After Jim’s more than capable filling in for me over the last couple of weeks the bad news for you is that I’m back at the keyboard again. But rather than dwell on what that means for all of us let’s swiftly move on with what Aran’s been playing this week.
This week there has been some Wolfenstein & Episode 4 of The Walking Dead Season Two. Wolfenstein: TNO gets really tough near the end with lots of bigger enemies to fight against. The story still holds strong and it is still the best FPS of 2014.
Episode 4 of TWD: S2 was just as gut wrenching as the rest. The group doesn’t get a single break really, with things going from bad to worse. And it’s done in such a way that there is hope which is quickly snatched away. Damn you, Telltale.
Stefan’s had a somewhat less than memorable week of gaming but does recall participating in recent Gran Turismo 6 and Battlefield 4 TSA Meets. And he mumbled something about filming himself mooning and how it was his Destiny or some-such nonsense.
The Destiny Beta was always fated to close after too short a period and its loss left Dan J wondering what to play. In the end he chose to return to MotoGP 14 “and comfortably won a few races in career mode”. Show off! With PS4 racers being in short supply he says that MotoGP is worth a look.
While “the track detail may not be great the handling of the bikes is spot on, challenging too.” While he laments that F1 2014 will not be gracing our PS4s he is glad to have some kind of GP racing to fall back on. He’s also reviewed The Swapper which he calls “a lovely game, just over a bit too soon”.
Freed from the shackles of writing WWP Jim used the spare 30 minutes that gave him to play Undead Nightmare. While he says he will go back to it at some point he ended up setting it aside for some Dota 2 and Watch Dogs.
His return to Ubisoft’s latest flagship title “was not that thrilling” which he puts down to having played too much GTA and Red Dead. He still stands by his review from back in May though, despite the game’s repetitive side content outside the main missions.
Perhaps my biggest achievement this week is beating the “Social Lubricant” trophy which requires you complete all of Watch Dogs QTE-style drinking games. Having heard about the infamous trophy, and seeing the player petition to get it updated, I was nervous yet soldiered on and bagged it without a single retry.
For more from Jim check out the choice words he has to say about Sacred 3 in today’s review.
While I’ve been too busy at work for the last couple of weeks, this week it’s Tuffcub’s turn to work the 13-hours days. Predictably he still managed to find a little time for Killzone Shadow Fall and “a LOT of” Borderlands 2 on his PS Vita.
Which just leaves the “incredibly surprised” Dom to wrap things up for us this week.
In some mystical fashion, all the stars have aligned and I’ve been playing lots of computer games this week! I’m incredibly surprised!
The main game last weekend was the Destiny Beta, with a couple of accidental 4/5am finishes. I played all the way until the servers went off, and then sat there wondering what I was going to play until September! Obviously the huge backlog I have has been a comfort in these difficult times…
I’ve continued to put time into Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, and I can’t get enough of it. Last night though for whatever reason I couldn’t find anyone good to play with, searching room after room. Hopefully the lobby system is more robust in Monster Hunter 4. A special mention has to go to the prize idiot who made me wait ten minutes before venturing out with me, only to run away and hide when the monster appeared! The Wii U gamepad is too expensive to hurl across the room but it was a close run thing!
I’ve nearly finished Ryse now, which I’ve enjoyed a lot, as has my wife who’s watched me play through it. I’ve also been playing Crimson Dragon, which at least with it coming to Games With Gold this month means there’ll be some scores on the leader boards!
So how have you all addressed your post-Destiny Beta/pre-Destiny blues?
R1MJAW
Started playing Wolfenstein, which I’m thoroughly enjoying. I’m about 2/3rds through so far but I’ve since been distracted by Rogue Legacy which is very addictive.
Some Pure Pool which I’m also enjoying although it’s a bit harder than Hustle Kings as there’s no overhead view to help line up longer shots.
More Trials Fusion, mainly to try out the first of the paid dlc packs.
Started playing Trine 2 with Forrest and Pixel_nme (as well as a nice relaxing round of Everybody’s Golf).
Some Zen Pinball 2 in quick blasts in between other things.
Some Dragon’s crown on Vita, fun game.
freezebug2
Good shout with the relaxing round of Everybody’s Golf round, obviously not Crown hunting lol, cracking game that seriously needs to grace next(current) gen!
