Destiny Beta

   

     What can I not say about Bungie's new meticulously thought out Fiesta en mis pantalones! Bungie is reaching out to every platform this time, from PS3 to XBox One. Destiny has the promise of not only keeping the franchise alive but showing that they can do something other than Halo and be good at it! The Beta only let you go up to level 8 but every minute that you were stuck in Russia was an amazing time, whether you were doing story missions or just utilizing the free world time. There was always someone else around to help or be helped.

     The character creation was one of my favorite points. For a console "MMO" this actually had quite a bit of options, not as many as an Elder Scrolls game, bust a lot none-the-less. After playing around with the character creation for a time you got to head into the game.

     The scene starts off with a "Ghost" finding you and bringing you back to life, as a Guardian. You are being chased by the Fallen, a group of creatures that looks a bit like alien scavangers. Once you escape their grasp you have to find a ship to get you to The Tower.

     The Tower is a safe meeting place for all players. It is a place that has shops and class masters so that you can obtain items that are meant for you character, though, like in Borderlands, you usually get better weapons by completing harder missions and joining public events. Once you costumize your character to your liking it's time to head back out to the unknown.

     Though it was just beta, there was still a lot of content for this console MMO. The special event and missions that were playable one day only on the moon showed the capatacity of Destiny. On launch there will be multiple planets you can fly to at anytime to do any missions, or roam around and help others out. As always with Bungie there will be continuous updates and extra content added to keep the players happy. I was so pleased with this beta I had to change my underwear 3 times, take that as you will. All-in-all, Bungie has really hit the mark and once again raised the bar on the online first-person shooter genre.

-beta played on xbox one

Sunset Overdrive

     "Can you survive the many dangers? Can you help others survive? Can you save Sunset City? Can you? For the love of god CAN YOU? Of course you can, it's a f***ing video game."

     

     After watching the opening of this new Xbox One exclusive I wonder if it's a quirky new take on Dead Rising or actually something that might be more interesting.

     Set for Release in the UK and Australia as well as the US, Sunset Overdrive has everything a zombie right wing conservative would want in a game.  Of course we use the word "zombie" loosely, it's actually based upon an energy drink that has transformed nearly the entire population of Sunset City into a variety of toxic mutant creatures from your grandmother's attic.  Well minus the attic, but still from your grandmother's house.  With Insomniac using an updated version of their own secret recipe engine, the game is open world with a metric butt-ton of options to choose from when it comes to getting from point A to point Z and all the letters in between.

     The options don't stop there, you will be able to wall-run better than the pilots on Titanfall and grind your way across banners, rails, and power lines like your playing Jet Set Radio!  You'll also be able to customize your special abilities and use an arsenal that was most likely put together by your uncle Bill.  Regardless of who the maniacal devastating weapons came from they are more than enough to get the job done and have fun in the process.  Insomniac says they will keep the content updated post launch with new events and items.  There will also be something called Sunset TV during the game featuring the voice of the developer.  

     With it's comic book like quips that pop up after a big attack, a tear of joy will roll down your cheek.  All the promise and fun Sunset Overdrive looks to provide in my life means that it will be sitting in my download que sooner rather than later.  Look for this amazingly shiny game online and at your local retail store on 10/28/2014!

Archeage: The missing genome of MMO's

     The game you've all been looking for is finally here. Archeage, but is it everything it's cracked up to be? After playing the alpha and beta I can honestly tell you it is worth it. Once it is released (date still unknown) it will be a free to play MMO, and for that price you won't find a better game. Of course you get more content if you pay for it, but the game with it's breath taking visuals and enormous open world has plenty of content for the casual MMO thrill seeker.

     Character or toon choices are amazing and beautiful enough that I was drawn in instantly. I play with a Harani kind of Healer/DPS. From the start the game takes you through almost all the basics, and there is so much content that it takes up until level twenty before the larger number of help topics are not needed. I am now a level 30 and I still have to go back and learn things. Now don't get discouraged thinking you need know all the basics to play, the designers had you, that's right you, in mind when they made it. Learning the basic skills and attributes is not the only positive outcome of doing these quests, they also get you butt loads of experience and more content for your character.

     By level 5 I had the games first mount, and at level 15 I had the famous gliders that you see in all the ads and commercials. But thats not all you learn, you dont just get a mount, you have to buy it as a baby and play with it, feed it, and water it before it grows enough to use it. The game gives you 6 hours to do this or you can gather all you need before putting your pet down. Now that 6 hours doesn't mean your pet disappears if you don't finish, it just means it's free game for all other players.

     Another amazing aspect of the game is.... you don't have to level to play. How you ask? Simple, the games economy is player based, which means players grow, build, cook, mix, make, scavenge, and all those other producing words, everything in the game that is worth anything. Therefore you can become a farmer and do nothing but that. Crops grow in real world time, speed depending on the crop. I grew trees so that I could build a bigger ship and it took 14 hours to fully grow after watering, and at the end of the 14 hours I was given another 12 to claim my trees for their wood or once again they were free game to other players.

