doctor . gamer . man

Less than average opinions from an average professional. This is my haven away from real world peers who still largely view video games as a pastime for apathetic youth. Let's talk gaming.

[doc-gam3r]

The Troubling Psychology of Pay-to-Loot Systems - IGN

Two psychologists weigh in on the impact of the increasingly popular microtransaction trend.

It’s sad that Pay-to-Loot has become the future of gaming with all major publishers. Contemporary gamers will never know the joy of playing a game that rewarded you properly for your time, instead of yanking your chain with RNG.

[doc-gam3r]

Star Wars Battlefront II: Full Length Reveal Trailer

Watch the full length reveal trailer for Star Wars™ Battlefront™ II from Star Wars Celebration. Live the untold Star Wars story of Iden, an elite Stormtroope...

Star Wars: Battlefront was not the game I was hoping it would be, but I’m tentatively excited for Battlefront II. Taking the role of the Empire’s special forces in a single player campaign? I’m ready. I’m pumped.

[doc-gam3r]

UPRISING // is the overwatch game mode I always wanted

So the latest update for Blizzard’s hit hero-based FPS Overwatch has dropped, bringing some much needed PvE content into the mix - and it’s a blast.

One of the notable deficiencies in Overwatch to date has been that despite having an incredibly diverse cast with thoughtful backstories, there’s been no real application of said characters or backstories to the core PvP gameplay.

Uprising takes us back in time to a point when Overwatch was still whole, Reaper was still running Blackwatch as its covert ops wing, and Ana was still quite the looker. Playing through the story mode not only throws our characters into some new brand new story-appropriate attire, but allows us to observe their interactions through faction-appropriate banter. This takes place in the form of over-the-comm briefings as well as through little quips and conversations between the four player characters (Tracer, Reinhardt, Torbjorn, and Mercy).

There are a lot of things that I like about Uprising, so let’s quickly break it down:

1. THE STORY // Uprising is light on story, but it gives us a sense of the characters, and how they’re supposed to interact and behave within their natural factions (not tossed together at random). It also sets the stage for future similar DLC content to advance the story further and flesh out each character. That in itself is exciting.

2. THE PvE // As I’ve had less time for gaming, my desire to wade into the PvP arena has diminished - especially in a game as complex as Overwatch with its multitude of different characters with different powers. I’ve read gaming sites refer to Overwatch as the “shooter for non-shooter players”, but I don’t believe that in any way to be true. If anything, the variety of powers only makes the game that much more challenging. However, because the art, the characters, and the ambience are so beautiful, Overwatch has always been the game I wanted to love, even though I couldn’t bring myself to commit the time to “get good”. This little slice of PvE heaven gives suckers like me a chance to enjoy.

3. THE DIFFICULTY TUNING // Overwatch’s last foray into PvE was the wave-based horde-mode Jukenstein DLC. This mode was surprisingly difficult. So, after getting trashed a few times even on the saddest difficulty levels, I threw in the towel. Uprising begins as a very relaxing and achievable Normal difficulty level. And while the difficulty rises precipitously above Normal, it’s extremely pleasant to have a non-stressful starting place in which to play and to test out characters I wouldn’t dare hop on to in PvP.

Overall, there’s a lot to love in this DLC, and it’s given me a chance to come back to a game that I really love a lot about but am generally too intimidated to try to play casually. The loot table is still pretty unsatisfying, but then if Blizzard is going to be funding the game through said loot and providing ongoing free DLC to push it, I can certainly understand why.

[doc-gam3r]

ROMANCING CORA // did you read the manual?

So early on in my play-through of Mass Effect: Andromeda, I determined that my Ryder would romance Cora. This was due in part to the fact that my Ryder is a bit of a traditional guy, and the Heleus Cluster was severely lacking in human female romance options - or quarian.

