Day 3: Recent Gaming

I've not had too much time to devote to gaming, but there are two titles I have been enjoying:

XCOM: Enemy Within (PC)

This is an "expansion pack" for the game XCOM: Enemy Unknown, which I've reviewed before. I loved the original and this addition, while not a true expansion in my eyes (it in no way actually changes or significantly adds to the story of the main gain), it does add enough interesting elements to make the game feel fresher, makes several new viable strategies, and balances certain things from the base game.

It adds three main things: The Exalt faction (human enemies with tech comparable to XCOM) and the missions that deal with them, genetic engineering to power-up your soldiers in interesting ways, and Mech troopers that can make you feel pretty damn invincible (on the basic difficulty). There are a couple of random council missions, a slew of new maps, the pretty awesome inclusion of other spoken languages, and other odds and ends. Playing through the game was familiar because it doesn't change the base game or base story beyond these additions and a few balances that, for the most part, I didn't notice. Sectopods seemed tougher and some perks were expanded, but nothing excessive. The new enemy types, while nice to see, didn't go too far into actually changing the gameplay -- Mechtoids are mostly weaker Sectopods and Seekers, unless found in a group of other enemies, are a bit too easy to deal with.

Happiest moment in the game for me. Well, almost...

There could have been a bit more done, such as three-way battles betwen XCOM, Exalt, and the Aliens. Or some bigger changes with base management, but I'm hoping Enemy Within is successful enough to warrant further expansions. Not exactly confidant, but hopeful. Would also be happy with a sequel...

All in all, a fully worthy purchase (even if you missed the Steam sale). You can access all of the new things in one run through the game, but that doesn't mean they won't remain interesting as you replay for achievements or attempt higher difficulties.

Battlefield 4 (PS4)

I picked this up in the hopes to play with one of my brothers, but he has yet to find a PS4. Either way, I'm glad I grabbed it because I have found much more enjoyment from the title than my experience with Battlefield 3 or the BF4 demo led me to believe possible. Being able to play in 64 player matches was a huge shift, but my favorite addition was the game mode Obliteration.

The goal is to take a bomb from somewhere in the middle of the map to one of your enemy's bomb points and planting/defending it until it explodes. The enemy is trying to do the same thing with the same bomb, so it can become a titanic battle to retain ownership of the bomb long enough to get it across the map. The game is over when 20 minutes have passed or all three of a teams bomb locations is destroyed. Vehicles are kosher and can be clutch in securing/transporting the bomb carrier. I love it because of the short (enough) matches and the high energy that comes from most every player in the match zeroing in on a particular point.

Basically me every time I get the bomb...

I've only found one or two maps I don't like, and even those are bearable. The classes are all solid and enjoyable this time around and they all can cover multiple roles -- by best class is Recon, but I've barely touched the sniper rifles. Set him up with a carbine and some C4 and you've got a nice covert operative that can take down vehicles with some well placed explosives.

I didn't play this title on the PS3, and I'm happy I skipped it simply because of the larger scale available.




Other than that, I haven't played too much. I've got some credit to use at GameStop but, after having cut down on the actual number of consoles I own to fund the PS4, there isn't too much out there that is especially appealing to me. I did try out Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. It was a lot of fun and a bit different in regards to how items are unlocked, but I wasn't in the mood to finish the game. Eventually, sure, but for now I'm a bit apathetic. Kinds wish the PS4 would release some more titles... now! The only one I'm looking forward to at this time is inFamous: Second Son, which isn't out until March!

Now please!

Phase II: The Invasion Continues

Remember that time I compared the new XCOM to the original XCOM?

Or how about that time I reviewed XCOM: Enemy Unknown after it released?

Well, I've got some more XCOM related news on two fronts!

First, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified has been released! It is on 360, PS4 and PC. Instead of being a strategy game like its predecessors, it is a first person shooter with strategy elements.

Not my personal preference, but always glad for more XCOM.

