Av(id)erage Gamer

@brothermouzongaming

26. VA. Gaming since '97 Reviews, some thoughts on current events, a meme or two, maybe even gameplay PSN BrotherMouzon666

187 posts

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My Game Awards thoughts

I'm not going to cover everything that happened but I am going to go over some news breaks, my thoughts on the ceremony as a whole, some announcements we got/ ones we didn't, and maybe some "entitled gamer rage" just cause I can.

results for the awards here

The Xbox Series X announcement was unexpected but it is a nice jab from Microsoft to get the idea of the console in the minds of people even if it's just the physical look alongside what I can only assume was supposed to display its power and graphic fidelity. The ball is in Sony's court, I can't wait to see what they come up with. I suspect E3 2020 will be when we get something similar to what Microsoft did but maybe even bigger since they've had the time to work on it by then.

#The Game Awards #Microsoft #Xbox Series X #Sony #PS5 #No More Heroes 3 #Control #Man Eater #Wolf Among Us 2 #Godfall #Ghost of Tsushima #Sons of the Forest #Fast and the Furious

My issues with Google Stadia

Google is throwing its hat into the ring of gaming services in a big way. I am however concerned they are doing too much too soon.

The games offered are old, and the ones that aren't old are available so many other places. Twenty-two games, including Destiny 2 collection, MK11, Rage 2, Red Dead 2, Samurai Showdown, NBA 2k20, Trials Rising, and...Just Dance 2020...? Now you'll note that some of these games aren't that old but what isn't old is surely going to be demanding of the new platform. Can you imagine how frustrating Trials Rising is going to be over a crappy connection? Can you see the crucible full of glitchy rubber-banding guardians all trying to kill one another? Can you taste the salt of MK11 players that lose to lag and dodgy connection? Yes, these things are problems on console and PC but at least you have a back up in the form of connection based lobbies. Nevermind the fact that your PC/console is only on the internet to get the input from the other fighter, not running the entire game from the cloud. Also, can someone please tell me how the fuck you're gonna play Just Dance on a Google Stadia?

Streaming is clearly shown to work in the form of Xbox Game Pass and PSNow. That said, the libraries, features, and connectivity of these services (Game Pass> PSNow) are still in question to this day and these are gaming companies that know what is necessary. I'm not saying Google doesn't but what I am saying is that it doesn't even appear they've taken that into account that most Americans don't have the internet to handle such a demanding program. The Stadia executive is quoted saying ISPs will adjust data caps of their own volition and without recourse. Is anyone really that stupid, does anyone really believe that?

Have we talked about ownership and what’s going to happen when Google eventually says “Okay, shut it down”? Lets! Google’s service is entirely cloud-based outside of the controller and the chrome/stadia dongle you need to connect. No hardware means no option for physical media, no physical media means no discs, no discs means no ownership. Some people try to avoid the bulk and space absorbing nature of a physical library and I totally get that. With that said, I have to wonder how Google is going to future-proof the purchases of Stadia customers should they back out the way they are notoriously known for.

First-party games and "killer apps" are said to be years off. So why not wait? Why not wait until the infrastructure is there, the tech is up to par? There are so many issues I have with the base concepts Google is putting into practice. These aren’t blind consumers, they’re gamers, they’re gonna see past your bullshit if not on sight, very shortly after purchase. So maybe that’s who this service is for? The people who don’t know what 4k is or honestly cares and just want to play games wherever despite a dodgy connection? Do they know how bad the internet across the entirety of middle America is? Hell, there are cities on either side of the country that would struggle to get enough bandwidth. Now it's coming out that even if you have literally some of the best up/down rates available, Stadia has a very high chance of not running properly. So again, what audience is this for? How many people can that be like 10,000? 20,000? There are 40 million Nintendo Switches sold, 41 million Xbox Ones, 100 million PS4s with more across the board being sold with Black Friday just passing and the holidays around the corner.

What the hell is the point of Stadia again?

#Google #Google Stadia #video games #gaming

Borderlands 3 review

Level 50 Zane, 15 Amara. Minor spoilers ahead World/Maps -The worlds you travel to are impressively large even though they're broken up into smaller sections; the term "smaller" is used very loosely. I may be wrong but these are by far the most areas and largest in the franchise and its kind of impressive. My favorite level is the Lectra City section of Promethea. It's both organized and maze-like where a gunfight can break out literally around every corner. All the sections are noticeably big and feel unique to the planet or area they represent with that "if it's on the map there's probably something there" design that not enough games take advantage of. -The color pallet is miles better than any previous game in the series. This game can be pretty but its even prettier when everything is blowing up and shit catching fire, particle effects are trying to fuck your eyeballs. The previous games were kind of bland color-wise, the pre-sequel did try and venture out more but this is way above that in my eyes. Gameplay/Guns/L00t

-The combat is sublime. I have heard people complain that doesn't feel much different but I think they are wrong and need to go back and play the less enthralling, less involved combat of the previous games. You didn't have many options in the first games when firefights broke out and it was dated but distinctly Borderlands. Now that the slide and mantle have been implemented (it's about time really), combat is faster and players can take advantage of high points and hit cover faster. The slide even has combat implications once you get to the later parts of the story. It's all very well worked and thought out as opposed to being just thrown in because it's what shooters do now. -The guns and gunplay are on par with Destiny, they may even be a little better when you consider how deep the loot is and how the stats visibly and tactically affect the guns they’re applied to. You get one Duke in D2 and you've pretty much got them all. Here you can get the same gun to drop and actually see and feel the difference between the stats it rolled with. The distinct differences in the manufacturers have really been leaned into as well. They reworked some of the distinct hallmarks of the makers and improved them to help ramp up the combat. This is minor but I really like how manufacturers will mail you guns the more you use theirs. -Vehicle controls are muddy as hell and will take a second to get used to. It’s definitely not the best possible setting even after messing with controls for a few minutes. The default kind of forces you to shoot where you’re looking unless you’re standing still, you may want a little more flexibility in your controls which is available. That said, the models and their functionality are varied and cool but I’m honestly surprised they haven’t perfected controls yet. Story/Writing

-The story is decent, wildly better than the actual writing and dialogue itself (which doesn't say that much) but once you get to the end there are some connection's made that are interesting and well thought out. Now that I've gotten the "good" out of the way. What the fuck is up with all the cutscenes not having our character in them. All events in cutscenes play out like our guy or girl isn't in the room and can't affect the events that play out in them. There will be so many times where you yell at the screen as to why your character is never seen/not doing anything in pivotal situations that could use a Vault Hunter. LIKE THE ONE THAT SHOULD BE STANDING RIGHT THERE. -Troy (male villain) literally says "You were like, 'My powers boo hoo'!!" which is a Handsome Jack reference. It would be nice and nostalgic if it wasn't the very first thing that comes out of his mouth when the Twins intercept you at the Dry Dock. Instead, it just seems beyond lazy and proves just how lacking in identity they both are. Tyrene is arguably worse, she just says things and then follows it with "I don't believe that," or " That's just something people say". That could show how little she cares and that would be fine if it wasn't the only thing about her that stood out. They almost do something interesting later in the story where Troy takes center stage but that lasts literally a boss fight. Both of them are just, underwhelming in almost every single way. All seldom the connection they have and how Troy is capable of being a Siren and Tyrene's seemingly completely unique and powerful abilities. Co-op, Optimization, and Performance

