Follow @IMxGONNAxDIE
Another week gone by. I am still behind on getting content out (My girlfriend and I are apartment hunting so I really have no time for gaming but once we are settled in I will be stepping it up BIG TIME) but I hope to stay on track with the weekly reviews. This week we see a few new releases, some drama with devs and I got lucky and was able to pre-order a PS4 launch bundle through Amazon. Lets get right to it:
TotalBiscuit's "WTF is Day One: Garry's Incident" drama with the devs
If you don't know who TotalBiscuit is, he is one of the largest game critics on Youtube and he has a first look series called WTF is... This week, his series took a look at a game called Day One: Garry's Incident. Now TotalBiscuit is brutally honest in all his reviews and is well respected (I weigh his opinion more than most other reviewers) in the community by most. He has given negative reviews before and he will in the future. Where the drama comes in with the WTF is Day One: Garry's Incident is that after the negative review and the popularity of his channel making it the highest viewed review of the game, the head of WildGamesStudio had the video marked for copyright infringement and removed. The TL/DR was posted by TotalBiscuit on his Twitter account. A few days after the incident and the video made by TotalBiscuit explaining the story and slamming Youtubes copyright policy, the devs over at WildGamesStudio had the video put back up and issued a hasty appology and short explanation. Even if it really was a sincere appology from WildGamesStudio, they come out of this looking extremely bad. People do criticize TotalBiscuit all the time but I think it is safe to say that everyone can agree on his points he made about this drama. I will be writing a full article soon detailing my thoughts on the matter and the subject of Youtubes copyright policy so be on the look out for that. Also if you don't now, go follow TotalBiscuit on Twitter and watch his videos, he is a great community figure and puts out quality stuff.
Path of Exile officially launches on Steam
Did Diablo III dissapoint you? Did you like Torchlight but still left wanting the gritty feeling of Diablo II? If you answered yes to these, go on Steam right now and add Path of Exile. The game came out of beta this week and released as a Free2Play game on Steam. Now I usually do not like the F2P model as most of the time is is Pay2Win rather than Free2Play but Path of Exile is truly a F2P game. All the in game purchases are meerly cosmetic and do not have any affect on the gameplay. Path of Exile is a really awesome dungeon crawler and in my opinion it is truly what Diablo III should have been. Go grab it and tell me what you think! I will probably make a quick gameplay video sometime soon to show it off so keep checking for that.
Titanfall release date is March 11, 2014
One of the most anticipated next-gen games got its release date! I am very excited to play this game on release on PC and the more content that comes out, the more excited I get. Respawn seems to be right on the ball when it comes to Titanfall. The gameplay looks fluid and interesting (I love fast shooters) and it seems like the game is gearing up to try and overtake the Call of Duty/Battlefield market of competitive shooters. Only time will tell on how it will play out but early playable demos at cons and the tons of content Respawn is releasing look extremely promising. The real question is do I want to dish out eh $250 for the collectors edition????
Bioshock Infinite DLC coming on November 12
Announced earlier this morning, players can get excited about returning to Rapture on November 12 when Burial at Sea: Part 1 is released. I love this series, I love Infinite, and this DLC comes out 4 days before the PS4 is released in the US which gives players a few days with it before the heavy hitters come out. Smart move by 2K and Irrational considering this DLC would probably get buried (no pun intended) if it was released after the consoles release. 4 days should be plenty to complete what is said to be between 4-6 hours of gameplay back in Rapture. I will see you all back where there are no gods or kings, only man.
Thats all for today guys. Like I said above, there was a small release of more PS4 launch bundles from Amazon and I was lucky enough to pick one up. This weekend is the WCS Season 3 finals for Starcraft II which I will be watching closely and Batman: Arkham Origins was released today but I will be waiting a little bit to pick that up and review.
Thanks for reading and until next time:
Like it: https://www.facebook.com/TheOnlySurvivor
Watch it: http://www.youtube.com/user/theonlysurvivordan
Follow it: Follow @IMxGONNAxDIE
www.hypersmash.com
Friday, October 25, 2013
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Week in Review - 10/19/2013
Follow @IMxGONNAxDIE
Back on track this week after last weekends Comic Con in New York! Some big news came out during the week and it is inching closer and closer to the holiday season (we are just about a month away from the launch of the PS4 and Xbox One!) So without dragging this on lets get right to it:
Watch Dogs delayed until Spring 2014
In what came as a shock to most, Ubisoft announced that they will be delaying the release of Watch Dogs until Spring of 2014. Ubisoft stated they want to make sure they release the best possible game and at this time they still need to work more on the development. I actually applaud Ubisoft for this move, I mean sure, I hate that its delayed and I was really really looking forward to playing it in November but I can wait a little longer if it means a more polished and stable product.
