Slipknot - .5: The Gray Chapter (Review)

It's been six years since the release of "All Hope Is Gone", and now Slipknot has emerged with their new album ".5: The Gray Chapter". In many ways this album proves that Slipknot is far from dead, and it also finds the band in a transitional period. That is a good thing for some, and something that could stand to alienate a lot of their fanbase. Perhaps it was a slight mistake to release "The Negative One" as their first glimpse of the album, "Why?" you may ask. Well quite simply "The Negative One" sounds like it could be a song from "Iowa", which gave a lot of people the perspective that maybe the band was going back to the heavier darker days of Slipknot. It was the release of the bands first "official" single "The Devil In I" that made it apparent that, that was not the case.

However you feel about Slipknot, they have been a band that has never stuck with a set "sound", each album has it's own vibe, and are all distinctly different. "The Gray Chapter" is certainly no different, but it is also the closest the band has ever come to having an identity crisis, the album never seems to quite know what it wants to be. It is here, there and everywhere in between. If you didn't know very much about the band you would assume that this is nothing more than Slipknot's swan song. It may give you the deep feeling that the band is on their way out.

But, in the grand scheme of things this is to be expected. If you read the "Revolver Magazine" special "Book of Slipknot" which came out after the release of "All Hope Is Gone", then you would know that Paul Gray and Joey Jordison did most of the demo work for the previous Slipknot albums. They built the skeletons of the songs that would become "Iowa", "Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses", and "All Hope Is Gone". If you don't count Chris Fehn or Shawn "Clown" Crahan, Joey and Paul made up Slipknots rhythm section, they were the metaphorical soul of the band. Unless you have been living under a rock, or simply don't follow music all that closely you would know that Paul Gray died in 2010, which took more than a toll on the band as a whole. Prior to entering the studio for what would become ".5: The Gray Chapter" Joey Jordison departed the band on unclear terms.

What this leaves you with is the plain and simple fact that this a band whom has lost it's main songwriters, and is being forced to figure out where to go from there. It would have probably been easier for the band to bow out, no one would have blamed them. Between the sudden death of Paul Gray, the inner turmoil that seems to follow the band like a plague, the departure or Jordison, and Stone Sour getting bigger and bigger. It probably would have actually made sense, but instead the band has pressed on and forged a new path in the ever evolving monster that is Slipknot.

That "Book of Slipknot" issue also revealed that during the recording of "All Hope is Gone" there was a clear division growing in the band. Joey and Paul went off to write by themselves, while in another studio space Clown, Sid Wilson, Jim Root, and Corey Taylor were off trying to push the boundaries of what is considered Slipknot. In the end Paul and Joey finished less songs than ever before, and the rest of band almost wholesale rejected what the 4 others were doing, only one song emerged from Clown's sessions the bonus track "'Til We Die".

Without someone telling them "That isn't Slipknot" the band finds themselves able to create without restrictions, and that is exactly what ".5: The Gray Chapter" is, Slipknot without restrictions. This album is as it's supposed to be, a band learning what it means to be a band again. Which has as some have pointed out, that "a lot of the songs sound like they were done by a different band". That's because this IS a different band, this is a band that lost, came back and fought, and in the end triumphed.

Before I move on to a track by track breakdown I wish to address something that bugs the living shit out of me. In between the recording of "Iowa" and "Vol. 3 The Subliminal Verses", Corey set out with guitarist Jim Root and released Stone Sour's first album, an album that spawned the radio hit "Bother" which was attached to the soundtrack for Spiderman 2. "Iowa" was dark, depressing, and fucking heavy, while "Vol. 3" found the band venturing into more harmonies, and variety. I saw this as a natural evolution, Slipknot simply wasn't in the same place as they were when they recorded "Iowa", they also had a new producer in the form of Rick Rubin (Beastie Boys, Eminem, Johnny Cash, Jay-Z). A lot of fans panned the album, stating that Corey's involvement in Stone Sour was poisoning what Slipknot sounded like, this became worse as Stone Sour became bigger, and with the release of the very melodic "All Hope Is Gone".

I am not among these people, actually most of my favorite Slipknot songs are then ones that Corey uses his full range of ability. Mainly because anyone can scream for an entire song, but when Corey goes from rhythmic crazed talking, to belting out a melodic chorus, and then into a full rage screaming fit it has more impact. The closing track on "Iowa" works because it is fueled by the underlying current that it is building towards something, and when it finally does it is far more powerful than a song like "Surfacing" (which is still amazing). I respect Corey Taylor for everything he is capable of doing, he has immense talent, and I don't think a generalized idea of what Slipknot is supposed to "sound like" should deter Slipknot from making the music they wish to make.

With that being said, I will now commence what I think of  the album track by track.

"XIX" - as the opening song, "XIX" is like a declaration. It set's the tone for the rest of album incredibly well. I love the atmosphere of the song, and kind of wish there were more like it. I love the creepy vibe throughout the beginning that builds towards Corey's powerful vocals. The song is definitely raw and emotional.

"Sarcastrophe" - This one starts out almost like a Metallica song before going into a full on signature Slipknot flurry of Guitars, Drums, Percussion, and Corey roaring over all of it. It is certainly a hell of a way to get things started and keeps the pace throughout. The only downside to the song is the mostly forgettable chorus, but the rest is all top notch Slipknot.

