The Weekly Rant: DOOM Doesn’t Need a Story to be Successful

February 8, 2016 / Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

Before I begin on my rant this week, I want you all to know that every Saturday or Monday we will be doing a new topic called “The Weekly Rant” and this one just happens to focus on one of the most anticipated games of 2016: DOOM.

DOOM, when you hear the name you already know the franchise is one of the founding fathers of the FPS genre. The game back in the 90’s was known for its grim music and Hell like settings that ranged from UAC bases clear to the very landscapes of Hell. This trend has been on going for more than 20 years and is one that hasn’t come to a halt. For fans the past ten years have been agonizing as leak after leak of DOOM 4 had gotten released, the game we know went into development Hell, and for all the fans knew – it was done for. John Carmack departed from the company and went on his own way to work on Oculust RIFT, which he had become renowned for by making VR possible with DOOM 3. Lets not forget the fact the man along with Adrien Carmack, Ivan Punchatz and his son Greg, and John Romero became iconic founders of Horror FPS as a singular genre. They made creatures and gameplay that would give anyone nightmares. The franchise itself inspired musicians, artists, gamers, and even modders in the early age of PC gaming.

What DOOM wasn’t known for was a campaign. The series had never been known for one as the surroundings told you a story more than anything else. All you needed to know then? You’re a marine. One of the last ones on the UAC base you were put on, and now you are fighting your way through tight corridors with big ass weapons, and a blood soaked suit of armor. What you also knew was the fact there were demons galore for you to simply walk up, punch to a visceral pile of bone and organs or simply hunt down the BFG 9000 or as my generation called it… The Big F**kin’ Gun. Why? Anything in its scope was just going to be a giant pile of ashes. Was there a quarrel with this? Nope. But when DOOM 3 wandered around? This did become a problem. Why? The series went from a push forward premise where you didn’t want to stop running from side to side and never stop moving forward. Why? Your guns were huge, your enemies were bigger, but they were no match for you with a little bit of patience.

Fast forward a good generation of consoles ahead? That changed tremendously as fans were getting their hands on DOOM, which embraced the Halo-like atmosphere of dark corridors, flick aiming, and backtracking from enemies in order to stay alive. Let alone was it inspired by its classic creatures and origins, it embraced a newer approach to a generation that had story elements, voice acting, and a want to push graphics to a whole new forefront. Interestingly enough? It did, but if you ask any fan out there the response will be the same: DOOM 3 is not a DOOM game in comparison to the past titles. Instead it was a step towards games like Fatal Frame, Silent Hill, with a touch of Halo. Reason I use Halo as an example? It was a bullet Hell title. DOOM 3? Followed the route as a Bullet Hell title and went in to incorporate many elements that can be compared to Halo. Now that’s not to say that DOOM 3 was inspired by Halo, we know it wasn’t, but there are many comparisons we can make to the Halo franchise in the overall approach of gameplay execution. But that’s not what we are discussing today.

As stated previously, DOOM has never been known for its campaigns, and honestly? It shouldn’t be. After taking in many hours of DOOM footage, gameplay mechanics, and even the closed Alpha, my lips have been tightly sealed on what I saw in the Alpha. After all, NDA’s, sorry folks. We love our partnership with Bethesda too much to break our NDA’s, so our lips are sealed. If you haven’t seen gameplay mechanics? Go ahead and head to the official Bethesda Zenimax YouTube and soak in all the videos you can. Just note you have to be 18+ to view the content. With that being said? I’ve been questioning for some time if DOOM would have a narrative as a story and even beating in my own skull for even thinking that. Why? I realized that it doesn’t need a story. Who the Hell cares if it has a story. Do we really want to be bogged down by finding datapads and documents again? I sure don’t want to be. I’d rather be ripping off the heads of Demon’s, Zombies, and making crap explode like a Michael Bay film. Just with more blood and targeted towards an adult audience. Not the crowd that wants more booms and lens flare. This time around? I’ll be the first in the entire room to stand up and scream if I get a narrative. Why? I’m all about Classic DOOM gameplay. The more blood, the better. The more demon’s for me to stomp the heads off, rip the eyes out of, and crap down their throats? The better. Why? That’s the DOOM I know and love. After all I’ve seen at events like E3 and QuakeCon? I really hope there isn’t a story. If there is one? I’d be fine if it was radio chatter versus DOOM 3’s backtracking and hiding to find the narrative. The crap got old and fast.

But the question I know many will ask me? What will we do if we don’t have a story or narrative to drive the gameplay so that our marine is trekking through this Hellish life of his trying to survive? Guess what kids? Daddy’s got a secret – your imagination works wonders here. I know as a kid I grew up writing stories in my head about what DOOMs narrative would be, why the marine was fighting what he was, and why Hell broke out the way it did. The simple explanation behind it all was? UAC did a craptacular job containing a extra-dimensional rift and let Hell into our universe and in turn the universe has literally gone to Hell. Now? Our character is tasked with eliminating the source of it. Some demon that is unleashing its armies or we are simply trying to find the device that caused the entire scenario. Regardless it didn’t matter to me all that much in the end. I had nightmares, I loved the game, and to this day I still play it with a grin on my face to the fact that the original team didn’t need a story to make a game that has had over 20 years worth of replay value for me. I still go back to this day, go to Steam, and turn DOOM on. Why? It’s just that game that is always there no matter how old it gets, it still challenges, and it’s a visceral blood bath. Something that we know from the new DOOM trailer that we will see happen in May thanks to the new brutal system that will allow players to kill a demon in all sorts of cruel and unusual ways. All of them legal in all 51 states as well.

While we know DOOM’s story hasn’t been the focus of the game after a Q&A with Marty Stratton stated that the story itself was second focus with combat coming first. This means DOOM seems to truly be going back to the roots of the series. The game will be heavily supported post launch as well, which shows that the team is dedicated to the fans. Hell even with the snap map editor we know the game will see plenty of downloaded maps, pieces of content, and even fan created

If you haven’t seen the release date, DOOM is set to release on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on May 13th, 2016. Stay tuned for our review coming this May.

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.

Op-Ed: Nintendo Needs to Stop Consoles and Focus on Handhelds

February 6, 2016February 6, 2016 / Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

You might already know that earlier I ripped into the one console developer I’m a fanboy of. Not the obnoxious kind that will defend them into a six foot grave, but the one that will prove you wrong when you need it. One secret is, I have a love affair with two companies, and the second one is Nintendo. How might this be? I grew up to Nintendo. My first console played was my dads launch-day NES that he brought home on his way from work. Yes, I remember it, and I was one years old when he did it. I still remember sitting on his lap as he played games like Bubble Bobble, The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros., and Galaga. To me? This was my childhood and over the years? I’ve never abandoned Nintendo as they remain a part of me that has become sentimental. If they make a bad console? I’ll buy it. If they make a great one? I’ll buy it. I’m a loyalist. Much like I am to Sony and Microsoft, but not a fanboy to Microsoft.

