It's been a long time coming but the new Elder Scrolls game arrived over a week ago, much to the joy of beloved Elder Scrolls fans world wide, (myself included). I'm 30 hours in and I've messed with peoples love life on two occasions, told off a little kid, killed two dragons and got into not one but two fist fights after just moments of walking in to a tavern. So all in all I'm having a great time in Skyrim!
No doubt about it, it's an awesome feeling when you escape prison or captivity and walk out into a new open world as a fresh level one character with an entire realm just begging to be explored. Exploration is something Skyrim dose very well, and it's all the more rewarding in a world that looks so darn good! You can't help but explore with little rivers winding though the landscape beneath the shadows of misty mountains, caves and castles hiding all sorts of secrets and loot.
Changes made from Oblivion are mostly very positive, all weapons are now more logically categorized as single handed, two handed and ranged. The new feature to have a one handed weapon (or spell) in each hand could have ended up as a gimmick but is actually a great new feature that works very well. The map has regained it's zoom feature, and a crafting system has been introduced for those that like to forge there own armour. Although maybe considered a minor thing I'm glade to see such an abundance of wild life that dose NOT try and eat you on sight! It just make the would so much more believable to have rabbits, foxes, dear, butterflies, eagles and more just part of the environment.
The sound effects and music are wonderfully done, from your foot steps in the snow to the sound of an arrow sliding across a bow. Another improvement over Oblivion I'm very happy to see is the visual effects of magic, making powerful spells look awesome compared to the very boring visuals seen in Oblivion.
As in all massive open world Bethesda games there are a few little glitches here and there. Nothing that will ruin the game, in fact some glitches are so funny gamers don't wont them removed! For example I've seen a mammoth drop out of the sky! And the skeleton of the first dragon I killed somehow "re-located" to fall on my head just as I exited Whiterun one day. This is just a few of the ones I've personally com across if you'd like to see some glitches in video, the people over at IGN have gathered some of the funniest of all from you tube on this page.
At this early stage of 30 hours of game play I've only just scratched the surface, but I can say this game is outstanding, if your even remotely thinking about buying skyrim then you should stop thinking and start buying, it's amazing.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Friday, September 30, 2011
The Witcher 2 Update 2.0 Review
Just released The Witcher 2 2.0 update has arrived in typical CD Projekt RED fashion - free and full of awesome! This is no mere patch, the update includes a new game mode, new difficulty setting for the really hard core players, a new tutorial system and includes all the previously released DLC thus far.
The new game mode is the Arena, here you test your combat skills in challenging gladiator style fights. The rules are simple: kill or be killed. It's a fresh change to the Witcher series that has so far been restricted to a single game mode, so it adds some variety and extra re-playability.
You start off in the arena with next to nothing - your level 1, you have crummy armor and weapons and the first fight pits you against a team of enemies that wont your blood. This adds to the challenge big time, but also gives you a chance to try out abilities and powers you may not have used during your main story play through. With each win in the arena you will be rewarded with gold, XP, points and one of three items that you can choose from. You can sell your excess loot for more money, and buy supplies. There are also three mercenary characters you can hire to help you during arena fights. While it's not multiplayer there are leader boards and getting to the top would come with much prestige I'm sure.
The arena map itself is well detailed like any other Witcher environment, you'll need to avoid the fires whilst taking advantage of the far edge of the arena by using the Ard sign to knock enemies over the cliff (very satisfying tactic by the way). In most games that include an arena (that I've played) pay little attention to the crowd but CD Projekt RED have done a great job. It's invigorating to hear the crowd roar with excitement as I slaughter one enemy after another, then boo me if I start running away like a coward. There are also plenty of spectators watching, some of them with a big mouth too, I swear I heard dwarf say he wonted to marry the Witcher after a particularly gruesome kill!
The update was simple and problem free, the game prompts you at the lunch menu and from there will download and install. Easy, just the way we like it. I'd give this update a 10/10 but one thing bothers me about it, when it comes to scoring points for the leader boards, players may find that dieing and so preventing the acquisition of more points bit of a turn off. Personally, it don't bother me as I don't intend to compete with others, but I can understand it may affect other players. Although it dose add to the challenge I think I'd rather see a penalty in the form of a point reduction instead.
