Mount and Blade: Warband ps4

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Every so often I see a game and I want to try it, but I don’t know enough to risk the money. Normally $20, I got it for $8 this week on sale since admittedly I have blown more on worse endeavors. Maybe its because its not much money that despite the faults of this game, which there are quite a few. The controls are clunky, shooting an arrow is difficult to aim and swinging a sword or staff is basically the prototype for For Honor from Ubisoft. Its stiff and not as well done, but its functional. The visuals are outdated even when it released on PC back in 2008 and while the PS4 version is improved that is not saying much.

With all the negatives out of the way I must admit greatly enjoying this game. See as a guy that loves swords and elves and shit, this game is sort of like a holy grail for me. You get a short tutorial on how the combat works it drops you into the game, alone and with one pretty short mission to get you started you are left on your way to make a name for yourself. Unlike most games you are not a chosen one or even any one of note. You simply are. From here you can hire mercenaries to protect you as you trade, or raid villages and castles or even if you want to attempt to marry a rich woman with land of her own. That being said these options all exist for women, there is even trophies dedicated specifically towards playing as a female character.

The main draw of this game for me is that its a wide open and unforgiving much like earth hundreds of years ago. One wrong move and your army is gone and you are left to start again if you survive. One right move however, and the world is your for the taken. So to you that join me, may the gaming gods bring you glory. And to those that do not, may they bring you even more glory.

Star Trek 4 The Voyage Home

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Star Trek 4, The Voyage Home (1986) is, in my humble opinion, is the best of the original series movies.  The plot is pretty simple. A probe comes to Earth with a message that starts boiling the ocean and destroying the world, and as Spock points out only human arrogance would assume the message was for them. As the crew quickly discovers the now extinct humpback whales are the only one that can answer them and save the planet. So Spock does some calculations no human can understand and their stolen Bird Of Prey is flying back in time.

Of course they quickly discover a pair with a pregnant female. Now that is basically the quick version. The movie looks good for its time and the acting is what you would expect from Star Trek. This one while my favorite is by many sort of the black sheep. While most people agree the odd numbered movies suck, this one is greatly argued by many. Usually it comes down to this or Wrath of Kahn and honestly neither answer is wrong. Voyage is a far less series movie and many would prefer while Kahn is an instant classic with one of the best space battle scenes in history. With that being said id recommend watching both. As always thanks for the time, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Stardew Valley PS4 Review Updated

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Stardew Valley is basically this generation’s Harvest Moon. You grow crops, raise animals, meet new people, etc. I know this sounds really boring. Yet somehow it’s relaxing and I can’t explain why.

The game starts with you being gifted a farm that is pretty run-down. Your first day or 2 is spent clearing a small patch of land and planting your first crops. After that, you will be meeting new people and getting to know the town. However, you can really go a million different directions here.  You may decide to spend your time fishing or diving into the depths of a cave. Personally,I love planting crops and raising animals. As always, thanks for your time, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

It has been a long time since I first wrote this review, and a ton of things have been added to this game, and I thought maybe I should add to this. For example, the game now has online and local multiplayer, a ton more crop types, and at least 2 new areas to explore. More new cut scenes than I have ever seen, new characters, and even the ability to adopt multiple pets. You are no longer stuck just picking a dog or a cat. Now is an even better time to pick this up if you haven’t already.

Fallout New Vegas

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Many people see New Vegas as the sort of black sheep of the family. I am not one of them. Vegas is probably my favorite of them all. The story of the courier was full of twist, turns, strange individuals and death. Traveling the Mojave was interesting, and seeing what happened to Vegas after the war was fun. While the groups are fun, like one that worships Elvis and walks around dressed like him and talking like him there were other areas that the game improved on from Fallout 3. For example being able to choose different types of ammo was amazing. Some examples of this were armor piercing rounds worked great with a sniper rifle.