Valve shows off Steam Controller
Valve released a 5 min video this week showing off their Steam Controller being used. They showed how the controller worked with games like Portal 2, Civilization V, Counterstrike GO and Papers Please. While the video was short, it did answer some questions and gave a brief look at the controller in action. While I felt like it worked well with Portal, I didn’t like the trackpad feel for Civilization V though everything is configurable so it might just be due to the configuration they choose to use for that game. Counterstrike didn’t look fluid at all compared to a keyboard and mouse combo but that could be due to having to get used to the controller over time. For FPS games you need to be fast and the precision showed off was there just not the speed but like I said, that could be due to the user not being 100% comfortable yet with the controller. The setup they used for Papers Please did look fluid for that game. All in all, I left the video feeling that the controller has great potential but its just not quite there yet. Maybe in time and with some small tweaks here and there it will become better.
GFWL removed from Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City
First Bioshock now Batman! The death of Games for Windows Live is getting closer and many are rejoicing. As I have said many times before, I HATE GFWL!!! I love both the Arkham games but the problem for me was once I beat the games I had no desire to go back and play all the side missions and a main reason for that was because of GFWL. Now with it removed you can be damn sure I will be diving back into both games and getting all the rest of the stuff that I missed done.
Blizzard presents: Heroes of the Storm
That’s right, another HotS! Formerly known as Blizzard All-Stars, Heroes of the Storm is Blizzards entry back into the MOBA scene. Do they have what it takes to take on the likes of League of Legends and DOTA 2? Only time will tell but I would keep my eye close on this considering who it is. I mean when Blizzard release the first Starcraft they re-defined the RTS genre and then later when World of Warcraft came out, they re-invented the MMO so it is very exciting to see them try a MOBA and possible re-shape the industry once again.
That’s all for this week guys. Like I said, sorry for the delays in getting this out, and for missing last week because of New York Comic Con but I am back on track now and I have plenty in the works especially with the holiday season almost here and the end of the year awards.
Thanks for reading and until next time:
Like it: https://www.facebook.com/TheOnlySurvivor
Watch it: http://www.youtube.com/user/theonlysurvivordan
Follow it:Follow @IMxGONNAxDIE
www.HyperSmash.com
Back on track this week after last weekends Comic Con in New York! Some big news came out during the week and it is inching closer and closer to the holiday season (we are just about a month away from the launch of the PS4 and Xbox One!) So without dragging this on lets get right to it:
Watch Dogs delayed until Spring 2014
In what came as a shock to most, Ubisoft announced that they will be delaying the release of Watch Dogs until Spring of 2014. Ubisoft stated they want to make sure they release the best possible game and at this time they still need to work more on the development. I actually applaud Ubisoft for this move, I mean sure, I hate that its delayed and I was really really looking forward to playing it in November but I can wait a little longer if it means a more polished and stable product.
Valve shows off Steam Controller
Valve released a 5 min video this week showing off their Steam Controller being used. They showed how the controller worked with games like Portal 2, Civilization V, Counterstrike GO and Papers Please. While the video was short, it did answer some questions and gave a brief look at the controller in action. While I felt like it worked well with Portal, I didn’t like the trackpad feel for Civilization V though everything is configurable so it might just be due to the configuration they choose to use for that game. Counterstrike didn’t look fluid at all compared to a keyboard and mouse combo but that could be due to having to get used to the controller over time. For FPS games you need to be fast and the precision showed off was there just not the speed but like I said, that could be due to the user not being 100% comfortable yet with the controller. The setup they used for Papers Please did look fluid for that game. All in all, I left the video feeling that the controller has great potential but its just not quite there yet. Maybe in time and with some small tweaks here and there it will become better.
GFWL removed from Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City
First Bioshock now Batman! The death of Games for Windows Live is getting closer and many are rejoicing. As I have said many times before, I HATE GFWL!!! I love both the Arkham games but the problem for me was once I beat the games I had no desire to go back and play all the side missions and a main reason for that was because of GFWL. Now with it removed you can be damn sure I will be diving back into both games and getting all the rest of the stuff that I missed done.
Blizzard presents: Heroes of the Storm
That’s right, another HotS! Formerly known as Blizzard All-Stars, Heroes of the Storm is Blizzards entry back into the MOBA scene. Do they have what it takes to take on the likes of League of Legends and DOTA 2? Only time will tell but I would keep my eye close on this considering who it is. I mean when Blizzard release the first Starcraft they re-defined the RTS genre and then later when World of Warcraft came out, they re-invented the MMO so it is very exciting to see them try a MOBA and possible re-shape the industry once again.
That’s all for this week guys. Like I said, sorry for the delays in getting this out, and for missing last week because of New York Comic Con but I am back on track now and I have plenty in the works especially with the holiday season almost here and the end of the year awards.
Thanks for reading and until next time:
Like it: https://www.facebook.com/TheOnlySurvivor
Watch it: http://www.youtube.com/user/theonlysurvivordan
Follow it:Follow @IMxGONNAxDIE
www.HyperSmash.com
Thursday, October 17, 2013
New York Comic Con
Follow @IMxGONNAxDIE
Hey all! Now that I have had a few days to recover I figured it was way past due for me to share my experiences with you about New York Comic Con last weekend. What an amazing event! My girlfriend and I had a blast for 3 days and got to experience tons of amazing things there. I'll go day by day through this so bare with me, there is A LOT!
