2014 Game Releases

[Anubis]

Maybe I should start the 2015 Game Releases thread

Oh god, not already!

[SL33PY]

Hey, I'm late this year... last year I started it on the 21st of february... yeah, you go and look back to page one of this thread

[SL33PY]

TW3 has a contender!


First Dishonored and now the new Thief, <censored> yeah!

http://imgur.com/a/ZxbVo /me drools

We all now know that this is not true... unfortunately

[M.Steiner]

aye tis a shame but nevermind. There's still Watch Dogs, The Division, MGSV etc and several others which I'd placed above Thief so not like that was it for the year even with TW3 being delayed. South Park admittedly shot above my expectations too. Not long for Watch Dogs now!, it better not disappoint
Debating whether to get the digital deluxe from the Ubi store rather than the Dedsec edition.. Will miss the physical stuff (and I do like my statues...) but I'll get the same digital content I'd have gotten with the Dedsec, get all 5 pre-order outfits instead of just 1 and save 20 quid whilst doing so. hmm.

[Anubis]

Finished The Stick of Truth on Sunday. Very good game! Worth the wait - though it was admittedly short for my tastes.

At a bit of a loss as to what to play next though. Infamous is currently my choice, but I'm not all that enamoured with it and I doubt it'll be a long game. Thinking I might be due a Witcher 2 replay!

[Whizbang]

Finished The Stick of Truth on Sunday. Very good game! Worth the wait - though it was admittedly short for my tastes.

At a bit of a loss as to what to play next though. Infamous is currently my choice, but I'm not all that enamoured with it and I doubt it'll be a long game. Thinking I might be due a Witcher 2 replay!

Have you put in a play for Planescape:Torment yet?

[M.Steiner]

What other games have you still got to play, Anny? New games from your backlog that is, not replays. Is Uncharted 2 still one of them? Should consider that if so. Tis miles ahead of 1 by a looooong way so don't let the first game put you off
I was going to do a full replay of both Witcher games this year in the leadup to TW3 actually. Will probably still do that but might push them back until the end of the year now. Want them to be as fresh as possible going in to TW3 in Feb and it's not like I'm short of stuff to play atm.

Games I've got lined up for playing next:
- Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (this Fri)
- Final Fantasy X HD Remaster
- inFAMOUS: Second Son
- The Last of Us: Left Behind
- BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea Episode 2
- The Wolf Among Us - Episode 2
- The Walking Dead - Season 2 Episodes 1 & 2
- Titanfall

MGSV:GZ first since it will be the shortest of the console games since it's not a full length entry in the series. After that i'll play either FFX HD (will finally give X-2 a try as well since it comes with it, but not just yet) or Second Son, haven't decided which just yet. Ground Zeroes and/or Second Son will be the first PS4 games I properly try out with the remote play too so that should be interesting. Have briefly tried it before but only for a couple of minutes at most. Heard good things about the Last of Us DLC too so I need to buy and play that at some point in the near future as well as the second part to the Infinite DLC when that releases at the end of this month.
I still have episode 2 of Telltale's The Wolf Among Us waiting to play as well and I haven't even started season 2 of The Walking Dead yet either so then there's those 2 to catch up with. In and among all of those I'll drop some Titanfall in for multiplayer too.

The Telltale eps will likely be completed in just 1 sitting each as they're usually pretty short but the rest should keep me entertained until Watch Dogs in May I would think. I do have lots of other games in my backlog waiting to play too (like "Banished" most recently), but those are the ones next in line for playing methinks.

Also the FFX remaster looks fantastic. You're mad for skipping it







Will probably post some pics of the PS4 games once I'm playing them, if not MGS then definitely Infamous: SS
Shame the PS3 doesn't have the same sharing feature otherwise I'd take some of my own comparison pics for FFX too... oh well.