It's easy to see why gamers have such high respect for CD Projekt RED, they give DLC for free and listen to their fans, and most of all produce a sold and true RPG.
PC Gamer Guy's Score: 9/10
The new game mode is the Arena, here you test your combat skills in challenging gladiator style fights. The rules are simple: kill or be killed. It's a fresh change to the Witcher series that has so far been restricted to a single game mode, so it adds some variety and extra re-playability.
You start off in the arena with next to nothing - your level 1, you have crummy armor and weapons and the first fight pits you against a team of enemies that wont your blood. This adds to the challenge big time, but also gives you a chance to try out abilities and powers you may not have used during your main story play through. With each win in the arena you will be rewarded with gold, XP, points and one of three items that you can choose from. You can sell your excess loot for more money, and buy supplies. There are also three mercenary characters you can hire to help you during arena fights. While it's not multiplayer there are leader boards and getting to the top would come with much prestige I'm sure.
The arena map itself is well detailed like any other Witcher environment, you'll need to avoid the fires whilst taking advantage of the far edge of the arena by using the Ard sign to knock enemies over the cliff (very satisfying tactic by the way). In most games that include an arena (that I've played) pay little attention to the crowd but CD Projekt RED have done a great job. It's invigorating to hear the crowd roar with excitement as I slaughter one enemy after another, then boo me if I start running away like a coward. There are also plenty of spectators watching, some of them with a big mouth too, I swear I heard dwarf say he wonted to marry the Witcher after a particularly gruesome kill!
The update was simple and problem free, the game prompts you at the lunch menu and from there will download and install. Easy, just the way we like it. I'd give this update a 10/10 but one thing bothers me about it, when it comes to scoring points for the leader boards, players may find that dieing and so preventing the acquisition of more points bit of a turn off. Personally, it don't bother me as I don't intend to compete with others, but I can understand it may affect other players. Although it dose add to the challenge I think I'd rather see a penalty in the form of a point reduction instead.
It's easy to see why gamers have such high respect for CD Projekt RED, they give DLC for free and listen to their fans, and most of all produce a sold and true RPG.
PC Gamer Guy's Score: 9/10
Monday, August 8, 2011
Witcher 2 Screen Shots
I've been slowly playing my way through The Witcher 2, So I thought I'd share my three best screen shots so far. If you haven't picked up The Witcher 2 yet then your missing out on an absolutely incredible game! For me its among the greatest RPGs of all time, right up there with BG2 and FF7.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Dragon Age: Origins patch 1.05 On It's Way
A few days ago Bioware announced that it's in the early sages of a new patch for the much troubled fantasy RPG. Origins has suffered from bugs and glitches since it's release in November 2009 and despite numerous patches for both the PC and Console versions there are still game breaking bugs in need of fixing. So yet again Bioware customers wait patiently for some much delayed bug squishing.
I purchased Origins on release day and ever since have had to scour the Bioware tech support forums for answers. Many gamers complaints ranged from CTDs, memory leaks, increasingly long loading times, quest bugs, item bugs, authorization issues and many more. I watched (and endured) the numerous patch releases that at times caused more new issues then fixes, and to make it worse you needed to have an updated game to play the expansion and later the many DLC additions. Minimal community interaction from Bioware, and useless EA tech support didn't help ether, players felt left in the dark and ripped off. I witnessed (and yes added to) the many frustrated and angry voices on the Bioware forums. So many players lost their respect for Bioware, me included despite being a long time fan, the worst gaming experience I have ever had has changed that for good.
Bioware's recent track record of dodgy Origins patches leaves me sceptical as to weather or not this new patch will be a successes or not. Unfortunately their still in the hunting and gathering stage. ie: Still making a list of bugs to fix, so the new patch is a long way off yet.
It would seem the saga continues in Dragon Age 2 with the last patch fixing over 100 bugs and another Dragon Age 2 patch on it's way to fix many more. I haven't played Dragon Age 2 mainly due to the Dragon Age: Origins headaches I suffered but looking at the Dragon Age 2 tech forums and seeing similar game breaking bugs that I and many others experienced with Origins makes me very happy I didn't wast my money for a second time.
Now we wait to see if Bioware can redeem themselves. Better late then never right?
