Halloween is just around the corner. It’s the time of year that many of us prepare for with spooks, scares, and wetting our beds with some of the scariest games to release to date. To help you prepare, we’ve decided to grab a few of our favorite options only to send you on your way with the games that’ll sate your needs.
So what do you say, shall we jump into our list? Lets do so.
#5: Outlast – PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One
When it comes to scary corridors, limited resources (batteries in this scenario), and free-roaming lunatics, Outlast takes the cake. In Outlast players take the role of a Miles Upshur, a freelance investigative journalist, whom just happens to come across the news of an abandoned asylum.
When finally getting into the place, Miles learns very quickly that the residence have taken over, and what was once a safe place is now his living nightmare. Why? Just ask that lunatic waiting to cave your skull in around the corner. Outlast is all about being sneaky, solving puzzles, and trying not to wet yourself while playing.
#4: Amnesia: The Dark Descent – PC
Taking place in 1839, horror found itself seeping from every edge of the enigmatic Brennenburg Castle. The protagonist Daniel finds himself exploring through the dark halls in order to find memories that he has locked away after finding the note that gives him this evidence. When going into the castle in which he once left, Daniel goes forth to kill the Baron Alexander.
His adventure will take players through the history of what had happened to him and lead him to losing all his memory. What players will learn is that Daniel was once part of an archaeological expedition to Africa where he explored a tomb named “The Tomb of Tin Hinan”. Within the tomb, he discovered an orb that was broken into pieces. Upon returning strange things began to happen, and now it’s time for him to solve the case of what’s actually going on.
Set as a first-person horror survival title, Amnesia: The Dark Descent was the first game to remove weapons as a portion of combat into a distinct rush for survival. Instead players are forced to use their surroundings to hide from enemy threats and to move stealth like from their enemies.
#3: Alien: Isolation
15 years after the disappearance of the Nostromo spacecraft, the daughter of famed Ellen Ripley has gone on the search for her mother. In her exploration of her mother, Amanda Ripley, is approached by an android under the name of Christopher Samuels, whom is employed by the Weyland-Yutani corporation. Meeting with her, Samuels indicates that the flight recorder of the Nostromo had been located by a ship named the Anesidora. Located on the station Sevastopol, the Seegson Corporation has set orbit around the planet KG348.
Traveling to the station, Ripley, Samuels, and Nina Tailor travel to Sevastopol only to encounter a situation they weren’t prepared for. A monster has gone on the loose, with this being a problem, Axel, a survivor on the Sevastopol, is killed by the alien creature only to set forth a string of complications. Amanda’s adventure will take her racing through the Sevastopol and the Anesidora for survival. She will take on unimaginable enemies and survive unimaginable situations.
#2: SIREN – PlayStation 2, PlayStation 4
St in the Japanese village of Hanyūda, player are set to explore the village that kept itself away from the world through isolation. Following the interruptions of a ritual near Hanyūda, a rather large earthquake happens near by, and in turn the village now finds itself lost between time and space. Surrounded by a sea of red waters, the village finds itself troubled with mysterious occurrences that take place within it.
Much of the games story takes place surrounding Hisako Yao, the leader of a local religion, and one that looks to reawaken an old God who now slumbers. With the deity awake, the shibito (corpse people_ seek to go through the village while building up the god’s corporeal form once it is summoned. Their job is to also hunt down and kill any humans left in the village in order to bring him back. The game takes place over the span of three days and in those three days, fans will experience gameplay that will seem rather similar to Silent Hill fans.
Will you have what it takes to resist the Siren’s Call?
#1: Resident Evil – What platform hasn’t this been on?
While it sounds odd Resident Evil remains one of the creepiest game to date. It is a game that still brings the elements of horror to the forefront. Resident Evil takes place on July 24th, 1998 in the Midwestern town of Raccoon City. With news of odd and inhuman murders, the Raccoon City Policy Department sends the STARS unit into the mansion.
Upon arriving, the team is sent in to search the mansion after having been attacked by monstrous dogs with their flesh rotting off. Seeking efuge in the near by mansion, Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Albert Wesker, and Barry Burton. Once within the mansion the team discovers something out of place and fits the description of the grizzly murders: Zombies. If you haven’t played the series, Resident Evil is a series that requires fans to scavenge for supplies and use their resources sparingly.
What games do you suggest for others to try? Let us know in the comments.
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.
At QuakeCon 2016, we were lucky to sit down and interview Dennis “Thresh” Fong who has been known for his great achievements as both a competitive gamer in titles such as Quake, Quake II, and QuakeWorld. He has also been known for his adventures that have lead him into working in gaming social media such as the once famed VoIP client XFire, the ever-extremely-popular, Raptr.com gaming service and his newest project Plays.tv that acts as the Instagram for gamers.
As one of the most intriguing and controlling players in Quake history, Dennis “Thresh” Fong revolutionized what it was like to be a control based player in Quake, and even push players to their limits. He was and is also known for his standard in using the WASD keyboard standard for movement. In 1997 Thresh revealed how good he is, how good he can be, and how great he will be always remembered for as he continues on in gaming as well as business. His greatness is deserved as he has now become the second inductee into the Esports Hall of Fame. You can see his induction video below as well as our one on one interview with him about his vision as an eSports gamer and a businessman.
Dustin:Your achievements in the pro-league, before pro-leagues existed, have been a really important thing as for me as a gamer in the competitive edge. One thing I did notice is, I had to go back and read because I didn’t realize your joint-adventures continued post Quake. What really, cuz I know you did XFire and I know you’ve done Raptr, I actually use Raptr, it’s a really cool service. Do you foresee Raptr continuing to grow towards not just social media integration, but even further out than that beyond Twitch, Daily Motion, and other services?