To break that down, the game plays similar to Gears of War, almost, in that cover is vital and every battlefield has plenty of it. From there, you can issue commands via a Mass Effect-ish wheel that, when activated, slows down time so you can issue commands and have your soldiers use abilities, move to specific locations, or target a given enemy. This system has gotten hit-or-miss reviews due to taking players a bit out of the action (without commands, your squad is apparently useless) and not reaching a true strategic layer (abilities are relatively limited, squad size is only you and two others, and the commands aren't always followed perfectly).

There is a base that you walk around and interact with other members of XCOM as well. Haven't heard much either way about this portion, though my understanding is that it's nowhere near as interesting/dynamic as in EU.

What has been getting good reviews, however, is the '60s setting and visuals. The story, of which I don't know much because I don't want to spoil it for myself, is a prelude (in someway) to Enemy Unknown. I'm not quite sure how that works, being that the aliens seem pretty fresh to folks in EU, but apprently it isn't handled particularly well either.

Personally, anything XCOM excited me, and I'd love to see more titles, even if the genre switches up.

Of course, I do have XCOM news for the strategy enthusiasts...

XCOM: Enemy Unknown is getting a decent sizes expansion in the form of XCOM: Enemy Within. While still taking place within the EU story, there are several additions, from new enemies to new classes and abilities, as well as re-balancing of the base game.

Want all of this.

One interesting aspect are two new ways to change your soldiers. One is to transfer them to the Mech class, fusing (or imbuing, or just using, I dunno) with alien technology. The other is using alien DNA to enhance your existing soldiers (like giving the ability to create psychic backlash whenever a mind control attempt is made against a given unit). Supposedly these alterations come with a moral dilemma, which I'm hoping actually impacts the story as opposed to being left up to me to feel morally bad about. Because, as Barney Stinson says, SUIT UP!

I'm also excited for the re-balance of current abilities meaning every choice actually count (versus always having my Heavy soldiers with the same EXACT abilities). Also, there are supposed to be more Second Wave options, which should add a bit of spice to your XCOM life as well.

Check out some of the release videos below:

Announcement Info:

Gameplay Info:

War Machines Trailer:

Keep it coming, XCOM!

The Nerd's Top Games of 2012

Hello again! My week is still obscured with finished up my grad work and ramping up for the end of the semester as well, but I figured I could bang out a quick post about my top 5 games from this year.

In case you're wondering, these ARE all my opinion, and I really would like to hear from readers who have titles they've enjoyed more -- I certainly haven't had a chance to play every title that's come out this year.

For this post, I'm even going to put them in descending order by preference; frequent readers (if such a thing exists) would know that only my 5th slot is considered the "favorite," the rest are in a rather... arbitrary order.

If you're looking for gift ideas this holiday season, I think these would be great. I'll list what system I played them on, but all besides one title can be found on any current gen console.

Well, here goes:

