Archive for the 'Gaming' Category

January 1st, 2015

Gaming year in review: 2014

Happy new year everyone! I hope 2015 will be a great year for everyone 😀 I’m still working on my personal year in review entry, but first, here’s my gaming year in review!

I started this a few years ago to look back and give a brief review of every game I played in the past year. I only count games that I hadn’t played before, are remakes, or have new content. (In other words, I don’t count any replays that didn’t have anything new to them.)

Here are my favorites for 2014! (These are out of the games I played in 2014. It doesn’t mean that they were released in 2014.)

Favorite single player: Just Cause 2
This is a game that should not be taken seriously. Its main objective is to cause “chaos” which basically means: blow up as much stuff as you can. Just Cause 2 is just plain fun and one of the better open world games I’ve played. It’s kind of repetitive, the map is ridiculously huge, and there is a loose story in there somewhere, but it’s sooooo fun to mess around and do stupid things.

“What I do best – cause chaos”

Favorite multiplayer: Diablo III: Reaper of Souls
I played D3 back when it first released, and I thought it was just alright. I got back into it for the expansion, and wow, that large patch that released around the same time really improved the game. It was easier to get relevant loot and to raise the difficulty levels. The new content from the expansion also made it more interesting. The game became much more enjoyable, and I had fun starting a new character with my husband.

This is my new monk that I created for the expansion!

Favorite indie/download: Guacamelee
Guacamelee is like a fighting game and platformer combined. You learn fighting moves to defeat enemies, but then you have to use them to go through platforming levels. I thought it was a creative spin on platformers, especially with the dimension switching, and the humor and art style are nice touches too. I also loved all of the meme and video game references in it.

“to use the power of the Dashing… Derpderp… I ran out of names.”

Read the rest of this entry »

10 · Posted in Gaming, Year in Review

August 28th, 2014

The Rift

Gaming has come a looooong way from when I first started. Though I played some games on the computer early on, the NES was when I really started my gaming hobby. This was when I was very young (I don’t even remember how old), and I’ve been keeping up and watching games change since then.

I remember how loading up Super Mario 64 for the first time on my N64 just blew me away. If you look back on it now, the graphics are pretty bad, but prior to that, I hadn’t played a game with 3D graphics. City of Heroes was another big one for me because it was my first MMO. I had to get used to the fact that I was surrounded by random strangers whose faces I’d probably never see.

Now there’s another milestone in my gaming life. We’re now the owners of an Oculus Rift, DevKit 2!

rift_01

My husband put in an order several months ago, and we just got ours recently. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s a virtual reality (VR) headset. There’s multiple parts to it. It connects to your computer, which is what’s actually running the game. There’s a camera to track your head movement. Then there’s the headset itself, which has a small screen for each eye.

rift_02

Your head acts as the game’s camera. If you’re playing in first person, when you move your head, you are actually moving your character’s head. Walking around is still done by keyboard/mouse or gamepad.

Read the rest of this entry »

13 · Posted in Gaming

June 18th, 2014

Game recommends – E3 response

There were many games revealed during E3 last week that I’m excited for, and there’s 3 in particular that I’m really looking forward to because I liked their predecessors. Well, “liked” is an understatement. I absolutely love them and they’re on my list of favorites. So, here’s 3 of my favorite games and my thoughts on their upcoming sequels!

Assassin's Creed 2 Assassin’s Creed 2 (PC, Xbox 360, PS3)

Sypnosis: Desmond relives the memories of his ancestor, Ezio Auditore da Firenze during the 15th century in Italy. Ezio’s family is caught in a political plot, and he witnesses his father and brother hanged. He then trains as an assassin while discovering who is behind it all.

My thoughts: …on the Assassin’s Creed series: I hated 1, loved 2, enjoyed Brotherhood, thought Revelations was ok, was disappointed in 3, and haven’t played 4 yet. AC1 had the right idea with the climbing around, blending in to escape guards, and assassination missions. It failed in its repetitive quests, clunky combat, an assassin who can’t swim, and guards that think running is a crime punishable by death.

Assassin’s Creed 2 is my favorite of the series because it kept the good parts of AC1 and fixed everything else. The combat was smoothed out, while keeping the nice climbing and guard escape elements. The pacing of the game felt good as it gradually introduced new assassination elements, and there was a balance of main and side quests. Basically, everything about AC2 just felt right, and I haven’t felt that way about the AC series since.

Thoughts on Assassin’s Creed Unity: Seeing an AC game set in Europe again with its nice tall buildings (YES BUILDINGS, NO MORE TREES) reminded me of AC2, and I think that’s why it immediately caught my attention. I’m also excited for the co-op since my husband plays the AC series as well. I think it’ll open up new and fun possibilities. [View E3 trailer]

Read the rest of this entry »

10 · Posted in Gaming, Gaming, Tips / Recommends

« Previous Entries

Next Entries »