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!