Review Of The Year 2013: October

I know you love the weather retrospective in these pieces, and October seemed to compress all of its weather into a few hours at the end of the month. If you live in the south of the UK you almost certainly remember the storm, as it did enough damage to leave 600,000 homes without power and, sadly, took four lives. The disruption the storm caused was the most significant I can recall for quite some time (possibly since the early 2000s), although the speed at which most of the problems were cleared up did seem impressive.

Switching tracks from storm based issues to gaming news, the start of the month saw a Nintendo Direct conference which featured the announcement of Kirby: Triple Deluxe and more details about A Link Between Worlds, among other things. The start of the month also saw more rampant speculation about Half-Life 3 after Valve filed a copyright, although it was likely taken out purely to protect the Half-Life brand rather than actually indicating that a new game was on its way.

In thatgamecompany news, the 4th saw Flower confirmed as running at 60 FPS and in 1080p on PS4, news that pleased many of the game’s fans. They were nearly even happier when it looked like thatgamecompany had confirmed a PS4 version of Journey, but it turned out they were simply referring to the already established Flower port.

There was also disappointment in October for those looking forwards to Ubisoft’s upcoming titles, as both Watch Dogs and The Crew were delayed until the spring of 2014. Having seen both games at this year’s E3 it’s a real shame that both have been pushed back, Watch Dogs even more so as it was looking like it would have been a pretty significant launch title for the PS4 and Xbox One launch, with Sony actually setting up a PS4 bundle for the title.

Although the lack of that Watch Dogs bundle may have been a bit of a blow for Sony, it was easily balanced out by their frankly brilliant Since ’95 advert, which you can see above. Yes, it does have the issue that the central characters should actually be well into their 30s by now, but nevertheless it was still a great love letter to all things PlayStation.

As for releases in the month, it’s safe to say that the month was filled with big hitters. If September’s GTA V release wasn’t enough mayhem for you, then you’ll surely have been pleased by October’s update to the game that made Grand Theft Auto Online available for all and sundry, although the initial response to the mode was mixed due to a variety of glitches.

Next to throw its hat into the ring was NBA 2K14, although you may have been better served waiting for the PS4 arrive as it apparently looks stellar on the console. Unfortunately Aran wasn’t impressed by the game’s microtransactions and online save system. Blair was exactly as unimpressed with Beyond: Two Souls (both games came in at 6/10), blaming the game’s discordant plot and poor writing and dialogue, although he did praise the acting and visuals.

Sticking with Blair, he also took a look at Pokémon X and Y, a title he was a lot more positive about. He praised the game’s “refined formula” and mourned the fact that he simply didn’t have enough time to invest in the game to become a true Pokémon master. He did, however, find time to look at the first episode of The Wolf Among Us, which he enjoyed despite feeling that it didn’t feature enough choices.

Releasing hot on the heels of those two titles was Skylanders: SWAP Force, where Jim enjoyed the game’s new swappable characters. I’m also on board with this new breed of toys, although Jim did bemoan the fact that you have to buy so many toys to get everything out of the game.

Switching gears to something a little darker, October also saw both Batman: Arkham Origins and the Vita exclusive Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate arrive, the former of which Teflon felt lived up to its Rocksteady predecessors, without really exceeding them. Then there was Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, which Gareth enjoyed despite its stealth boat sections, praising its looks and the way it really captured the feeling of being a pirate.

Finally, we flip back to Tef for Battlefield 4, probably the biggest game to be released in October. As you’d expect he wasn’t exactly enamoured with the story in the game’s single player, although he did feel that it was playing with a few interesting mechanics. He was more positive about the multiplayer, saying that the Levolution system created spectacular moments, and enjoying the naval combat.

Outside of gaming, the big story in October was the shutdown of much of the US Federal Government after Congress couldn’t agree on appropriations for 2014. Fortunately a deal was put together on the 16th, re-opening what had been shtudown. In entertainment news, several missing episodes of Doctor Who were discovered in Nigeria, while in the tech world Apple announced the iPad Air and OSX Mavericks.

5 Comments

  1. I bought battlefield the other day by buying the cheaper ps3 version then upgrading it to the ps4. I have to say that it is miles better than Killzone which unfortunately I’m disappointed with.

    • Which part of Killzone were you disappointed with Ghost5?
      Although I have both,I’ve only played a couple of chapters of the Killzone campaign (which so far I’m enjoying) and one online conquest of BF4 (no campaign though).

      • I am think the level design is really poor with too many open areas where nothing is happening. It is very easy to get lost and not know where you are meant to go, which then gets frustrating.

  2. “There was also disappointment in October for those looking forwards to Ubisoft’s upcoming titles, as both Watch Dogs and The Crew were delayed until the spring of 2014.”

    And pure panic as speculation began that people who had upgraded their PS4 preorder to the watchdog bundle might not get a PS4 at all.

  3. just picked up battlefield 4 and admit its not as bad as ppl are making out..
    the multiplayer is pretty sweet and more so than the new cod..
    but fuck me cmon EA what the fuck!!!! you have had 3 months to sort out the fucking campaign..4 times now i have started it and 4 times it didn’t save ..and ive gotten a long way in..i have read reports that peeps are doing it in one sitting.hell no it aint even that good..
    ea+battlefield=wank!

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