Watch_Dogs Post-Mortem

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***So I have not been posting here as often as I would have like to. All my time and effort has been going into my articles over at indiejuice.tv. The past 2 weeks have been crazy busy for me. I received a few review codes and have been making videos and really starting to ramp up my content production. I wanted to at least post something here so I decided to post my Watch_Dogs review. Its been out for a week and it was also my first major game in which I got a review copy. I want to thank Ubisoft for sending me over a copy and I hope you all enjoy the review***

So now that everyone has had some time with Watch_Dogs I figured it is the perfect time for me to get my thoughts out there. In the past I have been harsh on the Ubisoft title that, at the time, was not even released because of the way Ubisoft handled things. From the 6 month delay to the graphical downgrade I have been highly critical and the hype surrounding the title had subsided leading up to the release date due to their handling of the project. After having the game for a while now and sinking many hours into the game and analyzing many aspects of the game, I can safely say that Watch_Dogs did NOT live up to my expectations. BUT do not take that sentence as "I hate the game, don't buy it, its crap". The game reached a level of hype that was IMPOSSIBLE to live up to and I don't blame the game for that. I can say that I did have fun playing Watch_Dogs and I hope that Ubisoft will take the best elements from this to make Watch_Dogs 2 a better game (Ubisoft has stated that they will not develop new IP's unless they were confident they could turn them into a franchise, hence Watch_Dogs 2 should be coming).

Lets get right down to the details and see how I think this game stacks up and what it did great and what needs to be worked on.


Graphics

Where to even start with this... Ubisoft had everyone under the impression that Watch_Dogs was going to be THE game to really show the power of the new generation of consoles and also push the PC to its limits (HA!). While I did play the game on PC I should make a note that Watch_Dogs came no where near where it should have been on PS4 and XboxOne. 900p and 792p both at 30FPS is not "Next Gen" and the issues I had running on PC were due to poor optimization. I was running at 1080p 60FPS on Ultra but I did drop frames here and there and when I recorded my video, I had to knock everything down to High since the game crashed on Ultra when I tried to record. I am not sure why it did that but I am using an AMD video card and there was talk that the game was developed around Nvidia and AMD was basically cast aside which may have something to do with the performance issues I was seeing. The graphical fidelity is decent for what the game was hyped up to be. It has absolutely beautiful moments and the lighting effects are pretty great in some areas but then in some places you can just see where the developers cut corners. The textures aren't smooth, the character models aren't very good in places, the car damage/physics were laughable and the draw distance was atrocious (popping. lots and lots of popping). Overall, when I am not dropping frames I was totally immersed in the world. The streets may not have been as crowded as they are in real life but Chicago did feel alive in some places.

Gameplay/Mechanics

Many people have mentioned that the Watch_Dogs gameplay falls into the same trap that plagued the first Assassin's Creed game. Repetitive nonsense. I somewhat agree to an extant that the game does get a bit tedious after a while. The game was built up around the mechanic of hacking devices and using them to manipulate the world and while the gimmick was fun in the beginning, it fell flat in the end. Hacking devolved into just simply pressing a button... and that's it... a button. "hold X to hack" is what you see all around the world and then in some instances you get involved in a puzzle which resembles pipe dream where you have to press X to manipulate the pipes to hack the device. I do believe though that the hacking mechanic has the potential to grow and become something really cool so we will have to wait and see what happens to that in the future. As for controls they were okay... as long as you were using a controller. I started the game playing on keyboard and mouse and found the controls to be terribly stiff especially when driving. Maybe its me but the kb/m controls did not cut it for me which is surprising because I usually prefer kb/m to a controller no mater what type of game I am playing. But once I switched to my Dualshock 4 controller I had a much easier time navigating and the movement felt a lot smoother to me.


World

I touched on this in the graphics portion, I feel the world was well done, had a lot to do, a lot to see but could have been executed a little better. One thing a lot of people bring up is the amount of people on the streets which makes sense. Chicago is a metropolis and its streets are buzzing and crowded at all times but to pull that off in game would be difficult. I felt that Watch_Dogs had more crowded areas than most other open world games do so that is a plus for them. Like I said before, Chicago felt alive in areas and especially around the landmarks you could get immersed in the game very easily. The Digital Trips added a lot of fun to the game (Spider-Tank being the best) and really opened up the world as to give you a sense of future tech in a modern world. It seems like the developers put a lot of time into building the world and it shows.


Online

The diamond in the rough of the game. The Online has SO MUCH POTENTIAL! While I think it is a very strong aspect of the game right now, I can only imagine that it is only the framework and "test" for a much larger implementation for the next game in the series. The ability for players to hack or 'invade' your world really can lend to the atmosphere the game was trying to convey that you are constantly under watch. It makes you paranoid to stay in one area too long or go into certain places (garages, large areas of NPCs). The ground level is set and if Ubisoft could come up with new unique ways to invade other players and actually have a risk/reward type system, I think the online portion of Watch_Dogs could really expand on itself and make the next installment great.