[M.Steiner]

Been playing MGSV:GZ since thursday (GMG got my copy to me the day before release ). Bloody love it.
It's pretty light on story which MGS games never are, but it is just a prologue. The level design and gameplay mechanics on the other hand are superb. Comes across new and fresh but also has that old-school MGS feel to it.
It can turn out to be an incredibly short experience as some have reported, yes, but only if you want it to be. If you want to take your time with it, get the collectibles, obtain S ranks for each mission and keep trying different tactics out etc to pad it out then you should still get quite a bit of play out of it. I sure have and I don't regret buying it. If you're just going to rush the main mission on your first attempt going from point A to B for example, and not go back and try for S ranks/achievements and what have you then you may be disappointed by its length and what you paid for it. In which case I'd recommend waiting for it to go cheaper, but you should still definitely play it.

Going back to the level design. Previous MGS games have been pretty contained and linear in comparison, whilst their maps as a whole and certain areas could be quite large and worth exploring, they were not "open" like this is (and the Phantom Pain will be). Ground Zeroes feels very much like a classic Hitman game actually. The mission area is a bit bigger than the Hitman ones were but apart from that it's very similar. You're given a playground, you have a mission objective to complete however you see fit, and finally you must extract yourself from the area to end the mission.

Haven't fully made my mind up about Jack Bauer. To be fair there's not enough voiced dialogue by him to make a proper judgement just yet but from the little I've seen, I do miss Hayter and hearing Keifer Sutherland play the part just feels kinda wrong after all these years. That being said I'm not going to dismiss him completely just yet. Will give him a proper chance with TPP and maybe he'll win me over.
Voice acting aside, Ground Zeroes has been a great taster of what we can expect from the Phantom Pain. Thinking of this but on a much grander scale, depth and usual awesome storytelling fills me with excitement and I'm even more pumped for it now than I was before. It is sure to be one hell of a game.

I did take a few screenshots to share but I will post those soon*. PS4 update 1.7 is on the way which adds the ability to export screenshots & videos to USB, among other things. Something I'd hoped they would add post-launch so I'm very pleased that's being implemented already. This means I can upload screenies to a place of my choice rather than them being butchered by compression which is what Twitter (and Facebook) do. So yeah, expect those when the update hits.


Going to start FFX HD later today I think. Expect some impressions of that once I've spent some time with it!
annnnd inFAMOUS: Second Son once I'm done with that, by which time 1.7 should hopefully be live and I'll be able to share some pics of that too. Might even take a video...

[Anubis]

Haha. Glad to hear you've been enjoying MGS, since I know how huge a franchise fan you are

[M.Steiner]

Aye, have been a fan of MGS for a looong time now. Longer than Final Fantasy even heh

Speaking of which. FFX HD Remaster.
I can't share high quality direct screenshots of this since it's on the PS3 unfortunately, but I've tried my best to take some with my camera instead:

















You really do have to see it in person to truly appreciate what they've done here but hopefully the pics help demonstrate it slighty. You would not believe this game originally came out 13 years ago, the amount of detail they have managed to add is staggering. Not some half-arsed re-release with a few updated models and what not, a lot of effort has gone in to this. It's such a massive improvement. I loaded it up expecting a nice upgrade and all but was actually quite shocked to see just how detailed some of the textures and environments are. So crisp, colourful and detailed and in full 1080p with surround... glorious.
I am going to enjoy this

Beautiful job, Square Enix. Now please do the same for XII!

[M.Steiner]

Decided to take a night off from FFX HD yesterday and play Burial at Sea Episode 2, so as to avoid spoilers by playing it sooner rather than later.
Whilst the main game itself is still the best of all 3 and I did really like BaS Ep1 too, ep 2 was very good as well imo. Took me around 4hrs to complete and I missed a few things too so there's definitely upwards of that. Felt very much like a send off (in several different ways). Admittedly wasn't so keen on the stealth gameplay though but playing this, when I did, will have had something to do with that too. Going from MGSV:GZ; a true master when it comes to stealth and a genre defining series, to this... yeah. Wasn't impressed. As far as the stealth gameplay/combat goes it actually felt like a poor Dishonored. Story on the other hand I thought was great personally but it's not going to be for everybody.