Friday
Our first day we arrived relatively early (doors opened at 10 we got there around 11) and once there immediately jumped in line for the Game of Thrones panel with Jerome Flynn (Bronn). Now before I go any further into the story I will say that this is my first MAJOR con. I have been to smaller ones in CT (ComicConn) and other small ones here and there. NYCC is HUGE! If you have ever been to the Javits Center you know how big it really is. Tons of people everywhere and I must say I would be lying if I told you I wasn't a bit overwhelmed and intimidated. This was the first ever con for my girlfriend and she had no idea what she was walking into. Anyway, while waiting in line we got to take in the site of all the cosplayers (we stood right behind a kid dressed as Jon Snow and his father who was Clark Kent) and we tried to settle into the crowd. Finally we got into the panel room and waited a bit for Jerome to get there. Once there he was awesome! Such a nice guy and very entertaining to listen to. He discussed some of the happenings that we are to expect on the next season of Game of Thrones (Which is currently mine and my girlfriends favorite show on TV).
After that panel we grabbed a quick lunch and then rushed all the way across the convention center to the Empire stage (second biggest stage) and planted ourselves in the front of the line for The Walking Dead 10 Year Anniversary panel. I love The Walking Dead, it is my favorite running book right now and to get to see Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard talk about it was the highlight of the con for me hands down! It was a pleasure to sit down and hear Rob and Charlie talk about their craft and really appreciate their fans the way they did, they were Awesome!
At this point it was about 4 and we still had yet to see the show floor!!!!! (Yeah this con is HUGE!) We finally made our way up the escalators to the show floor and at that moment I thought "so this is what it felt like when Niel Armstrong took his first steps on the Moon!" No but really it was amazing to see everything (Sensory overload!). But there was no time to waltz around, I had to get to a signing! We made our way over to the middle section of the show floor where Claudio Sanchez (writer of The Amory Wars, singer/guitarist of Coheed and Cambria) was signing and meeting with fans. So while we were rushing over there we were passing the Image! comics booth and right in front of me was ROBERT FUCKING KIRKMAN! He was finishing up an interview and I watched him as he completed it then started to an impromptu signing. I quickly grabbed what I could from my backpack and got him to sign my Thief of Thieves #1!!!!!! I was ecstatic (My girlfriend said I had the look of a kid in a candy store when he signed my book). Rob didn't stay very long so that was the only book I got signed from him which is more than fine with me!
Anyway, we finally got in line for Claudio and waited and waited and waited some more while talking with people in line and just taking in the atmosphere of the con. It was a good time although some people got a bit annoying (no offense but I don't care about you seeing Daft Punk or the Green Power Ranger, whatever his name is, earlier). I got to Claudio and had him sign my Amory Wars book and talked to him briefly. He was there with his wife Chondra and they both couldn't have been any nicer. He was amazing and so friendly, it just made me love Coheed even more.
After that we walked around the show floor for a bit more and I got to see a game over at the Intel Extreme Masters area where they had Starcraft II (I saw FLASH!!!!@#!@#@!#@) which was awesome. I love e-sports events (I had gone to MLG a couple of years ago in Providence, RI and it was amazing). We then when back downstairs to the conference rooms to grab dinner and then wait for the final panel of the day for us, Bob's Burgers.
We got back the Empire stage a bit early and were able to get right in while the panel for Nickelodeon's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was going on. That was pretty cool and unexpected, they showed the whole season premier to the audience and did some Q and A with the fans. Finally we moved up to the front section and had a blast with the cast from Bob's Burgers (currently our favorite animated show, it really is wonderful and we love it so much we went a couple of weeks ago to the premier in Brooklyn with the cast, if you have not seen it GO WATCH IT! It's on Netflix).
And with that, we went back to Grand Central and took the train home and passed out so we would be ready to go for day 2...
Saturday
When we woke up on Saturday, to say we were exhausted is an understatement. Friday took soooooo much out of us that we ended up leaving later. It wasn't a big deal, we decided to take it easy that day and we ended up back at the con around noon. Although I missed the Stan Lee signing that day it didn't bother me. Saturday was to be a day of relaxing and taking in what the show floor had to offer. We stopped by everything! Capcom, Ubisoft, Nintendo, Marvel, DC, Image, Dark Horse just to name a few. It was nice to not have to be rushing to anything early on so we got to enjoy the floor. That was when my girlfriend and I decided that we will 100% be coming back next year!
Anyway at around 4:00 Charlie Adlard (artist for The Walking Dead) had a signing and I got right at the front for him. He ended up doing 5 sketches before signing which sucked but was awesome at the same time. It sucked because it took an hour and a half but it was awesome because I got to see him work and he is amazing! Anyway, once again when I got to him he was as nice as anyone could be and really a great great guy in general.