Having set a course for Cora Harper’s loins, I found the biggest deterrent to romancing Cora was... well, Cora herself. Cora is a bit boring and a stickler for the rules, but hey, no problem - after all, I am also a bit boring and a stickler for the rules. But what was really nauseating about Cora was her obsession with the asari.

Yes, Cora spent time with asari commandos, and that is neat-o. But did she really have to bring up her unhealthy hero worship of the asari everytime we engaged in conversation? Did she really need to patronize actual asari with statements like “remember your manuals!” and “you’ll make a great commando!”?

I’m not exaggerating. It is literally impossible to engage in a conversation with Cora without her somehow turning it toward her love for the asari, which really just made her play out as a two dimensional fangirl who doesn’t know when to cut it out. It also made it very difficult to grow to know and like Cora, because there were very few additional facets to her character.

Weirdly enough, I also felt that Cora and Ryder simply had fewer conversations in general than other sidekicks like Peebee and Drack - but maybe that’s just because she talks about the asari so much, and I tuned her out.

In the end, Ryder smiled and pretended to care about her lame-o garden and her “me too” asari complex, and the romance blossomed into something kind of sweet. That was, until she started calling him “sweetheart” like some 70-year-old granny. Ew, please no.

Anyways, the most fascinating part of Cora’s asari obsession is what happens when you put her on a road trip with an actual asari. The result is the video above. Yes, Peebee is basically just saying what we’re all thinking Cora. You really don’t want to be that person. Awkward!

[doc-gam3r]

To all the Mass Effect: Andromeda haters out there, this is all I have to say to you.

[doc-gam3r]

MASS EFFECT ANDROMEDA // the life of a pathfinder

So, I’ve been on a major hiatus from gaming this year due to some major studying, but I couldn’t resist Mass Effect: Andromeda.

75 hours later, I’m sick, stressed, but I’m done the game. IT WAS AMAZING. Yes, it’s glitchy as hell, but I’d forgotten what it was like to feel like a superhuman combat hero exploring a galaxy full of problems and wonders with a and bonding with a crew that is absolutely phenomenal. Seriously, I like them more than a lot of people IRL.

It’s not a perfect game, but it’s clear that the haters out there haven’t come even close to finishing it. It’s definitely one of the best games to come out in a good long while - with none of that garbage Mass Effect 3 ending fiasco to taint the experience. Don’t believe the negative reviews. This game has BioWare baked into its DNA.

I’m going to miss my crew, and I look forward to reuniting with them in the inevitable DLC that the game has set itself up for.

See you planetside, Pathfinder.

[doc-gam3r]

ROGUE ONE // IMPRESSIONS

Rogue One was a solid movie and one that I thoroughly enjoyed.

However, the most interesting things about it were the things that it said about what we can expect from the franchise. Of course, the core was on point - the aesthetic, the space battles, even the factions felt just about right.

But beyond that, Disney has made clear that now that they hold the reigns, we can expect everything to dock up. No longer do we have authors writing novels and comic books and George Lucas doing his own thing, oblivious to it all. No, we have characters like Bail Organa appearing in their prequel iterations, we have characters like Mon Mothma appearing as they do in the original trilogy, and we have characters like Saw Gerrera hailing from the cartoons. Disney is saying boldly that they are managing their whole big universe under one umbrella, which makes everyone more significant. Maybe we can even hope to see fan favourites like Thrawn in a movie sometime in the future.

The movie also explores some interesting themes about warfare that haven’t been explored in prior films. The Rebel Alliance is a guerrilla organization - it requires spies who lie, who assassinate, who do the dirty. It’s an interesting realism introduced into our ragtag band of heroes.

Of course, look forward to plenty of fan service for those keeping their eyes open. Even obscure characters like Ponda Baba and Cornelius Evazan make a brief appearance for those paying attention.

Rogue One sated my Star Wars palate for this year and has whetted my anticipation for Episode VIII all the more. Now, here’s hoping someone at EA can get their crud together and feed us the Star Wars game we’ve all be hoping for.

