Hey, you there, staring at your computer, tablet or phone – do you like video games? Do you like hearing about what video games your favorite game journalists have been playing over the past week? Well settle in because we’re about to tell you all about it in a little piece we’ve very originally titled What We Played.
Tuffcub leads off this week with God of War: Ascension, which he says is a better game than God of War III. He also went back to his pile of shame and played Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, though he said he wished he hadn’t after beating it. Finally he squared off with the final boss in Geometry Wars 3 again, but his failed attempts have led him to upping his star level to grab the final unlock, with hopes of making it a fair fight.
Mark has been wrapped up in planning a wedding this past week, but he did find time for another episode of Life is Strange, which he says has wonderful characters, a fantastic soundtrack, and he says the potential consequences of each decision have been painstaking thus far. He also touched back on Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, but he noted that the pace of the game has been a tad too slow for him, even after the discovery of the run button.
Adam checked in with a couple of shooters, the first being the Black Ops III beta, which he says moves a lot like Advanced Warfare and Titanfall, but is a tad too frantic for his taste, though he intends to keep playing while the beta is up. Next he had some interesting thoughts on Wolfenstein: The New Order, but I’ll let him fill you in:
Having now played about half the campaign I have to say it’s a really enjoyable old-school corridor shooter without any of the pretence or bells and whistles most games are lumbered with nowadays. The story is instantly forgettable, but the gunplay feels great, and moving from area-to-area with a bit of stealth instills a tension which only disipates following the unmeasurable slaughter of innumerable mecha-nazis shortly thereafter. Always a winner.
Dom played and reviewed Sword Art Online Re: Hollow Fragment and Toy Soldiers: War Chest this week, and he’s working on Devil’s Third for next week. Then he checked back in on Battlefield 4 and Forza 5, the latter in preparation for its upcoming sequel next month. Dom also had to do some controller maintenance on a PS4 pad, and he took the time to swap the analog sticks with Xbox One sticks while he had it apart. He says it’s worked out quite well so far. Oh, and he got a fancy new TV to play all those video games on.
Dave played a nice spread of games this week, starting with Beyond Eyes for review. Then he moved onto Monument Valley for iOS, which he says is a “great title that bends perception using MC Esher physics.” From there, he found himself ‘tavern brawling’ in Hearthstone, and fishing in Terraria with friends.
Kris spent time this week playing Score Hero on iOS, which he says is a football game that’s “a bit like New Star Soccer, but without the ability to play with other elements of your life.” It’s using a free to play model but he says he’s pretty much hooked and has dropped a bit of currency on it. He also played Path to Luma, which saw him navigating across tiny planets in a cross between a maze and point-and-click game.
Jim dove back into the MOBA world this week with DOTA 2 after being inspired by the Valve international tournament. He said after only a few minutes all the good and bad of that game came flooding back. He also jumped back into Mafia II after seeing the announcement of the third installment. Here are his thoughts:
Despite some setbacks with the weighty shooting mechanics, it’s a fantastic game and one I regret not playing sooner. The setting and characters are completely on-point with Empire Bay and its citizens maturing from the post-war period to the thriving fifties. I’m about two thirds in and hope to mop up the rest before summer comes to a close.
You might’ve seen one of Stefan‘s games this week already if you’ve checked out his review for Volume. He also found himself playing Splatoon again, in an effort to “save up and buy a totally sweet looking black leather jacket for my Inkling girl.” In the end he also found his way back around to Rocket League, which he’s still having a great time with.
As for me, I started my week with a free to play PC game by the name of Trove. It’s a mashup of Minecraft-style building and MMORPG elements. It has an impressive amount of content for no entry price and is even better with friends. I also kept playing Dishonored, but a bout of sickness kept me from playing through the final couple of chapters and finishing it.
So there it is, another great week of games in the books. Now we turn it over to you for your thoughts, impressions, ideas, loves, hates, perplexities, gripes and complaints regarding the games you’ve played over the past seven days. Have at it.
