The desolate wastes have been calling out to me ever since the anticipated reveal of Fallout 4 this past E3. Like the game’s main character, I too hid underground although figuratively speaking. For the past few months I ignored any small gameplay snippets, cell-phone videos and plot details that leaked out of Bethesda ahead of the game’s release. With the large steel doors of Vault 111 finally open as of yesterday I’ve finally got the chance to spend nearly ten hours in the Boston wasteland. Here’s a brief journey of my character’s journey from the relative safety of Vault 111 to the streets of Diamond City.Read More
The lights dim down on the crowd as the neon lights come up on the stage and a lingering anxiousness hangs in the air as I begin to pluck at my guitar for the first time in seven years. Surely this is what my in-game avatar would have felt while playing her first set-list in over six years. She wasn’t playing with her old crew, in fact this show was probably just a guest spot, and she’s now rocking a brand new look complete with a side cut. After spending a night out living the rock star lift vicariously through my avatar with Rock Band 4 here are my first impressions.
Harmonix’s first Rock Band title on the new generation of consoles offers complete compatibility with their previous generation of instruments (as long as you are upgrading within the same console family) as well as compatibility with a select few Guitar Hero instruments. This meant that I was able to wield the dusty Fender Stratocaster that I had played with on the PlayStation 3 back in the Rock Band 2 heydays of ’08. Strumming away on the green, orange, yellow and red frets felt just as enjoyable as it did eight years ago. Granted I was in my early 20s when Rock Band was in its prime and now I’m entering the end of my 20s, and just like any rocker who’s maybe past their partying prime I was a little rusty out of the gate. Where as in Rock Band 2 I could easily hammer out most of the songs on hard mode I was limited to medium for this opening act.
I chose the Play a Show option for my first foray into RB4 – this new mode allows you (and if you have them up to three friends) to begin playing what amounts to a near endless set list with the game making suggestions for your next track. After the successful completion of a song the game will ask you to vote on the next track by asking you examples like if you want “a nu-metal song” or “a song from the 1980s”or even “a song by Aerosmith”. Presumably the option with the most votes will win the voting round but because I was performing this show solo the only vote was my own. I’d imagine that when you have a living room full of folks ready to rock out the discussions before voting can get quite intense.
Last night’s show started with Aerosmith’s Toys In The Attic a song that I had until that point not even heard – my tastes in music aren’t really that broad to be honest. It helped set the mood perfectly for our set with its strong drum beat and fast paced. Despite this rocker’s lack of practise we wow’d the crowd with a four star performance. As the gig continued during voting I selected “a song from the 2000s” and the game had selected Disturbed Prayer as our second song. Disturbed is a band that I honestly haven’t really listened too in a long time – at least since high school – but their energy and chord progressions fit nicely with the lively night that Toys In The Attic helped establish. As things wound down and I played a few more songs I wanted to go out with a bang – the game prompted me with Avenged Sevenfold’s Hail To The King and I immediately lit up. Hail To The King was one of my favorite albums from 2013 and to see it included on the disc was a nice surprise. We wrapped up the night of fast metal-infused rock with a more modern take and as I selected quit the crowd begged for an encore – literally, in a new option available during Play a Show the crowd will chant “one more song”. Sadly I had to turn them down because my hands were starting to cramp.
Harmonix was nice enough to provide us with a review copy of Rock Band 4 for the PlayStation 4. I’ll be posting a full review of the game as soon as I get some quality time with the other instruments as well as make a dent in the career mode.