[doc-gam3r]

FORZA 6 APEX // real world driving (ish)

I recently downloaded the beta version of Forza 6 Apex, Microsoft’s premier racing simulation, from the Windows 10 store. It came at the bargain price of... free. This is excellent, because I’ve only ever bought one driving game in my life (Gran Turismo 3 for the PS2). My confession is that I actually really enjoy racing games, but I avoid buying them because I realize that I am very very very bad at them. Also, I feel a bit pretentious, because even though I like to “ooh” and “aah” at the beautiful vehicles, I actually know very little about cars.

Forza 6 is a genuinely beautiful game, and finally lets me put my PC through its paces. The cars and environments are meticulously detailed. There is a showroom mode where you can turn the cars around, open the doors, step inside the cockpit, feel the leather seats... Okay, so that last one was an exaggeration. But seriously, as someone who enjoys drooling over supercars just purely on a superficial level, this game really hits the high points.

The thing I’ve most noticed about Forza 6 is that it feels very different from anything I’m used to. I’m used to real world driving, which ranges between 60-120 km/h, with a wheel and pedals; and I’m used to arcade style driving games (like the racing part of GTAV) where the cars are super forgiving and I crash my way to first place like a destruction derby.

Forza 6 is a simulation, which means it tries to capture how unforgiving a vehicle is when it’s barreling down the road at 150 mph (or a whopping 240 km/h), while simultaneously capturing the thrill of supercar performance.

This only makes it feel weirder with the one thing it tends not to handle like real life: collision. While the physics of every turn, every pass, even every puddle you slide through are meticulously modeled... I tend to default to my usual arcade way of playing (plus or minus a little extra braking so I don’t spin out permanently). This means frequently bumping bumpers, scraping side panels, and nudging walls on my road to victory. While a hard collision may put a stop to my momentum in Forza 6 (where in an arcade racer, it would hardly give me pause), in real life it would probably kill me.

I’m learning to love the simulation style and pure unadulterated racing action that Forza 6 provides, and it really makes me want a racing wheel setup to go that extra mile. I’m also learning to try to avoid objects like cars and other walls, not only because it slows you down, but also because a big crash tends to kill the immersion for me that Forza 6 so meticulously sets up. I guess simulated racing isn’t big on simulated death. Fair enough.

[doc-gam3r]

NO QUARTER FOR CHEATERS // delusions of grandeur

With the recent release of Pokemon GO, there was a torrent of sites which helped to pinpoint Pokemon locations - PokeRadar, PokeVision - and the like. These took advantage of the readable data from the app, and spun it to people’s advantage. It was helpful, if not exactly that Niantic had intended, and when Niantic asked them to close the door on their services, most obliged.

I recently had a colleague pick up Pokemon GO, and go HARD at it for a few weeks. When PokeVision shut down, his insatiable thirst to catch them all led him from the grey zone of server pinging to the dark zone of cheats and exploits. Sitting at his PC hacking the geo location of his phone, his avatar traveled the world - spinning PokeStops and collecting region locked Pokemon all while his stubby little feet were firmly planted on his bedroom floor.

Here’s the rub of it, when all came said and done, he was extremely proud of this achievement. He rubbed his belly and gloated about what a PokeMaster he was, what a master collector he was, and how his Pokemon could ravage any gym he desired. And you know what? Petty as this makes me sound, it makes me furious. But hear me out.

First off, I will confess that I am a stickler for the rules. That doesn’t mean I don’t believe in efficiency - I will use every tool at my disposal to produce the highest quality and quickest result possible. But, for instance, when everyone in my country was off playing Pokemon GO through mirrored versions before the official release, I was silently waiting for the real download. I did this because I didn’t want to exacerbate the server problems already occurring in other places, and also because the server problems in the pre-release version in my own country appeared non-enjoyable.