- Co-op will go from fluid and fantastic to laggy and rubber banding at the drop of a mag and it's as frustrating as it is thrilling as hell. It's strange what situations will slow things down and what runs smooth as hell. We had four people on one internet connection and everything ran really well. One day my friend and I tried with just us on Promethea and the session was so fucked I actually couldn't see or fire my guns at one point and I had to back out and come back to get them functioning again. There are definitely more patches coming but for a game boasting online co-op, it should be better. I will say though, level balancing is amazing and can even be quite useful if you want guns to drop at level no matter where you are in the game. People have been complaining about the UI and I totally understand, I don't mind the design, what I do mind is how obnoxious the input lag is. Oh and the weird glitch where as you scroll your inventory, the pictures of the items toward the bottom copy to rows above them. It's easy to fix in-game but...why is it even a thing? How have they not fixed that glitch where your FFYL timer just drops off despite still having time on the meter. It's happened since borderlands 1 maybe there's a certain amount of damage you can take before the timer doesn't matter anymore? I genuinely don't understand it and on boss fights, it's infuriating to lose money when you could've gotten a kill for your second wind. Misc. -Of course, the first patch they put out isn't to fix the performance issues but to kill the Loot Tink farm on at the Jakob estates. A farm you can still do offline fyi ;) A billion guns and you mad people getting a slightly higher chance at getting the guns they’re just gonna get anyway. WHY -The trinkets are cute but useless, why not put a minor stat buff on them to actually give them reason? They're so small they almost don't exist to me. -Also, that end credits song is absolutely terribly chosen. The end sequence, in general, is just strange and seemed a little forced. Not how they presented it but what exactly they showed because as perplexing as it was to see what I did, I was just more upset I didn't get the development of those scenarios to see how we reached the outcome. I'm trying not to spoil things but it's difficult so I'll just be quiet. I'm not even sure of what I saw but I do know what it looked like. I just wish there was more background given since our character gets literally none. -REALLY weird cameos. Like, really strange. tl;dr BL3 is an 8.5 for me which flys in the face of my many criticisms but I can't deny how fantastic the gameplay is on top of the absolute wealth of content delivered, all without the modern monetization bullshit. The story is meh, writing meh, but god damn if it isn't rewarding in its gameplay. IF you like BL as a whole there's no reason not to play unless you're waiting for the Steam release. An Endgame post is in the works.

#Borderlands 3 #Gearbox #2k games #video games #gaming

Control review

I have been looking forward to Control for a while now, it was a very mysterious game before the non-existent marketing campaign. So going in blind was a great experience that is pretty rare these days in gaming. I’m gonna break Control down into its essential parts and talk about my view of them. Spoilers lie ahead.

The Good

The voice acting is pretty well done across the cast, the main character Jesse is especially well-acted (though not well written, more on that later). The setting of the Oldest House drips with atmosphere and a sense of eerie familiarity that comes with being in an office building. Only this office, though appearing to be a skyscraper in Manhattan, has layers and moving hallways as well as much more lurking in its depths. The Metroidvania style of learning abilities to access new areas really does a great job of shining in this context.

Some of these side-missions are some of the best I’ve played this year. I thought the fridge was just a “Weeping Angel” kind of thing where you died if you didn’t look at it (there’s a cool touch in that room that I like). Upon taking the side mission though it’s short and simple it did a great job of subverting my expectation and throwing an unexpected boss fight at you. The Mold Monster, The Anchor, all interesting side quests that do a great job of supplementing the experience.

When things do smooth out, combat is hot shit like it’s Chronicle the game. The debris and destruction effects are everything you’ve heard and really give that feel of next-gen that some games really could use. Ever play Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy (2004)? It’s that turned up to fucking twenty.

The lore is some of the best I’ve come across, I actually sat down and read as much as I possibly could. Yes, some people don’t like how it can break up gameplay but I saw it as a chance to dive deeper and actually understand what little I can before continuing. The redacted information is a great touch and I do get the sense that the reader is meant to fill in the blanks. That said, it can be a real middle finger at times when all you want is answers.

The mod system on the surface is a good idea, I have to give them points for at least trying. Some mods are so good you get them and it is instantly slotted. One that drops from a secret objective grants you 100% ammo reduction on hit. Excuse me while I boot up the game to go get that real quick yeahthanks.

Little cute cosmetic things like outfits come from...wait for it...playing the game!! WAAAAT

The Bad

The mod system, though having its gems, is mostly dirty lumps of Black Rock. So many, and I mean so many mods are going to be deleted for scrap to help upgrade your gun or the mods you can get a chance to randomly drop.

What the hell is The City, it’s capitalized in the subtitles and many lore entries and there was not so much as a reference or explanation or anything. In addition, a lot of the redacted documents still draw me in but it is frustrating when so much is left out in a world that already begs so many questions. Would it have killed the writers for a little clarity?

As satisfying as the side missions can be, there are a number of them that boil down to straight-up bitch missions. Kill x amount of enemies here, destroy x things there, all this in a game where I can fly and shoot a sentient gun and throw shit with my mind. Ya couldn’t come up with anything else?

The Metroidvania element is a great idea, but it isn’t implemented quite as well as I would’ve liked. It’s just a little grating when more often than not it’s not a lack of an ability but the number on your access card not being high enough. Lame.

The ending is a little insulting, the fake-out got me so mad I actually said out loud “Oh well at least the real ending won’t upset me like that.” Wrong, wow holy fuck was I wrong. The final fight is another gauntlet, shocker, and it’s not even really all that difficult because The Board supposedly...buffs your strength? That is never really explained either. Cool. You beat the same enemies you’ve been kicking around for hours now only to find Dylan suspended in air, you purify him or whatever. Roll credits. Go fuck yourself. Regardless of whether or not DLC is coming and there is, that ending is pathetic on so many levels after a game I spent around 15 hours being pretty impressed by.

The Ugly

What’s ugly about Control nears unforgivable. I mean it, if you’re sensitive to performance issues to the point where things can chug to a near halt: then just wait and keep your ear to the ground for patch notes and updates for when things get fixed. For the record, I distinctly remember playing New Vegas on my 360 and the absolute shit show that was. So I do believe that experience gave me the strength to persevere through it. Beefy PCs will be fine as well as Xbox One X, but base systems and even in some cases with the PS4 Pro really need some attention when it comes to hotfixes**. Combat will kick off and get heated, only for frames to drop as low as the tens and single digits according to Digital Foundry. On top of it all, it would be one thing if it was momentary and fleeting but essentially from the first moment of gameplay; it’s guaranteed to get worse as your powers grow and destruction becomes more and more prevalent.

No new game plus, and level selecting after completion overwrites your save file and did I mention there’s only one save file? Remedy... you know its 2019 right? I feel like that was a no brainer.

As fun as the combat loop is, how did we not get the full selection of gun forms or at least more than two? Too often am I pausing to switch out a form when I should be able to hold three forms to at least mitigate how many times I’m going into the menu. On top of that, combat scenarios are just gauntlets and there aren’t much varying in situations outside of taking advantage of the different architecture The Oldest House has. It’s just wave after wave with nothing really different between them.

In summation...

Control is fun, intriguing and (most of the time) absolutely gorgeous. It’s very clear that Control is the culmination of both Alan Wake and Quantum Break. To me, it is the best parts of both with Alan Wake’s aesthetic and tone with the high octane Quantum Break action. If that sounds like your kind of thing, I say its worth it, maybe wait until a sale comes around or when they do whatever they need to ease the performance issues. This is a single-player game that offers an interesting experience that may not be backed up by story but is held up by lore and environments that really shine in modern gaming. Yes, it's SCP the game but in a lot of ways, it isn’t.

I give Control a 7.5/10 with performance issues on launch being one of the biggest detractors. I’d rate it a little higher now that a lot of the issues have been patched but I believe games need to be reviewed on the state they shipped in.

**On September 4th it was reported that the team is focussed on performance issues for consoles in addition to the two expansions titles “Foundation” and “AWE” as well as non-narrative content.

#Control #Remedy games #Alan Wake #Quantum Break #Max Payne #video games #gaming

Control early thoughts

+ There is little to no bullshit before gameplay starts and you're wandering The Oldest House. Powers have good and unique haptic feedback that makes you feel it when you rip concrete out of the wall or pull marble from the floor to provide cover. + Remedy and the writing team really try hard to work all the strange and unfamiliar supernatural aspects into real-world phenomena that happen every day. There's just as much a sense of power as there is a sense of powerlessness. I don’t normally do this but I’ve been burning through every lore entry and document I can find just to understand what the hell is going on here. I’m like Charlie in the mailroom I want answers dammit! + This game is not afraid to get creepy as hell at the drop of a hat. It'll go from psychological horror to the more conventional "nope" that comes from strangely voiced puppets on a tv screen i.e. Threshold Kids (minor spoilers). Even in said creepiness, they manage to slip some black humor in there as well, who wrote this game? Why did they decide it was going to find a way to be both funny and unnerving all at the same time? It's actually kind of impressive. + Destruction physics are the word-for-word dictionary definition of "chef kiss sound". The density of the rooms combat takes place in really make it feel like you're tearing up this strange industrial office space. The meticulousness of the host of object you can blow up, toss, and quantifiably alter is impressive as well. + Jesse is incredibly well voice-acted (Courtney Hope) and the facial capture is really impressive across the entire cast you interact with. +/- I like the idea of an omnitool type gun that does a little bit of everything. However, I do hope I get a third form slot because two is just a little restraining. Why not minimize the time I spend going into a menu mid-fight to switch out a form? +/- The heavy red aesthetic in Hiss infected areas can go from gorgeous and tone-setting to frustratingly vision-obscuring when you’re in the middle of a firefight.

