Blue Estate

 Xbox One
Metascore
51

Mixed or average reviews - based on 4 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 4
  3. Negative: 1 out of 4
  1. X-ONE Magazine UK
    Apr 6, 2015
    30
    Wonky motion controls, repetitive gameplay, poor visuals and misguided humour combine in Blue Estate for a short, sour dose of shooter action. [Issue#122, p.83]
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User Reviews

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User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 19 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 19
  3. Negative: 3 out of 19
  1. GameSplash
    Mar 20, 2015
    3
    As the player you'll be controlling two characters, Tony and Clarence. Tony is the only son of the LA mob boss Don Luciano and manager of anAs the player you'll be controlling two characters, Tony and Clarence. Tony is the only son of the LA mob boss Don Luciano and manager of an "establishment" (strip club) called 'The Smoking Barrel'. When Tony's star dancer 'Cherry Popz' (yes that is her name, seriously) is abducted and forced to work for the Sik brothers, who look suspiciously similar to the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, Tony raises hell to get her back. Clarence is an ex-navy seal and contract killer who takes on contracts for the Don in an attempt to escape his undesirable financial situation.

    All in all the story is very lacking, I've played the game twice and I'm still unsure of what the game is about. The story is narrated by a detective who is presented as a typical introverted nerd who speaks in such an annoying whiny voice and at such a speed its often hard to understand what he's saying at all. When all is said and done you'll have also discovered the game is only a small handful of hours long, which is disappointing to say the least for the amount of money you spend.

    When I was playing the game with the Xbox One controller I will admit, I was enjoying myself. The game itself, at its core, is rather varied for a rails shooter. It does well to keep some variation in both enemy types and level design and this really helps keep players engaged as rail shooters can understandably become monotonous very quickly. There are a series of missions that take place in clubs, a OKFC chicken factory, a graveyard, a golf course and even Jamaica. The levels are well designed for the most part, providing ever changing scenery and perspectives within the environments.

    There are varying enemy types that add variety to gameplay and how the player can respond to enemies within the environments. There are enemies that attack with melee and when prompted with a white arrow on screen the player can swipe in the given direction to 'slap' attackers back. In addition there are ranged attack enemies that can throw projectiles such as grenades, molotovs, flour sacks, rocks, and glass bottles. Then there are the typical shooting enemies with a range of firearms to watch out for.

    Blue Estate sells itself as darkly funny and that it does try painstakingly hard to be. However the game rarely surpasses the "booby booby hump hump" level of sophomoric humor one would expect of a rabble of ten year old boys. Filled to the brim with leg humping Chihuahuas, Nutshots and ridiculously silly characters Blue Estate delivers an eye-rollingly cringe worthy attempt at humor, that should have been left in the school yard long ago.

    Finally we arrive at the most prominent and embarrassing downfall of them all. Blue Estate does nothing to hide it's blatant objectification of women through-out its multiple playable areas. There is only one woman who speaks in this title and is the embarrassingly named 'Cherry Popz' and she is dressed exclusively in latex lingerie.

    Now Cherry is a driving force in Tony's storyline as his objective is to rescue her from the Sik brothers and their rival club. Already this premise follows the damsel in distress trope and Cherry truly is being objectified. In a dispute between the Sik brothers and Tony, Cherry is the prize and nothing more. She is described as being a "star dancer, who was pretty famous amongst the strip joint circles" and that the Sik brothers "abducted her to work at their rival club against her will." The motives of these men are clear, Cherry is an object that can earn them money and so they fight over her. In additional every female that appears in the game are dressed in lingerie and are hyper sexualised.

    The game does release a warning during the opening title screens that claims no character in the game is to be taken seriously as they are all bad people and say horrendous things. However dialog and representation of both differing races and women isn't influenced by character dialogue so I'm afraid that disclaimer fall flat, and it kind of feels like Blue Estate realizes it's content is not morally correct and seeks to side step this.

    For a game being released in 2015 and especially on Microsoft's Xbox One console that blatantly dehumanizes and objectifies women sexually is not innovative or entertainment and isn't appreciated.

    Not only does Blue Estate take a seemingly sexually oppressive stance on female representation within their game, racial stereotyping isn't beyond its reach either. Throughout the game characters of different races are characterized through stereotypical and insensitive signifiyers of their races. The Chinese Sik brothers possess mystical Chinese powers, the Jamaican Olympic sprinters dart past the players akin to the flash, the Jamaican level boss is a Jamaican man whose body is adorned in only his dreadlocks and health bar is signified by marijuana leaves. In addition the term 'Euro trash' is common place through-out the game. Need I say more?    … Full Review »
  2. osprey
    Feb 24, 2015
    8
    Super fun game to play. I like the story and the acting and love the humour. The game looks and plays really well. Only 7 levels so it endsSuper fun game to play. I like the story and the acting and love the humour. The game looks and plays really well. Only 7 levels so it ends too soon but there is tons of replay here as the game is full of hidden items and challenges as well as lots of arcade challenges. Very good game and totally worth $10.… Full Review »
  3. Soulin
    Dec 28, 2016
    9
    If you're easily offended - do not play this game. But if you want to play a quick game with a friend and have some fun, I can highlyIf you're easily offended - do not play this game. But if you want to play a quick game with a friend and have some fun, I can highly recommend it. Great responsive control, a lot of fun, simple action game for a couple of hours.… Full Review »
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