Wednesday 23 March 2016

The E14 Gamecast - Episode 13: What Makes A Game Great?

Starring: Blake Harmer, Marc Cummins, Rob Wade

We get together to answer a question that is very subjective, yet an important one: What, To You, Makes A Game Great?

Examples include:

  • Customisation
  • Multiplayer
  • Story
  • Single Player
  • Immersion
  • Bugs

Some of the games we discuss include:

  • Destiny
  • Borderlands 2
  • Warframe
  • The Elder Scrolls Online
  • Fallout
  • Mass Effect
  • Dragon Age Inquisition
  • Skyrim
  • Dying Light
  • The Order 1886
  • Assassins Creed
  • FTL
  • Alien Isolation
  • Until Dawn
  • Rock Band
  • Guitar Hero
  • Yoostar 2
  • Red Dead Redemption
  • Rainbow Six: Siege
  • Devil May Cry
  • Portal

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Tuesday 22 March 2016

Blake's 2016 Video Game Roundup (To Date)

For those who are fortunate enough to have Blake on their Facebook, you'll no doubt be familiar with the fact that he completes a pretty decent volume of games on a regular basis. Recently, he was kind enough to share with E14 a few thoughts on some of the stuff he's been playing over the last couple of months, so we thought we'd round it up for you here! Enjoy!

Black Ops 3: A stronger entry in contrast with the slow decline of the franchise over the last few years. There's a lot more content to keep people entertained here in comparison to the stripped down, DLC-heavy Advanced Warfare that was released the previous year. The plot is ludicrous but enjoyable and the return of zombies is always welcome (especially with the addition of Jeff Goldblum and Ron P...).

Chuck in a Zombie campaign and a free-running mode and you get a pretty good all-round package in addition to the usual multiplayer thrills. Worth picking up if you like your shooters or are a continued fan of the series, I also recommend people give this one a try if they have gone off COD over the last couple of years. Sure, it's not ground-breaking, but its fun, and that's what matters.

Fallout 4: There are some people who whinge that Fallout 4 hasn't evolved enough from Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas. To those people I say "If it isn't broke, don't fix it". There are, it's true, the usual bugs and glitches that come with a Bethesda game, and some of the standard faction missions are a bit repetive. However, there was a reason I was so hyped for this game when it was announced, and I wasn't disappointed.

The ability to build settlements was a nice touch but wasn't essential if it wasn't your bag. Crafting in the game is like crack and kept me tinkering with my weapons and power armour for many an hour. However, it was the exploration, the stories and the atmosphere of the world that kept me sucked in for well over 100 hours and also leading me to platinum the game on PS4. If you are a fan of fallout or other Bethesda games, you need this in your life!

60 Seconds!: Enjoyable FTL-style roguelike with a twist. At the start of the game you have 60 seconds to grab as much as you can (food, water, equipment, loved ones) and chuck it in the shelter before the bombs go off. Then, you have to survive as long as you can with this equipment until the army arrives to save you. Like other roguelikes such as FTL, this is heavily based on luck but is still comical and fun throughout. A few more events that didn't reoccur as often would have been nice. But for a budget indie title on Steam this was great fun. Definitely worth picking up next time there is a sale.

The Order 1886: A beautiful game graphically in a very intresting world, which is sadly not explored enough in this third-person cover shooter. Despite its interesting steampunk premise and gothic monster plot, the combat is average, certain aspects of the game seem unneccessary (did I need to look at an apple for 20 seconds?) and the short game length make this is a wasted opportunity. The story is left open for a sequel where, if it does get made, means the series could show it's true potential. However this now seems unlikely.

Halo - Spartan Assault: Fast and frenetic twin stick shooter set in the halo universe. The short missions make this ideal for handheld play on the go and the addition of choosing weapon and skill loadouts adds replayability. The controls are a bit fiddly on a touchscreeen (I played this on Ipad) but this is still highly recommended in any case.

