Battlefield Hardline Review (Xbox One and PS4)

Good things come to those who wait. For the past seven years, mega-publisher EA has tried to compete with the annual release of Call of Duty games every holiday season. With Battlefield 3 released in 2011, Medal of Honor in 2012, and Battlefield 3 in 2013, EA was counting on a smaller studio, Visceral Games, to release a new spin-off to the Battlefield franchise: Battlefield Hardline.

Hardline wasn’t ready, Visceral said, and shocking fans and haters alike, EA actually listened, and postponed its release. Those ~4 months have paid off, and for the first time in several years, I’m actually very happy playing a Battlefield game.

Hardline is not another “modern military shooter” even though it uses the same “Frostbite 3” graphics engine developed by the Swedish studio, DICE, for the Battlefield series. No, Hardline focuses on a different battlefield, the Drug War, specifically set in southern Florida. Yes, it’s “cops versus robbers” in a slightly over-the-top, melodramatic, cliche-ridden, 7-8 hour single player campaign, and a frenetic, belief-suspending, 10-64 player warzone in online multi-player matches.

For a Battlefield game, the campaign mode is surprisingly well done, featuring gorgeous graphics, great game mechanics, and well acted characters. One of the many surprises Hardline provides is that most of the game can be completed “guns blazing” or by employing stealth and other tactics to non-lethally subdue the criminals. That open nature in the game play can’t be praised enough, especially as year after year “modern military shooters” flood the market with their uninspired “shooting gallery” mechanics. Sure, some of the AI in Hardline is a little suspect, even on the hardest difficulty, but I give Visceral Games props for giving players freedom like that.

The multi-player suite has its own surprises, as the standard Battlefield game modes like Conquest and Team Deathmatch are available, but Hardline capitalizes on the “cops versus robbers” theme and totally justifies its purchase: Heist, Blood Money, and Hotwire modes feature intense Battlefield conflicts, including signature ground and air vehicles, amped up to higher octane levels, with Rescue and Crosshair modes offering 5v5 no-respawn “Counterstrike” type experiences.

Perhaps the best way to summarize Hardline is to say it’s full of surprises. The campaign mode provides player freedom to shoot or arrest enemies, and what sounds like a silly gimmick – exchanging military forces for cops and robbers – actually gives the shooter genre some exciting new modes and game play experiences. The biggest surprise, however, comes with such a SMOOTH LAUNCH of a BF game with super stable servers, steady 60 frames per second, and ultra-quick matchmaking right out of the box, hopefully converting many nay-sayers and fence-sitters into fans of Hardline.

Battlefield Hardline was released March 17 for PC, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, and PS3, and is rated ‘M’ for ‘Mature’ for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Use of Drugs. eBash Video Game Centers offer BF Hardline only on Xbox One and PS4 consoles.

Dying Light Showcase

The dilapidated streets and shambling zombies are scary enough, but as the sun drops below the horizon, getting back to safety becomes my biggest concern. The crude crowbar weapon I’m wielding seems to only stun these creatures, and the deadlier predators come out at night. Switching tactics from fight to flight, I leap over low walls, scurry over fences, and dash across rooftops to avoid the undead below. I pause only long enough to re-arm some of the traps around our base, and barricade myself inside as the last light fades from the sky. I hear a “Volatile” howl in the distance, signaling that things are about to go from bad to worse in Dying Light.

In a crowded genre of open-world-zombie-survival games, Dying Light needs a few gimmicks to stand out, especially as it looks like an improved version of Dead Island (also developed by game studio TechLand back in 2011). Fortunately, Dying Light has a list of features to persuade zombie killers from other games: four player drop-in-and out co-op, dynamic day-night cycle featuring deadlier creatures of the night, and “parkour” or free-running enables mobility as the preferred option to escaping zombie bites. In fact, new players may feel discouraged at first as their character struggles to use basic blunt objects against the undead, until they have a chance to level up and unlock better skills. Even with deadlier skills and weapon arsenals, free running around the city and dodging zombies is just too much fun! If you’re looking for even more fun, become an even deadlier “night hunter” zombie and invade other players’ games!

