674 replies to this topic

[Iceskater101]

Wait who gave the low reviews?

[seawolfnyy]

A number of reviewers. It got a 7.8 from IGN and a 6/10 from Gamespot. I've been playing through it today and can definitely say that it isn't quite the same as Arkham Asylum/City. Actually, that's not right. It's too similar to Asylum/City. However, I've only played for about 2 hours, so my hope is that it will improve.

[PPK_19]

I've won 2 tickets to the XboxOne tour in London! I get to test out the console on Nov 4th! I get to play Battlefield 4, the new Forza, FIFA 14 and many more games! I'll let you lot know what I think of it.

[x007AceOfSpades]

Doesn't surprise me that Arkham Origins got low scores, it looked pretty much the same and didn't look to offer anything new or exciting. Asylum was a great game, City was good, even though it's about the same, though in a much more bigger scale. Origins is just a repeat. Don't think I'll play it. At least for a while.

[thecasinoroyale]

I got 'Arkham Origins' on Friday, release day, safe to say pre-ordered on the back of really enjoying the 'Asylum/City' games. However the reviews did worry me but I kept expectations minimal due to them and to see for myself.

 

Basically, it is like 'Arkham City' with a new map and skins. Gotham is thankfully larger and more of a basic city rather than a prison,and many locations and settings are still the same, but if you play in a city like Gotham over years they aren't going to change much, really!

 

The fight system is the same, as are the controls, the HUDs, the use of gadgets and rapelling/gliding around the rooftops. It's not a bad thing, because from playing previous games, you feel right at home with Batman once more and can control him from the start without feeling it's changed much.

 

It's the story that is obviously the seller here and tells the early tale of Bruce Wayne/Batman only 2 years into his crime fighting career which makes for a refreshing play as the Dark Knight due to the fact the police and criminals see him as a vigilante, and his established name hasn't really been made yet so you can get chased by both sides of the law if you're not careful.

 

It also plays with Batman taking actions that are fulled more by vengeance against crime, and not a clear motivation by justice as yet, so he's still quite short-tempered and rash in what he does, which again leads to some nice story developments as you play the "Batman Begins"-style character.

 

It's a very simple story of spending Christmas chasing down one master criminal, Black Mask, while contending with 8 assassins out to collect a bounty on your head and discovering webs of corruption and smoke-and-mirror tactics by the Rogues Gallery of Villains as you do. Solve crimes, assist the police in take-downs, seek out city wide bomb threats and hacker thefts are some of the sub-missions you can do that make up a good 50% of the completed gameplay once the main story is done, much like the earlier games. So plenty of play value to be had.

 

If you enjoyed the previous games than this is not going to dissapoint. It's a fresh story with new characters, new gadgets and new ways of working as Batman himself. It doesn't offer much in terms of game development, and I am sure many people will be annoyed at that fact, but others may just want to continue the "ain't broke don't fix it" game play of earlier games and take a new adventure in comfortable, entertaining surroundings.

 

Great visuals, a decent soudntrack and stellar voice-acting help flesh out the game and give Gotham a nice look and feel as you smash and swoop your way to learning what it really means to be Batman.

 

But after 'Origins', I feel the Arkham series can rest a while until  a new direction can be taken, rather than give us more of the same over and over again. As 'Assassins Creed 4' has proved with great reviews and a big switch from previous games under the same title, just give Batman time to breathe again and wait until we need him back on a console, not just because we want him.

[seawolfnyy]

Call of Duty: Ghosts runs at 720p on X1 and 1080p on PS4. MGS: Ground Zeroes gets a release window of Spring 2014. South Park: The Stick of Truth is delayed until March 2014. The Walking Dead Season Two releases this month and PS4 and X1 both release within the next 3 weeks. Just an update on gaming news.

[PPK_19]

Alright geeks,

 

I attended the XboxOne tour convention in London yesterday with a mate.

 

After a quick pint we queued up with the rest of the gaming nerds in the freezing cold, and were eventually let in.

 

The "warehouse" was divided into sections. We made a beeline for the FIFA 14 section, sat down and started a game.

 

We only had a few teams to choose from, BVB, Citeh, Spuds, AC Milan, Farca, Real Ronaldo and P$G.

 

First impressions: the game is very "smooth" on next gen. The players react quicker, the graphics look better- not by much mind you. We played two matches, he won one, I won the other, courtesy of a 35 yard screamer from Ronaldo. I don't know what else to say apart from the players seem cleverer, more prone to track runs and stick out a leg for the ball if they're on the ground.

Overall FIFA 14 is an improvement over on 13.

