Now Playing: Death of the Outsider

Dishonored: Death of the Outsider is a standalone expansion for Dishonored 2 in which you play as Billie Lurk, on a final mission to kill the mysterious Outsider. I picked it up in a recent sale for 3.99 and I’m glad I did – not only because it’s a solid and enjoyable piece of content, but also that I didn’t pay any more for it.

‘Expansion’ feels like a rather generous description of DotO. There are only five missions, two of which share the same ‘hub’ area, and one of which is a recycled map from Dishonored 2. None of the missions are particularly substantial, and if you only focus on your core objectives, you can easily blast through the game in less than 5 hours. But because I’m a fan of the Dishonored world and story, I wanted to take my time, explore the maps, collect all the lore and complete all of the additional objectives.

Even so, I’d wrapped up my playthrough of DotO in less than 10 hours, and I can’t honestly say that any of the side content was really worth my time – it felt more like content added in purely to pad out the game and justify the ‘expansion’ label and higher price. I wouldn’t be so critical of how the game was sold and marketed if it was just released as a simple DLC, because that’s all it really is.

 

But if you’re going to call it an expansion and charge more than double the DLC price of say, the excellent Brigmore Witches DLC for Dishonored 1, you’d better back it up with a substantial piece of content – not five short missions, two of which share the same hub map and one of which is recycled from the base game.

I don’t want to hate on DotO too much for how it was sold, because if you’re a Dishonored fan then I certainly think it’s worth picking up – just don’t pay more than a few quid for it.

As far as the story goes, DotO essentially wraps up the remaining plot threads left dangling from Dishonored 1 and 2. In some ways, it could be viewed as the end of the Dishonored series as a whole. And despite my issues with the quantity of content, it’s not a bad way for the series to end. That doesn’t mean I hope we don’t see more of Dishonored in the future – but if we don’t, at least the series can go out on a satisfying note.

 

In terms of gameplay, DotO is pretty much identical to Dishonored 2. Billie has 3 supernatural abilities, all of which are useful and pretty fun to use, alongside several weapons and gadgets. The missions, though short, are pretty well designed and in some ways, I’d actually say they’re more interesting than those in the base game, many of which were disappointingly linear.

There’s not really much replay value here, but I’m sure one day I’ll play through the entire Dishonored series again. And overall, the quality of the Dishonored series – both the base games and the DLC – has been consistently great. So if you’ve never played the Dishonored games I’d highly recommend checking them out.

And if you’re already a Dishonored fan then Death of the Outsider is worth checking out too. But like I said – just don’t pay too much for it.

6/10

E-Book Release: Xiu Wei ~vs~ Smugglers of Venus!

The last time Xiu Wei visited Venus she was ten years old, and she spent the whole trip sick with Venusian stomach-worm. Not surprisingly, she vowed never to return. Five years later, Xiu reluctantly joins a family vacation to her least favourite planet – a vacation that quickly goes wrong.

When Xiu’s little sister, Ling, is snatched from her bed in the middle of the night, Xiu stows away on the kidnappers’ vehicle, hoping to mount a daring rescue. But she soon learns the kidnappers are smugglers of Yellow Air – a dangerously addictive, illegal narcotic – and that Ling’s kidnapping is only part of a much larger plot.

Xiu and Ling manage to outwit the smugglers and escape, but Venus is a planet full of unexpected dangers. Forced to battle sand storms, gun-toting guards and malfunctioning spaceships as they run for their lives, can the sisters make it home before the bad guys catch up with them? Xiu Wei ~vs~ Smugglers Of Venus! is a fun, fast-paced MG/YA adventure story.

Now Playing: Resident Evil Remake

I played the original Resident Evil at release, and I played the original Remake on the GameCube in 2002. It’s a game I’ve enjoyed playing multiple times throughout the years across multiple platforms, and when the PC version was on sale recently, I decided to pick it up and play it through again.

Resident Evil is one of the few games I’d describe as a ‘timeless classic’ – it never seems to get old. The movement and shooting may be a little wonky, the story may not make a lick of sense and the dialogue may be absolutely terrible, but there’s a charm to the game that never seems to fade.

