Fallout 4

Another game that was announced at Bethesda's E3 2015 conference was Fallout 4. I haven't always been a fan of the Fallout series, but I can say from what I heard and saw from the conference makes me want to give Fallout 4 a chance. The character customization looks fantastic. From the looks of it, you can practically customize every aspect of your character. As well as play as either male or female, and have nearly unlimited customization options. Not only can you customize your character, but you can also customize your weapons and armor.

There is an almost Minecraft-like aspect to Fallout 4. Throughout the game you will find resources, and with these resources you are able to build things. Things such as shelter, furniture, weapons, and more. All the customization in the game are real-time, in the world, changes. Want to take apart an abandoned home and build a new one, you can. Need a new couch for your home, then make it. The customization aspect of Fallout 4 has me very intrigued. I'm curious on what kinds of creations I could built within the Fallout universe.

Just from what I have seen from the conference. Fallout 4 looks to be a great game, something worthy of at least giving it a try. I feel I'll like it way more than Fallout 3. If you are wanting to see the customization of Fallout 4, click here. To view the full Bethesda conference, click here. Fallout 4 will be available for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC on November 10, 2015. Expect to see more about Fallout 4 as I learn more about it.

Weekend Gamer 6/20/2015

Looking for something to play this weekend. I know what I'll be playing!

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (XB360)

I've been playing Skyrim all week actually, leveling up my character, Maxwell Orgshire. He's currently on Level 13. I managed to become Thane of Whiterun and Riften as well as purchased houses from both towns. Killed about five dragons so far. I've got my goal of become Thane of all the major towns, as well as purchases as much houses as possible. I've mostly been ignoring all of the main quests and doing mostly side quests. This will keep me occupied until I save up enough money for a new video card for my PC.

Fallout 3 (XB360)

Since the recent announcement of Fallout 4 (which I'm working on a short preview for as we speak, probably will be posted tomorrow) I've thought I'd play the third game before the fourth comes out. I've never really cared for Fallout, but the fourth one looks simply amazing. My friend keeps telling me to finish Fallout 3 before I play Fallout 4, so that's what I'm going to do.

Game On!

A New Doom

During the Bethesda conference at E3 2015, a new Doom was officially announced. This got me very excited. I love playing the Doom games. It's one of the few games that got me into gaming in the first place. It's also the game that got me in trouble a lot in middle school and high school. From watching some gameplay footage shown during the conference, the game looks amazing. Just like any other Doom game, the weapons are just to die for.

One of the cool things that Bethesda is introducing with the new Doom game is a map editing software where one can create a map and share it. The maps you can edit will be added on to the multiplayer arena where other players can experience your creation. The map editor for Doom is called Snapmap. I feel this is a really nice touch to modernize Doom. I can't wait to get my hands onto the map editor to create an arena to later play with my friends.

During the conference, Bethesda announced that the new Doom will be for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. Coming out sometime in 2016. If you are like me, you just want to get this game right now. If you are interested in seeing a trailer for the multiplayer, click here. If you want to see the full Bethesda conference, click here. If you want to see the amazing single player campaign footage, click here. Keep an eye out for more Doom posts. As soon as I learn more about it, I'll be posting it here on the game blog.

The Unfinished Swan

The Unfinished Swan is a first-person painting game developed by Giant Sparrow. You play as a little kid who is chasing an unfinished swan, painting the landscape as you progress through the game. The child's name is Monroe, who has been placed in a world of white. Later to discover an unfinished kingdom where you journey through in search of the unfinished swan. Along the way, you'll encounter little story blocks that will tell you about the King and his legacy he wishes to leave behind.

The Unfinished Swan has a very good story to it. It'll keep you wanting more as you progress within the game. Puzzles will come up and challenge you for a few moments, but is very satisfying to figure out. The art style within the game is superb, and it just keeps getting better as you progress through the game. When you first start the game, everything is plain white. At certain points of the game, things will change, eventually shadow is introduced in some levels.

The soundtrack to the game is rather peaceful. I really enjoyed the music in the Unfinished Swan. I feel it helped with the experience of the game. The audio was very crisp. As you play, you can hear various creature make noise as you walked through an all white world. Frogs, crickets, and birds make a nice addition to the sounds you'll hear in the game. Sometimes Monroe will even say a few words, such as when you fall you'll hear him go "ahhh!" Sometimes he'll even say "Woah!"

I would recommend this game to whomever enjoys a good story as well as puzzles. If you are into art work, you might want to check this game out. It is a PlayStation Exclusive and can only be played on PS3, PS4, and Vita. This game won't be for everybody, and not everybody will have enjoyed it as much as I have. All I ask is that you at least give this game a try. It's only $14.99 on PlayStation Network. I'd rate it a four point five out of five.

Free Games for June 2015

Each month both PlayStation and Xbox offer free games for members of their services. Here are the games that are for free for the month of June 2015.