Thresh: Yea, I mean, with Raptr, what we’re focused on right now is our new service called Plays.tv. Actually, ever product and company I started was to solve my own personal frustrations as a gamer – most of the time. Y’know, I always felt that PC gaming, the community was kind of neglected by the developers. Not so much anymore, Steam’s obviously much, much better than it used to be, but we built stuff for me basically. Plays.tv is basically like an Instagram for gamers. Where you know, most people, I feel like live streaming is so much work.
I don’t think I would have ever really live streamed, but I would have used a service like Plays.tv to share cool moments while I was playing.
Dustin: Like getting that triple kill or team wipe?
Thresh: And to make it really easy to do that. So a lot of people don’t know Plays.tv for all the top games like League, Counter Strike, DotA, and Rocket League. It automatically records every kill, death, assist, triple kill, whatever key objective, and creates clips for you that are already pre-edited. Not only can you go back and watch your play and see what you did wrong, or if you did great, you can share it. From like doing something cool in a game to sharing it at the end of a game takes less than 10 seconds.
Dustin: That’s going to be one thing I’m pretty sure of us here that game know that perspective of. I do a little bit of PlayStation 4 gaming, I do a little PC, I do a little Xbox Gaming also.
Thresh: It’s like the Xbox auto-capture.
Dustin: One thing,we know there has been some hardships. Can you discuss some of those hardships? I know XFire was one of them since it got shut down. Can you discuss that?
Thresh: So that had nothing to do with me, actually. So I started XFire in 2004, MTV/Viacom bought in 2006. This is the hayday of Xfire, when it was the most popular kind of social communication tool.
Dustin: I used it when I played World of Warcraft
Thresh: Exactly. Sold it in 2006, I left in 2007. The XFire that you know that is around today, the XFire that has been around for 8 years, had nothing to do with the original team. I heard it was shut down, but it had nothing to do with me. I believe they were doing some tournament related stuff with it.
Dustin: I probably stopped using it around 2008, I probably actually Uninstalled it by then. I was probably already using the Steam overlay by then.
Thresh: But XFire, we invented overlays, we invented buddy lists where you could see what your friend are playing, invented joining your friends in a game with a click. We are proud on all the stuff we created and invented. But, since basically 2007, certainly by 2008, none of the original team that built the thing, had anything to do with it anymore. So that’s probably why it started declining after we all left.
Dustin: Once the content updates, not so much content, but the hotfixes for the integration tools I noticed a lot of people stopped using XFire. It just kind of died all of the sudden, it wasn’t over time, but it was almost instantly.
Thesh: But yea, that had nothing to do with me. *starts laughing*
Dustin: I figured I would ask that, because I know that was one thing you were involved with, but I honestly didn’t have a lot of time to research into that.
Thresh: Yea, nope, I was involved in creating it obviously. And it got bought, and then we all left.
Dustin: With a perspective of pro gaming. I know it started with you. It is truly even recognized, you started it all. How do you feel where it’s gone to this point? Where it’s gotten to these big leagues like ESL, Twitch.TV leagues that just pop up, Call of Duty pro leagues; how do you feel about what you started? This overall giant empire of pro gaming.
Thresh: Yea, I mean, as I said, I always dreamed it would be as big as it is now. But I always thought it was inevitable. There was never a moment where I was like this thing isn’t going to happen. I actually thought, it’s just a matter of time. It’s still incredible to see what’s happened in the past 3-4-5 years; we’ve really seen it grow. Personally, I think a lot of the credit goes to Riot because they invest very heavily into production values of building a story. Because you know, when I follow most professional sports, it’s like the arch of the entire season, and the trials and the tribulations that the team or your team experiences through it; and the individual players and their struggles; and triumphs. That’s what makes sports: sports.
But eSports for a long time, was like “Oh there’s a tournament here, and there’s a random tournament here, and another one here.” Like, it’s not necessarily the same players that attend each one. So like, who’s the legitimate champion when someone – the guy who couldn’t make it out to Denmark or something. But where as with Riot, it’s like, all the teams are pretty much all the same teams through almost an entire season. They have splits. Y’know, they spend a lot of money. I think it was like last year, I think they spent $100 million dollars on eSports. A $100 million dollars.
Dustin: That’s just mind blowing.
Thresh: Yea, it’s mind blowing, but if you look at the production value, it’s just like professional sports. They have directors, producers, analysts, dozens of people, like, just like a NFL broadcast practically. So yea, it’s come a long ways. It’s pretty cool to have been apart of it when it was growing.
Dustin: Especially with the LAN-Parties I know you’ve attended. I mean, that’s, how many years hooked like how they were and now the fact it could be online or in person.
Thresh: I mean, I was playing online too. I mean, that’s when I first started playing online gaming was online. It wasn’t actually networked. DOOM was one of the first you could be online. It was kind of what got me hooked in the first place.
Dustin: That’s what got a lot of us started. One thing I’ve noticed that’s really important with gaming, I know, we were talking before the interview started about games in general. With titles like Overwatch, stuff like that, you’re seeing people literally binge on it. Especially because of matches going anywhere between two minutes, to twenty minutes, to thirty minutes. With people who are binge gaming, not on just PC, but also on consoles what would you say to these people that are actually practicing? What advice would you give to actual pro-teams that are younger, if you had to give them a number one tip on time framing?
Thresh: I would definitely all gamers, really, take more breaks. I remember very distinctly my parents would tell me it all the time and I would not do it. I mean, I think the chances of listening to that advice is close to zero, honestly. This is what I found in almost all aspects of life, particularly when it comes sports and eSports. There is something to be said about natural talent, and natural talent to me is a combination of, not just like intuitive. Like there is certain people who are more intuitive, and learn; and improve better than others. There is like uber competitive.