In a nutshell, Dying Light is a tense, exciting, and relatively bug free experience. It’s not just an improved version of Dead Island, it’s a VERY improved version. It’s challenging, fun, and ultimately very satisfying! eBash Video Game Centers are featuring an exciting Dying Light Showcase from February 2nd – 13th, leading up to a big Friday the 13th Lock-In party with free pizza and other prizes! Up to four players can play Dying Light at a time, either alone or co-op!

Dying Light is rated ‘M’ for Mature for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language. It is available on Tuesday, January 27th, on PC, Xbox One, and PS4.

New Betas and Demos

A few big titles went into “beta” state this past week. Traditionally, a game will go through several phases in development: early “alpha” builds are usually only seen by the game studio and are the most flexible in terms of adding or removing features and content; early “beta” builds are nearing the finished product and become either “closed betas” or limited access or “open betas” for anyone to play. An “open beta” is near completion, but the studio wants as much public feedback as possible AND wants to stress-test their server capacity for multi-player features.

Lately, it seems like people are confusing “open beta” with “demo” which are also open to the public before a big game is released. Demos, like the name implies, are available to let potential customers get their hands on a game and see if they like it. This can help generate hype and drive up pre-order numbers.

The first big “beta” to open to the public last week was “Evolve” from Turtle Rock Studios. This is the same studio that developed Left 4 Dead 2, and features a unique twist to the 4-player co-op experience: a 5th player competes against the other 4 player “hunter” characters as the giant monster they are trying to trap! The monster begins each match as an imposing creature, but if it can evade the hunters long enough to consume smaller monsters populating the terrain, it can “evolve” into larger and deadlier variations!

This beta is clearly in its nearly-finished state, and Turtle Rock Studios is “rolling out” more features and access to different platforms as it gears up for the game’s release in February. (The Xbox One platform gets the beta on January 15th with “smaller technical test” betas starting on the 16th for PC and the 17th for PS4.) Speaking of that beta/demo confusion, downloading the beta from the Xbox Live Marketplace lists it as a “demo.”

Described as an “early access alpha” release on Steam, H1Z1 is a “zombie survival MMO” made by Sony Online Entertainment. In other words, expect it to come to the PS4! The “zombie survival MMO” genre is already represented by games like “Day Z” and “Rust” on PC, so this will be the first time something like that will appear on console. When it is ready.

Calling it a “beta” is not only wrong, it’s unfortunately not even close to that stage of development. As soon it was ready, people started streaming their experiences on twitch.tv and youtube – to unintentionally hilarious results. With no release date advertised, SOE can take as long as they want to fine tune H1Z1.

Hopefully, gamers and gaming enthusiasts will learn the differences between alphas, betas, and demos. Stay tuned to eBash Bits and Bytes for more stories about upcoming games!

EA Access Announced For Xbox One

With practically no warning, Mega-Publisher EA announced a new service the other day called “EA Access.” This is a subscription program that allows members to download and play any game in the EA “Vault” for only $4.99 a month or $29.99 a year. Right now, that “Vault” has a limited number of games (the Xbox One, after all, has only been available since November) but that collection will grow over time.

Members will also receive a 10% discount on games and DLC – purchased digitally online, of course – assuming they don’t want to wait for new releases to be dropped into that Vault. Games already available include Madden 25, FIFA 14, Peggle 2, and Battlefield 4, and placeholders for NBA Live 14, Need For Speed Rivals, Plants vs Zombies, and UFC suggest those games will be added soon.

One more bonus feature of EA Access is a five day early access period for new releases. EA Access members will be able to play Madden 15, for example, five days before it is available at retail. Game progress made during this early access period will be saved and will carry over to the full release if the member decides to purchase it.