Over the years, I’ve made the debate a few times over that Nintendo needs to leave the home console market. Their three last consoles have bombed, that being the Gamecube, Wii, and now their failure of the Wii U that has become much like Sony’s Vita. Not a lot of support and what little it got has been fantastic. Again, some of it isn’t even first party. Titles like Xenoblade Chronicles X, Resident Evil Revelations, Shovel Knight, and even my beloved Bayonetta 2 aren’t first party. While I do enjoy titles like Yoshi’s Woolly World, Super Mario Maker, Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival, and Super Smash Bros. But when it comes down to third party support? Nintendo has been weak on that aspect for years, it’s no secret, and because of it? It’s honestly hurt them in the long run since they have very few IP’s that are new. While new ideas for old IP’s are great, you can only flog that same dying cow for so long before you’ve beat it to death. Unfortunately? This is where Nintendo has seemingly gone with consoles. I’m not saying they haven’t been ahead of the curve. They are truly ahead of the curve, but there’s only so much you can do before approaching the technological brick wall and slam into it.

This is where Nintendo has seem to go with the Nintendo Wii U. While we’ve seen plenty of ideas of what the Nintendo code-named “NX” could be, we already know that it’s going to focus heavily to an online service, that the console itself will be, if rumors are true, more powerful than the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One. If the rumors are true this means that they will be putting some pressure on both Sony and Microsoft to push their hardware to the limit. Meanwhile while that is a nice thing, we all know that when there’s a new piece of home console out of Nintendo, that means a handheld isn’t far along. Even with the launch of the New Nintendo 3DS XL last year, it’s still a bit dumbfounding as to why they would release a new handheld already with the NX. Perhaps they are taking a PlayStation Vita route where they want a handheld to coincide with their console. However, whatever they do, it’ll be no surprise if they are forced to keep both first and third party support focus for both pieces of hardware in order to keep fas interested.

Nintendo Should Focus Solely on Handhelds – It’s Their Best Demographic of Players

If the totals according to Nintendo is true, the Nintendo 3DS has sold roughly 57.94 million units since its launch and well… The Wii U hasn’t done even a quarter of that sitting at only 12.6 million units sold since its launch. The numbers are devastating from a marketing perspective. If it puts anything into perspective since it’s launch the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One both have broken 30-40 million units each since their launch two years ago back in November. While the Wii U had come out before them, this means the console has become a literal failure, the Nintendo 3DS however, isn’t doing much better in comparison to the handheld it succeeded, the Nintendo DS/DSi, which combined sold 154.01 million units.

While it is hard to say that Nintendo has had great marketing in the past, it comes to show that some gamers feel that the 3D effect is just a cheap gimmick. Speaking for myself? I don’t use it. I find it mildly irritating to my vision as well as my Nintendo 3DS’s battery life since it does deplete my battery at a bit quicker rate than when it’s on. If Nintendo wants to do anything successful to succeed the 3DS and the Wii U? Go back to the basics. Go for high quality graphics in a handheld. There’s plenty of focus there as fans are big for handhelds since many gamers do find themselves on the go. Even if they are in public places it’s not hard for friends to get together and even gaming together through the Nintendo 3DS. If sales say anything though, it’s that Nintendo’s handhelds have always outsold their consoles and still continue to-do-so today. While that would be a sign to some, it seems the executives at Nintendo want to try and bring console gamers over to their side. It’ll be a tough road to recover from due to the Wii U’s current status in total sales.

The NX Rumors of a Console and Handheld Combined Could Spell Trouble

While it’s hard for people to not point out my love for my PlayStation Vita and my PlayStation 4, the same can be said about my Wii U when I get in the perky mood to play it. That means I have to be willing to sit in my V-Rocker and paying attention to the TV in front of me for hours on end at eye level since I sit on the floor to primarily play my Nintendo. Force of habit after having sat on the floor playing NES/SNES for so long as a kid. While those reflections are nice, it’s hard to say that the combination of the two could spell trouble for Nintendo. With Satoru Iwata no longer around to share his vision with his fans in his beautifully charismatic way – it’s hard to see what Nintendo’s future is like since we haven’t seen the new Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima has had a rather successful career at Nintendo, we haven’t seen many of the amazing things that Iwata managed to pull off. Things such as Iwata asks, Nintendo Direct, and the likes, Nintendo’s new president Mr. Kimishima, has been silent since he took the seat at Nintendo on September 14th, 2015.

While there have been write-up’s from such as Nintendo’s Investor Relations, we know that Kimishima is planning to keep the same course that Iwata has. The only hope here is that he has a strong idea of how to market the possibility of a home console and handheld console duality. With them depending on one another we could see Nintendo and DeNA pushing hardware and software sales next year assuming Nintendo doesn’t pull a Wii U and launch it the same year they announce it. Then again this is Nintendo we are talking about. We’ve known them to be sporadic in the past.

Third Party Support Matters for the NX – This is Why New Nintendo 3DS Focus Will Help

When looking at the Nintendo 3DS library of games we see the same thing that the PlayStation Vita has been going through, but in an opposite direction. Instead of fantastic third party support, we’re seeing minuscule amounts of big name titles hitting the Nintendo 3DS. While we do have games such as Yokai Watch, Etrian Odyssey, Shin Megami Tensei, Fire Emblem and such leading the way, the third party support is bleak. We’ve seen few games coming out of anyone, including XSEED Games, Koei Tecmo, Atlus, NIS America, Bandai Namco or anyone really trying to make an impact. To be honest? It feels as if the handheld is dying, almost hemorrhaging for some solid third party support.

While it’s hard to say that the Nintendo 3DS family deserved a more powerful successor to the family, we got one known as the New Nintendo 3DS XL. It sports faster hardware, processors, and even went to Micro-SD support for larger memory and faster memory access. Let alone did the screens get updated, we also get the circle pad built in through the handhelds c-stick function, which has helped tremendously with functionality. What is hurting this handhelds justification of being made is the fact it has received only one exclusive since it’s launch last year; Xenoblade Chronicles 3D. While I can say I love the game, it has been a hard to justify purchase since the handheld hasn’t seen much in the means of pure exclusives like it should have been getting already. This means Nintendo could be readying its last hurrah for the hardware so they can ready up for their next hardware line. While I’d love to see the NX succeed, Nintendo does need to remember that the New Nintendo 3DS family does have a lot of support, and will for years to come as has all their hardware.

Family Games Can’t be the Focus Anymore

If you look at the Nintendo 3DS, you won’t be surprised to see a lot of the games are focused on family or kids. With a few sparse games for adults such as Fire Emblem Awakening, Shin Megami Tensei IV or the Devil Summoner series, the handheld family has very few games in line for adults who do own the handheld and do want adult games. This is where Nintendo will need to be shifting its focus if they plan on going towards the portable gaming hardware that the NX is rumored to have. Especially since the console is supposed to be able to go on the go with its handheld counterpart so that fans can, well, take it with them if they decide to leave. IGN even had a video supporting a supposed patent that actually demonstrated a hardware that looked a lot like what we have now with the Nintendo Wii U game pad that serves as a second screen functionality or even a second screen all together.

While Nintendo has relied heavily on its first party support and kid friendliness, it’s time for Nintendo to lace up their boots and provide a bit of diversity. Especially if they are going to attempt to compete with both Microsoft and Sony in the gaming market. While Nintendo took over the handheld market with a single hand, it’ll be hard for them to maintain their current run without pulling a few tricks up their sleeves to compete with Sony and Nintendo’s first party franchises such as Halo, Quantum Break, and even Kojima’s upcoming new titles. Nintendo, diversify a bit more. It won’t hurt, we promise.