 

You play as either Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine as they enter a mysterious mansion. Your choice of character will change various story and gameplay aspects, making it worth playing through with both at least once. Chris is the more ‘difficult’ character in the sense that he has less inventory space and unlike Jill, can’t rely upon the legendary Barry Burton to help him out of trouble.

Inventory management is key in Resident Evil. With limited slots, you have to pick and choose what weapons, ammo, health items, keys or puzzle items you carry with you. I’m not going to lie – it can be tedious when you have to backtrack to an item box to retrieve an item you needed but forgot to take. But once you’ve played through the game at least once, you’ll remember roughly what you need and where and can plan ahead accordingly.

 

It’s been so long since I played the original version of Resident Evil that it’s hard to compare it to this Remake. The game didn’t just get a visual overhaul, but many tweaks to gameplay and various revisions to the puzzles, plot and environments. The one thing I’ll never forget about the original though is the so-bad-they’re-good live action cut scenes, which are replaced in the Remake with CGI.

Graphically, the Remake still looks good today. The pre-rendered backgrounds may look a little fuzzy even in this ‘HD’ version, but the character models are still decent, and all the monsters you’ll be tangling with are clearly defined within the environments.

It’s not a very long game – even taking your time, you’ll probably have it wrapped up in six or seven hours of play. But with two characters to play as, multiple difficulty settings and a couple of ending variations based upon your actions during the game, there’s more replay value to Resident Evil than you might think.

 

I’m not sure what else I can say about Resident Evil. It’s the granddaddy of survival horror, a game that spawned countless sequels and spin-offs and a series of terrible movies. I must admit I kind of lost interest in the games after RE4, as the series shifted to a more action focus.

But the return to its survival horror roots in RE7 was a real return to form and seems to have revitalised the series as a whole. I played a demo of the recent Resident Evil 2 Remake and I’ll certainly be picking that up soon.

If you’ve never played the original Resident Evil I can understand why you might not take to it today. But if you’ve played and enjoyed RE7 or the new RE2 then it might be worth picking up to see where it all began.

8/10

Now Watching: Alita: Battle Angel

I’m not familiar with the manga series Alita: Battle Angel is based upon, so I can’t say how good or bad of an adaptation it is compared to the original source material. What I can say is, despite its flaws, I enjoyed Alita. It’s one of those few films that, like the recent Blade Runner 2049, I feel would have benefited by a longer cut.

There’s simply too much story crammed into the two hour run time, resulting in characters and plot points that are unfortunately glossed over, rushed or not as developed as they should be. It doesn’t seriously harm the film, but it’s a shame more time wasn’t taken to properly flesh out many aspects of the world, characters and story.

Alita: Battle Angel is the story of Alita, a young cyborg who awakes in a new body in Iron City in the year 2563. It’s yet another heroine with amnesia, but despite her lack of memories, Alita doesn’t lack personality. The story revolves around Alita finding her way in Iron City, figuring out who she was and who she now wants to be. She’s an engaging protagonist who elevates the film beyond its somewhat messy plot.

Yes, there’s a little sense of uncanny valley at times when Alita or other cyborg characters are on screen. As impressive as the CGI is, there are odd moments when it does take you out of the film. I can forgive it more in Alita, however, because it’s clear they did as much as they could using practical effects, but due to the nature of the world and its cyborg inhabitants, a hefty and likely expensive amount of CGI was required. It’s certainly not perfect, but it’s an impressive attempt.

Another flaw would be the occasional line of bad dialogue. There’s some lines that had me laughing because of how bad they are. In one scene the actor even seemed embarrassed to be saying it. I’ve seen some people say the dialogue is reflective of the manga, and maybe that’s true, but what might work in a manga, a comic or a book doesn’t always necessarily translate well into film.

The only other problem that’s worth mentioning is how there’s still a lot left unresolved at the end of Alita. Once again, it’s not a serious issue – Alita does a decent job of telling a ‘complete’ story within this film – but we’re still left with a lot of unanswered questions about Alita and her past. This film certainly feels like the first in a trilogy, but there’s been no confirmation that we’ll be getting any sequels at the time of writing.

I hope we do, because despite the flaws, Alita is a really good film. It’s got an interesting setting, a great central character and some very enjoyable action that doesn’t shy away from the brutality of the world. It’s not going to be a film for everyone to enjoy, but it’s certainly worth checking out if you’re a fan of sci-fi action.

7/10