As a Beta tester for the Xbox One experience, I’ve signed up for EA Access before it is officially launched, and I already love it. Even if someone is looking forward to buying ONE game from EA a year, this $29.99 yearly subscription will more than pay for itself, as most new releases are $60. With EA Access, they’ll be able to play any EA game five days before anyone else and get that 10% discount if they want to buy it. If they don’t want to buy it, they can wait the (assumed) eight to nine months for that game to be available in that Vault.

I should clarify: these are full game downloads. EA Access is not to be confused with a streaming service like Sony’s “PlayStation Now” service. These are not timed demos, these are complete Xbox One games. I should also point out that I’ve already tested the feature of signing into different Xbox One consoles with my Xbox Live Gold account, updating the EA Access App, and launching games from the Vault. It’s easy, convenient, and I can’t believe how low that price is. It’s cheaper than Netflix!

Destiny Beta (PS4)

This is it, this is your last chance to try Destiny before the Beta ends this Saturday night! Even if you tried the Alpha build a month ago, additional story cut-scenes and voice overs have given much needed presentation and production values to the Beta. Bungie occasionally allows players the chance to try “Gold Banner” matches that weren’t available during the Alpha, and they have promised that everyone that logs in and plays on Saturday will unlock a special emblem to use in the full version.

These additions help answer a few questions I had with the story, and remove some concerns I had with multi-player. The story parts are very interesting, and I can’t wait to learn more about the Traveler, the Darkness, and the rest of Destiny’s lore. As for multi-player, I’ve grown very fond of it. The mechanics Bungie has crafted for both PvE (Player versus Environment or “story” content) and PvP (Player versus Player) and how they work together is quite genius. Players can level up their characters, gain loot from enemy “drops” or for completing quests, and buy weapons, armor, and equipment from vendors. But, when competing in PvP matches, all the player levels and equipment levels are reduced to the same “base” level. Individual qualities of equipment, such as fire rates and accuracy still apply, but an assault rifle does the same damage as any other assault rifle, all the sniper rifles do the same damage, and so on.

That is, unless players dare to compete in “Gold Banner” matches, where all the player levels and varied stats of weapons and armor are actually kept at their PvE value!

What I really appreciate about PvP, however, is how the ammo, special ammo, grenades, and special ability “cooldowns” work to keep everything very balanced. It’s such a clever system, I’m surprised nobody has thought of it before. Bring all the gear you want into a PvP match, choose to equip your shotgun or your sniper rifle whenever you want, but keep in mind that they are in the “special” weapon category, and you’ll only spawn and respawn with a small amount of ammo – and then you’ll have to loot special ammo crates throughout the match to replenish that ammo. The “heavy” weapon category – light machine guns and rocket launchers – will have ZERO ammo available until special “heavy” ammo crates appear on the map, several minutes after the matches start! Even if you’ve found some heavy ammo and reloaded your rocket launcher, don’t die, because you’ll respawn with no heavy ammo again!

There are a lot more details to discuss about Destiny, but the best thing to do is find your closest eBash Video Game Center and try it for yourself!

Destiny is rated ‘T’ for Teen for Animated Blood and Violence. Destiny launches September 9th for PS4, PS3, Xbox One, and Xbox 360. 

Destiny Sneak Preview

The PS4 exclusive “Alpha” build sneak preview for Destiny has come and gone, and now it’s time to weigh in with opinions. What IS Destiny? What are its strengths and weaknesses? Welcome to the “Destiny Sneak Preview” on eBash Bits and Bytes!

Overall, I think Destiny will be worthy of the hype when it releases later this year, though some expectations may need to be tempered – this isn’t a revolution for first person shooters, just an evolution. In the capable hands of third party studio Bungie, Destiny is a high quality AAA title: the mechanics are solid, the atmosphere is established, the soundtrack rocks, and the art style is impressive. After getting my hands on this early preview of Destiny, I can appreciate why it is hard for Bungie to describe what kind of game it is.