The Stanley Parable: A fantastic exploration game that is both extremely funny and clever. Sure the game isn't very long even when it is intended for multiple play throughs. However, this is highly recommended and is quite possibly an early contender for game of the year despite it only being February when I finished it. If you haven't played it, I thoroughly recommend picking it up through Steam.

Tales From The Borderlands: A fantastic episodic adventure series that is throughly funny and entertaining throughout. The characters are fun and interesting with characters from the Borderlands series returning such as Handsome Jack and Scooter. Sure, there are a few graphical bugs like in other Telltale adventures but they don't distract from the main meat of the game which is the story and your choices on how the outcome is affected. Highly recommended if you are a fan of the humour and characters of Borderlands and if you like Telltale games.

Mad Max: Enjoyable post-apocalyptic adventure with great car combat and a simple yet suitable plot for the franchise. Sadly the game feels very repetitive by the end (especially if you decide to do most of the side quests) and the race sections are atrocious. However, if you are a fan of Mad Max, this feels like a lost story from the lore (it definitely put me in the mood to watch Fury Road again) and what it does offer it does well. Worth picking up in a sale or second hand but not essential enough to recommend paying full price for.


Stay tuned to E14 for more from Blake Harmer in the near future, and follow him on Twitter @FuckSakeBlake


Thursday 17 March 2016

Rob's Roundup - 2016 to Date

A bit of insight before I start: as a method of keeping on top of my backlog (which some might remember I've come up with methods for in the past here and here), I keep a list of things that I've completed during the calendar year. This doubles up as a method of tracking what I've done when it comes to the end of year writeups, and adds a competitive edge with my previous year's total. It's such a good method that I'm amazed it didn't make its way into my pieces.

Historically, I've only kept this list for my own use as a written list in my bedroom (Abandon hope all ye...etc.), but over Christmas and New Year I started to realise that I needed to improve it. So, to this year: The list has taken on a digital component, in the form of a spreadsheet, and I thought it might be cool to talk in brief on the things I experienced to some degree of completion during the last few months.

Let's do that then!

Gaming

Fallout 4 - Xbox One (Also out on PS4 and PC)

It sort of goes without saying that when you sink eighty hours into a role playing game, you probably quite like it. While the settlement missions got on my tits after a while, this is probably the first Fallout game of the modern series that really kept me engaged where the storyline is concerned. When it comes to Bethesda RPGs, I tend to spend time dicking around in lieu of the story, but in this case I found myself doing that far less often. A really strong entry in the series, and one that I'll probably revisit once I've cleared out a few more games.

Obviously, it also goes without saying that vaporising a giant mutated scorpion into a pile of red smoldering dust is always fun no matter how many games I play which contain it as a mechanic. Always.

Detective Grimoire - PC

I can only presume that the character of Detective Grimoire started his life in a Flash game on a website like Newgrounds. I don't mean that in a derogatory sense, I mean purely that it has that sort of vibe. I played this game on Steam, and got the impression that it was the second game featuring the character as there were some minor references to characters appearing again.

Detective Grimoire is more in line with classic point-and-click adventure games, albeit with less of the batshit-crazy mindset of someone like a Tim Schafer or a Ron Gilbert. The puzzles have a much more simple solution than the 90s-era fare, but the game still has a decent sense of humour and stuff like that. For the price, particularly as it's prone to going into Steam sales, I'd definitely recommend it as a quick blast of fun (I finished it over a few lunch hours, to give you an idea).

The Stanley Parable - PC

Speaking of short but sweet experiences, I had a run through this game for the first time in January. I can only express my disappointment in myself at having left it so long, as this game is really charming. While there isn't a huge amount of puzzling, and the game could be seen as a "walking simulator" in the same vein as Dear Esther (not that there's anything wrong with these experiences, by any means - some of the visuals in Dear Esther are nothing short of stunning), the game is worth the price of admission simply for its clever premise and really amusing narration.