 

Next we played Dead Rising 3. It was good fun, plowing through hundreds of zombies with cars, setting them alight with a flamethrower or just caving their heads in with a hammer. However it is a repetitive game, so we moved on rather quickly.

 

We had a go on Ryse: The Son of Rome. This was a blast, controlling a Roman soldier and fighting barbarians in a Roman arena. Again, graphically, it looked fantastic. The finishing moves were great to watch too- like sticking your sword into the back of the neck of a barbarian after parrying his blow with your shield.

 

Then we played Kinect Sports. I was impressed by how responsive it was. We played a jet-skiing racing game, where you "steered" the jet ski by holding your hands out in the air as if grasping a handlebar. It responded to minute movements very well. It was good derivative fun but not something I'd buy.

 

Lastly we tried the multiplayer on Battlefield 4. In terms of graphics it only looked marginally better than BF3. But it ran at 60 FPS and was a fun experience, new levels etc but it's essentially the same game with a few tweaks and a couple of new game modes.

 

It was all academic since I don't intend to buy an Xbox One: I'm going to get a PS4 because it's a lot cheaper, and that's that. But I was curious to see what the next gen games were like and enjoyed playing them all for the most part. I didn't try the new Forza  since I'm not into racing games but it looked beautiful. 

 

All in all it was a lot of fun. The Xbox One control was VERY comfortable to hold too, I hope the new PS4 controller is as nice. 

[seawolfnyy]

Interesting assessment, PPK. Nice to see that the next-gen FIFA 14 is an improvement over the current-gen one, which I felt was pretty underwhelming even for a yearly released franchise. Nice to see that someone enjoyed Ryse, it was a game that I was genuinely excited for and then everything I saw made me dislike it more and more. BF4 is well BF and you're analysis of Dead Rising 3 is pretty much what I expected it to be. I won't be getting an X1 or a PS4 for awhile (they both cost quite a bit more in Spain), but interesting to see that there is in fact a marked difference between the current and next gen.

[PPK_19]

But interesting to see that there is in fact a marked difference between the current and next gen.

 

There is, but it's not as big a leap as I would have expected. But i'm not worried, developers find ways to squeeze every last drop of power out of these consoles as time goes on. 

[x007AceOfSpades]

Going to be posting my review for Call Of Duty: Ghosts. It's gonna get ugly...

[seawolfnyy]

Going to be posting my review for Call Of Duty: Ghosts. It's gonna get ugly...

Doesn't sound surprising. I haven't been impressed with Ghosts either. I never got around to reviewing BO2, but while it still felt old and tired, it was definitely a step up from the abysmal MW3. From what I've seen so far of Ghosts, it seems to be a bizarre sidestep for the series, one that does actually introduce new things, but also omits some of the better features that Treyarch has implemented. Infinity Ward just isn't the same these days. Through maybe MW2, IW was definitely the better developer, but World at War was the first great entry from Treyarch and really since then, Treyarch's efforts have been far better than IW's. From what I've heard, the PS4 version is leaps and bounds better than the current-gen versions, but who knows. I look forward to your review, mine won't be posted for awhile as I am working on Arkham Origins first.

[seawolfnyy]

My review for Batman: Arkham Origins. I will say that I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this game. It's not the best game in the Arkham series, but it does tell one helluva story.

 

http://joshstrzeszko...origins-review/

[x007AceOfSpades]

Call Of Duty: Ghosts - 4/10 - Xbox 360

For many reasons, this was slated to be the biggest Call Of Duty game yet. It was set to run at 60 FPS, utilizing an heavily modified engine, a campaign that was to suck you in, a launch title for the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4, and to re-vitalize the multiplayer. Instead, after the near-perfect Call Of Duty: Black Ops II, Ghosts, is in many ways, a huge step back rather than one forward for this generation.

 

The Campaign: The campaign opens up with an attack that cripples the United States, and cripples the country badly. Badly where the country is no longer seen as a superpower and seen more like a third world country. The attack was then done by a large military group known as the Federation. From that point on, Santa Monica is mainly used as a large US Military location of what remains, but the real soldiers are the Ghosts. You play as Logan Walker, and as you stand beside your brother Hesh Walker, you fight alongside the Ghosts to eventually earn your mask and defeat the Federation once and for all.

