Next Gen

So what did you all plump for? I waited and waited and waited and never really knew which one to get. My heart for this gen was totally with Xbox 360 I adored my machine and spent many hours with it. PS3 never really floated my boat, some of the games were AMAZING - Heavy Rain and The Last of Us I'm looking at you - but I felt like I was constantly battling with the interface and controller.

As any of you that read my musings on the Xbox One at the time will know I wasn't particularly impressed with either at the time. But as I researched them more I started to lean more towards the PS4, much to my partner's disgust - he is and always will be a Microsoft fanboy and literally recoils at the sight of me on my Macbook - but that system just seemed to be aimed more towards the gamers.

We left it for awhile and for a good while it was easy to ignore the next gen. The friends we had who had preordered the Xbox One (interestingly we had none that had preordered the PS4) liked it enough but didn't really rave about it. They had all kept their 360, a console we still have plenty of games left to play, for instance I STILL have not completed Skyrim, despite being 150 hours in...I just love exploring a little too much. We didn't feel like we were missing out at all really.

Christmas came and went, we got our children's birthdays out of the way and then it was getting closer and closer to the release date of Watch Dogs. Yes it was coming out on the last gen too, but who really wants to buy a new game on an old console?

So we finally plumped for...

The Xbox One. I know, I know. I HATED it at last years E3, but after waiting awhile it became more and more apparent that, for us, for our gaming preferences it HAD to be the One. The exclusives, the promise of future releases and above all the games currently available on it swung it for us. So now we have a One proudly sat underneath the TV next to its older (and more loved) brother.

It is good. Not mind-blowing, and certainly not game-changing yet. Maybe it will be in the future, but for now, for me at least it's a means to an end. I needed it to play Watch Dogs, Plants vs Zombies split screen and RYSE. But it's not earned my heart yet.

I'll be posting some opinions on the games I've been playing recently in due course.

Keep Gaming!
xXx

Thoughts on the Xbox One

Now I want to make it clear from the outset that I have never really considered myself a 'fangirl' of any of the consoles. I have owned most of them since I began gaming and can honestly say that the only thing that has ever made me favour one console over another is if that console SUITED my needs better. For example, when I asked for a GameCube for my birthday one year, it was mainly because my brother already had the PS2 and I knew I wouldn't be allowed online on the Xbox.

The GameCube was the first console bought solely for me and I adored it. A couple of years later I owned my own PS2 and Xbox, but really for me at the time GameCube had my heart, followed closely by the PS2. When the next gen was released I went straight to Xbox 360 and have never looked back. I purchased a Wii a little later, for something a bit different and finally a PS3 when I had more money than sense.

I can honestly say that, whilst I don't regret buying the PS3 I do feel it has been mistreated in my house, it has never been, and will never be our primary games console. It has been used for PS3 exclusives and Bluray and that is about it. Until I bought Ni No Kuni last month I don't think I had played a game on it since Heavy Rain. I hate the long drawn out updates (that it seems to need everytime I turn the damn thing on!) I dislike how cheap and flimsy the controller feels. In short, there isn't actually much I enjoy about the PS3 as a games console.

The Xbox 360 was (and still is) the gaming console for me. It suits me well. It has a vast array of games that can cater to any of my whims. I have a huge game collection for it, including over 300 XBLA and XBLIG titles. I love the controller. I love my special Gears console. I love the background updates.

But recently it has been clear where Microsoft are going. Slowly but surely more and more useless junk has been spreading onto my 360. Sky, which I don't care about. Facebook, which we all have on our phone. Mounds of apps that mostly do the same bloody thing. ADVERTS ON THE DASH - that was a real joy-killer. And the death of Inside Xbox and SentUAMessage, seemed like the final death knoll. But I stuck by my machine - after all I have no issues with it as a games console, which is all I wnat it to be.

So when they announced the Xbox One I didn't get that excited. I sat with baited breath and watched the reveal on my 360. And even though my expectations hadn't actually been that high, I finished watching it feeling deflated.

