When Fallout 4 was announced I went to my local Game and pre-ordered the Pip-Boy version the very next day. They hadn't even put it into the till system yet, but I knew that I needed that game in my life. And let's face it, the idea of wearing an actual Pip-Boy was really cool - it turns out the idea of it was much cooler than the reality, but it makes for a sweet collectible so it's fine that I only used it for about an hour, right? In my defense I had a rubbish phone at the time that didn't quite fit and left a lot of space around the edges. Maybe it'd be better now...
I had adored Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas (actually my favourite out of the two) on Xbox 360 and had spent countless hours exploring the Wastelands these games provided me with. I never actually finished the story on either of them. Call me stupid but I didn't want the game to end. I liked knowing that I could go back to it at a later date and it'd still be there. I completed side mission after side mission, but never to this day have I seen the campaign through to the end. I will. One day.
Fallout 4 was different. It grabbed me and it didn't let me go. I found that I wanted to complete the story first this time, so then I was left alone to explore the vast reaches of The Commonwealth at my own speed. I raced through it. I didn't even look into when certain alliances would stop you progressing with others like I had in the past. I played it how I wanted to play it. It was a revelation. I am not completely cured though. I still have unfinished business in the Commonwealth. I have the DLC, but I am yet to get past the first area of Far Harbour. I guess I'm not ready for my adventures in the Commonwealth to be over just yet.
When Fallout 76 was first shown I was unbelievably excited. Then they started talking about it being multiplayer, and my excitement started to wane. By the end it had been completely dampened. Not only was this game going to be full of other real people - who could attack you if they wanted - but there was a big push on the building elements of the game, something which just hadn't gelled with me in Fallout 4. And even though the Power Armour would be an unbelievably cool addition to my cabinet, I just couldn't bring myself to commit to it. I still haven't pre-ordered it.
My god do I regret that decision now.
I chatted with one of the guys at Bethesda about the game and basically asked him how well it plays as a single-player experience as I truly wasn't interested in a multiplayer Fallout game. He told me that he had spent a fair few hours adventuring alone and it had felt like a 'real Fallout experience'. But then he told me about the fun he had had when he had teamed up too. And my interest piqued a little.
I was lucky enough to be provided with a beta code for Fallout 76 last week. I couldn't make the first wave of testing as it started at midnight and I have two small kids, but I made sure I was home and ready yesterday for the 10pm start. I needed to see whether my first impressions had been right.
They weren't. At all. This game is A LOT of fun as a team. It was a bit annoying to hear the tell-tale sign of someone trying to hit my character as I chose how she would look. But then I heard the strains of a guitar, and when I had finished creating my character I was looking at another player sat in a chair playing the guitar. They then got up and waved at me. It was nice.
Interestingly enough, whilst the Fallout 76 announcement had left me feeling disheartened it had grabbed the attention of my husband, who has NEVER played a Fallout game before. He had little to no interest in them at all. But learning that it was multiplayer had him listening. Maybe it was just knowing that I could save him in this one...
So we teamed up the minute we walked out of Vault 76 and made our way through some quests together, stopping at some abandoned cabins along the way to forage for supplies. We were soon kitted out with bowie knives and pipe pistols, and even a bit of armour. The quests all worked seamlessly - ones that I had triggered updated on his screen and vice-versa - and amazingly we only encountered one bug! A Feral Ghoul who kept regenerating his health. Small scale bug for a Bethesda game, right guys?!
And then a little sign came up the side saying the servers were going off in eight minutes. Two whole hours had flown by. I can honestly say I hadn't looked at my watch (or my phone!) the entire time I was playing, which has to be a good sign, right?
I am not going to talk about the story missions we completed - though honestly we got sidetracked by side missions so there weren't actually that many. I just want to tell you a little about my experience with the game. There were plenty of other people running around the area I was in. But I didn't encounter any trouble, not a one turned their weapon on me. However a lot of them waved, or stood patiently whilst I was using the crafting station. I have since learned that you have to be Level 5 to be able to attack other players though, so maybe that could change.
Fallout 76 so far for me feels like a Fallout game. But one I can share if I choose. The world is rich with stories to pick up, and places to explore and I didn't feel like that was ruined by having a tag-along. I really expected that I would. But actually it was quite nice. This doesn't mean that I'll only be playing with friends though. No one can take my alone time with Fallout away from me.
It's hard admitting you were so wrong about something, but this time I have to hold my hand up. I should have driven to Game the day after the Power Armour version was announced. I will regret not having faith in Bethesda for a long time. Especially if I ever look on eBay at the helmet...
