Monthly Archives: January 2019

Epics snags Metro Exodus from Steam just weeks before the game releases

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Since revealing their own storefront in 2018, Epic Games have been busy snagging titles from under Steam’s nose, whether be it smaller indie projects, or the few bigger guns in upcoming releases. One can’t deny Fortnite’s success played a huge role here, giving Epic loads of cash to spend on luring developers away from PC’s biggest distribution platform. It doesn’t even care for the rather simplistic platform it built, which yet lacks cloud saving out of all things that Steam gave us as quality of life improvements. Despite that, developers shift to it without much thought, and one could see the reasons here; Epic takes a 12% cut from publishers, whereas Steam has always remained at consistent 30% demand of revenue.

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Volcanoids Early Access Impressions

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As I explore a strange steampunk island I’ve just arrived on, the earth begins to rumble, my senses disoriented for a few seconds. Getting back to my submarine, I seal the doors behind me in preparation for inevitable danger, looking out of a handy periscope, only to see the island suffer gigantic volcano explosion, and my vision gets blocked. With the smoke gone, the once green environment is now concealed under a layer of ash, though I’m capable of venturing out yet again. From there on, Volcanoids asks to construct a ship core, setting you up for what you’ll be spending much of your time playing with. An open-world, base building survival game, it sends you out on a quest to reclaim this land for the people once more, and somehow figure out how you’re going to silence the volcano all by yourself.

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Just Cause 4 Review

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Playing Just Cause 4, I can’t escape the notion that something went wrong in Avalanche’s open-world series, with a slightly new design direction that doesn’t fit quite as well as fans would hope. I’m still having a blast destroying the multitude of enemy bases scattered across the huge map of Solis, which I traverse with Rico’s trusty grappling hook, paired with weirdly unlimited parachute, and a jet-powered wingsuit you can now use. Blowing up explosive barrels and enemy structures is a usual display of unlimited chaos, which you can now further facilitate by sending a tornado towards an enemy base. Weather effects have a convoluted plot around them, and Just Cause never aimed to have complex exposition, but utilizing them leads to spectacular results. Yet in many ways, the revamped mission structure here feels too restrictive, taking away much of the freedom to do your own thing, where you’d normally be able to progress in the game simply by engaging with its open world. In Just Cause 4, repetitive objective design is now more apparent than ever, and so is its serious lack of improvement over predecessors, though let’s not write the game off just yet.

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Games of February 2019 I have on my radar

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February 2019 is priming to be a huge month for video game releases, with numerous big names slated to compete for gamers’ limited budgets and attention. We’re even getting four released at once on the same day, which doesn’t really help in deciding the one to go for. There’s no way to buy them all, or even play through within a span of a month, but this list has my own personal picks for titles I’m looking out for. The release dates aren’t set in stone, and a few could always get delayed sometime further, but each is so far listed to drop February 2019. I mostly focus on bigger names here as they’re the ones I’m most excited to play in the coming months, although I’d love to hear about any great picks I may be missing in the comments below.

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5 Games to Look out for Last Week of January 2019

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I originally planned to write this post as an introduction to a list of games on my radar set to release in February 2019, however, it would simply result in too much reading for one to digest without falling to boredom. Thus, I’m separately covering the few major hits remaining in the last week of January, which will further break up the already intense competition of big releases primed for February 2019, and vie for gamers’ limited budgets and time. There’s no way to buy them all either, or cover the entire spectrum of releases, with many left behind as the strong leads take over. While much of my selection consists of larger games, and I’m sure the comments can point out some gems I’ve missed here, I list the ones I’m personally interested in so far.

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Distance Review

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Whenever games attempt to combine various genres into one, it always either ends up a complete failure, or a niche success that finds good traction among the adopting player base. Refract studios created something special with Distance – a survival-themed racer where you explore a mysterious futuristic city, having to avoid numerous obstacles scattered throughout each level in an effort to make it through until the end. It mixes in platforming elements of the sort, with jumping, spinning and flying mechanics introduced to compliment traditional arcade racing, and add a unique spin on the experience. It’s quite relaxing, yet intensely gripping at once as you try to navigate the diverse obstacles, and nail those perfect runs to advance in game further. Whether you attempt to uncover what happened to this strange world, grab perfect scores across each level in Arcade mode, or compete online against other players, Distance offers something for everyone with its engaging gameplay mechanics.

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I’ve started getting serious fatigue from open-world gaming

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Open-world games are by far my favorite way to spend time when I boot my computer to sit back, relax, and enjoy a few hours of entertainment. Undefined by a specific genre, these now cover a myriad of gaming concepts and have come to include a broad range of franchises and new IPs. Yet in recent time, I’ve been feeling an increasing sense of fatigue when it comes to playing open-world titles, and I’ve spent some time thinking as to why it may be. Perhaps I’ve played way too many by now, and simply interjected little variety through experiencing different genres. That wouldn’t be the case, though, as I’ve never had such a problem in the past. So, what exactly led me to start getting exhausted from games I play and enjoy most often?

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Zelotes T80 Review – Easily the best cheap gaming mouse?

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When I was looking to buy a gaming mouse, I wanted something nice looking but very inexpensive at the same time. I didn’t exactly want to spent a $100 on a Mad Catz or Corsair mouse, even while those look absolutely amazing. Browsing through Amazon, I saw the Zelotes T80 mouse, and it caught my attention. Its combination of affordable pricing, attractive gaming design and a decent enough build for the price make it one of the best alternatives to high-end gaming mice if you don’t have the bank to spend lots on your gaming accessories.

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Burnout Paradise Remastered Review – A trip down memory lane

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Burnout Paradise is one of those games I find myself coming back to year after year, never tiring out on its adrenaline filled gameplay formula. Few racing titles have managed to deliver levels of excitement found in Burnout ever since the series went into hibernation, and none possess the engaging open world found in Paradise. Now it has a fresh coat of paint and brings all DLC into one spot to preserve one of the best arcade racers you can currently find on the market. Burnout Paradise Remastered extensively improves all visual aspects of the original version, while retaining the exact same game experience fans have enjoyed since its release back in 2008. This is all you’d normally ask of a remastered experience, but features significantly more upgrades compared to typical obsession of the gaming industry to update almost everything it’s released in the past. Burnout Paradise is one of those few where I don’t mind spending money to get the updated experience, knowing I’m very well getting exceptional value even when I own the original game. You don’t have to be a racing game fan to enjoy the experience, and Paradise Remastered offers unparalleled open-world excitement.

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Rocket League pioneers full cross-platform play between all gaming systems

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In a news announcement made by Psyonix today, Rocket League now includes PlayStation 4 among the list of platforms you can play seamlessly between. Gamers on PSN, Xbox One, Steam and Nintendo Switch can now join in random matchmaking with or against each other, enabling even faster loading times to get into the game. This marks a big achievement for cross-platform play, as Sony is known to tightly safeguard its platform in multiplayer gaming. Enabling Rocket League to be included in the PS Cross-Play Beta program is also a huge step towards integrating seamless multiplayer between various systems, with more games to hopefully follow in the future.

Cross-platform play in Rocket League is available across all online game modes, regardless whether you play casual and competitive. All one has to do is have the feature enabled in Gameplay options tab, but it is usually available by default. Psyonix are also working to integrate cross-platform parties in their first update this year, which will allow players “to partner up with friends on any platform with the push of a few buttons.” Online multiplayer is already quite fast to get into, so now with more players available across the world, it will be an absolute breeze to join online matches across all game modes.