"AOV" - This appears to be a fan favorite, and it's not hard to see why. The song comes out fast, furious, and screaming. It also showcases something I loved about this album, which is the fact that everything is accounted for. You hear the whole band on display, and if you listen to it with a pair of decent headphones it is quite simply fantastic. The verses are fast and sharp with Corey screaming throughout, and melds perfectly into the harmonic chorus. The slow and distant sound breakdown in the song is also quite nice as it slowly comes to end and goes full speed back into the insanity.

"The Devil In I" - Everyone who cares about Slipknot, even remotely has heard this song. The reaction has been mixed, but it stands as one of my favorites on the album. I love the way the slow chorus build to the violent chorus yet melodic chorus. Unfortunately as infectious as "The Devil In I" is, it also features some of the worst drums on the album during the breakdown. I've always hated over double-bass pedal, where it stops being rhythmic and just becomes constant pounding as if to say, "look how fast I can do this", it just sounds really bad.

"Killpop" - "Killpop" has already been dubbed "Vermilion, Pt. 3", and for good reason. It follows the same basic concept as "Vermilion, Pt. 1". A song about a girl, but in classic Slipknot fashion it's more of a sick, over obsessed kind of stalker love. I love Corey's psychotic love songs, and this one is no different. It is slow, churning, and expertly crafted. It starts with subdued electronic drums, and as it builds it becomes more and more memorable, and it most definitely stands out from the rest of the songs on the album. As with most songs like this that have come from Slipknot, it all culminates in Corey frantically screaming "We were made to hurt each other, now die and fucking love me." The only thing that I don't like is the pre-chorus, it's out of place, and Corey sounds like shit, other than that fantastic song.

"Skeptic" - Is a tribute to late Bassist Paul Gray, and unfortunately is probably the most forgettable song on the album. I hate saying it, but it's true, I expected a slow moving piece. Instead the song is heavy, and features terrible vocals. The chorus also feels slightly annoying, I respect the message, but it's so not Slipknot. I'm not going to spend too much time bashing the song, as I know it means a lot to the band, which I can respect fully. But it's one of the only songs on the album that I skip instinctively.

"Lech" - This song almost sounds like it was inspired by the great Ministry with the crazy samples during the frenzied riffs and drumming. The song is fucking heavy, and sounds like a statement made through the barrel of a tank. It doesn't sound too much like Slipknot, but it is definitely a step in the right direction. Opening with the line "I know why Judas wept motherfucker!" pretty much sets you up for what you get with the song, hard, fast, heavy, and filled with Corey going from insane speech patterns, to rage filled screams. If you love fast music this is definitely a track you should check out.

"Goodbye" - This sounds more like what "Skeptic" probably should have been. It's slow, solemn, and mournful. It is a fantastically beautiful song, and is an odd choice sandwhiched in between "Lech" and "Nomadic", but I'm glad it's there. It shows the band in the vulnerable state the band is probably in.

"Nomadic" - This has become my favorite song on the album, it has the old sound, mixed with the new sound in such a way that if they made an album on a more singular thread I would hope it sounded like this. Flawless verses, into the stellar chorus, and the entire band on point. I'm not sure why the rest of album is not as on point as this 4 minute song, but it's absolutely stellar. If you only bought the two singles as mp3's, you need to buy this one as well.

"The One That Kills The Least" - Much like "Skeptic" this song for some reason just doesn't gel with me. I really can't place it, but I just don't really care for it. It's kind of all over the place, sometimes singing in the verses, sometimes screaming, sometimes, melodic, sometimes just plain boring. I'm hoping it will grow on me, but I've listened to the album about 7-8 times now and still don't really care for it.

"Custer" - Another song that kind of sounds like a mixture of Ministry and Slipknot. The song is outright apologetically heavy, and immediately catches your attention. This one has also emerged as a fan favorite, and being that is was the 3rd song revealed, it's not surprising as people have had plenty of time to listen to it.It follows the usual formula for a Slipknot song, and has a chorus that took I would imagine 3 seconds to write "Cut, cut, cut me up, and fuck, fuck, fuck me up", but that doesn't mean it isn't effective as it does borough into your head and will have you singing along by the time it's finished.

"Be Prepared For Hell" - It's a creepy 2 minute interlude, full of piano, and loops. There's not a whole lot I can say about it, but it does fit nicely where it's at.

"The Negative One" - Probably my second favorite on the entire CD. It is a throwback to "Iowa", and it hits the mark with precision. It stands as a testament that Slipknot is just as good at forging new ground as they are at exploring what got them to where they are now. Everyone has already had plenty of time to listen to the song so I'm not going to delve to deep into it.

"If Rain Is What You Want" - Probably the most abstract track on the album, and it's fantastic from beginning to end. It's certainly no "Scissors" or "Iowa", but could definitely stand toe-to-toe with "Danger - Keep Away".

Bonus Track "Override" - Another track that probably was best left as a B-side, it's incredibly weak, with an atrocious chorus. But the breakdown is fucking blissfully heavy, and verses are definitely on point. But that chorus, really brings the whole song down. It feels like a bonus track, just not in a good way.