Mass Effect 3 (X-Box 360) While I join the masses in being dissapointed with the ending of ME3 (note: I've yet to play through the DLC ending), I really enjoyed the game as a whole and thought it was a fitting evolution for the series. There were some components of ME1 I enjoyed more, but ME3 fully improved upon the second one and remained exciting the entire time. If you haven't played a Mass Effect title, I strongly suggest you play through the entire series. It's great Sci-Fi fun and has a really interesting universe built around it. The game play takes a fairly dramatic shift from 1 - 2, but it's mostly for the sake of streamlining. This game is great if: you enjoy games with deep stories and sci-fi action.
Batman: Arkham City (X-Box 360) A direct sequel to one of my favorite games in general, AC improves on almost everything featured in Arkham Asylum. The atmosphere is the one dramatic change, and I believe it's a matter of preference -- AA was a fairly linear game with mostly enclosed areas and tensions riding on that. AC is a more open world option, my personal preference, which opened it up to a lot of interesting scenery and side quests. The story for AC is a bit out there, but it's fitting for a comic book character. The gameplay is improved upon, meaning the already amazing combat has gotten that much better. And, as sequels should be, it's prettier than ever. This game is great if: you like Batman and kicking ass in action games.
Sleeping Dogs (PC) Click here to read my first impression of Sleeping Dogs. Since my first impression, I've almost finished the game. I did get distracted by other titles, but Sleeping Dogs has easily been one of my favorite games this year. It's similar to a GTA/Saints Row style game, but the story is done much better than anything I've seen from this genre. Also, the action is much, much better. The combat itself is on par with the Batman titles, driving feels awesome, and it is a very nice looking game (on my gaming PC). This game is great if: you enjoy sandbox games, action titles, or Chinese action flicks.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown (PC) This title was my most anticipated title this year, and it did not disappoint. I reviewed it right after it was released, so I won't harp on it too much more. If you're a fan of the original game, this is much, much different. It is a streamlined strategy title that stands on its own merits while pulling thematically from the original. If you've never played an XCOM title, they are strategy games that have a very important resource management portion. This game is great if: you enjoy strategy titles, grid/turn based combat, shooting up some aliens.
Persona 4: Golden (Vita) Yes, I reviewed this last week. Yes, I'm still obsessed with this game. It IS a port of a PS2 title, but it has been improved enough to feel different and much, much more accessible. I'm coming up on the close of my first play through and am anticipating a run through New Game+. Not only is this my favorite game of 2012, I'm confidant in saying it has become my favorite game of all time. I fully understand people disagreeing with this, but I'm an RPG fan at heart and this hits me on the RPG game level and, additionally, gets to the reader in me who likes mystery and interesting, humorous characters. Check out my review for a bit more info! This game is great if: you want a decently lengthy RPG, you love games with interesting stories, or you like your RPGs with some level of replayability.

There were several runner ups, but I'll save them for later down the line in the off chance I do a best game by genre feature for 2012.

Let me know what you think about my list and post your own below!

Hunting Game(s): XCOM: Enemy Unknown Review

Hi all!

So, it finally came! The game I've been eagerly anticipating since I heard about it is on my computer and I've had a good chance to play the crap out of it.

My initial though? Well, if I had to say, I'd probably go with...

IT'S AWESOME!!!!

Ok, a little dramatic, but I'm really enjoying the game. In general, I'd have to say that my favorite genre is Turn Based Strategy (TBS), followed by Role Playing Games (RPGs). XCOM is the former, and one of the only recent TBS titles to come out (especially on console!).

I can't say exactly why I like them so much, though there are some basic reasons:

• Being turn based gives you time to think.
• You plan a strategy and then have to react to the opponent.
• There are (usually) a diverse group of units that you have to know when to use.

But, really, I don't know what exactly what draws me to them. 

Hint: the enemy are aliens

XCOM not only has the turn based battles I love, but it also has an additional strategic layer, where you have to plan your base layout and how your resources are spent/used. Do you upgrade your armor, weapons, or ships? Or do you buy more satellites? Or focus on upgrading your soldiers/other items? Those are just a few of the questions you have to deal with.

The base, where you navigate through the strategic layer of the game. 

The biggest choices you are faced with, however, are usually about which missions to take, and which to skip. Abduction missions come three at a time: each option gives a different reward, but the two you don't choose will have their panic increased. If they panic too much, they might back out of XCOM and pull their funding. When that happens eight times, you lose the game.

Beyond Abduction missions, though, you have to choose if you're going to engage UFOs (some might be too big for you to take down initially) or if you should attack a landed UFO (this could be a problem if all your good soldiers are in sick bay), or if you should embark on a bigger mission, such as assaulting an alien base (if you're troops are strong enough, they won't be making it home).

Unlike the original X-COM: UFO Defense, this game has a more dedicated soldier development aspect. Your soldiers start out as rookies, ranking up to squaddie only after they gain enough experience. At squaddie, they are assigned one of four ranks: Assault/Support/Heavy/Sniper. From there, each level up nets choice of a new perk, each of which can dramatically change how you play. Eventually, you also gain access to psionic abilities, which can enhance some of your soldiers even further (provided they test positive in the Psionic Lab, first).

There are four different difficulties: 

Easy - for newcomers to TBS games

Normal - for standard TBS players, offers a mediocre challenge

Classic - for XCOM veterans and people who want a challenge

Impossible - as far as I'm concerned, aptly named.