After that we headed downstairs to try to get into The Walking Dead show panel which ended up being overly full already (damn) so we went back up to the show floor and bought a few things and checked out some more IEM before heading back home. Overall the day was awesome again but I do wish we did a few more panels but oh well, there is next year. Saturday wasn't as action packed as Friday but that is also due to us being so drained and not being prepared. We made it home early and made sure to get right to bed so Sunday would be a blast.
Sunday
We woke up early and felt a lot better than we did on Saturday so we were 100% prepared to take on anything! We got there at around 10:30 and immediately went to Artist Alley which we had not been the past 2 days. There were tons of comic artists and writers. I got to see a few of my favorites like Jim Zub and Jonathan Hickman which was pretty cool then we went downstairs and got in line for R.L. Stine.
Mr Stine was an amazing presenter, for 70 years old, he is still as sharp as a tack and his talk was inspiring. Goosebumps was a favorite of mine growing up and to see the man who created it all was incredible. He was surprisingly very funny and so grateful for all his fans. He is a legend in my book and I was honored to be in his presence.
After R.L. Stine we headed over the Empire stage once again to see The Following panel. That was pretty cool to see Kevin Bacon and James Purefoy up on stage talking about the upcoming season, I have to admit, I was a bit starstruck once Kevin Bacon took the stage. Finally, we made one last round on the show floor and picked up a few things before leaving.
All in all, this was an AMAZING weekend and my girlfriend and I had tons of fun. There were a few things that I thought the organizers could have done better (BETTER INFORMATION ABOUT THE SHUTTLES!!!!!!) but in the end it was negligible. You can be damn sure that we will be coming back next year and now that this one is over we have the knowledge to better prepare. As for some games on display, there were playable demos for Assassin's Creed IV, Dark Souls II and an Alpha version of Dungeon Defenders II just to name a few. Now its back to business for me, tomorrow I will have the week in review and I have been working on some more posts for the next coming weeks. That holiday season is only a few weeks away now and I have been gathering my thoughts on how I should go about making a Game of the Year post so be sure to check back around early/mid December for that (maybe by that time I will set up a contest to go along with it for some game codes).
Thanks for reading and until next time:
Like it: https://www.facebook.com/TheOnlySurvivor
Watch it: http://www.youtube.com/user/theonlysurvivordan
Follow it: Follow @IMxGONNAxDIE
HyperSmash.com
Hey all! Now that I have had a few days to recover I figured it was way past due for me to share my experiences with you about New York Comic Con last weekend. What an amazing event! My girlfriend and I had a blast for 3 days and got to experience tons of amazing things there. I'll go day by day through this so bare with me, there is A LOT!
Friday
Our first day we arrived relatively early (doors opened at 10 we got there around 11) and once there immediately jumped in line for the Game of Thrones panel with Jerome Flynn (Bronn). Now before I go any further into the story I will say that this is my first MAJOR con. I have been to smaller ones in CT (ComicConn) and other small ones here and there. NYCC is HUGE! If you have ever been to the Javits Center you know how big it really is. Tons of people everywhere and I must say I would be lying if I told you I wasn't a bit overwhelmed and intimidated. This was the first ever con for my girlfriend and she had no idea what she was walking into. Anyway, while waiting in line we got to take in the site of all the cosplayers (we stood right behind a kid dressed as Jon Snow and his father who was Clark Kent) and we tried to settle into the crowd. Finally we got into the panel room and waited a bit for Jerome to get there. Once there he was awesome! Such a nice guy and very entertaining to listen to. He discussed some of the happenings that we are to expect on the next season of Game of Thrones (Which is currently mine and my girlfriends favorite show on TV).
After that panel we grabbed a quick lunch and then rushed all the way across the convention center to the Empire stage (second biggest stage) and planted ourselves in the front of the line for The Walking Dead 10 Year Anniversary panel. I love The Walking Dead, it is my favorite running book right now and to get to see Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard talk about it was the highlight of the con for me hands down! It was a pleasure to sit down and hear Rob and Charlie talk about their craft and really appreciate their fans the way they did, they were Awesome!
At this point it was about 4 and we still had yet to see the show floor!!!!! (Yeah this con is HUGE!) We finally made our way up the escalators to the show floor and at that moment I thought "so this is what it felt like when Niel Armstrong took his first steps on the Moon!" No but really it was amazing to see everything (Sensory overload!). But there was no time to waltz around, I had to get to a signing! We made our way over to the middle section of the show floor where Claudio Sanchez (writer of The Amory Wars, singer/guitarist of Coheed and Cambria) was signing and meeting with fans. So while we were rushing over there we were passing the Image! comics booth and right in front of me was ROBERT FUCKING KIRKMAN! He was finishing up an interview and I watched him as he completed it then started to an impromptu signing. I quickly grabbed what I could from my backpack and got him to sign my Thief of Thieves #1!!!!!! I was ecstatic (My girlfriend said I had the look of a kid in a candy store when he signed my book). Rob didn't stay very long so that was the only book I got signed from him which is more than fine with me!