+/- This is one of the weirder mod systems I’ve come across. Mods come in tiers that go from 1-4 from worst to best. There isn’t anything amazing or spectacular about the mods which I found a little disappointing considering the atmosphere of the game. I did, however, find that the game can be pretty generous with the higher class mods; they just might not be for the gun form or skill you want. This seems to almost push the player into trying new ways of plays merely because the buff it gives is so good. In a weird way, I like that because halfway through the game, they’re practically falling from the sky. Thankfully dismantling mods gives you a form of currency that can be spent alongside other collectibles in the world to upgrade your guns as well as powers. There’s this randomized mod generator you can just throw materials into in the hopes of a better or different mod, that can be upgraded to improve the mod quality as well. Again, it’s weird, it makes sense but it does feel like it could be better. - I wish the shooting was just a little tighter, I realize that is something options can fix but should it even have to be? So many games have mastered the third person responsiveness that aiming and shooting should have. The Division, Warframe, Gears, MGSPP, and even Uncharted 4 all just have that tight sense of Control (eh?...eh?) without too much sensitivity from the start and by now I hoped Remedy had too. The guns overall can feel a little weak, certain mode like the shotgun and rail gun have a crazy kick and sense of power but it doesn't feel like the main form and others were honed as well.

- Though she is well-acted, Jesse as a character is milk-toast as hell. She has next to no personality outside of "find my brother" and "I have a voice in my head". I really wanted Jesse to be the next badass female protagonist and she is, but she's also not very fleshed out, unfortunately. - Base PS4 is seeing some performance issues. Frame skipping and stuttering can and almost will happen when there's too much destruction on screen. This is compounded when the moment you start destruction only ramps up so it becomes pretty prominent pretty quickly.

? Jesse can straight-up force push from the moment you enter the building and gameplay starts, it's never explained. That gave me a little chuckle. ? For a game that immediately introduces you to the janitor of all people, this place needs desperate cleaning. ? After finding out the old director is voiced by the original Max Payne, I'm officially proposing that Trench is Max undercover and this is apart of the same world. You can't prove I'm wrong so...I'm right...?

tl;dr Overall I’m enjoying myself and just taking in the world as I go along. I like that around every corner is a “what the fuck is that” moment and as much as I’m learning, there’s still a lot more to understand. The powers are great, the shooting is serviceable, the mod system is...strange. That said, it’s fun and I think it may be a sleeper hit of the year depending on how things pan out. Full review upon finishing

#Control #Remedy games #video games #gaming

My Splinter Cell concept

It was recently reported that Facebook is looking to bring Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell into the fold of their Oculus VR titles.

So you’re going to tell me, that the only iterations of Sam Fisher we’ve had for the past six years are gonna be a more than likely shitty mobile game, a couple missions in GR Wildlands, an easter egg in Far Cry New Dawn and now this bullshit. How in the fuck have the higher-ups at Ubisoft allowed that? One of their most beloved protagonist from arguably one of their most cherished IP (AC is a close second with Far Cry in third imo) hasn’t seen a full game in far far too long. In the drought, we’ve had six Assassin’s Creed games. Does anyone else find that a little excessive? I think they could really do something special.

Potential Story

An older Sam like we saw in Wildlands with an almost Old Man Logan kind of delivery could really work. I'm referencing the parallel of a very dangerous man potentially approaching the end of his rope. It could literally be a send-off with Sam dying of something or finally deciding to get that midwestern ranch he’s always wanted. This is, unfortunately, going to be the weakest of the sections because as far as storytelling goes I blow hot wet ass at it. My only problem with the whole dying thing is now that RDR2 has come out everyone is going to scream “ ArThUr mOrGAn” and that’s what happens when a game like that comes out. That doesn’t mean that is can’t be done though. The fact of the matter is, canonically the man is getting on in age and his tale has to come to an end somehow. Literally, almost anything is better than Sam Fisher walking off into the night without so much as a goodbye.

Level Design and Gameplay

Open levels (levels, not open-world) that let you take advantage of the environment much like BreakPoint is currently parading. Hide in water, foliage, tree lines, crowds. Really let the player go about these missions how they please with some/most missions requiring stealth with occasional levels where the player can cut loose a little. It would be amazing if they could orchestrate some kind of broad daylight stealth mission where Sam needs to kill in the open while remaining inconspicuous. Throw a little of that schweet Wickian gun-fu with the Execution system and that sounds p compelling to me personally. Even at age 50 I can see Sam still dispensing a gratuitous amount of ass beatings. I’m not saying he has to be yolked to the gills but as a dude who deals in wet work, he could probably still swing for the fences. He isn’t exactly eating twinkies all day. All that unnecessarily said, his age could play a factor in expending energy at a higher rate or having to avoid extended conflict. To compensate, perhaps our boy has a few new tricks up his sleeve like a modular pistol that allows light modifications or maybe some heavier ones if they can fit the SC tone. I’m thinking Cornershot firearms if used sparingly could be a fun touch, suppressed combat shotguns for mildly crowded rooms. Hell, bring back the EMP crossbow thingy from Blacklist. Maybe even another shot at the heavier outdoor combat they tried in Blacklist and Conviction. Yes I know I’m taking from older games but that’s just it; when the history of this franchise is as deep as it is how can you not go back even if it is just to pull from the “greatest hits”. None of that flashback tutorial mid gameplay bullshit I just want the sneaky sneaky and the shooty bang dammit. Save that shit for the cutscenes. It was a decent idea I just think it was executed poorly.

Since Ubisoft loves RPG mechanics so much...

Okay Ubi ya like fisting those RPG mechanics real deep into games that don’t need it, but what if you actually put thought into it and made it work for the game instead of vice versa? What if instead of dumbass damage wicking enemies, a fucking headshot on bare fucking skin is a kill! Do not bloat the gunplay, push the intensity, push the realism. Instead, what if Sam had two or three disciplines or talent trees “First Blood” could be one focussing on “loud” combat which would force players to get in close to avoid alerting everyone in stealthier situations due to them being predominantly ready for firefights. “Chigurh” for a heavy silencer and stealth focus but lack of viability in the same open firefights (less range/ damage cause video games?). “Kingsman” would be the last one (maybe not the best movie parallel) but something more tech and gear focussed that may lead to a more hands-off approach to taking down enemies ie Cornershots, some mild form of smart pistol no Titanfall shit, you get where I’m coming from. You would lock into one of these styles but the reward would be class-specific weaponry and I’m talking the entire arsenal. Each tree would have their own slew of weapons(25-30) that fit the bill of each playstyle and encourage replayability. Maybe you can dabble in up to two but each tier of skills unlocks a number of weapons associated with said classes. Once you beat it one or two times you get the ability to have access to all the trees but having to pick and choose skills and having the entire library of weaponry at your fingertips. Whichever is better. Is the idea really rough around the edges? Sure, but god dammit at least I’m trying. Where you at Yves!!

#Splinter Cell #Ubisoft #video games #gaming

Marvel’s Avengers reveal thots

Big Marvel fan here, reporting on the newest addition to what some are calling the MGU (Marvel Gaming Universe) Marvel’s Avengers. We got a look at some GC trailers that definitely alluded to gameplay but didn’t outright reveal anything.

