Monday, June 30, 2014

Shovel Knight, Deadly Premonition, Game of Thrones, Steam Haul

Shovel Knight (3DS)

A cool retro action platformer that reminds you of the best games released on the NES.  The gameplay is a bit like MegaMan with some Dark Souls mixed in.   The game looks just like an NES game but on the 3DS the 3D is amazing, which is why I chose this version of the game, it's also on the WiiU and Steam.  You are a knight with a shovel and you are sent on a quest.   The overworld map resembles Mario World 3, so you choose different locations and a boss to fight.  Each level has 5 checkpoints so if you die you return there or you could destroy the checkpoint and receive a ton of gold that is useful in upgrading your weapons and abilities so it's a unique twist.  If you die you lose gold but can reclaim it if you can make it back to where you died so if feels a bit like Dark Souls. 

The music is amazing and overall the game is excellent.  It is quite unforgiving with some very tough platforming segments, but I've been able progress through the game with little difficulty.  There is a new game+ feature that will make the game harder so there is replay value.  Highly recommend.

Deadly Premonition: Directors Cut (Steam)

If you ever wanted to play a computer game version of Twin Peaks then you need to get this game.  It came out a long time ago and has a cult following.  I bought it on the 360 but the graphics were pretty bad so I didn't play it much.  The graphics still are not that great on the PC but having the game run at 1080P makes it much better.  The game is a 3rd person adventure type game with some Resident Evil vibes thrown in.  You play as an FBI agent sent to a town where a girl was murdered, the murder has some of  the same characteristics as some other cases so you are trying to solve the mystery.  The game has some good voice acting and there is some really funny dialog.    The combat is a resembles Resident Evil where you are fighting some very strange creatures, which I'm not sure if they are dream sequences or not.  I've put in about 3 hours and have really enjoyed it.

Game of Thrones (Steam)

This game came out last year and got some pretty bad reviews mainly because of the combat, the story however is supposedly very good so I thought I'd try it out.  The game has a unique story that is based off the books but it's not a retelling of the books, it also uses assets from the TV show and some of the voice actors.  You start off in Castle Black as a member of the Night's Watch and the very first scene of the game reminded me of the TV show.  There are dialog choices so it kind of feels like Mass Effect in the Game of Thrones world.  I did get to the combat and it's a bit clunky, it's a 3rd person action game that's kind of like an MMO where it will do basic attacks automatically and then you can queue special abilities which have cool downs.  I need to get more into the game to see if the combat is a hindrance or not if it is I'll just crank the difficulty down and just play for the story.  So far the game has been great and I've recognized 3 characters from the TV show.

Steam Sale

I have a disease and it's buying games that I'll never play.  Here is my steam sale haul and unfortunately Watch Dogs is not on it. 

Ironclad Tactics Deluxe Edition - A cool CCG game set during the Civil war.  Really good.
CAPSULE - A horror game that is played from just a radar screen. 
Game of Thrones
Nail'd - A decent action racing game.
Bookworm Adventures Volume 2 - I like word games.
Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut
The Last Federation - A 4x Space game that was recommended by Bill Harris.  He has a great blog, DubiousQuality.
Baldur's Gate 2 Enhanced Edition - I needed a 100 hour RPG. 
Cloudbuilt
Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition
Adventures of Shuggy       
The Typing of the Dead: Overkill - Songs        -  This game is cool. 
Typing of the Dead: Overkill - Silver Screen       
System Shock 2       
Dishonored: The Brigmore Witches (ROW)       
Next Car Game       
Nidhogg Store   
GRID Autosport       
Borderlands 2: Headhunter 3: Mercenary Day       
Borderlands 2: Headhunter 2: Wattle Gobbler       
Borderlands 2: Headhunter 4: Wedding Day Massacre
Borderlands 2: Headhunter 5: Son of Crawmerax   
Borderlands 2 Headhunter 1: Bloody Harvest       
Borderlands 2 Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack 2
Bioshock Infinite Season Pass ROW       
Payday 2   
Master Reboot
Shadowrun: Dragonfall
Pixel Piracy
The Walking Dead Season 2
Divinity Original Sin

Ubisoft Watch Dogs

This game still has issues on the PC and then last week some other shocking news came out.  The current game looks nothing like what was initially shown and then one user found code in the PC version that had a ton of graphical tweaks and features that were still in the game files but were not in the running code.  He was able to mod the game and got the features to work with some small problems but it made the game look remarkably better and run smoother.  The real problem is the PC game could have looked much better than the consoles but Ubisoft did not want that to happen so they hamstrung the PC version so the new consoles wouldn't be shown as sub par. As a mainly PC gamer this is awful, once again the PC is hamstrung by the inferior consoles that just came out. 