Since this Alpha build was very limited in content, it is hard to predict what players can expect when the full game is released. The Alpha included three distinct “pillars” or game modes: Story/free roam content, Co-Op “Strike” missions, and the “Crucible” or player versus player matches. Presentation was minimal, in other words, there were no cut-scenes and very few non-player-characters (NPCs) to describe the story or setting. Transitioning from one mode to one of the other two modes required a fairly lengthy load time – represented only by an outside view of the player’s space ship in flight. The limited presentation made even more disconnect between each mode. In fact, beyond the unifying structure of player progression, Destiny doesn’t seem to be anything we haven’t seen before:

Players can free-roam a decent size area by themselves (or with their friends) and shoot enemies, complete random objectives, collect “loot” or weapon and armor drops, and gain experience to level up.

The “Strike” or Co-Op missions require a group, and players can form a party with their friends or join a matchmaking queue for random players. The Strike mission in the Alpha was pretty challenging, and featured some unique boss fights – and much better loot than free-roam mode.

The third “pillar” of Destiny, the “Crucible,” was surprisingly well made and it was very fun to play in player versus player matches. There are three “classes” to choose from in Destiny, and at least at these lower levels (the Alpha capped player progress to only level eight) their main differences were only in their special abilities. The “Titan” class, for example, can punch the ground and send powerful shockwaves to kill nearby enemies, but the “Warlock” class jumps up into the air and hurls a ball of magical energy at the ground from a distance. One of the maps even had futuristic vehicles to drive and shoot at opponents with, giving the experience a strong “Halo” vibe – and that is a very good thing.

As good as these three modes are, it does feel strange that they are so dis-connected. The “player’s ship flying” loading screen is maybe just a placeholder for something more dynamic, but as it is, it seems really odd that I can’t be running around in free-roam mode and waiting in a “Strike” mission queue at the same time. Having to physically “fly off” the planet to join the co-op or versus modes’ queues is sort of old fashioned and tedious.

I’m also concerned that, as addicting as player progression and light-RPG elements can be, they can also be very limiting. Will high level characters be able to group up with their lower-leveled friends? Or will they only be able to play with each other if they are at the exact same level? I am always looking for more games that offer co-op mission and/or campaign content, but locking the “next level” down until players reach a certain player level feels too restrictive.

Until we learn what the finished game is like, I can only guess and hope for the best. Aside from the potential pitfalls of player-progression, a game like Destiny that features story/free-roam modes, Co-Op modes, and Versus modes should be a great fit for eBash Video Game Centers!

Destiny is a third party game developed by Bungie and published by Activision. It is scheduled to be released September 9th, only for the PS4 and Xbox One, and is predicted to be rated ‘M’ for Mature.

E3 2014 Part Two

With most of the big announcements from all the major companies out of the way, now is a good time to look at E3 so far. It’s also fun to see how close some of the rumors and predictions were to reality. Overall, I’d say that each company did pretty much what they needed to and at least met expectations. In this day and age of constant online news, it’s hard to produce huge surprises at E3 anymore, but there were a few jaw dropping events anyway.

Microsoft

What They Did – Microsoft set the tone for the rest of Monday’s big stage announcements by going first, and they did not disappoint. Their presentation was full of nothing but games, as promised, although some of them had already been announced Pre-E3. I had the expectation that announcing Forza Horizon 2 and Sunset Overdive before the conference would allow Microsoft to fill their absence with even more game announcements, but there they were, announced with the rest of the games. It also seems that Advanced Warfare is being severely overlooked just because it’s another Call of Duty game, but the footage they showed was jaw dropping gorgeous and amazing!

The stage itself was set up to showcase the Xbox’s strength: multiplayer and even “asymmetric” multiplayer in games like Evolve, The Division, and Fable Legends. That means four players are controlling their characters with one control method, and a fifth player is controlling something else with a different perspective or even a different type of controller like a tablet or smart phone. Four players also took to the specially designed stage to show off co-op game play in Assassin’s Creed: Unity.

