The Update You've Been Waiting For

Right then, it’s been a couple of months since my last post so I’d better update the blog on the slow going of my Dirty30 list.

F.E.A.R 1, 2 and 3.

I’ve managed to complete all three and overall it was a positive experience, even though the games are old. The original game is now over a decade old and shows its age graphically, but what it does have is superb enemy AI. They will flank you, come back and search for you if you escape etc. Fear 2 is a great continuation of the franchise, obviously better graphically and gameplay. Fear 3 however does let the series down a bit, with set piece chapters and my pet hate from games, regenerating health instead of med packs. Still, I think I picked up the whole lot for a five in a steam sale so well worth it.

The Witcher 3

This one is not on my list, but having got about 10 hours into a Deathmarch NG+ a year or so back before the final DLC landed I had an itch to finish it. I did a few things slightly differently and got what is described as the “best” ending although the one I got in my original playthough actually feels like the better fit for the world, rather than for Geralt. Gameplay wise it is a bit tougher, but the really hard parts are the chunks when you play as Ciri, particularly the boss fight with the Crones which took around 20 goes to get through.

Dishonored

Another one not on the list, and a game I didn’t enjoy when I first played it in 2013. Having purchased the sequel in the Steam Sale and not remembering what happened in the original, I thought I’d try it again. And to my surprise, I actually loved it this time. I did a low chaos run, not once using the pistol or grenades and only killing if need be (or hitting the wrong button every now and again). Looking forward to playing the sequel now.

Game of Thrones: A Telltale Series.

Played the first couple of chapters. Ramsey looks weird. Margaery even more so. Like it so far.

Elite Dangerous

I abandoned it after four to five hours after playing it originally. Could not get along with it and don’t get me started on landing. But, having watched a few Youtube videos I needed a game to just paddle along with between single player games. And like Dishonored, I’ve slowly started to enjoy it. Still really learning the ropes but getting to grips with it.

Skyrim

Met Max Von Sydow on the mountain. On the way to find Jurgen Windcaller’s horn again.

L.A.Noire

Did one case in July. If real police worked as slow as me the courts would close.

Fallout 4

Started a very hard playthrough. Cleaned out Corvega factory. Preston Garvey has another mission. Enough said.

That’s a pretty long list of things I’ve done (or not done). It’s really going to be a two year effort to clean the list out but I’ve only added four games this year so far. Prey is on sale until the end of August however and as I’m a bit of a Bethesda fanboy…..

Steam Summer Sale Ahoy

It's the usual time of year when wallets crumble and gamers are buying games that they'll never play for five years.....it's the Steam Summer Sale!

I remember my first one. In those days there used to be flash sales every eight hours so it was much more fun. The first game I bought in one of those I still haven't ever finished (Dark Souls...enough said).

Now, under my restrictions the spending this year will be less. I started with £25 and have completed seven games off my YOLG list so here's my finished sale spending

BUDGET AVAILABLE : £25 + 7x5=£35  TOTAL=£60

DISHONORED 2                                       14.99
XCOM 2                                                  11.54
DEUS EX MANKIND DIVIDED                       9.99
AMERICAN TRUCK SIMULATOR                    7.49
--------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL                                                      44.01

And thats it for this sale. I'm aiming to get up to £40 for when Wolfenstein comes out so I'll need to finish another 5 games for that.

The Man Who Sold The World...Is That It?

 

Well, it took a bit less than I expected, 63 hours in fact, but today I finished Chapter 46 of MGS V: The Phantom Pain and in effect finished the game.

What a strange game. For 30 missions of Chapter 1, this was on track to be in the top ten all time of my favourite games. I'd beat Sahell...what's its name and thought, heck, if this is the end of Chapter 1 then Chapter 2 must be awesome.

And then the game folded in on itself like a black hole.

Don't get me wrong, when you add Ground Zeroes to it its easily a 8/10 game, but Chapter 2 is 20 missions long of which about 5 are new missions and the other 15 are either stealth or extreme versions of what you've already done. I did one or two of them and then just couldn't be arsed (espiecially as I'm as stealthy as a donkey with herpes in a brothel). And don't even mention the true ending (which crazily unlocked before the "other" Quiet ending) which if you were irritated at the start of the game, then you will again.

The game is a lot of fun though (moreso if you don't worry about mission ranks) and the variety of weapons to play with are great.

There are still loads of side missions and the FOB stuff I could do, but I think I've had my fill of the game.

I had to post one picture of her. Just one.

Well, two...

 

 

This Game Will Take Me Forever

There is one problem I have when I play games. 

If it's a game I really like, then the OCD that lives inside my gaming persona takes on a whole new level.

The Witcher 3 for example, probably my favourite game ever. Most lists say you can complete it in around 80 hours. I took nearly 200.

Fallout 4. Probably you could finish it in say 60 hours. I'm at 263.