Important note: Dunno how many people we have here who have only played one or the other but if you plan on playing this DLC just make sure that you've played both the original BioShock and Infinite first, not just the latter. There is a "previously on" video for the first game on the main menu but I'd advise against watching that. Don't deny yourself that experience and go back and play it for the story if nothing else, otherwise I'd recommend just skipping this tbh.

Show

As you'll now see, episode 2 ties heavily into both and you're expected to know the turn of events from the first game as well as some of its characters. By playing Burial at Sea episode 2 before the original game you'd not only have ruined that experience for yourself should you have ever wanted to play it in the future, but much of the DLC will have been wasted on you otherwise as well. Really need to have played both to get the most out of it.
Some people won't like how closely it's tied to BioShock 1's story but I really enjoyed the DLC myself. Very well done.

Couple of pics I took from the opening:

Back to FFX later!...
Been having a few sound issues in that btw. For some reason the game keeps switching itself from 5.1 to 2.1 between cutscenes or whatever. A little annoying as I really want to experience this remaster at its best and it really does sound great in surround sound when it's working. I don't like going back to stereo heh.
I know I'm not the only one having this problem though so hopefully they've got a patch in the works to fix it. Other than that I'm loving it, Blitzball aside which I will be avoiding as I hate that and always have lol

[M.Steiner]

Hey SL33PY, you pre-ordered your copy of Watch Dogs from the Ubi Store, right?
Couple of quick questions for ya in which case: My pre-order came with a £10 store voucher so I'm assuming yours did too. If so, how long did it take to receive your voucher code? Or will we not receive those until the game releases?. I received one for pre-ordering AC3 with them too but that was some time ago now and I can't remember whether I received it straight away, a few days after ordering or at release of the game itself.

I decided to cancel my Dedsec edition with GAME (£64.99) and pre-ordered the Uplay Exclusive Edition (£44.99) from Ubisoft instead. Has all the same ingame content of the Dedsec edition plus all 5 outfit packs too, which you can only get from pre-ordering (any edition) from Ubi themselves. With GAME I was only getting the Untouchables pack and Amazon don't appear to offer any looking at their pre-order promotions page. It comes in a steelbook too but it's missing the rest of the dedsec physical content ofc, the soundtrack, badges, card thingies, map, artbook and figurine. I could have got the Dedsec edition from Ubi instead but I was a little put off by the £89.99 price tag. Quite a big jump over £64.99 when the only difference is the other 4 outfit packs I'd be getting. Honestly though I was never really bothered about the first 4 items and only really cared for the artbook and figurine, the latter of which can actually be bought separately so it's not exactly exclusive to that edition. I want the 5 outfit packs to use in the actual game more than a printed map or some badges.
Anyhow, I Figured I'd use the £10 voucher towards buying the figure separately as it was the only physical item I really wanted from the dedsec edition, and by getting that I won't have to find a place to store the big dedsec box and its other contents either. Haven't received my voucher code yet though (pre-ordered yesterday) so was just wondering when I'm likely to receive it so I can get that ordered too!

Not long now

[SL33PY]

I actually forgot which package I pre ordered, but I did pre order with ubi, let me look it all up, i'll update this post in a bit


Edit:
I pre-ordered the dedsec edition:

Productnaam: Watch_Dogs - Dedsec Edition
Platform: PC (Pre-Ordered)
pre-ordered release date: Thu Nov 21 00:00:00 CST 2013
Besteld aantal: 1
Bedrag: 82,64€
Volgnummers zendingen

I might need to check up on my pre order, I don't even remember if there was a promise of some 10€ voucher from ubi side... Too long ago

[Anubis]

Will admit I'm kind of bored atm, whilst I wait for WatchDogs. Not really sure what to play!

