KickBeat: Special Edition (Xbox One) - Review

KickBeat: Special Edition is coming out next week and the nice guys at Zen Studios sent me a code over so I could review it for you!

KickBeat is a rhythm game with a twist. Rhythm games have been pretty popular over the last few years, and in my mind peaked with the amazing Rock Band Blitz, which I loved when I reviewed it. Rock Band Blitz, however good it is, doesn't give you much to look at other than the buttons that mess with your vision long after your finished and this is where KickBeat comes into it's own.

KickBeat is Kung-Fu themed. Yes, really. Kung-Fu. The main protagonist fights wave after wave of enemies as you press the buttons. There are even 'Boss Levels' (The first of which is really good fun and played out to my favourite song off the game 'The Beautiful People' by Marilyn Manson). When I first read it I have to admit to thinking it'd be pretty bad. But when you think about it Kung-Fu does seem pretty rhythmic. I have NO experience whatsoever in the martial arts so I'm not sure how true that is, but certainly when you see a martial arts sequence in a film or whatever the choreography certainly makes it seem that way.

When you first load the game it looks pretty budget, just from the menu. But I didn't immediately go into the story mode (which is a rookie error BELIEVE ME!) so didn't see straight away just how gorgeous the art style is. It's hand-drawn and really is beautifully done.

So not being a complete idiot I did go to play through the tutorial first. Which would be a good idea if they weren't so boring. I know a tutorial is never going to be the most fun part of a game, but with rhythm games the music drives it, makes the player feel energised and the tutorial features a metronome only. There is a lot to take in with this game at first I feel, but nothing that doesn't make sense eventually (like holding the button down if the enemies are leaving a yellow trail behind them) and it does all feel very familiar if you have ever played another rhythm game.

I only stuck it through the first level of tutorial at first before I just wanted to play to some music. And this is where I made the biggest error...please don't make it yourself. I went straight into Survival mode. Survival mode is TOUGH. Which is great as you get better at the game and definitely adds to the longevity of it, but as a newbie it SUCKS! It is SO difficult and for about the first seven attempts I lasted only somewhere between 20-40 seconds. Which the first time I told myself wasn't too bad, until I realised that Survivor mode is graded in the amount of TRACKS YOU CLEAR. I still haven't managed to clear one!

So I ventured into the story mode. Which is OK. The story isn't as bad as it could be, but come on, it was never going to be groundbreaking either. The reason I prefer the story mode is for the pure fact that there is a learning curve present with it, whereas in Survival mode you are just thrown in at the deep end.

I did have to really battle against myself with this game though. By this I mean that because you are fighting enemies my natural impulse was to mash their corresponding button so as not to get got. Which, inevitably, lead to me getting battered. It is something that I really struggled to quell, as I'd see them moving closer and closer and just want to strike. Old habits die hard I guess.

There are some breaks in the game which shows your character pull a cool move on the last enemy they attacked. I actually really enjoyed this as it showed how much the developers have thought about the music and how much thought they put into making it fit the game perfectly. These moments always happen at a natural break in the rhythm of the music, like in the bridge before a chorus for example, and really help keep the game flowing, giving the player a moment to relax their stressed out fingers.

This game is tough but it is fun. There is also a Split-Screen mode, so that you can play against a friend which is a really good feature, and definitely one that a game like this needs. It is tricky but in a good way really, as I for one definitely don't feel I'll ever be proficient enough at this game to tire of it. There is plenty of life in it, and is a good one to load up if you have a few friends round for a last man standing type of game. I'd say that it is definitely worth trying!

6/10 TRY IT!

A code was provided for the purpose of this review

The Dannie Kitten Gaming Awards!

So I've been thinking long and hard about this. It's been another good year for us gamers and I wanted to acknowledge the best with the Dannie Kitten Gaming Awards!