The greatest announcement of Microsoft’s show – and the greatest of E3 overall in my opinion – was the reveal that the rumored Halo 2 Anniversary remake was indeed an entire FOUR GAME “Master Chief” collection of Halo 1 through 4, including all the multiplayer maps and DLC, all in 1080p, 60 fps, and on dedicated servers. All of this, on one disc, for only $60, AND it includes the multiplayer beta for Halo 5 starting in December.

Sony

What They Did – Sony had a lot to announce, and it might have gone better if they followed Microsoft’s example and made some announcements Pre-E3. They showed a lot of games, but their presentation dragged a few times when they had to talk about the PS Vita TV, and the PlayStation Now and TV services. Sony also showed a mixture of third and first party titles, emphasizing that even the third party games were better on the PS4. Far Cry 4, for example, has a special co-op feature that allows a friend to join your game in progress – even if they don’t own a copy of the game!

The first party titles seemed to get the best reactions from the crowd, and I have to share their enthusiasm for games like Little Big Planet 3 and Uncharted 4. I’m still not sold on The Order 1866 and several of the “indie” titles, and many of the games they announced have a 2015 release in mind. I do wish more companies would follow Suckerpunch’s example and release DLC for games that can actually work as stand alone content for those that don’t even own that game – in this case, Infamous Second Son is getting some stand alone DLC very soon.

Nintendo

What They Did – They continue to march to their own beat, and their online-only broadcast was full of Nintendo’s quirky charm. They made no apologies or concessions that their Wii U isn’t selling well – they just stood up and showed off some games that proud Wii U owners can look forward to. I have to admit that I’m not a huge fan of 2D platforming games, so all the Kirby and Mario games – including the ability to finally edit and create your own Mario levels – weren’t that exciting to me.

What is exciting to me – and probably everyone that plays video games – was the short but sweet reveal of a new Legend of Zelda game coming to the Wii U in 2015! Mario Kart 8 is already doing really well and boosting sales of the Wii U, and I expect the release of Super Smash Bros will boost sales even more. Maybe Nintendo’s approach to being the “secondary” console in people’s homes can be valid, especially with more “must have” titles like Starfox, Mario Kart 8, Smash Bros, and the Legend of Zelda.

E3 2014 Part One

Thousands of people are filling up the Los Angeles Convention Center from June 10 -12 to absorb as much news and info from hundreds of companies showing off their wares at the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo – or E3 – and millions more are watching via the internet. I’m narrowing my focus on the big game companies and their “main stage” presentations, but even then, I’ll have to split my coverage into several blogs. Part One covers Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo.

Microsoft

What They’ve Done – After a rocky PR mess last year, Microsoft has course-corrected their next-gen console, the Xbox One, and lined up old and new entertainment divisions to make their visions of an “all in one” living room entertainment device come true. Sony’s PS4 may be ahead of the Xbox One in units sold, but it’s also available in over double the markets. Not to minimize Sony’s accomplishments, but their 7 million PS4s sold to Microsoft’s 5 million Xbox Ones sold isn’t that big of a lead. The Xbox One seems to be doing pretty well in spite of that PR mess last year. Recently, the Xbox has made other course corrections, and made a Kinect-less version of the Xbox One available for $399 – the same price as the PS4. Microsoft is heading into E3 with the most momentum: nothing but good news lately (positive changes to Xbox Live like offering free games every month and dropping the “pay wall” to services like Netflix), big game announcements pre-E3 (Sunset Overdrive and Forza Horizon 2), and the promise so show nothing but game after game during their main stage presentation.

What They Need To Do – They need to stick with their strengths – Xbox Live service, multi-player communities, all in one entertainment, and lots of 1st and 3rd party games – and build more momentum for the Xbox One. We also know they are making Xbox TV shows, but they should stick to games during their presentation. They’ve already admitted that Halo 5 is coming, but not until 2015. What new games will justify buying an Xbox One now? Are the rumors of a Remastered Halo 1 – 4 collection true? What other surprises will we see?