Dustin: You see players now. I’ve watched several like OpTic_Nadeshot, I don’t know if you who OpTic_Nadeshot is. I’ve watched him and some of their coaches, I know like football players, they will sit there and watch what they did wrong.
Thresh: Like that, everyone should do. What I’m saying is actually, eSports is not that different from professional sports in the sense that there is very few people that have the talent to become a pro. Just because you love games, doesn’t mean you can be a pro or that you’re good enough. What I have found is, there are certain people that are pro level gamers that are good at almost any game that they put their minds too, right? It’s not necessarily because of the way they practiced. They just have something. Just like Michael Jordan had something special, Tiger Woods had something special. These top players just have something, the way that you view the game is different, the way that you improve their game subconsciously it’s at a different level than most people.
Dustin: It’s like yours, I know you were real strategic, I know I watched a lot of your gameplay. Growing up we didn’t have YouTube and stuff like that. I know when I was learning to play Quake, I didn’t learn till around the time YouTube started coming up. Then you saw gamers starting to post on there. I remember seeing several of your gameplay’s and you would starve your opponent. I noticed that was your tactic. You would starve, hit and run, and keep them starving for anything. ‘Cus you would take damage, grab a health pack, grab a rocket launcher, go grab pistol if you had to. I noticed that was your specialty was starvation of an enemy player and keeping them hurting the entire time.
Thresh: Yea, my play style was, y’know, was basically a control based play style. Y’know the thing that I had, more players have today, but what I focused on was not necesarily just control, but you know, people used to call it “Thresh ESP.”
Dustin: I’ve actually heard that term before *Laughing with Thresh*
Thresh: I didn’t coin it, someone else did. I have very strong ability to predict what my opponents are thinking, doing, and feeling. That was actually natural. Like, something I actually didn’t practice consciously. It’s just – I could feel it. I actually believe everyone in this world has some kind of super power. Something that they are just innately, naturally really really good at. Then something about games in general. Like some people just have really really strong empathy or they are really organized or whatever. Everybody has something. Mine happens to be that and it translates really well to gaming.
Dustin: Your talent seems not just to be gaming, but also seems business and outreach not just with business, but even gamers.
Thresh: But if you think about that, it’s my super power. I learned it, I figured out when I was younger – I could see and feel things through other peoples eyes without consciously without spending brain cells trying to figure it out. When I talk to you, I’m not thinking what you are thinking, but I can kind of. Just, it happen naturally. So it translates to gaming, because I’m like ‘if I were in his shoes, what would I be thinking, doing, and feeling? Am I starting to crack?’
It’s all happening in real time without thought. It’s just intuition. It translates into business as well because, if you’re trying to partner with somebody, what do they care about? If you’re trying to talk to users – what do users care about?
Dustin: It’s like what you said with Raptr. It’s like that deal. It was personal frustrations, but it linked with everybody that games. You’re definitely one of those, you seem like one of those that like with how Smite does spring, summer, winter, and a lot of their teams stay together.
Thresh: Yea. Like DotA2, those super teams form, then they disband. I don’t care who wins DotA2 to be honest. It’s a huge prize. The money that doesn’t make me watch this stuff.
Dustin: It’s the pride?
Thresh: It’s the people. The personalities. That’s what ultimately matters, right? DotA2 I can’t keep track of, who’s who, who is what – it feels very mercenary to me. I personally think it does eSports a disservice.
Dustin: Before we finish, I definately want to thank you for everything you’ve done, not just for casual gamers that play competitively, but for everything that you’ve really built, not just the pro, but even interactivity through Raptr, through xfire when you were apart of that. It’s an amazing thing that you’ve accomplished and helped us gamers be able to do. So thank you so much for that.
Thresh: Thank you, that’s very kind of you.
I want to give a very big thank you to Kevil Kelly of ESL and eslgaming.com for the opportunity of letting us meet with “Thresh”. We also want to thank Dennis Fong for his time spent to sit down outside of his extremely busy schedule so that we could interview him.
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.
Lets pretend you haven’t been apart of the huge Pokémon Go craze. Trust me, we’re all there, myself included, which has actually taken away from some of my time from Blast Away the Game Review and Now Loading. However, deciding to take a break after hitting trainer level 10 and around 60 Pokémon, I decided to rejoin the world of social media and even gaming journalism. Trust me, the game is addictive, but fun. One fan by the name of “That Grumpy Old Bastard Creations“.
In his artwork on his Facebook page (the link above), he’s released 33 sketches that are quite fitting to Pokemon, and they honestly seem inspired by both Monster Hunter as well as Pokémon. It’ll be interesting to see if any of his sketches could inspire Capcom to team up with Gamefreak and Nintendo to see if they can make this happen. To check out the full gallery, take the link above and take a glimpse at his astonishing artwork and designs. While they are rough, they are concept pieces, and they are absolutely filled with creative imagination.
What armors out of his entire gallery would you like to see? I know that Umbreon looks mighty awesome with its scythe-like weapon.
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.
So beginning Warframe can be a lot to take in. It can be overwhelming at first, but you know what? We got that covered for you with our latest video.
Got questions? Feel free to let us know!
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.
It’s been a long journey that has taken my Tenno across the solar system. She has traveled across the vast and sprawling landscapes of Saturn to the harsh and venomous climates of Venus. She has fought unimaginable threats of an old world to an enemy long forgotten in order to attempt keeping peace in the solar system. She has tested her skill against her own fellow Tenno and proven her loyalty to the Lotus. In her free time away from fighting threats to the universe to keep balance, she has now taken on a sport once forgotten in time titled “Lunaro” where she has shown her prowess and agility outside of combat.
