Dav0o7

Introduction

Quantic Dream - a french video game developer, who developed games such as "Heavy Rain", "Beyond: Two Souls", "Detroit: Become Human". Yes, they are the developers of "Fahrenheit indigo prophecy". And as you can guess, it is yet another cinematic interactive-drama video game, published in 2005 for PS2 and XBOX (later for PC). A game, which has over 1 million sold copies and won several prizes. 

What is it all about ? 

This game is a half-fantasy paranormal thriller and detective, in which city experiences a series of mysterious murders; ordinary people become possessed and kill other strangers in public. The main characters have a task to uncover the supernatural forces behind these crimes. The game features motion captured animation as well as multiple camera angles and branching story lines. Story has both good and bad endings, which depends of your gameplay and decisions you make.

Gameplay (What is your role in-game ?)

The game tells the story using 3 main characters. You play for all of them and won't miss anything important or interesting. Of course they are connected to each other, and doing something with one character can enable or disable some actions for other characters. Each character has it's own mental health leveler, which changes over time, depending what character does. You must keep that gauge as high as possible, as game will end when it reaches zero for any character. The game itself mainly allows you to move around with your characters, interact with many things, which can change your character's mental health level, give some clues about next tasks, or just tell interesting facts. Other than that, it will sometimes have story parts, which require you to spam buttons as fast as possible, or just repeat the buttons game shows. Game doesn't have that much cinematic parts, where you just watch it without doing anything; it will always keep you in-game.

Characters (Spoiler Warning: Do not read this if you are going to play !)

• Lucas Kane is one of the main characters in Fahrenheit, which is controlled by user. Born and raised on the remote Wishita military base by his scientist parents (who died in a car accident). He works as an IT manager and head of computer maintenance for the "Naser & Jones Bank". His normal life turned around and became a mystery chase after he suddenly got possessed by some unknown powers that made him to kill a random person in the bathroom of restaurant, where he was just  having a dinner that night. For reasons he does not understand, since his early childhood, he has had periodic clairvoyant visions (visions, which showed what will happen some time later). Later he discovers that since that night, he possesses enhanced reflexes, strength and speed, as well as the emergence of telekinetic abilities and temporary flight.
• Carla Valenti is another controllable female character in Fahrenheit. Carla is a serious police lieutenant and detective inspector and is Sgt. Tyler Miles' partner. Carla is one of the best detectives and is known for her commitment to the job and for her working abilities, but in reality her devotion to her work helps to forget the fact, that she is missing a personal life and has few friends. Carla always keeps thinking about cases and will do everything to find some clues about it, no matter how long it will take. She is also highly claustrophobic. Carla is the one who took the case of that restaurant murder with her partner Tyler and during the game they work together to find Lucas Kane.
• Tyler Miles is a police sergeant and detective who works with Carla. Tyler has a wife: Samantha and they are together almost 2 years, but Tyler is committed to his job as well, even though Sam don't like it, as she is worried about Tyler and what can happen to him during his duty. But after some time of long working hours and decreasing temperature made him less happy about the job and that made him to question his life as a police officer. Tyler loves playing basketball, video games and collecting 1970s memorabilia and vinyl "Motown" albums.

Advantages: 

• Game always keeps you in-game (No long story telling cinematic scenes)
• An ability to control 3 different characters and live each person's life without missing other's.
• Time-Based storyline: Story continues in real time, there will not be any time jumps into past or feature (except one or two little parts, when main character remembers his childhood).
• Each time you fail to follow the main story (your character dies or does something stupid, which was not supposed to happen), game insists you to continue the game from last checkpoint, but still gives an ending story about what happened after that failure.
• Overall story is interesting.

Disadvantages:

• Old graphics
• Fantasy part of this game: the ability for some characters to fly, use some unseen powers, make the story look unrealistic, but is still playable.
• Sometimes you get tired of button spamming commands.

Passed first task in 4 hours maximum and got the reward. But second and third tasks will take a while, so I stopped there.

Introduction

Ever wanted to play a Dodgeball ? Do some trick shots, record them and share with friends ? Than this game is worth a try ! Easy controls, cool graphics, amazing disco music and lots of fun !

Gameplay

The game itself is very simple. After the countdown gates open and all players enter the playing field with or without teams. Depending what mode you play, objective will be different, but one thing is for sure: kill enemies, avoid the balls, which were thrown by your opponents, and complete the mission. I will talk about each game-mode later. There are abilities to jump and boost with some cool-down and there are some power-ups, which you can find and pick on playing field. Longer you hold the shooting button, more powerful shot it will take. There are many skill shots (trick shots), which give some extra points. These can be useful in some game modes.



Game Modes

Deathmatch -> This is a very basic game mode. Players or teams try to be the first one to get enough kills in order to win the game.