Building Character

I don’t have too many problems with the character models. Personally, I think this is the unforeseen consequences of such a hugely successful movie franchise. People are gonna look at every iteration of these characters from now on and think “huh, that’s a little off”. Thor looks like his Ultimates counterpart with a slightly gaudier trim on the outfit. Hulk is Hulk, can’t fuck that up and I think Troy was an interesting pick for him. Both Tony and Iron Man look good but idk if I would’ve chosen Nolan North to play him. I just don’t get that twang of cockiness. Was Eric Loomis not available? Mick Wingert? Why spend so much on a big name unless it’s to ohhhh. Anyway, Black Widow looks fine, no character model can replace ScarJo see even I’m doing it. If customization and different costumes are gonna be as big a focus as the devs lead on then it should make up for the models themselves. Seriously go listen to Mick Wingert and Eric Loomis and tell me why they couldn’t be in this game.

Sameplay Gameplay

I am really worried about gameplay being super repetitive and bland across such a myriad of characters. I’m concerned about quick time events *gag* and a lack of interactivity in the environment specific to each character. There’s a moment in the trailer where Hulk jumps a gap, smashes a tank and picks it up. When the man inside the tank falls out, Hulk kicks him aside while still holding up the tank. That. I want that. Many animations and the ability to do two and maybe three things at once would be a big move toward replayability and overall fun factor. Game devs and publishers need to realize “playing with friends” will only take your game but so far. It needs to offer something. I’m talking that X-men Legends 2 shit. I want this to be a AAA Ultimate Alliance experience. Apparently, gameplay was shown and I’m getting mixed responses but I’m very jealous cause the curiosity is crazy high.

Live Service? More like...Contrived Serivce...amirite??

Please, fucking Jesus pole-vaulting Christ do not focus too heavily on the live service aspect of this game. Do not put yourself in an EA position. This game can be plenty lucrative without crazy predatory and obnoxiously in your face monetization. They mentioned everything content based (characters, locations, events, etc) would be free which is good but it does make me wonder just how fucked the market is going to be in order to make up for that. Maybe I’m being cynical but I have no reason to not be. Make monetization an afterthought and players will spend at their leisure, and if everyone or most people are spending a little I’m sure that is gonna add up in their favor.

Too Little Too Late

I’m genuinely concerned that this game is coming a good couple of years too late. Imagine if this came during Civil War or hell even Age of Ultron. I think that this may be how Marvel works the downtime between phases as well as work an entirely new revenue stream obviously. A live service game at that? After the wild success of Spider-man? If I’m being honest, I’m foreseeing a bust despite my vehement hope it will deliver. This needs the love and (arguably) more importantly the polish that Spider-man had. Otherwise, Disney has another Battlefront 2 situation on their hands or something similar to it and I don’t think one out of three is the stat they want to have especially considering how much more popular Marvel is right now comparatively to Star Wars. If this game is good it will be one of the most successful games in years, if it’s not it will kick Marvel back to square one and undo a lot if not all of Spider-man’s praise.

At some point, Square and Crystal are bound to release the footage that was shown at E3. Maybe PAX. Maybe Gamescom. It’s gonna come out at some point especially considering how close the release date is (relatively speaking). This game has so much potential, just don’t let greed get in the way dammit.

#Marvel's Avengers #Marvel comics #Marvel #Avengers #Square Enix #Crystal Dynamics #video games #gaming

Destiny 2 and the changes coming

Well well well if Bungie aren’t really working to get back on track then I don’t know what they’re up to.

Season of Opulence

Season of the Drifter was a little weak, if you weren’t about Gambit you were pretty much fucked unless Reckoning did something for you. Opulence however does the most important thing right about any Destiny expansion: the loot. The Menagerie as an activity and the Chalice as a world item are both two of the better additions to Destiny if not the best. There is no activity in this game that you can do, finish, and know exactly what item you’re gonna pull from that chest. Escalation Protocol is the closest thing and even that usually requires multiple runs to get your IKELOS shotgun to drop (you don’t have the sniper or smg and you know it!). I’ve yet to play the “raid” (it honestly looks more like a raid lair but that’s just me) but even without that this one pve activity is almost worth this entire season personally. It is a little light on content otherwise but sheer number of times I know I’ll be running the Menagerie are going to keep me entertained more than any other addition to this game since release. If we can expect more content like this from Bungie here on out Destiny is looking very good in the long run. This is a good step forward that should be the framework for a lot of content moving forward. Focussing on ways for players to earn the exact weapon/gear piece we want via going out into the world and completing activities. Only to return to a semi-demanding to outright difficult game mode, maybe this time add a fail state cause there are zero stakes outside of getting a triumph. edit: Heroic Menagerie just dropped and extinguish is a constant modifier. Ask and Bungie will make sure you receive.

Free to play in September

I personally have no problem with this now nearly two-year-old game going FtP. How can I be mad when the base game Warmind and Curse of Osiris should be free because boy are they meh. Maybe I’ll get into PvP with all these noobs coming into the game lolol. As far as I’m concerned this means quicker queue times for the crucible, strikes, reckoning, menagerie. This is another move that I could never see Bungie being able to make while under the watchful eye of Activision. It may definitely be the shot in the arm the franchise needs.

A La Carte Seasons

As if going free to play wasn’t good enough, being able to buy individual seasons is going to be another big move. Imagine being interested in buying the Destiny content and being able to go online and read reviews/ listen to your favorite youtuber’s opinions on that season and make an informed decision. Only missing out on a single season as opposed to the entire year which is just foolish and greedy. The content you want and nothing else. That is the way live services should be in my opinion. Pay for the content you want while not missing out just because you don’t want to spend your money. I’m glad they’re going about it this way but Destiny 3 better be free or heavily discounted cause this is basically a subscription model.

Shadow Keep

This is where things get concerning. I don’t doubt Bungie can take us back to the Moon and give us new and interesting things to do and learn. I am however worried that this retreading locations and reintroducing of D1 guns will become a reoccurring thing. I’m sure a lot of people would argue it already has and...yeah. Especially when you look at how bare bones a lot of these seasons have been. Where the hell are my strikes?? We haven’t had a new strike since Forsaken (Zero Hour doesn’t count dammit). It’s just frustrating to see them take new seasons and introduce old content. Especially when so much more could and should be done with these releases. Shadow Keep does sound like it’ll be closer to the size of Forsaken rather than either of the previous DLCs.

Destiny 2 going forward

I said when Bungie left Activision that this was their chance, this was their opportunity to show they had good intentions. To show that the things they were doing under Activision were based on Activision’s desires and necessities. So far every step since the separation has been in the right direction as far as I’m concerned. I didn’t even touch on Eververse armor being rolled into ornaments so there’s no incentive to spend money on armor that has perks. *Chef kiss* YES! This is where Destiny needs to be pivoting especially when free to play is going to bring in so many people. People who are gonna look at/listen to reviews of the annual pass and I’m sure a handful will buy into the annual pass. If nothing else they’ll pick and choose the season they want, which is great. I think “finisher moves” are pointless unless we’re incentivized via orbs of light or maybe a temporary stat buff specific to each class? Energy from Warlocks, speed from Hunter’s, damage from Titan’s? I’m just spitballing here. All in all, I feel good about the future of Destiny, but I do have my eye on you Bungie...watch yourself.

#Destiny #Destiny 2 #Bungie #video games #gaming

New Death Stranding gameplay trailer

Oh my fucking fuck not only is the new gameplay trailer lit with little bits of info but that release date is...pants ruiningly soon. November 8th is looking mighty close, so close you can feel the Time Fall on your face.

Here we get a deeper look at the greater whole of the world we are gonna be playing in, if you can call anything you saw in the trailer ‘playing’, because it looks like it’s gonna thrive on the tense situations between you and the others out trying to stop you. Both the ones you can see, and the ones you can’t. Kojima talked about incorporating the “string” mechanics in gaming rather than the “stick”. The emphasis on connection over conflict is clearly thematic throughout the game but how it will manifest has really yet to be seen. I don’t want to talk too much, the trailer says next to nothing but somehow more than anything I could. Very excited for November 8th.

