2019 Video Game Reviews Done Quickly

Last year around this time (on this day to be precise), I did a full year review of the all the video games I played. I composed tiny reviews for 23 games. This year it looks like the magic number 23 again. Sounds like a trend.

So, these are the games I completed in 2019. Some of which may not have been released in 2019. And when I say complete, I mean either I 100%’d it, finished the main campaign story if it is open-ended or has end-game content, or I consider it done enough that I won’t be revisiting it. Also the order below is roughly Jan through Dec, for when I completed the game, and not necessarily when I started the game. You’ll get the idea as you read the list.

Onward…

Red Dead Redemption II (2018): I technically beat this game January 1st 2019, but mostly played it in December, and did a little blurb in last year’s review, so we’ll just start with this:

“[…] this game is a technical marvel, from game-play to visuals. Rockstar Games has always paid incredible attention to the most mundane of details. It means their games take 5-6 years to make, but the time pays off.”

Astroneer (2017-2019): Astroneer started out as an early access game that Wayne and I played in 2017. The 1.0 version came out early 2019, with achievements and an actual end game. The game is a fun mining/crafting game. You start on a planet and have to mine and gather materials to build a spaceship to travel to other planets. There’s a very deep crafting system that allows you to refine the raw materials into alloys and then build buggies, and trailers, and solar panels, and air-purifiers. Each thing to help make the primary task easier. I never fully completed this game, but do jump in every once in a while. It has terrible lag when playing in co-op and I’m not sure if that’s been resolved yet/ever.

Horizon: Zero Dawn (2017): Horizon Zero Dawn would be the sole Playstation game for 2019, and I actually started this game in 2017, but just never got around to completing it. After completing Spiderman and God of War last year, I figured it was finally time to wrap up Horizon Zero Dawn. Game takes place in a post apocalyptic lust world, where machine-like dinosaurs rule. You play as Aloy, trying to find out what hapened to the world. Again, this was another game that just didn’t grab me initially. I would play here and there for a bit but couldn’t stay interested. Primarily due to the difficulty curve, as it just felt like a grind to play. I dropped the difficulty down to Story mode and had an absolute blast for the rest of the game. I haven’t tried the DLC, but I really should. 2020 will be a big year for me in the Playstation realm, with Death Stranding out now, and The Last of Us II release mid-2020. I also want to play Uncharted 4 and Uncharted Lost Legacy which are in the queue (aka: shelf).

Planet Alpha (2018): Planet Alpha is a fun side-scroller platformer game, similar to Inside or Limbo. You wake up on an alien planet and must try to escape. There are more puzzle elements at play as you can adjust the day and night cycles which will use to navigate each level. You’ll notice that side scrolling walking puzzle games are my go-to this year. I just appreciate their pace.

Assassin’s Creed Origins (2017): Origins was the first major leap for the AC series into the next gen, with 4k visuals on the Xbox One X. And it is a pretty game. I even posted a large photo album of in-game screen shots. I’ve always liked the AC games and this was no different. They modernized the RPG elements with leveling, and gear pickups which is a nice adjustment. 2020 I’ll be getting in Odyssey, and then I should be fully caught up, until Vikings comes out I guess.

DOOM (2016): 2.5 years after I started playing this game I finally pushed myself to finish it. There was nothing wrong with the game that caused me to take so long, it’s just very intense. Very in-your-face, loud metal music playing, gore and nonstop frantic combat. After each level I was just left very white-knuckled, a little jumpy and short of breath. So I would have to put the controller down for a few months at a time before getting back into it. This year I decided to just play it consistently and push through to the end. Very solid game, lots of fun, and gorgeous on the Xbox One X.

Crackdown 3 (2019): This game is exactly like Crackdown 1 and 2. Disappointed that it took so freaking long to make, and the waiting for the cloud-based destruction wasn’t even in the campaign, but attached as a multiplayer component. Verdict: not worth the wait.

The Gardens Between (2018): This was a fun little puzzle game. Game starts as two young friends are about to be separated as one is moving away, and the game is told from the perspective of their memories together. Each one, its own little island, from the perspective of the child’s imagination. You control the two players simultaneously, and you do so by moving time forward and backwards, as the characters walk their path. Very simple mechanic, and a fun little heartfelt game as a result.