PlayStation Plus

Futuridium EP Deluxe (VITA/PS4)

Description on PlayStation Site: "A psychedelic retro inspired shoot'em up with a modern twist, that blends together frantic action, puzzle elements, a vibrant low poly aesthetic and a heart pumping electronic soundtrack. As a lone starship pilot lost in a dimensional loop just before a big space battle, with a limited and constantly depleting energy tank, your only hope is to fly as fast as possible over enormous space dreadnoughts, destroying their defenses and the cyan power cubes to get some energy back." Developed by MixedBag.

Cloudberry Kingdom (PS3)

Description on PlayStation Site: "Unhappy ever after. That's how it starts. The Orb resurfaces and the classic characters return. Kobbler with his mania, Princess with her endless boredom. It's only a matter of time before Bob, our hero, shows up to put order back to madness. Three powers struggle for victory and the fate of Cloudberry Kingdom hangs in the balance." Developed by Pwnee Studios.

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger (PS3)

Description on PlayStation Site: "Live the epic and violent journey of a ruthless bounty hunter onto the trail of the West's most notorious outlaws. Blurring the lines between man and myth, this adventure made of memorable encounters unveils the untold truth behind some of the greatest legends of the Old West." Developed by Techland.

Super Exploding Zoo! (VITA)

Description on PlayStation Site: "Round up herds of exploding animals and rampage around 80 destructible levels - defend your precious egg by slamming your herd into the greedy alien marauders and blowing them up!" Developed by Honeyslug Limited.

Skulls of the Shogun (PS4)

Description on PlayStation Site: "Crush your enemies and eat their skulls! Skulls of the Shogun is a fast-paced turn-based strategy game, supercharged with fighting-game flare and double-stuffed with a serious sense of humor! Enter the Samurai Afterlife and join forces with undead warriors, magical monks, and the mighty mustachioed samurai generals!" Developed by 17-BIT.

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (PS4)

Description on PlayStation Site: "Set in 1975, Naked Snake is tasked to infiltrate a site on Cuban soil. On a mission to extract long-lost allies being held hostage and interrogated by a shadow military group among other objectives, Snake must use stealth and operational tactics to understand the truth behind the complex motives of the all-powerful Patriots and their mission to create a global war economy." Developed by Konami Digital Entertainment.

Xbox Live

Just Cause 2 (XB360)

Description on Xbox Site: "As agent Rico Rodriguez, your orders are to find and kill your friend and mentor who has disappeared on the island paradise of Panau. With the unique grapple and parachute combo, BASE jump, hijack and create your own high-speed stunts. With 400 square miles of rugged terrain and hundreds of weapons and vehicles, Just Cause 2 defies gravity and belief." Developed by Avalanche Studios.

Massive Chalice (XBONE)

Description on Xbox Site: "As the Immortal Ruler of the Nation, you'll take command of its heroes, forge marriages to strengthen your Bloodlines, and battle a mysterious enemy known as the Cadence in a war lasting hundreds of years." Developed by Double Fine Productions.

Pool Nation FX (XBONE)

Description on Xbox Site: "Pool Nation FX features photo-realistic graphics, real-world physics, and a wealth of game modes and rule sets. Practice, spectate and play live matches seamlessly online, complete in Leagues, and create epic trickshots." Developed by Cherry Pop Games.

Origin "On The House"

Pagan: Ultima 8 Gold Edition (PC)

Description on Origin Site: "The Guardian has tricked you, Avatar. After you defeated Batlin on Serpent's Isle, he banished you to Pagan, a world under his control. Once, it was a beautiful land, but ever since the ancient battle between the Elemental Titans and the evil "Destroyer", it is engulfed in eternal twilight. Titans - now worshipped as gods - are cruel and uncaring. They bestow power on their most dedicated followers who, in turn, terrorize Pagan's population. To find a way back home, you need to become a Titan yourself before the Guardian succeeds in his plot to conquer Britannia - and then Earth itself." Developed by Origin Systems.

Jurassic World Movie Review

Ever wonder why people seem to never learn that building a dinosaur theme park (with living, breathing life-side dinosaurs) is a bad idea. In Jurassic Park, they made the theme park and even before it became public things all went loose. They had to close the park in the first film, only to reopen it in the second film. Within each installment to the Jurassic Park movies, it seemed that no matter how more secure the park became, things still went south. Now we come to the newly released Jurassic World. A resort on the island now, where millions of people visit to witness living and breathing dinosaurs. What could possibly go wrong now?

Jurassic World was a very good movie, and it seemed to stay true to the Jurassic Park theme. Which the movie takes place roughly twenty years after the third Jurassic Park film. It was rather exciting to hear the original theme song of the Jurassic Park films within the Jurassic World movie. Jurassic World was directed by Colin Trevorrow, with Steven Spielberg (director of the Jurassic Park films) as an executive producer.