New Releases - Quite a few games this week.  My pick is Divinity: Original Sin.

PC

Divinity: Original Sin (download - $30) - Cool looking turn-based RPG that brings back memories of the good old days.
The House (download)
Ship Simulator: Maritime Search and Rescue (download)
Magicians & Looters (download)
Second Chance Heroes (download)
Shattered Planet (download)
Z (download)

PlayStation 4

Sniper Elite 3
Guacamelee: Super Turbo Championship Edition (download - $15) - A really good game.

Xbox One

Sniper Elite 3
Guacamelee: Super Turbo Championship Edition (download - $15)

Xbox 360

Sniper Elite 3
Far Cry Compilation (Far Cry 3 + Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon + Far Cry 2)
Guacamelee: Super Turbo Championship Edition (download - $15)

PlayStation 3

Sniper Elite 3
Dynasty Warriors: Gundam Reborn
Constant C (download)
Child of Light and Armillo

Wii U

Guacamelee: Super Turbo Championship Edition (download - $15)
Armillo (download)
Bombing Bastards (download)

Vita

Child of Light

Nintendo 3DS

Mysterious Stars: A Fairy Tale (download)

Monday, June 23, 2014

Wolfenstein, SVS Sub, Bulletstorm, Steam Sale

Wolfenstein: The New Order

I finished the game over the weekend and clocked in around 15 hours so it's a lot longer than most FPS.  I still need to go back and see if the differences based on the choice i made earlier in the game.   I really enjoyed it and think it's one of the best FPS games I've played in a while.  The stealth is done very well and it's optional, you can use it or not.  Near the end of the game there were two places that got frustrating and I eventually turned down the difficulty to get past them.  I also liked the story which is something you never really think about too much in FPS but it was engaging and had a good ending.  I highly recommend the game to anyone who likes FPS games, it's one of my favorites. 

SVS PC12 Plus

My new subwoofer went out again, a second time, so instead of getting new parts or a complete replacement I went with a new better sub.  The new sub is cylinder shaped so it doesn't take as much floor space, but it is 39" high so it's about the same height as my floor standing speakers, it looks like a black hot water heater.  I need to burn it in which takes about 100 hours but it
sounds awesome so far.  I can already tell the difference between this and the other sub, the sound is much deeper and cleaner.  I did setup my Klipsch as a 2nd sub just to see if I like it and after playing Rock Band for an hour I overheated my receiver, I did up the volume to the subs by about 3 decibels which was a little overkill but it sounded awesome.   I think I may go back to just to one sub since it's so much better than my Klipsch that I can hear the Klipsch struggling which makes the bass a little distorted.  I could feel the couch move without the butt kickers. 

Bulletstorm

I finally got this to work on my system after about 3 months of trying.  It still uses the Games for Windows client which is going away in July, I'm hopeful for a patch because this game is really awesome.  The initial media campaign for the game was pretty bad as it focused on a couple of quotes from the main character and it never recovered.  I beat the game when it came out and have been wanting to play it again.  The game still looks amazing, I'll try and post some screenshots later in the week.  The combat is nonstop action and with the different ways of killing your enemies it never becomes dull.  Each weapon you unlock has different skill shots that allows you to destroy enemies in unique ways.  There is the thumper that will grapple an enemy then thump him to the ground which causes any other enemy around to be thrown helplessly into the air.  The grenade gun that sends a couple of grenades attached by a chain that you can shoot at an enemies head or legs and then make them explode.  The game is a blast and I sure hope they patch out the GFWL.   

Steam Sale

If you don't know there is a Steam Sale going on so a ton of games are selling for cheap this week so get out there and buy some good games.  I think my Steam game count is over 850 which is insane but I still find stuff that I want to buy.  So far my haul is:

Borderlands 2 DLC
Bioshock Infinite Season Pass - I really wanted to go back to Rapture. I started last night and only played about 30 minutes.  So far it's good.
Payday 2
Master Reboot - A really cool puzzle adventure game. 
Shadowrun: Dragonfall  -
Pixel Piracy - Kind of like Minecraft except you are building a pirate ship and exploring different islands.
The Walking Dead Season 2 -  Waiting for all the episodes to come out before I start playing.
Divinity Original Sin - It doesn't release until June 30th but I've played a bit of the beta and it seems great.
A Wizard's Lizard - Kind of like the Binding of Isaac but with more story and a little more permanence.
FEZ - Cool Platformer.


