2014 Game Releases

[M.Steiner]

This is what I don't get, and why we're complete opposites on this.

I've played one sailing game in the last five years. I've played maybe 6/7 games about stalking around a city as an Assassin climbing on buildings, with identical mechanics. If you're tired of Black Flag after one game, why aren't you tired of AC in general - one of the most static and repetitive gameplay franchises I've ever seen?

I'm genuinely just getting sick of the AC mechanics tbh. Too much of it in too short a period. Black Flag brought innovation and FUN innovation - really rankles at me that Unity is just rolling it right back out again and moving back to same old same old

Because whilst it didn't have as big of a focus as it did in Black Flag, it was AC3 which introduced us to the naval stuff so (at least in my eyes) we've kinda had 2 AC games with sailing back to back. I liked the added addition of naval warfare to the series don't get me wrong, I just don't fancy a third with it just yet.

As for why aren't I tired of AC in general?. I do get like that but that is why I'm more interested in Unity than Rogue tbh, but I suppose it depends how one looks at it and what one gets out of the games. For me, Rogue looks like the same old, same old, another game with the sailing feature (as good as it was) and has been made for the old consoles as well which is disappointing on its own. Whereas I see Unity as the same old but with a ton of improvements, new features and sick looking tech & visuals developed with the new consoles and PC in mind. Whilst I agree that AC3/Black Flag did bring innovation, Unity does too imo.

It depends how you look at it and what you enjoy and get out of the games as I say. For me Unity looks to offer a more new and improved experience than Rogue appears to do. Just my opinion though
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[Edit]
GTAV release dates announced!
-November 18th for PS4 & Xbone
-January 27th for PC

Lots of details and new screens here!

[M.Steiner]

Think you missed me asking on IRC this afternoon Anny but I'll ask on here instead ~ What is it about AC Rogue that particularly interests you over Unity?. Rogue has none of the new features and improvements that Unity comes with as far as I'm aware, mostly just the old mechanics and using the sailing feature for a third time. The integration of co-op in Unity alone will offer a completely different way to play but even without that you've got the missions which now adapt to your actions (something many of us have wanted for years), a proper stealth & cover system, revamped this and that.. If you're getting sick of the series and/or its mechanics aren't the changes that Unity brings to the table something of a positive to help move it forward and stay somewhat fresh? Unlike Rogue which doesn't really offer anything new or improved at all? (correct me if I'm wrong).
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Question aside, I come with a few screenies of the house I've been designing in The Sims 4







Loving the build mode as expected!

[Anubis]

Think you missed me asking on IRC this afternoon Anny but I'll ask on here instead ~ What is it about AC Rogue that particularly interests you over Unity?. Rogue has none of the new features and improvements that Unity comes with as far as I'm aware, mostly just the old mechanics and using the sailing feature for a third time. The integration of co-op in Unity alone will offer a completely different way to play but even without that you've got the missions which now adapt to your actions (something many of us have wanted for years), a proper stealth & cover system, revamped this and that.. If you're getting sick of the series and/or its mechanics aren't the changes that Unity brings to the table something of a positive to help move it forward and stay somewhat fresh? Unlike Rogue which doesn't really offer anything new or improved at all? (correct me if I'm wrong).

Oh, sorry. I didn't see you ask this, as you suggest - what with all the connection issues on IRC atm I've been missing things I think

Rogue interests me more because of the naval stuff, because it still feels really fresh and fun to me. I get that they're trying to improve the mechanics of Unity, but ultimately it's just the same mechanics improved a bit to me. I could stealth ok if I wanted to in other AC games (I didn't because I tend to get frustrated with stealth), co-op isn't really for me generally, and adapting missions isn't really enough to sell a game to me. I'll play it in the same way I've always played AC, and that's what makes it disinteresting to me Each to their own as you said in your previous post I suppose! I just really enjoy the naval stuff and would like more, whereas I'm just dispassionate towards Unity.

And Lirik put you onto that didn't he! Must admit I've been watching his back catalogue the last few days and kinda been getting into Sim City as a result. Might end up picking that up at some point...