39 Days to Mars (2019): Another little fun 2-D puzzle game that I played in co-op with Nichole. The concept is you and your friend are going to fly the most unreliable spaceship to Mars. Everything at some point will break down during the trip, and you’ll come across space squids that will ink your ship and you’ll need to catch with a fishing net and eventually a space kraken. The in-between times when your ship is not falling apart, you’ll need to make tea and sandwiches. The game is made with co-op in mind and the co-op puzzles are all paper-craft types which can be both funny and frustrating to pull off. This game did not end up in divorce.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (2017): I have very much enjoyed the Wolfenstein reboot games. They are very polished and have solid dual wielding gunplay mechanics. Difficult at times, but I felt this had a shorter, but tighter story than the previous two. Only issue I had was when I was about halfway through, I accidentally wiped my game save. And had to start from the beginning. But that was my fault.

Anthem (2019): Alright, first of 4 big 2019 AAA titles I played this year. EA/BioWare’s big new IP. A lot of complaints got thrown at this game on launch as it made a lot of weird decisions in its design, and didn’t have any satisfactory end-game content. For me, I don’t care about end-game content. That’s a weird term. The campaign is over, the game is over. Move on. Why do you need more? They have made a lot of changes to the design and added more content over the past year, but gameplay remains relatively the same. Big positive ease-of-use improvement is you can changes your weapons mid-mission now. Which, why that was a limitation on launch, I’ll never know. This game wanted to be the next Destiny, so why didn’t they make it more like Destiny, instead of handcuffing the player at every opportunity? Because EA? I enjoyed the story and gameplay a lot. I actually wrote an “in progress” review for this game back in March.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018): Third and maybe final (?) in the Tomb Raider reboot series. A very solid conclusion to the series if it does end. A tighter story than the last one, but with more tombs which is nice. Gorgeous as always. Gameplay hasn’t really changed since the 2015 reboot, they just keep adding more and more outfits.

FAR: Lone Sails (2019): Another side-scrolling puzzle type game, similar to Limbo, Inside, and Planet Alpha. This time you play a little dude controlling what can be best described as a desert sailboat? A large machine with wheels, and a sail. You start off with very little, but as you progress, your ship gets upgraded with better wheels and a sail. You need to pick up fuel as your progress, and you need to repair your ship as the story moves along. The sail helps conserve fuel, but if you are not paying attention, you can crash into walls or checkpoints if you don’t stop in time. A quiet, somber game with an enjoyable soundtrack.

Celeste (2018): This game won Best Independent Game, and Games for Impact in last year’s Game Awards which inspired the purchase. The game is a 2-D platformer with speedrunning in mind. All about speed and finesse. Retro look and feel. The game gets very difficult near. Each level also has a few collectibles and a b-side to encourage replayability. The story is about a girl who is suffering from depression and anxiety, and her goal is to climb this mountain and reach the peak. The subject matter touches on struggling with anger and doubt, and defeat, and overcoming those emotions.

Submerged (2015): 3rd person combat-free game in which you explore a flooded city in a boat, and must scale the buildings to find the medical parcels to help your brother. Easy achievements, can be completed in a day. Nothing exciting worth writing about.

Gears 5 (2019): 2nd big AAA title for 2019. Follow up to Gears 4, following the events of the Gears team, with the focus on Kait Diaz as she discovers the origins of the Locust and her family. Good looking, a little buggy with the robot, Jack, as a playable character. Story was pretty routine, but the large open level segments where you surf around on the skiff really took me out of the game, as these segments were just large and void of anything. Close quarters, narrow alleys and crumbling buildings is where Gears thrived. Back when it was dark and scary. Now it’s bright and open and I don’t like it. Also you end up fighting robots a lot now. Two thumbs neither up nor down. Just sideways. Meh. They put a lot of emphasis on all the different multiplayer modes, and escape modes which I was not interested in.

What Remains of Edith Finch (2017): In the 2nd half of 2019 I started playing a lot more, smaller, indie games. Games that I could run through in a short time. I had a very specific goal for Extra Life 2019 to reach 250K Xbox Gamerscore. When I started this in July I needed 14k to reach my goal. Indie games are usually pretty quick, and easy to 100% for 1000G. WRoEF was one of these game with an interesting story about a large family, where all the family members die. The daughter/narrator returns home to this weird house as the last remaining member of this sad family, and reads/plays through the family journal to tell the story of each family member, and their unfortunate death. One story was of a boy who was on a swing-set and believed he could do a full 360 loop around the tree branch. He succeeded, and subsequently flew off the swing and cliff and died. This story told in first person view actually caused me motion sickness and had to stop playing for a day. Another story was of a baby drowning in a bathtub. That one kinda messed me up for a bit, as a new dad.