By the end of 2011 I had had a pretty good year...I had a difficult pregnancy which meant plenty of bed rest and time with my Xbox just as Skyrim hit the shelves. Then my life as I knew it ended. I wanted to spend all my time as Thalia, my Redguard adventurer.

This year couldn't possibly have topped that....or so I thought. But it turns out this year had some goodies in store for us. So here it is, The Dannie Kitten Gaming Awards 2012:

Game of the Year: The Walking Dead

This was by far the easiest decision I've made. This game is perfect! The first episode was amazing when I first played it, but TRUST ME it gets so much better. I know a few people who didn't buy the game based on the first episode and all I can say is PERSEVERE. I enjoyed it anyway, but when my save miraculously disappeared most of the way through Ep.4 I had to go back and replay and yes I did think it felt pretty slow and drawn out. But by then I knew the awesomeness that was coming next so it was easy to go through it again. The game is game-as-storyteller at it's very best and should be way up there on everyones lists of favourite games. To cut a long story short...GO BUY THIS GAME NOW!

XBLIG of the Year: Smooth Operators

Now I know I have already given out my award for Game of the Year but I feel this game deserved a special mention. So I created an award for the Indie games and this is the winner! God this game is good! I have long since been a fan of sim games such as these and when one came to the XBLIG market I had to have it. And it really didn't disappoint. Giving this game this award was such an easy choice to make. It is easy pick-up-and-play fun, but trust me it isn't so hard to put it down! I have sunk many many hours into this game and I still find it fun. Pick it up guys!




Character of the Year: Kenny (The Walking Dead)

This is probably the toughest decision I have made in this post. We have been treated to so many convincing characters this year. But Kenny had to win it. Kenny has been one of my favourite characters from a game EVER let alone this year. This guy is amazing. A family man from Florida who just wants to protect his family from the Zombie infested world. He goes through a lot, and comes out the other side pretty broken. The emotion that went into animating this character and voicing him is truly experienced as you play alongside him. I love Kenny. That guy deserves a medal.



Biggest Surprise of the Year: Shark Attack Deathmatch

Let's be honest here, when an Indie game attempts to do something different, it almost always falls flat on its backside. This game really doesn't. I don't know why I was expecting this game to be bad, I just was and it was actually REALLY GREAT. The single-player Survivor mode is fun enough, but this game has fully-fledged online multiplayer mode which always seems to have plenty of people ready to play. For 80MSP this game is a real steal and again, should feature on everyones game list.




Multiplayer of the Year: Mass Effect 3

This game carried with it A LOT of controversy when it was released way back in March. I'm gonna hold my hands up and say this...I don't know what all the fuss was about. I think the game was great. For me Mass Effect was about the journey, I wasn't too fussed by the 'three choice ending' because I actually thought it tied up all the stories pretty well.

So now I've got that out of they way, let's get on with explaining why this game wins this award. For me it's simple....it's bloody good. But for those of you wanting a little more explanation than that (can't say I blame you!) here goes. This is the first time Multiplayer has been included in a Mass Effect title. So it could have been shocking. It isn't though, and in the first few weeks of owning this game I sunk as much time into multiplayer as I did the campaign. I think it ties in nicely with the campaign too, increasing your 'readiness' for the grand finale. And it works well. There isn't really anything I found annoying with Mass Effect multiplayer, which is pretty rare. And they gave us TONNES of new content for free so it didn't get old. You can play as so many different races and classes that you can make the experience different every time. There are varying difficulty levels, and trust me they get hard! But it's all part of the fun with this game, it doesn't get as annoying as other online shooters and added bonus for me and my fella...the game has two discs, and BOTH of them include the multiplayer, so we can play together without forking out so much! Yay!