Picking Brutal Legend back up for PC, and thinking Witcher 2 afterwards, but I'm not particularly enthusiastic. FM14 was my plan but sadly the match engine is so bad I can't get into it

[M.Steiner]

I'm playing Infamous: Second Son atm which is a lot of fun, enjoying it far more than I did Infamous 1 I'm happy to say.
Taken some screenshots already too (it looks amazing) but will keep those for sharing until update 1.7 hits as said. Killzone looked pretty sick on PS4 too but it was mostly the backdrops as the environments themselves were very linear for the most part, not open like this is. Anyway this is definitely the best looking "next-gen" game I've played so far I'd say.

Few ideas for you Anny:
- Ni No Kuni
- Uncharted 2
- The Wolf Among Us - Eps 1-3
- The Walking Dead - Season 2 Eps 1 & 2

I know you haven't played Ni No Kuni or Uncharted 2 yet so I'll list those first since I know you own them already. Both fantastic games and 2 of the PS3's best imo.
Since I haven't seen anyone else mention season 2 of TWD or The Wolf Among Us from Telltale I'm going to assume you're not caught up with those either. I still have ep 2 of TWD to play which I'll fit in before Watch Dogs next month, and ep3 of The Wolf Among Us releases tomorrow too so I'll have that to play as well. Played ep 2 of that (and ep 1 of TWD S2) last week

[SL33PY]

I'm still playing eve online, it keeps me busy and I can pretty much chose how I play it. I no longer have the need to play all titles, so I handpick some that I think are worth it I got a good reviewer/previewer who's opinion I really appriciate... Yeah, that's you MS

[M.Steiner]

I try hehe

Just finished my first playthrough of Infamous: Second Son with good karma.
Its story is probably the weakest part of the game unfortunately. Short, lacks character development and is pretty lackluster on the whole tbh. Not that it's terrible or anything, it could just have been so much better and it falls short besides everything else. Especially as good as it looks. Troy Baker (Delsin) does a great job once again with what he's given too, it's just a shame we didn't get to explore more of his character.
Disappointing story aside though I've still greatly enjoyed my time with it. Movement and combat is both fluid and fun (although there could have done with a bigger variety of enemies), well designed gameworld, plenty of side content and visually stunning as already said. Just sad that it's the story that lets it down really. Hopefully Watch Dogs won't suffer the same.

Think I'll probably start a second playthrough of it tomorrow and play it through with bad karma instead. Different powers, side activities and story choices (though limited on the latter) will open up from that so it will be interesting to see just how differently it plays. I'll be able to get the bad karma trophies I'm missing from the second playthrough too and easily platinum it in that case. Hopefully this update 1.7 won't be too far away now and I can share some of the screenshots I've taken without twitter raping them

Should still have time to play ep2 of TWD / ep3 of The Wolf Among Us before Watch Dogs hits methinks. Not long to wait now but I'm sure those last few weeks will seem like forever heh.
Oh and I've decided to hold off on buying The Last of Us: Left Behind what with the rumours of a complete edition coming to PS4 this summer. I fancied replaying that alongside the DLC but if it's coming to PS4 I will most certainly double-dip like I will (one day) be doing for GTAV.


Also:

Spoken about this on IRC a couple of times just recently but I've got my eye on this too. Won't be getting it for release (April 30th) as I don't think I could stomach another RPG (and with turn-based combat too) so soon after playing FFX HD, possibly after Watch Dogs though. Will see how I feel.

[Anubis]

Few ideas for you Anny:
- Ni No Kuni
- Uncharted 2
- The Wolf Among Us - Eps 1-3
- The Walking Dead - Season 2 Eps 1 & 2

I know you haven't played Ni No Kuni or Uncharted 2 yet so I'll list those first since I know you own them already. Both fantastic games and 2 of the PS3's best imo.
Since I haven't seen anyone else mention season 2 of TWD or The Wolf Among Us from Telltale I'm going to assume you're not caught up with those either. I still have ep 2 of TWD to play which I'll fit in before Watch Dogs next month, and ep3 of The Wolf Among Us releases tomorrow too so I'll have that to play as well. Played ep 2 of that (and ep 1 of TWD S2) last week

True that. I haven't picked those up yet. Might well be worth a look! Thanks for the recommendations!

