Thoughts of E3...Top Five?

Well E3 has been and gone for another year but this year certainly has left many gamers clawing for some of those sexy, sexy games. Here's a quick list of my top five:

5. Mirror's Edge 2.

Although it's just been work in progress, I'm still super excited for this title. The first worked so well with the movement and, from the sounds of things, Dice are making multiple routes and upgrading Faith's movement. Hurry up and show me more!!

4. Assassin's Creed: Unity.

Four player Assassin's Creed co-op...need I say anymore?? 

3. Super Smash Bros.

More characters...extra Pokemon. And my favourite...Little Mac!! My purchase of a WiiU has not been in vain dear readers!  

2. Mortal Kombat X.

I have been a fan of MK ever since I played the first one on my game boy many moons ago. The new one...holy shit! The backgrounds: amazing. The characters: amazing. The fatalities: amazing! I know for a fact I'm not the only one hyped about this!!

1. The Division.

Of all the next gen games this takes the top prize. It's not a remake or remastered. It's something new and different. The new gameplay trailer looks smooth and gorgeous. When the player is hiding behind the bus stop you can see the indentations from the bullets (it's the little things). So far, this game looks like a masterpiece. And we still have to wait until December or next year! Plenty of time to smooth any issues which seem few and far between. This will be one of the only reasons for me buying either a XboxOne or PS4.

Cheers, 

O.E.G. 

@theoegamer. 

Oo There Goes Chicken Chaser!

So with the release of Fable Anniversary I thought it was only fitting to do a review/ blog/ ramble about how much I love this game. I'll mention the changes that I've noticed first then finish with some gameplay and story, considering not much has changed in those aspects.

Fable Anniversary is a reboot of the 2004 release of Fable: The Lost Chapters. Not much has been changed from the original in the way of gameplay but the graphics and sounds have all been upgraded. The story follows you, starting off as a young boy and slowly growing into a hero, either for better or for worse. The phase as a young boy gives you a feel for the game and what to expect (a tutorial if you will!) but the consequences of your actions do still appear later on in the game. 

From the get go one of the big stand outs of this game is the voice. It's clear, even back in 2004, that LionheadStudios spent time on perfecting the voices. And obviously they sound much clearer on Fable Anniversary. Even the villagers who mock or cheer for you as you walk past sound genuine. When you first hear the Guildmaster speak to you through the Guild Seal, the small reverb and echo makes it sound magical! He does still ramble though. I know my health is low, I'm aware of the blood loss! 

The music as well compliments each area as you'd expect. If it's a village or town the music is happy and joyous. A battle, the sound of a deep bass rumbles throughout. An eerie house, creepy violins. These little things helps make the game complete. 

Even the creatures sound larger than life. When I first heard the Balverine howl, it sent shivers down my spine! The squabbling of Hobbes in the caves is both humourous and terrifying! (N.B: I haaaaate Hobbes). But one of my favourite sounds is the torque of a bow being held. It just sounds right, and just as the shot is released, something is gunna die. 

The next big change is the graphics (obviously). All the character models are crisp. The armour, especially the bright and dark varieties, look magical! I mean look above at the small intricacies on the shoulder pauldrons! The green cloth even has patterns running through it! Another big change is the demons doors. They now look part of the wall and, dare I say it (DARE!) some sort of real. The environment as well has had a massive face lift! The shimmering water does look real, the ivy and moss actually seem like they've been there for years growing! Last thing I want to mention is the magic. My favourite is the force push. Remember that scene in Matrix where the helicopter crashed into the building? It reminds me of a sped up version of that when I use it! I could rattle on but as the old saying goes, a picture paints a thousand words. It is safe to say though, all the models, be it the water, a Balverine or a fireball, look fantastic! 

 "Bandit...Meet Death!"

 

 "Pants...Filled!"

 So lets get down to it. The gameplay. Like mentioned, not much has changed. And honestly...thank Christ! It didn't need changing. X is attack, and the player holds it for a strong attack. Y is your bow. B is magic. The player can cycle through his magic by holding RT and unleash some destruction! For each type of kill you'll get additional XP which you spend to upgrade your character and make him a muscle bound freak. Because, if I'm honest, I wouldn't want some skinny little pushover arriving at my village if it's getting overrun by Balverine's! Get your ass to the gym and come back once your benching 220 (although...everyone would be dead...). When your not out saving the world you can do other things like; buy a house, get married, massacre an encampment. The list goes on!