Score Battle -> Score Battle is a game mode in which players compete to score the most points. Performing skill shots (like helicopter (360), Dunk, mid-air, long distance, etc.) will earn the player and/or team additional points. The match is won by the team or person, who hits the predetermined score first.

Elimination -> In this game mode all players enter the arena with only one life per round. In team Elimination, each team's goal is to win enough rounds in order to win the whole game. If a player dies, they are out until the next round begins. In Free-for-All Elimination, it works the same way, except everyone is on their own.

Hoops -> Almost a basketball. In this game mode, there are two, floating square hoops. In the center of the arena is a golden ball. Players must get this golden ball and shoot it through the opposing team's hoop in order to score, all the while avoiding getting hit by opponent's dodgeball. In Free-for-All mode, the golden ball may be shot through either hoop. Keep in mind, that golden ball is a deadly ball too. Holder can kill people any time, so don't be too confident while chasing him/her.

Super Ball -> In this game mode, players must fight to rack up the most points by keeping the golden ball in their possession for as long as possible. When the match starts, a golden ball starts off in the center of the arena. The longer a player holds the golden ball, the more points he builds up. In team Super Ball, the scores of each player will contribute to their team's overall score.

Grand Prix -> In this mode, players must race around the several checkpoints scattered about the arena. Whichever team is the first to have raced through enough checkpoints to reach the score, wins the match. In team Grand Prix, the number of checkpoints each player has gotten is not combined with other teammates. Whoever on a team has ran through the most checkpoints, their score will be presented on the scoreboard on the top of the screen.

Horde ->This is a game mode where one or more players face off against an ever increasing horde of bots, which get harder the further the game goes on. The objective is to score the most points by killing as many bots as possible before you are KO'd.

Training -> Training is available to players who want to practice stunts, trick shots, or just the game in general. In whatever arena is chosen, several bots spawn in set locations of the arena. These bots do not move nor try to hit you, which allows you to practice your skills.

*There are some more game modes, which are mixes of others. So find the rest in-game ;)



Arcade Mode

Arcade is a single-player mode where the player has a limited amount of lives to survive waves of enemy bots and become president of the galaxy. There are a total of 8 levels, each having 3 waves. The player starts with 5 lives.

The player earns DodgeBux by performing KOs and Skill shots. DodgeBux can be spent at the end of each level to purchase upgrades. Upgrades give the player extra abilities that can help them go further. Upgrades that are equipped can be sold although any that you have used for at least one level will have it's price reduced. Lives can also be purchased in the Upgrades screen.

There won't be default bots every time. During the rounds some special bots and bosses can appear. each of them will have some special power-ups or abilities. So it will be challenging and fun to play it.

Profile (Character Customization)

Like other games, this one also has an ability to customize your character. Body, Head, Wheel, Eyes, Mouth are all changeable. Not enough ? Put some glasses, other accessories, change robot and thrown ball trails and be fully different from others. And that's not all. You can create two appearances: one for winning round picture, and other for losing round picture. You get customization items after leveling up or by crafting. You can find crafting items by playing matches. There is a chance to get random crafting material after each played match (no matter offline or online). 

Gameplay Tips

How to catch -> You can catch/collect any ball by left-clicking directly on it when it is in range. The ball will glow your color when it is available for catching. If the caught ball was thrown by an enemy, they will be KO'd. If playing in elimination mode, catching a ball will also respawn a friendly teammate (unless playing in Free for All mode). Note, that you can't catch balls with Fireball power-up.

How to Power Slide -> Power sliding is a mechanic used to quickly recharge boost during a match. Hold down Right Mouse Button while pressing forward. Once you start turning with the mouse you'll start drifting. You can adjust slide with mouse or left/right buttons.The sharper the slide angle, the faster your boost meter will recharge.

Advantages

• Good graphics and can run on low-end PCs.
• Good soundtrack
• Never the same gameplay
• Amazing trickshots and lots of fun
• Simple controls
• Easy to get items
  ...
  
  

Disadvantages

• Not that many online players
• Joining a further servers can cause some lags and it can be hard to hit people.

Conclusion 

This is one of my mostly loved games nowadays. It's really satisfying to play it and do some crazy trick shots while hearing some disco music. You may want to stop after playing 1-2 hours non-stop, but it will definitely be playable later. It is worth to purchase this game for sure !

Introduction

You may have already seen my previous article about this game. If no, go check it out first, as this article will be about game changes and not about gameplay itself. 

Why do I write this ? Because Noodlecake made some updates, which completely changed this game.

1. Ladder (Ranked) Matches

This is the main mode to play, which doesn't cost you anything and is played to gain/lose some trophies and reach top 100 global. It's gameplay was changed a while ago. Before all players started with 0 elixir each, now starting from level 25 after each 5 levels you get one extra elixir to start with. So for example level 1-24 players will start with 0 elixir, level 25 with 1 elixir, level 30 with 2 elixir, etc. Maximum level is 50 with 6 elixir. 