Showing posts with label Thoughts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thoughts. Show all posts
Sunday, 28 October 2018
Monday, 27 October 2014
Tomb Raider Definitive Edition (Xbox One) - Thoughts
I know what you'll be thinking. This game has been out for ages and I have only just (literally five minutes ago) completed it. You've probably read everything about it (or everything you want to anyway) but I just wanted to stick my two cents in.
Overall I really enjoyed this game. My brother and I used to play Tomb Raider on the first PlayStation together, well we mostly just locked the butler in the freezer and dicked about in the gym in Lara's mansion, but hey we had fun! So when the new one came out on the 360 we both bought it straight away. I never got around to playing it though and when we got the One we found Tomb Raider for like £15 so we picked it up on that instead.
Graphically it is pretty good. I find the faces are the worst part of it really, with mouths barely moving and some really over the top facial reactions at times, or of course no reaction at all. The world is quite stunning though and I like the little touches, like Lara's hair blowing in the wind. She also leans into the wind in a pretty realistic way which is quite cool.
The story of this game is alright. It's not brilliant but it is certainly not bad. My biggest bug bear with it is that throughout the dialogue Lara bemoans all the senseless killing, but then in gameplay she remorselessly pummels umpteen men to their death. It is not the killing that winds me up about it, it's that there is no parity between the character and the gameplay - even a few soundbites of Lara sounding remorseful would have made for less jarring gameplay. Or a cutscene where the player sees Lara accept what she has to do to get her and her friends to safety would have been nice. I know I'm nitpicking, but hey I guess it's kinda my job to do just that!
Another thing I didn't like so much were the noises that came from Lara. I have to say I tolerated her voice at best and found it grated on me quite a lot, but the moans and screams whenever she died were unbearable and didn't really tie in with what was happening on screen. At one point I think I'd thrown her down a river or something and her throat had been impaled on a huge wooden spear sticking up out of the water. I think that warrants more than a slight moan, right? Or when I threw her off a cliff face and instead of screaming each time she hit a rock, she just moaned a little bit as she floated down into the murky nothingness below. Very lacklustre.
At first I loved the bits where the camera would change view to make it all claustrophobic, in tunnels and squeezing through small spaces, but after awhile they feel a little forced, as do the quick time events. And the amount of times Lara falls and you have to direct her away from sharp objects is quite high. That isn't to say these bit aren't fun though, but if you're not a fan of the old quick time events then you may find this game a tad annoying.
This game does do pretty well with atmosphere and I have to admit I was really frightened of the wolves. I don't feel like they featured nearly enough really, although I have to say I found the game easier to play without them. They move to fast for me to get a steady shot off against them and I find myself mindlessly running to the nearest ledge, crying out for someone to save me. But still there could have been a few more. After a bit when I realised that there weren't that many of them, I found I was much less tense. I'd much rather run into a big gun-toting maniac than a wolf.
As I said though I did enjoy this game. I particularly enjoyed playing with the bow, and have found that up to now in my Xbox One collection this is the only game that allows me to do so until the long awaited release of Far Cry 4 next month (God I am so excited for that). This game tided me over nicely and I will be picking up the sequel as and when, but honestly, I don't think I'll find it to hard to wait for a price drop.
At the price this game is currently at I'd say you'd be daft to miss it. It's one of the cheapest games you can find on the Xbox One and it certainly doesn't feel like the cheapest. Ignore the disparity between gameplay and narrative and you'll enjoy it just fine. The game mechanics in themselves are good. But prepare for a lot of climbing. Seriously this island is all on an incline!
Overall I really enjoyed this game. My brother and I used to play Tomb Raider on the first PlayStation together, well we mostly just locked the butler in the freezer and dicked about in the gym in Lara's mansion, but hey we had fun! So when the new one came out on the 360 we both bought it straight away. I never got around to playing it though and when we got the One we found Tomb Raider for like £15 so we picked it up on that instead.
Graphically it is pretty good. I find the faces are the worst part of it really, with mouths barely moving and some really over the top facial reactions at times, or of course no reaction at all. The world is quite stunning though and I like the little touches, like Lara's hair blowing in the wind. She also leans into the wind in a pretty realistic way which is quite cool.