Co-op Game of the Year: Minecraft

I doubt there are many of you that haven't at least played Minecraft or one of it's many, cheaper clones. I hadn't played Minecraft until it was released on XBLA this year and my boyfriend begged me to buy it. So I did, and so did our friends and we spent agggggeeess building a world together. This game gets co-op game of the year because it never really gets old. If you read my blog you know I'm always on the look out for co-op games to enjoy with my friends and family, but many of them get old fairly quickly. This one doesn't. Maybe it's because it doesn't really have a main objective so you can set your own depending on what you feel like. I don't know what made this such a favourite for me and my friends but it is and it is a game we keep going back to. It is pretty dear at 1600MSP but it is a game that you will never actually complete...so that seems like pretty good value :p

Most Fun this Year: Rock Band Blitz

This game is another I have reviewed this year and loved. Living with a guitarist means we have every music game ever in our house. It also means that, unfortunately he wasn't ready to even give this game a chance, due to the lack of a plastic guitar (sad I know) I made him try it and he actually likes it. But I LOVE IT. For me it has taken everything that is most fun about a music game and made it even better. Listening to music...yes fun. Playing a game whilst listening to music...yep fun. Doing it without going through the rigmarole of digging out paraphernalia...EVEN BETTER! The tracklist for this game is amazing, and even better all of my DLC moved into there to make for a pretty full roster. The power-ups make this game a must have for me, and it is a game I keep going back to if I want some quick, easy fun. Pick it up guys!


Graphics of the Year: Far Cry 3

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder so I don't expect everyone to agree with me. I gave this award on the basis of what game, upon entering the game world, made me say 'wow' and this has to be it. This game is beautiful! The characters are well envisioned and the Island is simply gorgeous. Climbing to the top of a Radio Tower and looking out everything looks amazing. There doesn't seem to be any rendering, like in Skyrim, everything is there in all it's beauty. It is an astonishing world that has so much to offer to us gamers, it's amazing graphics are just the icing on the cake.





Shooter of the Year: Sniper Elite V2

I wasn't originally going to create awards for specific genres of games, but I thought I would make an exception with this one. Almost everyone has got at least a little disheartened by all the carbon-copy shooters coming out year after year. This game offers something a little different. Yes it's still a shooter, and you don't have to play solely as a sniper, you can still run and gun. BUT if you persevere and stick to being a sniper, you are rewarded with some amazing slowed-down close-ups of your victim. The camera follows the bullet THROUGH the body, wherever you hit and goes into X-Ray vision, showing you the shattering bones in all their glory. SO MUCH FUN. My dad even managed a shot straight through the enemies testicles...now that was fun to watch!


Most Frustrating Game of the Year: Spelunky

Now I know frustrating is a negative thing. SO why am I giving an award out to a frustrating game? This game is one of the most frustrating games I have ever played, but it is also one of the best. It features four player coop (yay!) and is easily one of the most annoying games I've ever played. But it has us all hooked. The fun is in the challenge in this game, if it was too easy it would not have sold half as many. This game is just as hard as it needs to be to create a challenging environment in which the right tactics can thrive. A brilliant, yet frustrating game.





And now, simply because I don't feel like I have enough of my favourites of this year on this list I am going to give you a list. This list will contain my top ten picks of the year, after all of the above. It's a kinda 'Best of the Rest' if you will. So here it is:

1. XCOM
A truly great turn-based tactical shooter. I'm not one for turn-based games but this one is brilliant!
2. Dishonored
Reminds me a lot of the old Tenchu game on PS1. Play how you want, sneaky or full scale attack. Amazing game with great graphics.
3. Spec Ops: The Line
A great cover-based third person shooter that actually makes you feel bad for the decisions you make.
4. Deadlight
This 2D platformer features beautiful 3D environments and is SO much fun to play.
5. Game of Thrones

As a massive fan of the show and the book, this had to feature on the list!
6. Real Steel
I have never watched the film and don't even have much interest in Robots or fighting games, but this game had me hooked.
7. Hitman Absolution
Whats not to love about this return to the amazing Hitman games?!
8. Rocksmith
It's strange that I like this so-called 'game' so much, but it does provide some fun whilst teaching you to play your favourite songs on the real guitar.
9. Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse
I know it got slammed pretty much everywhere, but I had a lot of fun gunning down my friends on this game. Take it as a bit of fun (and get it cheap) and this game can provide a lot of laughs.
10. I Am Alive
A game that was originally meant for retail release and instead released on XBLA. The characters are well written and the graphics are beautiful. A great post-apocalyptic game.