 

The campaign seemed promising being that it was written by Stephen Gaghan, who has written one of the finest American films of all time, Traffic, however there is nothing compelling about the story. It seems interesting, but you never grasp of even remotely consider America to be a dying country. It just seems to be more of the same from Modern Warfare 3, where you fight the enemy in an attempt to push them and regain your country and freedom. It also has you doing more of the same, going to new locations and shooting up the enemy trying to catch the bad guy and gather data. It's old, it's really old. Oh and Infinity Ward and Gaghan stating that you will feel a connection to your fellow brothers and your Dog, is complete bull, The Dog is nothing more than an AI and a sub standard playable character. The Ghosts are nothing more than a bunch of lean, mean, gruff, tough guys who are all the same, there's nothing that really memorable about each of them or anything that separates them. I felt more of a connection with Black Ops II's Harper, Black Ops' Woods and Bowman, Modern Warfare 2's Soap and Ghost, and Modern Warfare's Griggs and Gaz. I'll even admit right now that I cried when Ghost was killed in Modern Warfare 2, almost like a little girl too. What made Black Ops II's campaign memorable was that it was different in which it had player choices that affect the overall outcome of the game, and it made you question on what to do. It had you hunting down, an enemy from your fathers past before a new Cold War begins. It was the obsession the main character, David Mason, had with Raul Menendez in wanting to capture him and end everything. It was compelling, and awesome. It wasn't tiring, it was unique and brought something new to the table.

 

Extinction mode pits you and three other people in an effort to kill aliens and destroy their hives. It's not necessarily a rip off of Treyarch's Zombies, but it does have some slight things it is reminiscent of, but all in all, it plays out more like Valve's Left 4 Dead franchise. It's cool as you work together and you must use all your weapons which are on your d-pad. There's different types of aliens too. Once you destroy them all, you must run back to the spawn location and get in the EVAC Helicopter and get outta dodge, which is a tad impossible. Once you finish the game mode, there's really no point in going back to doing it again. It's fun with friends the first few times, but after a day or so, I don't really have the interest in wanting to play it again. Unlike Zombies which is mainly round base but has a story which is told through it's Easter eggs, Extinction is mainly a one and done feature.

 

The multiplayer brings in many new features, but they are not exactly for the good. The new perk system is interesting and works, but I think there is a sense of amusement which allows players to have a slight unfair advantage by using certain perks, but in abundance. Three perks was fine, but since I currently have 7, it feels like overkill. The Scorestreaks is something I loved in Black Ops II, but Infinity Ward decided to back to their package system from Modern Warfare 3, which are essentially the same though the rewards are much different, and the final package gives you an additional 3 perks. The Killstreaks are weak, very weak, to the point where I don't care about my rewards at all and can do without them. Though the Maniac is pretty cool. Weapons seem to be off balance in terms of range, damage, and recoil. It's ridiculous, but it is what it is. I also found myself yelling at my screen too, much more than I've done in any COD game, and I'm a pretty decent player. The first day I played online for Black Ops II I got to level 21, in one day on Ghosts I barely got to 10. Leveling up takes much longer, why, I don't know, but I would love to know. Even more, I really want to know why the game modes Ground War, Demolition, Headquarters, Search & Destroy, Hardpoint are not in multiplayer. It's puzzling as those are easily my favorites (save for Search & Destroy) It really upset me to see that Infinity Ward took them out and replaced them with sub par modes like Cranked and Search & Rescue. The multiplayer doesn't have that factor that makes you want to play it, and instead has you passing on it, or waiting for a lobby of you and your friends.

 

The engine is nothing short of terrible, it's a step down from Black Ops II, and this engine utilizes many new things, as well as 60 frames per second, but I find it to be a problem, as it is a bit much on the eyes and there is the issue I have of trying to spot enemies and other small things. 60 frames per second might have worked with a completely new engine, but with one that's just been modified since the Call Of Duty 4 engine in 2007, it's certainly showing it's age really quickly, and is slowing heading into to vaporware. It's also sad that this is the engine that's going to be used for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions. Though it looks somewhat nice, it still is pretty bad, not as bad as the foliage in the game (shudders). It introduces many things, but in the end it's a giant step back. I think It is safe to say that is going to be my last Infinity Ward game for a while. I'll be buying Treyarch's next Call Of Duty game as I've been rather impressed with them and I hope to be blown away with Black Ops III or whatever story they come up with. Call Of Duty: Ghosts is nothing more than and Old dog, with old tricks. Save your time and save your money.

[PPK_19]

Wow. A damning review. I'm going to buy a PS4 and Battlefield 4 instead.