Story

This is the worst aspect of the game in my opinion. Very generic, very bland, and the voice acting was HORRIBLE! I mention in my video that the voice acting in a lot of scenes really feels empty, like you are literally listening to someone sitting in a booth reading their lines. The emotion is not captured right and it breaks immersion. The forgettable story had the potential to be great but falls flat on every note. Hopefully Ubisoft can step up their writing for the next game and spend some of their millions to hire some good voice actors (whats Troy Baker up to these days?) but for this game, they missed the mark completely which is a shame because of all the great story driven games we have had recently (Metro: Last Light, Bioshock Infinite, The Last of US, etc...). I wanted the story to capture me but it didn't.

All in all, Watch_Dogs is a safe game from Ubisoft. Not great but not garbage either. Forgettable story with some fun quirks and a good framework for future games in the franchise. I do recommend giving it a try as it does have enjoyable moments and is building to something bigger. After the press releases by Ubisoft generated the hype before release, Watch_Dogs was doomed to fall under the mediocre group because nothing could have delivered on the hype that was attached to this game before release. I enjoyed the game but did not love it but I am excited to see where the franchise goes in the future because it does leave a lot on the table that has the potential to make a great game if expanded upon.


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Dreamhost reviews

Let's Play! Hammerwatch

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Over this past weekend while I was waiting out the snow storm that hit CT, I put together my first Let's Play video! I choose the game Hammerwatch from my long list of games frankly because it is relaxing and nostalgic for me and the day called for a very laid back, lazy playthrough that I could mindlessly drone through. That in no way means that I think Hammerwatch is a bad game, in fact, it is up there with one of the best games of the year for me! Sure its not story driven and it doesn't have "OMG NEXT GEN GRAPHICS!", like i said, it is a nostalgic trip back to when I was growing up and playing NES games. Hammerwatch is a throwback to the old hack n slash games such as Gauntlet which I spent hours playing as a child. The boss fights are very enjoyable and the game itself is extremely enjoyable with friends. Go grab it on Steam and check out my Let's Play below.

Overall the gameplay is straight forward and the classes are pretty self explainitory. Playing the game singleplayer is sort of dull but I enjoyed it and playing with friends is a blast. Grab Hammerwatch here.

7/10

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Gamescom

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So my last post covered the pre-Gamescom press conferences from Sony, EA and Microsoft. Now that the show is officially open to the public, I figured I would detail all the other announcements and new gameplay/trailer videos coming out of the European expo from the developer studios. First I will cover games and include their trailers, and then I will touch on some news topics that have generated some buzz within the community.

TITANFALL
Just because of how awesome this game looks, I have to start with Titanfall. This game looks MASSIVE! Xbox fans rejoice at what is looking to be the first big blockbuster game of the next-generation. I am extremely thankful to Respawn (the developers) for making a PC version of the game so I will be able to enjoy it as well. Hopefully this giant lives up to the hype surrounding it and if its as good as its looking, this will really help Microsoft sell some Xbox One units in the coming months.

DIABLO III: Reaper of Souls expansion
No matter how you feel about the direction Blizzard took the Diablo franchise with the latest installment, one thing is certain... They really know how to make kick ass cinematics! Now, while there have been many negative reactions to Diablo III, and it was a mixed bag of reception when the game was released, I think Blizzard has still managed to create an enjoyable experience TO AN EXTENT. I will come right out and say that I ENJOYED Diablo III. Did I love it? No. But I did enjoy playing it and while it never lived up to the MASSIVE hype I had for it because of Diablo II and how timeless that game was, going back to the series that I have grown with was a nice experience. There are many things I hate about it: I.E. making the end game pretty much force you to use the real money auction house to gear up with microtransactions, the story was a bit lackluster (but so was Diablo II and the original story), gameplay mechanics and the option to redo skill trees at any time really took away from the replayability that was there in Diablo II. All this said, I am looking forward to what Blizzard has added to the world and I will once again jump in and I expect another ENJOYABLE experience but nothing more.

MURDERED: Soul Suspect
After a bit was shown at E3 earlier this year, Square-Enix revealed a new trailer for the upcoming action-adventure murder mystery game developed by Airtight games who brought us the wonderfully fun game Quantum Conundrum last year. This game, however, if far and away removed from the fun/light-hearted setting of Quatum Conundrum. The dark and gritty setting sees you play as detective Ronan O'Connor who is gunned down by a mysterious assailant. You then have to use you wits in the ethereal as a ghost to solve the mystery all while tangling with the demonic diziens of the other world. Cool concept, and the dark setting have me intrigued. I am looking forward to more information about this one.

RYSE: Son of Rome

Everything I see from Ryse just isn't sitting right with me. Sure it looks beautiful, but all new games are looking visually stunning. Looking deeper and trying to figure out mechanics and gameplay style, Ryse just seems like it brings nothing new to the table. The multiplayer arena was shown in a trailer along with some cool Co-Op options involved but I am just not excited for this. I will keep my eyes open for early reviews once this Xbox One launch title hits and maybe that will sway me but right now, this is another generic hack/slash in the same vein as the God of War series.

KNACK
This PS4 launch title looks like its geared up to be the next in line for a fun loving game with great story and character development a-la Jack and Daxter or Ratchet and Clank. KNACK is like if Pixar took a great story and instead of making a movie, just made a video game. Very small snippets of gameplay were shown so there is not much to go by on that aspect, but the story does look fun and the characters seem enjoyable.