You follow around multiple characters such as Owen (played by Chris Pratt), Claire (played by Bryce Dallas Howard), and two kids Gray (Ty Simpkins) and Zach (Nick Robinson). Claire is the director of the Jurassic World resort. You'll see her in the command center where all things are being monitored. The resort and park have been running well for a few years, however the revenue was going down. The management wanted something to attract more people to the island.

This is where things go south. They create a hybrid dinosaur that eventually gets loose and starts chaos. I won't go into detail on what the dinosaur is, but the park named it Indominus Rex. An unstoppable beast that bring certain doom to the visitors and staff on Isla Nublar. It's up to Claire and Owen to figure out a way to end the destruction caused by Indominus Rex.

There are countless scenes that just make you go: "Did I just witness that?!" Just because of the awe and destruction that takes place within the film. There is even an epic battle between two iconic creatures that will make your nerd senses tingle. I would highly recommend fans of the Jurassic Park films to go to the theater and watch Jurassic World. Everybody else - if you like dinosaurs, fighting, and velociraptors - go to the theater and check this movie out. It's meant to be seen on the big screen. 

Weekend Gamer 6/13/2015

Looking for something to play this weekend. I know what I'll be playing!

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (XB360)

Since my computer is being dumb and I'm waiting to figure out which video card I'd like to get next to replace my current faulty one, I'll be on the Xbox360 playing some Skyrim. This is a great game to play, it's got a whole lot of missions and side quests to perform to keep you occupied for very long time. Had fun customizing my character that I named Maxwell Orgshire, who's an Orc and Warrior. I'll mostly be playing Skyrim this weekend, but there is another game that will be played.

The Unfinished Swan (PS3)

This game was free during the PlayStation Plus of the month of May. It's very creative game and addicting. I'll probably beat the game this weekend, and write a review for it here on the blog.  It's an indie game for the PlayStation 3. You play as a little boy in search of a missing unfinished swan from one of your grandmother's paintings. You journey through the world painting the landscape as you go. As you progress, things get a whole lot more interesting.

Game On!

Video Card Problems, Need An Upgrade

My gaming on the PC is kind of at a stand still at the moment. I'm needing to save up some money to upgrade my video card. I've been trying to play Alien: Isolation and Dead Space 3, but every time I get into those games my screen goes black but PC is still running and sound is still going. I suspect that it's because of a faulty video card and currently looking at two possible upgrades.

I currently have a XFX Black Edition Radeon HD 7770. I'm looking at either a Sapphire Radeon R9 270 for $174.99 or a ASUS GeForce GTX 750Ti for $141.66. I know both cards aren't the best on the market, but they're within my budget range. I'm not going to buy one until I can figure out which one I want the most. I'm sure they are both a pretty good upgrade from a Radeon 7770.

I have been playing a little bit of the PlayStation 3. I noticed that The Unfinished Swan was one of the PlayStation Plus free games for the month of May. I've been playing that game, once I finish it, I'll be posting a review of it on here. I'll probably play some more console games until the PC problem is resolved.

- Mathew D. Clemens

Murdered: Soul Suspect

Murdered Soul Suspect is an adventure stealth game developed by Airtight Games. You play as Detective Ronan O'Connor. While on a mission to uncover a murder case, he is inevitability murder. The rest of the game you are his ghost, investigating his own murder. You are within the spirit world, following the trail to discover the murderer. You are in limbo until you can figure out what happened and save people along the way.

The setting of the game takes place in Salem, Massachusetts. That is correct, the same location where the Salem Witch Trials took place. This game makes a connection to the trials, so it has a little historical value to it. Within the spirit world of Salem, you'll meet people from that era. While walking around in the Salem spirit-world, you see the living as well as the dead. In the spirit world, some areas are blockaded by barriers that no spirit can walk through (however, living people can). This cause you to take detours around the town to get to your objective.

While in the spirit world, you'll run into demonic spirits, that you have to sneak past to progress in the story. These creatures are rather annoying because, they appear in pairs (sometimes in large groups), making it rather hard to get past certain areas. These demonic creatures eat at your soul, essentially killing the spirit form of your character.

As a spirit, O'Connor has the ability to posses living people and animals. Which some areas will need you to possess a cat or a person to get passed the demonic creatures. I found that ability to be really cool, and I enjoyed the cat possession - running around in a little kitty cat is just fun!

Graphically, the game looks good. I bought it on Steam, and my computer has a pretty good video card in it. Murdered Soul Suspect ran rather well on max setting on a Radeon HD 7770, frame rate was a little low (30fps). It still worked, all the same. I would recommend this game to anybody who likes stealth, and doesn't mind some repetition. Because I feel like I was always repeating a route to the next objective or doing the same sneak by of the demonic creatures. Which took some fun out of the game, but overall, it did have a good story.

