Dishonored: Death of the Outsider Review

Dishonored: Death of the Outsider tasks you with killing a god, which outright doesn’t look like an easy task. Following Billie Lurk, one of Daud’s assassins and also one known as Meagan Foster in Dishonored 2, the standalone expansion brings players back into the city of Karnaca on a path to kill the Outsider himself. Death of the Outsider plays very much like any Dishonored, although avoids the binary choice system of previous titles by removing the impact of city chaos on the ending. I appreciated this feature, as the game no longer forces you to pick a play style to get a certain ending, but instead, you play whichever way you feel like. Apart from it, Death of the Outsider plays very familiar and I could always go for more Dishonored, with open level exploration and a multitude of approaches to select from. Being a standalone expansion, Death of the Outsider is done fairly quickly, yet playing as a different character with new powers doesn’t get boring by any extent. The game carries similar elements to other Dishonored titles, although there is always something new to discover in this universe, and Death of the Outsider fleshes more about Karnaca with its numerous side contracts. With even more supernatural elements than before, the game really stands out as an excellent standalone title, and for anyone who thoroughly enjoyed previous titles, is well worth playing.

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EA’s greed for microtransactions has become a plague

Remember when you paid for a game and got to enjoy 100% of its content at launch? Those days have long gone, with publishers seeking to drain you of hard-earned money as much as they can. The explosion of DLC packs created for games after launch was the culprit at first, following most major IPs through their life cycles. Not everyone liked that push, though gamers were never forced to pay in most cases. A bunch of games didn’t follow that, but you always get a few of those greedy oddballs in the industry. More so, we’ve got to experience some brilliant stories added the games post launch, with likes of Mass Effect 2: Lair of the Shadow Broker and The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine providing quality entertainment once you’ve finished the main storyiine. Now, however, the industry has adopted a mass trend of throwing microtransactions in every pot, with publishers like EA and Activision being worst offenders of the bunch. The former seems to take up a new headline each year, with no end in sight for slowing its greedy momentum. You pay for a game, then buy some DLC (which doesn’t seem to be that widespread these days), and maybe you’d also want to spend extra cash on useless cosmetics or worst case – pay to win the game. Costs of a new release now suddenly spike to over $100 from initial $60, with especially EA known to be most aggressive with its premium currency.

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Just Cause 4 Review

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

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

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

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?

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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Best local multiplayer games on PC

image source: Amazon

Any game becomes instantaneously more fun when you’re playing with a friend or a group, especially if you’re sitting in the same room. Whereas consoles enjoy a larger suite of titles multiple people can play at once, the case becomes much less so when looking at the PC platform. While most PC gamers indeed prefer having a desk setup, there are those who like to have a high-end gaming station hooked up to their TV set, myself included. This makes the lack of extensive split-screen options in PC gaming a challenge when trying to find titles one can enjoy with friends, and few developers choose to include the feature across the platform, even if it may be present in a console version. Looking at Steam’s split-screen releases, there’s little to find between the many LEGO games and low-quality indie releases, so I’ve rounded up a list of picks that qualify to deliver a fun and rewarding experience for multiple individuals. LEGO games aren’t bad either, although their appeal is limited to a much younger audience than most of the hardcore PC gamer base. The options aren’t broad, and one will see quite a few racing games included, but these are the titles I’ve had the most fun with playing alongside friends.

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Far Cry 5 Review

Playing a new Far Cry game at this point feels like slipping on a familiar pair of shoes, and despite minor token innovation throughout each release, extensively feels like going through the same motion. Far Cry 5 may be the biggest step away from the series’ usual tropes so far, yet I can’t escape the feeling I’ll be doing precisely the same stuff in a different setting. It’s a new region to explore, a new story, a new villain – yet feels very much the same as the games that came before it. Retreading familiar ground, Far Cry 5 throws players into an isolated region, tasked to liberate it from an oppressive cult. It’s wearing a new coat again, although this time Ubisoft made some welcome changes to make the experience less redundant. Don’t expect full blown progress, however, as we’re still playing by the same rules established in Ubisoft’s sandbox titles back around when Far Cry 3 came out. That said, there is a reason many enjoy the series, and won’t leave that comfort zone for innovation. Far Cry 5 is a solid entry once more, but four games in, the magic of its experience is starting to wear off no matter what Ubisoft attempts to change for a new release.

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Life is Strange Android port impressions

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Developer: Dontnod Entertainment, Publisher: Square Enix

Released: July 18th, 2018

Tested on: Razer Phone, Android 7.0

It’s always exciting to see a fully-fledged game release available on your mobile device’s marketplace, especially if it is a port of the game you’ve enjoyed on PC throughout the last couple of years. There’s something remarkable about being able to play a PC release in the palm of your hand, even more so if there was no downgrade in the process. Life is Strange marks one of these rare cases where the mobile port is so good, I may never go back to the PC version, as the platform is more adept to play action-heavy games on. If I want to relax and game on my phone, Life is Strange offers a compelling story-rich experience that will be engaging throughout long stretches of time. With fluid controls, excellent graphics and rewarding story content, Life is Strange arrives on Android in shining colors, and delivers the quality few mobile titles can match. And the fact that it’s one of the best episodic adventure games on the PC and consoles makes it even even more sweet.

Note: this is not a full-feature review but my impressions with the Android port of the game, which released a few months ago.

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