Concerningly Co-op: On the Borderlands of Bravery

Alongside the single player games I've started, I like to keep things fresh(?) with co-op games. I find that having some accountability makes me finish the game and that playing with friends is actually pretty fun. The game this time is:

Borderlands 2 (PC)

This Shootem/Lootem/Jokem'up is best described as what feels like a playable Adult Swim game full of colourful graphics, characters, weapons and plenty of loot; these things polarised by a pulse pounding and wildly varying soundtrack that keeps the action going when you need it to but is able to set a mood when looking at the beautiful cel-shaded vistas this title provides for you.

The gameplay itself up to what I've experienced has been great - tight shooting mechanics from a great range of weapons that all feel distinct from each other even though they are randomly generated. For instance I know that my Dahl rifle feels greatly different from the Jakobs version I also have in my inventory.

This paved the way for a game that has made me excited to pick up the loot from my slain enemies rather than like Diablo where it's raining swords that although have different numbers on them, are merely a key to getting more DPS/a way of working towards your current build.

Playing with another person adds a whole new dimension to it also, the game feels like your personal MMO where you and your friends can explore the weird and wonderful world of Pandora and the vile little creatures that plague it, having moments of sheer disbelief and humour.

For example, Jake and I were simply looking around for look on what looked to be a farm with Varkids (annoying little insect creatures) when all of a sudden a fleet of flying helicopter-cum-plane machines called Buzzards came soaring over from the ridge towards us, the enemies inside humming "Ride of the Valkyries" as they rained rounds down upon us. This lead myself and Jake to one of the most difficult yet entertaining battles we've had in our time with the game so far, forcing us to work as a real team and taking it in turn to poke our heads out and take pot shots at the flying machines.

It's moment such as that which keep me going back to the game when I can - based so far on what I've played, I'd wholly recommend it to anyone looking for a time sink (it can last with DLC for over 100 hours) or anyone looking for a game to play with an SO or group of friends.

I'll talk a hell of a lot more about it when finished, I assure you of that, but it'll probably be weeks until a full writeup is shared. 

I'll pop up any more great moments we have with the game as and when we have them.

I'll also leave you with this:

PC Playthrough - Deus Ex Machina

This is the 3rd concurrent game I am currently tackling and the first post about a PC game on my backlog - that game is:

Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Director's Cut

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is the newest entry into an extremely critically acclaimed series of Action/Adventure/Stealth/RPG games. Yes there is literally that much to them, they have carved out their own niché in terms of the genre they belong to, play it and you'll see what I mean.

Historically, they focus on giving you an objective and letting you loose; allowing you to tackle it in any way that you see fit; something which I am pleased to say has carried over amazingly well into this title. I'm going to jump straight into my first impression and say that this is a more refined and beautiful version of the first game, in another setting with drastic UI improvements and mechanic streamlining.

There is so much to do so far and I have been wasting plenty of time becoming invested in this dystopian (less and less so by the day) future, whereby people identify themselves as a member of large multinational corporations rather than by country, where science is redefining what it is to be human and where one man is on a quest to seek the truth in a world where the word "truth" doesn't exist.

The game is heavily revolved around stealth - I am going for a non-lethal play through of the game too which has made it far more difficult but rewarding, making my Jensen a man where he can see the benefit of the physical changes forced upon him but unwilling to fall victim to the stereotype of an augmented person.

In terms of the actual game, the sound design is nothing short of a masterpiece; the haunting cyberpunk melodies the pièce de résistance to the golden hues and amazing skylines of a futuristic Detroit and China.

I'll stop for now as I could talk about what I've experienced in this game for a very, very long time. I'll leave that to the full review after completing it.

As a final note however; I keep asking myself one question as I play the game:

How have I left it this long to play Deus Ex: Human Revolution?