Stranded Deep

Stranded Deep is an open world survival simulator, currently in early access on Steam, developed by Beam Team Games. You may have already heard of it from watching Let's Plays by Markiplier, Pewdiepie, and Jacksepticeye. For being in an early access state, it sure is a beautiful game. It does have it's fair share of bugs, however, it seems to improve with each and every patch update. If one were to compare Stranded Deep to Robert Zemeckis' Cast Away (starring Tom Hanks), they would almost be identical.

Don't fuck with sharks. They will kill you in real life and in Stranded Deep!

The game, of course, takes place out in the ocean with various islands randomly generated on the map. Being that this is the ocean, there are a large number of various aquatic life. For example, the Tiger Shark - one of the less aggressive creatures you'll encounter. For the most part, Tiger Sharks will leave you alone. However, don't mess with the Great White Shark. Great Whites will try to get you off your raft and kill you. There are also Lionfish (which are poisonous), Humpback Whales, and Stingrays.  There is just so much life going on in the ocean within this game. It's really amazing!

Along with the wide range of creatures, there are also many tools that can found or crafted within Stranded Deep. Some of the tools that can be found on islands or shipwrecks are Duct Tape, Whistle, Label Maker, Machete, and so on. Other tools can be crafted such as the Crude Spear, Raft, Fish Trap, and so on. Each tool will help you survive longer in the game. With the fish trap you can catch fish and feed yourself so you don't go hungry. A Crude Axe will help you collect wood to craft a camp fire to cook some of your meat for survival.

You can find various treasures in shipwrecks, just watch out for sharks.

Along with crafting tools, you can craft many other things as well. When you first get onto an island, you should build a Crude Axe to cut down more wood to craft a camp fire and bed. You can also craft a foundation to build a shelter. This is all helpful for your survival in Stranded Deep. As I said before, this is quite a beautiful game for being in early access. If you get the chance, download this game and give it a try. It is fun and entertaining, and aren't you curious on how long you could survive within the Stranded Deep Universe.

Sid Meier's Civilization V

Civilization V is a turn-based strategy game by Firaxis Games, released many years ago for the PC. There have been two expansion packs released for this game: Gods and Kings, and Brave New World. Within the original game there are eighteen civilizations available: American, Arabian, Aztec, Egyptian, French, and German to name a few. Nine more civilizations were introduced in Gods and Kings as well as Brave New World. Making a total of 37 civilizations with more added as DLC.

You can build a shit ton of armies in Civilization V.

There are special abilities to every civilization that you can choose from. For example, the American civilization has an ability called Manifest Destiny where all land military units have +1 sight and 50% discount when purchasing tiles. The American civilization's leader is George Washington, the first President of the United States. The Chinese civilization, led by Wu Zetian, has a special ability called Art of War giving the player's Great General combat bonus increased by 15% and their spawn rate increased by 50%. A Great General is a Great Person specializing in land warfare, these characters have the ability to construct a Citadel or increase land unit combat by 15%. A Great Person are exceptional historical figures with special abilities that appear in your civilization when you develop a certain aspect of the gameplay efficiently. There are various Great Persons from Great Artist, Great Writer, Great Engineer, and Great Prophet. Each with their own special abilities.

Social policies are a new concept to the Civilization universe. Social policies represent the non-scientific or religious advancements of your society. Social policies can be unlocked as your gain more culture. There are many different social policies available with many sub-policies. Tradition is one of the social policies which the sub-categories of Aristocracy, Oligarchy, Legalism, Monarchy, and Landed Elite. Each has a special effect. For example, Aristocracy has a +15% Production when building Wonders and a +1 Happiness for every 10 Citizens in a City.

This guy has little-man syndrome. No, seriously...

As the game progresses you can research into technologies. They help with the the advancement of your empire. Technology can unlock certain building, units and other various things. Some examples of these technologies include: Agriculture, Archery, Masonry, Iron Working, Gunpowder, and so on and so on. Certain technologies are only available in certain eras. For example, Animal Husbandry is only available in the Ancient Era. Horseback Riding in the Classical Era. Civil Service in the Medieval Era. I think you get the point! With each discovery of technology, new building and units are available to construct. An example includes Agriculture which allows you to build farms within your empire. As you progress in eras and unlock different technologies, your units also advance. At a certain point in the game you are able to develop tanks and atomic bombs (which are fun).

Civilization V is a well developed and addicting game. At start up you get to choose which civilization you want to play with as well as how long you want the game to be.  You can have a quick game or an epic game. Which the quick game is fun, but not as fun as a good epic play through. I would highly recommend this game to anyone that enjoys a good strategy game. Also if you like history - this is a fun and often times inaccurate game. It's just fun to see Napoleon Bonaparte and Alexander the Great in the same place!