CHIVALRY: Deadliest Warrior
One of the most fun online experiences I have had in a long time has been playing Chivalry: Medieval Warfare. The announcement of the Deadliest Warrior expansion has me worried. Torn Banner created such a great game (while it still has a lot of bugs that need to be worked on) that was insanely fun for me and my friends that I have a bad feeling it will all come tumbling down with this expansion. First of all, they have teamed up with Spike TV (more than likely for monetary reasons) to incorporate a new set of weapons and factions (Spartans and Samurai!) based on the TV show Deadliest Warrior (not the most historically accurate show). Second, what made Medieval Warfare great was being able to feel immersed in an epic battle to defend a castle as an archer or pillage a town as a knight or battle gladiator style in an arena, but now that immersion has been taken away. I can't help but feel silly in a weird way of a knight battling a Samurai or a vanguard taking on a Spartan warrior. I'm sure I will still grab this on release but I only pray that they have some ways to keep the historical timelines separate (Samurai vs. Samurai etc.) and also i hope Torn Banner isn't looking at this as just a cash grab because that would be disappointing.

BATMAN: Arkham Origins
More more more more! I love me some Batman and Origins looks to pick up and carry the caped crusaders torch further. More villains (Black Mask, Deathstroke, FIREFLY!) and a great story to back it up have me excited. October 25th needs to get here now. The only apprehension I have is that the series may start to become stagnant but I don't see that happening as long as the story is great and hell, with all the source material to pick and choose from, I don't see anything stopping the Bat train.

KILLZONE: Shadow Fall
The PS4 launch title and what has now become a staple series for the platform looks great but as I said about Ryse for Xbox, everything in next-gen looks great. Will Shadow Fall add something new and innovative to shake up the series? It really doesn't look like it. Either way, I will keep an eye on Shadow Fall and the multiplayer does intrigue me so maybe after it is out for a bit I can better assess this title

WATCH DOGS
With the hype at fever pitch now, this new franchise from Ubisoft has got to be at the top of everyones list as a must have. Gameplay videos and everything being released looks very impressive and I cannot wait to get my hands on it. Here's to a bright future for a new IP that is looking to change the industry with its unique story, environment and gameplay.

Other games shown at the expo that are big hitters have been:
Dead Rising 3, Destiny, Dying Light, Assassin's Creed IV, Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Ghosts, The Division, and Thief. Each game has its merits and the next-gen is looking incredibly strong so be on the lookout for an onslaught of content and new games in the coming months. Everything looks fantastic so far but only few will become benchmarks for the next generations and live on as legendary games in the eyes of the community. No one know for sure who will come out on top and lead the way once the console wars officially kick off but one thing is very certain and that is it is an AMAZING time to be a gamer and it's only going to get better!


Onto the news part of Gamescom!

The Division Confirmed for PC
First up there was the short video released by Ubisoft that CONFIRMS the release of THE DIVISION on PC! I never really had any doubt that this game wasn't going to see a PC release but I am pleasntly surprised that is will be soon. While they did not go into detail about when it will be released in comparison to the console versions of the game, I can't see it being THAT far behind the others. For a time after this game was first announced at E3, it was a factor motivating me to purchase a next-gen console but now I don't have to fear that and I will be picking it up on PC.

GFWL is DEAD!
Coming off the announcement that Batman: Arkham Origins will be dropping the Games for Windows Live service, Microsoft has revealed that they plan to discontinue the service as a whole on July 1, 2014. I HATE GFWL so I only see this as a great thing. With the recent addition of the former Steam Director, Jason Holtman, to the Microsoft team, GFWL will die and another service will probably come about from them. Hopefully the shake up over there will lead to a better platform.

Elder Scrolls Online
Bethesda announced the new MMO based in the Elder Scrolls world will use a subscription based model and use cash shops in game. Mixed feelings about this one because while I LOVE the Elder Scrolls games, this seems more and more like a cash grab to Bethesda than an actual attempt to bring the world to the players in an enjoyable setting. The subscription model seems to be going away for a lot of new games (Guild Wars 2 is one time pay to buy the game, even World of Warcraft has mentioned moving away from the monthly subscription model!) but on the other hand, if it is handled the was WoW was handled and if that is still a viable option, it could keep the content up to a considerably high standard which is what made WoW so great when it started. Although the early beta footage looks pretty generic and it doesn't seem to bring anything new to the table in terms of MMO's, I will always be interested in Elder Scroll games so I will continue to follow the development closely.

Minecraft coming to PS3/4 and Vita
What many thought to be a console exclusive for Microsoft, the insanely popular Minecraft was announced for the Sony lineup as well. Very big for the little indie game that really broke open the market and a slight blow to Microsoft.

TwitchTV now also included as a streaming service for PS4
When this as announced during the Sony press conference I had to pause for a second because it was said so casually when it really is a big deal. Going into the conference it was well known that Twitch was going to be used by Microsoft and the less popular Ustream was going to be used by Sony for streaming services on the new consoles. Well what the hell happened to that!? Yet another blow to Microsoft and a boost for Sony (it was never said that Ustream was dropped so will there be an option to use either on the PS4?) in the market and GREAT news all around for Twitch (I hope their servers don't start Armageddon though)

There was a ton more content covered at Gamescom and its proving too much for my hands to handle (RSI/carpal tunnel damn you!). Maybe if I have time next weekend I will make a long video covering everything that went on at the event (including e-sports. Starcraft WCS Season 2 finals going on right now!) but for now I think I covered the most buzz-worthy announcements and hottest games.

