Category Archives: What Im Playing

WHAT I’M PLAYING – The Crew

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The Crew gives us everything we could have hoped for from prior games such as Test Drive Unlimited 2 or Forza Horizons 2, or even Fuel. These games promised scale, a plethora of vehicles, an always online and connected world, and a means to drive anywhere. Most delivered.

TDU2L-4Test Drive Unlimited 2 worked. It had two large islands where you could drive everywhere, and compete in races whenever you wanted. It was online where you could join friends and compete in the solo story, 1 on 1 vs a friend, and group races. Unfortunately the game was ruined by its online handling, and never recovered.

Reviews_03_WM_ForzaHorizon2Forza Horizons 2 offered a decent size world, and a very pretty one at that. You could drive anywhere, and it boasted 200+ vehicles, and an endless campaign. It had an online presence where you could race in a group, go on road trips, or compete in games. But that’s where the online capabilities ended. It didn’t truly feel like an online connected world, just one where you join a lobby, and follow the leader. My review is here.

The Crew seems to take the best of these worlds and gets it right. The game world is huge. HUGE. The Crew’s map spans the whole USA, showcasing all the major cities, allowing the player to drive anywhere, or fast travel anywhere with almost zero loading. It’s a truly impressive feat. The visuals are decent enough; it’s no Forza Horizons, as with the scale such as this, does come some sacrifices.

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The game is connected to an online world as well, which I haven’t fully experienced yet. You start with the ability to have a crew of up to 4 people. These crew members can join in almost all of the story missions and faction missions. Factions are online missions that contribute to the online world competition. Every time you sign in, you earn some rewards that your faction earned while you were offline. There are 5 factions you can join, 3 available at the start with the final 2 unlocked at later stages.

I haven’t experienced PvP or much of the online competitions or challenges yet, but I hope to soon. The online race type I’m currently missing, found in Test Drive, was the ability to challenge a friend to a race on the go. The game would set up an unscripted race destination, and then you race. That was a lot of fun, and spontaneous. Maybe it’s a feature that I haven’t found yet. Maybe I’m just grasping.

The race types themselves seem a little limited, along with the car list. So far I’ve come across the typical checkpoint, race to the finish, off-road races, escape the cops, and take down mode, where you’re challenged with taking out a single opponent. I’m not very far through the story yet, so I’m expecting more to be unlocked. The vehicle list seems limited as well, but each vehicle allows for 6 class mods, standard, off-road, and perf (professional street racing mod) which I’ve unlocked so far.

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A couple days ago I posted a quick time lapse of a 1hr race that I streamed on Twitch. Expect more of these as this game has some pretty epic multiple hour races.I might add a video page to store these Game Night videos.

Tomorrow is a review for Unmechanical, and then Sunday will be the weekly Achievement of the Week. And keep checking back in as I’ll be posting more news as we head into E3.

-iRogan

WHAT I’M PLAYING / NEWS – Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China

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The 2.5D Assassin’s Creed is an interesting project; this is my review in progress.

The first of three, China, features a female assassin, Shao Jun, and takes place during the Ming Dynasty. This assassin is tied to the Assassin’s lore through the legendary Ezio Auditore, who was her master trainer.

Throughout the game, whenever introduced to a new gameplay mechanic, we’re brought to a training room to be taught by the man himself.

The game is stealth based platforming game, and is primarily 2D in navigation. There are, however, certain areas of the map that utilize the 2.5D visuals: when we’re climbing on walls or around certain structures that bring us into the foreground, or when we traverse planks that will bring us to a section of the level in the background.

Just kell 'em with your awesome.

Just kell ’em with your awesome.

The game is very much like Klei Entertainment’s Mark of the Ninja, in its utilization of tools or actions to distract guards so that we may pass unopposed, tools, such as firecrackers or knives to disable the guards, and actions such as whistling to direct the guard’s attention to a specific place. The game also utilizes bushes and doorways to hide the player and sneak past guards.

Visually, the game is inspired by traditional brush paintings, and shows that great attention to detail was put into the level’s architecture.

Once I’ve progressed further through the story I’ll be able to share some more thoughts and a review.

In the disc tray and HDD I also have Far Cry 4 slowly plugging away without me, and I jump into GTA V occasionally when I want to just sit and watch a world pass me by, and experience the happenstance. I guess I could go outside too.

In the near future I have Wolfenstein: The Old Blood, newly pressed, and I would also like to give State of Decay a shot. Destiny’s DLC is right around the corner, and as always, Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor is screaming to be played. I hope to have some impressions of at least one of these games next week.

On to some news for this week:

Titanfall 2 Release Date
EA has stated that we shouldn’t expect Titanfall 2 until their company’s 2017 fiscal year. Great. Thanks for nothing.

Mirror’s Edge’s Release
Also included ion EA’s news is that the sequel will be released early next year, 2016.