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (2016): At any given time, Activision has 3 different teams working on Call of Duty titles. This iteration primary took place in space, in the future, and had you flying a space ship for a chunk of levels. This game won the award for having the most down-voted announcement trailer. Good game though. Pushed the bar for visuals for a COD title and was fun to play with the futuristic weapons. With COD titles you pretty much know what you’re getting into, which is why I don’t buy them new.

Guns, Gore, and Cannoli 2: Sequel to Guns, Gore and Cannoli 1 – go figure. 2-D side scrolling shooter game, like the old Metal Slug games. Played in co-op on Extra Life night (supports up to 4 players), completed in 1 sitting. Fun, humourous and a cartoony art-style.

Diablo 3: Nichole and I started this game in 2017, and it took us 2 years to finish it. Top down dungeon crawler game with lots of loot and fun gameplay combat. Equally fun in co-op except when you’re waiting for the other person to manage their loot and gear, and attacks, and spells, and, and, and…

Far Cry 5 (2018): Fry Cry games really became fun to play around Far Cry 3. 3 had a good story. 4 was fun. Primal had a good story and no guns (which was different). 5 was tedious. When 4 was introduced, they introduced Co-op in the most broken way. You could join a friend’s game, gain xp, and help unlock outposts, but you’ll make no progress in the single player campaign. So you don’t unlock achievements or any story progress. So why bother playing in co-op at all? Wayne and I beat the game begrudgingly. We beat “HIS” game that is.

STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order (2019): 3rd big AAA title of the year. And probably my top game of the year (without counting the next game). a fun Star Wars story about a unknown Jedi, taking place after Revenge of the Sith and Palpatine’s Order 66 which turned the clone army on the Jedi Council. Force powered individuals are in hiding and this story is about finding a codex of force enabled children before the Republic does. Fun platforming and light-saber wielding gameplay with force push and pull powers. Made by the Titanfall developer. In a time where EA has the exclusive rights to make Star Wars games, and so far they’ve only turned out Battlefront multiplayer crap, having a Single Player focused game, that doesn’t get cancelled, and its actually GOOD, is a relief.

Honourable mention:

CONTROL (2019): I’m currently in the middle of this game, so it can’t be officially included in this list. But its a neat one. kinda like Psi-Ops / Second Sight. You play a female agent who arrives at a large building that deals with strange anomalies. All the staff have been taken over by this strange force, and you use a gun that is alive(?) to fight your way out of problems. You also have telekinetic powers, and can throw objects around and create a shield made of concrete. Made by the develops of Alan Wake and Quantum Break. Also the main character has internal dialogue with herself/you the play. Its bizarre, and cool. And will likely win Game of the Year at this year’s Game of the Year Awards (which take place tomorrow, Dec 12).

Top 5:
SW Jedi Fallen Order
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Wolfenstein II
Horizon: Zero Dawn
The Gardens Between

Bonus: I also plan to do a “My Top Games of the Decade” list before the end of the month. Pray for me as I enter that rabbit hole.

-iRogan

IDL NEWS – And Tuesday Blues . . .

I slept through Monday, so here’s some news.

So this week I’ll be just rattling off a few things as I prep for my trip down to Seattle for PAX Prime 2015. As I mentioned on Sunday, I’m not sure what my internet connection will be like so I don’t know if I’ll be posting a daily update or not, but expect a full report when I return.

Today I’ll discuss the new games and deal, and the news. I’ll have a review for Far Cry 4 up before I leave, and some discussions on what I’ll be playing next.


Dirt Rally Gets Multiplayer
One of my favourite racing games have been the Dirt series by Codemasters. They’re currently working on the pivotal rally game in Dirt Rally, currently only available on the PC through Steam Early Access. Good and bad I suppose. Good in that they’re funding the game as they go along, working out all the bugs before they release it on the consoles. BAD, in that I can’t play it yet. With Xbox’s Game Preview, maybe they can work something out.

Codemasters has recently added rallycross mode which is their head-to-head multiplayer mode. The free update also includes 3 new cars and a new map set in Hell, Sweden.

Master Chief’s Face
343 Industries has confirmed that that Master Chief’s face will not be revealed in Halo 5: Guardians. Only Bungie knows that little secret anyways ;).

NHL 16’s GM Mode
Recently revealed in the latest NHL 16 video was the game’s bolstered GM mode, and how to help shape the future of your favourite franchise by handling teammate relationships and morale.