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Week (half month?) in Review 8/16/2013

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After a short break, I am now back with the Week in Review! This is more like a half month in review since i missed the past few weeks so i will cover the big stories. Lots of exciting things happening and tons more to come. Next week is Gamescom in Germany which will lead into some spectacular September releases and the holiday season. With the time getting closer and closer to the release of the PS4 and XboxOne, there will be a lot of new information and announcements in the coming months. With all that said, lets take a look at what has been going on:

Alliance Wins The International 3 earning $1.4 Million

Let me first start this off with saying that I love e-sports and I have really enjoyed watching the scene grow in the past few years. I mainly follow Starcraft 2 and because of that community I always seemed to have a kind of smugness against watching MOBAs. League of Legends never appealed to me mainly because of their community which I view as immature (Yes SC2 is full of immature people as well, I am very aware!), I tried to play Heros of Newerth a while back and hated it, and then DOTA 2 which was long in Beta was just there and I never touched it because of the experiences I had in other MOBAs. The International 3 was the first time I actually really sat down and tried to enjoy watching as a competitive sport. Wow is all I have to say. The production value was through the roof, the casters were amazing, the experts were wonderful, and the players were top notch. Even though I know little about the games mechanics, I found myself totally invested into the games being played and rooting for players and teams that I knew nothing about (some teams like Alliance, Na'Vi, Team Liquid, and Dignitas have an SC2 division). Overall, this was an absolutely amazing tournament and congratulations go to Alliance for taking home the $1.4 million prize. The sky is the limit for DOTA with Valve revealing that the concurrent views hit a peak at over 1 million at times. I see DOTA 2 overtaking all others by next year as the top and most popular e-sport in the world.

GTA V coming to PC sooner than expected?

Nvidia revealed that a PC version of GTA V is coming to us a lot sooner than thought. On their quarterly conference call, a director mentioned that PC gamers are out there upgrading their rigs to prepare for the release of next gen titles coming this fall "including blockbuster franchises, such as Call of Duty: Ghosts, Grand Theft Auto V and Assassin's Creed IV." -Chris Evenden, Senior Director of Investor Relations- Does this confirm a holiday release for GTA V on PC? Rockstar has not said anything yet on the matter but with all the reports surrounding a PC release, soon than later would be wise for them.

Bioshock Infinite DLC brings the players back to Rapture

The fine people at Irrational games released information about the upcoming DLC for Bioshock Infinite and released the first set to coincide with the announcement. The Clash in the Clouds DLC was released and information about the future was revealed. Clash in the Clouds is a series of arena style combat challenges set in Colombia. Playing through these is a fun little hold over until the real heavy hitter is released. The two part Burial at Sea DLC is bringing players back to Rapture the night before its fall. With the first part set to be released before the years end, the story driven content will see the players once again taking on the role of Booker in part 1 and then in part 2 you get control of Elizabeth. Fans of the series are jumping for joy at the announcement. I for one, cannot wait for this. Bioshock 1 was one of those games that I can look back on and consider it a life changing experience in gaming alongside the likes of Half-Life. Being brought back to the place where it started, this DLC is something I will 100% be picking up the second it is released.

XboxOne removes requirement of Kinect always on

Change after change after change. Microsoft revealed that they have scrapped the requirement of Kinect being always on with XboxOne. This completes the total reversal of policies on XboxOne after the initial reveal. As a consumer, this is great and now I have legitimate reasons to seriously consider buying XboxOne. The PR nightmare that Microsoft created for themselves seems to be almost over. The damage was done though and that shows through pre-order numbers. But now with all the changes, I expect to once again see the console war in full swing, the only things separating XboxOne from PS4 is now hardware and exclusives. Time will tell the real damage done to Microsoft but I believe they will be revived and back in the fray creating healthy competition and driving the gaming industry further up the technological path. The only thing that still has me worried about XboxOne is that it still seems that Microsoft is trying to make it an entertainment console and I feel that may have an affect on the gaming industry as games are one of the many focuses of the product.

Batman: Arkham Origins drops GFWL on PC

THANK GOD! Games For Windows Live has been a disaster! The services has caused headaches for PC gamers getting ports of console titans. The first 2 games in the Batman Arkham series used the service on their PC ports and from my experience have been a nightmare. I had installation problems, saved game problems and backup problems because of GFWL. I shudder at the thought of new games using them, sometimes I really have to take a moment to consider if it is really worth getting the game just because of GFWL. That all said, October 25th cannot come soon enough for me to get my hands on this game. I love the series and hopefully this one stays true and will be another great installment.

Jason Holtman, former Steam director, moves to Microsoft to focus on PC gaming

Man Microsoft is really trying to make up for the past few months! Rumors following the appointment of Jason Holtman seem to signal the end of Games For Windows Live as Valve’s former director of business development for Steam is set to focus on PC gaming for the tech giant. Things may start looking up for Microsoft and only time will tell if the former Steam man can create another challenger in the PC gaming market. Exciting times are coming and Jason is now carrying the torch for Microsoft.