The story of this game is alright. It's not brilliant but it is certainly not bad. My biggest bug bear with it is that throughout the dialogue Lara bemoans all the senseless killing, but then in gameplay she remorselessly pummels umpteen men to their death. It is not the killing that winds me up about it, it's that there is no parity between the character and the gameplay - even a few soundbites of Lara sounding remorseful would have made for less jarring gameplay. Or a cutscene where the player sees Lara accept what she has to do to get her and her friends to safety would have been nice. I know I'm nitpicking, but hey I guess it's kinda my job to do just that!
Another thing I didn't like so much were the noises that came from Lara. I have to say I tolerated her voice at best and found it grated on me quite a lot, but the moans and screams whenever she died were unbearable and didn't really tie in with what was happening on screen. At one point I think I'd thrown her down a river or something and her throat had been impaled on a huge wooden spear sticking up out of the water. I think that warrants more than a slight moan, right? Or when I threw her off a cliff face and instead of screaming each time she hit a rock, she just moaned a little bit as she floated down into the murky nothingness below. Very lacklustre.
At first I loved the bits where the camera would change view to make it all claustrophobic, in tunnels and squeezing through small spaces, but after awhile they feel a little forced, as do the quick time events. And the amount of times Lara falls and you have to direct her away from sharp objects is quite high. That isn't to say these bit aren't fun though, but if you're not a fan of the old quick time events then you may find this game a tad annoying.
This game does do pretty well with atmosphere and I have to admit I was really frightened of the wolves. I don't feel like they featured nearly enough really, although I have to say I found the game easier to play without them. They move to fast for me to get a steady shot off against them and I find myself mindlessly running to the nearest ledge, crying out for someone to save me. But still there could have been a few more. After a bit when I realised that there weren't that many of them, I found I was much less tense. I'd much rather run into a big gun-toting maniac than a wolf.
As I said though I did enjoy this game. I particularly enjoyed playing with the bow, and have found that up to now in my Xbox One collection this is the only game that allows me to do so until the long awaited release of Far Cry 4 next month (God I am so excited for that). This game tided me over nicely and I will be picking up the sequel as and when, but honestly, I don't think I'll find it to hard to wait for a price drop.
At the price this game is currently at I'd say you'd be daft to miss it. It's one of the cheapest games you can find on the Xbox One and it certainly doesn't feel like the cheapest. Ignore the disparity between gameplay and narrative and you'll enjoy it just fine. The game mechanics in themselves are good. But prepare for a lot of climbing. Seriously this island is all on an incline!
Wednesday, 2 July 2014
Watch Dogs -Thoughts cont.
Hey!
So as you all know I've been playing through Watch Dogs recently. If you follow my Twitter account (link in the side) you will have seen me venting my frustration last night. I wanted to LOVE this game and in all honesty at the minute all I feel like I do is tolerate it. It's not that bad really. But it's not the great game we were promised either. Which I just find so disappointing.
My progression stands at just over 50% at the minute so expect more thoughts in the coming weeks. I'm in Act II right now and I have to say that even the story is starting to grate a little (never mind the utterly tiresome Fixer Contracts!). The story is just so-so, which again isn't what I expect from a powerhouse such as Ubisoft.
I think what the now current-gen of gaming is teaching me is that the little guys should not be overlooked in favour of the big guys. Watch Dogs has been hugely hyped for a couple of years now and so for it just to be ok is extra disappointing. If I'd gone into it with no expectations it might not have been that bad. But due to the enormous ad campaign behind it it was kinda hard to not expect more from it.
I have played the online a little now, and have to say that I find this the most enjoyable part of the game so far. The 1v1 hacking is my favourite at this point. I love watching them getting more and more panicked as the percentage creeps up. The frantic running is pretty funny!
Anyway, as I said you can probably expect more thoughts on this game as I continue. This is by no means a proper review so don't expect a blow by blow account of what works and what doesn't. I guess this is just my way of venting frustration at a game I really wanted to love. These are my honest opinions, so if they don't change or I have nothing more to add really then I won't be posting again. For now, of I had to sun up my Watch Dogs experience in one word it would be disappointment. Bitter disappointment.
Keep gaming people!
xXx
Monday, 16 June 2014
Watch Dogs - Xbox One
It's been a busy few weeks here, but I have actually managed to fit in some game time! And for the past couple of weeks I've mostly been playing Watch Dogs, so I thought I'd pop by and give you my thoughts...
Watch Dogs was incredibly hyped last year, you couldn't hear mention of the next generation of consoles without someone citing Watch Dogs. It was earmarked from the beginning as the game to have on the next gen. It seems to have taken an age for it to be released, but when it came around we bought it, an early Fathers Day present for the other half (although I have actually played more of it!).