I was put in mind of Stephen Fry's dulcet tones during LittleBigPlanet while playing The Stanley Parable, as the narrator employs a similarly relaxed delivery to great effect. It's dry, accessible and affordable. A bit like silica gel, but tastier.

Guacamelee: Super Turbo Championship Edition - Xbox One (Also available on PC, PS4, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U)

A game described by my E14 colleague Brad Harmer-Barnes as possessing the best name he'd seen for a video game in ages, Guacamelee is also bolstered by being a really enjoyable game with tons of character. The game has a lucha-libre and mariachi theme running throughout which comes through in everything from the art style to the music. Now, for all I know, a Mexican person might view this game as a slap in the face much like an Italian being asked when-a their Dolmio day is, but unfortunately I can't speak to that knowing no Mexican folk personally as I do (though I'm fairly sure any dealings I've had with them have been pleasant throughout my life). All I can do is tell you whether or not I enjoyed the game (I did, quite a bit) and leave it to you to evaluate your own cultural sensitivities.

I will say, however, that this game is pretty punishingly difficult towards the end and will frustrate the easily frustrated given the chance. If you can get past that, however, what you'll find is a really bloody fun game with a lot of 'corazón'.

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare - PS4 (Also available on Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360, PC)

Now, Call of Duty as a franchise has a certain reputation among a lot of gamers, in particular those of a certain console-loathing master race. However, my opinion on the subject does not synchronise with the popular (or at least vocal) consensus on this one. I find the Call of Duty games to be really good shooters, although admittedly I have not paid full price for one at any point since they went modern (maybe not even before that point). The reasoning is simple, and it's that I don't really do multiplayer competitively. Simply put, I am shit at it. The appeal of the games, therefore, is purely the campaign and occasionally the cooperative multiplayer elements (like Zombies and such), thus I feel justified in waiting for the price to drop on the games. If I could buy the campaign individually at a lower price, I would, but for now at least this does not seem to be workable.

Advanced Warfare is one of the best I've played in the series since the emphasis on more modern time periods began, and there are a ton of touches that elevate it above others in the series that I've enjoyed. The addition of more interesting technology like Smart and Threat grenades (the latter of which paint all hostiles with a more visible red hue allowing you to either aim at or outmanoeuvre them) allow for different styles of play, and the variety of guns along with the combination of different types of scopes make for some fun experimentation in the early part of the game and keep you constantly on the lookout for the gun you like except with the target enhancer or the reflex sight. Having played a small portion of the multiplayer, it's pretty standard fare for the series, but with the aforementioned additions making it enjoyable. All in all, if you can pick it up cheap then I'd definitely recommend it for the campaign alone. More games need Kevin Spacey.

Books and Comics

The Tales of Max Carrados - Ernest Bramah

I picked this one up as a freebie before Christmas, and had a chance to listen to it as an audiobook in the New Year once my commutes picked back up. I found it a thoroughly enjoyable read (although "listen" would technically be more accurate, as it was an audiobook narrated by the aforementioned dulcet Stephen Fry). The character of Max Carrados is introduced in a similar way to someone like Sherlock Holmes, as a character who knows a ton about his chosen speciality and is all too keen to flex his intellectual muscles.

There's not a lot to say on the book really. It was quite short, which if you're maintaining a list like me is always nice as a quick win. It's to the point, with the minimum of fuss and a good pace, and it tells an interesting story. What more could you ask for? Stephen Fry? I just mentioned that he narrates it! There's nothing they haven't thought of!

World War III - Written by Keith Champagne/John Ostrander, with art by Pat Olliffe and Tom Derenick

I had never heard of this volume before I saw it reduced in a comics shop near my work, but the premise sounded interesting; how would the DC Universe cope without the Trinity? What would happen if, say, Black Adam suddenly went all sorts of mental and decided to just pummel his way through the rest of the superheroes? Well, if that's a question you've always wondered the answer to, then look no further than World War III!