The Humble Origin Bundle is released

I touched on this briefly at the end of yesterdays post but here it is again. No matter how you feel about EA and Origin, if you don't already have the games included in the bundle (Battlefield 3, Dead Space, Dead Space 3, Crysis 2, Burnout Paradise, The Sims 3, Mirrors Edge, and Medal of Honor) then you are insane not to pick this up. Still bitter about it being EA? No problem! All the money goes directly to charity! EA is not seeing a dime from this. Don't like Origin? No big deal! Most of the games (except Battlefield 3, The Sims 3 and Dead Space 3) come with Steam keys as well! As of this writing, the average price you need to pay in order to get all these games is $4.80, and if that is still keeping you from grabbing this then you are lost. You win by getting amazing AAA releases at an EXTREMELY low price, EA wins by making them all available for that low price and getting some positive PR for once, and the charity's win with your donations, there is no loser. GET IT!

That's all I have. There was a lot more that went on but I feel these were the more prominent and more important stories. Like yesterday I posted about the new GTA V and The Witcher 3 trailers, there was also the release trailer for Space Hulk, the release of Saints Row IV and right at the time of writing this a new trailer for Thief was released. Awesome stuff coming out and even more things incoming next week with Gamescom being held in Europe. I have more content I am working on, some videos, more articles (as stated yesterday, I am beginning to write for whatculture.com), and I have some ideas for contests (I have a few game keys I want to give away) but I won't start contests until I get more Twitter followers so be sure to click the link and follow for chances at those keys!


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Week in Review 7/12/2013

Its time for another look back on the week that was. A few announcements and releases this week. Nothing really major in the console wars. And a farewell to a great man.

GTA V gameplay trailer released

And with this 5 minute gameplay overview, Rockstar has reeled me back into the GTA series. GTA V is looking to breath new life back into what, in my opinion, has become a repetative/stagnant series. Beautiful graphics are only the tip of the iceberg of the trailer, the new features and mechanics look very promising.
You can read more about my first reactions here

DOTA 2 comes out of Beta and gets an official release on Steam

Finally after a year+ of Beta, DOTA 2 gets officially launched on Steam. New players should be flooding those servers. The MOBA wars are in full effect now with League of Legends still as strong as ever (even stronger now with the announcement that the US government now recognizes LoL professionals as athletes so they can get Visas) so the E-Sports community will continue to grow and have healthy competition among brands. Great to see E-Sports start making a mainstream push (crossing fingers for ESPN broadcasts).

Ratchet and Clank: Into the Nexus announced

Sony put out a couple of teaser images leading up to the announcement the next installment of Rachet and Clank will be coming out this holiday season. Any fans of the series will be interested in picking this up and I am sure Insomniac will not disappoint.

Ryan Davis of Giantbomb passes away

I would also like to give me condolences to the families and friends of Ryan Davis from Giantbomb. He was one of the great personalities in the industry and he will be sorely missed. Tuesdays will never be the same. The big man is shaking babies up in heaven now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMEg6mfTfF4

Steam Summer Sale kicks off

Day 2 has kicked off as of this writing. PC gamers look to Steam as their summer sale is in full swing with major discounted games across the board. From AAA titles like Bioshock: Infinite to indie games such as To The Moon, be sure to keep checking back to get your hands on some of the latest titles for dirt cheap. (I already picked up Don't Starve and Scribblenauts Unlimited yesterday and Faster Than Light and FEZ today!)

That's all for this week. Until next time:

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GTA V gameplay video released

Today, Rockstar released a 5 minute video covering the gameplay in the upcoming Grand Theft Auto V. These 5 minutes blew me away with how much they have improved upon since the last installment. I must say, I did have my doubts about GTA V ever since it was announced as I have thought some of the more recent titles have been pretty lackluster in the sense that they never added anything new to the game and just seemed like the same exact thing with a new character and updated graphics. I thought the same would be the fate for GTA V, just another environment on a newer engine with the same mechanics and more repetitive nonsense. But from the looks of this video it seems that I am delightfully wrong! For starters we now have 3 main characters who at any point you can switch to and play who each seem to be very diverse from one another. The weapon system was overhauled and Rockstar seems to be going for the Red Dead Redemption method of a weapon wheel as opposed to the old style which was very clunky and more of a burden to change between weapons. The missions seem interesting, they showed off that you are able to choose who you want to send on missions so that could add to a lot of re-playability to see which character is better at what in certain scenarios. All the new things you can do in the open world, they teased hunting, using the stock market, buying real estate, car customization, golfing, scuba diving, and even character customizations such as tattoos. And finally, to top it all off, Rockstar left us all on a cliffhanger teasing the multiplayer. If pulled off right, the multiplayer can be great and a brand new way at how newer GTAs in the future are handled. I believe Rockstar is set up to pull off yet another great rendition of the series after a few dull titles. The newer mechanics were much needed and they seemed to have addressed many of the complaints from GTA IV. Overall, this trailer really got me excited for the game and I cannot wait to see more.


