Bit by Bit: August 2014

As the weeks pass, we continue to inch ever so closer to the end of the summer.  For most including yours truly, the end of summer means the beginning of school.  With a new school year, I move from the craziness of managing two jobs, this blog and life to insanity of managing four university courses, a volunteer position at the university newspaper and a co-op job search on top of everything else mentioned above.  Before all that awesomeness becomes reality, there are two more weeks to relax and make the most of the summer.  Among the large list of things to do in these two weeks, I am going to Fan Expo Canada this coming Friday, August 29th.  It has been four long years since I last went to this event and things have really changed especially on the video game side of things.  Expect plenty of impressions on Fan Expo and all the games I get a chance to demo at the event in the weeks to come.  While all that amazing content is going to coming to Silver Bit in the near future, it is that time again to take our monthly trip down memory lane in Bit by Bit.

Game of the Month
License games do not have the best reputation among gamers.  Most of these projects do a poor job in translating the properties they represent to the video game medium that many have soured to license games altogether.  Every once and awhile, there comes a diamond in the rough to show us the great potential of coupling a huge license, be it a movie, comic or television show, with this interactive medium.  The latest diamond comes from the fusion of Broforce, a side-scrolling action game made by Free Lives that honours and parodies 80s action films and unabashed American patriotism, and the Expendables, Sylvester Stallone's action movie franchise that plays with nostalgia for a bygone age of blockbuster action movies and their larger than life stars.  From this match made in heaven came the Expendabros.

Expendabros is a free standalone expansion to Broforce which gives players a taste of Broforce's hectic gameplay with bro-ified versions of the Expendables 3 cast.  To describe Expendabros' gameplay as anything short of insane would not do the game justice.  Destructible environments, bombastic weapons, buckets of pixelated blood and enough explosions to bring a tear to Michael Bay's eyes kept a grin firmly planted on my face throughout my time with the game.  As much fun as I had with with the Expendabros, I did run into a good amount of slowdown especially when there were lots of explosions on screen and while loading new levels or cutscenes that took away from my experience.  While Expendabros has a few problems, the game has put Broforce on my radar of games I need to play and I highly recommend those who own a PC to give this free game a try because it is loads of fun.

Most Anticipated Game of the Month
I try not to have many repeats for Most Anticipated Game of the Month, but Azure Striker Gunvolt is the exception especially considering the game is less than a week away from release.  Comcept and Inti Creates' spiritual successor to Mega Man Zero will be available to download from the Nintendo eShop this coming Friday, August 29th for 15 dollars.  Those who purchase Azure Striker Gunvolt within the first three months of its launch will receive Mighty Gunvolt, an 8-bit side-scrolling crossover between Gunvolt, Mighty No. 9 and Gal Gun, free of charge.  From the brief gameplay trailer, Mighty Gunvolt looks to be modeled after the NES era Mega Man games with some new gameplay twists such as character specific abilities.  Seeing as Capcom will be sitting on Mega Man aside from re-releasing past games on new platforms for the foreseeable future, I am glad that Keiji Inafune, Comcept and Inti Creates are taking it upon themselves to fill the void with quality successors to the Mega Man name.  I cannot wait to get my hands on the fruition of their hard work later this week.

Video of the Month
When was the last time a game legitimately scared you?  For me, it was BioShock.  The dark, unsettling setting of Rapture combined with its disturbing residents caused me to debate whether or not to venture further into the level or shudder over the haunting screams that echoed through those halls many times.

While I personally hate horror movies due to their predictable plots and over reliance on blood and gore, I find survival horror games and games with significant horror elements very engaging because I am directly involved in the horrific events rather than a passive observer.  With the drop in quality among survival horror games (Resident Evil and Alone in the Dark) and the need to give players an overabundance of firepower and strength in action games with horror elements (BioShock Infinite and The Last of Us), games that truly scare are few and far between.

Konami looks to change that situation with its new additions of Silent Hill, which will be developed by Kojima Productions with the help of horror movie aficionado Guillermo del Toro and starring The Walking Dead's Norman Reedus.  With a lot of big names behind these projects, it seems like Konami is finally taking the Silent Hill franchise serious once again, but that is not all Konami did.  To show the new direction for these Silent Hills, Konami released P.T. (Playable Teaser) as a free download on PS4.  The one-two punch of the announcement trailer and playable teaser has generated an incredible amount of excitement for these new installments in the Silent Hill franchise.  I strongly encourage everybody to try out the unique yet incredibly scary P.T. for themselves or watch a walkthrough online if you do not own a PS4.  While P.T. may be more of an interactive experience than a game, it is something that all gamers mature enough should take the time to experience.