[M.Steiner]

Rogue interests me more because of the naval stuff, because it still feels really fresh and fun to me. I get that they're trying to improve the mechanics of Unity, but ultimately it's just the same mechanics improved a bit to me. I could stealth ok if I wanted to in other AC games (I didn't because I tend to get frustrated with stealth), co-op isn't really for me generally, and adapting missions isn't really enough to sell a game to me. I'll play it in the same way I've always played AC, and that's what makes it disinteresting to me Each to their own as you said in your previous post I suppose! I just really enjoy the naval stuff and would like more, whereas I'm just dispassionate towards Unity.

Fair enough
I think if Rogue was coming with the same list of improvements and additions as Unity and wasn't only releasing for the old consoles, I'd be a lot more excited for it even with the sailing. This being said I reckon we'll see a PC/PS4/XBO release of Rogue in the new year tbh, or at least I hope so. By then I'll probably fancy sailing again (which I did love, I just don't feel ready for anymore right this minute as I say) and maybe they'll add a few bells and whistles to that version in the time leading up to it. Fingers crossed.

and oh, Lirik played SimCity?. I haven't watched any of his archived streams yet but I've been watching his live stream every day for the last week or so. Love watching him roleplay in the Altis life mod but he's been really fun to watch whatever he's been playing.
Despite the launch issues with SC (and it would still benefit from larger maps like the old games), it was still a great game I think. I'll have to check his older vids out!

(He's planning a 24hr stream of Shadow of Mordor too btw. Should be good ^^)

[Anubis]

Rogue interests me more because of the naval stuff, because it still feels really fresh and fun to me. I get that they're trying to improve the mechanics of Unity, but ultimately it's just the same mechanics improved a bit to me. I could stealth ok if I wanted to in other AC games (I didn't because I tend to get frustrated with stealth), co-op isn't really for me generally, and adapting missions isn't really enough to sell a game to me. I'll play it in the same way I've always played AC, and that's what makes it disinteresting to me Each to their own as you said in your previous post I suppose! I just really enjoy the naval stuff and would like more, whereas I'm just dispassionate towards Unity.

Fair enough
I think if Rogue was coming with the same list of improvements and additions as Unity and wasn't only releasing for the old consoles, I'd be a lot more excited for it even with the sailing. This being said I reckon we'll see a PC/PS4/XBO release of Rogue in the new year tbh, or at least I hope so. By then I'll probably fancy sailing again (which I did love, I just don't feel ready for anymore right this minute as I say) and maybe they'll add a few bells and whistles to that version in the time leading up to it. Fingers crossed.

and oh, Lirik played SimCity?. I haven't watched any of his archived streams yet but I've been watching his live stream every day for the last week or so. Love watching him roleplay in the Altis life mod but he's been really fun to watch whatever he's been playing.
Despite the launch issues with SC (and it would still benefit from larger maps like the old games), it was still a great game I think. I'll have to check his older vids out!

(He's planning a 24hr stream of Shadow of Mordor too btw. Should be good ^^)

Understandable indeed Definitely an each to their own thing methinks! Can certainly see your perspective even if it isn't my own

And yes, yes he did! I'll drop you a link on IRC in a few. Was a good laugh as his Sims content was haha. His DayZ/Arma stuff bores me a little though admittedly...

[M.Steiner]

[Edit: Video removed]
Sounds bloody great!


Wasteland 2 released last week, have any of you been playing it? Impressions?
I backed the kickstarter like several other peeps here so I own it on Steam already, just haven't been playing it yet. Don't really want to get stuck into it just yet when Shadow of Mordor is only a week away and that's going to be the first game I take for a spin on my new system if all goes well. I will however get to Wasteland 2 asap.
Would be interested to hear anyones thoughts though if there's anyone here who has started it already!

[Anubis]

Video deleted What was it?

And I do have Wasteland 2, but won't be playing it for a while yet methinks! Post impressions when you get to it

[M.Steiner]

Twas a video preview of The Evil Within. Hadn't "officially" gone live yet I don't think but will re-link it when it does. It was mostly GI commentary over video footage we've already seen but their impressions and description of it all sound great and very promising

(And it'll be a while before I get to Wasteland 2 as well I think, as I'm wanting to play the other Oct & Nov releases first tbh. Will be sure to post my thoughts when I eventually get to it though!)