Been collecting the Gold bolts and Skill points on R&C 1 Vita, creating another weekly laborious 30 mods on Modnation Racers Vita for download and attending the Monday GT6 meet an hour late this week after the update finally completed…jeez that needs addressing!
Oh and the occasional attempt at the final 2 Crowns I need on Everybody’s Golf PS3….GIR every hole at Maple Leaf Stormy and Al Arabian, both of which are 18 hole jobs!
freezebug2
One round too many there!
R1MJAW
Yeah, we occasionally play EBG online just for a nice relaxing game and a chat. As far as I’m aware they are working on a PS4 version but who knows how long it’ll take for them to release it (and then translate it for a western release, which is usually anywhere from 6 months to a year).
Those 2 challenges are highly frustrating, I screwed up the Al Arabian one quite a few times on the 17th hole.
stonyk
Think Bungie did a good job with the Destiny Beta. Wasn’t interested in the game as Halo never grabbed me. As it was free I tried it out and thought it was brilliant. Went to go on again the next day and was gutted it had closed. Think its gone from ‘not interested’ to ‘must have’. Good work.
tactical20
Dusted off the PS3 and picked up a few bits from the Summer sale. AC Liberation, which I’ve just dipped into and enjoying so far. Arkham Blackgate, which I’ve not started. And Guacamelee! (finally), which I then upgraded for PS4 (cheaper that way) and after about 3 hours, I can finally see what all the fuss was about. Brilliant game!
In terms of achievements, I’m only a couple of trophies away from level 20, so expect to hit that over the weekend.
element666
I picked up wolfenstein on the PS4 which I am really loving! That’s about all I’ve played this week :-)
Eldaveo
Played a bit of Forza 5 in between studies this week to chip away at some of the achievements.
Other than that I fired up my original NES for a little while only to have it die on me shortly after :( Going to operate on it this weekend as it sounds like it is just the pin connectors that need sand papering.
Ordered £40 worth of PSN vouchers today so I can download The Last of Us Remastered next week. Never played TLoU before so I am very excited :)
bladesew
The Last of Us on PS4 which looks lovely. The story, performances and detail really make it stand out, which is probably just as well as I have a niggling complaint that it’s actually really repetitive on the gameplay side. Destiny Beta which was great but essentially the same as the Alpha – I also get my rse handed to me in the Crucible on a regular basis.
On PS3 I’m still struggling away at getting the platinum on Demon Souls – on NG+ I’m struggling with the Penetrator boss – Biorr is dead. Also finishing off Killzone 3 as I refuse to start Shadowfall until I’ve done so.
On PC I’ve rang the bells on Dark Souls and am frantically running away from rolling rocks, Indy-style, in Sen’s Fortress.
Dan Jones
I found the Penetrator one of the hardest bosses on Demon Souls, no dodgy pun intended! From what I remember firing a lot of soul arrows worked for me. Took me bloody ages to get the platinum though, my only advice is to grind a lot. The old hero(? blind boss) respawn point backwards gets you a lot of souls.
Steelhead
Played the first two scenes of Puppeteer this week. It’s a surprisingly fun game that has just the right amount of challenge to pull me in and not let go. Also has some of the best bosses I’ve seen in a game for quite some time.
TSBonyman
The Last of Us original edition is my main squeeze at the moment, simply wonderful and i’m glad i took a year’s break between plays as it feels nice and fresh again.
I took a break from that to play the Destiny open beta on PS4, just a shame about the repetition and the re-spawning enemies as it was looking like a game that would have sucked me right in otherwise.
I also picked up Pure Pool, it has nice balls and good physics but no personality. Main camera is too limited and ‘walk about’ cam is an ineffective substitute for an overhead cam. Hard to believe this is from the people who made Hustle Kings.
Lyts1985
Spent all this week working my way towards Oddworlds New ‘n’ Tasty platinum which I finally nailed today. Enjoyable game but trophy bugs resulting in you having to play through 2-3 times more than anticipated can grate pretty quickly… I’d recommend it nonetheless :-)
Considering going back to Heavy Rain to try and nab it’s platinum next…
blast71
Only been playing driver San Francisco trying to get the platinum. Struggling with the last 2 online trophies because there’s no-one playing the team challenges.