New Releases - Tons of games this week.  My Pick is Valiant Hearts.

PC

Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark (download - $50) -
GRID Autosport (download - $50) - More than likely I will get as they fixed issues with the last version.
Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare (download - $30) - Not a port is what I've heard. 
Company of Heroes 2: The Western Front (download - $20)
Sniper Elite 3 (download - $50)
Shovel Knight (download - $15) - Hopefully this will be a  good NES like game.
Valiant Hearts: The Great War (download - $15) - Looks really cool and has a great art style.
Three Dead Zed (download)

PlayStation 4

Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark
Valiant Hearts: The Great War (download - $15)
Another World (download) - Think free for PS+ subscribers a great game.
Blue Estate (download)
R.B.I. Baseball 14 (download)
Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare and Valiant Hearts: The Great War

Xbox One

Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark
Valiant Hearts: The Great War (download - $15)

Xbox 360

Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark
GRID Autosport
Valiant Hearts: The Great War (download - $15)

PlayStation 3

Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark
GRID Autosport
Atelier Rorona Plus: The Alchemist of Arland
Xblaze Code: Embryo
Valiant Hearts: The Great War (download - $15)
Another World (download)
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon (download)

Wii U

Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark
Shovel Knight (download - $15)

Vita

BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma
Xblaze Code: Embryo
Farming Simulator 14
Another World (download)
Z-Run (download)

Nintendo 3DS

Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark
Farming Simulator 14
Shovel Knight (download - $15)

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

E3 2014 Day 1

E3

I watched all the conferences yesterday and they were all really good and they showed off a ton of games.  Microsoft just showed games with no mention of Kinect, TV, or media apps.  EA really didn't show much game play and on some of the games showed prototypes.  Ubisoft was the most entertaining one again and there games looked fun.   Sony finished the night with a strong first hour then got bogged down for 30 minutes then finished strong.


Crackdown -   I loved the first Crackdown and am glad a new one is coming for the new consoles.
Grim Fandango - Being remade, really excited about this one.
Batman Arkam Knight - Wow this looks awesome, the graphics and environment were unbelievable.
Rainbow Six Siege -  Looks like planning is back in.  Great game play demo.
Sunset Overdrive - Very colorful shooter that has some good parkour and the demo made it look easy to pull off.
Far Cry 4 - Amazing, the graphics and scope of the game was unbelievable.  They action they showed was awesome.
Assassins Creed Unity - Now has co-op.  The crowds do look more like natural crowds.
Dead Island 2-  The trailer was awesome.
GTA V - Coming to new Consoles and PC in August, Finally.
Bloodborne - Just showed a trailer but it looked awesome.  A true follow up to Dark/Demon Souls.
The Order - Wow the visuals were awesome and the transition between the cutscenes and action was cool.
Uncharted 4 - Looks like it may be the last Drake adventure in 2015.
The Last of Us - Coming to PS4 at the end of July.
Dead Rising DLC - Crazy is all I can say, I downloaded it last night and played for about 20 minutes, impressions coming later.
Halo Collection - Halo 1,2,3, and 4 all on one disc.
Call of Duty - I was really impressed with the demo and the game finally looked next gen.  Rocket boots.
Cuphead - a retro run and gun platformer that looked like a 1940's cartoon.  Awesome.
Evolve - From the makers of Left 4 Dead,  Robby and Sean will put in about 300 hours easily.
Destiny - Looked interesting and the alpha is out for PS4.
Battlefield Hardline - I'm in the beta and will try tonight.  Cops and robbers in the Battlefield play style.
Mortal Kombat X - The video was gruesome and awesome.
Overall there were some pretty impressive games shown, nothing earth shattering but there are a lot of games I'm looking forward to now. A lot of good games are coming out on Oct 7 and it looks like it will be a $300 day.


New Releases - Not many big releases for E3 week.  Enemy front looks interesting.

