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I remember playing Super Star Wars when it was the SNES way back in the 90's. I also remember it was rock hard, I don't think I got very far on it back then either.

Gave the Overwatch Beta a go and I'm very impressed. It's Blizzard's usual high level of polish and character designs coupled with a drop-in/drop-out multiplayer game. Which is perfect for me 

I want to try the beta. Have downloaded it but just sure if/when I'll play it.

Now playing Uncharted 3. Having cleared a little of my gaming slate recently I wanted to start a new full price release, and with Uncharted 4 coming out shortly why not get up to speed with the trilogy? I've enjoyed the Collection so far so expect to enjoy this one just as much again. The opening of this game is so good - a fun bar brawl, a great narrative and story driven flashback before going back to London to start properly. It's engaging and exciting!

Downhill from there mostly...

Uncharted 4, what else?

I've only played the first few levels that basically set up the story, it's much more of a slow burn start compared to the previous games but it has to be said the graphics are astounding. This is what I was expecting games to look like this gen, but it's taken until now for it to become reality. I've never seen a game that looks this good on a console before, you just have to see it to believe it.  

I've just reached a point in the story where it looks like the initial build up is done and the fun is really going to start. Bring it on.

I think I'll pick this up next month, just not that excited for it for some reason.

Have heard it looks amazing though but am concerned by many a review saying the last quarter of the game or so is a bit of a slog and drags.

Double whammy of new games this week.  First up is Uncharted 4, wonderful storytelling, incredible graphics, excellent set pieces and just immensely good fun to play.  The combat is slightly more tactical compared to the previous games due to the stealth and slightly more open combat arenas.  The climbing is also improved due to the new 'reach' mechanic so you feel like you have much more control over Drake during these sections.  But these are just minor improvements on a winning formula-this is pure Uncharted and (if Chapter 10 and 11 are anything to go by) the best it has ever been. 

The second purchase is Doom.  Almost the opposite of Uncharted in regards to a minimal story and very few set pieces.  This is all about the gunplay.  And what outstanding gunplay it is.  Reloading is gone, sprinting is gone and a defensive style of play is not the best way to go.  Fast, frantic and aggressive, the combat is a relentless mix of crowd management (do I kill the possessed now or save for a melee kill later when I need health?!) and pure aggression.  It is a very simple design but the thought and concentration needed speaks a lot about the depth of the combat (each and every weapon is useful in its own way for example) and the variety and design of both the enemies and locations.  Every encounter is thrilling and really, really good fun.  This is one the most purely enjoyable shooters in recent memory.

I traded in some games over the weekend and picked up Doom and I am loving it!

Doom is a game that knows what it is: a game and aesthetic of the 90s that is out of place with the modern day approach to games. It is a fun post-modern poke at what games, in particular FPS shooters have become since the original Doom first came out. Which is great on its own but this game actually has some really good gameplay to go with it even if it gets a bit repetitive at times. 

I'm also enjoying the thumping soundtrack as I play. Hearing it grow and change from hardcore rock to full blown Heavy Metal Rock Opera is something that matches perfectly with the escalating chaos of the combat.

I'm playing Doom as well. It's the best single player FPS campaign I've played since Wolfenstein: The New Order, and it's a similar old school, balls to the wall shooter. 

I was unsure what to play tonight and nothing I had in progress was grabbing my attention do I decided to start a new game - Grim Fandango Remastered. Not quite sure where the Remastered comes into this though - the graphics are shite, the controls are horrible and it's user unfriendly! The game even just launches into the story - there's not even a start menu. After fumbling around a bit at the start I almost gave up as I didn't understand what was going on or what to do. But I looked up a guide which has handily helped me out a bit, I started to progress and get the hang of it and understand the plot line a bit better. And then I started to enjoy the dialogue and humour. Not the best start, but I'm happy to stick with it for now with a guide.

OVERWATCH!

Been playing Fire Emblem Fates Conquest and WWE2K16

Now playing The Unfinished Swan. It's got such a good reputation and as a free Plus game recently I decided to start a new game and chose this one. I like the style. The white canvas is like a blank slate and it's fun to discover the levels by colouring them in. The drippy ink makes the levels look artistic and stylish. I only did the opening, but apparently it's not very long so will look forward to seeing how it plays with this idea or if it just uses the same mechanic.

Now playing Uncharted 4: A Thiefs End. The opening was a bit of a damp squib to be honest. Certainly not up to the openings from other entries. It was a bit messy and dull. And then actually gets a bit lamer with another young Nathan Drake flashback chapter. What has improved though is the continual slickness of the series constantly improving and setting the bar in mocap and just general story and character beats. On starting chapter 2 the more familiar Uncharted appeared so I'm awaiting greatness.

It's a good job I managed to clear my backlog a bit recently because I've had a recent run of starting new games! Today I started Far Cry Primal. I've not played the series since Far Cry Instincts on 360, so not only is this a fairly fresh series for me to play in, but I think the whole setting and ambience of Primal is unique. And you know what? I've lived my first hour in the game. It's massively better than AC: Syndicate - it eases you into the game much better and introduces its crafting and beast killing so well that already at this early stage I find it enjoyable - something I was unsure of as I detest crafting in Witcher 3 for example. Getting to explore the map is also much better than Syndicate, and I was already wanting to move on to new areas and undiscovered locations. The bad bits? Still an overcrowded map filled with icons, some of which for side missions and pointless tasks I wonder if I will bother with. Underneath the prehistoric skin which is such a draw, it may be just another vast, over stuffed Ubisoft open world game, but so far that's been enough for me to love it!