#Death Stranding #kojima productions #sony #ps4 #video games #gaming

E3 2019 overview

I wanted to take the time to look at and talk about some of the games we’re more than likely seeing at the conference. E3 is...dying and it’s misleading trailers don’t help, but despite this, the show is still important and at least gives us a little insight into what may come in games/tech. So let’s cross our fingers and dive in. I’ll be focussing more on main titles and not DLC and updates. Available footage will be linked in the corresponding title.

Avengers project (Crystal Dynamics/ Square Enix)

It feels like ages since the teaser for the Avengers project dropped. Since then I have been trying to keep my hopes high, I even thought it was canceled for a time when we heard literally nothing since that trailer. I know nothing about this game, but I just hope Crystal Dynamics and Square are treating something this big with the care it needs. The last thing Marvel, more importantly Disney, want is another Battlefront 2 situation on their hands. If Square can incorporate their over the top combat style to the Marvel universe, it could be amazing, incredible, invinci- okay I’ll stop.

Borderlands 3

Getting back into Borderlands just before the big press release was very serendipitous. Something about this made me even more excited for some of the additions coming like loot instancing, slide/mantle (finally), secondary fire weapons, more diverse and varied play spaces, and a lot more. So many of BL2 and the Pre-Sequel’s flaws are glaring with me having played them recently and to see the long-awaited title addressing these exact issues so comforting when I get to thinking about this next adventure into the wastes. It isn’t some massive leap forward or anything, it’s more Borderlands and there’s nothing wrong with that to me. Finally, an online optional looter shooter that isn’t some strange mmo lite, long live the king. Randy Pitchford is a weirdo but I’m not gonna hold that against the devs lol.

Cyberpunk 2077

This is more than likely going to be my game of the show. E3 is typically full of surprises and anything can happen but in all honesty, I just can’t see much coming close especially since we aren’t seeing Death Stranding (thattrailertho). I was literally giddy when they released the gameplay trailer that they showed press and influencers and the FPS RPG looked very good but not unrealistic. Recently it’s come out that the game is “pretty different” from that showcase and that statement interests me as much as it gives me pause. Regardless, we are going to be seeing more of this game with CDPR claiming they’ll have an even bigger presence than last year. I just hope that we get solid gameplay footage and not buzzwords and theatrical trailers.

CoD 2019

Black Ops 4 came out guns drawn and it really impressed at first. Since that time Activision has found a way to completely reverse the conversation around BO4 and where the franchise is headed/ is as a whole. Activision needs a win, and with this being their main and essentially only franchise it has to be big. The rumor is that it’s Modern Warfare 4 which would be a “soft reboot” if that is the case. If not this year then next, I’m surprised it’s even taken them this long so hopefully all this time will lead to something good. Honestly, I’m shocked we’re still getting annual releases of this game. I don’t forsee CoD lasting much longer and this tug at our nostalgia may be a sign of that.

Destroy All Humans (THQ Nordic)

I spent so many hours with my friend Walter terrorizing the meat bags between the tools the game devs gave us and some gamer creativity that was a relatively new aspect of gaming compared to nowadays where player creativity is often an aspect of gameplay. THQ has reported something insane like 50+ games in development which...sounds like a stupid choice but if this is one of them it’s definitely going to get people’s heads turning. Can you imagine what they’ll be able to do with today’s tech? They don’t have to go crazy but then again for the sake of a concise vision but...maybe they should?

Dino Crisis (Capcom)

Let’s talk more about old ass games I’m completely shocked could be coming back. So in light of Capcom bringing back past titles and breathing new life into them, it is reported that Capcom is looking to bring back...Dino Crisis? I swear to god if they make Dino Crisis before Viewtiful Joe and Onimusha? POWER STONE ANYONE?? I’m more than willing to suspend my meh-ness because Capcom has proved that not only can they bring back an old game we love, but they can do it damn well. If this is true, then maybe there is hope for some of my favorite Capcom titles from the past but mother of god why Dino Crisis?

Doom Eternal

Doom 2016 was one of the best first-person shooters I’ve ever played. “Smooth as butter” isn’t something I would use to describe most games but god damn if that game wasn’t lubed up before they packaged it because it’s damn slick. So imagine the stiffy I got when that gameplay was dropped and mobility was increased. Can we talk about the grappling hook shotgun? The new demons and takedowns to dispatch said demons? God knows what else is under the hood for us to find out when it releases let alone when they talk about it during the conference. A more open level design in tandem with the conventional “kill room” here and there is gonna really spice up the combat especially if exploration is properly rewarded. Rage 2 was a disappointment but I do have hope this is gonna live up to the hype the way it did the first time.

Gears of War 5

Lawd Microsoft needs a win. This is quite clearly their attempt at a blockbuster event like God of War was for Sony. Everything about the trailer screams “Oscar bait but for games” and I hope they do the damn thing. Make me sad I don’t have an Xbox dammit! This could be a big step for Gears and could even lead it down a more character focussed design. The world of Gears of War is rich for a deeper explanation, and I know that isn’t what Gears is known for but I won’t be told that they can’t do both. It appears to be heavily cinematic though gameplay can be seen in the trailer above. It seems interesting and I hope they really make something worth owning an Xbox for. The fans deserve it.

Halo: Infinite

Did I say Microsoft needs a win from the software perspective? Cause they do. The Xbox One is fine, the One X is a huge step up and is the most powerful console but there are next to no exclusives for this console. Ya know, the reason why you buy a certain console outside of interface and services. What better way than to bring back the most successful franchise Microsoft has associated with. There’s talk of it having an open world which is jarring initially especially when the history of Halo is rich with environments that tell stories alongside the mid-range combat. If they can properly expand that baseline to fit an open world format, it’ll be amazing. Whether or not they can is the question.

Harry Potter: Magic Awakened

Warner Brothers does a great job of shooting themselves square in the foot. They just put on the finest shoes money can buy and BAM queue the red kool-aid fountain. Shadow of War is the pinnacle of such stupidity with the way the monetization completely bankrupted the integrity of the game. The brief footage that was up involved a third-person real-time action reminiscent of the original games. Warner Bros. jumped on the trailer takedown but it’s safe to say the cat is out of the bag and casting spells in the kitchen. This could be a unique adventure involving a custom character, it could involve something more directly related to the books. Anything is possible but if we heard about it this year it wouldn’t entirely surprise me.

My Friend Pedro

A twin stick shooter of a different kind. Imagine stranglehold but cartoony, John Wick but even more comic book like. It looks like the entire game is going to be centered around ballerina jumping through levels and enemies leaving every enemy in your wake riddled with bullets. It seems light, fun, and self-aware in it’s silliness which can lead to the most fun type of games.

Session

Oh boy, SKATE was my jam back in high school and if you’re anything like me you’ve been waiting for the next game/ literally anything like it to come along. Session appears to be that game, we weren’t told a lot when it was revealed so I’m hoping that E3 will lead to some more information on gameplay and ya know, a release date.

Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order

Anthem is in shambles and in my opinion, it’s this year’s No Man’s Sky. Between the games they put out, and the Star Wars games they put out (or don’t put out depending on your perspective); this does not bode well at all. Respawn is working on the project and their track record is very good, but I can’t help but worry about what EA is planning. They always find a way to put their hand directly into a project and do exactly what needs to be done to ruin it. Sometimes that’s on the front end in development and planning or lack thereof, and sometimes it’s on the back end with moving devs to other projects/ not hold their devs to the post-launch promises they tend to make and not fulfill. This story of a padawan in hiding after Order 66 is ripe for gameplay development and storytelling. So long as Respawn has the vision and can execute, all we need is for EA to stay the fuck away and let them work. We’ll see.

honorable mentions: Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Vampire Bloodlines 2, From Soft and George R. R. Martin collab, Fable remake, Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad, Wolfenstein Young Blood, Afterparty, Beyond Good and Evil 2, Bleeding Edge (Ninja Theory’s new game), Last of Us 3 (v hype just not a lot of info)

#Avengers project #Borderlands 3 #Cyberpunk 2077 #Call of Duty #Destroy All Humans #Dino Crisis #Doom Eternal #Gears of War 5 #Halo Infinite #Harry Potter Magic Awakened #My Friend Pedro #Session #Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order #e3 #E3 2019 #video games #gaming

GOG Galaxy 2.0- CDPR updates the platform in a big way

GOG as a gaming platform, to the laymen, can totally fly under the radar with Steam and Epic battling it out miles ahead of the competition. With that said, GOG (Good Old Games) has recently announced the Galaxy 2.0 update: this coming development in the platform will adapt it to not only be a storefront but an overarching service connecting the multiple launchers/client that tend to come with PC gaming. What that means is, CDPR wants to connect all your services across the clients on your PC you will track play time, achievements/ trophies (more on that later), and more.