The pacing in this book is frantic, with the action constantly moving at a tremendous velocity (much like the train I'm sat on as I write this). If, like me, you find faster-paced stuff a little harder to follow if you're tired or stressed or awake, then you might find this book hard going at first. However, I would say that it's worth a read. The heroes in it are tested constantly, and the story is sufficiently action-packed without leaving absolutely everything unexplained.

Movies

It's been a thin 2016 for movies thus far for me. Part of the problem was that I didn't take a cinema trip at all this year so far, and another was that I needed a lot of gaming time to de-stress as a few personal things (no problems, just important things) took their toll on my energy levels. Some watch movies in that situation, I play games. Different strokes for different folks, right?

Terminator Genisys - Alan Taylor

There's not much I can say about this movie, to be honest. It was...fine, I guess. They've gone a bit silly with the time travel timelines, but then the concept was always fraught with some issues. The performances from the cast are fine, with Arnie as usual providing the small smatterings of comedy throughout. What was cool was Emilia Clarke's performance as a Sarah Connor tired of being told how her future will play out, and trying her best to go against the flow. I liked that, it was a cool way of handling the soft reboot.

If I have one gripe with the movie, it's the handling of John Connor's story as a nanobot-infused Terminator. Now, that might feel inherently like a spoiler, but the reality is that it's not because it was in the trailer. *That* is the gripe I have. When 2015 brought us The Force Awakens and the masterful job they did of keeping almost all of the plot points a secret, it just goes to show that it is possible for movie makers to keep us in the dark about big movie plot points. The fact that they not only didn't keep it a secret, but threw it in the bloody trailer, is something that I will never quite understand.

TV and Anime

The Thick Of It - Armando Iannucci

I'm somewhat late to the party on this show. It passed me by initially, although a lot of the Peter Capaldi rants found their way into my ears through popular culture and my sister, who has always been somewhat of a fan. I can only express my bewilderment as to how it took me so long to discover this show; it's nothing short of superb, and January saw me churn through the second series all the way through to the end of the fourth.

What's great about it, in my opinion, is the way the characters are portrayed. You can easily feel sympathy for the characters and certain aspects of their lot in life, while also at the same time recognising their flaws. Chris Addison, for example, plays one of the most put-upon characters in the series in a lot of ways, and yet you can see ways in which he's a complete tosser. Now, I follow Chris Addison on Twitter, and have even been lucky enough to see him once or twice out and about in London. "Tosser" is not the vibe I get from him at all, and yet he pulls it off in the show in a way that is all the more impressive given my impressions of the man behind the character of Ollie.

I'd be willing to bet that Peter Capaldi is a lovely man in real life, as well. I have to speculate on that one, though.


Monday 14 March 2016

Some Thoughts on LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens

I've been meaning to make time to write my introductory piece since becoming a full-fledged member of the Talk Star Wars family, and to do so in a way that would leverage my expertise (such as it is) in my media of choice. Today, therefore, I'll be talking to the readers of both Emotionally14 and Talk Star Wars about video games. Specifically, in this case, I will be looking at the recently announced LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

First of all, I'll start by saying that I absolutely love the trailer. It does a wonderful job of recreating the teasers and trailers for the movie with that iconic Traveller's Tales sense of fun and LEGO sense of humour. With that said, I have some concerns. They're admittedly small, and please understand that I'd dearly love to be proven wrong on them, and for the game to be excellent (particularly as I will almost certainly be picking it up, and want my money to have been spent sensibly).

My main concern about the game is that of length. Historically, when a LEGO game has been based on a licensed property (and I'm talking standalone games, rather than the more recent LEGO Dimensions stuff), it tends to be based on multiple films. In fact, the first game of its ilk was LEGO Star Wars which covered the prequel movies in a single game. Since then we've tended to have more games that follow this pattern (such as the second game of the LEGO Star Wars series, as well as film series like Indiana Jones or Lord of the Rings). In all of these cases, the game was a single disc/download which encompassed a multitude of movies. If that wasn't the case, the scope of the subject matter was sufficiently broad so as to make it less of an issue, such as LEGO Marvel Superheroes which drew from more or less the entire comic book spectrum in terms of playable characters and such.