TV, TV, TV, TV, Television, TV, TV. It was heard a ridiculous amount of times during the unveiling of a GAMES console. What made it worse was that a lot of the 'features' seem to be for our cousins on the other side of the pond. I guess we'll see. But for a long while the USA have had more varied apps and features than us poor Brits and the Xbox One seems to be carrying on that trend.

Then they announced the very controversial DRM. Now I have to admit that whilst it irked me a little it didn't pee me off to the extent it has others. I rarely buy second hand games so at first I struggled to understand how it would affect me. But I really disliked the control they are trying to assert over us, their loyal fans. It seemed like a slap in the face.

At the minute we have two Xbox 360's, one in the bedroom and one in the living room. It seems natural that we would probably do the same with the next gen, but now we're not so sure. From what I understand, anyone on the same console the disc was installed to can play it, which is fine. But what about if we do own two? Would one us then not be able to play any games on the other Xbox One?

For me there are too many questions about the next gen. I will not be pre-ordering either of the next gen. I will wait and see what happens and wait for them to clarify some points. What I saw didn't excite me enough for me to throw my chips in with either Sony or Microsoft to be honest.

Sony have said they will not be using DRM, but for me this is just as worrying. They did say first party games will be DRM-free which is fine. But surely they should just be upfront and admit that, because of Xbox One's stance on it, the publishers now have them over a barrel. If Sony won't allow the publishers to use DRM than Sony will probably not be getting as many games as Xbox One.

I guess we'll see what happens. Bt I have to admit to be being worried about the future of gaming. It could be amazing, but for now I'm on the fence.

Counter Strike: Global Offensive Review

Counter Strike: Global Offensive or CS:GO as I'll refer to it from now on is a complete overhaul of the original Counter Strike from way back in 1999. Counter Strike has always been well known for it's addictive, team-based playing style and with the release of CS:GO the trend has continued.
Everything has been re-done for this game. From the new engine to the character models and even the sounds, this game has basically been built from the ground up, it is just based on a game we all know and love.
Counter Strike has always been based on skill. REAL skill, not the kind of 'skill' you see day-in day-out in other FPS lobbies. Run 'n' Gun here and you'll be dead. These games have always had team tactics at their core, and CS:GO is no different. In this game you have to play as a team to reach the objective, there are no advantages to being a lone ranger. There are some players, that are probably coming new to CS as a series who are finding this difficult to learn. They're easy to spot though!
Now I'm not saying that this tactical play has come across perfectly to consoles. The game, when played with the right people does pretty damn well, but if you get a new era team in you're screwed. Tactics, whilst they are supposed to be important, unfortunately aren't if you've got the wrong players. There are far too many who are playing it like CoD.
I have to admit, after playing all the CoD's, Battlefield etc. when I first loaded this game I was thrown by the lack of a sight, and I was playing pretty badly. This game is all about learning what works and what doesn't for you and your team. Get a LAN going with your friends and this game is literally the perfect shooter.
There is no 'red screen' regenerating health in CS:GO, no cinematic story to keep you going, no concept of levelling up and nothing in the way of perks. This game is FPS taken back to it's roots. You die, you stay dead and have to watch as the rest of your team either die or complete the objective without you. It sucks. And it definitely pushes you to try better next round, who wants to be left out of the fight?!
There are two games that are played in multiple rounds, Classic Casual and Classic Competitive. Basically eliminate the other team before they do the same to you, or be the first to complete the objective. Nothing new here, but trust me this game is addictive. The objectives to be completed range from rescuing hostages (or stopping them from being rescued) or bomb planting/diffusing, something which every CoD player will be aware of. The differences between the two modes are these: Classic Competitive sees you playing 30 rounds, earns you money and lets you shoot your friends. Awesome :)
Two more modes were added to this game, Arms Race and Demolition. Arms Race is another that most people will be familiar with, as it has recently been seen in CoD and Battlefield. You all begin with the same weapon, each kill gets you a new weapon until you reach the golden knife. Kill someone with this first and you win. This mode does let you respawn, the only mode in CS:GO that allows this. Demolition sees the weapon progression of Arms Race taken over into Classic mode.
Overall I think this game has made a great crossover to the consoles. It plays really well and is a welcome change from all the arcade-like shooters we see saturating the shelves these days. The fact it is an XBLA title is brilliant, just pick up and play whenever you're in the mood. This game is the shooter for the thinking person, and when everyone realizes that this game will become INFINITELY better. This game receives the 8 rather than higher mainly because for now, it isn't doing what it should be doing. But as I say when the arcade shooters leave, this game will be well worthy of a higher mark. If you like tactical based shooters this game is the one for you!