Truth is, Warframe is not just a game, but a living and breathing entity.
Warframe – developed and published by Digital Extremes – has proven that the game has more than what it takes to market itself as a triple A title. The title itself has received multiple updates that have pushed story, new exploration, weapons, time-based exclusive items for players, and even new innovations to gameplay performance as well as tweaks to mechanics already in place. Truth is? Warframe is not just a game, but a living and breathing entity. It has changed itself in ways to better perform as well as keep fans interested as the years go on. It has also changed the way I look at playing games such as Call of Duty, which receives constant content drops, but at the cost of personal time, money, and grinding. Something Warframe players are well adapted to thanks to the in-game store that uses real-money currency called “Platinum”.
If you’ve played games like Smite, you are used to the word “Gems,” if you’ve played Grand Theft Auto V it’s the equivalent to the in-game cash cards you’ll purchase for GTA Online. The difference here? Almost everything in Warframe is virtually ready thanks to how developer Digital Extremes has made the game accessible for fans on both ends of the spectrum; paying and non-paying. Thanks to their approach to how the monetary system works, over 98% of Warframes content is free thanks to how Digital Extemes worked their virtual market. With exclusive Renown Packs launching on both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One; it’s not surprising when players get a chance to dash across their screens to equip their new gear they just purchased. Let alone does this help fuel the in-game economy, Digital Extemes has made the game more widely accessible than any other title to the current date.
Warframe doesn’t just offer up massive content updates that feature new warframes, weapons, attachment, appearance items, mods, etc – the game is virtually a gamers wet-dream thanks to their approach. With a public trade system, Warframe has allowed for a mass market of in-game purchasing to become possible. Here is where the game surely makes most of its money as players will dive into the platinum portion of the store to, buy a few platinum, and purchase the latest frames and mods needed. You might be asking though, what does this have to do with this game being a triple A title even though it’s free?
Th answer lies deep within Warframes very core, which varies itself as game that can be competitive, it can be cooperative, and even the constant bit of content that is released through the games major updates. These updates will only be getting bigger with the upcoming major update titled “The War Within” in the games 19th update, which will continue our current story arch from Second Dream. If anything from the trailers above and below show us anything? Warframe seeks to take the industry by storm as the first big triple a free-to-play title since its launch and even inception.
For players that have been playing on both console and PC – the game has seen itself grow in multitudes of ways to fit players from all walks of gaming preferences whether it’s competitive, cooperative or even sports. As one of the major new additions to the Conclave function of the game Warframe has now sought to attract players with its own take on a mix of sports such as basketball, soccer, and even football with its own custom sport “Lunaro” (review for the Lunaro content coming soon).
In short, Lunaro may remind fans of multiple sports to be exact – but this one sticks unique to its own. With a ball being at its core, a goal, and the need for fans to stop each other from scoring – it’s a huge twist on the earlier mentioned sports. This is only a small example of how the game has been evolving in the past and continues to do so with each passing day.
If Warframe proves anything? It’s that the title will be heading into an entirely new territory when Update 19 launches in the upcoming days. For more information about update and its future, please feel free to visit the Official Warframe Website.
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.
The PlayStation Vita is officially dying and it’s absolutely Sony’s fault that it is happening. There was a rather large market, but unfortunately, there are not enough steps being taken to save it.
You’ve seen it before. We’ve all seen it. Roughly 5.6 million American’s are diagnosed per year with manic depression. It isn’t just something that pops up as you may see in commercials. It’s a imbalance that causes those suffering from it to go from extreme highs (happy places), to mediums (that meh mood), to the lows (good luck consulting these people, Chuck). To those that suffer from manic depression simple tasks like putting on shoes is like asking us to grab the nearest cinder block and put it on. To others it’s like asking them to try and walk through a blizzard without a winter suit on – it’s not happening.
Depression, as you may have read in my article on Creators, is not fun, it is not beautiful, and it’s not what television shows make you believe it is. It’s lonely, it’s painful, it’s emotionally draining, and at times it makes you feel as if all hope is gone. When I first experienced my extreme high to my extreme low – it was hard, it was damning, and it was the single most painful experience in my life. As a gamer, I’ve always played games, I’ve always loved games. If you asked anyone that knows me – my room is a sanctuary to video games. However, I didn’t always have online activity for gaming, I was one that was mostly offline unless a PC was available and could run my titles of interest; Battlefield Vietname, Battlefield 1942, Battlefield 2142, Tribes 2, Call of Duty, and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six to name a few.
Thanks to the modern era of gaming we’ve seen online focuses become a pivotal role in gaming development. Titles like EA’s Battlefield, Need For Speed, and even Star Wars Battlefront have become titans within the gaming world. Those titles are easily clashed against with competitor titles such as Destiny (Bungie), Call of Duty (Activision), Overwatch (Blizzard), and even upcoming games such as LawBreakers (Boss Key Productions, Nexon America). All these titles have a common theme – they’re all shooters, they’re all filled with competitive components or focus, and they all require team work to enjoy.
As part of suffering depression, there is a trend we tend to follow: social withdrawal, negative thinking, and negative thoughts. All of these as stated in my article I linked above, depression hits all of us differently, but all of us fall into the same routine of isolation, dwelling, and ultimately negativity. As this happens our capabilities of being social begin to decline – this is where video games come in – especially competitive ones requiring team work and communication.
Over the course of the past sixteen years, I’ve fought depression endlessly, sometimes tirelessly – at the middle of this fight has been an interactive media I known much of my life: video games. In the course of going through it I began to explore the involvement of video games, how they help, what medical assistance they could provide (remember those Alzheimer articles?) for those with mental disorders.