Nintendo Rocks the Handheld World Already – Closing Thoughts

While it seems Nintendo may not notice that their handheld focus would be their best choice, it seems they are wanting to focus on both home console and handheld. While it may all be good on pen and paper, we all know in recent years that Nintendo hasn’t done the best in moving units since the Wii U struggled to break even 10 million units while their amiibo’s have been the largest selling product of theirs since the Nintendo DS/DSi and Wii. While Nintendo’s chances of coming back as a mainstream console developer is possible, their future outlook might just depend on how well their handheld sales do if the console ends up being like the PlayStation 4 and Vita ordeal. Till then? I will still enjoy both my Wii U and NN3DS while they’re current.

Stay tuned for our upcoming news as we get it about the Nintendo NX.

About the Writer:

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Opinion: Thank You Third-Party Devs for Keeping the PlayStation Vita Alive

February 6, 2016 / Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

If you know anything about me, which some of you do – you know that I’m a gigantic fan of Sony’s PlayStation Vita to the point I keep it on my person at all times. I’ve even gone to the extent of taking advantage of the new family Nighthawk X4 router and upgraded our internet speeds to 200Mbps so that we can have an extended bit of family fun, and even enjoy our internet gaming a bit more. This even includes my capability to play my PlayStation Vita when on the road. Granted on the road doesn’t happen much, but it is a nice change to be quite honest. But the reality of it is, Sony has effectively given up hope on their Vita. Ask them six years from now what happened? They’ll probably play it off as if the thing never existed, much like my beloved PSP-10000, which I still play and love to this day. I’ve even gone as far as repurchasing many of my beloved titles on my Vita since they are readily available. Thank you Sony Japan for the 64GB memory cards, those are handy.

The First Party Support Games are Great, but Third Party Still Wins

But lets not play it off. We know first party for the handheld has been lackluster. Really it’s shameful since the few first party games there are, were amazing, and even provided a powerhouse sense of console gaming to that little handheld. The reality is? There were very few of these games such as Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Killzone: Mercenary, Freedom Wars, Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines, Tearaway, Gravity Rush, and even Little Big Planet to name a select few that’ll stand out to most. All of these games have been exceptional enough that they even got ported to the PlayStation 4 (i.e. Tearaway and Gravity Rush). For us PlayStation Vita owners? We can honestly admit that it feels that Sony has abandoned us since we haven’t seen any true huge updates for the PlayStation Vita, we haven’t seen any new first party games, and we’ve seen very little in the means of them even bringing up new PlayStation Vita titles in the long run. Instead we have third party companies such as Atlus USA, NIS America, Aksys Games, Bandai Namco, XSEED Games, and a few other localization teams that have brought over some of the most astonishing games to date. Many of these games even keeping the die hard PlayStation Vita fans rather happy since the games aren’t just a cash-cow, but instead a launch of games they know the fans will honestly want.

It’s a harsh reality when the third party teams have done a far better job than one of the gaming giants of the modern day. If only Sony realized they still have time, but that time is quickly running out as the console wars heat up.

Sony Needs to Realize the PlayStation Vita is Owned by Gamers

The question is for some: Why is this important to them? For many, the question is a legitimate question, one that some would scratch their heads when my response comes out as follows; The PlayStation Vita is not just an accessory to the PlayStation 4, but instead it is a business competitor to the Nintendo 3DS. While it’s hard to state that the PlayStation Vita will ever possibly trump the Nintendo 3DS is not a possibility, but what is possible is that its games aren’t focused solely on kids. While the Nintendo 3DS does offer an amazing variety of games such as titles from Virtual Console to modern titles as well as its backwards compatibility with physical Nintendo DS games, it’s an understatement to say the game supports the likes of adults and fans who want to play imported titles. We’ve not seen titles such as Corpse Party, Danganronpa, Freedom Wars, or even Soul Sacrifice launch on the handheld, we’ve seen a few adult oriented titles launch on it, but nothing compared to what the Vita has obtained in the last few years.

While we know gamers play both Handhelds, it’s hard not to say that Sony is trying to bury the handheld as quickly as possible due to the fact North America hasn’t seen the new Vita colors, larger memory cards or even half the library Japan has. Hell their Vita library is making ours look like we own a GameCube if that says anything (sorry Nintendo the GameCube had a few select games that were amazing). When gaming on the PlayStation Vita? I’ve run into gamers who treat the handheld as if it were their PlayStation 4. Trust me, I do too, and this effectively shows there is a dedicated crowd out there that is ignored, especially after Andrew House labeled the handheld a “legacy device”, but how can you kill something that… Really isn’t dead, but just isn’t selling all that great in North America? Well we can partially blame Sony for not trying, but we can also blame them for.. Well not trying at all. So it is Sony’s fault that the device is dying if not dead first-party wise. It’s a shame though because the handheld? Is great. It’s magnificent outside of how expensive one is without a memory card, then a good 64GB memory card costing about the same as the handheld itself. Ouch, that’s a punch in the jaw if I didn’t know better. If Sony has any chance at saving this thing, if they cared, their best bet is to treat it as they do the PlayStation 4 and start building a business format around it. There’s still time Sony, but it’s running out. Third Party is what’s even keeping it afloat. Heck that’s where I’ve met a lot of my PSN friends even.

Third Party is Who Deserves the Credit

If you were to walk into a game distributor such as GameStop (sorry Best Buy, I love you, but your Vita selection is worse than Wal-Mart dropping the Amazon price-matching), you’ll notice some GameStops will have a decent selection of Vita games, they even have them in a neat and fashionable order (if your GameStop cares like mine does). But what you will notice is the fact there’s not any first party games. Shocker really, Hell, even Metal Gear Solid HD isn’t a first-party ordeal. Thanks Konami, you rocked at the time, but I still don’t forgive you. Instead you’ll notice games by companies such as ATLUS, Aksys, NIS America, Compile Hearts/Idea Factory, XSEED Games, and even Bandai Namco. Why? They’re the ones that seem to give a damn that us fans are demanding games still despite Sony shoving us into a corner and putting us Vita owners in a time-out.

If it weren’t for games like Freedom Wars, Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines, Soul Sacrifice/Soul Sacrifice Delta, Murumasa: Rebirth, Persona 4 Golden, Ragnarok Odyssey Ace, Senran Kagura: Shinova Versus/Estival Versus, and a select other few titles? I wouldn’t even own the handheld. Hell Tearaway was great, creative, and fun, but it wasn’t ground breaking. If any game was? Gravity Rush, but with that on PlayStation 4? I could almost sell my Vita copy and not even shed a tear. Except the fact I have a physical copy does matter. Where third party has succeeded, Sony has truly failed as they seem to have given up even developing games, announcing games and even trying to put a few games on the market. Shame on you Sony, if you’d only put the effort into it that the game publishers have done. If you treated it like you do the PlayStation 4? The handheld would be phenomenal and even groundbreaking due to its PlayStation 4 compatibility. Hell even making companion games for titles such as Bloodborne, Uncharted 4, and even Horizon: Zero Dawn would be amazing. Why? It’s what us fans want. Hell ever since I played Knack a PlayStation Vita spin-off would have been amazing to have, but instead? I’m left to my own devices (rather games) to enjoy and will still wonder what would happen if we’d seen more first party developer love.

