Gaming Stuff:
It has been ages since I wrote a blog post, but I thought to list and write a bit about some games I played for the first time in 2013. Without further ado, here's the list in alphabetical order:
- Ace Combat Assault Horizon
In two words: frustratingly bad. I'm not sure I've played another game with controls so poorly thought out. Additionally, the repetitive combat was boring. I gave up on it after an hour and a half. The planes looked nice enough though.
- Batman: Arkham Asylum
Enjoyed it, looked great. One my gripes about this game is that it tries to be open world, but it really isn't, you get funneled into an area and don't really have much of a choice when you enter combat. Speaking of combat, I thought it was a mouse clicking fest and boss battles - especially the Scarecrow dream sequences - got pretty tedious and boring after the second one....dodge, attack, repeat.
- Batman: Arkham City
Haven't finished this one yet, but it is visually impressive and combat has been slightly refined. Oh, and it's open world!
- Battlefield 4 (Multiplayer Beta)
I played the public multiplayer beta for a week. While it had plenty of eye candy and the destructible environments were nice, I felt that it didn't offer much over Battlefield 3.
- Castle Crashers
Fun, but you really do need friends to play with you to have fun.
- Chivalry: Medieval Warfare
Also good fun, especially with friends. Can be quite buggy at times. Watch out for that back swing!
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Not sure why I didn't play this one earlier. Enjoyed this one immensely, with it's excellent storyline. The combat system wasn't the best and boss battles felt a bit out of place, since the game encourages a lot of stealth. It does take a while to get into, but it's worth it.
- Dishonored
Another title I enjoyed, there's a lot of freedom within each mission with choices affecting the story and later missions. Combat was well done and the powers had the right balance as to not feel OP. The storyline was quite good too.
- FTL: Faster Than Light
Possibly my favourite game of 2013. The game is quite easy to pick up and start playing, but it is difficult to master. Lots of depth, since each playthrough is unique and you have a whole lot of ships you can use. It can be frustratingly random at times, with ship crippling events, but that's why you have to play it smart. More risk, more reward, but expect to die...a lot.
- GRID 2
Not a bad sequel, updated visuals made the game look very nice and car handling was a bit on the arcade-y side. The career mode was a bit short, but still good, I would have liked to see a perpetual career mode similar to GRID 1. Additionally, the racing AI wasn't really as good as NFS:SHIFT2. The variety of game modes is a plus for multiplayer, but I was annoyed at the stack of DLC that you had to buy if you wanted to drive a certain car or on a certain track.
- Strike Suit Zero
Not sure what to make of this one, it looks nice and is fun, but can be frustrating at times. The checkpoint save system can be improved, I think I played one part of the game where some captial ship had to be destroyed (or something) about 9 times before I fluked it and progressed.
- Takedown: Red Sabre
I had high hopes for this game, being a fan of tactical shooters and all that. But the quality of the game was much lower than I expected. Didn't play it very much, co-operative missions are fun, but once you are dead, you stay dead. I would probably say this game is a less polished version of R6: Raven Shield.
- Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist
For the 30 minutes I've played, it looks good and feels a lot like SC: Conviction. Why haven't I played more you ask? Because the bloody game launcher keeps crashing on me...come on Ubisoft support, I'm waiting for your response.
Non-gaming Stuff:
Well, I continued to work full-time, been doing some 3D modelling, taking some photos. Got some new "toys": a Nikon D610 DSLR, Corsair Vengeance K70 keyboard and some other stuff.
Speaking of keyboards, I want to follow up on the last blog where I complained about the new ThinkPad keyboard. After using an X230 for a year, I'll admit that I was wrong on the "it will feel horrible" part. But if you would kindly take a look at the keyboard of the new X1 Carbon (2014), I think it's really screwed up this time.Happy 2014...see you next year! :P
SCΛRECROW