Anyway, we finally got in line for Claudio and waited and waited and waited some more while talking with people in line and just taking in the atmosphere of the con. It was a good time although some people got a bit annoying (no offense but I don't care about you seeing Daft Punk or the Green Power Ranger, whatever his name is, earlier). I got to Claudio and had him sign my Amory Wars book and talked to him briefly. He was there with his wife Chondra and they both couldn't have been any nicer. He was amazing and so friendly, it just made me love Coheed even more.
After that we walked around the show floor for a bit more and I got to see a game over at the Intel Extreme Masters area where they had Starcraft II (I saw FLASH!!!!@#!@#@!#@) which was awesome. I love e-sports events (I had gone to MLG a couple of years ago in Providence, RI and it was amazing). We then when back downstairs to the conference rooms to grab dinner and then wait for the final panel of the day for us, Bob's Burgers.
We got back the Empire stage a bit early and were able to get right in while the panel for Nickelodeon's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was going on. That was pretty cool and unexpected, they showed the whole season premier to the audience and did some Q and A with the fans. Finally we moved up to the front section and had a blast with the cast from Bob's Burgers (currently our favorite animated show, it really is wonderful and we love it so much we went a couple of weeks ago to the premier in Brooklyn with the cast, if you have not seen it GO WATCH IT! It's on Netflix).
And with that, we went back to Grand Central and took the train home and passed out so we would be ready to go for day 2...
Saturday
When we woke up on Saturday, to say we were exhausted is an understatement. Friday took soooooo much out of us that we ended up leaving later. It wasn't a big deal, we decided to take it easy that day and we ended up back at the con around noon. Although I missed the Stan Lee signing that day it didn't bother me. Saturday was to be a day of relaxing and taking in what the show floor had to offer. We stopped by everything! Capcom, Ubisoft, Nintendo, Marvel, DC, Image, Dark Horse just to name a few. It was nice to not have to be rushing to anything early on so we got to enjoy the floor. That was when my girlfriend and I decided that we will 100% be coming back next year!
Anyway at around 4:00 Charlie Adlard (artist for The Walking Dead) had a signing and I got right at the front for him. He ended up doing 5 sketches before signing which sucked but was awesome at the same time. It sucked because it took an hour and a half but it was awesome because I got to see him work and he is amazing! Anyway, once again when I got to him he was as nice as anyone could be and really a great great guy in general.
After that we headed downstairs to try to get into The Walking Dead show panel which ended up being overly full already (damn) so we went back up to the show floor and bought a few things and checked out some more IEM before heading back home. Overall the day was awesome again but I do wish we did a few more panels but oh well, there is next year. Saturday wasn't as action packed as Friday but that is also due to us being so drained and not being prepared. We made it home early and made sure to get right to bed so Sunday would be a blast.
Sunday
We woke up early and felt a lot better than we did on Saturday so we were 100% prepared to take on anything! We got there at around 10:30 and immediately went to Artist Alley which we had not been the past 2 days. There were tons of comic artists and writers. I got to see a few of my favorites like Jim Zub and Jonathan Hickman which was pretty cool then we went downstairs and got in line for R.L. Stine.
Mr Stine was an amazing presenter, for 70 years old, he is still as sharp as a tack and his talk was inspiring. Goosebumps was a favorite of mine growing up and to see the man who created it all was incredible. He was surprisingly very funny and so grateful for all his fans. He is a legend in my book and I was honored to be in his presence.
After R.L. Stine we headed over the Empire stage once again to see The Following panel. That was pretty cool to see Kevin Bacon and James Purefoy up on stage talking about the upcoming season, I have to admit, I was a bit starstruck once Kevin Bacon took the stage. Finally, we made one last round on the show floor and picked up a few things before leaving.
All in all, this was an AMAZING weekend and my girlfriend and I had tons of fun. There were a few things that I thought the organizers could have done better (BETTER INFORMATION ABOUT THE SHUTTLES!!!!!!) but in the end it was negligible. You can be damn sure that we will be coming back next year and now that this one is over we have the knowledge to better prepare. As for some games on display, there were playable demos for Assassin's Creed IV, Dark Souls II and an Alpha version of Dungeon Defenders II just to name a few. Now its back to business for me, tomorrow I will have the week in review and I have been working on some more posts for the next coming weeks. That holiday season is only a few weeks away now and I have been gathering my thoughts on how I should go about making a Game of the Year post so be sure to check back around early/mid December for that (maybe by that time I will set up a contest to go along with it for some game codes).