Worried about your data? Well no executives at CDPR have access to user data (*cough cough* Epic) and you will be able to see/ delete this data at your discretion. They even have plans to allow consoles to be connected to the service so even your PS4/XBO games can finally get log times (Does XBO keep track of that? PS4 doesn't...) within a singular and uniform platform.

This is honestly the best option in a world where there are so many launchers between all the companies and whoever came up with this is a fucking genius. A twist on the old phrase “if you can’t beat em, join em”.

more info: gog.com

#GOG #cdpr #cd projekt red #steam #steam games #epic games #video games #gaming

Divisiveness in Rage 2

What little promotional material there was for Rage 2 interested me. The idea of a nitro-fueled FPS surrounding an open world and a heavy power fantasy. I wasn’t expecting an enthralling story with deep and rich characters that would stitch me into the fabric of the world created. I was expecting a rip-roaring hail of bullets in the shape of a gun the likes of which I would ride across the map destroying everything that did so much as exhale in my presence. In short, that is what I got but it’s quite mixed. The “boots on the ground” combat, and I use that term lightly, is smooth as hell and lets you the player take on the various mobs and gangs of the wasteland in the way you want. The vehicular combat is more sparse and anecdotal in the sense that they are typically randomly occurring events as opposed to the convoy routes. The world itself is big but not Horizon Zero Dawn or Assassin’s Creed Odyssey “oh my god how did they even fit all this on one disc” big, it’s more than manageable. The biomes are varied and impressive in detail despite some being more vacant than I’d like. All in all, it’s at the very least better than the bland world of Rage 1, and at best it’s a gorgeous backdrop for the best FPS action since Doom 2016.

Anger Surrounds

There isn’t a lot in the way of introduction and it’s cause the game and it’s creators understand what you’re here for: shooty bang. You literally pick a gender and are handed a gun. After the first big firefight, the world is literally open to you. This exploration is encouraged because you don’t gain abilities or weapons unless you find Arks which are silos scattered around the map. Normally I’d be mad about another icon cluttering the map but it’s at least a way of getting stronger while discovering the hovels and holes your enemies hide in, grabbing some cash and feltrite (upgrade currency) along the way. It’s essentially the best version of the Far Cry towers ever.

The world is very pretty both graphically and from an art direction aspect. Boggy swamps, desert, rocky canyons, and even suburbia is sprinkled into the colorful and sometimes striking scenery of the world around you. Some structures are established like roadblocks, resource stations, or mutant nests, some are just dressing to fill out the world, but the best is the elaborate gang camps that go from close quarters combat to open courtyards that have you working with cover and elevation. Most main and side mission areas appear to be carefully designed to be engaging set pieces that vary from open lots littered with obstacles to break up the battlefield and enhance the functionality of some abilities. If the map itself doesn’t grab you, the way the world is designed to make combat as fun as possible definitely will.

Walker Wasteland Ranger tonight at 9

Rage 1 very much gave you the feeling of having your back against the wall. In Rage 2 if you ever find yourself in that situation you push off that wall and crush whatever is in your way into misy and gristle. You are the baddest thing breathing and everything in this game is about making you feel that. I can’t tell if the progression is deep or cleverly padded and that might be fine by me, I haven’t decided yet. When you first see how many currencies there are in the game it makes anyone that knows what AAA games have been doing lately sweat profusely. Fortunately, Rage 2 gives you plenty of opportunities to load up on the kind of cash you spend in stores, the kind on upgrades, weapon skins and mods, it's all here for you to take when you want it you just have to kill a bunch of baddies to get it. Thankfully there isn’t a single gun that doesn’t feel incredible and unique. From the way the rifle spits a volley or the kick from the shotgun; all of them are a dream and when used in tandem with the abilities it makes for very enticing gameplay. The abilities span all aspects of combat and their refresh time doesn’t allow them to be spammed but lets a player that bounces from skill to skill always have one refresh by the time the effect of the current one wears off. They really found a way for the guns to play into abilities and vice-versa which only makes spicing up combat easier. In Destiny when you throw a grenade, that’s it. Did you use your melee? Oh that’s cool but, that’s also it. In Rage 2 I can mix up abilities to create different means of destruction and death in a much more satisfying way. Even the more nuanced abilities like the Rush and Focus are used to bolster the minimal downtime firefights give you.

From McQueen to Mater

The sixteen vehicles are divisive stars of Rage 2 and it really shows, alongside the facelifted combat, that Id and Avalanche tried to not lose sight of what the original game was focussed around. This rendition’s vehicular combat is much better with weighty pit maneuvers and pretty smart auto tracking from turrets. Alongside this, the vehicles simply must be redone Mad Max vehicles Avalanche never got to use or something cause they just work in a way Bethesda hasn’t been able to claim in a long time. The Phoenix, your signature ride, is the best of both worlds with it being quick and tanky with a litany of additions you can make to it. You’ll see vehicles that have no weapons (why would you even), some speedsters that drop nuke mines behind them, a tank that is slower than frozen shit but also practically indestructible and armed to the teeth. There is fast travel but there is also the Icarus which is a hoverbike and though it can handle like a shopping cart with one wing (more on that later). When it does work its nice to get to where you’re going quicker meanwhile not missing out on any points of interest along the way to where you’re going. Vehicular combat is serviceable and engaging once you get the controls under your fingers.

rAGED

I don’t have too many issues with this game, some are typical nitpicks but others are definitely more egregious. The world though colorful and varied is very “basic open world game” format, I was kind of hoping for some kind of expansion on a version of game we are wildly overly saturated with. The mini games like MobTV and races (which make a comeback from the original) are great but the typical icon littered map is a little draining at times. Which brings me to the endgame because with consideration of just how last gen this game seems to be design wise, I fear they didn’t think about something as “modern” as having an endgame model outside of the season pass and totally unnecessary “live service” content drops. I feel like they missed their own mark and could’ve really populated the world with quite a few more enemies but instead, there are a lot of times where it’s actually quite isolated even in some intriguing areas.

Oh, and every situation that yields dialogue in the open world is wildly repetitive like the writers could not be fucked to give the character anything more than the one decent line you get to hear when approaching a mutant nest, gas station, or bandit hideout or the mobile trader oh my god it’s absolutely torturous especially when you don’t feel like returning to a town and they typically come around fairly consistently.

Back to the Icarus flying bike thing. Mother Fuck that thing can be absolutely unbearable. You see the right trigger merely starts the engines with minor altitude control, the left trigger lowers yourself. The vehicle is supposed to identify altitude and the height of oncoming structures and mountain faces on its own and adjust automatically. But it doesn’t and you’re often sitting there like a fucking idiot ramming into every mountain and building you come across. Why didn’t they map an ascend and descend control to the face buttons? How did no one catch how lopsided that thing controls?

Let’s continue to discuss vehicles, shall we? I talked about the good of the actual combat and the weapons it comes with. What I didn’t talk about was how the controls for said vehicles go from tight and responsive to sludgey and “too fast for the game”. It’s like the vehicle is going too fast for your controller. So many times I’ve gone sailing over the cliffside curve or undercutting and completely killing my momentum. The margin for error is really thin.

The progression system for weapons is...suspect. On the surface, it’s deep, you unlock tiers of upgrades with feltrite and then use upgrade/mod tokens to select the actual mod itself. It seems really unnecessary to have to purchase the ability to spend your tokens to upgrade your weapon. Just typing that made my brain fuzzy, it’s too many steps. At least with the skills each tier in itself comes with a boost to that specific skill but with weapons, you’re literally just adding steps for now real reason. Thankfully there’s no connection to monetization or anything like that. What it does have though is a premium currency for weapon skins which....whoopie...but thankfully that really is the extent of it. Not that it’s okay at all.