With all this said above, I would also like to give me condolences to the families and friends of Ryan Davis from Giantbomb. He was one of the great personalities in the industry and he will be sorely missed. Tuesdays will never be the same. The big man is shaking babies up in heaven now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMEg6mfTfF4

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Game Review – The Walking Dead: 400 Days DLC

Telltale’s The Walking Dead season 1 was one of the best story driven games I have played in recent memory. 400 Days is the DLC released this week as a precursor to season 2. I believe the characters seen and the choices you make will tie in with who you will run into in season 2.

The playthrough is only about an hour and a half long but Telltale delivers throughout. You get to play as 5 characters who each have a short story tied to them. You can choose whoever you want to play as in any order, and it all comes full circle at the end to present you with some tough choices of possibly who you will see in Season 2. Unlike in Season 1 where you only play as Lee Everet throughout, these short mini-episodes have to pack the action while introducing and giving you insight into these new characters. Short but sweet is how I would like to call them. Telltale does a great job a creating interesting storylines and intertwining each characters tales that you as a player can appreciate when you pick up on the subtle hints in each story. So, although you don’t get attached to anyone like you do Lee and Clementine in Season 1, I did become very interested in finding out more about the 5 characters introduced and I hope to see more in Season 2 to flesh out their stories.

            The gameplay does not change at all, it is still point and click with conversations put in for you to make decisions which affect the outcome. The only weakness I can see is some minor technical problems such as bad lip synching in some places and every now and then the scene cutting seemed to be abrupt and harsh. Otherwise, this was a brilliantly written game to hold fans over until Season 2. The music was once again perfect for the situation and the voice acting was superb. I am already looking forward to Season 2 and what Telltale has in store for us all.

4/5

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The Rest of E3 aka The Future Looks Bright

There were tons of cross platform games announced and previewed at E3. I am just going to dive right in and give my initial reactions:

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (PS4, XBOne, PC) - More of the same but now with 100% more Pirates! Nothing special jumps out at me at first glance. Fans of the series will probably love it and defend it to the death but I really feel that there wasnt enough time between AC3 and this, seems kind of like a cash grab to me.

Arma3 (PC) - If you never heard of the ARMA series, go look it up NOW! Unlike the Battlefield and Call of Duty series, ARMA is a military simulator. Always pushing graphics to the extreme with each new itteration, I will deffinetley be picking this up (I am Beta testing now for it and so far it is incredible!)

Batman: Arkham Origins (PC, PS3, XB360) - Love the Arkham series and I am really excited for this. Batman has always been a big part of my life. I read the comics, I watch the movies/TV shows, I even have the full set of the DC Superheroes Lego line! Hopefully they stick to the formula and make another great installment in the series.

Battlefield 4 (PS4, XBOne, PC) - 1 word. FROSTBITE. The things they have showcased with the new Frostbite 3 engie look IMPRESSIVE. The destruction looks great, the multiplayer looks great, the graphics look top notch, the environment looks amazing. 100% must get if you are a fan of the series.

Black Gold (PC) - With World of Warcraft seeming to be starting its decline as top MMO in the land, Black Gold will try to capture that title. From the trailer this MMO seems VERY WoW like in graphics and that could be a good thing for them. I have yet to see gameplay so we will have to wait for more to get a real grasp on whether this is the mythical WoW killer or just more cannon fodder.

Call of Duty: Ghosts (PS4, XBOne, PC) - Tweak the graphics a bit, add a few new multiplayer maps, slap on a story and put it on the shelves. The next anual CoD is just another in the line of boring, yet somehow still relevant and massively popular, shooters that will be around for 1 year until the next is churrned out.

Command & Conquer (PC) - The C&C series has a special place in heart. The original C&C back in 1995 was my first ever RTS and I loved the entire series.... up until Westwood went under and EA took over. We will see what comes of this as it is a reboot of the entire series but it is set in the Generals universe and is F2P although the developers have ensured that it is not "Free to Play but Pay to Win" as is the formula with a lot of current F2P games out there. I will follow this, hopefully get into the Beta but I do not have high expectations for this.

Dark Souls II (PC, PS3, XB360) - Fits right in with my online handle IM_GONNA_DIE. Hopefully Dark Souls II grows on what it accomplished in the first installment. I love the lack of hand holding and the dificulty of the first game. A few things could be improved so lets hope they listened to the community and deliver a quality game once again.

DayZ [Standalone](PC) - The DayZ mod for ARMA2 was awesome! Now the standalone game is looking more and more promising. 100% must buy for me on release. This is looking to be the be all end all of zombie survival games.

Destiny (PS4, XBOne) - Holding out hope for a PC release but I wont be totally dissapointed if it doesn't happen as I will just pick it up for PS4. The extended gameplay footage we got to see at the Sony presentation looks really promising. I have faith in Bungie so the bar is set high for this. Cannot wait to see more.

Dragon Age III: Inquisition (PC, PS3, XB360) - Bioware's chance to make up for DA2. I never got into the Dragon Age series and so far all we have to go off of is a cinematic trailer so I will watch for more info and then make a more informed statement.

Dying Light (PS4, XBOne) – No gameplay footage of this yet, but from what we do have to go on makes this game look like Left 4 Dead meets Mirror’s Edge. Although it is being developed by Techland, the same people behind the Dead Island series, I will be on the lookout for some more info.