If I can help it, I don't fast travel in big, sprawling RPG's, which explains the play time of The Witcher 3. And the moment those little treasure icons pop up or side missions appear, I must do them.

 

And so it looks like Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is going to be on this list. I've just completed mission 20 by <SPOILER> driving the Man on Fire off a cliff. Apparently there are 50 story missions. So far, I've hit the 37 hour mark.

The game doesn't really get you until about mission 10, when you start getting better weapons and two really important assets that keep your undivided attention at all times. I've never really played any of the other MGS games other than Ground Zeroes but this game is immense. 2015 was a good year for games.

See you at Christmas.

A Picture Tells A Thousand Words

A quick update, and this picture basically sums up my month's gaming (aside from a bit of LA Noire and finishing Battlefield Hardline....less said about that the better.

I'm about five chapters into Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and its safe to say I'm enjoying it immensely, despite not having a clue what's going on half the time. The opening chapter was just...well...crazy, and unfortunately the game quickly turns into a third person shooter as I'm about as stealthy in this game as Donald Trump is in a beauty pageant.

The Only Game of The Year List That Counts

Right then, without further ado, here is the only Game of the Year list for 2016 that counts. These are all based on PC release date and include no remasters (Sorry Skyrim).

5) Rise of The Tomb Raider

Before you say anything, released on PC on January 27^th. Whilst I don’t think it’s quite as good as the reboot from 2013, it is still deserves a place in this top five. Graphics are beautiful and the gameplay is fun.

4) The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine DLC

I never usually include expansions in GOTY lists, but this one is virtually a game in itself. A triumphant end to the saga of Geralt, with a gorgeous world and the return of the Archspores from the first Witcher. The best game ever.

3) The Division

This did not enter this top five until very late, as I put it to one side after getting it free in April. But after putting some hours in the drive for loot becomes very addictive. And the representation of New York is superb and the story is interesting. 

Now, the last two on my list I spent hours debating which one to choose as my number one as there is literally a fag paper between them. But, in the end I had to choose…..

2) Doom

When I saw the Bethesda conference in 2015, I said to myself there is absolutely no way I’m getting Doom. It’s a pure shooter and just not my type of game. I saw the adverts through Spring and again it just didn’t appeal to me. Then Steam put it on sale in September at a good price and I thought, why not? Well, I’m glad I did.

Doom is one of the most fun games I’ve played. There is basically a token story, no character development whatsoever but….it’s just so much fun chainsawing demons, ramming an arm into a throat…I could go on. A triumph.

But it was beaten at the very last by…

1)  Titanfall 2

Never played the first one. Like Doom I had no intention of picking it up. I then watched a stream during extra life weekend and it swayed me into getting it in the sales next year. Then Amazon reduced the price to £25 during Black Friday and kerching, bought it.

I have to say that the multiplayer is the best I’ve played, catering for people that are not particulary good at shooting by giving them a giant robot as a friend. Bounty Hunt is a great mode as well.

What got TF2 to number one in my list is its single player. The story is fun, engaging and surprisingly emotional. If the story had been as long as Doom was, to me it would be a consensus GOTY.

The only thing wrong with TF2 is EA’s complete stupidity in releasing it within a week of Battlefield 1. To say that they wouldn’t compete is ludicrous and in some ways it has doomed the game. Only 6000 players are around during weekend’s which is disappointing. Why didn’t EA put the game into the 10 hour Access trial when the did with Battlefield? To me, the only way to save Titanfall 2 is to get the game into the vault within the next couple of months or it will die.

A couple of honourable mentions:

F1 2016 would have been number five on the list if I didn't include Blood and Wine. It's a fabulous and frustrating game.

Fallout 4 Far Harbour DLC has a great atmosphere and more interesting creatures than the main game. The story is still pretty weak however and has one of the most frustrating sections in any game this year. 

 

Mirror's Edge of Darkness

So, Mirrors Edge Catalyst is completed. I’m not sure whether I really like the game or really loathe the game. It’s probably a bit of both.

I never played the original so I missed out on probably most of the backstory of the original. The heroine Faith, comes across as a rather bland cardboard cut-out. One aspect of movies and games in general is that if there are flashbacks to the charactors childhood, then one part of the past believed to be the truth is in fact false. I half guessed early on what the twist was and from then on it played out as expected. Faith’s rather blasé reaction to it only reinforced my view of it.

The story is rather boring. The parkour element of the game is easily the highpoint. The fun of running around a rather lifeless environment is the only really redeeming feature of the game.

The biggest problem is quite simply the appalling melee combat system and the stick men that you fight. Maybe I’m just old and useless but the amount of time I completely lost sight of who I was meant to be fighting or zoomed past them was really horrific. There are no boss fights, the best fight in the game is a cut scene at the end and by the time the final chapters start its far easier to just run away from them instead of fighting them.

All in all, Mirrors Edge Catalyst is an average experience and I’m glad that I only got the game on Origin Access as I wouldn’t have liked to have dumped the full price on it.