You Were the Chosen One Sony – The Vita is a Masterpiece

If you were to visit my room, you wouldn’t be shocked to see I’m a fan of both Sony and Nintendo even though I have my Sega stuff and my Xbox’s (all three gens, imagine that), but what you will notice is my love for Sony. You wouldn’t doubt for one second that I haven’t missed out on a generation of gaming on their handhelds or consoles. Instead you’d see an office with art book’s, display boxes, and even my consoles hooked up in a neat fashion. Granted I’ve put a few of them in storage under lock-and-key, you’d be unable to doubt the fact I absolutely adore Sony’s library of games from the 90’s to current, but that changed when it came to the PSP and the PlayStation vita. It was almost like they didn’t care, they didn’t want to care, they worried more about their handheld crowd. Sound familiar with Nintendo and the Wii U? Yea, it does. Why? It’s the same situation. One has great first party support, the other doesn’t, which is where Sony and Nintendo have swapped places, but at least Nintendo is seemingly still putting effort into the Wii U until we probably get to finally see their new console(s) and or handheld at E3 2016. Well CES would’ve been great to show them off at.

I know if I were to ask a head board member of Sony point blank about why the Vita hasn’t gotten love? My answer would probably be something around the lines of “we don’t have the owner demographic we do in Japan and other parts of Asia”, which is true. But the response I’d fire back would eventually come down to the awful price gouging they have done for the memory cards, chargers, and the fact that the handheld itself with a good memory card will push owners around 300-350 bucks all together. For that much? I’d just spend the few extra bucks and buy a PlayStation 4 and be on my merry way. Which may be what Sony has done intentionally so that they can move consoles, but why not launch a bundle with a 32GB memory card, take the loss and make the bundle 450? It’d bring new fans in and even cause more money to flow through the PlayStation store unless those fans turn around and sale the console. It’d also help push first party support as they would see the fans actually using their handhelds in order to enjoy their gaming experience more effectively. Sony, what happened? Were you tempted by the Dark Side of winning the console war so far?

Third Party Devs and Publishers, Sony Needs You – Closing Thoughts

If you’ve made it this far, you’ve probably decided my entire op-ed has been me bashing one of my favourite companies. Truth is? You’d actually be right that I’ve been dragging my feet through the mud while whining about Sony. Why? All us Vita owners are thinking it, some of us are just not beginning to say it, and I’m one of the ones kicking in the doors. If there is anything that has gone right with the handheld, it’s the fact that third party developers and publishers have effectively revitalized the PlayStation Vita for me in the fact I own almost every game to have released on it and have put well over seventy games on my shelf. So while there are games out there, new owners who aren’t into JRPGs and graphic novels will have to dig through the PlayStation Vita’s library through online stores such as Amazon or through the PlayStation Store to find games that suit their style of games. While that sounds bad? Some of the games have a great story, great mechanics, and even beautiful graphics.

With all this said? Sony it’s your turn to step up to bat, and I really hope to see you make a grand slam.

About the Writer:

Opinion: Why Tom Clancy’s The Division Might Just Be the Pre/Post-Pandemic Game We Need

January 19, 2016 / Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

If you’ve talked to me about writers, games, and genres, you know I’m a glutton for RPGs, for MMO’s, and very much-the-same for online cooperative titles. I’ve taken up games like Borderlands, Destiny, Final Fantasy XIV: ARR/Heaven’s Ward (I know, an MMO). I have also taken on countless Tom Clancy games over the years. But what about militaristic games that portray a future worth fighting for when a world has collapsed? What about a game that shows us that the world can still have hope even as a virus continues to spread and militia’s continue to form?

The Trailers do this Justice

Many of you that have seen the Tom Clancy’s The Division E3 2014 Reveal Trailer were probably grasped instantly the moment the trailer portrayed a mother singing to her dying mother. A husband, a father, a simple man angry with someone for the death of his family before he ends his own life. We see the effects of the world as society begins to collapse in New York City before it does collapse and reveals to us for the first time the agents from The Division as the primary character steps out, gun aimed, and ready to protect a man who is being pursued by a few thugs. Within moments his squad steps out and the emotional impact of the trailer truly begins to stick together.

Within the moments of that E3 trailer, I caught myself, just as I have today, watching the trailer on repeat. Picking it apart piece by piece hoping I could learn more than what I’d already known about the game from the press release sheets we’d gotten. Why? This game had sucked me in, turned me into a little kid with the curiosity of a toddler and the hunger of a full grown being that just wanted to know more than what had already been displayed. Within a year? We got to know more as gameplay finally had begun to show up across E3, Gamescom, and many other places, even YouTube.

After having watched even what little gameplay footage was released back in 2013, the curiosity remained as I kept revisiting the E3 2013 trailer, which can be found below. The trailer simply describes what is happening, how it could happen, and when it could happen. The curiosity behind it all remained:

Many of us know now that Dark Winter has happened, the world has gone quiet due to the outbreak and Directive 51 went into effect. Agents, sleeper cells, and the likes have all come out of hiding while people fighting for survival take to the streets. Society collapsed, gas stopped flowing, food became scarce, power outages happened, and so did the entire social structure as well as government structure that kept the United States running. Scared survivors took to streets as quarantine zones failed them. Now they rely on agents to enter the Dark Zone where the virus still lives and breathes in order to find equipment and resources in order to survive. But what exactly has this as the one game that could break the post-apocalyptic scenario game?

The World Ended Because of a Virus that Didn’t Evolve Zombies

Anyone that knows me, knows that I’m a die hard fan of zombie games. I can never get enough of them, but it’s getting to the point that it’s a trend that needs broke, and The Division is looking to do just that with the games story elements. Focusing on a post-pandemic and still rather alive virus; The Division breaks the narrative chain by focusing on the real-life consequences a “Dark Winter” like scenario would have when entire populations sudden go dark and the world becomes one seeming rather familiar (Escape from L.A. anyone?). With the world ending the way it did, we know that The Division aims to once more bring hope to New York City and the survivors within the city as they grow accustomed to their terrifying new setting.

As the virus spread Directive 51 (from what we know from the E3 2013 trailer) has activated. Over the span of three short weeks the world collapsed and over 8 million New York City residents passed away. Eventually the virus wrecked havoc across the world in locations like London. It’s known now that the virus has gone global, but the question is who, why, how, and what is their ultimate goal? We know the virus was Smallpox or rather a mutated strain of it thanks to the short that was released today, but before anyone knew? It was a Pandemic, and unfortunately one that could not be stopped. This is a major change from most recent end-of-world games unless you count Destiny’s end of humanity through “The Darkness”.

A RPG/TPS/MMO from the Tom Clancy Team(s)

Sometimes it’s hard to not see where this is going. A part of me has been rather skeptical on why Ubisoft would take this approach, but it’s easy to see thanks to the ongoing trend of online only games that focus on both single player and coop. Tom Clancy’s The Division and the recently released Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six seem to be rather good evidence where this was going.