Elder Scrolls Online (PS4, XBOne, PC) – I am still not totally convinced by all that’s been released on this so far. I love the Elder Scrolls series. I have been playing since Daggerfall and all the installments have been nothing but spectacular. The Elder Scrolls venture into the MMO realm has me worried though that it will be just a cash grab by Bethesda. I’ll hold out hope for this but I am not  setting the bar high.

Final Fantasy XV (PS4, XBOne) – I haven’t played a Final Fantasy game since IX on PS2. Maybe I will give this a shot in the future. The graphics look great but I will wait for some reviews before making a decision.

Kingdom Hearts III (PS4, XBOne) – I’ll be honest. Even though I owned a PS2, I never played any of the Kingdom Hearts. I am promising myself though that I will pick up this franchise when I pick up my PS4 (and Sony releases I and II to Gaikai).

Mad Max (PS4, XBOne, PC) – Love the movie, lets see what direction this game goes. Too early to tell what will come of this.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (PS4, XBOne) – I stopped playing the Metal Gear series after Snake Eater only because I never got a PS3. Of course I will be picking this up but I am apprehensive about this only because Metal Gear in an open world could be hindering, plus the gameplay trailer shown during Microsoft’s presentation had to be fast forwarded through what some may say “boring parts”. I want to love this but it could turn into Assassin’s Creed FUTURE real fast, lets hope the story is, as it always has been, amazing.

Mirror's Edge 2 (PS4, XBOne, PC) – YES! Love love love the first Mirror’s Edge and I am really excited for this release. Must have at launch.

Outlast (PS4, PC) - AWESOME! I love the horror genre and this game looks so cool. Like Amnesia meets R.E.C. (the movie) I am loving the trailer.

Plants Vs Zombies 2: Garden Warefare (XBOne, PC) – Totally not what I expected for a sequel to a small, fun, indie game but I am impressed and ready once again to dive right in an kick some zombie ass all over again.

Project Spark (XBOne, PC) – Very impressive presentation. I have my eye on this game. I have high expectations for this from what I saw in the reveal. Spore on crack and then some.

Rise of the Triad (PC) – Fun, fast FPS. Looks like it has potential to be a great multiplayer with the fast paced nature of the gameplay. Very Quake or Unreal Tournament like.

Star Wars: Battlefront 3 (PS4, XBOne, PC) – Probably the biggest announcement for me. I put in so many hours into the first two Battlefront games and I have extremely high expectations for this now and from all the info releases, the stars seem to be aligned for this game. Being developed by DICE (Mirror’s Edge, Battlefield series) and using the new Frostbite 3 engine, I simply cannot wait for this game.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (PS4, PC) – Great series, always pushing graphics to their limits, great story. High hopes for this. If you haven’t played any of the others in the series, get to it so you will be ready come launch day of this one.

Thief 4 (PS4, XBOne, PC) – If you like Assassin’s Creed, Metal Gear, Splinter Cell, or any other stealth games, then this is a must have. The series that started to perfect the stealth genre as far as I am concerned returns and hopefully the push the bar even higher. I expect greatness from this.

Titanfall (XBOne, PC) - This seemed to be the Big console exclusive for Microsoft. I will be picking it up for PC but it really was impressive. The balance of the game is something I would like to see in action as you can be a foot soldier with certain abilities or you can climb into a mech which looks awesome and since E3 has ended this game has received a ton of awards including best game at E3.

Tom Clancy's: The Division (PS4, XBOne) – This game looks promising. From what was shown, it gave off the impression of an open world PvP environment with great physics. We will see if Ubisoft delivers but everyone is hyping this up right now.

Transistor (PS4, PC) – Produced by Supergiant games who made Bastion, I am totally looking forward to this. Bastion was amazing and so far everything I have seen on Transistor is promising. Keeping this one in scope.

Watch Dogs (PS3, PS4, XB360, XBOne, PC) – The hype for this is growing daily. This open world action adventure stealth game is very ambitious and I can’t wait to sit down with it and immerse myself in the world.

Overall, this was a great year in general for gaming and the future looks very bright for the industry. We will see in the future how things pan out in the console war but as far just pure gaming goes, no matter what console you are getting, there are TONS of great games that will be released that you can sink hours upon hours into. I personally cannot wait for this fall and next year when all these games are released, I expect to see all of you online as well playing with me, having fun, and admiring the art that is being developed before our very eyes.

HyperSmash.com

Microsoft at E3

After seeing Microsofts reveal of the Xbox One a couple of months ago and all their policies that came along with it, I, like many others, felt that Sony had a slight edge going into E3.

Microsoft I feel, is moving away from gaming, NOT far, but just testing the waters of other means of entertainment through the Xbox One. Now that’s not necessarily a bad thing for them as innovation comes with taking risks and Microsoft is taking a huge risk with all the other non-gaming related features packed into Xbox One. Who knows what the future holds for them but I was just not drawn in by their television features to be impressed enough to buy it on that merit alone.