PC

Enemy Front (download)
Space Run (download)
Munin (download)
Infinite Game Works Episode 0 (download)
Crimsonland (download)
Pulstar (download)
Final Slam 2 (download)
Secrets of the Magic Crystals - The Race (download)
Spintires (download - $30)
Probability 0 (download)

Xbox 360

Enemy Front
How to Train Your Dragon 2

PlayStation 3

Enemy Front
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2 (download)

Wii U

How to Train Your Dragon 2

Wii

How to Train Your Dragon 2

Nintendo 3DS

How to Train Your Dragon 2
AiRace Xeno (download)

Monday, June 2, 2014

Reno, Wolfenstein: The New Order, Mario Kart 8

Reno

Sorry for the lack of a post last week I was on vacation in Reno with my Dad, he worked on radars in the air force and they had a convention last week so I went with him.  I've been to Las Vegas many times but never visited Reno and it didn't start off very well.  The plane ride was very turbulent and then we got about 10 feet above the runway and then the engines started up again and we were off, about 5 minutes later the pilot came onto explain that the wind had shifted at the last minute and they decided to pull up and land from a different direction.   It never rains in Reno, except when we visit.  The weather was cold and windy and on our trip to Lake Tahoe it actually snowed.  The sky was overcast so we didn't get to see the pretty blue water of the lake.  The city itself is nothing like Vegas and there wasn't much to do there except gamble.  We did see a cool magic show, we were given one free ticket by a lady passing by which was nice, and a cool car museum. We visited Virginia city which is a small mining town built on a hill and famous for the TV show Bonanza.  It's a tourist trap now and all commercialized so not very fun, although the bus trip had some great views of the mountains. 

Wolfenstein: The New Order (Steam)

Came out last week and I finally got to play it once I got in from my trip.  The download size was 40G so it took awhile.  One of my first PC gaming memories was playing the original Wolfenstein, it was awesome and the really the first great first person shooters, the sound effects are still ingrained in my mind. I've played all the Wolfenstein games and all of them have been really good so I was hoping this would be the same.  It took a bit of messing around with the graphical settings but I finally got it running on ultra and 60fps on my Titan, I've read there are some major issues with AMD cards. 

I've played about 2 hours and I am really enjoying the game.   You play as the original game's protagonist, B.J. Blazkowicz, who wakes up from a coma state 15 years after the war and finds out the Germans actually won and are trying to find the resistance fighters.  I am really enjoying the story as it's much better than most FPS games, most FPS stories are nonsensical, but this is straight forward and gives the fighting a real meaning.  The pace so far has been excellent.  There is a bit of stealth to the game so it isn't all just shooting. There are tons of secret and hidden passages to find that have good loot so it pays to look around.  The enemies have been pretty fun to fight and have some interesting designs.  There is a choice you make early in the game that has different results in story so it does have replay value.


​Mario Kart  8​ (WiiU)

​Nintendo's box may be struggling but it sure does know how to make some great games and Mario Kart 8 is outstanding.  If you buy the game this week you can get a free game so it's almost silly not to purchase it now.  It's still the same Mario Kart we've always been playing but now in 1080P and that really does make a huge difference.  The game runs smooth and looks awesome, I even find myself watching the replays which is something I rarely do in other race games.  It creates a highlight reel that you can slow down at any time and there are already some great gifs especially of Luigi's stare.  http://i.minus.com/iWBcrxrRHgdN0.gif

​I have beaten every grand prix circuit but not gold starred them so I still have a ton of unlocks to get.  The track designs are brilliant and there is only 1 that I don't really like playing.  I've played about 6 hours of online and it's been problem free.  I wish it was structured a bit differently but it's fun to hop on and play a couple of races against real opponents. 


New Releases - So many games not enough time.

PC

WildStar (download - $60)
Murdered: Soul Suspect (download - $50)
1,001 Spikes (download - $15)
Richard & Alice (download)
Concursion (download)
Freespace 2 (download)
Lifeless Planet (download)
Noir Syndrome (download)
EPOCH (download)
Enigmatis: The Mists of Ravenwood (download)
1,001 Spikes and Ultra Street Fighter 4

PlayStation 4

Murdered: Soul Suspect
1,001 Spikes (download - $15)
Worms Battlegrounds (download)
War Thunder (download - free-to-play)

Xbox One

Murdered: Soul Suspect

Xbox 360

Murdered: Soul Suspect
Ultra Street Fighter 4 (download - $15 for Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition owners only)

PlayStation 3

Murdered: Soul Suspect
Ultra Street Fighter 4 (download - $15 for Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition owners only)
Tomodachi Life and PlayStation Vita Pets

Wii U

1,001 Spikes (download - $15)

Vita

PlayStation Vita Pets
Hyperdimension Neptunia: Producing Perfection
1,001 Spikes (download - $15)

Nintendo 3DS

Tomodachi Life
1,001 Spikes (download - $15)