I will qualify at this point that I have yet to play LEGO Jurassic World or indeed the new LEGO Marvel game, although I have downloaded demos of them in order to give them a go. Nonetheless, I look at the announcement of a single-film tie-in game and find myself a little apprehensive at the possibility that it could be a really short experience. Now, I fully expect it to fall into "short but sweet" territory, and if they price it as such I'll be ultimately fine with it. However, if I see a £50 RRP anywhere near the game, it'll make me anxious indeed. However, there is a concern along these lines which actually makes me more anxious, and that's the polar opposite occurring.

I'm a big fan of LEGO City: Undercover on the Wii U. If you're not familiar, it's a Wii U exclusive which sends up all those classic 70s cop shows like Starsky and Hutch and stuff of that sort of type. However, one of the reasons it swiftly went on the trade-in pile was because once I'd finished the story mode, I found the idea of doing 100% of the game to be overly daunting. It had over 400 Gold Bricks to find! How was I ever supposed to start doing that in a big open world when I have so much to play on my backlog as it is? I had a similar issue with LEGO Marvel Superheroes, in point of fact. Although I got a sufficiently wide range of characters in order to play the game, the idea of unlocking all the characters put me right off. If LEGO Star Wars 4 (which it technically is at this point, as we had the Clone Wars tie-in game a few years ago) goes down the route of padding out too heavily, that might be worse!

Another thing that concerns me is that when figuring out how many LEGO games there have been, it would be easy to forget that there have been a total of twenty-four LEGO games developed just by Traveler's Tales over the years (if you include LEGO-created properties like Bionicle and Ninjago). Over the years, that has included three Star Wars games, three Batman games and two based on the works of Tolkien. Over the years, I've gone from loving the franchise to finding myself a bit burned out on them overall. Aside from the Star Wars saga (never really got into the third one), the Pirates of the Caribbean game is probably my favourite so far. The point, however, is that my favourite isn't one of the more recent ones, although LEGO Marvel was fun, and LEGO City: Undercover was enjoyable. Too much of a good thing can be a bit much, and what with them now getting into the augmented toys for games, it looks like LEGO will be a fixture in gaming for a long time.

In fact, thinking about the Dimensions model makes me even more apprehensive for the price point of LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens. When they announced the price point for LEGO Dimensions, I remember very explicitly asking my gamer friends if they were serious. Considering that Disney Infinity's Star Wars starter kit runs for about £30 in a lot of retailers now, how do they still justify in excess of £80 for the Dimensions pack? Speaking of Infinity, is it possible that the presence of that game in the market will cause LEGO SW: TFA (I'm just going to abbreviate it now for ease) to lose sales? I hope not, there's room for both, but the reality is that some people find too much choice to be a hindrance. It's a point of view I'll never understand myself, but then that's just my personal preference.

To summarise, I will be fine with this game if it ends up being based on the single film, with a few odds and sods to do off the beaten path, at a price point more in line with budget gaming (for the UK, I guess that's about £24.99 or so, but mileage may vary). If that's not the case, let's see the game strike a balance between a decent volume of stuff that will keep players playing to 100% complete the game, without being completely off-putting for players. In short, let's have something of a decent length that's not overly padded out. The Force would be strong with that one.

Look, we know that there are certain things about this game that we won't have to worry about. It'll work well and look excellent. Traveller's Tales is an excellent developer with a proven track record of putting out well-functioning nicely-styled games, and they've clearly done very well out of it with good reason too! It's just that, well, I'd be remiss if I didn't say...I have a bad feeling about this...


Rob Wade
If you like the cut of Rob's gib regarding games and Star Wars, you can do worse than following him on Twitter @RobWadeVision

Edit: Apparently LEGO Jurassic World does actually cover more than just the fourth movie. Rob accepts his mistake and accordingly feels shame-faced.