Conclusion

People are gonna compare this game to Far Cry New Dawn and I don’t believe many should give too much thought to that comparison. Outside of the bright post-apocalyptic setting (an aesthetic Rage 2 established first for the record), I feel like Rage 2 is more consistent in what it sets out to deliver. Not to mention the combat is just head and shoulders better in Rage 2 and if you go in knowing you won’t leave with a story that changed your life or even really impact you at all but instead expect a white knuckle shooter designed to keep you on your toes and keep the kill count increasing. This game is fun and once this goes on sale there will literally be no excuse.

tl;dr I give Rage 2 an 7 but I can’t stress this enough this is one of the best First Person Shooters I’ve ever played from a mechanics standpoint. The game appears to be this good despite the rest of the game design and execution.

#Rage 2 #bethesda game studios #id software #avalanche studios #video games #gaming

Five Days Until Rage 2

Anxious trepidation comes to mind when I see the flashy and almost painfully in your face aesthetic of Rage 2. This game could not be further from the original look and feel, all that and the gameplay seems to has gotten a facelift as well. All this is so enticing, almost too enticing.

Rage one was a little cumbersome in more ways than one, everything was weighty and had a sense of force behind it. Its cumbersome-ness wasn’t a detriment, though it was overlooked when it was released, there were a lot of things Rage did well. It had strong gunplay, it wasn’t the best but it wasn’t poor by any means but it was strangely distinct in that Id Software way. The world was interesting despite the sea of post-apocalyptic settings in pop culture and gaming back then let alone how many there are today, somehow they’ve managed to revamp that unique feel and style without it being too foreign or unfamiliar.

Some things that Rage 2 seems to improve upon is the overall sandbox. Earlier I stated the world was interesting, and it is, but the visuals of that world are bland as all hell. Everything looked the same and was so drab from the first disc to the last. Everything I’ve seen thus far of the open world seems not only vast but varied as well. Swampy bogs, expansive deserts, city ruins, rocky canyons, and probably some more we haven’t been shown. On the optimization side there better only be one disc in that damn case, that triple disc nonsense is just that. It’s definitely more of a minor grievance but I did want to speak on it.

Rage 1 had a pretty baller cast voice acting wise, I was kind of floored by it upon revisiting the game more recently. It was nice but to me, it doesn’t really add all that much to the overall experience, I feel like such a stellar cast can’t be cheap and that money could go to other real voice actors and other avenues in the game's development but that’s just me.

There are some preorder shenanigans going on with a slew of items and cosmetics that are up for grabs should the buyer upgrade to the more pricey editions. Armor skins, weapons (one of them being the famous BFG), missions and other items are all available for twenty more dollars. I’m avoiding that but honestly, I don’t blame anyone that goes for it, there is a lot of content for the money asked. Whether or not that content should even be for sale is a whole other conversation.

This looks like the kind of single-player power fantasy that I haven’t really gotten to experience in a FPS since Doom, Shadow Warrior or Wolfenstein. I understand those are all recent but dammit they don’t happen often enough and though they are coming back into style one title at a time, I want al my high octane shooty bang bases covered and I’ve got my eye on Rage 2. Hopefully, Bethesda doesn’t fuck this one up and lets the studios do their thing.

#Rage 2 #id software #Avalanche Studios #bethesda game studios #video games #gaming #fps

Video game movies

With the release of the new Sonic trailer and how many awful things are going on in it, I got to thinking: why the fuck is this even a thing? How is it that time and time again movie executives come to the conclusion that these worthless movies need to be made?

Obviously, it’s money, I have no doubt in my mind that the movie industry is looking over at the money video games are making and they want a piece of that so badly they’re willing to throw anything out there to get it.

How do I know it’s out of touch executives? By looking at the dates that these movies come out. The OGs probably remember Mortal Kombat (1995 ‘97), Super Mario Bros (1993), and Street Fighter (1994). These movies suffered from the old way things were done: capitalize on what’s hot. Take whatever is popular and make a movie about it, throw a bunch of stars in and call it a day.

What the problem is in more modern times is now everything is late as hell and undercooked as far as the content of the movie is concerned. Look at Prince of Persia in 2010. Forgotten Sands came out in 2010 and no one played that game, the title before that is the remake in 2008 another poorly received game. The height of PoP hype was five to seven years previous depending on the game and that is too little too late even for Jake Gyllenhaal’s talented ass.

“Chayton that’s just one movie that isn’t indicative of a trend-”

Assassin’s Creed came out in 2016, do you know what game came out that year? Syndicate, and the one before that? Unity, the one before that? Fucking Rogue. You literally could not have made your Assassin’s Creed movie at a worse time, that movie was due in 2010 at the latest.

Want another? They practically all apply

World of Warcraft is one of those games that is constantly being played and has been for over a decade now. That said, don’t you think it’s heyday and hype have long since passed/died down. Another franchise they failed to capitalize on in any sort of timely manner.

Need for Speed…? Yeah maybe if this was 2006 when Carbon came out and people actually played that game but in 2014? Who was that movie for??

Max Payne in 2008? Without Bruce Willis are you fucking kidding me? Even 4 years before Max Payne 3 and I still would’ve thrown a wig on that mf and made it work better than the strange take on the hard-boiled action noir featuring Marky Markinson. Not to mention it’s five whole years after Max Payne 2 when no one had even thought about Max and his struggle in at least that amount of time.

I’m not saying these movies need to follow a successful title but what I am saying is that they need to do what the old movies did and capitalize on what is going well when it’s going well. At the very least they can approach the established properties with respect and some kind of creative vision. It can adopt a specific game’s narrative or tell its own story but it has to do better than what the status quo has given us thus far.

For the record: I love the way Jim Carey looks at the end of the trailer. Why couldn’t Sonic have such a dedicated consistency to the original works the way we now know Eggman is going to eventually have?

#video games #movies #Sonic #Assassin's Creed #World of Warcraft #Need for Speed #Max Payne #gaming

Devil May Cry 5 review

This very much follows the guidelines of your typical DMC game which confounds me as to how that manages to be more good than bad. Stagnation is never a positive mark but come to think of it, DMC isn't the franchise that pumps a title out every year or every other year for that matter. So following the steps that made the IP successful to begin with isn't exactly something to fault. To go even further, I’d say it’s a little refreshing in the old school approach it takes to gameplay loop and presentation. It reminds me of how the previous generations felt while keeping me locked in the present with the gorgeous graphics and art direction. The gameplay expertly straddling the old and new gaming worlds in an intoxicating concoction of nostalgia and realization of what modern gaming can be. Combat overall is timing and direction based due to the one button controls. It forces the player to splinter their command concepts, throwing away the convention of light, medium, and heavy attacks. Your variation comes in the direction of the left stick in combination with the spacing between button presses, and even whether or not you’re locked on. Your melee, projectile, and special buttons are spread out in the typical DMC fashion and this alone is very unique to this series. It seems like a lot because the control scheme doesn’t coddle the player and in many ways demands quite a bit from them. Especially when this game is meant to be played at the speed of two hummingbirds fucking. (Also, anyone else's hands get tired af after a battle? Or am I just old now...)