September’s Games With Gold
Microsoft has revealed its monthly Games With Gold free games for September:

Xbox One
The Deer God. Available from Sept 1 – 31
Tomb Raider: The Definitive Edition. Available from Sept 16 – Oct 15. Check out my review from the 360 version and just add visual quality to the pluses ;).

Xbox 360
Battlestations: Pacific. available from Sept 1 – 15
Crysis 3. Available 16 – 31


This Week’s Deals With Gold

Xbox One

  • EA SPORTS Rory McIlroy PGA TOUR – 33%
  • Life is Strange – 50%
  • Life is Strange Complete Season (Episodes 1-5) – 20%
  • Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty – 33%
  • Stealth Inc. 2: A Game of Clones – 50%
  • The Swapper – 33%
  • BADLAND: Game of the Year Edition – 50%
  • Worms Battlegrounds – 50%

I don’t know what the difference is between Life is Strange and Life is Strange Complete Season? Rory McIlroy’s golf game I am looking forward to, but I will wait till it hits the EA Access vault. And make sure to check out my review of The Swapper and BADLAND.

Xbox 360

  • All Gears of War 3 DLC and Map Packs – 50%
  • Diablo III: Reaper of Souls – 50%
  • Life is Strange – 50%
  • Life is Strange Season Pass (Episodes 2-5) – 20%
  • GRID 2 – 60%
  • GRID 2 All-in-Pack – 60%

I’m gonna go listen to Rick and Morty’s DOTA 2 Announcer lines now, having never played or watched the game.

-iRogan

IDL NEWS – E3 Recovery

So with E3 2015 over and done, it’s time to sit back, relax, and dissect all the news. What happened? What’s coming out? Aside from all the notable news, what about the notable omissions from the show? Keep an eye on the E3 page, as I’ll still be posting opinions and thoughts there. At least until PAX Prime 2015 and Gamescon in September.


So, onward and upwards unto the news, as it never slows down.

Red Dead Redemption Leads Xbox Backwards Compatibility
Hot off the news that come holiday season, Xbox One will support Xbox 360 backwards compatibility, Xbox.com currently has a vote for the most requested games to be ported first:

https://xbox.uservoice.com/forums/298503-backwards-compatibility

Currently Red Dead Redemption tops the list, followed by Call of Dutys, Skyrim, Halo Reach and Gears of War 3.

Evolve’s Second Season Pass
Evolve is getting a second season pass, titled Hunting Pass 2, will be available June 23. The latest pass will introduce four new hunters and new monster, and some exclusive skins.

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Batman Arkham Knight Day One Patch
The release game will be a whopping 45GB install and the day one patch size has been revealed to be an additional 3.5GB. By the time the 1TB PS4 and Xbox One consoles hit the market it’ll already be too late. 2TB will be needed.

Arkham-Knight

Tales From The Borderlands: Ep 3 – Catch a Ride
TellTale Games
has announced that episode 3 of Tales from the Borderlands, titled Catch a Ride will be released this week on its respected platforms. Means I should get on that Ep 2.

GameStop Retro
GameStop will be increasing its product lineup to include more used copies of retro games and refurbished game consoles. This will include more NES, N64, SNES, Sega Dreamcast, PS1, and Sega Genesis games.

Batman Arkham Knight

‘Nuff Said.


Looking ahead, I’ll be posting some more E3 stuff regarding Rise of the Tomb Raider and Dues Ex (among others) as these are two of the games I am looking forward to the most.

I recently started playing the indie hit BADLAND, and I’ll be posting some impressions of that soon.

What doesn't kill us, definitely reduces our numbers.

What doesn’t kill us, definitely reduces our numbers.

I’m still playing through The Crew and Splinter Cell The Blacklist. So, new games tomorrow, and then more news and further impressions on Crew, SplinterCell, and Badland to round off the week.

It’s summer . . . go outside!

-iRogan

NEWS – Those Mid-Week Lulls Tho

So I have a new co-op buddy and we’re going to be going through Tomb Raider – Temple of Osiris. Yay!

On the 360, in 2010, Tomb Raider – Guardian of Light was released and it revealed that the single player Tomb Raiding narrative isn’t always needed. It provided a smart simplistic co-op game, in the top-down dungeon crawler view, with clever puzzles and fun combat.

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4 years later, and a next-gen transition – Tomb Raider – Temple of Osiris. Graphically it’s not much of an upgrade, but it is bigger in scope. It is now 4 player capable, and the puzzles actually reform, depending how many players are in the room. More of a preview to come.