Dungeon Defenders 2 is a game that combines the strategy of a tower defense and the elements of an action RPG. As a sequel to the 2010 original Dungeon Defenders DD2 has been in Steam early access for some time. Our staff writer Focks got a chance to spend about ten hours with the game. Here are some of her thoughts on her first few hours, Dungeon Defenders II’s game modes and gameplay mechanics.Read More
Metal Gear Solid V has been probably one of the games revealed in the past three years that I have been salivating over and words can hardly express how excited I was leading up to the games early September release. Now that I’ve spent six hours with what could be Hideo Kojima’s last Metal Gear Solid title I’d like to share some impressions with all of our readers. A full review is probably quite some time away due to the sheer scope of The Phantom Pain but grab your iDroid and trustiest sidearm and let’s discuss the opening hours of my most anticipated games.Read More
Tomorrow marks the launch of the highly anticipated Final Fantasy XIV: Heavansward for Windows PC, PlayStation 4 and PS3. Players who pre-ordered the expansion have been able to set foot in the lands of Ishgard for the past three days during Heavensward’s early access period and I was fortunate enough to be granted passage through the borders of the long closed land. Here are my initial impressions of Heavensward after playing about the first ten hours.Read More
I absolutely love a lot of Idea Factory International’s gaming properties and have been a fan of their work for the past 5 years ever since I imported a copy of the original Hyperdimension Neptunia for the PS3 back in 2009 due to the North American print of the game being quite limited. Unfortunately their latest title Omega Quintet left such a bad taste in my mouth that I had to put the game down and I haven’t picked it up since.Read More
My history with the Pokemon franchise dates back to the late 1990s with the release of Pokemon Red & Blue on the original Gameboy. Sure, I was only 12 at the time but right from the start I was entranced by the prospect of raising my own monsters and battling it out against my friends during recess.
Now 15 years later Nintendo revitalizes the franchise with the first fully 3D handheld title in series history, Pokemon X & Y. Can it possibly hold up to the fond memories I have of raising my first Charmander in Pallet town over a decade ago? Our in-depth review is probably a week away but here are my impressions of the first five hours.
There’s a lot to experience in the latest iterations of Pokemon, and I’ll save some of opinions until I am further into the game, so here’s four things I’ve enjoyed so far.Read More
Is there anything more badass than a Cyborg Ninja? With augmented features like a steel exoskeleton, an array of sensors and lightning quick reflexes, they are one of the most adept, albeit fictional, combatants. I am happy to report that controlling Raiden in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is as smooth as butter and feels absolutely fantastic. Oh? You played the demo and already knew this? Well, I got a chance to check out a near final build of the game this past week, and I’m fully prepared to share the experience of spending an hour in Raiden’s shoes, err, heels.Read More
Ninja Thoery’s take on DMC has been quite polarizing given Capcom’s decision to reboot the franchise. After playing through a full tutorial and boss fight I can say with certainty that Dante’s form may have changed but he is bringing all of the style and sass you expect.
The one thing I really took away from our time with the game was the impression that Ninja theory has nailed the core gameplay while making minor adjustments. If you’re worried that Dante’s classic maneuvers like juggling enemies and pulling off fancy moves are missing or some how altered, I can tell you they are all accounted for.
This becomes really apparent with the gun play. Whether we were slicing enemies using Dante’s sword or suspending enemies with a cushion of bullets, everything felt smooth. As we navigated the gothic city streets, Dante’s acrobatics stayed true to form with his fall speed slowing down as he plastered enemies full of holes. Running along the walls and platforming was also very responsive, although it remains to be seen how well the gameplay fares outside of a brief demo.
I can’t wait to fill Dante’s shoes again when the full game ships in Feb ’13, The demo also did feature one of the series’ large scale boss battles but due to the early state of the game there wasn’t much to say in regards to it. The boss battle followed the action trope of dodging attacks, learning patterns and exploiting a weak point.
The world premiere of Halo 4’s campaign took place during the opening moments of the Microsoft E3 Press Conference. In the demo we learn that the UNSC Infinity, the setting for Halo 4’s multiplayer, was dragged through a portal potentially killing members of the crew. The campaign demo opens with the infinity crashing to the ground as Master Chief readies himself he must follow what is presumably a forerunner ship.
Cortana is now placed right on the player’s hud to the left of the screen, rather than being an disembodied voice. From a design perspective this feels liek a great choice by 343i. Master Chief’s first emeny encounter also ends in a surprising way, as he is being charged by a Covenant elite and grunt, the elite is vaporized instantly. Master chieft is attacked by several mysterious enemies, who glow an odd orange color, similar in design to the imulsion infused enemies from last year’s Gears of War 3.Read More