In reality, though, when it comes to games - which are primarily a form of entertainment, not a life or death situation - I believe everyone is entitled to play a game the way they want to maximize their entertainment… as long as it doesn’t affect anyone else. Want to blaze through that latest RPG with invincibility or on Easy mode? Sure, why not. There’s a variety of reason’s one might want to do this: they might not have enough time, they might be interested in the story but not the gameplay, or they might just plain suck at this kind of game. All of these are valid reasons for wanting to take the easy road out, and I’m sure as heck not going to stop you, or even judge you for it. But if you’re going to do it - don’t gloat about it. I’ve certainly cheesed my way through single player games just to see what happens at the end, but I don’t have any delusions that it made me a skilled gamer. I did it for an experience, and I took a shortcut through it, for whatever reason. There’s no respect for cheating. Don’t expect it.

The waters become murkier even when games involve other people. If you cheat at a multiplayer game - whether it’s an aimbot for an FPS, a gold farming bot for an RPG, or exploiting a hack so you can level up fast and take people’s gyms, you are intentionally stacking the deck in your favour in a way that it was never intended to be stacked, and other people’s enjoyment is being reduced by it. This might get you ahead, but it certainly won’t get you respect. You are the equivalent of doping in the Olympics, and you deserve to be booed from the stands.

In the end, people will continue to cheat their way through games and through life, and they will continue to feel entitled to do so. I hope these people get the banhammer every single time. But in the meantime, don’t expect my respect. You’re not awesome because you cheated your way to the top, you’re just another lame duck with delusions of grandeur.

[doc-gam3r]

IT WAS GOOD! // Star Trek Beyond Just wanted to confirm this for all of you, so you can go watch this movie opening weekend. Star Trek Beyond is a good reminder that Star Trek is not just a setting for epic space battles or even just a series about people in space, rather it's a series about people... who happen to have achieved space travel.

[webofstarwars]

[doc-gam3r]

Every Bothan tale is a tragedy!

[doc-gam3r]

LOVE/HATE // but mostly just hate Having in the last few days had the game irrevocably freeze more often than I can play (presumably because Niantic was too incompetent to program in a way for the game to recover from a temporarily dropped connection), which has now progressed to a full out log-in failure, all I can say is that Niantic was definitely not a company deserving of such a smash hit. This game is currently unplayable.

[doc-gam3r]

FINALLY READY TO GO! // Pokemon Go

[xbox]

“When I grow up, I want to save the universe.”

[doc-gam3r]

Better work on getting kidnapped, kid.

[doc-gam3r]

INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE // explosions included, brain optional If I could say one thing about Independence Day: Resurgence - it did not pretend to be anything except what it was. The trailers that have been hammering cinemas for months portrayed exactly what kind of movie this was going to be, and it did not disappoint. I told my wife going in that the movie was either going to be "so bad it's good" or just "so bad", but it was very clear it was not going to be anything like the original. Independence Day: Resurgence takes place 20 years after the original invasion in 1996. The world has learned to utilize alien technology, joined hands, and buckled down to prepare for their inevitable return. With the exception of Will Smith (who perished in a "test pilot accident"), much of the original cast returns to usher in a new era. The likes of Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, and Brent Spiner (I know, didn't he die?!) really carry the movie forward. I read a review before going in that the somber performance of the young cast somewhat holds the movie back, and I would agree with this. They simply couldn't get into the campy atmosphere that lightened the prior instalment. Luckily, the movie is not about acting, or even about plot. It's about kicking some alien ass with any number of advanced weapons, with many many events not going according to plan. From the eye candy point of view, the movie excels. The movie closes with a set up for a potential sequel, but to be truly honest - this would probably be a bad (but inevitable) idea. If anything, though, the movie has me really pumped to fly an advanced space fighter in Infinite Warfare coming out in November. Plot 4/10 Entertainment 7/10 Still recommend. What do you think?

[doc-gam3r]

SONY KILLED IT // Christmas in June

Video game conferences are like the gift that keeps on giving - trailer after trailer of action packed gameplay. E3 this year has actually been a bit of a letdown.