I want to mention the story and tell you all how amazing it is! And that some of the choices make you put down the controller and phone a friend (no 50:50 I'm afraid). Or that some of the set pieces will leave you gobsmacked! But alas, I'm not going to. It would ruin the surprise and the story and I hate doing that! All I'll say though, out of all the Fable's, this is by far the best one, in my opinion. I like the second (third...not so much) but I don't think it'll give me the same amount of joy that this one has given me!


Comment and follow me a twitter and give me some love, @TheOEGamer.
Cheers.

O.E.G.

Back to the Murder.

So after playing Viva Pinata and the past few reviews/ blogs I've been doing have been about happy happy games, I've decided to get back to my manly routes and play a game full of shooting, and killing. And chainsaw guns!

Gears...of...WAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everyone's played this right? Unless: a) You're a Playstation fan boy b) You've been living under a rock  c) You're dead. G.O.W came out in 2006 a year after the release of the Xbox360 and this was solely the reason I (and I assume many others) bought a 360. The game is a sci-fi shooter for those of you that don't know...you know what? I'm pretty sure you all know the fucking plot! Made by Epic games it was, in my opinion, the first decent next gen game.

The story can be played singularly, local and online co-op. The game starts with Marcus Fenix (played by the great John DiMaggio...he did Bender as well!) in a prison cell being busted out by his long time buddy Dom. They are part of these nails mo' fuckas called the Gears. Kinda like the Special Forces of this universe. And then it's up to the player to control Marcus through the world stopping the Locust (sci-fi orcs?) using a wide array of weapons. The set pieces in the game were amazing. The combination of the over the shoulder camera, the sound effects and the areas just made me genuinely feel nervous! All I was thinking when getting chased is," I can't turn round to look because you have to stop to do that...so fuck that."

                 "Surprise! Cock fag!"

Presentation wise the game was, and still is sound. Sure there's a few frame drop issues but apart from that I can't complain. This ruined world, surrounded by death and war was beautiful to look at. Every time you fought in an area it felt like truly daunting, due to the seer size and scale of the place. I enjoyed the parts where the game slowed down for the plot and to show off the designs of certain areas. The character models were all unique and the Locust characters, especially the grenadiers, were fucking terrifying! But when you're controlling a dude wearing power armour wielding a chainsaw gun and you've cut that brute in half? That fear gets replaced with excitement (errrrrection!). And when you do it for the first time...you feel unstoppable. 

So with that in mind we shall delve into the combat. It's cover system was awesome. Simple to use. Hard to master. If there were two of you on co-op, you could have constant fire barraging the enemy. Obviously Epic covered the recoil of each weapon, so on extreme difficulty, your shots had to count! They developed a reload system that if you pressed at certain point, you would reload faster and have a small damage boost, which could be the decider in a multiplayer match. Then the best part. The fucking melee!!!!

                  "DOOOOOOOMMM!"

I know I already mentioned this but only briefly. In G.O.W's you can shoot the enemies legs to cripple them so you're able to get close (story and multiplayer) then, depending on the weapon, you can kill them in a sort of fatalility. Clearly the best was cutting someone in half with a chainsaw. Or you could equip a shotgun and smash their head in with a golf swing! Or attach a frag grenade to them and watch them blow up! OR execute them up close with a bolt pistol which made their head explode! 

Now if you aren't aware (but I'm sure the last paragraph has made it clear) the game was brutal. Limbs flying all over using grenades or the hammer of dawn (sorta like a light beam weapon from the sky). Heads left in pieces from a headshot from a sniper rifle or bolt pistol. It made playing online that more sweeter when you won, watching your foes explode or collapse from gunfire. 

So Playstation fan boys, and dead people/ ghosts/ zombies, with the release of the Xbox One the first Gears should be relatively cheap to pick up. Go out and get it and play through an Epic (no pun intended). I should also mention this is one of the very few games I played online so I highly recommend it to anyone! 

Hope you enjoyed! 

Leave me a comment! 

O.E.G.