Youles
Platinumed Goat Simulator, my son and I thought it was hilarious…apart from the Flappy Goat trophy!!
Also restored my Rocket League 100% trophies.
Then it’s been Nazi Zombies on Black Ops 2, and Exo Zombies on Advanced Warfare.
Then FIFA16 Beta and Black Ops 3 Beta!
ron_mcphatty
I’ve rinsed Ground Zeroes of everything it has to offer, including those cassette tapes. There is one which contains data in audio like C64 tapes, seems like the internets have tried to crack the code but with no success, anyone heard anything about that? Also played a bit of NFS Rivals, really love it but the racer career is ridiculously tricky and the lack of pausability is ridiculous.
Good luck with the wedding Mark, presumably you’re planning your own, hope you have an awesome big day!
Mark Lee
Thank you! :) yeah it’s definitely my own, wouldn’t go through all this for someone else haha!
blast71
Bit of online advanced warfare, Driveclub challenges, online rocket league, resogun, & last years pes which I got at the right price. Always get pes a year later cuz I’m tight. Just need to finish editing strips & transfers now before I start the master league which is a life eater.
R1MJAW
More Borderlands 2 co-op with Forrest and Pixel, and Dying Light co-op with Forrest, Pixel and berzerka.
Finished my solo play through The Pre Sequel and have just started the Claptastic Voyage dlc.
A bit of Gauntlet co-op with Pixel, which is quite fun but pretty damn difficult (even on normal … especially on the levels where death is chasing you about).
The odd run through Binding of Isaac here and there, just to keep the reflexes keen as apparently they are due to announce the release date for the Afterbirth expansion next week.
Speaking of next week, hopefully we will also have the 2.3 update for Diablo which will see me spending loads more time playing that (as if I hadn’t played it enough already).
CR8ZYH0RSE
Good call on the Diablo update as i nearly forgot,only got 140 bounties left for the platinum trophy.Also got myself a copy of Borderlands THC and bought Gauntlet off the store,if you fancy giving us a lift on those bud leave us your psn id?
R1MJAW
PSN is same as my TSA ID, R1MJAW … just mention you’re from TSA so I know who it is. (btw, that’s a number one, not a capital i).
TSBonyman
I was visiting family most of the week so gaming time was limited. I did manage to play some more of The Witcher 3 though, still a bit at the deep end regarding the various mechanics but enjoying it very much. Combat is better than i expected and following advice in the forum i believe i now have to seek out the “Patience” buff for my weapons..
I Played half of Limbo in one sitting and it hasn’t lost any of it’s charm.. or indeed horror!
Also played the first area of Lara’s Isometric Spinoff Part 2. It’s okay so far, presumably becomes more challenging later on so i will explore that possibility further.
Carrot381
Finished my 2nd playthrough of Witcher 3 without the bloody card collector trophy dropping. Annoyed as hell with this. Done some grinding on Fat Princess and geometery wars and a couple of games on the PES demo.
Avenger
Having fixed my PC, I’ve been playing the sublime DiRT Rally all week. The physics are fantastic and easily blow the competition out of the water. Having enjoyed the M3 E30, I’m moving onto a Ford Escort which savagely attacks every single corner on dirt tracks.
It won’t be too long before I start mowing down aliens in Extinction and tormenting the TGMEM crew on GT6 once again.
CR8ZYH0RSE
I too platinumed Rocket League and i’m so close on Diablo ros i can practically taste the platinum.
The Lone Steven
Hey Butt Stallions, i’ve been playing Borderlands 2 and it is amazing. I’ve also been having sex with hookers in GTA 5. Joking aside, Tis nice playing GTA 5 even if it turns the ol’ PS3 into a hovercraft. Forgot taht there were animals in the game.
Pixel_nme
Again Borderlands with R1MJAW and Forrest Monday an Friday night,Gauntlet with R1M then Destiny with Forrest and Fillip an Toutski joining on various nights,some Black Ops 3 Beta which I recon I prefer over Advanced Warfare,Titanfall an Pure Holdem round it off.