Thanks for reading and until next time:
Like it: https://www.facebook.com/TheOnlySurvivor
Watch it: http://www.youtube.com/user/theonlysurvivordan
Follow it: Follow @IMxGONNAxDIE
HyperSmash.com
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
First Impressions: Battlefield 4
Follow @IMxGONNAxDIE
Battlefield 4 is set to launch on October 29 but, starting last Friday, the game has gone into open beta and I had the chance to try it out for myself last night. As far as my involvement with the Battlefield series goes, I have drifted away. I loved Battlefield: 1942, I even remember getting it on release day in 2002 and my friends and I spent hours upon hours playing Battlefield 2 later down the road. I'll be honest, I did not get into Battlefield 3 when it was released and only recently played it for a bit. I never saw the hype with that one and I guess I felt more like between the Battlefield series and the Call of Duty games, military FPS's were becoming stale and repetitive. No game was bringing anything new to the table besides updated graphics and a few minor tweaks here and there.
So last night I downloaded the beta for Battlefield 4 because why not? It's free and is essentially a demo to try out until the launch of the proper title. I joined a game and while it was loading I thought to myself that its just going to be more of the same and boring and after the beta expires I will just crawl my way back to ARMA III to get my military fix. So the game loaded and I was on the deploy screen and took a few minutes to go through my settings and max out everything to really try and get the most out of the experience. When I deployed and entered the game I was immediately BLOWN AWAY by how amazing everything looked. Just because of the sheer size of the map I thought the graphical increases would be minor at best over Battlefield 3 but with all the action and destruction going on around me on a 64 player map, I was totally not expecting the game to look THAT good (don't get me wrong, it is in no way THE BEST graphics ever, but they are really amazing, this is of course on a PC running everything at max).
I have read a few peoples first reactions to the beta and what surprised me was a lot of people complaining about performance issues such as FPS drops and stutters, to having to lower graphics because of how taxing it is on their system. This was not the case for me though. I had a smooth 60 FPS throughout the majority of my playtime and I believe the lowest it ever dropped to was 45 FPS and that was only when I jumped off the skyscraper and was parachuting down to the ground. I did hit a rather nasty bug towards the end of my play which was a VRAM leak which crashed the game but as of right now I have no problem with that, it is beta after all and I was not expecting a totally bug free experience, but hopefully DICE is aware of the issue and will patch that bug before the retail release.
All in all, it was a really enjoyable experience and just by having the risk free hands on experience with the game made me really consider grabbing it at release. The map was wonderful and interesting, the frostbite engine is really impressive and the gameplay was more refined than Battlefield 3. I truly believe that from what I experienced, 4 will be the installment in the series that really takes that next step to distance itself from other FPS franchises, namely Call of Duty. Now I can't say much for the Call of Duty release basically because I am tired of that franchise but if CoD doesn't step it up majorly with Ghosts then Battlefield will reign supreme and I believe it will only get stronger from here.
Thanks for reading and until next time:
Like it: https://www.facebook.com/TheOnlySurvivor
Watch it: http://www.youtube.com/user/theonlysurvivordan
Follow it: Follow @IMxGONNAxDIE
HyperSmash
Battlefield 4 is set to launch on October 29 but, starting last Friday, the game has gone into open beta and I had the chance to try it out for myself last night. As far as my involvement with the Battlefield series goes, I have drifted away. I loved Battlefield: 1942, I even remember getting it on release day in 2002 and my friends and I spent hours upon hours playing Battlefield 2 later down the road. I'll be honest, I did not get into Battlefield 3 when it was released and only recently played it for a bit. I never saw the hype with that one and I guess I felt more like between the Battlefield series and the Call of Duty games, military FPS's were becoming stale and repetitive. No game was bringing anything new to the table besides updated graphics and a few minor tweaks here and there.
So last night I downloaded the beta for Battlefield 4 because why not? It's free and is essentially a demo to try out until the launch of the proper title. I joined a game and while it was loading I thought to myself that its just going to be more of the same and boring and after the beta expires I will just crawl my way back to ARMA III to get my military fix. So the game loaded and I was on the deploy screen and took a few minutes to go through my settings and max out everything to really try and get the most out of the experience. When I deployed and entered the game I was immediately BLOWN AWAY by how amazing everything looked. Just because of the sheer size of the map I thought the graphical increases would be minor at best over Battlefield 3 but with all the action and destruction going on around me on a 64 player map, I was totally not expecting the game to look THAT good (don't get me wrong, it is in no way THE BEST graphics ever, but they are really amazing, this is of course on a PC running everything at max).
I have read a few peoples first reactions to the beta and what surprised me was a lot of people complaining about performance issues such as FPS drops and stutters, to having to lower graphics because of how taxing it is on their system. This was not the case for me though. I had a smooth 60 FPS throughout the majority of my playtime and I believe the lowest it ever dropped to was 45 FPS and that was only when I jumped off the skyscraper and was parachuting down to the ground. I did hit a rather nasty bug towards the end of my play which was a VRAM leak which crashed the game but as of right now I have no problem with that, it is beta after all and I was not expecting a totally bug free experience, but hopefully DICE is aware of the issue and will patch that bug before the retail release.