8/10 BUY IT!

A code was provided for the purpose of this review. 

FemShep rules!

Guys imagine this. You are an avid gamer. You love to complete the campaign and then fully embrace the multi-player, often spending more time on that than you do the campaign. It feels good right? Then imagine having to do that and in around 80% of the games you are absolutely, inexplicably forced to play as the opposite sex. Not as good? Well that’s how it is for us ‘Girl Gamers’ and it sucks.

Many new open-world RPG games have embraced female avatars brilliantly, with just as much availability to morph your character into whatever you want as the male counterparts get. I spent 100+ hours on games like Fallout 3 and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion with my female adventurer, and I absolutely loved being able to be me (albeit a MUCH improved version of me, if I ever saw a Deathclaw in real life I can guarantee I wouldn’t run up to it with a Powerfist!).  For me being able to play as a female is very important, and if I’m honest I don’t think it’s just because I want to play as a female, sometimes I still choose males. But it’s nice to have the choice.

Mass Effect has always been another that has great customisation for both sexes. Some NPC's did still address me as a male, but I didn't care!! I was saving the galaxy as my kick-ass FemShep! And with the release of Mass Effect 3 the publishers addressed all us hard done by FemShep users by giving us an interchangeable cover! Now that's showing us some love, and it was greatly appreciated.

The main place this choice is lacking is FPS’s. Females can serve in the Army, they can do whatever males can do...so why can’t we play as one in FPS’s? I don’t mean for the campaign’s, it’d just be really nice if developers would acknowledge the female gamers by offering this choice in multiplayer. It would require minimal effort (as far as I’m aware) but would go a long way in the gaming community.  

The game that really wound me up for not giving players this choice is actually ‘Brink’. i bought it on release, and still love the game but why are there no females? Are you telling me there are no female rebels in The Ark? I highly doubt that. Brink is as limited as a lot of the FPS’s out there, you can change the size of the muscles and their load out but not much else. I have to admit I found it incredibly disappointing.

I don’t think there is a logical explanation for why female avatars aren’t included in more games. And it’s time we stood up and spoke about it. Major RPG’s have done it, and it has meant new voice actors, different romance options and different dialogue. I’m only asking for the option of a female to be in the online version of FPS’s (something I think we’ll all agree on, we don’t necessarily need to have female’s in the campaign) so come on developers, get it done!!! 

DLC - For Love or Profit?

DLC is meant to prolong the longevity of a game, but instead it seems more and more developers are releasing downloadable content that should have been included in the retail version.

Personally I LOVE DLC. I have spent a hell of a lot of money on all the DLC packs for, amongst many others, Mass Effect 1 & 2, Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Dragon Age: Origins, Gears of War 1 & 2, Borderlands and various Call of Duty games. I have also spent a small fortune on my Rock Band, Guitar Hero and Lips music libraries. I have no aversion to developers bringing out DLC - in fact I embrace it. I love that they are making it possible for us to go back to a game we’d completed and have something new to do, even a year after the release. 

Worth the extra 1200MSP??