What They Did – coming soon.

Sony

What They’ve Done – Sony was in a very advantageous situation last year. By keeping mostly silent through the spring, and taking the E3 stage at the end of the day, Sony was able to sit by and let Microsoft nearly destroy themselves, swoop down at the last minute, and appear as the “white knight” company that would save gamers everywhere. The PS4 was not only more powerful than the Xbox One, it wasn’t going to require a constant internet connection, used games could be sold and traded, and (at the expense of not being bundled with the new Eye Toy camera) it was going to be $100 cheaper. Microsoft quickly got rid of the mandatory internet checks and also supported the used game market, but Sony’s message seemed to resonate with more people, and the PS4 went on to sell 7 million units in 6 months.

What They Need To Do – Sony needs to keep that momentum, and I’m not convinced they can. The main compelling arguments for purchasing a PS4 instead of the Xbox One seem to have all but disappeared. People have quickly forgotten that except for their slams against Microsoft at the end of their show last year, Sony’s main stage presentation was actually pretty boring. Sony can not repeat that type of show and should copy Microsoft’s strategy of showing nothing but game after game. The PlayStation division of Sony is doing really well, but the rest of the company is in really bad shape. Despite their early lead in units sold, Sony has had to close studio after studio, and key staff members of their best studio, Naughty Dog, have quit for unknown reasons. Sony needs to get on stage and convince consumers that they can still produce higher quantity and higher quality games than their competition.

What They Did – coming soon.

Nintendo

What They’ve Done – To understand my fears for Sony, we need to look no further than Nintendo, and witness how they’ve squandered their huge success with the Wii and fallen flat with the Wii U. The Wii took a different strategy – the so called “blue ocean” or untapped market of casual and non-gamers – and enjoyed early success. But, even though over 100 million Wii’s have been sold, and many Wii titles sold over 20 million copies each, the last few years of its life were not kind. Sales dropped dramatically as did the schedule of new games being released. When the Wii U was announced, it seemed like Nintendo was having a bit of an identity crisis. Were they trying to recapture their “core” audience or were they still trying to ride the waves of success with the Wii? What ever Nintendo was trying to accomplish, the results speak for themselves: despite an entire year head start over the Xbox One and PS4, the Wii U has struggled to sell only 6 million units.

What They Need To Do – Nintendo should quickly move on to yet another console, one that can actually rival the PS4 and Xbox One. They can still sell Wii U’s and even make this new console backwards compatible, but clearly their strange strategy of a tablet-like controller tethered to an under-powered console is not working. Nintendo has all but admitted that they are fine with being a “secondary” console in people’s homes meaning that they understand that people are buying either a PS4 or an Xbox One, and *maybe* getting a Wii U for the few Nintendo exclusives. Why is that acceptable? With a powerful console that can play all the popular third party titles, no gimmicks, AND those super popular Nintendo exclusives, Nintendo could become the primary console in people’s homes. It is, however, very unlikely that Nintendo will make such an announcement, so instead, they should also announce game after game and make more compelling arguments for people to purchase Nintendo products again.

What They Did – Nintendo is not getting on stage at E3. They are having a special “Nintendo Direct” internet broadcast on Tuesday. Report of that is coming soon.

Gamers Are More Social Than Non Gamers

We’ve heard it all before: the negative stereotypes of the lonely, isolated gamer with no friends in real life, living in his parent’s basement, helplessly addicted to video games. A new study from LifeCourse Associates, commissioned by Twitch.TV, looks to change those perceptions.

“In many cases, we still see gamers portrayed as glassy-eyed addicts or isolated automatons,” the report says. “Given how pervasive a pastime gaming has become, it should seem obvious that these negative characterizations aren’t true.”

