video games

Now playing: Borderlands 2 and FIFA 13

Posted on by GumballsPlaysGames

So as part of the recent Steam sale and current Amazon sale I picked up quite a few games between the two. I got Borderlands 2 for $13.59 on Steam (it’s no longer on sale on Steam but will be that price on Amazon until the 31st!), LEGO Harry Potter Years 5-7 for $5, Civilization V GOLD, Civilization IV Complete and XCOM: Enemy Unknown for $19.99,  Age of Empires III Complete for $9.99, Batman Arkham Asylum GOTY and Arkham City GOTY for $12 and lastly FIFA 13 for $16 (on Origin).

I’ve played a lot of Borderlands 2 and have enjoyed it immensely. $13 is a steal with as much fun as you can have with this game. I recorded some video of me using my new favorite gun on one of my favorite quests from yesterday:

I have some more video but it hasn’t been processed and uploaded yet, so I might add it later.

FIFA 13 is great, as FIFA always is. I haven’t owned a FIFA game since 11 (I rented 12 but didn’t really like the feel of it) and I’ve never owned a FIFA game on the PC so this is a first for me. $16 was just too good to pass up (the console version is on sale through Gamestop this weekend for $40). It looks nice and plays well with a 360 controller so  I’d definitely recommend you pick it up if you have any interest in FIFA. The only downside to playing on the PC is most of my friends play on the 360, but they’d just slaughter me anyway.

Finished Bioshock Infinite

Posted on by GumballsPlaysGames

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I finished Bioshock Infinite this morning and I have to say it was an awesome experience. The story was quite interesting and every time you think you’ve got it figured it you’ll soon find out you were wrong, right up until the last moments of the game. The world of Columbia is incredibly well crafted and fun to explore. The action is a blast with a nice variety of guns and ‘vigors’ (sort of like spells) that provide a variety of ways to dispose of enemies.

I definitely had a great time, and now I can finally watch this (spoilers obviously):

Darksiders

Posted on by GumballsPlaysGames

I’ve had Darksiders in my Steam library for awhile now (as part of the THQ bundle) but never played it. So tonight I plugged in an Xbox 360 controller, booted it up and played for a few minutes. Having recently rented and played DmC: Devil May Cry, I have to say it feels very, very familiar. You get thrown into a space with a bunch of enemies, the exit blocks off with a magic forcefield, you use a combination of light and heavy attacks and combos to fight off the enemies thus opening the forcefield and allowing you to progress.

There are plenty of combos and a combo counter will flash on the side of the screen as you hack your way through enemies. This type of gameplay just isn’t for me. It’s okay, but not something I want to do for an entire game. I’m also not really into the whole platformer thing either…The climbing and jumping and fighting and climbing and jumping….

The game looks cool though… I might play it a bit here and there in the future, but I can’t see myself getting too involved.

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Now playing: Tomb Raider

Posted on by GumballsPlaysGames

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I’ve never been very interested in the Tomb Raider series and I’ve only played about ten minutes of the original Tomb Raider on the PlayStation, however something about the new reboot got me interested. There’s just something about the style of the new game that caught my eye in all of the commercials and early reviews. I decided to head out to a Red Box and try it out for myself and so far I’m very impressed.

I’m about three hours into the game and it certainly has a ‘flash’ that I never expected from a Tomb Raider game. The environments look amazing and the scenes in the rain just look awesome. Fire in the game is very important and it looks great whether it’s simply a burning torch or huge explosions.

Speaking of explosions, who knew there could be so many in a Tomb Raider game. This is definitely not a slow paced adventure game. There are HUGE set pieces which get your adrenaline going big time. Some of the most thrilling parts of the game so far involving running, jumping and climbing as the environment crumbles around you. It’s satisfying in a huge way.

Combat is great, especially with the variety of weapons available to you. The bow is incredibly satisfying, especially nailing guys in the knee (an ‘arrow to the knee’ achievement would’ve been amusing). The pistol and machine gun are great for when your cover is blown and an army of enemies has you pinned down.

There are quite a few stealth sections of the game so far which are nice breaks in the fast paced story. It’s just as satisfying to strangle a guy with your bow string as it is to shoot an arrow through their head.

The game looks absolutely amazing and it has some great cut scenes even if the story is a bit awkward.

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If there’s one thing I don’t really like it’s all the QTE’s (Quick Time Events) in which you have to push a button on time or die. I don’t like these because half the time I’m not expecting them and can never react in time to survive. I’d rather let the game let me decide how I deal with the decision than have it force me to push a button in order to reach the desire outcome. Most of time these QTE’s set up some pretty cool cinematic kills so I can see why they’re in the game, I guess it’s just frustrating to die because I wasn’t expecting to have to push a certain button.

I recorded me playing the first few minutes of the game, though I couldn’t quite get it set up to record right (just used my iPad to record my TV screen and didn’t quite have it close enough). I figured I’d post it below just for the heck of it. Enjoy.