So you may be wondering how video games helped me fight depression as well as continue do so – namely with the games listed above, and that’s where we’re going next. As someone who plays a lot of Destiny, Battlefield, and Overwatch when I’m not writing for reviews or even writing to write – I’m playing team based games. The interaction and immersion required has helped me over the years find a way out from my depression, it has allowed me to keep my social interactions with my friends, but it has also kept that big elephant in the room from blowing up like a blimp. The games require team communication, social interaction, high amounts of concentration, and constant mental coordination.
On Battlefield this can include taking objectives while remembering where enemy jets, snipers, helicopters, tanks, or what have you, and being able to make the audible call out. This interaction, while minimally social, can also bring up key points of communication so that the person suffering from a depressive spell – isn’t thinking about it. Games such as Destiny? Require close to the same interaction based upon what a player is doing. If it’s a raid? Players will be communicating with five other fireteam members, making call outs, and even coordinating with their team so that they can have an assured victory. If PvP? Players must coordinate where they are going, what their objective is, where the opposing players are, and how they are going to go about eliminating them to secure their objectives.
When returning to Battlefield, it’s hard to say what portion of the game is going to help others as it does myself. For some, the idea of grabbing a helicopter, piloting around while having team mates shooting, deploying, and ultimately seizing capture points is a rather novel thing – one that offers up a sense of self-worth. It also can provide some ridiculous moments when a team full of combat ready players get their boots on the ground because of the pilot. Let alone does Battlefield offer up many forms of distraction, it offers up a vast beauty of a digital world around the player. One that can’t fully be explored via helicopter or lightening fast jets. Sometimes it requires the player to simply run around, taking in what sights they can in these ever-changing battlefields that they’ll ‘deploy’ onto. As things move on with the next installment; I’m sure I’ll move onto Battlefield 1 when the time comes to continue my coping mechanism.
With ever-changing elements in gaming, Battlefield has served a respective purpose in my life, one that has helped me cope for over 14 years as someone who fights bouts of manic depression. If Battlefield and Destiny can help me, what games have helped you, a loved one, a family member, or a friend of yours? Let us know in the comments.
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the borders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.
So that wonderful time for PC gaming is upon us. The Steam Summer Picnic Sale is here and it’s in full swing. The glorious crackle of wallet fueled bonfires is here and the sound of ISP’s groaning from bandwidth usage is upon us. With games such as DOOM. Bombshell, Arma II, Arma III, Rust, The Forest, Shadow Warrior, and thousands more on sale, it’s hard to sift through all those good-to-play games in order to find ones to play. But fear not! We’re here, we brought our picnic basket, and we’re about to share with you a few of our secret video game hidden snacks you may want to bring to your digital picnic. So lets get straight to business and take a little peak into our basket to see what you may be looking over.
#10 – The Forest – $14.99 | $11.99
So you’ve decided for this glorious time of year to take your vacation on a plane. Unfortunately, you’re not heading to the same beach we are at, but instead it’s filled with cannibals prepared to turn you into their picnic snack. Your goal is to survive, to salvage anything usable from a forest, and hope that you can outwit your unfriendly hosts. With man or woman premium steak on their menu, it’s surely time to fight back, and prepare your local fort for the best survival chances you may have. Daylight as you would assume is your best friend. Here you’ll be able to gather supplies, build your tools, and even build a safety nest to hide within.
Soon as sunset begins to roll around? Your not-so-friendly neighbors decide to invade, steal your picnic basket, and drag your body along the sandy beaches to prepare their very own moonlit picnic. What’s on the menu? You are.
So you may not be one for the awesome beach side views where you’re knocking the heads off of hostile cannibals, gotcha. Instead you’re the one that likes to stay inside, read a book, and head on to take out enemies the world has never seen. Lets say the show Grimm is one of your favourites – not a problem. Welcome to Secret World, a world that exists outside of our own in many ways and special people, namely you, are chosen to help protect it from unforeseen forces. With the Illuminati, the Dragons, and a few other factions truly existing, it’s up to you to stop evil at all costs – also it’s up to you to look badass doing it in this MMO subscription-free title.
As a once monthly-subscription based game, Secret World is the book of MMO’s that decides to step away from the traditional play style of games like World of Warcraft and to create their own unique touch. If that’s something for you? Here’s your book, enjoy the shade this summer.
#8 – Shadow Warrior –$49.99 | $4.99
You’ve decided to get a taste of the Asian sights this year. Awesome-sauce. Coming up your alley is your chance to take on the sword-wielding badassery that’s Lo Wang. If you are one for satirical puns, a humorous host, and a demonic side-kick, it’s time to get your trip through Japan underway.
As a remake of the 1997 Classic, Shadow Warrior brings back all the sword and gun wielding fun in a modern touch. With up dated mechanics, gameplay flow, and graphics? There’s nothing to pass-up here as you’ll scale your way through demon infested Japan in order to kick the living Hell out of anyone that gets in your way in order to take out those looking to ruin your vacation.
#7 – The Witcher Franchise – $79.97 | $26.52
So your trip so far has been a wild one, so far we’ve gone from beautiful beaches that ended up being cannibalistic, to a book that took you into a beautifully written fantasy world, and now we’ve decided to go back in time. Welcome to a new fantasy Dark Age based on a fictional Europe where dragons, witches, goblins, faeries, demon’s, siren’s, elves, mages, and much-more await to test your skills as you go horse back riding. On your adventure you’ll be following the guidance of a gentleman, one who’s not truly so gentle, by the name of Geralt of Rivia. Geralt is a special hunter known as Witcher, a unique breed of slayers who hunt the impossible for financial gains and to purify the world of trouble.
With their ability to slay these creatures, you’ll get to see fantastical sights never before-seen as players push through this new and ancient world. If that’s something you enjoy, here’s your chance to see something unique as you across the mountains, through castle streets, and even caves galore. Just remember, swimming isn’t always your friend.