Rock Band Blitz Giveaway!

Hi Everyone!

The great guys at Harmonix have given me an extra Rock Band Blitz code to give away to one of my lucky readers. So how do you win it? Easy go over to Twitter and follow me https://twitter.com/DannieKitGaming and RT the competition tweet! It's that simple. Winner will be picked later in the week!

Good Luck Everyone!
xXx

Rock Band Blitz Review

I have to admit I was VERY excited for the release of this game. I have long since been a fan of the music game genre, spending a LOT of time and money kidding myself I could actually play the real versions of the instruments as well as I could play the plastic ones. I was interested to find out how well a peripheral led game would transfer to controller-based gameplay. I needn't have worried though, Rock Band Blitz is insanely fun!
I already had a copious amount of DLC for my other Rock Band titles and was wondering whether any of them would jump over to this game without extra downloading needed. Again I shouldn't have wasted time worrying as when I downloaded the game and waited for the Song Pack to download, my  DLC songs were all there patiently waiting for me to play.

 I wasn't brave enough to go right ahead, but the smart guys at Harmonix have included the tutorial with the first download, rather than the track pack, so you can go ahead and learn what you're doing whilst the good stuff downloads.
I played along with the tutorial, and I have to admit I didn't quite get it. I struggled to understand the buttons and it just didn't make sense to me. But when I set down to play my first real track, it was like an epiphany....this game ROCKS!
Starting off on the drum track I expected it to feel a lot easier than drums on the other games. How wrong I was. I don't know how the guys at Harmonix have done it but they've cracked the balance between fun and challenging. They've managed to make you feel like you're playing the drums with just two buttons. I got my multiplier on the drum track and moved over to the bass, doing the same here. Again the rhythm was obvious. I moved over to the guitar track to shred out the solo, fully expecting it to be easy, what with there only being two buttons. How wrong I was. My first ever solo on Rock Band Blitz saw me get an abysmal 60% of the notes. Shocking.
In the tutorial I hadn't quite grasped how important it was to get that multiplier up but in game it isn't just important, it's FUN to switch between the tracks. Whichever track you're playing the audio rises higher than the rest so you can hear what you're doing. It leads to some pretty funny moments if you do it at the right time on the vocals track.
When the song pack had downloaded I went back out to look at the menu. The 25 songs included with this title, I feel, are a well rounded stock of songs. There is something for everyone there, and some guilty pleasures for even the rockiest of people.
Now we all know that Rock Band have a LOT of DLC songs. If you ever check the dash for new add-ons you are inundated with track after track of Rock Band goodies. This title places recommendations into your game menu, based on songs that you have downloaded previously. I thought this was a great addition, I am a glutton for extra music tracks. I ended up spending some more MS Points on more songs and can safely say there are well more than a hundred on my game.
I have to admit I thought the novelty might wear off, but as of yet it hasn't. I can honestly say it is one of the most fun games I have played in a long time. The fact it is a Pick up and Play title makes it even better, and even though I thought I would I haven't found myself missing the peripherals.
This game is pure, undiluted fun. For anyone. My son had a go (he was rubbish but is only 3!) my brother had a go and loved it, even though he hates rock music and has never played a music game in his life, and my guitar playing partner had a go. He expected to hate it, being a lover of Pro Guitar on hard difficulty, but even he admits there is something about this game that just makes you love it.
This game is a worthy addition to anyones game list. I honestly after just a few days, can't imagine not having it on my Xbox. I've recommended it to everyone I know, so the same goes here guys. Go buy it, I promise you won't be disappointed.

10/10 BUY IT!

A code was provided for the purpose of this review.