Not a Hero (PS4) Played quite a bit of this fun little 2D shooter this week. From the makers of Olli Olli (and its sequel) its quite a drastic departure in terms of subject but in terms of look and gameplay in places theres similarities. The setup from the game is to aide a character called BunnyLord rise to political power through shooting, stealing and turning on billboards. The levels are small and set up a main objective at the start with bonuses for completing other things, such as getting to the end of the level without being shot a number of times or completing it under a set time. There is where the challenge tends to lie, and I found it fun to attempt these, especially when they were more obscure things like stealing a hidden item or meeting with some news reporters before a timer ran out. It took me a bit of time to get to grips with the controls, even though they are fairly simplistic. Ducking behind cover is essential to succeeding in the game as most of the enemies do the same and reloading isn't automatic which has taken me some time to get to grips with, using cover or breaks in the frantic shootouts to do this is really important and health regenerates in this downtime too. It's a very British affair, the first two characters unlocked have been Scottish and Welsh and played a bit to these stereotypes, hopefully as I unlock more there will be a bit more depth to the humour. Beyond a new accent I've not really seen the appeal of playing as the new characters i've unlocked, the cockney dude I've started as is balanced enough that he seems the easiest way to get through the game. Broforce is a game that springs to mind when I'm playing this mostly aesthetically, I don't think this comparison is helping at the moment as in Broforce I loved the anticipation of a new character unlocking as well as the humour. Not a Hero seems like it might be the better game though and i'm looking forward to playing more of it.
What has been more of a chore though has been finishing the last few hours of The Last Guardian (PS4). I don't think I've ever played a game that can be so varied in quality, and this is consistent throughout. After an impressive and tense boss fight near the end and helping Trico recover with one of the more interesting collecting barrels bits of the game the game then moved me across impressive vistas atop of Trico, it was almost a highlights reel of the game so far, jumping up buildings and darting up staircases as we ascended to the top of the games world. I forgave Trico's lack of compliance to my orders and waited it out as he saw where to go and when to take run ups for his leaps. When we reached our goal, a gleaming white tower which has been on the horizon for the entire game, it then descended to everything thats bad about this game. Waves of enemies attacked us, and combat is at best easy and at worst completely random in this game. Trico will pretty much trash any enemy with ease, so its more a case of waiting it out on his back until an enemy type he cant do anything about appear and then either attempting to shoot them with the shield. A pretty much fruitless task when your on his back because the button prompt to shoot is the same as to stroke Trico, so instead of laying waste to the bad guys I tended to give Trico a reassuring pat on the back. Using the sheild as a weapon on the ground is pointless 9 times out of 10 as it takes way to long to charge and I got picked up by an enemy, which then becomes a frustrating button mash to escape they're grip. The best tactic therefore I found to be rolling into this last wave of enemy type and rely on chance, a small window of time before they pick up the weapon Trico hates so much again where Trico can stamp on them. Once getting through this I was presented with a coliseum like room, daunting because it seemed like the place where waves of enemies would attack me but surely so soon after completing a section which does just this it wouldn't repeat the trick (especially as its the least fun thing the game does) but nope, waves of enemies attacked me an Trico, I waited until the last wave and repeated my rolling trick to finish them off. Its just not fun. Then the game did something completely unexpected, it found a task even less fun, removing Trico from a combat section, where I ran around in circles escaping the grip of enemies (by button mashing) pressing a stupid amount of buttons. Once I got through these tasks the game reached its conclusion, the final sequence is fantastic. A genuinely fun puzzle, followed by some harrowing moments and a satisfying finale while also presenting a glorious reminder of the hours i've put into the game.
Throughout the game there is an emphasis on stubborn mechanics, whether it be a creature that barely responds to me, combat which is complete luck or puzzles which are roadblocked by chance. I do really like the game and am really pleased to have played through it but its certainly something which I'd rather have been removed from the gameplay more often.
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