All in all, it was a really enjoyable experience and just by having the risk free hands on experience with the game made me really consider grabbing it at release. The map was wonderful and interesting, the frostbite engine is really impressive and the gameplay was more refined than Battlefield 3. I truly believe that from what I experienced, 4 will be the installment in the series that really takes that next step to distance itself from other FPS franchises, namely Call of Duty. Now I can't say much for the Call of Duty release basically because I am tired of that franchise but if CoD doesn't step it up majorly with Ghosts then Battlefield will reign supreme and I believe it will only get stronger from here.
Thanks for reading and until next time:
Like it: https://www.facebook.com/TheOnlySurvivor
Watch it: http://www.youtube.com/user/theonlysurvivordan
Follow it: Follow @IMxGONNAxDIE
HyperSmash
Friday, October 4, 2013
Week in Review 10/4/2013
Follow @IMxGONNAxDIE
Well October is here! This year has flown by and the holiday season is knocking at the door. So many great things in the next couple of months are coming out and I will be right there giving my thoughts on the projects. In other news from me, I am getting closer and closer to actually having the time to set up a weekly stream and I am working on a few reviews. Next weekend I will be attending New York Comic Con and I will be reporting on that as well. Lots of big names there in the world of gaming and entertainment and comics (Ubisoft, Microsoft, The Walking Dead, Marvel, and DC to name just a few!). Phil is currently attending the grand finals of the League of Legends World Championship in LA and should have a full report in the next week on the event. Also, I was thinking about doing a new write up retrospective series with the first being a look back at one of my favorite 90s FPS games, Hexen: Beyond Heretic. So be on the look out for that and let me know if that is something you are interested in reading. And now lets jump into this weeks best:
Valve files trademark for Half-Life 3
It's happening! No but seriously this is really the first big step towards confirmation of the legendary title. Along with a leaked list of developers working on the project, I can see Valve using HL3 to push their new OS and Steam Machines. It makes perfect sense for Valve to do so, I mean how else will they get people on board SteamOS or Steam Machines without an exclusive title that will MAKE people want to make the transition. I know I will 100% be making the switch to SteamOS but for others it may be a tough decision to let go of what they are used to and Valve needs something this big to sell people on the idea that making the switch is a good choice. We will see what happens in the coming year but my fingers are crossed and my hopes are higher than ever that we will finally see HL3 or at least news of Source Engine 2 soon.
Terraria 2 announced
So this is what Andrew Spinks was talking about when he left Terraria to work on a bigger and better mystery project. Fans of Terraria will be pleased with the news that another game is on the way. I played a bit of Terraria and pleasantly enjoyed my time spent on it. It was a solid indie game and with the implementation of new features and possibly better gameplay, I will have to take another visit. With the latest patch (1.2) being released earlier this week, that should hold players interest for enough time for development of Terraria 2 to take place. I expect to hear a lot more about the scope of the project in the coming months.
GTA V Online launched
After the playerbase has had a couple of weeks with the story mode, GTA V launched its online mode... and as usual with online implementations, it was a complete disaster! Players had a hard time accessing the online portion and Rockstar's servers were in meltdown mode. It always seems to happen with big titles going online, it happened with a ton of heavy hitters: WoW, Star Wars Galaxies, Final Fantasy XIV, and the latest SimCity all had atrocious launch days. While it is known that launch days are always horrendous for huge titles, I feel Rockstar could have done a little bit better given the time they had in between the release of the game and online mode. I mean surely they had an at least estimated number on how many people would be jumping on the servers to prepare accordingly. Anyway, it is not all doom and gloom, Rockstar will clean it up and things will start flowing smoothly very soon and all will be forgiven. Just another title to be hit with the online launch curse and it most certainly won't be the last.
Path of Exile comes out of BETA and officially launches Oct. 23
If you LOVED Diablo II but HATED Diablo III, then Get On This Game! Path of Exile is EVERYTHING I wanted Diablo III to be. The loot and trade system is great, the hardcore mode is great, everything is great about Path of Exile. It is great news that it is finally seeing a proper release so be sure to grab this when it comes out proper. Not much else I can say except that this game is the true successor to Diablo II in my eyes.
Tom Clancy dies at age 66
It is with great sadness that the world said goodbye to one of, if not the greatest military writers of all time. Tom Clancy's books inspired a generation of great games including Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon and Splinter Cell. With Ubisoft's The Division coming soon, I hope it does Clancy's name justice as a sort of last hurrah for the acclaimed author. I remember way back in 1998 playing the first Rainbow Six game and being blown away, then later in 2001 playing through one of my favorite shooters of all time: Ghost Recon. Clancy's name has been tied to some of the most successful military franchises in the world and his legacy will live on. My condolences go out to all his friends and family, the world has lost a legend.
Those are the heavy hitters of the week. We are all still awaiting more news on the SteamOS (I believe it was promised to us soon?) and the rumor mill is churning with new information on the story DLC for Bioshock Infinite (already there was a small write up by Polygon and Kevin Levine has said that info is on the way very soon). Anyway that is all hopefully for next week. I hope to get some more content out next week as well, as I said earlier, Phil should have a write up on the LoL worlds and I am working on a retrospective of Hexen and a few other reviews (Tomb Raider, Don't Starve, and Deadlight). So with that, I will see you all soon!