#6 – Rocket League Deluxe Edition – $23.99 | $14.39
Your trip has brought you here. The taste of futbol with cars has gotten your attention. It sounds impossible, ludicrous, and ultimately beyond enjoyable. Welcome to Rocket League where soccer, racing, and pure insanity have mixed to bring you the next big sport for cars. Here players are pitted against each other to score the most goals while pulling off insane tricks, blowing each other to pieces, and all around being an adrenaline junkie bad ass.
If that’s something you’re up for, the games name explains it all as players are put in multiple arenas around the world, sporting their national flag, and working together to be the best of the best.
#5 – Arma X: Anniversary Edition – $49.99 | $9.99
After a weird night of a few drinks, a few tattoo’s, and somehow crossing over into Europe, you’ve been enlisted into the U.S. Military – or you’ve been enlisted this entire time. Well your duty has been yanked into combat. You, your friends, and your country are now needing you to be the best of the best. In Arma and Arma 2 (this pack contacts both games and all DLC. It does not contain Arma III), you’re goal is to fight in a hyper realistic combat setting where enemies will hunt you, they’ll attempt to kill you, and their combat mechanics are perfect.
With your friends in-tow it’s time to see just how well you can prove yourself to your digital country and survive your trip across Europe.
#5 – Kingdom’s of Amalur: The Reckoning Collection – $39.99 | $9.99
Your military enlistment didn’t last long. Somehow you’ve been knocked back into a fantasy world by the name of Amalur. Here you’ve been revived and become the chosen one. Of sorts really, but your death has been prevented by the use of magic and science. As you’ve awoken the lab you are being tested on falls under attack in order to take you out. As enemies besiege it, it’s time for you to fight back, and survive. Why? You’re the last of your kind and the only one that has the chance to be the hero Amalur needs in its time of despair.
Here you’ll take your vacation across unique terrains ranging from lush forests, rocky valleys, and sun scorched deserts. Let alone do you get to see these, you even get to see a few beach side camping grounds that just happen to be littered with enemies waiting for you to take them out one by one. Unless you die again, then all is lost.
So your ideal vacation was to go to Mars and see the exotic red planet. Unfortunately your trip didn’t go the way you planned and now your DOOM Slayer pal and you are having to take out the minions of Hell just to enjoy your sandwich. Unfortunately these heart-munching, flame-lobbing, cybernetically enhanced a-holes have no want to share the last few bites. So now? It’s your time to bash your way through the blood riddled landscapes of Hell and Mars in order to ruin their day – all for ruining your very own summer vacation spot where you decided to pitch up your umbrella for a few cold drinks.
This latest title from legendary studio id Software goes back to what made DOOM the series it was. It’s fast, it’s furious, it’s bloodier than Hell itself, and its soundtrack is undeniably made to be an adrenaline pumper and get you in the mood. If you were expecting Frank Sinatra or Aretha Franklin – sorry kid, those two are up in Heaven drinking whiskey and champagne watching you kick Hell’s ass.
Somehow you managed to find your way back from Hell and Mars – only to be back on Earth. Now you find yourself in 2077 after the bombs have fallen and a good chunk of humanity has been wiped out. It’s not a great place to be, but thankfully the Minute Men are there to save the day once you run into these lads. Luckily they are willing to help you settle down, have a few gasses of irradiated tea and find your missing kid. Yea your missing kid here. If you didn’t know you have one? Surprise. Now get in there and fight like there’s nothing else worth fighting for as much as this.
Did we mention you get to shoot off nuclear bombs, kill gigantic enemies, and fly around in airships? Yea that happens.
#2 – BioShock Franchise – $69.97 | $10.51
Well your picnic hasn’t been exactly the one you want nor has your summer vacation. You’ve gone from a once peaceful plane flight to a forest full of cannibals to Mars, to Hell, and back, and now somehow you’ve managed to sink your Power Armor to the bottom of the ocean into Rapture. If blowing up nuclear bombs, detonating demons into a thousand pieces, and even fighting off Ogres galore hasn’t been your ideal path of survival – here’s your next stop. BioShock is the renowned creative child of developer Irrational Games.
BioShock’s franchise allows fans to travel deep within the waters of coastal America where a world of people have decided to break away from the government, live among themselves, and keep to themselves. Down here they’ve also learned how to harness Adam and Eve to make themselves even more powerful. This isn’t limited to the idea of wielding special abilities such as shooting bees from your finger tips, lighting a candle with the snap of your fingers, or powering a bulb just by holding it. If you like the idea of going from the ocean to a floating city above the clouds, this franchise is right up your alley.
So your luck has absolutely sucked to this point and it’s about to suck more once you step into the shoes of Shelly “Bombshell” Harrison who you’d swear is Duke Nukem’s twin sister. Crafted by the minds behind “The King”, Bombshell takes you on a wild adventure to fight off an alien enemy threat while moving across multiple terrains in your fight to return home. Downside? Your nemesis is not about to let that happen too easily and he’s going to make you fight for that two way ticket.
If you can manage to get out? At least you can say your Summer Vacation was one Hell of a ride, but you somehow lost your food along the way.
What are some titles you’d suggest to your fellow gamers? Let them know in the comments or just let us know what games you snagged up this year before the sales end July 4th.
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.
At Blast Away the Game Review there’s always something unique happening here. Whether it’s us having the honor to work with new developers, working with big publishers, or even just finding some news of our own – or simply finding out what peaks your interests. As Blast Away the Game Review grows, so does our interest in what our focus is going to be, what our “niche” will focus on.