Still Brutal Legending for now. I'll see where things take me as I investigate picking Telltale stuff back up!

[Whizbang]

MS, if you do an evil karma playthrough, pay attention to everything as it all changes...that includes all the voicework.

[Anubis]

MS, if you do an evil karma playthrough, pay attention to everything as it all changes...that includes all the voicework.

MS...evil playthrough? Does not compute

[M.Steiner]

What can I say.. playing the role of an evil character doesn't tend to come naturally to me
Seriously though, tis easier for me to relate to a character or become immersed in a game when I'm making choices which are deemed as "good" so when it comes to a first playthrough that's what I always go with. Do enjoy seeing the other side as well sometimes, it just usually tends to come second with a replay.

Also!
Unrelated but for the Watch Dogs fans here:

As I mentioned recently, I decided to buy the figurine separately and just get the Uplay edition of the game itself. (Will keep my £10 Ubi store voucher for Assassin's Creed Unity later this year since I probably won't receive that until the game releases next month). Anyway, this is the exact same figurine which comes with the dedsec edition afaik so I thought I'd take a couple of pics and post em up since I know a couple of you are getting that one

[SL33PY]

I still think that ubi should have inserted the cap and mask into the dedsec edtion afaik this isn't the case the edition with the cap and mask didn't have all the dlc in it, which was shite

[M.Steiner]

Yeah, the Vigilante edition which comes with the cap and mask lacks both the Signature Shot & Breakthrough Packs that the Dedsec edition (as well as the Uplay Exclusive Edition and Digital Deluxe I might add) come with. I'm more of a statue guy myself but I admit that it's a little strange that those 2 editions weren't the other way around with the figurine replacing the cap/mask and those joining the artbook and everything with the Dedsec.

Like the figurine though they can both be bought separately too:
Aiden Pearce Cap
Aiden Pearce Scarf
These 2 should be the same as what comes with the Vigilante edition and are bought from the Ubi Workshop.

This other site has their own Watch Dogs collection as well:
Binary Cap
Stealth Scarf
Not Ubisoft but they look to have some nice stuff.

Means spending evening more ofc, unless you cancelled your dedsec and went with the Uplay Exclusive or Digital Deluxe instead, but at least they can still be bought outside of the Vigilante should you ever want them

[Kon]

I didn't even know there was an FFX remaster, to be honest. Good to see it seems they put some more effort into it than the FFVII re-release. Have they now released all the 7-10 games on PC? This might be a good time to get into Final Fantasy, although my FF-loving friend always tells me FFVI is the greatest game of all time.

[M.Steiner]

Have they now released all the 7-10 games on PC?

Just the re-release of VII and VIII with widescreen support etc. IX & X were only ever available on PlayStation so it's unlikely for either of those to hit PC I would say, shame because I would love to see FFIX on here as well as the PS Store.
The Final Fantasy X remaster is for PS3/Vita only. You'd still be able to play the original FFX emulated on PC ofc but that's not something I'll be doing now we have this (far superior) HD release. Can't comment on the Vita release as I didn't double dip (shame it wasn't a cross-buy title tbh) but if you ever decide to get a PS3 I'd highly recommend FFX HD. I wouldn't really class 7 and 8 as remasters myself as whilst it was great to get them with a few updates and on the steam store as well no less, all in all they'd had very limited work done to them. X HD however is a beautiful piece of work imo, really well done. Hoping they do the same for 12 as well personally but we'll have to wait and see on that... I'd also say it's only a matter of time before we get the much requested remake of 7 tbh.