Thanks for reading and until next time:
Like it: https://www.facebook.com/TheOnlySurvivor
Watch it: http://www.youtube.com/user/theonlysurvivordan
Follow it: Follow @IMxGONNAxDIE
www.hypersmash.com
Well October is here! This year has flown by and the holiday season is knocking at the door. So many great things in the next couple of months are coming out and I will be right there giving my thoughts on the projects. In other news from me, I am getting closer and closer to actually having the time to set up a weekly stream and I am working on a few reviews. Next weekend I will be attending New York Comic Con and I will be reporting on that as well. Lots of big names there in the world of gaming and entertainment and comics (Ubisoft, Microsoft, The Walking Dead, Marvel, and DC to name just a few!). Phil is currently attending the grand finals of the League of Legends World Championship in LA and should have a full report in the next week on the event. Also, I was thinking about doing a new write up retrospective series with the first being a look back at one of my favorite 90s FPS games, Hexen: Beyond Heretic. So be on the look out for that and let me know if that is something you are interested in reading. And now lets jump into this weeks best:
Valve files trademark for Half-Life 3
It's happening! No but seriously this is really the first big step towards confirmation of the legendary title. Along with a leaked list of developers working on the project, I can see Valve using HL3 to push their new OS and Steam Machines. It makes perfect sense for Valve to do so, I mean how else will they get people on board SteamOS or Steam Machines without an exclusive title that will MAKE people want to make the transition. I know I will 100% be making the switch to SteamOS but for others it may be a tough decision to let go of what they are used to and Valve needs something this big to sell people on the idea that making the switch is a good choice. We will see what happens in the coming year but my fingers are crossed and my hopes are higher than ever that we will finally see HL3 or at least news of Source Engine 2 soon.
Terraria 2 announced
So this is what Andrew Spinks was talking about when he left Terraria to work on a bigger and better mystery project. Fans of Terraria will be pleased with the news that another game is on the way. I played a bit of Terraria and pleasantly enjoyed my time spent on it. It was a solid indie game and with the implementation of new features and possibly better gameplay, I will have to take another visit. With the latest patch (1.2) being released earlier this week, that should hold players interest for enough time for development of Terraria 2 to take place. I expect to hear a lot more about the scope of the project in the coming months.
GTA V Online launched
After the playerbase has had a couple of weeks with the story mode, GTA V launched its online mode... and as usual with online implementations, it was a complete disaster! Players had a hard time accessing the online portion and Rockstar's servers were in meltdown mode. It always seems to happen with big titles going online, it happened with a ton of heavy hitters: WoW, Star Wars Galaxies, Final Fantasy XIV, and the latest SimCity all had atrocious launch days. While it is known that launch days are always horrendous for huge titles, I feel Rockstar could have done a little bit better given the time they had in between the release of the game and online mode. I mean surely they had an at least estimated number on how many people would be jumping on the servers to prepare accordingly. Anyway, it is not all doom and gloom, Rockstar will clean it up and things will start flowing smoothly very soon and all will be forgiven. Just another title to be hit with the online launch curse and it most certainly won't be the last.
Path of Exile comes out of BETA and officially launches Oct. 23
If you LOVED Diablo II but HATED Diablo III, then Get On This Game! Path of Exile is EVERYTHING I wanted Diablo III to be. The loot and trade system is great, the hardcore mode is great, everything is great about Path of Exile. It is great news that it is finally seeing a proper release so be sure to grab this when it comes out proper. Not much else I can say except that this game is the true successor to Diablo II in my eyes.
Tom Clancy dies at age 66
It is with great sadness that the world said goodbye to one of, if not the greatest military writers of all time. Tom Clancy's books inspired a generation of great games including Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon and Splinter Cell. With Ubisoft's The Division coming soon, I hope it does Clancy's name justice as a sort of last hurrah for the acclaimed author. I remember way back in 1998 playing the first Rainbow Six game and being blown away, then later in 2001 playing through one of my favorite shooters of all time: Ghost Recon. Clancy's name has been tied to some of the most successful military franchises in the world and his legacy will live on. My condolences go out to all his friends and family, the world has lost a legend.
Those are the heavy hitters of the week. We are all still awaiting more news on the SteamOS (I believe it was promised to us soon?) and the rumor mill is churning with new information on the story DLC for Bioshock Infinite (already there was a small write up by Polygon and Kevin Levine has said that info is on the way very soon). Anyway that is all hopefully for next week. I hope to get some more content out next week as well, as I said earlier, Phil should have a write up on the LoL worlds and I am working on a retrospective of Hexen and a few other reviews (Tomb Raider, Don't Starve, and Deadlight). So with that, I will see you all soon!
Thanks for reading and until next time:
Like it: https://www.facebook.com/TheOnlySurvivor
Watch it: http://www.youtube.com/user/theonlysurvivordan
Follow it: Follow @IMxGONNAxDIE
www.hypersmash.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)