[M.Steiner]

Tis up http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/ ... ithin.aspx

[Anubis]

Tis up http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/ ... ithin.aspx

Thank you good sir

[M.Steiner]

Shadow of Mordor reviews are in for those of you interested!:

5/5 - Joystiq
9.5 - Polygon
9.3 - IGN
A- - Gaming Age
9 - Shacknews
9 - GameFront
9 - Playstation Lifestyle
Yes - Kotaku
4.5/5 - The Escapist
4.5/5 - Hardcore Gamer
8.7 - GameTrailers
8.25 - Game Informer
4.5/5 - GamesRadar
8 - Gamespot
8 - Eurogamer
6 - Destructoid

Weeee. You always worry with titles like this which look to be flying under the radar but at least in SoM's case it looks like there was nothing to worry about. Pumped!

[Edit] Also, for Anny:

Show

[M.Steiner]

Just received my Shadow of Mordor key from GMG and in the process of pre-loading now!
Will hopefully have a few screenies and brief initial impressions late tomorrow/today (Tue). Looking forward to starting it

[Anubis]

Yep, was very impressed with what I myself saw of SoM at EGX too. Definitely looking forward to playing that one!

As for Rogue - weeeeeee!!!

[Anubis]

Figured I should talk a little bit about a game I think has flown over most of our heads, but is due out this year - Elite Dangerous.

As most of you know I went to the Eurogamer Expo at the weekend, and I got to spend 20 minutes with this through Oculus Rift. Wow - it blew me away!

I should stress I played Advanced Combat Training, so didn't get to see much of the exploration mechanics, but the dev who was guiding me told me enough about both how that was planned to work and the scale of the universe that will be able to be explored to leave me sufficiently impressed.

At its core, the combat is pretty solid. It's not quite at the heights of Freespace 2 (still the best space combat sim ever made), but it's good and I enjoyed my time with it. It took me a little time to get used to the controls and the UI, since I haven't used a joystick in about 10 years and the Oculus Rift tech made it a very different experience, but it felt very comfortable to play once I'd settled in.

Undoubtedly though the area in which this shines is its Oculus Rift integration. It was my first time with Oculus, and it really blew me out of the water. Obviously it upped immersion by a significant amount, but it also went beyond the on screen game. The UI on the screen shows the edges of the cockpit and then just your HUD and space - through Oculus, it actually rendered the dual joysticks I was using as futuristic controls which reacted to my hands (which were also rendered) working them in real life.

Once I'd killed the fighters, before I finished, the dev helped me up from my seat and told me to look behind me and walk around a little in my vicinity (while he stopped me falling flat on my face). I was literally able to look around the entire cockpit of my ship, and wander around it. To say I was floored is an understatement.

I came away really, really impressed. I'll definitely be buying this once both it's out and Oculus Rift gets its first consumer kit. This game was really not on my radar at all before this weekend (I was watching Star Citizen), but it's a must buy now.

[M.Steiner]

Haven't been following ED which I'm sure comes as no surprise, but how does Elite: Dangerous compare to Star Citizen?
I wouldn't normally touch either but if others here are going to be playing SC I plan to at least give it a try if it means a new group. May do the same for ED if it looks like we have a bunch of peeps playing that too. We'll see.

My understanding is that SC will have a huge persistent universe with both single player and multiplayer content, more in-line with how an MMO world works I suppose. Rather than small matchmaking lobbies or whatever.. Also looks very sim like which, whilst the game itself still doesn't particularly appeal to me, I always prefer simulation driving games over the arcadey ones. Not really a fan of the latter at all tbh, except on rare occasions. Does ED take this similar approach with their game? or a bit different?

Have never tried the Rift myself but I'm definitely interested in it. Does it actually manage to trick you into believing "you're there"? if that makes sense?. Even when you're playing something which doesn't look photo realistic for example?.
My only worry with VR is the possible motion sickness with the inner ear. I've never been able to read in a moving vehicle for that reason as it only takes a couple of minutes and I'll start to feel sick & dizzy. That and the fact that wearing a decent set of headphones would probably be best for complete immersion and I'm not so fond of wearing those for long periods of time. Not for the lengths I generally game for anyway.
Still, my interest is there and I'd love to try it one day. Any idea how much they'll eventually retail for?. Also did you see anything of Project Morpheus?.

