The Passing - Review

So, I’ve finally played the Passing. Did I enjoy it? Well… that’s difficult to answer.

In some ways I was impressed. The new weapons actually bring some new flavour into the game (The M60 is incredibly fun to use), the actual level design of the campaign is really well executed and, as always, has a lot of replay value and there are a lot of really nice features like footlockers full of pills/Molotov's/pipe bombs, the Bride witch (and wedding guest zombies!) and the new Survivor uncommon common which adds this really interesting new dynamic to the game. Need health? Pipe Bomb? Pills? Quick! Get the Survivor! He even runs away, forcing you to back track in order to get him.

What didn’t I like? The original cast. Valve had so much potential with the original cast being present within The Passing but they’ve really let themselves down. You see one of them at the very beginning… and then you see three of them at the very end. Oh, and as for who dies…

SPOILERZZZ

Bill dies. How? Fuck if I know. He’s just slumped against a generator. There’s no explanation and there’s not even any remorse or even sadness shown from the remaining three. They’re just their normal everyday happy go lucky selves. Just minus Bill. Really upsetting.

NO MORE SPOILERZZZ

Apart from the tacked on original cast, I really enjoyed The Passing. However, If I’d had to pay for it, I would have fucking lost it.

Bioshock 2 DLC: RAGE!

Who’s ready for a good old fashioned DLC Rant?

So Bioshock 2 has been out for about a fortnight now, and already 2K are detailing the first pack of DLC. That’s fourteen days folks, and already the DLC’s on the way.

Now, normally I complain that DLC is a cheap excuse to add features to a game that the company couldn’t finish in time for release. This riles me up like nobodies business, but lately companies have been something even worse, and Bioshock 2 is a culprit of the crime.

They’ve been making the DLC during the development cycle, and leaving it out on purpose. Which I suppose is fair enough, but not when it’s a central part of the game itself. Take Assassin’s Creed 2 for example, in which two whole DNA sequences from the middle of the game have been left out in order to sell for £3 after the release date. Now, is it just me, or is that just wrong? Now look at Bioshock, which is giving you additional ranks for multiplayer and two new characters… and that’s it. That’s like leaving out two weapons on COD, as well as not letting you hit prestige 70 until you fork out another fiver.

Absolutely ridiculous.

Downloadable Content

It's all about the DLC these days it seems. If a game doesn't have DLC, then it's certainly not going to make much money after launch is it?

It's not surprising then that Naughty Dog are pondering the idea of Uncharted 2 DLC for the multiplayer aspect of the game, which is fair enough I suppose. Good DLC is worth getting, such as the Fallout 3 ones or the Call of Duty map packs. However, some DLC really riles me up.

Have you guys ever seen the Far Cry 2 pack? It has... like a new car and a new gun. That's it. For seven quid. This is just a rip off, and not only that but it won't even sell so it fails at it's intended purpose. The worst though is some of the EA ones. Need for Speed I think it was. Where you could pay to unlock the cars that you could unlock ingame. You could pay, for what is essentially someone to finish the game for you.

Makes me feel sick to my stomach that does.