Your basic Sectoid group

Each level of difficulty adds additional enemies and increases their statistics. This can go from normal, where one soldier can take down a Sectoid (basic enemy), to classic, where it will take at least two of your soldiers (or a critical hit) to take the little alien out.

There is also an additional mode you can toggle on, called Iron Man. This makes it so the game saves after every action you take. There are no take backs. If your favorite soldier dies, you can't reload an earlier save and try again. 

I personally suggest NOT using Iron Man until some of the game's bugs are ironed out. I've personally noticed that some explosive attacks don't always do the damage they're supposed to, and sometimes the game can get line of sight wrong -- I moved a soldier right next to an enemy and, for some reason, he couldn't "see" him. 

Beyond a few bugs, I've really enjoyed the game and have no issue with the changes they've made from the original. Most people complain that the max amount of soldiers being six instead of the mass of soldiers you could have before; I think it provides more strategic gameplay (and is also easier to manage).

Your friendly neighborhood Muton

Your mission is to protect the Earth from alien invaders, and that's about it. How you do it, however, is completely up to you. The aliens are reasonably diverse, and it can be really heart pounding when you end up surrounded by a group of nine Mutons before you've taken your second turn...

One other boon in this game: you can name your soldiers anything you want. You could name them after your friends, family, coworkers, etc... In that way, you might even become emotionally invested in them enough that it hurts even more to lose them than it would normally.

Personally, I've named all mine after Marvel characters. Cletus "Carnage" Kasady just became my first ever psionic soldier, and he's already a max level assault. Yikes!

On my lovely arbitrary rating scale, I give XCOM a 9/10. If they ironed out the bugs a bit more and patch in a couple fixes to some of the overly punishing mechanics, I'd give it a 10/10. It might not have the deepest story that I usually require, but the story elements they added to carry you from plot point to plot point are beyond welcome. I played yesterday for HOURS, and did not remotely get bored. I'm easily hooked and thinking about how to handle my next campaign on Classic difficulty...

My favorite moment so far was getting the psionic soldier. It actually felt like something really impressive just happened, and this was just the beginning. I've had some fun matches, but the little cinematic from the Pisonic Lab takes the cake (for now).

I suggest this game to anyone who enjoys TBS games. Specifically, I suggest Normal mode at first -- Classic will burn folks out pretty quick. If you are NOT a TBS fan, I really can't suggest XCOM. It's a touch on the difficult side and doesn't hold your hand as much as some other titles do (Final Fantasy Tactics Advance would be my entry level suggestion) and it doesn't have a deep story to carry it.

I do say that XCOM: EU has far exceeded any of its predecessors  and I am VERY happy to see a TBS game become a major release.

Note: there IS a head to head multiplayer mode, though I haven't tried it yet. You create a squad out of humans or aliens and then fight it out as you would on any mission. There are no additional objectives and only five maps at the moment, so it doesn't interest me especially. I look forward to see what modders can do with it (which is why I picked this up on PC).

To help you get a taste of the multiplayer (and basic format for regular battles, sans time limit), here's a match between Greg Laabs of 2K and Pete Murray from Firaxis:

I may have included this because they reference something I said during the livestream at 1:08:53 (Silt44 is my screen name for everything)...

If you end up playing XCOM, let me know what you think! I'd love to see a non-TBS fan's perspective (among with everyone else, of course!).

Otherwise, I'll see you here on Friday!

Hunting Game(s): Upcoming Dates

Howdy Folks,

Sorry if my slightly late posts have been an issue for anyone who really looks forward to my MWF schedule, this has been a bit busier of a week with grad classwork and the like. Hopefully next week will slow down a bit!

For this week's Hunting Game(s) post, I wanted to give a calendar for what releases to expect in October, November, and December:

10/7: Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 release this week, though I'm going to have to pass (GASP!) if I want to hit the other two titles I want this month. It's nice that they're the first story-following sequels, but I don't see any other reason to pick them up, and who the hell plays Pokemon for the story?

10/9: Dishonored and XCOM: Enemy Unknown - I'll be picking these both up, thanks to selling my soul at GameStop, and at least one of them should be featured in next week's Hunting Game(s).
---Dragon Ball Z for Kinect also comes out, but I don't have a Kinect (... and I assume it will be terrible, but that's neither here nor there).

