This week, the guys review the new and noteworthy Far Cry Primal. This time, all four members of Nude Clan team up to bring you all the girth you could possibly want. We give a standardly sloppy retelling of the games light story, where you play as Takkar of the Wenja tribe. You essentially gather your people together again, after they were scattered across the land by Ull, the leader of the Udam people of the north. You build homes for your villagers, and help them vanquish their mortal enemies. You eventually bring peace to the land, and begin accepting peoples from the other two tribes into your camp. We then move on to gameplay.
The Gameplay in Far Cry Primal is stellar. The ability to tame wild animals and turn them against your enemies is a lot of fun. The extra missions available on the world map allow for hours of content aside from the main storyline, and are a great way to explore the land of Oros.
Far Cry Primal is beautiful. The game is probably the best looking thing any of the Clan have played, and we can tell that they spared no expense to make this the most immersive game possible. The animations are fluid and precise, the characters look excellent, and the animals are stellar.
The games sound and music portion was a bit of a step down from the design of Far Cry Primal. The music is used sparingly, yet always feels right. The sounds are accurate for the most part, but still cut out prematurely at times, and creates a jarring effect on the immersion into the game.
Replayability.... This game has lots of things to do. There are animals to tame, hunts to participate in, extra quests to do, people to save...etc. There are also a ton of extra items you can grab, and the new patch has added a much more difficult way of playing the game. You'll definitely be able to get your money's worth with FarCry Primal.
Ratings Craig Schweiss Cameron Joe
Story 7 7 8 7
Gameplay 9 9 9 9
Design 10 10 10 10
Sound/music 8 8 7 10
Replayability 9 7 8 10
TOTAL: 172/200 or 86/100
This week, we go full hog. We discuss our stance on achievements, trophies, and gamerscore. We talk about the elements that we like, and dislike about these systems. We then reveal Kaleb Craig as the top dog in these categories, and discuss why him and Schweiss are a cut above the rest. We also answer an excellent question from Pixel on the forums regarding whether or not video games are art. This question was derived from comments made years ago by Roger Ebert. The Clan discusses his comments, and also what they feel video games need to do to be considered a stand alone art form. Enjoy the episode!
This week, we review the infamous Super Mario Bros. film from 1993. We discuss the overarching plot, wherein King Koopa transverses between realities to kidnap Princess Daisy. Daisy has a piece of a meteorite on a necklace she's had her whole life, and this piece connects to a meteorite that slammed into earth 65 billion years ago. The brothers then rescue her, and yada yada... We discuss the well produced functions of the film. The special effects were actually quite well done, and there were a few laughs throughout the film. There are also references a plenty, though we still wouldn't recommend the film to anyone. Enjoy the episode!
This week, we discuss our history with Moba's! We've each extensively played League of Legends, Joe and Craig have hit up Dota in the past, and none of us have delved into the other mainstream titles. We then move on to discuss the toxic nature of the League of Legends community. We answer a question around what makes a great villain in video games, and round things out with some PHAT. Enjoy!
This week, we review Bungies juggernaut. No, not Halo...the other one. Destiny! We discuss the rocky back history, from the firing of Michael Salvatori, legendary Halo composer, and the last minute scrapping of the story in Destiny. We dive into the cost of the game. Bungie layed the foundation for later additions to the Destiny series. This cuts the otherworldly budget down to size. Kaleb and Cameron move on to touch on the story of Destiny, citing it's ten hour campaign as a bit of a downer. The game also leaves a lot to be desired, and the ending of Destiny feels more like a midpoint. We move on to what is easily the best feature of Destiny; it's gameplay.
Destiny flawlessly melds it's campaign with it's multiplayer aspects. You accept quests with other users walking around, can use the same equipment for campaign missions and online versus mode, and you can work on classes in each area. You run into other players out in the field, and can participate in world events, where a massive creature will spawn, and anyone can help kill it. Destiny brings a pretty solid online experience, only lacking in new player immersion. It's a little difficult to get over the initial underleveled approach, and the game lacks the amazing matchmaking of Halo. Destiny throws all skill levels together as one.
We then get to design. praising the beauty of Destiny. They did an excellent job of accounting for everything happening in their giant world. From the ships flying overhead, to the shadows cast by beams of light, Destiny flaunts its excellent lighting, and amazing graphics the whole way. Destiny also has a solid soundtrack, and there is never a moment where you are taken out of the moment due to game sounds, or voice acting. It's not stellar, but it's never anywhere near bad.
The replayability is another excellent part of Destiny. The game has daily quests for leveling, and has constant world events. The DLC content associated with the games also keeps us coming back. Raids are also a plus, featuring co operative play amongst fire teams of 3. Enjoy the episode!