Also, Microsoft's policies regarding DRM, always online, used games, and Kinect were a slap in the face to the consumer. Yes, since E3 they have addressed these issues and are trying to do some PR clean up but I only feel it is because of pre-order numbers and the general backlash that the gaming community had for them. E3 should have been the time to address the issues, not 2 weeks after and the whole lying to the consumer "DRM and always online are core to the product and what the product was built around. We cant just flip a switch and turn them off."..... Two weeks later "We turned off DRM and always online!"

Anyway, onto what this should be about, the games. Below I have listed most of the exclusives and my impressions of the gameplay videos and trailers. (exclusive to ONLY Xbox One, so you wont see Titanfall, Project Spark, etc. as they are also confirmed for PC and I will cover those games in a later post.)

Below- this was teased by Capybara Games Studio and looks like a beautifully designed indie game. I would need to see more gameplay but right now it looks like it could be great. The soundtrack by Jim Guthrie seems impressive and it doesn’t look like it will disappoint. This is a game that even though is an exclusive, I could see it in the future being ported over to PC. (Other games by Capybara have ended up on Steam)

Crimson Dragon – Eh. Not interested. It looks good, but I feel like it is just Panzer Dragoon updated. Hopefully for fans, it wont be linear (it is listed as a "Rail Shooter") but a semi open game world.

Dead Rising 3 – One word about the trailer…. Disappointing. I loved the first 2 dead rising games. They were fun without being extremely serious. They were games that were ment for the players to just pick up , go out and have fucking fun with it. I feel like the dead rising 3 trailer focused more on it being a serious game and really taking that fun, relaxing, hey lets go kill some zombies feeling out of the game basically jumping on the current zombie bandwagon of lets make a story driven game where the zombies are overpowered and make the players really fear the environment… oh and lets throw in airstrikes that the player can call down using smartglass… (how you have access to airstrikes is beyond me, in the first two games you played as civilians.)

D4 – an episodic murder mystery. Not much shown but I do believe it will be using a lot of Kinect features to play… Sorry, ill pass on this. (Although since E3 a bit more has come out on this and it does seem interesting.)

Halo – As far as I am concerned, Halo died when Bungie stopped developing it. Though I am sure it will be great for the fans of the series.

Killer Instinct – Now this is something that I need to address. Everyone seems to be on the similar mindset of THIS IS AMAZING! IVE WAITED SO LONG FOR THIS! … Stop… Now this has been in development with Rareware and Double Helix. For those who don’t know here are the games double helix has pumped out:
    Silent Hill Homecoming – Bad
    G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra – Bad
    Front Mission Evolved – Eh
    Battleship – Bad
    Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters – OK
    MX vs ATV Reflex - their best outing
So.., lets hope that Rareware has more say than Double Helix in this but I am wary of this. Also even though it was announced as Free2Play you only get one character for free, the rest you have to pay for. Not cool. If it was a $40-$50 title and you get every character and a little more then sure that's fine but masking it as Free2Play is kind of shady if you ask me. Its not that I have a problem with F2P games, I don't, I play a few now, but I am against the F2P but if you want to win or have any fun past the first 15 mins you have to pay.

Quantum Break – This seems… Interesting… I wonder what its about though and no gameplay! They have mentioned that it will tie in with a television show but I don’t see that working out well (eg: ask how Defiance is working out…)

Ryse: Son of Rome – Looks cool. I feel though like its Microsoft's attempt at making a God of War clone. (Not that I am saying that no game from here on out can be set in ancient Roman times/tied with Greek Mythology, just look at the gameplay!!!!) The footage shown seemed like one long cinematic with button pressing to keep you awake.

Sunset Overdrive – This has potential to be great. I loved the teaser for it and I am really interested in more. Keep your eye on this game as it is developed by Insomniac who made Spyro, the Resistance series and Ratchet and Clank so they have a great track record.

So there you have it. Overall, Microsoft showed some good games but only a few of which I was really interested in and even then, the big hitters like Titanfall and Project Spark are being released on PC which I will post my thoughts on later.

My next post will be on Sonys presentation and I will run through their announced exclusives. Feel free to comment and give me some feedback. Stay tuned! HyperSmash

An Introduction

Hi everyone, my name is Dan and online, I go by the name Im_Gonna_Die. I am here to talk about what’s going on in the world of gaming.

A little about myself, I am 27 years old and I have been gaming for the majority of my life, starting off with the original NES and some early PC shooters such as Doom and Hexen.

Right now I primarily am a PC gamer, I have my own rig that I built myself but I do plan on jumping into the console scene when the next generation hits while still keeping my focus on PC, I would like a console for some exclusive titles as well as other features. (Netflix, virtual consoles, etc…)

As you all know, E3 recently finished and this was a big year for me to follow since I am considering getting a console over this coming holiday season. That and my attempt at breaking into the gaming industry to bring content such as reviews, interviews and streams to all of you so all the new games being released was big for me as well as some of them will be what I will cover on here and on my youtube channel.

Now I will leave you with links to my youtube channel and my Steam ID as well as my Battlenet ID.  Check it out and I will be back soon posting about my thoughts on E3 and what games look good and what companies did well.

Steam ID:

http://steamcommunity.com/id/IM_GONNA_DIE

Battlenet ID:

IMgonnaDIE#1872

Youtube Channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/theonlysurvivordan/videos

Thanks Everyone!