Need a link to the Bioware forum about the new patch? Click here
I purchased Origins on release day and ever since have had to scour the Bioware tech support forums for answers. Many gamers complaints ranged from CTDs, memory leaks, increasingly long loading times, quest bugs, item bugs, authorization issues and many more. I watched (and endured) the numerous patch releases that at times caused more new issues then fixes, and to make it worse you needed to have an updated game to play the expansion and later the many DLC additions. Minimal community interaction from Bioware, and useless EA tech support didn't help ether, players felt left in the dark and ripped off. I witnessed (and yes added to) the many frustrated and angry voices on the Bioware forums. So many players lost their respect for Bioware, me included despite being a long time fan, the worst gaming experience I have ever had has changed that for good.
Bioware's recent track record of dodgy Origins patches leaves me sceptical as to weather or not this new patch will be a successes or not. Unfortunately their still in the hunting and gathering stage. ie: Still making a list of bugs to fix, so the new patch is a long way off yet.
It would seem the saga continues in Dragon Age 2 with the last patch fixing over 100 bugs and another Dragon Age 2 patch on it's way to fix many more. I haven't played Dragon Age 2 mainly due to the Dragon Age: Origins headaches I suffered but looking at the Dragon Age 2 tech forums and seeing similar game breaking bugs that I and many others experienced with Origins makes me very happy I didn't wast my money for a second time.
Now we wait to see if Bioware can redeem themselves. Better late then never right?
Need a link to the Bioware forum about the new patch? Click here
Saturday, April 23, 2011
How to get the Lightning Stave in DoW2
When Dawn of War 2 Retribution was released not too long ago I eagerly jumped back into The Last Stand mode to check out the new war gear that can be unlocked via achievements. It's honestly the first time I have ever cared about achievements in my life and was particularly interested to see what new toys of war the Farseer can unlock. And I must say the new war gear is awesome! The two new items work perfectly together the easiest to unlock is the new armour giving the Farseer a respectable amount of protection and a very nice 0.5 buff to energy regeneration. To complement the armours energy buff the Lightning Staff adds the lightning runes trait that will reduce energy costs of spells so you can fire off those eldritch storms more often! Oh plus the staff has a ranged attack with knock down and it dose decent damage in melee too.
So how do you get this uber killy staff? Well I can tell how I managed to get it and it was not particularly easy. You need to reach a points multiplier of x275. I managed to do this only with the help of two other good players with high level characters. In the Bloodied coliseum map one team mate and I guarded a capture point each while the remaining player jumped around the map helping us or making kills as fast as possible. You'll need to keep the capture points under your control while avoiding any team members becoming incapacitated until about wave 11 to have a chance at scoring your new weapon.
Just a thought, if your having trouble racking up the 75 revives to get the armour I recommend using the teleport rune to warp your incapacitated team members to a safe location then revive them, you'll save the day and get plenty of thanks and in no time have new war gear!
Below is my favourite war gear combo with the new items, built to survive and dish out the pain from a distance or extract team members to a safe location.
Weapon: Lightning Stave
Armour: Mantle of Malan'tai
Accessories: Rune of Warding, Rune of the Warp, Runes of War
Commander Item: Spirit Stone of Eldritch Might
So how do you get this uber killy staff? Well I can tell how I managed to get it and it was not particularly easy. You need to reach a points multiplier of x275. I managed to do this only with the help of two other good players with high level characters. In the Bloodied coliseum map one team mate and I guarded a capture point each while the remaining player jumped around the map helping us or making kills as fast as possible. You'll need to keep the capture points under your control while avoiding any team members becoming incapacitated until about wave 11 to have a chance at scoring your new weapon.
Just a thought, if your having trouble racking up the 75 revives to get the armour I recommend using the teleport rune to warp your incapacitated team members to a safe location then revive them, you'll save the day and get plenty of thanks and in no time have new war gear!
Below is my favourite war gear combo with the new items, built to survive and dish out the pain from a distance or extract team members to a safe location.