Mirror’s Edge Catalyst is Real, and its actually called Mirror’s Edge Catalyst
The team at DICE have confirmed that this is not Mirror’s Edge 2, it’s not a direct sequel.

“is not a sequel, this is not Mirror’s Edge 2. We have landed on a vision that honors the first game — pushing the boundaries of first person movement and diving deeper into the story behind our heroine Faith — but also brings a lot of great new, interesting gameplay and features to the experience for our players.”

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Mirror’s Edge will be at E3 as well. Colour me excited.

Adr1ft – So, Like Gravity – The Video Game?

Will We See The Last Guardian at E3?
The Last Guardian will finally be getting a re-reveal at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, apparently.

“on very good authority that this will be the year that Team Ico finally presents its follow-up to much loved classics Ico and Shadow of the Colossus.”

The Last Guardian was first announced for PlayStation 3 back in 2009, but thanks to studio troubles, the title still has yet to see the light of day.


Over the next few days I’ll be discussing Splinter Cell: Blacklist, and posting an iReview for Sniper Elite III.

We’re getting into the real news, just around the corner with E3. I hope to bulk up the E3 Hub page with more info heading into the event that starts Sunday with Bethesda.

-iRogan

NEWS – Just Smile In Their Direction, Works Everytime

New games know how to get your attention, and the pin number for your ATM card . . .

Today we’ll talk about the new games, June’s Deals, and we’ll also discuss today’s news: Tomb Raider Trailer.


Tomb Raider’s New Trailer

New trailer for Rise of the Tomb Raider has been released, and it shows Lara fighting through a blizzard. The trailer informs us that we’ll be seeing more at the E3 press conferences. Add this title to my list of eagerly anticipated games. Check my review for the predecessor: Tomb Raider. Trailer below. Boop.

June’s Games With Gold

Double Fine’s Massive Chalice leads the pack this month on the Xbox One, and we’re still able to pick up Pool Nation FX. Massive Chalice seems similar to 2012’s XCOM Enemy Unknown’s gameplay, as it’s a turn based strategy. Expect new info from me on it soon. Add it to the list I guess.

On the Xbox 360 we can pick up Avalanche Studio’s Just Cause 2, for the first half of the month, and Thief,  in the latter half. I’ve been interested in Thief, so it’s too bad this isn’t the Xbox One version. Oh well.


A little bit of house cleaning here, as I missed a few of the notable releases. Apologizes. Let’s catch up:

Destiny: House of Wolves (Xbox One, 360, Ps3, Ps4) – The second expansion to Destiny, is the House of Wolves. Included is a new social hub in the reef, new story missions and a strike, as well as some new PvP and PvE multiplayer game modes. Notable absence is a new Raid. I’ve played for a bit, trying out the new levels and seeing the new bad guys, but haven’t been able to dive too deep yet. Stick around for further impressions.

2698809-the+witcher+3+-+wild+hunt+v7The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (Xbox One, Ps4, PC) – 200+ hour RPG. Probably not going to happen, as much as the game looks cool, and does grab my attention, this will be a hard pass until it’s cheaper, and when I have nothing to play (ie: probably never). Witcher 2 was not a lot of fun to get into with its hour long tutorials, and confusingly deep crafting and combat system. This one, #3 may be better suited for non-RPG types, but I’m not there yet.

Game of Thrones: Episode 4 – Sons of Winter (Xbox One, 360, Ps3, Ps4, PC) – I have the Telltale Bundle, so I’ll wait until all the episodes have been released, and then I’ll run through them.

BADLAND: Game Of The Year Edition (Xbox One, Ps3, Ps4) – Picked this up the other day as the gameplay looked fun, and it supports up to 4 players, to do what, I don’t know. Once I jump in, I’ll share my thoughts, in this here word format.

ss_51df4cbbcbe26ebb2643a4941eb8d5b9196b39cc.600x338Massive Chalice (Xbox One, PC) –

This game is actually June’s Games With Gold free game of the month, surprisingly on its launch day. Odd. But YAY, free games. Impressions soon.


I’m continuing to build up my E3 Page as we get closer to the event, so keep an eye there for my early impressions, anticipated titles, and news.

Thursday I’ll have deeper impressions of The Crew, and I recently started up SplinterCell: The Blacklist, on the 360, so I’ll share my irrelevant thoughts here, as the game is a little dusty now. I might have new things to say about Badlands, and/or Massive Chalice at the same time. Who knows?

Lastly, I wrapped up Unmechanical, which was a fun little title, so look for that iReview on Friday.

Later.

-iRogan