10/23: Killzone HD is out!

10/30: Marvel Avengers: Battle for Erath (another Kinect title) comes out, but, more importantly, so does Zone of the Enders HD Collection! Oh, and Assassin's Creed III comes out too, for those of you into that...

11/6: Dragon Ball Z Budokai HD Collection and Halo 4 hit stores on this day. I'd suggest skipping Budokai (it only has the first and third games, apparently), and I think I'm personally skipping Halo. Mass Effect Trilogy is another notable release.

11/13: Call of Duty: Black Ops II comes out -- I'm looking forward to this, though I say that every CoD lately and am let down...

11/20: Persona 4: Golden is released on the Vita! Finally! I actually thought this was coming out in October; now I'm a bit sad I have to wait. Also, Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale comes out (you know, the Super Smash Bros. knock off with a terrible name).

12/4: Far Cry 3 is out, which looks interesting, though I never played the first two.

On a side note, the 3DS has NOTHING coming out all year that interests me. Nintendo REALLY needs to support their next gen device and stop developing so many DS games (which they may be, since the list I'm working off only has released into November...).

If you notice a lack of Wii or Wii U titles, that's because I have no intention of picking them up and couldn't really suggest and decent titles on their upcoming list -- I've done at least a little research or am otherwise familiar with the above.

Next Tuesday is XCOM and Dishonored (you know, as I wrote above), and I can't wait! I'm going to try and find a store with a midnight release (and, since GameStop doesn't seem to have my back on this, will probably be Wal-Mart), and I have Tuesday off so I can play to my heart's content!

Alright, see you Friday with a post on... well, I have no idea!

Hunting Game(s): X-COM and XCOM

Last week I posted a bit on the upcoming XCOM: Enemy Unknown (for 360, PS3 and PC). Taking a look through my Steam library, I realized I own the original, X-COM: UFO Defense. I don't know when it got there, it must have been in a pack with something else, but I was surprised enough to try it out, even though every YouTube video I've seen of it makes it appear to be highly dated -- like Oregon Trail, but with aliens.

I was wrong.

Well, it is dated, but it is NOTHING like Oregon Trail. In fact, it is one of the most in-depth strategy games I have played to date, and I keep restarting before I get terribly far.

The Earth is in the process of being invaded by aliens. It is your job, as the leader of a secret, paramilitary organization, to stop the invasion and defeat the aliens.

Seriously, though, they are pretty serious about putting you in charge. Not only are you in control of creating and maintaining bases, watching out for aliens, and then beating them up, you actually have to finance everything, conduct research into advanced human technologies and studies of alien tech, as well as hire troops, name them, and then hire a bunch more when your entire army gets decimated by an advanced alien landing party.

It is difficult. This is partly because the UI is clunky and certain things we take for granted today are not present -- you have to choose every character's load out (and there are a bunch of them, I think starting ships let you take 14 soldiers/several Heavy Weapon Platforms on each mission) at the beginning of each mission and it is impossible to check their stats at that point -- hopefully you named them something cute that helps you remember who can shoot straight and who's a coward (I name all my cowards "Fodder").

So... Many... Soldiers...

The game play is spread between managing your bases, building them up so they can produce what you need and detect enemy ships, and then completing missions. Missions appear when you shoot down alien ships, find them landed, find a base they've created, aliens find your base, aliens decide to decimate a large population, and that's just what I've seen so far -- I don't know if there will be more or not.

The aliens are pretty diverse as well -- Sectoids are stereotypical little grey men with bulbous heads, while Mutons are big, ogre looking bastards. And there are several enemies I have yet to see (because I mismanage things and go broke, apparently).

If you are looking for a deep strategy game and don't mind that it's a bit on the vintage side of  thing, there is no better place than X-COM. It is also serving to get me amped for the upcoming game which, while updated and streamlined (aka simplified) compared to UFO Defense, looks amazing.

I'll be getting it for PC if anyone is interested in trying out the multiplayer, which is featured in the video below:


See you there!