So firstly lets discuss the graphics. The intro video looks amazing, but I feel like after that some of it looks pretty shoddy. Aiden looks good, but the rest of the character models look pretty tired really, and don't really look like I thought the 'next-gen' would. Cars look good, buildings look good and the environment as a whole looks alright. But nothing special. Graphically it definitely doesn't blow me away.
A LOT of people have likened this game to Grand Theft Auto, something I find quite annoying. Why is it that when a game features an open world it is inevitably compared to either GTA or Skyrim? I don't see any similarity past the fact that they both occur in an open world city and feature cars and guns. Oh and a male protagonist, maybe I don't read enough into these things but for me this doesn't mean anything - MOST games feature a male protagonist yet we're not constantly comparing them. And lets be honest, the shooting in Watch Dogs is not so good. But thankfully we can be sneaky, which I believe is the way in which this game is supposed to be played. I'm not too far into the story yet, but I have been running around unlocking all of the ctOS towers and am yet to fire my gun.
The sneaking system in this game is fantastic. I love being able to press A on the next cover and Aiden will automatically dart there. It feels good, unlike the driving which I find incredibly arcade-y. There seems to be no logic to it, with the heavy vehicles being able to make corners neatly at speed, but the motorbikes mostly missing the corner and diving into a nearby wall instead. Which doesn't knock you off the bike, or even noticeably damage it.
The Fixer Contracts are a massive bone of contention for me. It feels like they cheapen the game a little, if only for just how many there are! Don't get me wrong I don't hate them quite as much as i first did, when on the first one I'd randomly chosen it turned out to be the hardest I have done so far and sits still unfinished.
This is far from an in-depth review, more just a little post collecting my initial thoughts. I'll probably post back with a proper one at some point in the future. But for now I'd say it's definitely worth getting. There still aren't enough games on the One in my opinion for you to be able to overlook this. The hacking is good and some of the phone calls you can hack into are hilarious, as well as some of the intrusion scenes. Don't take in all the hype, don't expect too much from it and above all just play it for a laugh and I believe you'll have a great experience with this game.
Watch Dogs was incredibly hyped last year, you couldn't hear mention of the next generation of consoles without someone citing Watch Dogs. It was earmarked from the beginning as the game to have on the next gen. It seems to have taken an age for it to be released, but when it came around we bought it, an early Fathers Day present for the other half (although I have actually played more of it!).
So firstly lets discuss the graphics. The intro video looks amazing, but I feel like after that some of it looks pretty shoddy. Aiden looks good, but the rest of the character models look pretty tired really, and don't really look like I thought the 'next-gen' would. Cars look good, buildings look good and the environment as a whole looks alright. But nothing special. Graphically it definitely doesn't blow me away.
A LOT of people have likened this game to Grand Theft Auto, something I find quite annoying. Why is it that when a game features an open world it is inevitably compared to either GTA or Skyrim? I don't see any similarity past the fact that they both occur in an open world city and feature cars and guns. Oh and a male protagonist, maybe I don't read enough into these things but for me this doesn't mean anything - MOST games feature a male protagonist yet we're not constantly comparing them. And lets be honest, the shooting in Watch Dogs is not so good. But thankfully we can be sneaky, which I believe is the way in which this game is supposed to be played. I'm not too far into the story yet, but I have been running around unlocking all of the ctOS towers and am yet to fire my gun.
The sneaking system in this game is fantastic. I love being able to press A on the next cover and Aiden will automatically dart there. It feels good, unlike the driving which I find incredibly arcade-y. There seems to be no logic to it, with the heavy vehicles being able to make corners neatly at speed, but the motorbikes mostly missing the corner and diving into a nearby wall instead. Which doesn't knock you off the bike, or even noticeably damage it.
The Fixer Contracts are a massive bone of contention for me. It feels like they cheapen the game a little, if only for just how many there are! Don't get me wrong I don't hate them quite as much as i first did, when on the first one I'd randomly chosen it turned out to be the hardest I have done so far and sits still unfinished.
This is far from an in-depth review, more just a little post collecting my initial thoughts. I'll probably post back with a proper one at some point in the future. But for now I'd say it's definitely worth getting. There still aren't enough games on the One in my opinion for you to be able to overlook this. The hacking is good and some of the phone calls you can hack into are hilarious, as well as some of the intrusion scenes. Don't take in all the hype, don't expect too much from it and above all just play it for a laugh and I believe you'll have a great experience with this game.
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