Weapon: Lightning Stave
Armour: Mantle of Malan'tai
Accessories: Rune of Warding, Rune of the Warp, Runes of War
Commander Item: Spirit Stone of Eldritch Might
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Amnesia: The Dark Decent Review
You awake lying on a cold stone floor with absolutely no memory of your past, finding yourself trapped within in a dark castle as a thunder storm rages outside, your only clue to your predicament is a small trail of pink liquid drops upon the stone floor leading deeper into the unknown....
That's what your presented with when starting a new game of Amnesia: The Dark Decent and from that point onwards you'll be leading your character Daniel on a frightening quest through Castle Brennenburg. Amnesia: The Dark Decent is a survival horror game with light puzzle solving, developed and published by Frictional Games.
There are plenty of questions right from the beginning regarding the story but answers soon start filtering through as you collect notes and diary entries detailing the interesting back story leading up to your current situation. For those that don't like reading rest assured many of notes are fully voiced. Amnesia also dose a brilliant job of slowly introducing the player to new aspects of game play in the early stages, so it's easy to pick up even if your not a veteran of adventure horror games.
The game plays in first person with no 3rd person cut scenes which is just one way the game keeps players immersed in it's atmosphere. Talking about atmosphere, this is where Amnesia shines it keeps you on edge at all times. It's freaky just to walk around this castle and this is before creatures try to eat your brains out. When a shambling mutilated zombie dose emerge from the darkness hell bent on ripping your limbs off all you can do is run like a little girl and hide, preferably in the nearest wardrobe. Yep, that's right you have no weapons at all. Surprisingly that's one of the best things about Amnesia you can't play the warrior with guns blazing, you just got to find a way to survive the nightmare and that adds a lot to the fear factor. You wont find many "BOO" moments that other games rely on to scare players, instead your treated to a relentlessly haunting atmosphere.
The balance between light and dark in Amnesia has been done remarkably well. From a well lit part of the room it's very hard to see anything in a dark area, but moving into the darkness and your eyes quickly adjusts allowing you to search dark places for items. But remaining in the dark for too long comes with it's own dangers. There's an entity in the darkness that eats away at Daniel's sanity the longer you stay there, and before long your vision starts warping you hear freaky sounds and eventually start seeing bugs crawling around your vision, this gets especially intense when hiding in the dark from zombie creatures.
Luckily you will have a lantern to light your way to ward off the darkness but doing so will use up your reserves of lantern oil so it's good to use tinderbox's when staying in one place as they can be used to light up a candle or touch as you search a room. Rummaging around a room is not as boring as it might seem, every action is preformed by emulating a movement with the mouse. To open a draw you need to click and "pull" to close the draw you click and "push". Same goes for doors allowing you to open a door just a little bit to see what's in the next room.
It's not all hide and seek some parts of the game have you on the run in a frightening chase sequence or in a room solving a puzzle. The thing I like most about Amnesia's puzzles is that everything you need to complete the puzzle is within that area or room. The puzzles also very from using a rock to dislodge or smash something to picking up gears and putting a machine back into working order. None of the puzzles are overly hard to accomplish but their variety and inventiveness make them enjoyable. In some cases you also need to combine items within your inventory before they can be used to solve puzzles.
The game highly recommends you to check your monitors gamma, play in the dark and with headphones. Let me add to this, this game is best played later at night when the house is quiet and there's nobody to disturb you. I say this because to play this game is to lose yourself in the atmosphere.
From the eerie ambient sound effects of foot steps and scratching bugs to heart pumping music Amnesia doesn't lack in music department at all. There are times when the mere sound of a zombies howl is all that it takes for you to be heading for the nearest hiding spot.
Since it's arrival in September 2010Amnesia: The Dark Decent has been a very successful indie game taking full advantage of the online PC market selling about 200,000 units so far. Frictional games recently stated "The sales that we have had (and are having) are more than enough to motivate developing a game with the PC as the main (and even only) platform. Based on what we have seen, the online PC market is just getting bigger and bigger, and we are convinced we are far from the end of this growth. We think that other developers that consider making their game exclusive to a console might want to think again."
Overall Amnesia: The Dark Decent is a great game, only lacking a little in the graphics department, but the visuals do the job just fine thanks to good lighting. Not much incentive to replay but for it's low price tag this game is awesome value for money. This is a must have for any gamer into horror, but just as good if your looking for something a little different outside your comfort zone. In fact it's worth playing just for the experience based gameplay.