According to the study, gamers are more social than non-gamers, with stronger connections to their friends and families. The report said that 72% of gamers play games with their friends, and found that “spending time with their families (82% vs. 68%) and parents (67% vs. 44%) are top priorities.”

Additionally, the study said gamers are more likely to have a college degree (43% vs. 36%), are more optimistic about their career goals (67% vs. 42%), and are more likely to have a career they want to be in (45% vs. 37%).

The study also revealed the demographics of gamers; 52% of gamers are male, 48% are female, and as much as 73% of Millennials, 62% of Generation X, and 41% of Baby Boomers are playing video games.

At eBash Video Game Centers, friends and family have always been the top priorities. The main goal and function of a video game center is to promote the social aspect of playing video games. Playing alone or online is fun, but it’s so much more fun to play with other people in person!

LifeCourse Associates used an online survey of over 1,200 participants. In this survey, gamers are defined as anyone who played a video game within the last 60 days.

Watch Dogs Byte Sized Review

In June of 2012, Ubisoft blew the roof off the E3 in L.A. by revealing a brand new game at the very end of their presentation. Called “Watch_Dogs,” the game features a vigilante protagonist that can manipulate almost anything in the city by hacking it with his phone. Trying to escape in a car chase? Turn all the traffic lights green in a busy intersection and let the ensuing chaos take out your pursuers. Low on cash? Hack pedestrians’ phones as they walk by and withdraw money from their accounts at any ATM. The game looked unbelievably realistic, and ran away with multiple ‘best of’ awards from many gaming websites.

When it missed its 2013 launch window and got pushed back to spring of 2014, some of that hype died down. Ubisoft went on to break records with the release of Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag instead, so I don’t think it bothered them too much. There WAS enough hype left over for Watch_Dogs after all, as it broke those ACIV records by selling 4 million copies in one week!

Is it good? I think Watch_Dogs is very deserving of all the praise it can get as it truly feels “next gen” to me. There are the obvious comparisons to open sand box games, especially Grand Theft Auto and even Ubisoft’s own Assassin’s Creed. Players can accept main story missions or explore Chicago (and Pawnee!) for side missions and more advantage over the “CitOS” that runs everything. These side missions can vary from stopping potential crimes, driving missions, or solving missing person cases, and are pleasantly distracting from the main story.

Aiden Pearce compliments his hacking with impressive melee take downs, expert driving, and lethal firearm skills. It’s really fun to use a combination of these skills, like hacking a car alarm to distract a guard or blowing a gas line to even the odds in a firefight. Car chases and firefights require a lot of quick thinking and the game is pretty challenging. The controls are solid, though Aiden isn’t a super hero that can take a lot of damage. Timing a traffic jam in a hacked intersection is a lot harder than it sounds, as the enemies seem better at dodging other cars than one would expect. To ease the frustration, the game is generous with check points and missions can usually be restarted at any time.

If all of this sounds like another Grand Theft Auto or Assassin’s Creed game, but with hacking, you’d only be half right. The extra features of Watch_Dogs push it beyond the limits of the “sand box” genre into its own “next gen” world. I’m very happy with the way they’ve seamlessly integrated multi-player features into the single player experience; allowing players to “invade” or be invaded by other players simply by using Aiden’s smartphone. Some of my favorite gaming experiences so far have been playing games of “cat and mouse” with other players, or trying to evade the police cars and obstacles another player pits against me using a *free* companion mobile app! That’s right, someone that doesn’t even OWN Wach_Dogs can get a mobile game that lets them control a collection of “hacks” and police vehicles to try to run down another person in their “normal” single player game. It’s so ridiculously fun! There are other MP modes, including full team vs team modes, that I look forward to trying.

The hype is still alive at eBash Video Game Centers, as Watch_Dogs has been consistently checked out since it’s release. It’s open sand box game play and “next gen” integrated multi-player makes it a great fit for gaming alone or with friends at eBash!

Content Descriptors: Blood, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol

Other: Includes online features that may expose players to unrated user-generated content (Windows PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One)