all players lose their hearts, Bowser wins, however players can regain hearts and bring back fallen teammates with items or board spaces.

The only other gripe besides amiibo board support I have is that there aren’t as many mini games, they all seem very uninspired as well. Especially for Bowser Party as there are only 10 minigames and once you’ve played them all including the boards, it stops being as fun. Overall the game is fun for a night of drinks and merriment. You just may not have the desire to play the game past that night. I give Mario Party 10 a 6.5 outta 10


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