PC Gamer Guy Score 9/10
Need a Link? http://www.amnesiagame.com/#main
That's what your presented with when starting a new game of Amnesia: The Dark Decent and from that point onwards you'll be leading your character Daniel on a frightening quest through Castle Brennenburg. Amnesia: The Dark Decent is a survival horror game with light puzzle solving, developed and published by Frictional Games.
There are plenty of questions right from the beginning regarding the story but answers soon start filtering through as you collect notes and diary entries detailing the interesting back story leading up to your current situation. For those that don't like reading rest assured many of notes are fully voiced. Amnesia also dose a brilliant job of slowly introducing the player to new aspects of game play in the early stages, so it's easy to pick up even if your not a veteran of adventure horror games.
The game plays in first person with no 3rd person cut scenes which is just one way the game keeps players immersed in it's atmosphere. Talking about atmosphere, this is where Amnesia shines it keeps you on edge at all times. It's freaky just to walk around this castle and this is before creatures try to eat your brains out. When a shambling mutilated zombie dose emerge from the darkness hell bent on ripping your limbs off all you can do is run like a little girl and hide, preferably in the nearest wardrobe. Yep, that's right you have no weapons at all. Surprisingly that's one of the best things about Amnesia you can't play the warrior with guns blazing, you just got to find a way to survive the nightmare and that adds a lot to the fear factor. You wont find many "BOO" moments that other games rely on to scare players, instead your treated to a relentlessly haunting atmosphere.
The balance between light and dark in Amnesia has been done remarkably well. From a well lit part of the room it's very hard to see anything in a dark area, but moving into the darkness and your eyes quickly adjusts allowing you to search dark places for items. But remaining in the dark for too long comes with it's own dangers. There's an entity in the darkness that eats away at Daniel's sanity the longer you stay there, and before long your vision starts warping you hear freaky sounds and eventually start seeing bugs crawling around your vision, this gets especially intense when hiding in the dark from zombie creatures.
Luckily you will have a lantern to light your way to ward off the darkness but doing so will use up your reserves of lantern oil so it's good to use tinderbox's when staying in one place as they can be used to light up a candle or touch as you search a room. Rummaging around a room is not as boring as it might seem, every action is preformed by emulating a movement with the mouse. To open a draw you need to click and "pull" to close the draw you click and "push". Same goes for doors allowing you to open a door just a little bit to see what's in the next room.
It's not all hide and seek some parts of the game have you on the run in a frightening chase sequence or in a room solving a puzzle. The thing I like most about Amnesia's puzzles is that everything you need to complete the puzzle is within that area or room. The puzzles also very from using a rock to dislodge or smash something to picking up gears and putting a machine back into working order. None of the puzzles are overly hard to accomplish but their variety and inventiveness make them enjoyable. In some cases you also need to combine items within your inventory before they can be used to solve puzzles.
The game highly recommends you to check your monitors gamma, play in the dark and with headphones. Let me add to this, this game is best played later at night when the house is quiet and there's nobody to disturb you. I say this because to play this game is to lose yourself in the atmosphere.
From the eerie ambient sound effects of foot steps and scratching bugs to heart pumping music Amnesia doesn't lack in music department at all. There are times when the mere sound of a zombies howl is all that it takes for you to be heading for the nearest hiding spot.
Since it's arrival in September 2010Amnesia: The Dark Decent has been a very successful indie game taking full advantage of the online PC market selling about 200,000 units so far. Frictional games recently stated "The sales that we have had (and are having) are more than enough to motivate developing a game with the PC as the main (and even only) platform. Based on what we have seen, the online PC market is just getting bigger and bigger, and we are convinced we are far from the end of this growth. We think that other developers that consider making their game exclusive to a console might want to think again."
Overall Amnesia: The Dark Decent is a great game, only lacking a little in the graphics department, but the visuals do the job just fine thanks to good lighting. Not much incentive to replay but for it's low price tag this game is awesome value for money. This is a must have for any gamer into horror, but just as good if your looking for something a little different outside your comfort zone. In fact it's worth playing just for the experience based gameplay.
PC Gamer Guy Score 9/10
Need a Link? http://www.amnesiagame.com/#main
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