     Now just because you don't need to level doesn't mean you shouldn't. Say for instance you are an underwater scavenger, to be able to get to the best underwater loot you are going to want a bigger, faster ship. Notice I say want, you get a row boat as part of a quest, but we all know how long it takes to get to England in a row boat. Back onto the topic, you need to be a higher level to be able to get that faster ship, but that's not all you need for underwater scavenging. Air tanks are available on the larger ships so that you can stay under longer and collect more.

     There is one more piece to the overall puzzle of Archeage that will make you want to level and have good gear. You will run into the opposing faction either while out scavenging, fishing, or even at home farming. How are you going to defend yourself if you decide to not level?

     Regardless of your choice to support the economy, do missions, or be a common house wife/husband and sit at home and cook pies all day for the market, the content never feels repetitive..... unless you are farming pumpkins 24/7.

     There is also a player based legal system. At any point in certain areas you are able to turn on your own faction, though if you do kill someone in your own faction and get caught you will be arrested and tried for murder. The jury consists of real players, and you are at mercy of their hands.

Overall Archeage is an amazing game with an extensive repertoire of action and content. This is one game that will never bore you!

Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition

Alright. I'm going to start this by stating that I don't like puzzle games. Like, at all. The only reason I picked up this game is because I have already overplayed Titanfall and this game received great ratings. Plus, Gamestop Dude told me it was really long. Which is great because I'm trying to save money and my wife is out of town all weekend. Let the underwear-beer-and-coffee gaming commence.

First things first, her boobs shrunk. Not that I'm complaining; anything more than a handful is a waste. It's just... quite noticeable. Next, this game is absolutely gorgeous. It's one hell of a jump from the last one I played, which was 1st generation Playstation. Cool little useless side note: pop the 1st gen Playstation disc into a CD player (what's that?) and you can listen to the cinematics. Anyways, just the first cinematic of this game has me intrigued solely off the basis of beauty.

Then, the buttom-mashing of the opening gameplay didn't waste any time in killing me, though I did like how I got to set myself on fire in the first 30 seconds. Well played. The camera is awfully jumpy too, but I think they did that on purpose. It may add to the gameplay. Haven't quite figured it out yet. I should really be recording myself playing this game; already cussed the TV out twice.

-That log is very conveniently placed across a ravine. I should balance walk across it.
-Shoot! I have to actually balance her as I walk across it.
-Hold-on hold-on hold-on. Is my Hawaiian shipmate-dude wearing a Milwaukee Bucks shirt?
-Nope, not Bucks. Random rugby team.

-Oh man, Now I have to feed her by hunting, gutting, and cleaning a deer.

-I've always wanted to fight off a pack of wolves with a bow and arrow.

-Oh, snap, some dude just said the "F" word! Must be a bad guy.

-Great. I'm being hunted by rapey looking dudes.

-Ha! Got past them.

-Wait, why do I have to go into an actual wolves den?

-Oh, cool. Who would have guessed there'd be a jump-scare cut scene in the wolves den? I love spilling beer all over myself.

-Ah! Her boobs are smaller because this is a younger (prequel) Lara Croft. Makes sense now.

-Oh? You can change her entire outfit, mid-mission. Because logic.

-The island went from jungle to tundra in the span of eight minutes. Reminds me of Wisconsin.

You also have to collect salvage to strengthen (upgrade) the tools/weapons you find. This game does a good job of slowly introducing weapons and tools, too. Just as you are almost bored of using the same tool over and over, BOOM!, someone gives you a rock-climbing axe, and you get to scale a mountain. You do get choices as to how you go about taking on enemies too. You could shoot arrows off the walls next to them to scare them into looking into a different direction. You could shoot glass lanterns to set them on fire. Or you could pull out your sawed-off and wet-'em-up real nice. You can also set up camp throughout the game, though you don't get to chose where. Lara just posts up for the night and that campsite becomes a waypoint that you can start from or "warp" to. There's also a few sections where you don't even realize it's a cut scene, it's that seamless.

I'd also like to point out that I played this game for about 3-1/2 hours (or four porters, depending on how you measure time), only to find out I'm only at 28%. Then, when I'm about to call it quits for the night, I find out there's a multiplayer part of this game too! Unfortunately, it seems as if everything the creators did right in single-player, they did equally wrong in multiplayer. Game play is choppy, maps are small, and objectively there isn't much selection. All that negativity aside, it's still pretty fun. Other than free-for-all and team deathmatch, there are two other game modes. Rescue, where one side collects supplies and the other side melees them to death, seems slow, or at least the two games I played were. Cry For Help is pretty cool. Here one side tries to start three out of four radio transmitters while the other side kills them and steals their batteries.

All-in-all, this is a great game. And definitely worth the used $40 pickup at Gamestop. Once I beat the story, I'll let you know my opinion of that too, but as of right now, it's bed time.