But I think that should be the purpose of DLC. DLC should be an optional increase to an already amazing game. I feel there are some developers who are releasing below par games with the view to releasing a few DLC packs to cash in. Take the Call of Duty franchise for example. The games that include Zombie mode only include 1 map for the game mode. Now I am aware that Zombies isn’t the main focus for these games but if you are going to include something in a game I don’t think it should be half-assed, and to me that is what Zombies mode feels like. Particularly in the first CoD game to include this mode, Call of Duty: World at War. This zombie map basically saw players put in a hut and told to survive. There were none of the perks, machines or the desperate run to turn on the power. There was no long slog to learn the map. It was as basic as it could get so of course when DLC packs were released that promised fun by the bucket-load we all jumped at it and didn’t think twice about the extra 1200MSP spent. Our appetite for zombie annihilation was sated, for a while at least. But more and more DLC was released and we kept on buying. Overall how much have you spent on a CoD game? And after all that money, does it feel like a game with extras, or just a complete retail release? If you have bought all the map packs for CoD: Black Ops up to now you have spent £70/$105 on this game, would you have paid that for the disc in store? Somehow I doubt a game priced that high would do as well.

Resident Evil 5 was also a culprit. Capcom went as far as to release multiplayer DLC soon after retail release. The DLC was announced BEFORE the release of the game and included the games only online VS multiplayer. 400MSP saw players able to take the Mercenaries mode online and fight in 5 different modes, Slayers, Survivors, Team Slayers, Team Survivors and Versus. Surely this is something that should have been included in a $60/£40 game?

DLC is an amazing way to prolong the enjoyment gleaned from a game. I completed Mass Effect 2 last year but when ‘The Arrival’ DLC was released I was as excited as I had been when playing the game for the first time. That to me is what DLC should be. Improving an already amazing game. Not making a game complete at an extra cost.

Hi Everyone!

My name is Danielle and I’m a 24 year-old student from Manchester, England. I’ve been given the opportunity to write about one of my main passions in life…gaming! And I can’t wait! I’ve been a ‘gamer’ since I was about 4 when my parents bought a Sega Mega Drive and from that moment I was hooked. Sonic was my childhood, I played it all the time, even managing to get my techno-phobe mum addicted. Thankfully gaming has progressed massively since then and luckily enough my dad was always keeping on top of the consoles released so growing up we had every console pass through our house. When I was 13 I started my own personal collection of consoles. It started with the Gamecube, mainly just because my little brother wanted one and I wanted to beat him to it. I played Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker to death and it is still one of my most loved games despite it’s flaws. Graphically the Gamecube never quite did it for me so I soon progressed and in a short amount of time I ended up with a PS2, XBox, PSP and a DS (the big old silver one, I’m pretty sure it’s still hanging around here somewhere!).

Anyway long story short at one point I ended up owning all of the main consoles by the time the next generation was coming out. The improved graphics, immersive stories and online playing got me even more hooked and I haven’t looked back since. I cannot imagine not having games in my life, which is, unfortunately, a great disappointment to my mother.

I have to admit that for many years I looked past the FPS genre, preferring RPG’s, racing or general simulation games. The first time I picked up an FPS was in 2008 and it was Halo 3. A game I had heard a lot of hype about and it served it’s purpose in that it brought me to love FPS’s but unfortunately I could not come to love Halo. For me the physics in it are all a little arcade-y.

My current set-up (with which I am very happy with) is a 47inch LCD TV with PS3, XBox 360 Elite with Kinect. I also own a Mac and a PC (although I’m still yet to go past simulation games on these) a 3DS and a Windows Phone. I love playing any games I can get my hands on, be it a free download on the Xbox or phone or a massively hyped release on the PS3. My main console is the Xbox, I love it dearly and have cultivated my new account Dannie Kitten in the last year to what I feel is an impressive Gamerscore of 45000 ish. It’s not brilliant by any means, but it’s mine and I’m proud of it.