The looks of the game were slightly better than its predecessor and the sound set the tone beautifully. the DLC was also fun but admittedly wasn’t as fun as it was in Fallout 3, but that doesn’t mean it was bad. the sierra madre was a pain in the ass sure, but it was an interesting twist on the series. As always thanks for your time, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Top 6 Resident Evil Bosses

So a few days ago we got word that Resident Evil: Revelations is coming to PS4 and XBox One and so I decided to talk about some of my favorite RE bosses to get in the mood. Yes, we will be counting up, starting from 6. So lets begin:

neptune 6. Neptune (Resident Evil remake)- what’s scary than a giant ass fish with rows of massive teeth and black soulless eyes? How bout if that was undead too. In the remake of the classic we are caught in a flooded lab,restricted to a broken circular catwalk. Neptune and the other sharks swim menacingly alongside of you; the smaller sharks can be blown away by a shotgun but Neptune is far bigger and can easily kill you in one hit; while solving the lab’s puzzle you can hear him slamming into the reinforced glass.It’s pretty fulfilling to fry his giant ass and know Jaws ain’t got shit on you.

birkin 5. William Birkin (Resident Evil 2)- The creator of the G Virus and final boss of the classic sequel, Birkin is almost a tragic villain in that he sold his soul for his creation. When gunned down by Umbrella’s containment forces, he injected himself with his virus and became what you see before you. But this is just the beginning. He mutates several times, each more disgusting until he pretty muck is a womb of teeth and tentacles that could swallow a Buick. Be sure to save beforehand.

wesker 4. Albert Wesker (Resident Evil, Code Veronica X, and Resident Evil 5)- the original snake in the grass, Wesker was the head of the S.T.A.R.S team in the first game, until we find out he was secretly a researcher for Umbrella the whole time. At first it looks like the Tyrannt kills him in the end, he saves himself by injecting himself with a serum that gives him super speed, strength, reflexes, and durability. Never really a favorite of mine I give him credit for his dastardly machinations and rivalry with series protagonist Chris Redfield.

rere2 3. Lisa Trevors (Resident Evil remake)- this bitch gives me the willies if you couldn’t tell by my Resident Evil review. She was taken from her parents at a young age and subjected to horrible experiments. The mask she wears could possibly be made from the carcus of her own mother, which she pathetically moan and weeps for as she slumps after you. She can be stunned by gunfire but not killed by it; at the end she commits suicide holding her mother’s skull, weeping all the way down…poor thing.

krauser 2. Jack Krauser (Resident Evil 4)- Krauser is a bad ass. Once an alley of Leon Kennedy during his early days as a government agent, he was believed to have died in a plane crash. Now imbued with the Las Plagus, he has increased durability, strength, and agility, oh and has such control over the parasite he can use it to warp his arm into a deadly wing that is both dangerous weapon and effective shield. And the final battle takes place under a time limit. If only this amazing games finale was this epic.

nemesis1.  Nemesis (Resident Evil 3)- how could he not be? He’s ridiculously strong, can take an obscene amount of damage without flinching, and has a damn rocket launcher for when he gets bored of his tentacles and bare hands. And of course all that’s just the first time you face off against him; he mutates into an nightmare by the end. He feels omnipresent, hearing him bang against the reinforced walls of the police station, hearing him groan. The movie version does him no justice because once you fight this bastard, you never forget.

I hope you all enjoyed my countdown; if you have any Resident Evil bosses you think I forgot let me know down below and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

Skyrim

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Oh Skyrim. What is there to say that hasn’t already been said by 100 blogs,magazines and YouTube videos? The game visually was amazing on PS3 and the PS4 remaster is even more stunning. The music score is fantastic and sound equally great. With hundreds of weapons, armor, accessories ,spells and enchantments to make and even more combinations to go with them you will never run out of things to do with your down time. You can also build and furnish houses, adopt children or buy horses. All that can take hundreds of hours if you want and we haven’t even gotten into the story and side quest galore. My first experience with this lasted around 200 hours, I kept forgetting about the story and joined the Dark Brotherhood because my character was an assassin. After that i thought hey the thieves guild could be fun. Then I needed a house to store all my stuff. Also did I mention I was a werewolf by this point? My options were that or vampire. All in all any RPG fan you owe it to yourself to lose yourself in an immense world with seemingly endless possibilities. As always thanks for joining me and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Elder Scrolls Online

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The Elder Scrolls Online is an MMO that takes place prior to the First game chronologically which does give a new perspective to the series itself. The game does have many issues tho. For example playing solo the game quickly becomes boring and lacks any real entertainment even worse than most of the genre I have played. The maps are also very large but mostly lack any real purpose. The game tho isn’t bad. The combat is solid enough and character building is fun. It is also pretty well supported. The game is also very much not pay to win with most of the real micro transactions being things that make the game more interesting but unnecessary. Sure you can buy pets and mounts or even things to help you level up faster but the game is hardly a massive grind compared to games like Elite Dangerous or Neverwinter. The lore is plentiful as are missions and the game has plenty of creation aspects with alchemy and enchantment as well as armor and weapons creation. All that being said if you are simply an MMO fan you may want to pass on this one as there are better games out there, but it is fun for Elder Scrolls fans. Thanks for your time, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Fallout 4 Review

