What We Played #151: Abe’s Oddysee, Trials Fusion & Monument Valley

I could bore you to tears once more by recounting that I’ve only played Warframe and Borderlands 2 again this week. But I won’t. Instead we’ll see if you’re any more successful at decoding the relevance of “T20 T17 D20” this week than some of the staff were. For the record, only Peter got it right.

As his reward, instead of making any insulting, suggestive or derisory comments I’ll just let you read what he’s been playing (mainly to avoid any blame for the third paragraph…).

I’ve played a healthy amount of Football Manager Classic 2014 on Vita, the review [should be around here somewhere] but the short answer is that it’s very good if you like Football Manager and don’t mind fiddling about with tiny touchscreen buttons.

I also played a bit of The Elder Scrolls Online – which is my first MMO – and I’ve been very surprised at how much like Skyrim it is. I’m basically playing it like a single player game and just trying to ignore the other players that are standing around quest-givers or leaping down staircases. At some point I expect I’ll have to talk to another player in some capacity but for the moment it’s just like I’m playing a normal Elder Scrolls game but there’s some lunatics in the game world.

Finally, I’ve been playing Trials Fusion on PS4 but that’s for review and it’s embargoed so I can’t tell you anything about that. I can say that the PC beta for the game that I’ve also been playing is very nice looking, with some excellently designed levels to balance your bike around though. Hopefully the full game continues with the tightly designed levels and tricky jumps and balances… *obvious wink*

Dan seems to have finally rediscovered his PlayStation 4 and after not playing much for a while went a bit crazy this week. There’s Tomb Raider, which he says he’s “enjoying more than any Uncharted game” and Strike Suit Zero which he reviewed for us earlier this week and summarises as “repetitive but enjoyable”.

In the grip of his gaming urges he succumbed to the Green Side and bought an Xbox One and as a result Forza has started to consume hours at a frightening rate and despite his normal aversion to online gaming he claims to be enjoying the “surprisingly good” Titanfall.

A review of Ethan Meteor Hunter (is that Ethan, Meteor Hunter or Ethan Meteor, Hunter? They sound like two very different games) is in progress over at the Aran household so expect to read about that next week. He’s completed his Hero playthrough of inFamous Second Son and has started MOOing MMOing with Star Wars The Old Republic.

Stefan would very much like you to believe him:

The FIFA competition inspired me to dig out my disc and get up to some FIFA 14 Pro Clubs mischief with Wick15 and Tony Cawley. We were quite bad, if I remember correctly.

I also went and played the first hour and a bit of the classic Abe’s Oddysee, a game that I’ve never played before, if you can believe that.

You can believe that, by the way. Why would I lie to you?

And lastly we get to the bean throwing podcasting Blair who has been on a post-dissertation gaming binge. First there was Smash Bros. followed by Tomb Raider and then some Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. That in turn led to “the arcadey brilliance of” Call of Juarez: Gunslinger before “the calm, beautiful and serene” Monument Valley which segued into reviewing LEGO The Hobbit.

So, do you believe Stefan? Have you played anything worth mentioning this week?