With The Division focusing on third-person MMO elements, we can only suspect those playing the game will be able to customize not just weapons but armor, gadgets, weapons, attachments to weapons, even abilities that will make their characters all the more viable in combat situations. It almost seems like it would be safe to assume the same when playing alone while traversing the city. While this seems fancy we are also expecting this game to be hefty in content while also being rather hefty when it comes to the games install size. It’ll be a hope that this game is highly optimized and doesn’t eat up much hard drive for those who haven’t upgraded yet.

Will the Game Feature a Tactical Call Out System?

After talking with a reader who has a speech disability, it was interesting to see this idea arise. To be honest, I’d never personally thought of such a thing before until I talked to him, but the idea isn’t that far-fetched due to disabilities that do affect gamers.

Like many MMO’s we’ve seen systems that are put in place to allow disabled gamers in one form or another cooperate so that coordination through the squad isn’t thrown off. That doesn’t limit the game to the inability to provide players with full teams a way to make call outs, but also even a way to help each other understand what’s going on so that mission progressions go smoothly. We do hope this is something that happens soon if it isn’t there on launch.

Character Choices

Many of us are familiar with character options. It seems that The Division is going to have us choose from a few characters; primarily John, Mia, and a few of the others from the trailer, but the biggest question at hand – will we be creating our own characters? This is something that will be extremely important for many as the game will be approaching itself as an MMO on consoles and something we really hope stays true to the game.

The Short film Sets it Up Perfectly

If you haven’t seen the prequel video that leads up to the game, it’s a good thirty minute watch and a solid one that will leave the fans reeling for more. With the main characters being in display we are first introduced to the collapse of New York while it is happening. We are introduced to the agents such as John who is a sleeper agent that has to explain to his family what is going on, and as he does so he leaves for his mission. The short film is based around John, Mia, Daryl, the enemy factions, and the complete break down of the city as the bad guys begin to take over.

This short film, exclusive to Amazon Prime members, is called Tom Clancy’s The Division: Agent Origins. The short film takes place over what seems like a couple hour span as it all begins to go down. In the short we learn that each member has a reason behind doing what they are doing and how they are going about it. We already know that gas masks, Division tech, and weapons will play a huge supporting role in this game thanks to the short, but also the gameplay trailers we’ve seen.

Survival Matters

We already know working alone will be an option for players who decide to go through New York on their own in search for glory or simply to complete a few missions. The game as we know will not focus just on a small portion of New York such as “The Dark Zone”, but the game will focus on a much broader aspect of the game where players will be clearing out streets from enemies, undertaking missions in order to provide a safer and close to normal New York that’s post-pandemic.

While it’s nice to hear that gear will play a huge role, it’ll ultimately seem like it’s up to players when to acknowledge that they will need their gear in order to survive. Be it that they need a gas mask, gadgets to distract enemies, or simply their map – gear will be playing a huge role in this game whether it’s knives, pistols, rifles, and or shotguns. We know that players will have to work together, but also keep their wits about them as they attempt to free New York.

Closing Thoughts

It’s hard to say that I want to put my faith in another MMO to hit consoles. I’ve already spent plenty of time with The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited with my friends, I’ve spent a lot of time in these past few days between a review title, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, and Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn/Heavensward. It’s hard to say that an MMO can or can’t get it right; that’s up to a players perspective on the matter. The biggest question will be in regards of how quickly content will be released. We know that content such as Rainbow Six Siege’s first expansion should be coming soon while The Division could potentially adapt the early-access season pass where players who own it will access content a week, month, or however-long before the rest of the players.

While Destiny has shown potential and Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn/Heavensward has mastered this capability, we know that these games have both failed, and succeeded in multiple areas. We know The Division shows promise, we know where it’s going, the biggest thing to wait and see will be how the game is executed in the long run with its content. Afterall, it is an MMO at heart that will be on consoles and PC. We’ve seen this go numerous places with titles like Defiance that eventually killed over due to having released so close to Next Gen consoles, but also the fact its content was just not enough to keep it alive. We’ll just have to wait and see how Tom Clancy’s The Division does when it releases for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on March 8th, 2016.

Stay tuned for our review for Tom Clancy’s The Division: Agent Origins and our Hands-On Impressions of Tom Clancy’s The Division Beta.

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Thoughts about Far Cry Primal

January 19, 2016 / Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

Revealed at E3 2015, Far Cry Primal will become the newest entry to the Far Cry franchise this year, next month to be exact. As we know Ubisoft has announced that Far Cry Primal is taking us away from the streets of the modern world and into a true survival situation thousands of years ago. Unlike the more recent titles that gained major popularity among fans – Far Cry 3 and Far Cry 4 – Far Cry Primal seems to take a bit of a turn in how we know the games will play. With the gaming giving up explosives, vehicles, and even guns; the title seeks to possibly reinvent the series. To be honest? This is a good thing.

How Reinventing the Franchise Could Keep it Alive

As many of us are accustomed to games hoping time lines, i.e. Assassin’s Creed, it’s not hard for us to imagine the fact Far Cry could go down the same route. This time? It did, completely, and from everything we’ve seen from trailers, artwork, commercial spots, and gameplay videos, Far Cry Primal is taking a few notes from where Far Cry 4 took us. Primarily in the fact we are thinking woolly mammoths just might be our primary mode of transportation across this olden world that has become extinct in our modern day. The question here is going to be weaponry, transportation, dialogue, and locations. All of these are viable questions and ones that have already begun to be theorized on in discussions when brought up with other fans. We know you will be taming beasts such as saber toothed tigers who will joining the fray as companions, but what else can we expect. Perhaps a woolly mammoth?

So what weapons can we imagine seeing? As we know in the time frame that the game is in, we know that spears, axes, and even bows were rather common, which is something we know we should be seeing making a major return. We even expect to see weapons as crude as stone knives, bone knives, or other related items making a possible showing into the game. We wouldn’t be surprised if we also see traps from Far Cry 1 making a return as these would be viable forms of survival in the time frame that Far Cry Primal will be taking place. The next question here is – how will we see the map? Will it perhaps be a leather hide that will be lifted up marking where we are at in a rather olden way? Perhaps we will find stone markets that identify where we are at on the games map? Whichever way they do it, we know we are thoroughly excited for the new weapons we could see as the game approaches its release soon.

Change of Scenery

We’ve all gotten used to seeing tropical islands, foreign lands, and even mountains third world countries where some madman has begun to take over. This seems to be changing when it comes to Far Cry Primal we know you will be taking the role of Takkar, the last surviving member of his group (tribe perhaps?), and he has set off to exist in a world that is cruel, punishing, deadly, and humanity is at the bottom of the food chain. When humanity isn’t trying to survive against things such as woolly mammoths and saber toothed tigers, they are fighting against each other, attempting to gain control of the land and growing their numbers to better their livelihood and their tribes chances of survival. This will be witnessed as players roam through forests, freezing mountains, but also beautiful planes where beasts run rampant.

This setting could possibly provide us with a look at the Ice Age, which is something we do hope happens, but wouldn’t be surprised to see if it is a post Ice Age setting.