Not playing much at the moment due to being on holiday!

Now playing Trials of the Blood Dragon, and I just love it. It's a mental concept - Trials mixed with Far Cry: Blood Dragon. But it just works, and shows the Trials series continually trying new things. In the first five levels alone, you have some normal Trials action, then an on-foot 2D shooter, then a Trials with a tank section, all with the neon funky Blood Dragon style, and cut scenes and story. There's a lot going on, but its just fun. It's not all great, the on foot section is a little loose, with no real control on jumping, and when trying to concentrate on completing the level, you do miss some of the story line based chat going on with the characters. There's also that dreaded feeling I have with all Trials game, that while fun and breezy at first, the difficulty will clamp down and I won't be able to complete it. But there's something about these Trials game that always grabs me in when they release a new one, and this one is so different from the others I've been really enjoying it.

Started The Division recently.  I am absolutely loving it.  It works as a solid third person shooter and it also works as an rpg. The setting is very well done and the story missions are really quite good.  My only concern was the online nature of it, however it has been so easy to join randoms for the main missions, complete with them and then leave them to return to my solo exploring of the city.  Great fun.

Played a bit of Goat Simulator last week, what a load of buggy, pointless shite, I think the point is it's supposed to be pointless but still no excuse for such rubbish. Glad it was GWG and I didn't actually buy it. I got an easy few hundred gamerscore at least for the hour I played it before erasing it from my hard drive. 

aaroncupboard wrote:Started The Division recently.  I am absolutely loving it.  It works as a solid third person shooter and it also works as an rpg. The setting is very well done and the story missions are really quite good.  My only concern was the online nature of it, however it has been so easy to join randoms for the main missions, complete with them and then leave them to return to my solo exploring of the city.  Great fun.

I agree with everything on the whole but the negativity comes when you've done all the missions. To then progress you're kinda forced into replaying the missions and the fact there aren't really that many and they are quite samey becomes tiresome.

There are obvious similarities with Destiny in the 'loot hunt' end game but in this aspect The Division lags waaaay behind for the reasons I mentioned above.

The game is a lot of fun, particularly with friends co-op up until a point. If you stop when you're done with the main missions then you would have had a lot of fun and got quite a lot of content for your money for sure.

The game looks amazing and has awesome sound effects too.

MarkySharky wrote:

aaroncupboard wrote:Started The Division recently.  I am absolutely loving it.  It works as a solid third person shooter and it also works as an rpg. The setting is very well done and the story missions are really quite good.  My only concern was the online nature of it, however it has been so easy to join randoms for the main missions, complete with them and then leave them to return to my solo exploring of the city.  Great fun.

I agree with everything on the whole but the negativity comes when you've done all the missions. To then progress you're kinda forced into replaying the missions and the fact there aren't really that many and they are quite samey becomes tiresome.

There are obvious similarities with Destiny in the 'loot hunt' end game but in this aspect The Division lags waaaay behind for the reasons I mentioned above.

The game is a lot of fun, particularly with friends co-op up until a point. If you stop when you're done with the main missions then you would have had a lot of fun and got quite a lot of content for your money for sure.

The game looks amazing and has awesome sound effects too.

Yep I finished the missions and ran out of stuff to do so I stopped playing. The loot game in The Division is weak as all hell.

Naruto: Path of the Ninja.

Kind of hoping that it ends soon.

Inspired by the launch of Blood and Wine I've returned to The Witcher 3 recently.

The initial plan was to just play the expansions following on from my 'completed' game save from last year, however, the changes bought about by the 1.20 update (which really improved the UI) meant that I decided to start a second playthrough instead. 

I opted to start on 'Death March' and given how challenging the game can be I was actually dreading it, despite loving a challenge, but once I got through the first few hours which were bastard hard due to a lack of healing items, potions, decoctions etc it hasn't proved to be too challenging after all, although you do still need to be fully aware of your surroundings.

I'm approximately 2/3rds of the way through and words cannot express just how much I love this game, even second time around, it has actually replaced Dark Souls as my favourite game of all-time which is no small feat.

I'm also trying to grind out the last couple of combat related trophies, find a few more Gwent cards so that on completion of this 'Death March' run the Platinum trophy should be mine. After that, I will finally crack on with the expansions.

Whilst this game is (still) fucking awesome beyond belief, it's also kind of depressing to think that in all likelihood, it will NEVER be bettered.

I also made a start on Odin Sphere Leifthrasir which arrived earlier today.

I did have the game all those years ago on PS2 but never really touched it which was a big mistake, in my defense I was a 'different' type of gamer back then. Early on, I'm absolutely loving it. Although I was tempted to grab the game on PS4 I instead option for the Vita version as something about these types of games just screams Vita to me and it runs absolutely fantastically. Combat is smooth as hell and it looks fucking stunning.

Definitely looking forward to actually sticking with it this time.

Mirror's Edge Catalyst. I liked the original so decided to give the prequel a try despite the mixed reviews, actually borrowed it off a friend so it hasn't cost me anything anyway.