[seawolfnyy]

Ouch, Ace. But, unfortunately that's pretty much what I expected from this game. Infinity Ward is a horrid shell of what they used to be. Ever since World at War, Treyarch has been BY FAR the better developer (and that's even including MW2, of whose multiplayer is still fantastic). The story is nothing by faux-patriotism designed to go after the most right-wing 'Murica types. Kind of like Olympus Has Fallen. I'm going to try to rent it and go through it this week, but I don't much care to. I hope Activision will finally just dump IW and let Treyarch take the reins on Call of Duty and go to a 2 year cycle instead (but we all know they won't). Black Ops is one of the best CoDs and while I think BO2 was a step down, I still rate it about 7.5/10 (vs the god-awful 4/10 I gave MW3). Hopefully, Treyarch can come back with something truly groundbreaking next year.

[Iceskater101]

My review for Batman: Arkham Origins. I will say that I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this game. It's not the best game in the Arkham series, but it does tell one helluva story.

 

http://joshstrzeszko...origins-review/

 

Nice Review, I really want to play this game, I feel like it's really hard to top Arkham Asylum.!

[seawolfnyy]

Arkham Origins is quite fun, I enjoyed it at least. I can't say the same for Call of Duty: Ghosts or Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea Ep 1. Both were not really fun at all. I expected it from Ghosts, but I had high hopes for Booker and Elizabeth in Rapture. I'll post reviews of both once I have time to finish them. Also, reviews for AC4: Black Flag and Beyond: Two Souls will be coming soon.

[x007AceOfSpades]

Wow. A damning review. I'm going to buy a PS4 and Battlefield 4 instead.

 

Ouch, Ace. But, unfortunately that's pretty much what I expected from this game. Infinity Ward is a horrid shell of what they used to be. Ever since World at War, Treyarch has been BY FAR the better developer (and that's even including MW2, of whose multiplayer is still fantastic). The story is nothing by faux-patriotism designed to go after the most right-wing 'Murica types. Kind of like Olympus Has Fallen. I'm going to try to rent it and go through it this week, but I don't much care to. I hope Activision will finally just dump IW and let Treyarch take the reins on Call of Duty and go to a 2 year cycle instead (but we all know they won't). Black Ops is one of the best CoDs and while I think BO2 was a step down, I still rate it about 7.5/10 (vs the god-awful 4/10 I gave MW3). Hopefully, Treyarch can come back with something truly groundbreaking next year.

 

Activision needs to let time pass and fully develop a newer next gen engine for Next gen COD.

Battlefield 4 is the way to go until newer FPS games are out for the next gen consoles.

[seawolfnyy]

http://www.ign.com/a...from-activision

 

Is Crash coming home?

[Iceskater101]

That would be kind of neat if Sony bought out Crash because that would make for a hopefully awesome game on the PS4.

and I am coming home this weekend so I think I am going to do another run through with Bioshock Infinite on the hardest difficulty!

[seawolfnyy]

I did that, it wasn't easy jaja. If you haven't gotten to it either, I would probably skip Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea. It isn't very good and kind of ruins Infinite's story.

[x007AceOfSpades]

Well I traded in my copy of Call Of Duty: Ghosts for a new copy of the brilliant Need For Speed: Rivals. Will have that review up later.

[x007AceOfSpades]

Need For Speed: Rivals - 9.5/10 - Xbox 360

I hated Call Of Duty: Ghosts, just read my review and You'll understand why I dislike it. So instead of having it sit on my shelf and collect dust, I did myself a favor and went to GameStop and traded in Ghosts, Battlefield 3 Limited Edition (I bought the Premium Edition, so this one was useless for me), and Halo 3: ODST. Paid off what little difference and bought myself a brand new, Day One edition of Need For Speed: Rivals. Clerk had told me that LOTS of people are trading in their copies of Ghosts too, so that put a smile on my face. Anyways, Need For Speed: Most Wanted was a beautiful reboot and revival, and Rivals only continues on with it's dazzling visuals, fast paced Hot Pursuit and Most Wanted like gameplay, and array of vehicles.

 

Need For Speed: Rivals features gameplay that is similar to 2012's Most Wanted, and 2010's Hot Pursuit. After all, you return in a playable role as a police officer. The city is a bit bigger than Most Wanted's but not by a huge margin. as a Racer, you'll take on others in races (obviously) online or offline and race to get SP and advance further through that campaign and purchase vehicles and pursuit tech. You'll also be evading the police who seem to be smarter than the ones in Hot Pursuit and Most Wanted. As a cop, you'll answer the calls to stop racers during a race and to arrive on a scene ASAP. You'll also complete a list of objectives and AutoLog request to advance further and unlock FREE new vehicles to use and purchase pursuit tech. Sounds repetitive and boring right? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Ghost Games really pushed it further with the gameplay, in which, you can switch off between a cop or a racer at any given time and enjoy both sides of the road as one.