Bonus Track "The Burden" - Reminds me of newer KoRn, but then this moment happens towards the middle where the song turns into pure hell on earth. It's not the greatest song to ever be labeled Slipknot but is definitely far more attention worthy than "Override" and feels like a fitting way to end the album.

All in all the album is worth your attention, as I said earlier this is a band forging a new path and figuring out where they want to go. There is definite experimentation, with sprinkles of classic Knot. But if you were standing in there with the standard version in one hand and the special edition in the other, I'd save your money and just get the standard as the bonus tracks really offer no more worth to the album as a whole. If anything buy the album, and purchase "The Burden" separately. Either way I look forward to the future of Slipknot as they embrace their new found artistic freedom, this is merely the first step on a long journey. If I had to assign it a numbered review score I'd say it lands around a 7.5/10 as it has it's down moments and a couple forgettable tracks, but is overall one the best Metal albums I've heard in quite some time.

You can catch the band on tour with KoRn on the Prepare For Hell Tour in most major cities this Fall. You can purchase ".5: The Gray Chapter" from all major retailers as of today.

Destiny Xbox One (Review/List of needed improvements)

It is incredibly hard to describe how I feel about Destiny. On one hand I am hopelessly addicted, I have played every single day for hours on end since it's release on the 9th. On the other hand this game has frustrated me to no end. I don't want this to turn into a rant, and I don't want to paint a portrait that I dislike the game, because I don't, so I might as well get the first bit out of the way now. Destiny suffers from it's own ambition, it's an unfortunate thing, but there are much worse things to suffer from.

Unfortunately one of the main points on which Bungie missed the mark by so much you can't even see where the target was anymore is the lack of any real narrative. While there is plenty of lore, and information about the world provided through the Grimoire on Bungie.net, it is unbelievable that it isn't built into the game. How can you force people to leave the gamespace to go to an external source to get information about world. How and why was this decision made? There is no story arch, there is a vague begining, but after that, nothing that can be of any use. Why was I dead? Why was I brought back to life? How do my actions affect the world around me? What the fuck is the Traveler?

Apparently in the game, no one really knows, because they are all very quick to be as vague as possible. Also, they keep mentioning things that they NEVER EXPLORE IN THE FUCKING GAME! I can't understand who made the decision that how they put it out there is good enough to warrant $60 or more. The world seems so deep, and you want to know what is happening, where you stand in humanity's struggle to survive, and how it all impacts the random people you see moving about the Tower. But in the end all of your heroic deeds amount to nothing more than a light level, and that is incredibly sad.

Destiny's story mode consists of doing missions on the various ingame planets: Earth, the Moon, Venus, and Mars. The missions center around the same concept for each one fight enemies to get to where you need to be, deploy ghost, fight off waves of enemies, mission end. It really doesn't get more varied than that, and then the game just abruptly ends. There was a moment after reaching Venus where it seemed as if maybe the game was turning a corner, treating us to a couple lengthy cut-scene's featuring the Queen of the Awoken, but they went nowhere, and only seem to stand to point towards what is coming from the Expansion Pass. But, as I mentioned before the game ends in such an anti-climatic, did this really just end kind of way.

But, enough doom and gloom, why have I been playing for two weeks straight if the story is that terrible? Because Bungie nailed the gameplay, and co-op in a way few could. The gunplay is fast, intuitive and easily accessible. The guns themselves feel like they should, firing a Machine Gun has natural recoil forcing the gun upwards, while the Scout Rifle which is a single fire weapon is smooth and accurate with minimal flinch. All weapons and gear can be upgraded through the games in-game currency known as Glimmer, and resources you find out in the world. Once you get up to level 20 you begin to level past 20 using Light, an attribute that comes with most Blue (Rare), and all Purple (Legendary) and Yellow (Exotic) armor. The higher the rarity of your armor the more upgrade materials you need keeping you from becoming top level too quickly.

Once you start unlocking planets you can take on Strike missions, or just go to the open world section of each planet where you can do Patrol missions. Doing either of these will net you Vanguard Marks and Rep, which can be used to purchase Legendary Armor and Weapons. At base level you can tackle the Strikes on your own, but the real fun in Destiny comes from partying up with friends or randoms to do the Strikes and Patrols. I can't describe just how social Destiny is, even if your friends list is devoid of people you will quickly make friends in the world of Destiny. Actually most of my activity feed on Xbox One is people unlocking achievements in Destiny, making game clips of Destiny, and adding friends they have made.... playing Destiny.

There is no shortage of things to do in Destiny, playing through each of the missions on harder difficulty settings also adds a nice mixture of ways to test your skills. But, inevitably you will begin the agonizing grind of farming. It may just be materials for upgrades, or trying to farm engrams for better armor and weapons. The loot system seems a little broken at the moment, I don't think you should just see loot drop everywhere, but you should at least get something for defeating a boss, or actually find something with better stats (once you get a legendary of a certain weapon type, they pretty much all blend together.). Outside of that there are plenty of bounties that will have you completing Patrol missions on certain planets, or upping the difficulty on a certain mission, that keep the game fresh and varied.