Silent Hills’ P.T Gone from the PS Store
You can’t download the playable teaser anymore. It’s gone. Even if you HAD downloaded it in the past, and then deleted it for space, too bad, it’s gone. So sad.

This is the final nail in the coffin that is Hideo Kojima and Guillermo Del Toro’s Silent Hills.

Destiny’s Prison of Elders
New info has come to light regarding the new Prison of Elders. The game is a wave-based mode, having the 3 guardians against multiple waves of baddies plus addition objectives.

Can't wait to get home and play Destiny

Can’t wait to get home and play Destiny

  • The level 28 difficulty will include matchmaking, but levels any higher will not. So bring good friends.
  • The objectives mid match will include destroying or disarming bombs, or killing mini-bosses before they reach their destination. This will prevent the players from just hiding in a corner and shooting everything, encouraging them to stay on the move.
  • Each match with a unique modifier, similar to the ones in Strikes. These include shield modifiers, melee damage, enemy melee damage, weapon damage, etc. Next match, new modifier.
  • The arena will be littered with web mines. These are zones that will slow player movement and deal damage.

Also revealed was a new Strike to be included in the House of Wolves DLC, titled The Shadow Thief

New Assassin’s Creed Being Revealed Next Week
Assassin’s Creed, and the future of the series will be revealed next week, Tuesday May 12th, 2015. Stay Tuned.

Good thing I haven’t beat Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag or started Assassin’s Creed Unity. Wouldn’t want to fall behind.

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So, with all that being said, I have nothing more for today. It’s too late to go outside. Maybe tomorrow.

-iRogan

WHAT I’M PLAYING – Far Cry, and what I’d rather be playing…

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Far Cry 4 seems to be pulling the same maneuver that Far Cry 3 did, and that’s keep the main antagonist from us. 3’s Vaas was great, he was intriguing, and psychotic. By far the best part of the game, and we saw him so infrequently and then sadly did away with him half way through the game.

Far Cry 4 gives us an amazing introduction to the new world Kyrat, and to our antagonist Pagan Min, the reclusive glorious leader of the region. And like the Far Cry predecessor, it appears that they enjoy keeping the antagonist from us. We get introduced at the start, a reminder half way through, and then a final interaction at the end where we’re given a choice in Pagan Min’s fate.

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Throughout the game we’re graced with voice messages from Min, as he checks in on us during our journey, but these aren’t enough. The character is so weird and intriguing, we’re driven through the game to get as many interactions as possible with Min. But he’s kept from us, as we’re left with the squabbling pair of Golden Path leaders, and told Min is the bad guy.

Is it the absence of these antagonists that make them so appealing? Would more interactions or appearances ruin their fascination? Or is it that all the work is put into their introduction, that the antagonist’s character isn’t actually as fleshed out as we think?

Continue reading →

WHAT I’M PLAYING – BattleCry: Far-Goat Simulator

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Over the weekend I started playing Goat Simulator and quite enjoyed the time I spent in Goat Ville. The game is essentially just a fun physics engine, with a goat as the lead. There are a lot of fun little jokes scattered throughout, with a lot of winks towards popular memes and pop culture news.

Goat Simulator is the latest in goat simulation technology.

Goat Simulator is the latest in goat simulation technology.

I probably won’t be playing the game that long though. I got it primarily for the achievements, which are pretty easy, and the lol’s. So once those are acquired, I don’t see myself playing the game much more.

The game was originally designed as a joke, internally in the Coffee Stains studio, during a one month game-jam, and a video was posted online for a laugh. It gathered such a following that the group decided to polish, and release it. The developer stated the game was designed as “an old school skating game, except instead of being a skater, you’re a goat, and instead of doing tricks, you wreck stuff”.

Originally released last year on Steam, the game has since been released on other operating systems, and mobile. The release on the Xbox 360 and Xbox One was its first time on a console.

Keep an eye out for the review.

Lately I had been spending a lot of time on the FPS genre, and I’ve had a hard time sticking with one title. I had originally started Far Cry 4 and then Battlefield: Hardline was released. I played Hardline during the EA Access window, and then didn’t go back, relegated to the backburner.

After I needed a little break from Far Cry 4 I jumped into Call of Duty Ghosts. I quickly wrapped that up within a couple sittings. I need to quickly jump back in to get a few achievements and then I’ll jump back to Far Cry 4 for the remainder of the week.

Battlefield_HardlineThis past weekend I did jump into Hardline while I was testing some Twitch Streaming and game recording, and managed to complete a few more of the story campaign missions. I think this weekend I’ll play more of that as well, but I am definitely falling behind on Far Cry 4. Hardline has been fun, but it definitely is not a Battlefield game.  It’s primarily stealth based, and when its not, its a difficult shooter – as a cop, I guess you’re not really meant to shoot people, or absorb bullets. Ammo is limited, and the shootouts are intense, as they’re typically in claustrophobic areas, normally not pre-meditated, but defensive, stressful, and usually outnumbered shootouts. If that’s the intent, its pulled off well.