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2015 was a year of hype beyond many: we got the pretty sweet Avengers sequel, Star Wars came back with the awesome return to formula that was the Force Awakens, and Fallout 4. It’s a weird topic for me because I was so hyped for this game, it was the final straw for me getting a PS4, and yet I didn’t have nowhere near the infatuation with it as Fallout 3.

We begin at a time when all seemed well in Boston, a future when technology was at its peak and conflict was a murmur through radio and TV. We play as a young veteran living with his lovely wife Nora and baby son Shaun. A robot comes to the door and sells you a special kind of insurance, a spot for you and your family in a new vault nearby. You agree just as the broadcast comes out warheads were just launched, and in the distance you can see the the mushroom cloud appear. You all rush into the vault, tricked into going into cryo sleep. You wake up, seeing men the chamber, unfreeze Nora and killing her to take your son and flee. It’s up to you to search the wastes of Boston and find him.

For the positives, Fallout 4 is a beautiful game. The graphics have stepped up three times over. The shooting mechanics have vastly improved; there is a new level of weapon and gear customization; the game is far more cinematic and takes ques from Mass Effect on the dialogue options. The coolest thing is how the Power Armor works much like a Iron Man suit, making a kick ass new addition and extra hardship of having to find power cores to stay a little more afloat. Now for the negatives, the game may be more beautiful but besides the main quest I wasn’t much invested in the side quests. Also there is less variety in the combat options; there is a huge dependency on FPS mechanics and gameplay, making the game feel more like a massive shooter than a RPG. Still, it’s a solid game and worth a trek through but I recommend 3 more.

South Park, The Stick Of Truth

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South Park, The Stick Of truth, what can I say. My expectations on a South Park RPG were very very low. I was expecting a half assed story, a crumby battle system and some cheap laughs. What I got was a fun story of kids in the neighborhood LARPing with multiple groups spanning the entire town with a few of the adults even playing along.

The battle system itself while simplistic, involves various button actions to do moves and increase damage. There are  few different classes to choose from as well as different story paths to take meaning there is some good replay value there for those that care to explore it all.

In typical South Park fashion there are plenty of adult oriented jokes from both the series and new.  I was pleasantly surprised by how well this game is and truly can not wait for the eventual release of Fractured But Whole which seems to have a similar presence but this time its dealing with the super hero genre. Many thanks for joining me, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Fallout 3 Review

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“War. War never changes.” Nothing was ever more epic than Ron Perlman’s amazing narration. Fallout 3 was a break away from the old school turn-based gameplay for an RPG  with some first-person shooting. The simple plot is that you grow up in Vault 101 after a huge-scale nuclear war, being raised by a loving scientist father voiced by Liam Neeson. You grow up in your bland, enclosed little world of the vault until one day your dad leaves, and it is up to you to break free of the vault’s grasp and find him in the wastelands of Washington, D.C. Along the way you get meet a group of religious wackos worshiping an atomic bomb the town was built around, another burg overrun with giant ants that can even breath fire, a rivalry between two superheroes “a very fun Marvel Easter egg in that” , and a old lady who just wants her violin back, all while getting pulled into a conflict by the Brotherhood of Steel and the Enclave that will decide the fate of the wastelands.

So the game is amazing, despite its flaws. The gameplay is solid if you rely on the VATS targeting system, but the shooting otherwise feels off. The plot and side missions are engaging and even creepy in some cases, like the mission about the kid who gets kidnapped and goes on a small killing spree thinking he’s a vampire (and don’t get me started on Tranquility Lane. Oh, that was fucked up.) Fallout 3 has some of the best DLC to a game I’ve ever played, with Operation Anchorage, which teleports you back in time to the conflict that led to the nuclear war, Mothership Zeta- you get abducted by aliens, as well as three other packs and a level cap increase. Besides some occasional glitches and the occasional pain in the ass location to maneuver through, I highly recommend this game as one of the best games of the last generation.