Ratings: Cameron Schweiss
Story: 4 5
Gameplay: 8 8
Design: 9 9
Sound/Music: 8 8
Replayability: 10 10
OVERALL: 79/100
This week, we have a special episode. We dive into the beginnings of video games with Joe's History of Video games, prelude to the first generation of consoles. We discuss the first video game Space War, a cathode ray tube of awesome. This game was the first interactive electronic video game. We discuss the evolution of this form of entertainment, which led to it's eventual mainstream success. We dive into a controversial question for the week. We discuss why violence in video games is more accepted in North America, whereas sexuality is shunned. We also get in touch with our PHAT goals, discussing both the successes and failures of our new years resolutions. Enjoy the discussion!
This week, we review Game Dev Tycoon. The game was released by Greenheart Games on December 10th. The game begins with the player in their over expensive garage, building games. We begin by discussing the games storyline. It includes actual trends within gaming history, allowing the player to predict the marketplace and develop a successful game. We discuss the function of hiring employees, and training them to create better games for your company. The games story lasts a thirty year period, and it's sink or swim as you create game after game. We also try to break down the costs associated with your business expenses in the beginning of the game... HOW THE F*** ARE YOUR EXPENSES 8K!?!?!? YOU'RE IN YOUR FUCKING GARAGE IN THE 80'S!!!!
We then head on over to gameplay. Joe and Kaleb praised the strategy aspects of Game Dev Tycoon. We discuss managing your budgets for advertising, and making the jump to the next generations of gaming consoles. You get the chance to manage your team members, allowing you to fully utilize individuals for specific projects. You place emphases on particular parts of each game, such as graphics, gameplay, storyline, etc. You receive technology points, research points, design points, and bugs while playing. These portions go toward the overall game. There is also a hype engine associated with the games, and hype falls with the passing of time. Bugs will wreck your game. You may be able to release the game with tons of hype, but the bugs will destroy your sales.
The games design is mostly unappealing. This isn't really an important part of this simulation game, but it is notably unappealing to watch on Twitch. You're unable to edit your surroundings, and the text bubbles tend to get in the way of things.
Game Dev Tycoon features a single song. This song is fairly catchy, but it eventually begins to grind on the sanity of the player. The sound effects are fun and inviting, adding to the overall experience.
The final category is replayability. This game has fairly decent, to excellent replay value. Craig praised its replayability, citing personal growth as the main factor for him replaying the game. Joe says that he'd love to play it again, but with some of the mods on steam.
NUDE CLAN Official Rating:
Joe Kaleb
Story 10 10
Gameplay 9 9
Design 5 5
Music/Sound 7 6
Replayability 7 9
Overall 77/100
This week, we invite Dylan, and Drew on to discuss some Pokemon. We each go around and tell our history with the series; ranging from the video games, movies, and all the way down to the Pokemon manga. We touch base on the legacy of the Pokemon series, which is the third highest selling video game franchise in history. Once we tell our alcoholics anonymous-esque history with the series, we move on to discuss the release of the Pokemon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition. The re released Pokemon Yellow offers enhanced color graphics, and also brings an interesting Trade and Battle function, where you can do battle with your friends, or perhaps, your rival!
Then we bump uglies with the occult. We discuss the story in which two hundred children, ranging from the ages of 7-12, committed suicide as a result of the eerie Lavender Town theme. We read the theory aloud, with the creepy music in the background, and then weigh our opinions on the incident. Then we discuss our complete and utter failures in the Getting Phat section...
Enjoy the episode!
Lavender Town - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sOadAaGiq4
Pokemon Theme - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GQyd7Hkrx8&list=PLC3BDFD4AEFFF56DF
This week, we review Joe and Cameron's pick, Fable. We power through the quick storyline within Fable, and discuss the bloodline lore, and the overarching dread that the realm of Albion. We talk about the duality of Maze's situation with the Hero, and discuss the various moral choices that Fable presents to you. We move on to discuss the gameplay of Fable. Fable features a morality engine, where your choices influence how the game plays. If you are a generally good person during your playthrough, you will be cheered, and the villagers will revere you. If you are evil, they will flee from you, and distrust your every move. Fable employs a very simple, quick battle system. This system is akin to God of War, but feels more RPG-esque. We touch on the mini games that Fable has to offer, and delve into a little about the side quests, demon doors, etc. We then move on to Fable's design. Fable features a semi cartoon style of animation. It's not quite the cell shading of Borderlands, but it's not quite Elder Scrolls. We praised Fable for the visual effects associated with dying, and getting hit within the game. It's also a lot of fun to see your character grow beard, and longer hair. The games soundtrack is very well done, featuring an introduction track by Danny Elfman. The rest of the tracks are excellently atmospheric, and really pull the player into the world of Fable. The fact that the game has two different paths to choose, it's replay value is solid. The choices you make in Fable don't necessarily alter the story, but they definitely alter the interactions you have with the NPC's around you. Here's our official score.