Friday 11 March 2016

E14 Blind Bag Battle - Episode 12!

Welcome to E14 Blind Bag Battle!

In a Blind Bag Battle, two members of Team E14 do battle as only members of Team E14 should: Little plastic models. In this particular instance, the idea is to make the unboxing of blind bagged miniatures a little more exciting, with a game themed on popular favourite Top Trumps.

This time round, our combatants are Rob Wade and Omer Ibrahim. They will be doing battle using the Heroclix Avengers: Age of Ultron Gravity Feed set, using a die roll to decide their chosen battle conditions. The options:

  1. Points
  2. Speed
  3. Attack
  4. Defense
  5. Damage
  6. Total Clix

Being as a standard Gravity Feed box contains 24 miniatures, this Blind Bag Battle is contested over 11 rounds (First to 6 wins!) with the victor able to open the remaining 2 bags in the finale.

Round 11 has been finished. Rob is our winner this time round. Here, for your entertainment, is the finale. Rob opens the final two, and you can also take a look at some of the flubs and out-takes from the episodes.


Tuesday 8 March 2016

E14 Blind Bag Battle - Episode 11!

Welcome to E14 Blind Bag Battle!

In a Blind Bag Battle, two members of Team E14 do battle as only members of Team E14 should: Little plastic models. In this particular instance, the idea is to make the unboxing of blind bagged miniatures a little more exciting, with a game themed on popular favourite Top Trumps.

This time round, our combatants are Rob Wade and Omer Ibrahim. They will be doing battle using the Heroclix Avengers: Age of Ultron Gravity Feed set, using a die roll to decide their chosen battle conditions. The options:

  1. Points
  2. Speed
  3. Attack
  4. Defense
  5. Damage
  6. Total Clix

Being as a standard Gravity Feed box contains 24 miniatures, this Blind Bag Battle is contested over 11 rounds (First to 6 wins!) with the victor able to open the remaining 2 bags in the finale.

At round 10, the result is declared. Rob has won 6-3. Nevertheless, we've got the box, so why not?


Friday 4 March 2016

E14 Blind Bag Battle - Episode 10!

Welcome to E14 Blind Bag Battle!

In a Blind Bag Battle, two members of Team E14 do battle as only members of Team E14 should: Little plastic models. In this particular instance, the idea is to make the unboxing of blind bagged miniatures a little more exciting, with a game themed on popular favourite Top Trumps.

This time round, our combatants are Rob Wade and Omer Ibrahim. They will be doing battle using the Heroclix Avengers: Age of Ultron Gravity Feed set, using a die roll to decide their chosen battle conditions. The options:

  1. Points
  2. Speed
  3. Attack
  4. Defense
  5. Damage
  6. Total Clix

Being as a standard Gravity Feed box contains 24 miniatures, this Blind Bag Battle is contested over 11 rounds (First to 6 wins!) with the victor able to open the remaining 2 bags in the finale.

After 9 rounds, a winner has been declared at 6-3. Rob will win the series overall, but how close can Omer get?


Tuesday 1 March 2016

E14 Blind Bag Battle - Episode 9!

Welcome to E14 Blind Bag Battle!

In a Blind Bag Battle, two members of Team E14 do battle as only members of Team E14 should: Little plastic models. In this particular instance, the idea is to make the unboxing of blind bagged miniatures a little more exciting, with a game themed on popular favourite Top Trumps.

This time round, our combatants are Rob Wade and Omer Ibrahim. They will be doing battle using the Heroclix Avengers: Age of Ultron Gravity Feed set, using a die roll to decide their chosen battle conditions. The options:

  1. Points
  2. Speed
  3. Attack
  4. Defense
  5. Damage
  6. Total Clix

Being as a standard Gravity Feed box contains 24 miniatures, this Blind Bag Battle is contested over 11 rounds (First to 6 wins!) with the victor able to open the remaining 2 bags in the finale.

After 8 rounds, Rob has picked up a small lead at 5-3. Will Omer be able to rescue the game?