The single player does look pretty good, but sadly not as good as its Battlefield predecessor in any aspects but the cut-scenes. Single player luckily does look better than the multiplayer, but that component, while it does hold its own, still doesn’t feel as immersive as Battlefield 4.

Other newer/older/other games on the horizon:

NeverWinter is free to play, so I might give that a shot, even though my previous post a week or so ago said I would never. We’ll see. I said “never” to Goat Simulator too, and see what happened?

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China has been released, and acquired, so I’ll be playing that. I also have Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag to play more, and GTA V (Xbox One) to play and take lovely photos in.

Borderlands: The Handsome Collection is waiting. I’ve started with the Pre-Sequel in co-op, so I’ll have to spend more time on Pandora. But again, it’s another FPS, a genre that I’m pretty burnt out on.

Besides that, I have quite the backlog of games I haven’t even opened yet – waiting, eager – on my shelf, or digital library. All in due time games, all in due time:

Metro Redux, TellTale Bundle (Borderlands, Game of Thrones, Wolf Among Us), Shadow of Mordor.  So many :'(.

Keep an eye out for more Far Cry 4, and Battlefield: Hardline info, screenshots and reviews soon, and Goat Simulator review tomorrow. New feature: Achievement of the Week, on Sunday

WHAT I’M PLAYING/ iREVIEW – The Swapper

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In a random gift of love and affection towards my PC, I jumped onto Steam and perused the list of games that had been Recommended For Me. First one to show up was a little nifty game called The Swapper.

Title: The Swapper
Developer: Facepalm Games
Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux, PS3, PS4, Vita, WiiU
Publisher: Facepalm Games
Reviewed on: Windows

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Not really knowing anything about the game other than it was a puzzle platformer (gathered from the trailer), I jumped in. The Swapper is a sci-fi themed space game. You play a scavenger who crash lands on – and is now stranded aboard – a research station that appears abandoned. The goal, I suppose, is to find out what’s going on around this space station, and obviously try to escape.

THE PUZZLES THEMSELVES ARE VERY SMART AND DO REQUIRE THOUGHT AND PERSISTENCE AT TIMES

As the player, you acquire a hand-held cloning tool which allows you to create up to four simultaneous clones of your character, and grants you the ability to swap your consciousness across each one, as long as they are within sight. Once created, the clones mimic the moves of the player as long as there are no obstacles in their way. The clones can also die from falling from a great height or through general environment hazards. If a clone dies, they’re reclaimed and can be re-spawned. Clones can also be reclaimed by being absorbed by the player.

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Time also slows down when creating a clone with the Swapper and this game mechanic allows the player to traverse vertical areas. You can shoot a clone up towards the ceiling, and swap your consciousness over, and while the clone is falling in slow-motion, you can then create a 2nd clone to the platform you wish to reach (previously out of the field of view of the original player) and swap again.

Some rooms also have certain lights sources to illuminate the area. Blue, Red, and Purple – these lights can either prevent the clones from being created, or will prevent the player from swapping their consciousness to the clone across the room, or both. This is where using multiple clones to activate triggers comes into play. The puzzles themselves are very smart and do require thought and persistence at times.

The goal in each area is to acquire the orbs that activate the teleporters which then allow us to activate the next area.

SUPERB USE OF BLOOM EFFECTS FOR LIGHTING AND DEPTH OF FIELD

As you progress throughout the space station you come across terminals that start to tell the story of the game. Similar to Dead Space, the crew of this station have found space rocks on a nearby planet, and the rocks themselves seem to give off this electro-wave activity, leading the crew to believe that the rocks are somewhat alive or conscious. Once aboard, the rock’s telepathic abilities start to penetrate the minds and dreams of the crew, and without cause or reason, they start to die off, leading the remaining members to believe that the rocks themselves are driving the crew mad. Unfortunately they’ve brought so many aboard they can no longer get rid of them.

We actually come across these telepathic rocks throughout the game, unknown are their effects on us, but they do tend to share their disturbing thoughts with us.

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The game is straight forward in its design, and it looks very pretty, with superb use of bloom effects for lighting and depth of field. The characters actions are limited to walking and jumping, and there are gravity sections that will require the use of the Swapper to boost around. These areas can get very disorientating as the room itself rotates, and not the player. There is also the opportunity to use the occasion physics object to activate triggers or hold up walls.

The game’s atmosphere is to be lauded. Its quiet and creepy, deep and loud sounds can make you eager to press on, or have you looking over your shoulder. The score, with piano being the main instrument, tends to reveal the vast emptiness of this space station we’ve found ourselves in. Makes us feel very alone.

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– For those who like platformers, creepy empty space, or watching their clones walk off ledges.

-iRogan