When you have explored the galaxy to your liking there is always PVP, which is on par with what you would expect from the developer that created Halo. With the added verticality of double-jumps, triple-jumps, and glides, the battlefield feels fast paced and versatile. There are slight balancing issues as even with nerfs to make players closer in ability bonus stats to armor and weapons remain, meaning those with higher level high quality gear have a slight edge on their lower level counterparts. The amount of special ammo around also makes for a tiresome run if someone favors shotguns or fusion rifles, but overall PVP is quite addicting and doing the bounties will add even more playtime, especially for those who don't tend to like PVP.

With the addition of last weeks Vault of Glass raid, the game has added even more content to conquer. The first team made it through in 11 hours, with an average lifespan of 2 minutes. The Raid is the truest test of teamwork and skill, having only played a little of it, I can't say much about the end boss, but, from what I did experience it is both punishing and incredibly fun and rewarding. Destiny is being lauded as a 10 year deal, with a whole lot of future ahead of it. What Bungie has done here is lay out the groundwork for a series that could become one of the greatest of all time, if it fixes the issues it experienced with this release. I hold out hope for future updates and the DLC, but as of now Destiny feels like a whole lot of ambition with some poor decision choices, and an incredibly weak bare bornes story. I can applaud what Bungie have created, and I look forward to the future, but as it stands right now Destiny is simply incomplete. If you choose to say that "Oh, it's coming!" then you missed the promise that was made in an interview with Bungie done by Angry Joe, which can be found here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQKp0VcA1Vw if you skip to 10:48 he states "a game with a distinct beginning, middle, and end" that is not what is here. It is vague, and bates you with promise of more story in the DLC, basically trapping the story behind a paywall. With everything considered I still give it an 8/10, but it's more for the amount of amazing times I've had just exploring the world with new friends, and dropping into a public event with complete strangers. So, I will leave you with this picture that pretty well sums up my loot experience, and a list of things I believe could make this game damn near perfect.

PVE:
There needs to be more story, more impact on the world, your "legend" should have impact and not just be an objective.

Add a Challenge system, while bounties are great, and Grimoire score is nice having a challenge system close to that of Diablo III would add replay value, and a reason for players to play in a slightly different way, or explore more of the world.

Areas should scale to level, I understand that the world of Destiny is all inclusive, but seeing a bunch of 28's run through an area with a bunch of level 8 enemies is just sad and the lower level players never get a chance to kill anything.

Open chat systems in Patrol, and the tower. I don't understand why this isn't possible there is only so much you can say through pointing and dancing.

The Grimoire should be a part of the game itself, at no point should I have to break immersion to go look up what this enemy is or "what happened to this?". 

The ability to find clan members in the world, I have only been able to play with one clan member this whole time, and for all I know I've run right past them while on Patrol or at the tower, it would be great to see a couple members of my clan and be able to just party up with them on the fly.

More Fireteam members on harder difficulties. I feel like if you can have 6 people during the Raid portion, you should be able to tackle the Weekly Nightfall, or the Strike playlist with the same amount. If it's an issue with balancing you can restrict it to a certain difficulty level, and make the enemies put out more damage, or add more multipliers.

More diverse bounties, I can't tell you how many times I've had to do 6 Patrol missions on the Moon, or kill 25 Hunters in the Crucible. It should refresh more, and keep track of what you have done already. Also the Bounty Bot (I'm not sure what he is really called), should have playlist specific bounties removed when that playlist is no longer active (he is still giving me Salvage bounties, a game type that was only available the first weekend the game was out.).

More customization options, I made the same character as I did in the Beta, my girlfriend without seeing mine made the same as me, only her's was female. You don't have to give us Skyrim overkill customization, but at least let there be a chance that we make someone we aren't going to see elsewhere.

Notifications if our friends are playing through the same mission, or a strike that has an open slot. This isn't necessity, it would just be cool if when you are matchmaking a playlist, and you have friends matchmaking the same playlist if we could be lumped together or at least have an option to.

A vote to skip option in the Strike Playlist. Sometimes when you are in the Strike playlist you will end up on the same strike 3-4 times in a row, forcing you to sit through the load, then back out, then go back in, then load, then back out. If it could have a lobby where you have an option to vote it would be really nice, and it would cut back on repetition. 

The ability to skip cutscenes... just seriously one button.

Patrol missions that go somewhere, kind of like a public event. I end up on these scouting missions, where I'm asked to scout an entrance, or a battlefield, and then I get there climb up where it wants me and I just stand there until the meter fills to 100%. Why can't we have it so that scouting something actually leads to your Guardian taking action, to where you feel like you are actually making a difference.


Loot/Armor/Weapons:
Engrams should scale!!!! If I'm level 24, I should never see a Green engram, I know you can gain mats from Weapons and Armor dismantling, but when you reach over 200 and you are already dismantling every Blue engram you find there is no point in Green's anymore. Have Blue's drop as what they are, and only have Legendary and Exotic engrams drop from that point out.

Make the stats on Armor and Weapons vary from Weapon to Weapon, and Armor to Armor. It doesn't have to drastic, it doesn't have to add more light, just make the Attack differ. I recieved two Legendary Shotguns in 1 day, the both had the same exact stats just a different name, making the second one usless, it would be way better if my weapons actually had a chance of getting better just outright, rather than it's all the same just this one does void and that one does fire.