[M.Steiner]

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor:

00:24 @SSX-MS • Really, really enjoying it though
00:24 @SSX-MS • Assassin's Creed meets Batman
00:28 @SSX-MS • AC when it comes to the parkour, side stuff, collectibles, opening up the map etc. Feels very *Ubi* in that respect. Combat feels very much like the Arkham games, like, straight out of them.
00:31 @SSX-MS • The nemesis system has been pretty great too. Really have to make use of the info that gives you (from interrogating) to find out their strengths and weaknesses, especially with the warchiefs.
00:31 @SSX-MS • Can't always go charging straight into situations like that without finding yourself surrounded heh

Stealth is very similar to AC too, I forgot to mention that. Can kill from within bushes, hanging from ledges (people above or below you), leap down from above etc. Haven't played Unity yet ofc (with its revamped stealth system) but I'd say it feels better in SoM than it has done in previous AC titles. Combat with your sword however is the spit of Arkham with chaining combos & finishers/executions. Really fluid, satisfying and well animated. Couple that with the dagger (stealth) and your bow.. I'd say this is arguably one of the best games for combat out there. Great stuff.

It's certainly not the prettiest game out there (which wouldn't really fit the setting anyway) but it does still look impressive in some areas, like when it's raining. Runs well too, though I have admittedly just upgraded heh.

The nemesis system is a breath of fresh air too. Such a great idea and so well executed (would make a great feature in a Mafia-esque game). Have to plan your attacks, encouraged to use your environment and it even changes something so simple as your characters death. No game over or reloading like most games, death has consequences and affects their ranks.


Will play a bit more before bed I think... One of my favourite games so far this year I'd say

[Anubis]

Those graphics are genuinely amazing. Really impressed with what your rig can do so far!

Definitely need to start planning my upgrade

[M.Steiner]

Graphics wise I'm most excited for AC: Unity, Far Cry 4 & DA: Inquisition and seeing those in person. Methinks those 3 are going to be the titles which stand out visually from the rest, but I guess we'll see.

2 more screenies:



If there wasn't so many other games still to come out this year I'd list Shadow of Mordor as one of my GOTY contenders (so far) but with the likes of the above games, along with other titles like The Evil Within and Alien: Isolation... I'm expecting it to be top 5 or something come Dec, which ain't a bad thing!

I've got around 30hrs out of the game so far which includes:

Show

14/20 Main missions
24/24 Outcast rescue missions
10/10 Sword legends
10/10 Bow legends
10/10 Dagger legends
10/10 Survival challenges
6/10 Hunting challenges
32/32 Ithildin
42/42 Artifacts

and 38/51 achievements

So as long as you don't just rush through the main story missions there's quite a bit to do. Tis easy to get carried away with everything else so that helps.

(Also see my post above the SoM one, Anny. Think you missed it )

[Anubis]

Sorry mate, I did see it but couldn't find the time to reply before I went away - had a busy week last week.

Haven't been following ED which I'm sure comes as no surprise, but how does Elite: Dangerous compare to Star Citizen?
I wouldn't normally touch either but if others here are going to be playing SC I plan to at least give it a try if it means a new group. May do the same for ED if it looks like we have a bunch of peeps playing that too. We'll see.

My understanding is that SC will have a huge persistent universe with both single player and multiplayer content, more in-line with how an MMO world works I suppose. Rather than small matchmaking lobbies or whatever.. Also looks very sim like which, whilst the game itself still doesn't particularly appeal to me, I always prefer simulation driving games over the arcadey ones. Not really a fan of the latter at all tbh, except on rare occasions. Does ED take this similar approach with their game? or a bit different?

Have never tried the Rift myself but I'm definitely interested in it. Does it actually manage to trick you into believing "you're there"? if that makes sense?. Even when you're playing something which doesn't look photo realistic for example?.
My only worry with VR is the possible motion sickness with the inner ear. I've never been able to read in a moving vehicle for that reason as it only takes a couple of minutes and I'll start to feel sick & dizzy. That and the fact that wearing a decent set of headphones would probably be best for complete immersion and I'm not so fond of wearing those for long periods of time. Not for the lengths I generally game for anyway.
Still, my interest is there and I'd love to try it one day. Any idea how much they'll eventually retail for?. Also did you see anything of Project Morpheus?.