Growing your Tribe

Much like the recently released and critically acclaimed Fallout 4, Far Cry Primal is seemingly taking some notes from the game, and ones that we are proud to see. The game is about growing your tribe. This might be completed through story missions, side missions, or simply just over time. At this point? We do not know, but we do hope this brings in a village editor so that we might be able to make a village, set up offenses and defenses in order to protect, or simply just because we want to edit the crap out of this time period we used to fantasize as kids. Regardless, we know Takkar will be playing a huge role as he tries to survive the harsh lands of Oros while becoming the deadliest hunter within the lands.

Multiplayer – Could this Benefit the Game or Harm it?

Having played Far Cry and other open world adventure games over the years, Far Cry has become by far one of my favourite franchises easily putting it on par with Fallout and The Legend of Zelda. Ranking in as my third all-time favourite open-world adventure franchise, it’s hard to not fall for the creativity behind this franchise. One of the most famed parts about this series is not just the meticulously created story lines, but also the multiplayer portions of the games where fans have come together to bring this part to life.

From things such as fan created maps to co-op, Far Cry has successfully become enjoyable and intriguing in both departments. It’ll be very interesting to see if this latest installment allows fans to return to this time period, edit multiplayer maps, set traps, creatures, and weapons across the map in order for teams to obtain and use against their enemies. The biggest issue here? How do you balance the control of such creatures? Easy, take a look at Ark: Survival and have them in the back ground as volatile creatures that can be tamed.

Closing Statement

As you can see from the trailer above, Far Cry Primal is going to be gorgeous whether or not it has multiplayer or cooperative gameplay. The game, utilizing Cry Engine, will be a game that surely puts itself above and beyond the titles that it has seen before it. With this new engine, new era we are being placed in, and an all around new approach – Far Cry Primal could possibly alter the series in a way we hope it stays since Ubisoft has seemed to have mastered the ability to pick multiple timelines and have them work in a rather amazing and artistically challenging manner.

Far Cry Primal will be available on PlayStation 4 system and Xbox One on February 23, 2016, and available on PC on March 1, 2016. Stay tuned for our pending review.

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Opinion: VR is Near and it’s too Expensive

January 9, 2016 / Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

You’ve probably read in the latest news from websites like Game Informer, where Oculus Rift will be launching at a very steep 599 USD this year, which for some is a rather large price point to try and enjoy. Let alone is this piece as expensive as it sounds, it also means a lot of PC gamers with low to medium end PCs will be looking at heft upgrade costs in order to enjoy VR titles. Many gamers may already be meeting these specs for those that are true diehard PC gamers. Why? They like graphics and power to go with those graphics. Plus, who wants to upgrade every few months just for a few more “hours” of enjoyment?

When looking at the cost of VR gaming, I can’t say that I’ve not been excited for this since it’s coming to consoles also through both Microsoft’s HoloLens, Sony’s PlayStation VR, HTC’s Vive and the well-renowned Oculus Rift announcements. But the question comes down to why. Why would someone want to spend a few hundred dollars to thousands for VR attachments that may or may not stay alive for long? While I was fortunate enough to go hands-on with Oculus Rift at QuakeCon 2015 thanks to Tigerdirect and a few other kind folks there, the reality of it is? It’s fun, it’s new, and it allows us to feel as if we are truly in the game or even creating a game. The question now is, how much will HTC, Sony, and Microsoft push down their prices to compete with Oculus’ steep 599 USD? That’s to be debated since Sony’s leak on Amazon, which pointed at a nasty 800 dollars, double that of the PlayStation 4 itself. If that’s the case? It’ll be crippling to the company as Oculus Rift will have already been outselling them for quite a bit at 200 dollars less before taxes applied.

But this article isn’t about cost effectiveness or even the competition between four companies, rather the question – are we ready for this technology? Is this to be the future of gaming? Let’s take a look at that in all reality.

Early Days of VR

When glimpsing at VR gaming, we know it has been around for quite sometime. We saw this happen with Virtuality, which released in 1991 to arcades. The device, at the time, costs companies up to 73,000 USD in order to put in each multi-pod Virtuality system. This system featured pods, as stated, exoskeleton gloves and headsets that were the first “immersive” headsets to allow gamers to go on their virtual reality experience. Following this transition SEGA joined in as well as a few other companies to bring VR a bit more to life. Even Nintendo attempted this in a few forms; Virtual Boy and Power Glove. These feats were among the first attempts to bring VR to the home-consumer, but failed miserably in its days. Now? The technology is here thanks to these pioneers and now we are about to experience them in their fully developed appearance.

It’s still questionable if VR is even ready for the home experience. Back then? It was used as a money maker for arcades and companies wanting to bring in a few crowds at the mall. Now it is heading to the family household.

It’ll Break the Bank

It’s hard to say VR is going to be cheap when looking at the Oculus Rift PC specs to even use the headset. The headset alone requires an NVIDIA GTX 970 or greater video card, for AMD users 290 or greater video card. For processors you’ll need Intel i5-4590 equivalent or better, 8GB+ RAM,Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output, 2x USB 3.0 ports, and Windows 7 SP1 or greater. For some? This has already been accomplished and easily done, but for those who haven’t? This just made things a bit more complicated due to most users not having 2x USB 3.0 ports – especially laptop gamers with those extreme high-end laptops. Now this could be different for those who’ve purchased their laptop within the last year or so. For the rest of us? The requirements are a bit of a doozy. This can easily meet up to a staggering 1,500 USD depending on the price-tag and hardware you are wanting. If you are looking to get there? Newegg is always a great choice thanks to their daily deals as well as their tendency to mark down items.

With another price-tag having fallen there’s speculation from Tech Insider, there’s a possible leak that the PlayStation VR may run you a very steep 800 USD, double the cost of a PlayStation 4, and one that may just deter many possible users away. If that’s the case? Oculus Rift may just seem like the better option since a computer that meets the minimum Oculus Rift requirements could be quite accessible for those who already own desktops and are looking to upgrade to a few compatible components. While both Microsoft and HTC have yet to announce their costs for their VR devices, we can only expect that they won’t be far behind the Oculus in price in order to keep the competitive market balanced out. The downside to all this? It’s expensive and will easily set your wallets on fire to try and meet the requirements or even meet the expected qualifications for these devices.

Health Risks are Questionable

Lets just say for a moment we didn’t know jack about eyestrain and the damage it can cause if you don’t take break from your games. Not many of us knew about Digital Eye Strain, which can cause the inability to focus on long range items, sever dry eyes, blurred vision, double vision, neck and or back pain, and even those irritable headaches. While this does happen from staring at computer screens, phones, and even, guess what, TV screens. The health risk for VR? We don’t know.

Considering you’ll be staring at LED or LCD screens at extremely close proximity to your eyes, we can only imagine this would make the problem worse. Especially for gamers over the age of 40 due to the strain the eyes will have trying to focus on objects both far and close. We can only assume that the need for breaks will be quite the requirement for those of you wanting to go on long-end sessions. This is a very rocky road users walk and we can only hope that some studies are done with health risks outside of the potential motion sickness.

What Games Will Release for VR

When looking at VR it’s going to be hard to comprehend games outside of first person views to be acceptable for this platform. The issue there is not everyone likes to play FPS titles or even in FPS at all for that matter. This will make VR a hard-sale for those who prefer over-the-shoulder titles. However, for fans of titles like Elite Dangerous, Allison Road, EVE: Valkyrie, and a few other titles? You’ll be busy for hours. There’s plenty to do there, but for those who are extreme fans of Call of Duty, Star Wars, Battlefield, and a few of the other big titles? This really isn’t going to be a big seller as those players binge the games in order to become the best of the best, and with the unstudied health risks? We can only assume there will be trouble here trying to make the sale on VR games.

