BattleBorn Review

Introduction

So since it's launch, BattleBorn has been my husband and I's favorite game to play together. I love everything about it (except for the split screen map). The graphics are awesome much like Borderlands, gory comic-book style. The catch phrases shouted by the playable characters are amazing. "INAPPROPRIATE GESTURE". The character selection is awesome regardless of your playing style.

Characters

My husband is a huge Oscar Mike fan. Seriously he's played atleast 95% of the game as one character. I have more eclectic taste and have taken to Mellka, Alani, and Montana as well as a few others. The aptly named "heroes" are all unique and have great backstory's to keep you enthralled. Here are a few of my favorites. You can see a complete overview here.

Alani:

Raised as a healer, but forced to be a warrior, Alani is all that remains of her order after Rendain’s Imperium stole the oceans from her world. Through meditation, intense focus, and warranty-breaking
misuse of water-soluble nanotech, she can summon tidal waves with the flick of a finger.

Galilea: 

Warped by a corruptive agent in a mission against the Jennerit, Galilea endured hundreds of years of
self-imposed exile on Bliss before joining the Battleborn. The darkness within her is both her greatest strength and most profound struggle.

Mellka:

Born as a refugee, Mellka was raised and trained among an aggressive Eldrid commando group known as the Vigilant.  Proficient at several combat styles, but prefers exotic weaponry such as her biologically-active Eldrid gauntlet, now permanently fused with her left hand.

Montana:

When he’s not clotheslining bears for fun, Montana can be found suppressing enemies with his fearsome minigun and soaking up industrial-sized buckets of hurt on behalf of his comrades. Self-appointed morale officer of the Battleborn and friend to all.

Oscar Mike:

A discarded clone soldier from a long-forgotten war, Oscar Mike is a capable front-line fighter,
engaging enemies at range with his assault rifle, cloaking for quick exits from tight spots, and inspiring his allies with his... unconventional
personality.

The Story

Set in space, Battleborn tells the story of a number of different alien species, all of which have fled to Solus, the last star in the galaxy. Though divided at first, the different species are forced to unite against a common enemy, the Varelsi. You play as any one of the "Battleborn" they've sent out as a last resort to save the universe. 

Battleborn is a "genre-fused" game—infused with several elements from FPS and MOBA games. I was a little hesitant about the genre fusion, because the last time I got my hopes up about an FPS with a storyline, Destiny happened, I was sorely disappointed, and bored. I'm happy to announce that this time was completely different. 

The Visuals

The game may look familiar to fans of Gearbox's last game franchise, Borderlands. That's because it has a very similar visual style. The cartoon/graphic novel style worked perfectly for Borderlands, and it works the same for Battleborn!

Battleborn's visual style also takes inspiration from the CGI used in Pixar movies. Unsurprisingly, the Borderlands style mixed with the Pixar-ish style blend wonderfully, creating a very good looking game!

Co-Op

My dearest gearbox, thank you thank you thank you. We all remember the good old days, when you and a friend or family member could sit on the same couch and go head-to-head in viscous "no screen-cheating" local combat! It was even better when you and the person next to you could work together and take on your mutual enemies,

Not a lot of games have that anymore, focusing solely on online multiplayer, and leaving local splitscreen completely out. Playing online is fun and all, but it doesn't even come close to the type of intimate gameplay that comes with being right next to your opponent and/or teammate!

That being said, fix the co-op map. Seriously, it does not need to take up this much of my screen. I'd like to see what I'm doing instead. Did your developers learn about opacity in their programming schools?

Online Multi-Player

Ok I'll be honest, I only played the online multi-player once. Sorry, I don't like human beings very much and the douchecanoes I got matched with re-enforced my belief that the world is full of scum. But my husband plays it sometimes and seems to enjoy it so... I don't know, play for yourself and make up your own mind I guess. Or read this article at IGN.

Conclusion

Battleborn is awesome. Absolutely worth buying and playing. The way the characters level up and the rate at which gear drops makes the competitive aspect just as great as the storyline. Enjoyable for everyone age 12 and up!

5/5

Apotheon Review

I got my copy from IndieBox. So it included a mousepad, a USB card copy of the game, a steam code (on the outside of the box incase you're a collector), the soundtrack a map rolled into a scroll and a poster. All for $20 which I considered a good value. You can also just grab it on Steam.

Apotheon is a classic Action/Adventure side scroller set in Ancient Greece. It's reminiscent of Legend of Zelda II and The Battle of Olympus. The characters are a great homage to the History of Greece, and the art-style is homogeneous to that of the time period. The controls are somewhat clumsy but not to the point of ruining the game. The story is... a bit flimsy considering how built up it's claims were (on the outside of the box).

The story is nothing new. God of War, Kid Icarus, The Battle of Olympus, and even Altered Beast all tackle the subject with varying degrees of success. But while God of War has a complex story revolving around a complex hero, Apotheon does very little to establish its protagonist as a person. I know very little about Nikandreos other than that the God's don't care about him anymore.

There's a lot of cool history sprinkled throughout the game. There are enjoyable quotes from ancient writes on the little stone steles explaining the character and purpose of each Olympian. “Hera has reared a violent son whom she has borne to Zeus: Ares, a god irascible, hard to govern, one whose mind knew no respect,” warns Aeschylus on a stele outside the war god’s domain. The design of each God's area is well thought out and reflects their powers.

I liked that the weapons and armor had accurate names. It was cool how they all served different purposes and could be used to devise strategies adding an element of realism to the battle.

While I have mixed feelings about the platforming and inventory management, I have no doubts about Apotheon’s stunning look and feel. I’m smitten by the art style, which pays homage to Greek amphora found in museums throughout the world. Vibrant coral reds and creamy yellows evoke the colorful glazes used to decorate ancient pottery, and real statues and murals are lovingly recreated. (The Statue of Zeus at Olympia is one example). And I love the pinwheel joints and enigmatic expressions of  the characters, which are so emblematic of the Archaic style. The music is just as authentic; the soothing sounds of a plucked lyre while hunting in a sacred forest, and heavy drums booming as I sparred with guards who caught me pilfering jars in the public market creates a great atmosphere.

Watch the trailer below and you can check out some of my gameplay here.

7.5/10

Highlights: Day 1 of Orlando iX

Grabbles was definitely my favorite game of the day. I haven't played a casual multiplayer that's that much fun in ages. It's one of those games you can totally stink at and still have a great time while playing. It's being produced by Noble Whale Studios. I didn't play any of the single player levels but they look like challenging levels with a puzzle feel. They've already been greenlit by Steam. You can watch some game play here but it definitely doesn't do the game justice.

Sttartup is a cool new crate box offering that sends you 2 startup t-shirts each month for $39. I couldn't find much trace of them on the web, but I'll update you as I get more info. If I weren't already knee deep in recurring monthly charges I would totally subscribe to this. (That and my t-shirt drawers are overflowing)

Deadwood is another game I'm really excited to see launch. The graphics look awesome and the premise is something I could see myself getting into. It's an action/adventure game turn tower defense after dark. It's the first action/adventure of it's kind I've seen with this survival twist. Also greenlit on steam

Honorable mention goes to CatFish. While it's not something I could see myself playing for hours on end I respect it's original concept. It's definitely a viable game I'd buy for my kids or husband. They've been greenlit as well.