Nero to Hero Boy-wonder is all over the place with frenetic and quick movements that take him from enemy to enemy or more interestingly: bringing enemies to him one by one. The grapple arm is great, on the lighter enemies (most of them) it pulls them to Nero, however, the largebois work as anchors and pulls Nero toward them. Each devil-breaker is unique and even when some may seem niche, at least they have a purpose when they were put into the game. There's a lot of layers when throwing in not just what you like and when you want to whip it out, but which ones you don’t mind burning should the situation arise. The devil-breakers have a main function and an alternative mode with one even having a third ability (Punch Line’s missile-hoverboard feature). My only real problem with Nero’s mechanics is that we can’t rotate through the holster to pick which breaker we want to use next in-game. Other than that, Exceed moves spice up the swordplay and bouncing around the arena never losses it's feeling of excitement and sense of raw power. V is for Vanity Everyone's combat comes with a level of understanding and familiarity even if you've seen nothing but cutscenes and gamers playing. V shakes up the gameplay and the mindset of the player which was jarring at first, but in time I would gain these moments of clarity where I'm this maestro of chaos orchestrating from afar as the battle plays out before me. The demonic bird handles projectiles while an equally demonic Jaguar (...Panther...?) that is your melee attack. With an Ogre like Devil Trigger that lays waste to everything in the arena. It's clear and understandable why he's so divisive given these “hands off” aspects but it's just as over the top as the rest of the series so it doesn't feel out of place. It’s well designed so much to the point of almost being too easy but again like the specific devil-breakers: V is different from the ground up and it’s done to freshen up the experience. A commendable act especially when it really seems to be an honest go at it and less than an idea they threw in last second. There are issues with commands and some not working exactly as you think but with adjustments to the way you play it becomes smooth and fun in no time again. Back to V being dipped in hyperbolic angst: reading his own poetry refills his meter and it sounds like the angriest high schooler wrote it, but again, it's how aggressively everything is leaned into that gives it the charm. Also, V definitely has the best "sprint" feature. He hovers on this little nimbus cloud of black thoughts and Pierce the Veil lyrics it's so cute. Dante’s Inferno The top shelf killer, Nero is close with his arsenal, but Dante's is the most varied and honestly the most fun. I've encountered few things more satisfying than Lu Kang combo-ing the shit out of two demons to seamlessly switch to your motorcycle dual ax and eviscerate whatever remains of the crowd. It’s so intoxicating I can honestly name on one hand how many other games gave me this feeling (Spider-man 2, Far Cry 3, God of War, and Halo 2). Four styles of combat change most weapon move sets and this keeps the player at the edge of their seat all while the ride remains smooth as butter. Between guns and other projectile launchers as well as the handful of weapons all very diverse in functionality and performance, there’s almost too much to thoroughly use in a single level playthrough. Of all the levels, I’m constantly throwing myself back into Dante’s to see just how smokin and sexy my style can be. Final thots After the learning curve is conquered, the flow and style of combat are entirely dictated by you the player. This combat is the shining achievement of this series and this iteration of it may be the best yet. The camera does a good job of managing the angles on its own and with little attention, it lacks almost all jank and assists the experience more than competently. Levels are bog-standard but what they do offer past the intro missions are many alternate routes and passages that lead to item discoveries, secrets, and combat scenarios you will otherwise miss if you barrel along the main path forsaking all others. I really enjoy how brave this game is for being itself in a world where every game needs some crazy intrusive online feature or component that stifles or gets in the way of the core game’s potential. The most of DMC5′s online capabilities begin and end with the cameo system, something that drops other players into your level at specific times to assist you or mainly just to look at and watch them do their thing. It’s not intrusive and is even exciting when the action starts to heat up and you and another player are cutting everything in the room to ribbons. I almost want more of it, and that’s what a well-implemented feature can do.

Concerning red orbs mentioned in my demo post, Capcom went with the confusing decision to load us up with orbs and means of getting them in the main game; only to give us the option to pay for more whenever the need arises. Why Capcom? This game has next to no blemishes but this is one minor one in my book, but I can understand why anyone would look past it. This, however, is my biggest peeve: locking so many of Nero's alternative busters behind the ultimate edition or whatever, made me sigh disappointingly. Why couldn't it have at least been the option to unlock those immediately while other players can grind for them like...everything else in the game... To me, it just goes to show that oldboi Capcom is still lurking in the shadows somewhere looking to nickel and dime us at every dark alley it finds us in. At least this $60 dollar product is one I'm still proud to own. This goes in my “GOTY contenders” folder honestly and I have been having an absolute blast with DMC5 and can’t suggest it enough. Even if it’s your first in the series just do it they have a catch-up cinematic you can watch. Seriously. Play it, pull that fucking devil trigger.

tl;dr 8.5/10

#Devil May Cry 5 #DMC5 #Capcom #video games #gaming

Devil May Cry 5 demo

An interesting slice of gameplay that strangely seems to know a decent population that may play it isn’t familiar to the franchise, while not properly explaining enough about the mechanics and even some controls to facilitate this new audience. That said the demo is in no way bad, if not a little short, and if you do want to unlock more moves/skills the red orbs are there for you to spend. Capcom did a good job in the construction of the demo and how it opens up a little more should you choose to play it again the way most gamers might. One specific skill purchase and the combat, as well as the map, open up a little more. This reveals a decent amount of red orbs that really only make one or two more playthroughs necessary to really get into everything the demo has to offer.

This design choice has me wary, we all know red orbs are going to be included in the preorder versions of the game. So either Capcom is selling us more orbs because the final version will be less than charitable or these are needless orbs that will sit in the inventory. Which do you think is more likely? Unless there's some kind of giant cache of cosmetics and skills to purchase, the amount of orbs in the game contradicts the business-driven decision of including orbs in preorders. What’re you up to Capcom?

Beyond the more intangible aspects of the game, the demo featured a high level of polish both visually and gameplay-wise. This tried and true series is so well treaded there doesn’t seem to be much more than can be added to what many will consider relative perfection. Expanding on the idea of multiple protagonists dabbled in by previous titles seems really interesting especially given how different the three seem to play. Unfortunately, Nero is your only option but his removable arm is really fun and every version of it (that we get to play with) has a nifty trick that spices up the combat and can make someone change their strategy to work around the arm. Conversely, they can also work the arm into their style of jumpy and flowing combat. At first, I was clumsy, gun reliant, and grounded until I began really pushing myself and the ideas I could come up with as to how I could keep this combo going and mainly look as cool as possible while doing it.

Cutting through the level once and fighting the big hairy boi at the end left me with a few pixels of health and a lot to think about concerning what could’ve gone better. With a trip to the shop which is worked into the game pretty cheekily involving phoning the van to your current location. I purchased the double jump and it changed a lot. Much like other games this unlocked new map areas and an abundance more orbs and enemies for me to hone my skills on. This one skill turned me from dmc intern to demon death machine by the end of the second go around. Now I was getting it. The isolated controls dedicate one face button to one weapon: square (X) for gun, triangle (Y) for sword, circle (B) for arm. What initially felt choppy and unnatural soon became familiar and while I still think it’s a bit clunky I do think it works once you wrap your head around it.

I’m interested in DMC5, my best friend is a huge fan and it’s a very revered series, this may be the one that really gets me to jump in and try my hand at the ancient craft of demon killing.

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Bungie leaves Activision, takes Destiny with it.

Article and info here

This is huge, as a gamer and as a gamer that plays Destiny; this is a very big move and potentially the biggest of 2019 and we aren’t even midway through January. In the face of their subsidiary Blizzard paying their employees severance to quit, and now this news of Bungie’s departure does not bode well for the giant. Activision has been pushing so hard for bigger profits while cutting costs and I think these sweeping mandates on top of the actions in the hopes of those goals (Diablo Immortal, microtransactions in general, anti-consumer practices, over-monetization, under-developed games, etc) are the biggest factors in these recent developments. Activision has been isolating themselves with every month that’s passed, two CFOs were let go/left back to back. All these things were clearly red flags for Bungie, to the point where they can’t even take the money and deal with it anymore. This is another huge blow to the publisher to the point where I can’t help but wonder exactly where this leads to given that this probably isn’t the last bit of news to come from the halls of Activision.

As a Destiny player, this is where the chips are really down. Bungie has no fallback, no scapegoat to use for the colossal fuck-ups they’ve had in the past, no DaddyActivision money, and every eye on them now that (in a sense) they’re back at square one. I open with the bad because I genuinely believe it doesn’t outshine the good. Bungie is free. This is complete speculation but imagine Destiny, with the dev response that Halo had. If it’s half the effort they put into that franchise I will be happier as a Destiny player. Bungie has fallen from grace, and instead of going gently into that good night. Instead, they’re fighting for the respect their name once had and trying to resurrect their reputation as FPS frontrunners. The mere fact they did this is a good sign to the point where even my pessimistic ass can’t ignore it.

This news has just dropped today, no one knows what’s going to happen. We don’t know when the separation will occur and what kind of recompense may come of it. All I’ll say is, this is one of the best things Bungie could’ve done from a creative standpoint. Now they just have to capitalize on it. Let’s see what this old dog can do.

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