The best bet? To wait and see if there are any major VR titles worth considering outside of the few that will be hitting the digital stores and shelves in the very near future. Though it’ll be regrettable to see if the platforms don’t lift off as early as they are launching. Given a few more years? The time would be right as big name developers would be able to prepare their games a bit more and offer a much more diverse library for fans to enjoy. It’ll definitely be hard to sale games like Gears of War, Tomb Raider, Bloodborne, Uncharted, and Gravity Rush in a VR enviroment using third person.

Closing Thoughts

I can’t say that I’m not ready for VR. I really am, but with the health risks that are unknown, and even the questionable price tags? It’s a boat that I’m not ready to jump on and set sails with. While I think there is a chance for VR to hit the market and those that are enjoying it, and doing quite well doing so, there’s still a lot of if-and-or-but situations there. I can’t recommend for fans to place all their eggs in this basket till we see a bit more about it and how this will happen. With the current cost of gaming? I do see this being a hard market to sell to and if the Oculus Rift specs are anything we can expect out of HTC’s Thrive? This’ll be a market that makes or breaks these companies due to developmental and production costs.

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Post-Holiday Game Ideas for Kids with Giftcards

January 3, 2016January 3, 2016 / Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

With 2015 out of the way and we’ve already begun our adventures into 2016, the question comes on what you can do to start off the New Year, but not for yourself, but for those young gamers in your house that you may just happened to have gotten consoles for during the Holiday Season. With giftcards and cash in hand, it’s hard not to see the enthusiasm in a kid’s eyes when they see the walls of games at stores, and the endless possibilities to what their money could go towards. However, when it comes to glancing at what games are available for them to get their hands on, parents may come to recognize a forewarning regarding age restrictions. These restrictions include the following: EC for Early Childhood E for everyone, E10+ meaning everybody 10+, T for Teen, and the ever-so-popular and plastered everywhere – M for Mature. There are ones such as AO (Adult Only) and RP (Rating Pending), which are rare, but do happen depending on the title in question.

The crucial part of game shopping is always finding what is right for your kid or the kids in your life be them children of your own, cousins, nephews or nieces, or even grandchildren. For some this has been hard when it comes to finding games good for kids between the ages of 10, so here we are about to break down a good list of games we think just might be right for those kids who are getting into gaming, and love their newfound hobby. So what can you expect us to show you? Below is a list of games that have been compiled and found suitable for children wanting to go on a little bit of a joyride. Granted there are more titles than listed available, but these are our top 20 picks for kids to play.

Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival (Wii U)
Animal Crossing: New Leaf (Nintendo 2DS or Nintendo 3DS)
Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer (Nintendo 3DS)
Cooking Mama (Nintendo 3DS)
Disney’s Frozen: Olaf’s Quest (Nintendo 3DS)
Disney Infinity 3.0 (Nintendo Wii U, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4)
Lego Dimensions (Nintendo Wii U, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4)
Lego Franchise ((Nintendo Wii U, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4)
Little Battlers Experience (Nintendo 3DS)
Mario Kart 8 (Nintendo Wii U)
Minecraft (PC, Android, Apple iPad/Phone, Nintendo Wii U, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4)
Nintendogs + Cats (Nintendo 3Ds)
Pokémon Alpha Sapphire/Omega Ruby (Nintendo 3DS)
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Titles (Nintendo 3DS)
Poptropica Forgotten Islands (Nintendo 3DS)
Skylanders Supercharger (Nintendo Wii U, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4)
Splatoon (Nintendo Wii U)
The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes (Nintendo 3DS)
Yokai Watch (Nintendo 3DS)
Yoshi’s Wooly World (Nintendo Wii U)

With this list having focused mostly on consoles and the Nintendo 3DS, there are always great alternatives on PC, Android or iDevice depending on the app or title you are looking for. While there are also hundreds of other games available, the ones that were picked are the more recent ones that seemed more reputable based on gameplay as well as word of mouth. We hope you enjoy and please feel free to let us know what games those gamer’s in your life found themselves enjoying.

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Counting Down to Fallout 4 with Our Top Five Fallout Memories (Contains Spoilers)

November 7, 2015November 7, 2015 / Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

With Fallout 4 coming down to its final hours before launch, it’s hard not to have some form of nostalgia building up around past moments within the game and for some? The games have never gotten old. With many of these moments having taken place in campaign and not-between-campaign moments. So lets start this countdown in our attempt to prepare you for Fallout 4, which is set to release 11/10/2015 for North America.

– 5 – Silencing the Radios of the Wasteland – Killing Three Dog – Fallout 3 –

Have you ever decided to go homicidal after doing just a quest or two for Three Dog? Worry not, if you haven’t? It means that many of us probably already have and we don’t regret doing so since he can become quite obnoxious once you tip over that 30+ hour mark of listening to his voice chant out his obnoxious spiels. Some of you may have never hit that mark, so what exactly happens if you decide to crack his skull open with your mightiest of melee weapons or become a crack shot with one of your weapons? Well, if you haven’t irradiated the air with a Fat Man, you can kill Three Dog, loot his corpse, grab his clothes, his bandanna, and yes, his glasses.

With the death of Three Dog, he is replaced by a rather elderly lady who appears to be a technician at the radio station; downside – she only plays music. Her announcement, is however, rather funny when she states why she is there: “Uhm, Margaret here, uh, uhm, bringing you just music. I’m just a technician that is just bringing you music because some asshole murdered our D.J.”. Well, Margaret we hope you enjoy your promotion, we sure did.

– 4 – Gary – Vault 108’s Lunatic Clone – Fallout 3 –

If you’re like any fan out there, wandering between each vault in Fallout’s franchise is a rather unique experience and Fallout 3 was no stranger to letting us expand upon our knowledge of what some of the Vaults were used for. In this specific one we find out that Vault 108 was used to experiment with cloning. This case brings our attention to the fact something has gone absolutely wrong as Gary has been running a much and having wiped out the populace of Vault 108.

When exploring 108, players find themselves killing these clones rather mercifully as the clones are only good at two things; muttering their names, which is the only thing they say, and well killing everything around them except for each other.

– 3 – Vault 112’s Tranquility Lane – A Psychotic Adventure – Fallout 3 –

Probably one of the most unnerving moments of Fallout overall, you find yourself in a mysterious vault that is being run by robots, which isn’t all that odd it seems. With Mr. Handy being a streamlined robot, it’s not a wink of surprise to see how the world works in Fallout since each of them are assigned certain jobs, but the unnerving thing is? In Fallout 3’s Vault 112, you find yourself going into a small cryo-like-chamber where you will be meeting your new friend “Betty”, which just happens to be an insane A.I. or rather Doctor Braun who just happens to want you to start out your doings by punching Timmy in the face. Poor little Timmy, he gets his clock cleaned if you do the quest as Doctor Braun in Vault 112 wants. Damn screwed up Matrix.