Joe Cameron
Story 9 9
Gameplay 8 7
Design 8 8
Sound/music 10 10
Replay Value 8 7
Official NUDE CLAN Rating
84/100
E3 2004 TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9dgkbaHNdg
This week, we discuss our experiences with MMORPG's. The two Kaleb's have the most saturated background with the genre, exploring titles such as Guild Wars 2, Final Fantasy XIV, Runescape, and The Elder Scrolls Online. Joe has extensive history with Final Fantasy XIV and Final Fantasy XI. Cameron has only played Runescape, but had a strong interest in Elder Scrolls Online, until he saw the gameplay. We also discuss our progress in Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, and Fable. Finally, we briefly touch on our life goals, discussing our progress there. Thank you for listening, and live always in the NUDE!
This week, we discuss the cult hit Ico. Schweiss and Craig both played the game on the PS3 HD remaster disc, which includes Shadow of the Colossus. We go into detail about the games sparse, yet interesting storyline. We also touch on the interesting, yet difficult at times gameplay elements of the game, praising the puzzles, but docking points for the precision based stances the game takes. Then comes the design of Ico. Neither of us had a problem with the look of the game, especially for when it was initially released. We move on to highly praise Ico's melodic, and unforgettable soundtrack. The games sounds were also believable, and it seemed like they left no stone unturned when it came to the sound quality. Last, but certainly not least, comes replayability. We both rate this game highly on it's replayability.
Schweiss Craig
Storyline 8 8
Gameplay 7 7
Design 10 10
Music/Sound 9 9
Replayability 8 7
Overall, official [Nude] Clan ranking will be 83/100.
Enjoy the episode!
This week, the guys give their two cents about video game formats. They discuss the pros and cons of both the digital and physical copies of video games, and other forms of media. We weigh in on the positive aspect regarding digital, and praise it for the space saving aspects, and the ability to download game from anywhere. We praise physical on it's visual aspects. We enjoy seeing the shelf of games, and they have a certain permanence to them. We then go over our PHAT goals for a long ass time, and have some heated debates.
Enjoy the show!!!
This week, we start off the episode reading a rebuttal to last weeks episode on Piracy. This rebuttal was submitted to the Clan via our website, from Intercept. We disagree with some of the rhetoric, but appreciate the rebuttal. It's all about the conversation!
We then move into the main event. Reviewing Diablo 1. We discuss each element of the game, from it's simplistic and satisfying story, to it's incredible gameplay. We move into the eerie, and quite effective design of Diablo's scenery and Satanic imagery. This, naturally, leads into the games sound and music. We felt like the music really cemented the overall dark, and brooding tone of the game. Last, but certainly not least, we discuss the games replay value.
Once the Diablo review is done, we move into PHAT. We discuss both our sucesses and failures of our show resolutions, and go into some detail about the films we watched for the week. Enjoy, and special thanks to Intercept for the rebuttal!
Rating Rubrick
Joe Kaleb
Story 8 7
Gameplay 8 9
Design 10 10
Sound/Music 8 9
Replay Value 10 10
This week, the guys weigh in on their stances on the hot, and often divided, discussion of piration in gaming. We talk about the way piration damages the economy, and how if everyone were to do it, there would be no games. We delve into some statistics, proving the loss of revenue, and jobs that is caused as a result. We move on to discuss Joe and Kalebs progress in Diablo, and find out why Joe has to restart the whole game.
We move on to discuss our PHAT goals, and where we are thus far. Enjoy the episode!
This week, Kaleb Craig and Cameron have finished Fallout 4! We start things off with getting a little background on everyones Fallout experience. Joe was consumed by Fallout 3, wasting almost an entire day to it's glory. Kaleb Schweiss, on the other hand, was screwed out of too many hours, and abandoned ship. Kaleb Craig and Cameron have an extensive love of Fallout 3, and were the perfect candidates for reviewing Fallout 4. Once we have everyone's background, we move on to reactions to the announcement of Fallout 4. We discuss initial reactions, which of course varied. Kaleb and Cameron then do a rundown of the story in Fallout 4. They give us the gist, including epic spoilers at the end of the game, and compare it to the third Fallout. WE head on over to the most important function in a video game, it's gameplay. We discuss the ups and downs of Fallout 4's gameplay elements, and move on towards the design of the game. From an outsider perspective, Joe wasn't too impressed with this games visuals, but Kaleb and Cameron praised it in return, citing the unique character models as a move in the right direction. Fallout 4's soundtrack is a mixture of atmospheric music, and oldies tunes. This sets the mood for the game in a decent manner, but Cameron found the music overbearing during cut scenes, claiming that he couldn't hear dialogue at times. The guys then touch on the games replayability, which is stellar in their opinion. Overall, Nude Clan gives Fallout 4 an 80/100. Here's the breakdown.
Kaleb Craig Cameron
Storyline 6 8
Gameplay 9 8
Design 8 8
Music/sound 7 6
Replayablility 10 10
Overall 40/50 40/50
Nude Clan Official Score: 80/100
It's time! Join Kaleb, Joe, Cameron, and Kaleb Craig for Nude Clan! This show is going to be about everything gaming! We'll cover news for the major consoles and PC, and we'll do in depth reviews twice a month on games both old and new. Join us in all our shameless ranting! This episode, we discuss our gaming origins, gaming preferences, and the origins of the great Nude Clan. Enjoy!