What We Played #219: Metal Gear, Mad Max & Until Dawn

As we swipe the calendar past another month and move into September, we get one step closer to the busy fall season of games. Though it’s not technically autumn just yet, that busy season kind of started this week with the launch of Metal Gear Solid V and Mad Max. Did any of your favorite TSA staffers end up playing them this week? What We Played is here to tell you, and all you have to do is read on.

Mark checked in first this week and began with Until Dawn. He says he likes the story and mythology behind what’s happening, but doesn’t really enjoy the jump scares. Next he played Mad Max, and noted how exceptionally good the car combat is, though he also said that the cars were a bit too “slidey” for his taste, and that the Batman-esque fighting isn’t quite what it’s aspiring to be. Finally, he finished his week with Metal Gear Solid V, which he’s thoroughly enjoying after the first 3-4 hours, even though stealth games aren’t usually his forte.

Next we have Dave, who had a relalively light week but still managed to play some good stuff. He just reviewed the Mega Man Legacy Collection, and gave it a nice 7 out of 10 score despite many of the Mega Man games not being included. He also played Gunstar Heroes 3D, which is the new version of a classic game that he managed to complete in just an hour. He noted that the 3D is stellar and that it’s still a fun game.

Miguel‘s check-in was a short one this week, as he’s only been playing Metal Gear Solid V. That said, he seems pretty wrapped up in it. I believe the exact quote was, “I’ve made peace with my angels and my devils, and my life is now a simple vessel meant for fultoning bears from Africa.” That crazy guy.

Aran spent most of his week with the definitive edition of Dishonored. He felt as though it’s a good option for people who may have missed the original release but said there wasn’t anything screaming ‘must buy’ for the crowd that already experienced Corvo’s journey. Now he’s onto reviewing Zombie Vikings with the help of Dave as a co-op partner, and you can expect to see that in the coming week.

Stefan had a tough start to his week, as an issue with his game save for Metal Gear Solid V halted the progress he was making toward the review. You can still read his thoughts in the Road to Review piece he put out a couple of weeks back, but the short version is that he thinks it’s “quite brilliant.” He also spent some time with Tearaway on PS4 (review here), and I Am Bread on iOS, which he says is the perfect game “if you want something silly to pull out and show people down the pub, and not get arrested for it.” He wrapped up his week with Mad Max, and you can check out his (Fury) Road to Review on the site today.

Tuffcub spent his week with Until Dawn, which he described as a “collection of decisions, quicktime events and walking through tunnels/snow.” Though a little short on the interaction, he still loved it and praised the writing and plot twists, though there was a bit toward the end of the game that he could only describe as “Eww!”

Dom began his week with Armello, which is a board game on PS4 that he’s enjoying, despite the slow turn speed and small text. He also reviewed Madden NFL 16 this week, praising it as the best American football game in years. As for the rest of what he played, here it is: Devil’s Third (multiplayer only), Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer, Forza 5, the Forza 6 demo, Lego Batman 3, Lego Jurassic World, Disney Infinity 3.0, Resident Evil Revelations 2 on Vita, and Xenoblade Chronicles on Wii U. Of course, he died from a lack of sleep just after telling me about them but look at all those games!

As for me, I finally finished Dishonored on PC and loved nearly every minute of it. Then I tried to play an indie game called DeadCore but almost immediately hated the way it moved and stopped before hitting the one hour mark. And finally, of course, Metal Gear Solid V, which I was thrilled to see look and run so well on my PC after taking a chance and pre-ordering. It’s utterly fantastic so far.

So that’s it from us, but now we need to hear from you. We enjoy reading about what the community has been playing, so please indulge us in your tales of gaming greatness, fails, and how many guards you’ve successfully slipped by while hiding in a cardboard box. Have at it.

21 Comments

  1. Beatrix Potter’s Game of Thrones, sorry, Armello, is great fun. Especially when it all goes wrong due to the king being a bit mad. He can completely screw up your plans for one type of victory, completely at random, forcing you to change tactics mid-game.

    I’ve been quite enjoying STFU as well since the PS+ update. The main criticism people seem to have of it (apart from the graphics) is it has a nice tutorial, teaching you how to play, and then suddenly chucks in the rewinding time mechanic. Which is quite confusing until you reach the first boss, by which point you should get how it all works and it seems like a genius move. Or you might have given up.