By the end of the simulation for Tranquility Lane, you find yourself having gone on a simulated homicidal rampage as a character known as the “Pint-Sized Slasher”. Whoever came up with this quest line must have been in love with both classic slasher films and even a taste for the SAW series. Still an interesting plot-twist in the franchise, well not really. Oh and lets not forget you’ve killed every single one of those residents of Vault 112 so that they can finally rest in peace.

– 2 – Nuking Megaton – Goodbye You Crazy Ass Town! – Fallout 3 –

You might be familiar with this little city that just happens to host a weird group of cultists only known as the Children of the Atom, a whacked out bar run by a Ghoul and an annoying Sheriff who follows you as if you are about to do something mischievous with that nuke. I’m not sure blowing up Megaton really needs anything more outside of an idea that Mr. Burke just wants to see the city burn. I know I did after dealing with Children of the Atom. Minus the fact all your belongings, if you have a house there, have gone up in smoke.

– 1 – The Enclave Soldier – Harassing the Soldier – Fallout 2 –

When entering into this Enclave known as Poseidon Oil area, it’s hard not to have some enjoyment in this. This soldier is probably one of the most fowl mouthed, idiotic, and easily trollable characters in the game. With him having a bit of sarcasm to his tone we had to share this clip that can be seen below by a random YouTuber since we were unable to get our own video clip up and running perfectly.

Stay tuned for our upcoming review of Fallout 4 later this month. While you wait, what’s your best moments of Fallout as a franchise? Let us know in the comments.

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Dustin and Greg Unbox the Fallout Anthology

October 1, 2015 / Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

Having just recently released, we decided to sit down, unbox, and enjoy the beautiful Fallout Anthology edition.

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 onTwitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.

About the Writer:

Greg F. is an RPG enthusiast whom absolutely enjoys the niche titles that come across from the East. When it comes to beat-’em-up brawlers such as Senran Kagura, Greg knows the titles just about as good as anyone else, but his passion not-so-secretly sits with his love for retro games from the NES and Sega period. In his free time Greg contributes to B.A.T.G.R. with his knowledge of such feedback.

Opinion: Should Activision Blizzard Drop Call of Duty Campaigns Completely?

September 28, 2015September 27, 2018 / Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

Depending on how much you’ve followed Call of Duty many know that the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of Call of Duty: Black Ops III will not be joining the set-list with a campaign. Instead, the two versions will feature Treyarch’s renowned multiplayer approach that has captured the hearts of fans around the globe. With this move, it struck a simple thought: What if Call of Duty went to a multiplayer only standard?

As someone who loves war based stories, I tend to lean towards games I’ve ventured into each Call of Duty since the days of Call of Duty back in 2003 on PC and PS2. As someone who has taken a delve into franchises such as Battlefield, Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, Socom, and many more, there’s always been a wonderment to what would happen if a renowned franchise stepped away from the campaign much like Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six has in the latest entry into the Six franchise.

When looking at Call of Duty I can’t say I’m a huge fan of the series, while I understand the choice behind Black Ops III being focused as a “Next-Gen Only Game”, I decided to take a look at what potentially could be if Activision and its development teams would be if they departed from the classic approach to Call of Duty, which is a minimalist campaign (Modern Warfare 2 seemed to be where this stopped for many), and an approach that focused solely on the multiplayer in the long run.

If you are familiar with the news of Call of Duty Online (this link will redirect you to Polygon’s article regarding this) in China, it’s not a bad sign for what things could be in things could be in this world if Activision just decided to drop the idea of campaigns all together and focus on their famed multiplayer element. While China’s version of Call of Duty will seem much different from what Western and even some Eastern gamers are used to, the game in itself is well balanced for the Chinese market and aims at giving them the title they need, but what if that title was released in the United States at the standard of being like Call of Duty Ghosts in graphics, but advanced in its gunplay as well as capabilities like Advanced Warfare and the upcoming Black Ops III?

In order to set the stage for the discussion, let us take a look at the ever-growing approach to free-to-play games that by standard, do have in-game charges to either access to new content such as weapons, maps, armors, character appearance, and other variants of paid options. The game that could be used as my prime example is one that I’ve played for quite a while and one that has seemed to grab a soft-spot in my heart: Warframe.

When it comes to Warframe the game is focused on several things that are namely cooperative play, content progression, and player connections. Through player connectivity, the game has grown to one of the titles that have become a fan-favored free to play and a success story to Digital Extremes (Dark Sector, Warframe), and has been a driving force within their offices. Thanks to Warframes ever-growing library of content that is made freely available behind paywalls or player dedication, Warframe is successful, and thus it has become a title that is fairly well known among online gamers.

With those facts in mind, what would happen if Call of Duty took this approach in their marketing in order to help their game grow even more to those who get tired of purchasing a new game yearly, but instead can sign up for yearly season passes as the same price? This is something that would be a unique approach to how CoD is handled and would allow Activision to make extra revenue.

This move would also their studios such as Treyarch, Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games to work together in a cohesive manner in order to bring out new modes, new weapons, new customizations, and even the capability of providing cross-platform play for PC and console users in order to tighten up the reigns on the professional leagues that the game keeps built into it.

Something many users were accommodated to with the League mode that was introduced to us with Call of Duty: Black Ops II back on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC only to be continued on future titles due to rising popularity. With the rise of Call of Duty being an online title, there is not a doubt or even speculation as to why Call of Duty has become an online phenomenon that draws players in year after year even though each title has little change or even little cause for change in what occurs in each of the titles aside from campaign and minor tweaks to game mechanics and graphics.

With campaign gone, many players won’t be taking notice that the game would be following in the steps of titles like Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, which has all, but removed any sign of a campaign within it aside from tactical commentated moments as well as communications voiced by Angela Basset as the head of Rainbow Six.

The question now is simple: what happens to games such as these if they focus solely on the multiplayer? Improved mechanics; the capability of adding, removing, or even creating new side-content that can be unlocked over time and even graphical fine-tuning that can be done through in-game updates much like Warframe as well as several other free-to-play titles have seen in the long run. It’s just a matter of how Activision Blizzard would handle such a transformation for Call of Duty if such a thing happened.

In truth, it’d probably bring in many new players for Call of Duty to take this route and shed its skin as a campaign and online title. Who wouldn’t mind a steady flow of yearly content featuring online multiplayer and online co-op modes such as Zombies, Extinction or even Spec Ops modes?

In truth, Call of Duty may be better off with the money being able to go into developmental resources and dedicated servers for all platforms while the current version(s) of Black Ops III will only see dedicated servers for the PC version of the game while PS4 and Xbox One will still be using a peer-to-peer connectivity client. This is a sign that Call of Duty truly should look at dropping campaigns all together as it would be an effective and cost-efficient approach for the future development of the fan-favorite franchise that proceeds to set new goals with each new launch.

Call of Duty: Black Ops III will be available for PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One starting Nov. 6th, 2015. Pre-Order now at your local retailer or online at GameStop, Best Buy or Amazon and receive the pre-order bonus NUK3TOWN map available while supplies last.

What’re your thoughts on this? Would you like to see Call of Duty leave the campaign arena to focus on solely multiplayer and cooperative modes? Would you prefer Call of Duty to return to its roots with the focus on the campaign? Let us know your thoughts and opinions regarding this.

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 onTwitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.

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