For the past three years Blast Away the Game Review has been an independent journalism website or blog, whichever you prefer to see it as, and we won’t argue that point. Our goal over the past three years has been to both expand with new companies, finding new writers, and finding new ways to cover games as well as the hardware that drives them. We’ve been doing unboxing videos via YouTube to ensure that you have a new variety of items to look forwards to and to save yourself the trouble of opening that collector’s edition. With our fourth year almost here, on July 13th, I’ve had to do a lot of thinking. There’s always that going on and let me tell you – it’s dangerous.
For our third year active, we, meaning the team, and I have noticed our focus has been a lot on Japanese titles with a mix of big and little publishers. While that will remain our focus, our fourth year will bring interesting changes as we’ve been working with the wonderful teams at all the publishers we currently work with. For our fourth year you may see a little less expanding in the companies we work with and a focus pushing on the ones we work with now. While that, to some of you, may be detrimental, we feel it is for the best of interest on both parties. As we do align a focus to what our “niche” is, we want you to know nothing is truly changing in regards to most of the content you’ll see here.
This entire shifting of perspectives is because you are important to us, so is your interaction on our social media, here on our website, and our overall growth as a whole. While we are already quickly pushing towards the 6.7k readers mark, which is already over half of what we had last year, we’re still looking at growing more. However, this also means one thing – we want more feedback from you, we want to see more interactions with you, our reader. Not just with our team, but with each other, which is why today? I’m proud to announce that we are opening up our Facebook Group to you all. Not just family and friends, but to the public. We are also proud to announce we’ll be working with The International Players Loungeon Facebook to help bring light to an amazing community.
As our fourth year gets underway, so does our need for knowing what you our reader wants to see, what would make you more interested in commenting, interacting with us, and giving us your thoughts/opinions in regards to topics or news we cover. If you want to contact us directly? You can always hit us up through our Contact Us form where we are glad to respond soon as we get the email. In turn, with this info, what would you like to see more of? We ask you, our reader, because this to B.A.T.G.R. as a whole is important, it is what drives us, not just the ability to work with the people we do, but you as well. You can also take a short survey below to let us know what you want to see more of or would like to see change in coverage. The survey is powered by Google Forms and we do not request any personal information.
Want to take the Year 3 Survey? Please do so! We look forwards to any feedback possible.
With our 3rd years end quickly coming up, I would like to personally take a moment to thank the following publishers, former B.A.T.G.R. members, and current B.A.T.G.R. members in helping make Blast Away the Game Review what it is today.
Past Members
Jesse Olvera, former Vice President and Critic
Josh Turner, former Senior Writer and Junior Editor
Johnny Walker Red, former PC Game Reviewer, and Tech Enthusiast
Aaron Johnson, former Junior Editor
Casey Neal Todd, former Editor-in-Chief
Angie Morrison, former Nintendo Writer, Enthusiast and Reviewer
Justin DeMaio, former PlayStation 4 Game Reviewer
Kennard Daniel Prim, Contributing Writer
Current Members
David Murphy, Vice President, and Bethesda Game Studios Enthusiast
Shannon Cusick, Future YouTube Content Creator
Annie Helseth, PC Enthusiast, Game Critic, and Digital Artist
Greg F, Camera Guy, Localized Game Enthusiast, and that dude
Devon Day, Tech Guru, and Audiophile
Sarah Gibson, the lady behind the scenes, Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward fan
Christopher Adee, Junior Writer, that guy, and Warframe junkie
Publishers, Developers, Communities and more
Bungie
Bethesda Zenimax
Nintendo Entertainment America
Koei Tecmo
Eletronic Arts
Ubisoft
Bandai Namco
Square Enix
Blizzard Entertainment
Nilo Studios
XSeed Games
OnePR Studio
Sega
Atlus USA
Idea Factory
NIS America
Digital Extremes
Final Boss Entertainment
Sony San Diego Studio
id Software
Tripwire Interactive
Zenimax Online Studio
QuakeCon Event Staff and Planning
Oklahoma Retro Gamer Society
Pixels Without Borders
N4G
International Players Lounge
Special thank you to all of you, our readers. Thank you for a wonderful third year and we look forwards to many more with you.
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.
You probably already read our article about BE3 starting tomorrow for Bethesda Zenimax. You may also already know? They’ve released one of this years biggest titles already that has kept me reeling in demon’s for the slaughter and even has kept me busy from finishing my review for the multiplayer of DOOM. If that’s not enough? We also have been hammering out plenty of their possible titles that could be coming out and ones we know are. With the announcement they’ll be showcasing entirely new games this year, we’ve decided to take down a list of things we know will be there since they are about to release, and ones we expect could be the announced titles for this year. If it’s good to say anything now? We know id Software may have something to showcase pertaining to DOOM or an entirely new title all together.
So what games can we lean towards being there for sure? It wouldn’t be a surprise if we got to see a few announcements regarding content updates for both DOOM, Fallout 4 as well as The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited. Why? These games are the hot cookies for Bethesda Zenimax right now. However, all this can change when the announcements start rolling out tomorrow. So what exactly can we expect out of them outside of new content for the previously mentioned titles? Lets take a look at sequel possibilities first.
Prey 2
Originally announced back in 2011, Prey 2 was slated as an ambitious futuristic title that would have sated the masses that wanted a new cyberpunk-esque title. Prey 2 would have taken us on the road as Killian Samuels, a U.S. Marshal who had started out on a passenger flight, which just suddenly happened to crash into the Sphere (recall the plane crash in Prey back on PC or 360? Direct reference). Ending with a short lived battle against a few aliens, which he lost by default, Samuels returns several years later as a bounty hunter on the alien world known as Exodus. Even though he has remained aware of his past, Samuels has also gained some new skills, and has also been thought to be the only human on Exodus until he runs into former protagonist Tommy Domasi. Unfortunately due to his memory loss, Samuels doesn’t remember Domasi at all, and resumes on his way.