    And now all the slightly older PS4 games have dropped in price and I’ve got a whole pile of Amazon gift certificates, for assorted reasons. Who needs all that stealthy MGS nonsense?

  2. Managed to get the platinum for Diablo 3 ros on PS3 and now i’m bored.Probably buy it again for PS4 and import the saves for a quick platinum.

  3. This week I’ve mostly been playing “You can’t really afford MGSV this month, stay strong”.
    1/10 :(

  4. I got the platinum out of Teslagrad today, which is quite enjoyable. I’ve also been playing BF4, MGS TPP, Lego Jurassic world, STFU and Grow home which are enjoyable. I did try Xeodrifter. That is going straight in the delete pile.

  5. Some Exo Zombies (Carrier), some Hardcore Extinction on Exodus last night with a few people (helping them get their 100% trophies).

    Started Until Dawn with the missus, enjoying it so far!

    Lots of Metal Gear Solid 5….Ground Zeroes. I stupidly (stupid, stupid boy!) didn’t play it before The Phantom Pain arrived and as such I’m rushing to get 100% (not trophies, but game completion) and upload my save file before starting TPP!

    • Dude, don’t worry, just get cracking on TPP, you can go back later :)

      Phantom Pain is what I’m playing, it’s amaaaaazing.

    • To echo Rons thoughts, TPP is so brilliant. I’ve only had a couple of afternoons with it, but it looks to be my next Witcher, where I’ll drop tonnes of hours into the game.

      Can’t believe how long it’s been since mgs4 I still can’t believe mgs5 is here. Kept you waiting, huh. Indeed Kojima. I doff my cap to that great man and the amazing team that created this masterpiece.

  6. More Borderlands 2 co-op with Forrest and Pixel (currently working through the Tiny Tina dlc) and Dying Light co-op with Forrest, Pixel and berzerka (although zerka did have a drew connection issues).
    Some I am Bread and a bit more of VVVVVV.
    Started Grow Home which is quite enjoyable.
    A few hours of Diablo 3, which is now even better due to the new content.
    Mainly though I have been playing through my TVHM run through Borderlands Pre Sequel (which I should finish very soon as I’ve just reached the final area).
    I also purchsed myself the Sony Wireless 2.0 headset.

  7. Been making some reasonable progress in the Witcher 3, although it turns out I’ve been managing to avoid the main storyline missions quite successfully so haven’t actually gotten that far.

    Otherwise a fair bit of Fallout Shelter. Finally starting to get some rare loot and occasional better weapons from the wasteland but also staying under 60 dwellers to avoid the Deathclaws. Starting to get a little bored now tho’, and a tad concerned at the amount of time I spend checking it so I might just send everyone out and see what they find, and only revive and bring back those with something worth having!

    Also dug out my PSP as a result of the article here, but other than charging it up I’ve not gotten round to playing anything yet… found a surprising number of demos installed on the memorystick tho’ so plenty to have a look at over the weekend.

  8. More DiRT Rally, working through the Elite Championships with my Ford Escort. Also moved onto runs of Pikes Peak, and saving up credits to get stuck into the WRX content.

    Slowly (and it is slow) working through GRID Autosport constantly thinking how ideal it might have been to allow multiple seasons open rather than just one at a time.

    Returned to Splinter Cell Blacklist purely for the fun of it, and I’ve also dabbled in a little more Alien Isolation, but I’m a bit crap at evading the alien. I’ll have to grab some tips and ideas, as I’m not making much ground on the game.

    • GRID A is quality compared to previous releases apart from Grid. I utterly love it and am so close to that platinum 243/250 lol.

      • Great to hear, and it wouldn’t surprise me if the platinum were super rare.

        The game is definitely better than GRID 2, by a long mile. I really wish they allowed multiple seasons though. Currently playing through a 10 event Formula A event and am stuck to it without any possible change. It just seems long and tedious, too much for my liking, but I’m working through it steadily.

  9. Finally rescued the final 5 Fat Princesses in Fat Princess and a quick check showed I still need a huge 275ish match 5’s for the last trophy. Bugger that.

    Been fair enjoying some Lego Jurassic World co-op with my lad which we grabbed from the sale.

  10. Not had much spare time this week so just a bit of pes2015.

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