 

This is the first game in the franchise of Need For Speed to utilize the DICE Frostbite 3 engine, which was shown initially with Battlefield 4. Need For Speed: Rivals looks absolutely gorgeous with Frostbite 3. The textures are crisp, the detail is tremendous, and the the weather terrain is spectacular. It's a game that looks beautiful on the PlayStation 4 and on the Xbox One, but it looks just as dazzling on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Another new addition to the game is the game type mode called AllDrive. AllDrive is designed to allow the player to experience the game online and socially with players, a free roam if you must. Transitioning to AllDrive is incredibly easy and is a load of fun. You actually feel comfortable playing the game with random people online, and it feels even more real, whether you are racing against them in your tricked out car, or chasing them in your Police interceptor.

 

There's a wide array of vehicles for both sides, stemming from a beastly Dodge Charger to a Monster Ford Mustang to a Sleek Aston Martin Vantage on the police side. As a racer, you start off with a Porche 911 Carrera S and can then move to a slick Audi, a muscle bound Dodge Challenger, and to my personal favorite, the gorgeous 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray. The list goes on, and I wish I can think of more cars to name, but I can't, although Ferrari cars are BACK in Need For Speed, for the first time in over twelve years.

 

The fast paced, adrenaline-heart racing gameplay from last years Most Wanted returns, and with a vengeance. It's one of the top racing games this year, and one of the very best made overall. Need For Speed proves that with Rivals, the series isn't getting stale, it's just getting started, and with the new life and blood Ghost Games has injected into the franchise, it's back in action, and will look to claim the top spot of the best racing franchise out there. If you have an Xbox One and want a fun racing game and may/may no be a fan of Forza, Rivals is the choice, even for PlayStation 4. It's the racing game to grab if you are still on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Rivals is a must play!

 

Outside of games, this will most likely be my last review for a while, my Xbox 360's laser reader has fried and there for, no longer plays disc's. I'm contemplating on selling my 360 and EVERYTHING for it (though I will upgrade my copy or Rivals to an Xbox One edition) and using the money for an Xbox One, instead of buying a new 360 or repairing it. I've got a Kinect, over 70 games, two controllers, and a Live Headset to go with it, I think I get a pretty number for all of that.

[Iceskater101]

Yeah that definitely makes sense to just upgrade if your 360 is already having issues and just getting an xbox one. I don't see myself buying one anytime soon and I love my 360! Nice review Ace! I am sure that I won't get this though because racing games aren't really my kind of game to play.

 

 

Right now I am working through Bioshock Infinite on hard difficulty and I am trying to collect all of the different collectibles that are in the game. If I don't get sick of the game, I might try to go through it on 1999 mode to get that done and over with. I will see how I feel though after this playthrough.

[seawolfnyy]

1999 mode is a nightmare....me encanta. I won't be upgrading to PS4 or X1 for quite awhile. Both are considerably more expensive in Spain. I'll wait until I'm back in the States. As for my reviews of CoD Ghosts and Bioshock Infinite Burial at Sea, I just haven't had the time (nor have I really cared a whole lot, I didn't like either and never truly felt like writing about them). But I give Call of Duty: Ghosts a 4.5/10 and Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea Episode I a 5/10. For Ghosts, just refer to Ace's review. He pretty much hit everything on the head with that one. Burial at Sea just ruins everything great about Bioshock Infinite.

[tdalton]

Finally got around to Tomb Raider.  Of the small handful of games I've played this year (and admittedly that number gets lower and lower each year), it was the most enjoyable.  Looking forward to a sequel.

[thecasinoroyale]

Finally got 'Assassins Creed IV' for Xmas so can't wait to have a go on that - hope you all got some good video gaming goodies!

[PPK_19]

Finally got 'Assassins Creed IV' for Xmas so can't wait to have a go on that - hope you all got some good video gaming goodies!

 

I got it for my PS4.

 

Best AC game they've made so far! Let me know your thoughts.

[elizabeth]

Got GTA V for Christmas.  Great game so far!

[Iceskater101]

Got my 3DS for christmas! I got Luigi's Dark Moon and Animal Crossing. I love the 3DS and I think it's worth the upgrade. If you're not a fan of the 3D you can turn it off which is nice, personally I think the 2DS is very ugly. You should just get the 3DS and turn the 3D off if you don't like 3D. I didn't get the XL and I have to admit I kind of wish I would have asked for the XL, but I am happy with my purple 3DS. I definitely want to go and buy more games for it considering this is the first DS I have ever owned and I don't have many games, but I really enjoy it!

Also let me know if any of you have one so I can add you and we can play together!