Console Cowardice - A Heartless First Entry

As my last posts states, I have started 3 new games from my backlog. Today's entry discusses the first console game and my initial impressions on it. The game is:

Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD ReMix

Now, before I start, I have to point out that I had already played about 5 hours of the original version on the PS2 years ago when it had first released. However I pretty much remembered nothing about it other than the fact that the music was pretty great and that the blend of action and RPG elements was at a perfect balance for me.

So it's not really cheating right? I am completing it this time and according to How Long to Beat, it lasts around 38 hours, so I had barely scratched the surface.

I picked this up from Game on a whim after promising myself I wouldn't buy any more games until after I finished my then smaller backlog; obviously failing, I got a great deal on it brand new (think around £20) so justified it as a cheap purchase that would satisfy my RPG itch over a great period of time.

Kingdom Hearts is a game about Sora, a boy with gigantic feet who finds his world devoured by the heartless; the antagonists of the game, and his quest to find his lost friends by searching many Disney worlds and vanquishing his foes with the Keyblade; meeting familiar faces from Disney franchises and Final Fantasy games alike.

Now having started it, I'm very glad that I did pick it up. They say never meet your heroes and in this case Kingdom Hearts is definitely an exception to that rule. In meeting Final Fantasy Characters and Disney Characters that I grew up with, it has so far taken me back to a point in time when video games were fun to pick up and play for me, from start to finish and a time when mechanics felt fresh and new from title to title.

The remastering has done the game wonders in the levels I have played, I'm currently in the *SPOILERS* Little Mermaid world and the cartoon style graphics are somehow even more beautiful than they were when I used to drop the disc into the clattering and whirring black block of time gone past. The character movement is fluid and the frame rate holds up very well, even in the most crowded areas such as the Colosseum tournaments.

The music is a beautiful mash up of relaxing yet upbeat tunes which seem to perfectly encapsulate the theme of the level you are in. This is only in the places I've visited so far, so things may well change. The voice acting however is very atypical of Disney and Final Fantasy; being high pitched and slightly annoying on one end of the scale and full of pessimistic, teenage angst on the other.

I'll talk in detail a bit more in my full write up once the game is completed, but so far, so good. There's the two other bundled games included (re: Chain of Memories and 358/2 Days - the latter being more of an interactive story); not sure how bothered I am to go through those however as I played a bit of Chain of Memories on its original GBA release and despised it.

So if you'll forgive the pun, I think this game holds the key to my success in beating what is still an expansive portfolio of games to complete.

Portable Gaming Plunge: Triforce and Tribulations

This week I began 3 games (1 portable game, 1 PC game and 1 Console game)

The First portable game is:

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

I've not had much time with the game so far, clocking in roughly 3 hours out of the 29 needed to complete it (according to How Long To Beat); however I'm very impressed with the way it's been remastered.

Having never played the original, my only experience with the game has been through "Top 10 Games of All Time" lists/videos and reading about people attesting to the fact that it was one of the golden titles of an age in gaming gone by.

Personally I think this offers me an advantage as I'm not wearing rose tinted glasses and am simply playing the game; seeing it for what it is without an overbearing sense of nostalgia that can often provoke a strong bias towards these remasters that seem to be the new trend at the moment.

Although this is true, I love the Zelda franchise; the first game in the series I played was Oracle of Ages which I'll always remember due to the fact you could use a link cable (no pun intended) to connect with Oracle of Seasons; changing the plot of the game and adding content, one of the first cases I know of that this was capable in (apart from Sonic and Knuckles).

The only Zelda games that I have played have been 2D (Apart from Spirit Tracks and Phantom Hourglass, which I don't really see as 'proper' entries due to their strange stylus control schemes). So playing the game so far has felt like an immense step up in terms of mechanics and aesthetics, aiding in my ability to become immersed in the world and enjoy the game frustration free.

Well... At least so far.

Overall, it's going well - I'm still very motivated to get it finished and being a fan of the series, I'm glad to finally be playing through such a highly regarded game.

I'll write a full report after I've completed it and placed it on the shelf of Godly Games, or after I've thrown it in the Bin of Banishment.