Make it possible to reach Light Level 30 without doing the Raid. I will be doing the raid, but the drops are still random, and from what I've heard in order to reach 30 you have to defeat the Raid on it's hardest difficulty. It's hard enough getting through the Raid on it's normal difficulty, it's even harder for most to even find 6 people to do the Raid with. If the case is that Raid gear will be necessary to reach 30, you need to make it possible for those who do not wish to do the Raid, or can't find the people to do it with the ability to naturally level to 30.

Make The Gunsmith and the Speaker improve their stock. Outside of weekends when Xur shows up the speaker is the only other person who accepts Motes of Light, and he only sells class items and emblems, which never change! The Gunsmith always sells greens with a slight (and I have yet to see it) chance of selling blues. I use him for nothing more than Ammo Synthesis at this point, try the Borderlands method where he offers up something unique every hour or so at the top that is different for everyone, and once you reach the point that greens no longer apply to you make it so that he sells nothing but Blues with a slight chance of Purples. If you feel that is too easy make it cost more Glimmer, or have people use Motes for Purples.

Cryptarch Level should fucking matter! I'm not saying you should have a significantly higher chance of getting better than what the engram is, I'm saying you should have an increased chance that it will be the same, still with a slight chance of getting better/downgrading. But the chance for the same color should be drastically increased. I watched someone with a Cryptarch level of 16 getting straight blues, 1 purple, and 1 yellow off of like 13 Purple engrams. That is absolutely horrible odds, of even getting the same.

Engrams available to buy from the Cryptarch should level with his level. That goes back to Cryptach Level should matter. At level 27, with a 13 level Cryptarch, he only offers me whites and greens, how does that even work?! If you allowed people to spend more glimmer, or motes on higher quality engrams straight from the Cryptarch you wouldn't have crowds of people standing outside of a cave for hours on end.

Reduce the amount of materials needed for base improvements. The last teir for my weapons and armor require the same amount of Ascendant Shards per upgrade, as the one before it, and I rarely ever find these materials, either reduce the first upgrade in the last tier, make the second slightly more, and the last the most so it at least feels like maybe we can upgrade this stuff.

Increase the range/damage of Shotguns in PVE. I just got 2 fancy new Legendary Shotguns, I will never use these in PVE because they are absolutely worthless there, which means I would have to dedicate myself to my Shotgun in PVP to even get it moderately upgraded, and still have it be worthless in PVE.

Have Strike/Story Bosses drop fucking loot!!!!!!!! I fight my way through hordes of enemies, I get to the final boss and an epic battle ensues, and at the end when the dust settles and he falls to my finely honed skills he drops... ammo and maybe if you're lucky a consumable that will get you more Glitter with a certain faction. SERIOUSLY?! I have watched Purple engrams fly out of a Dreg, and this Bulletsponge gives no one in my party anything?! FIX IT! While you're at it, have Yellow enemies (Majors/Ultras) have a better chance of loot drops as well, and reduce it on the lowly peons. Once again going back to that Angry Joe interview, "We want you to feel like you earned that weapon or piece of armor, and have a memory attached to it." The only memory anyone is going to have is "Oh yeah, I got that by killing endless Goblins during the Nexus strike." or "I stood outside a cave for 3 hours." or "I just woke up the hive over and over again." I don't feel like I earned something when I kill the lowest man on the totem-pole and he gives me a Legendary. I feel like I earned it when I killed something that was hard, with a giant health bar.

Give more Weapon stats, the Attack number system is garbage. Just tell me how much Crit damage it does, and how much on average it does.

PVP:
Nerf the stopping power of Special Weapons or reduce the ammo. You have to wait for Heavy Ammo, but yet Special Ammo is plentiful and bottomless, allowing for people to run around with Shotguns and Fusion Rifles for the entire match. Put that on a timer as well, so that it's not just a Shotgun fest.

Keep low levels that don't have armor and weapon upgrades in a seperate matchmaking from higher level players. I have seen some low levels deal some serious death, but I have also seen a group of low levels decimated by their high level counterparts. It would just be better to keep things fair for everyone to give us two separate lobbies.

Titans should have to double tap to kill like Warlocks and Hunters, I understand they are like the Tank class, but still if everyone else has to hit twice, so should they.

Give the players on the top of leaderboard a slightly better chance at getting loot, I have watched numerous times as the top players have gotten nothing, while the bottom has gotten a plethora, even watched the next to last player get an exotic once.

Add the aforementioned Challenge system.

Add private lobbies so that people can organize their own events, and compete on a professional level.



I think this game has massive potential, and my suggestions are my own, and you don't have to agree with them. Bungie will probably never see this list, most of these suggestions will never make it into the game, but I felt compelled because I love this game at it's core. I hope more people give it a chance, and I hope the DLC is so massive it blows everyone's mind. I still have 2 more Classes to fully explore, and I just hope that as the community speaks that Bungie/Activision listen, and in the end we get a Galxy worth fighting for.

Assassin's Creed: Freedom Cry DLC Xbox 360 Review

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag's Season Pass didn't offer much outside of multiplayer maps and characters, but the big one and only single player DLC for the game was Freedom Cry. Freedom Cry takes place after the events of Black Flag, and centers around Edward Kenways first mate Adewale. As the name would suggest your time in Freedom Cry will be spent trying to free slaves and bring to just the Templars responsible for their imprisonment.