With the title having gone through development for quite some time before being cancelled, it won’t be surprising to see if Bethesda Zenimax lets this title return to us in a new format, and hopefully an open world one utilizing the astonishing id Tech 6 engine we got to know with DOOM. With all the buzz circling the title? There’s a good chance we’ll hear something about it with E3 kicking off for Bethesda today.
Rage 2
While the series has been dead in the dark for quite sometime, Rage remains one of Bethesda Game Studio’s most beloved title to have come out of id Studio since DOOM 3 and the recently released DOOM (2016). Rage, for those unfamiliar with it, takes place on Earth after most of the world has been wiped out by an asteroid that just happened to target Earth head-on. With a few survivors in cryogenic stasis in special units, a few people managed to hide underground unscathed. While Life on the outside remained normal for most survivors, some have turned into gangs, cannibals, and all around psycho’s while the existing “government” wants survivors for their own reasons if they are coming out of the cryochambers.
While it sounds outdated, the open-world FPS title could very well turn into a rather influential and positive series. With DOOM having proven there’s still love for such titles, even though DOOM is more of an FPS, the possibility for a sequel is fully there. The question now is? Will Bethesda take us once more into their non-nuclear post-apocalypse with a new title from id Software? We’ll see.
Quake (Reboot)
Riding on the heels of DOOM’s success, it wouldn’t be surprising to see id Software take another spin with the fan favored Quake franchise. Fortunately for us? That means that Quake will be done the way a remake should be done and their success with DOOM proves they have the resources to do it. Quake, as many know, is one of the most influential arena shooters out there when it comes to multiplayer. Much like its online, the campaigns have always been fast, furious, bigger, better, and even more drenched in blood than ever. Unlike DOOM, however, Quake doesn’t offer up demon’s from Hell, but instead the twisted and menacing mysterious enemy force known as “Quake”, which are extra-dimensional being’s seeking to wipe out humanity. Later this involved an enemy foce known as the “Strogg”, which were half human and machine combined to make a lethal force.
While the idea of seeing a Quake reboot in the plausible future might not be realistic, we know that DOOM’s dev team has been hard-on-heels to flesh out the minor bugs, and working on the multiplayer DLC to bring more fresh content to the PvPer’s that have been at DOOM for countless hours since its launch.
The Elder Scrolls VI
While there have been many “leaks” stating Argonia or Valenwood are next? I’m hard-pressed to believe we may see a new title announced this soon, especially with the success rate of The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited, and its constant updating with new content. Granted the content ranges between $20-$30, it’s popular. While it has been stated they’ll be releasing a new entry in the series, it’ll be interesting to see the elven lands of Valenwood in the flesh with its own standalone title outside of The Elder Scrolls Online.
We can only predict the new title will be using many of the mechanics from the Fallout 4 engine as well as the Fallout 4 engine itself with possible mod support in the future, just like Fallout 4. If this title is announced? We’re sure it’ll have a lot shown later this year at QuakeCon while we are only teased a glimpse of it at E3.
The Evil Within 2
If Tango Gameworks didn’t screw with your mind the first time, we’re not surprised if Shinji Mikami and his team won’t try again. After the success of their first title, a masterpiece of horror, mind you, we can only hope they’re working on a follow up. With the first title having left many questions behind what was going on and the long term effects of the experimentation’s that lead up to the games major events, we can only keep our fingers cross hoping the effects were more widespread than we thought.
While it will be hard for Shinji in his team to surpass their spectacular work from the first time around, we can hope that Shinji is looking for new ways to make our skin crawl outside of rooms made out of giant porcelain baby doll faces. Excuse me while I find a blanket to hide under.
While we can speculate across the countless franchises that Bethesda Game Studios produces, we already know there’s a few we’re half expecting to be at E3, and a few that may just surprise us if they are. So lets take a look at the games we’re sure will be there with some new content and a bit more information regarding them.
Dishonored 2
Following up the works of Corvo, we know that Ms. Emily isn’t the little royalty we thought she would grow up to be, not after her family was assassinated infront of her and her guardian framed for it. With Corvo having retired from his “civic” duties, Emily is now well on her way to mastering her prowess as an assassin while wielding the mask and even grappling with mastering her equipment and abilities. Dishonored 2 by Arkane Studios has been one of the most anticipated first-person open-world titles that takes us into a beautifully portrayed steampunk world that fuses both modern sensibilities with colonial beauty.
While the title is slated for a release later this year, we’re highly anticipating finalized gameplay and new additions prior to the games release this week.
Fallout 4: DLC/Mod Support
We know that Fallout 4 is taking the sand-box world by storm since it’s bridging the gap between consoles and PC with mod support. Launching here shortly on Xbox One and later on PlayStation 4, we know mods have been a big deal with the franchise. Be it upped graphics, appearance items, new gameplay mechanics, companions, even some more adult-oriented content; Mods are a huge deal. With Fallout 4 it’d be surprising not to see something in regards to another large DLC along the scope of Far Harbor, which has recently been released for all platforms, and is rather enjoyable with the framerate fixes for consoles.
Since DLC’s are this games big deal, we’ll most-likely see something in regards to this manner. What we see? Now that’s the mystery.
Closing Thoughts
While the list of games we could see announced already and existing is slim, we know titles like DOOM, Dishonored 2, and Fallout 4 will more than likely be there, Bethesda Zenimax has a lot of ammunition up their sleeves. The question is now? How much of it will they spend before QuakeCon this year or will we be seeing it all at once with touch-ups on previous announcements? Right now it’s all wait and see.
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.