As a member of a household with two XB1’s, fiercely loyal to the brand and heavily invested in their gamerscore, it pains me to say that Sony crushed it again this year.

I keep on hoping that Microsoft will up the ante and close the gap on Sony, but this year once again Sony brought the GAMES. Though I may not be interested in the core games of the Sony fanbase (God of War, Resident Evil, Hideo Kojima), Spider-Man by Insomniac, X-Wing VR, and Detroit: Become Human were all enough to make me envious of PlayStation users.

Seems Sony has first party talent on lockdown, and they’re damned creative. Meanwhile, Microsoft brought a slim console and customizable controllers (which are nice, but not available for Elite, and there’s no going back from that!). They brought a nauseating demo of Scalebound from Platinum (which beyond Bayonetta is largely a B+ studio), and Gears of War 4 (which looks amazing, but much like Sony’s God of War suffers from a lot of samey-ness and franchise fatigue). They also brought the concept of Play Anywhere (cross-platform play and ownership between XB1 and PC), which is a truly revolutionary idea, and one that I’ll happy to be hyped about - once there are some games on it that I actually care about. ReCore looks neat, and I'm cautiously optimistic on that one.

In the console wars, this Microsoft fan offers a nod in this round to Sony.

Of course, the real winners of E3 so far have been Mass Effect: Andromeda and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. Much drooling did occur.

[doc-gam3r]

WARCRAFT // fun on the silver screen

Warcraft is an important movie. It’s an important movie because millions of dollars have been poured into it in order to try break the cycle of bad video game movies. If it fails, Assassin’s Creed may be the last hope for video game movies; and if that fails, nobody will try make another video game movie for 10 years!

So when negative and middling reviews of preview screenings for Warcraft started popping up every which way a couple of weeks ago, and kept rolling fast and furious, I got a bit concerned. (Luckily Warcraft is already making huge financial waves in China - and we know studios care about the $$$ more than critical reviews, so video game movies and a potential sequel are likely safe.)

In some ways, I have to thank these negative reviews because they tempered my expectations for this movie way down. I have a theory that any movie less than 6/10 will always be bad. Any movie better than 8/10 will always be good. But a movie between 6-8/10 will be strongly influenced by my expectations going in. If I think the movie will be AWESOME, a 6-8/10 movie may be a disappointment. If I think the movie will suck, it might be surprisingly entertaining. Warcraft is no doubt a 6-8/10 movie and benefited from my reduced expectations.

Let’s get the negatives out of the way: the movie is long, the story is so-so, and the digital stone golem looks like a joke (as if someone forgot to save some of the CGI budget for him). Also the movie is a bit too serious, although they did manage to sneak in a Polymorph (my favourite spell and scene).

But honestly, while it’s by no means a cinematic masterpiece, Warcraft was both ambitious and entertaining. The story and acting were acceptable, but let’s be real - I spent most of the movie just drinking in how GOOD everything LOOKED. The cities were masterpieces that put Game of Thrones settings like King’s Landing to shame. The armor looked great (for the most part) especially the damn HORSE armor. And the griffin… Good heavens, the griffin. If more humans were riding those, it would have been a short movie.

It was also just really exciting to see characters like Lothar, Durotan, Gul'dan, and Medivh come to life on the big screen. I never played WoW, but as a kid I studied that tome of a manual that came with Warcraft II, so the throwbacks in this movie story line really hit the spot (my recollection of it is just fuzzy enough that I can’t really remember how consistent the movie is with the canon, and good enough that I feel good that some broad strokes made it).

And did I mention the Polymorph?!

As a fan of Blizzard, amazing armor, high fantasy, and griffins… I came out of this movie pretty satisfied. Color me easily pleased, and my low expectations going in probably didn’t hurt, but I’d give this movie a solid 7.5/10.

What do you think?