Gameplay in Freedom Cry is completely unchanged from Black Flag, you will have all the same moves that Edward has, the same counters, and ability to scale whatever you find. Adewale carries a Machete in place of a sword and a Blunderbuss for a gun. For as talked up as Freedom Cry was, it is rather disappointing. Adewale's story of revenge is played out and overly boring. He has a brute force that the other assassin's don't, which is nice when you chase down and bury a machete in your enemy. But it's the same exact gameplay as Black Flag, with nothing changed. Most missions feel like they are just the plantation missions from Black Flag. Which makes the DLC feel tired after the first few missions you do.

Adewale's story is interesting however, he has a genuine concern for the people he is helping, and has issues trusting even those attempting to help him. He is a solid character, and I would have liked to have seen his story a little more fleshed out, but with the lack of variation in the missions Adewale's story feels half told and underwhelming. The DLC was also advertised at clocking in at 4+ hours, but I feel like I completed it in it's entirety in far less time than that. The one new feature in Freedom Cry is Slavers, they are everywhere, and due to the fact that you are of African descent they want to take you in as a slave. it adds just a smidgen of difficulty to what your the missions, but it's so easy to dispatch them that they really pose no threat to you and it just becomes annoying after awhile.

I really wish that for the only piece of story-related DLC they could have taken a little time and really fleshed out Adewale's story, especially since it has since become a stand alone game on PSN, they could have varied it from Black Flag a little. Expect more of what wasn't that much fun in Black Flag (i.e. eavesdropping, tailing, and clearing plantations.) in Freedom Cry, all of this forces me to give it a 6.5 out of 10.

South Park: The Stick of Truth Xbox 360 Review

After a mountain of delays, a near chance of the game being cancelled with the demise of THQ, The Stick of Truth is finally here. The question remains, should you accept this quest or should you move on to brighter things?

Playing South Park: The Stick of Truth, requires quite a bit of knowledge of the show to get every little inside joke, but it's not necessary. This is South Parks Arkham Asylum, it is the redemption of every terrible game that came from the franchise prior. It is amazingly in depth, incredibly funny, and sometimes even over the top disgusting. But you will have a smile on your face for the entire adventure. The graphics are on par with the show, it looks, feels, and sounds exactly like South Park should and that is awesome. It's amazing how relevant everything in the game is, and that you never become tired of the story ark or interacting with the residents of South Park, after over 10 hours of game time.

Every inch of South Park is open for you to explore, and it is a treasure trove of throwbacks to old episodes. Opening up closet's became an obsession because they were filled with treasures seen in old episodes. Every piece of loot also relates back to the show, the level of detail in the game is a testament to how much care went into making it a fantastic representation of South Park and it's lore.
The game plays like any traditional RPG, you gain levels by completing tasks and winning in battle, you can unlock fast travel stations, buy and sell your equipment, and the game even has a catagory in your inventory for junk to make selling it off easier. Side Quests are rewarding and interesting as the NPC's who give them to you. Gaining friends on Facebook offers up perks, the more friends, the more perks you will unlock, and you can find and buy upgrades for your armor and weapons. The game is extremely well rounded in this respect, the world is carefully crafted, and the rewards feel like carry a lot of weight in the battles ahead.

The combat is centered around a turn-based mechanics, you will for the most part always have a buddy, if you get the first hit prior to combat beginning you will get first hit, followed by your buddy, and then each of your enemies. You can use one potion or summons, then one melee, ranged, or ability attack per turn. Once you get used to the combat it becomes incredibly easy, if you apply the right perks, and weapon and equipment add-on's you pretty much become invincible. Which is a big problem the game faces, the combat becomes overly repetitive and like stated before you will seldom be challenged once you get some of the better abilities and add-ons. The game also features a ton of quick time events, which are absolutely horrible. I jammed down on my A button as fast as I could and failed over and over, only to have my brother do the same thing and succeed every time. sometimes when attempting to block even if you hit the correct button at the exact moment you are supposed to it's as if the game doesn't register that you did it. This also happened a lot when trying to pull off special attacks, it's annoying but could easily be patched. You are restricted to 4 classes all equipped with their own special abilites. The Fighter with the awesome Roshambo ability, the Mage whom I didn't play, The Thief who comes equipped with Backstab like most RPG's, and finally the Jew who later in the game and call in the Plagues of Egypt. Outside of abilities they really don't differ all that much, and you can wear any piece of armor, and use every weapon in the game regardless of class.

The story centers around you being the new kid in South Park, and as you make friends you are drawn into the usual over blown kids game gone awry. The writing, voice acting, and characters are all top notch. It really does feel like playing a 10+ hour episode of South Park, one would think that might become incredibly annoying but it never does, the humor is spot on and really drives you to want to know what happens next all the way up to the ridiculous final minutes of the game. Your character never speaks something Trey Parker says they did because he always hated having people in games talk for him, because they would always say things he would never say. Wether you are dealing with Al Gore, fighting Mongolians, or exploring the 8-bit landscapes of Canada the game is what every South Park fan has been waiting for. Add in all the awesome jabs at gaming itself and the game is a perfect storm.