It's hard to say how they compare really, as I haven't had a lot of time to look into Elite too much beyond what I played at the show. They are competing for broadly the same audience I would say, but Elite has always had more of an exploration feel to it than most space sims like Freespace etc. The reason I'm interested in Star Citizen is for the combat - different from the reason I'm interested in Elite - so I wouldn't worry too much about it potentially drawing people away

As for Oculus Rift...for me, no, I wasn't fooled into thinking it was real. It felt more like a whole-room cinema if that makes sense. Everything you see if converted into the game, but I was still very aware and conscious throughout that it wasn't real and that I was just sat at a booth so not to do anything stupid. BD says in more recent versions of the device though, people have been fooled in this way.

It's difficult to broadly pass comment on the issues surrounding VR without more than the 20 minute demo I got, but all I can say is that I didn't have any issues with balance, sickness or awareness, and that was with me being in a cockpit doing 360 degree rotation, so I'm fairly confident that wouldn't be an issue for me at retail. Likewise I wasn't able to test the device out with anything other than Elite, so the different responses that I might have to different graphical quality/stimuli are hard to judge. Headphones are really a different issue - I'd probably play with speakers not headphones myself if I ever bought one for the same reason - but again, hard to comment on the general concern without more time with it.

Sorry, know the above may not have answered your questions too helpfully...

[M.Steiner]

Nah, nah, ta for answering mate

(Little cross-post but for those who didn't see the other post - I managed to get a couple of hours in with Driveclub last night and uploaded a vid (our first!) to our YouTube channel. See here. Will try and do another tonight if I can ^^)

[M.Steiner]

The Evil Within
Downsampled from 4K to 1080 (with black bars removed)

CLICK TO ENLARGE

[SL33PY]

howcome these images arn't yet on fb and twitter?

[M.Steiner]

I shared via flickr last night:

ShatteredStarExiles @SSX_Gaming · 11 hours ago
#TheEvilWithin looking pretty damn sick! https://flic.kr/p/pGp8d9

Which got shared from Twitter > Facebook in the process

Speaking of Twitter. A couple of days ago on IRC you asked about a background image, Sl33py, and to look at your profile to see what was possible. I had a look at your page but other than your header & profile images (which I've put up on the SSX Twitter as well), the background of that page is white like every other profile I've seen?. Where abouts does this other background appear cos I'm not sure where you were referring to?. I see a different bg on the notifications page for example but nobody but us sees that, right?

[SL33PY]

indeed, I noticed that after I closed IRC

[M.Steiner]

I come with more screenies!

The Evil Within
Downsampled from 4K to 1080 (with black bars removed)

CLICK TO ENLARGE | MORE SCREENIES HERE

All gameplay btw, no pre-rendered cutscene screenies or anything like that. You can enable the console in the game (which unfortunately disables achievements but nevermind, that'll be due to the cheats you could put in there I guess) which you can use as your own little photo mode. Can freeze time and use a free-camera to get some great shots through that. Much fun for me hehe

Admittedly, I haven't known wtf has been going on for a lot of the game but it has been damn good all the same haha. I was expecting it to feel like a Resident Evil game through and through due Mikami being beind it, and parts of it do and that's to be expected. A large part of it screams Silent Hill to me as well though if I'm honest, from the atmosphere of it to some of the monster designs and really just the general style of it. Wasn't expecting that at all but a nice surprise!. Maybe a bit of TLOU in there too even (in terms of gameplay). Anyway, I haven't completed it yet but I expect I will do if not tomorrow then the weekend. I'd say I enjoyed Shadow of Mordor a bit more (surprisingly so) but this has still been pretty decent too.

Not sure what I'll play next. Still got Alien: Isolation to play but I'm not sure I want to play 2 horror games back to back, even if they are both completely different. Might leave that for now.. There's Lords of the Fallen out next week but then CoD:AW is out 4 days later and we're not that far away from Unity either tbh. Want to space them all out nicely and not be in the middle of playing something when Unity comes out as I want to start that straight away. Will have a think!