You may think that this is unfair, as lower level players will have disadvantage, but now it's easier to level up and after gaining some levels you will have an elixir boost too and that will add some more strategies, as you will be able to use various power-ups from the tee off. 

2. Power-ups 

There are 4 new power-ups added to this game after update, but as I didn't introduce you older power-ups, I will do it now.

Sniper Ball -> Is like regular ball, but has a good accuracy. Is used to do accurate shots and aim for tight parts of the map.
Fireball -> Has more power than other balls. Good power-up to skip some parts of the map with a long shot. 
Speed Ball -> acts like regular ball, but has more speed. Is used to pass some parts of the map faster and come to rest faster. 
Sticky Ball -> Sticks on any place you aim.
Grenade Ball -> If other balls are in range, it explodes and pushes other balls away from him. Activates only if it's in contact with other ball or any part of a platform. 
Anti-Grav -> is a complete opposite of default ball. Gravity is reversed and your ball will fly upwards instead of falling down.
Laser-Ball -> Travels with a straight line until it touches anything (wall, platform, other ball). After a touch, it will fall straight down.
Shield Ball -> Protects you from dangerous things. Those are: lasers and saws in any map, Grenade Balls, Saw Balls. If it goes into the water, shield pops up, ball bounces and becomes a regular ball. 
Repel Ball -> Activates after 1 second and pushes other balls away. No matter if it's mid-air or on platform. 
Space Ball -> Flies with a straight line, and stops after traveling some distance (floats mid-air). Again, good to cut some parts of a map.
*Ghost Ball -> Ball becomes untouchable. Other balls will pass right through it and it won't be affected by Saw Ball. Though can still be affected by Grenade or Repel Ball.
Super Speed Ball -> acts like Speed Ball, but is a lot faster.
*Heavy Ball -> This ball doesn't bounce at all and is a good power-up to push other balls around. 
*Saw Ball -> Will cut any ball it touches. Well... almost any. 
*Spider Ball -> Sticks to the platform and walks some part of it, depending how powerful and fast was the shot.
Tunnel Ball -> Tunnels through platform and acts like a regular ball after exiting the first platform. 

The ones with " * " are the new power-ups. 

3. Challenge Mode 

The main thing to spend gems on. It's either 12 wins or 3 loses. After each win, you claim a reward. More wins = more valuable rewards. There are 2 difficulties: Amateur (starting from level 10) and Pro (Starting from level 20).

All games are 1 v 1 and both players' golfer stats will be capped to the same number to make it a fair game. And there won't be an elixir boost, so both players will start with the same elixir amount. Of course Pro Challenge mode gives better rewards, but winning 5 Amateur modes will give you almost the same rewards as winning 1 Pro Challenge mode. During each weekend, special Challenge mode appears with some special rewards. Those can be special Epic Golfers, Emotes or Legendary Hats. Grinding this mode can level up your golfer very fast (of course if you win them). 

If you get 3 loses, you can purchase one more try with some gems. You will be able to do it several times, but price will be doubled after every purchase. 

4. Special Deals And Free Stuff

Just Like before, there are some good Deals, which can give you great amount of gems with a low price. But there are now new ones too, which give some exclusive emotes or Special golfer, which is available in store only one season.

Game now also has some Free Stuff, which can be claimed each 12 hours. It contains some bux, gems and a classic pack. Those, who didn't purchase anything, can collect them by watching some Ads, but if you buy anything from store (doesn't matter how much it costs), you will be able to collect free stuff without watching Ads.

5. Other things 

There are Season Rewards for everybody now. Before, they gave rewards only to those, who was in top 100 or in a good team. Now each player can get reward, depending on his/her trophy count. Those are Pack + Bux. That can help lower level players to level up even faster and get some useful cards from packs. Though for higher ranked players it's almost useless. Unless you get very lucky and get something you wanted from packs. 

There is also a place, where your played matches are saved. Golf Blitz TV will save last 10 games you play. So if you do a good or lucky shot, it won't be lost. You will be able to watch it again, record it and maybe share it with others. But it will see them as a spectator, so you will only see the shot and not the aiming angle.

There are other improvements too, but I won't be able to describe them all, as you may not understand them if you didn't play this game much. So hope you will join and find out the rest in-game. 

Advantages:

• Active Community and Staff members. Main things happen in discord. You can find lots of players and talk to them all. So join it if you are interested -> https://discord.gg/golfblitz
  
• Live stream before each season end with some top players' gameplay and Staff commentary. 
• Updating game: Staff looks for some ideas and implements them whole time. Also work on bugs, which players share.
• No Ad Popups. You will only see Ads if you want to collect free stuff (and that will be only if you want so). There won't be any random ads appearing during the game. 

Disadvantages:

• RNG/Luck involved. Sometimes your matches can be decided by pure luck, so be ready for that.
• Less season rewards for high leveled players