After it all South Park: The Stick of Truth is a fantastic romp through the snowy mountain town so many of us love. It's relevant, irreverent, offensive, and awesome. Unfortunately once you complete the game there isn't a whole lot of a reason to go back to it, I did two runs once as a Fighter gaining most of the hilarious achievements, and a second as the Jew class which helped me mop up the game and give me 100% of achievements. I bought the game day 1 and finished it completely the following weekend. Hopefully there will be more DLC otherwise the time you get in South Park will be limited to at the most 4 runs, if you wanted to try out all the different classes, and at that point the combat will probably wear so thin on your nerves you probably won't even make it through all 4 runs. So with the repetitive combat, once it's over it's over gameplay, and annoying quick time events I give the game an 8.5 out of 10. I really hope there is DLC, because I would love to revisit the wonderful world of South Park, but it would have to be new material to get me to do it.

Battlefield 4 Playstation 3 & Xbox 360 Review/Comparison

It's hard to argue that Battlefield has emerged as EA's biggest weapon against Activision's monster title Call of Duty, but now that Battlefield is following the yearly release schedule can the game deliver the same quality as it's predecessors?

I managed to play Battlefield 4 on both the PS3 and Xbox 360, a rarity for me. So, I feel that I am able to give a full opinion on the game, based on the fact that I experienced what it had to offer on both last gen platforms. Firstly there is not a great graphical difference between the PS3 and the 360. The both look good, the 360 is a little darker, while the PS3 is a little sharper, but not some much so that you will be able to condemn one or the other. Battlefield 4 might actually be a step down from Battlefield 3. I'm not sure how that is possible, but the graphics seems slightly more simplistic in 4, than they were in 3. Either way the Frostbite engine makes good use of lighting and particle effects, and the sound is unsurpassed in the military shooter genre.

Now on to brass tax, does it live up to Battlefield 3? The answer in certain respects, yes, in others absolutely not. The multiplayer is mainly untouched, you can still play Conquest, Rush, Team Deathmatch, and Squad Deathmatch. Through DLC you can add Capture the Flag and Air Superiority to that list. Making it's first appearance is  Obliteration, which set's two teams against each other to obtain the one bomb on the map, after the bomb carrier has the bomb there are 3 targets in which the bomb can be planted, defended, and eventually it goes BOOM. It's not a complicated mode, and if you are the bomb carrier you will find yourself the target of every enemy in the vicinity, as you appear as a big blip on everyone's radar. There is an achievement for "delivering 5 bombs" in Obliteration, meaning carrying, planting the bomb, and defending it until it goes off. If you favor your K/D or skill rating this is horrible for both. On Xbox I experienced minimal problems occasionally running into people killing me with 0 Health left, portions of the map disappearing, and a small amount of lag. The Playstation 3 however was a barrel of issues. I was consistently killed by people with 0 Health, my PS3 crashed every time the bomb went off in Obliteration, I would start with no weapon and an inability to switch weapons which resulted in many stupid deaths, I got stuck on walls and other objects more times than I could count, and I lost connection constantly. DICE is all the way up their 9th update and a lot of the problems still exist. You can gain Battlepacks for performing well with your weapon, or ranking up, which grants you weapon add-ons, skins, dog tags, and occasionally some double XP. If you have the premium service on top of getting all the DLC for no additional cost, you get some double XP events, and specially timed Battlepacks.

The Campaign was also a collection of headaches, my campaign was erased 3 different times on PS3, and when I got to certain section where a VIP get's shot on a rooftop, death on the roof would result in a never ending loading screen, while I could hear the game going on without me. Outside of the issues the campaign was an ok experience, that felt tacked on. Pretty as it was graphically, challenging or engaging it was not. I really didn't care about my team members, or wether they lived or died. Missions are linear and task you with the usual, find VIP A, escort to evac, fight a bunch of baddies while doing so. There are a few set-piece moments and missions that really show off the Frostbite engine including one where you have to make your way through a tsunami, or any of the hundreds of moments that something explodes in a burst of awesome. But over all I couldn't tell you what the hell most of it was about, and I have a Platinum on PS3.

All in all Battlefield 4 will fill your need for the kind of large scale skirmishes that only Battlefield can provide. But there are so many glaring technical issues, and a forgettable campaign force me to give Battlefield 4 a 7.75 out of 10, the multiplayer will keep you playing long after the problems subside, but they are just too common to forgive.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag Xbox 360 Review

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is the latest installment in the ever popular Assassin's creed franchise, but does it add/improve anything to the series that is worth checking out. The last entry to the series Assassin's Creed III, centered around the Native American assassin Connor Kenway, the game received a mix of praise and dismay. One of the major things talked about was the addition of Naval Combat, while Assassin's Creed III's Naval system was simplistic at best, and on some missions (The Giant and The Storm) down right frustrating. I never truly felt attached to the Aquila, it was a nice vehicle added by Ubisoft to break up the core gameplay. But I otherwise felt that AC III had officially hit a stride in the series where things felt balanced and fast paced.

I'm happy to say Assassin's Creed IV takes this formula and vastly improves it. I will start with the story and work my way around to the finer details. The story centers around the down-on-his-luck type of pirate named Edward Kenway, which would make him the Grandfather of Connor the protagonist from AC III. The beginning of the game starts with the ship Edward is on being attacked by an unknown assassin. When the ship crash lands on a island Edward chases the assassin down and finds himself in the middle of an ancient war between the order of Assassin's and the Templars. The story is well constructed and all the NPC's you will come across in your adventures around the Caribbean feel engaging and interesting. You get the sense that all around you there is mystery and another plot twist is just around the corner. The narrative also manages to tie up the Kenway lineage in a nice fashion.

The combat is mainly unchanged from the third installment, you can still approach combat in various ways, adding in the option to take a ranged non-lethal approach with the blowgun, even giving you berserk darts that will cause you target to attack everything around them giving you an option to sneak past undetected. Counters still work in the same way and feel easy to pull off even when taking on multiple opponents. You can purchase more powerful swords, and up to 4 guns to have on you at one time, allowing you to take out 4 enemies at one time. The 4 gun scheme seemed a little weird at first but as the game progressed it became cannon in crowd control, I felt utterly bad ass taking out 4 people at one time and then launching straight into cutting down the next 9-10 guys in a counter heavy frenzy. Hopefully Ubisoft will keep this scheme around because it works incredibly well.

The Naval portion of the game has been drastically improved upon from the third game. Where-as in III I felt detached from my ship and merely completed Naval Contracts and the like to gain money, supplies for crafting, or because I wanted a 100% synch. AC IV breathes a life into the Naval portions that feels addicting, I loved sailing around and wreaking havoc on everything around me. The Jackdaw (Edward's ship) can be upgraded with a host of enhancements that will make the ship more durable and more of a force on the seas. You can board ships you attack allowing you to choose between simply sinking the ship and as a result repairing yours, or you can gain more crew members and adding a new ship to your fleet. The ship boarding is a thing of beauty, there is so much chaos happening in such a small space that it really instills a sense of awe when your crew is swing in and cutting down everything in sight. You can also take on Legendary ships, which are better not attempted until you have gained enough upgrades to make the Jackdaw a formidable foe.

Once you have gained some ships you can then send them on small missions which take place in a turn-based mechanic that you will seldom ever fail at. This is probably one of my biggest gripes about the game, this mechanic really feels useless in the grand scheme of things. You can control it using an Android or IOS device and it functions pretty well on those, but I seldom found myself using it outside of when I needed it to open up something else in the game. Also Ubisoft used the cheap mechanic of by making waterways safe, they become quickly overrun again sometimes literally 2 minutes after you secured it, which in-turn forces you to keep plugging away at a never ending, and boring mechanic that pulls you out of the main game.

The exploration in the game is probably the most vast in the game's history, there is so much to do and see that you really can get lost in it. You can explore all the various islands of the Caribbean,  and once you gain the upgrade for your ship you can use the diving bell to explore beautifully detailed and engaging underwater segments. You can also engage in spearing sharks and whales, which feels cool the first couple times you do it, but quickly becomes an expendable throw in. There are the usual extra areas to explore such as smuggler's dens, forts, and plantations that you can clear for more supplies. I really never tired of exploring and doing the optional missions. The world AC IV takes place in, is honestly one of the best in franchise.

Being as I don't have a PS4 or Xbox One, and my preferred platform is the Xbox 360, the version I played was the 360 version. Even with that being said, the graphics are absolutely stunning. From the look of the rain, to the gorgeous underwater segments, the game looks beautiful even running on last gen hardware. The game does experience the occasional frame-rate drop, or the occasional rendering issue the game runs well.  I didn't experience nearly as many issues play AC IV as I did with AC III. I definitely didn't fall through the world or anything, like many did with III. If you have a PC capable of rendering high resolution graphics for today's games or you own a Next-Gen console you may want to pick it up on one of those, but if you are restricted to last gen, you will still get pretty much the same experience here.

The game continues add multiplayer to the mix, giving you all the same mechanics found in AC III. The multiplayer plays exactly as it has in previous titles, so, if you didn't like it before, then you still won't like it now. Players still run around aimlessly with little to no care for stealth or mission objectives. I have never really been in to AC multiplayer, and this game didn't change my mind any. I played it for achievements and pretty much nothing else. Speaking of achievements, there are nice and varied, not terribly difficult, but adding enough challenge to the package to keep you playing. They added a social aspect, allowing you to share locations of White Whales or Treasure Chests, but I found that unless you have many friends playing through Uplay you will not find very many of these. I really wish they would have made this portion a little more accessible, I had one friend who was actively playing when I was, and I have yet to come across a "Social Chest", nor did his Uplay feed ever reflect when he found anything or when I did. Uplay is a nice extra feature, but in trying to make it more tied to the game they just made it annoying.

All in Black Flag exemplifies what is good about Assassin's Creed, and proves why it is still one of the deepest games out today. Hopefully they can continue the trend with Assassin's Creed: Unity and it's last-gen counterpart Comet. So, if I had to give it a grade out of 10 it would be a 9, docking it for the lack of inventiveness with multiplayer, a function that I really wish they would do away with. The useless and annoying integration of Uplay and Kenway's Fleet also take away points, but all in all the game is an excellent package and should be picked up if you love the games, are new to them, or if you fell of the franchises bandwagon and are looking to get back into it.