Whatcha Been Playing?

[Craig]

That's exactly it. You can play on the practice machine once a day which gives you 5 free plays but you can't win any badges. But for every 10 badges you win cumulatively (or the occasional random bonus) you get a free play on other machines.

[achamius]

I have a terrible habit of picking up and putting down games, but I've been more or less consistent on (slowly) making my way through Tomb Raider (2013), Dragon Age: Origins, and I recently used N7 day as impetus to finally play the Mass Effect games. I'm just past the point where the galaxy first opens up to exploration, so very early, but enjoying it much more (minus the combat mechanics) than DA:O. I'm loving TR, and have to say (with the caveat I'm only 50% through it) that the complaints of ludonarritive dissonance seem mostly overblown to me, excepting the parts where you can stealthily assassinate 10-15 enemies in a brutal, methodical manner.

[Alex79]

I've got back in to Borderlands 2 on the Vita as well as making very slow progress on MGS4 (I've only just met Meryl). I've also been enjoying the first Phoenix Wright game in preparation for the podcast (playing on DS).

[dezm0nd]

I subbed to EA Access yesterday to check out Need for Speed and Battlefront, neither of which I particularly enjoyed after a few hours of play. I unsubscribed from EA Access and they're refunding me the £4 back, apparently.

Not a bad idea, that.

[Scrustle]

Were you subscribed before then, or did you just sign up to play those trials?

[dezm0nd]

Just to check out both of the trials yeah.

[Scrustle]

Interesting. I did the same thing to sign up for the NFS trial. I've got no refund. I did immediately cancel my sub right after signing up though. Didn't want to forget about it and get hit with any automated renewal.

[zen_anarchy]

Been on the Rainbow Six Siege open beta on ps4 and it's pretty damn good, not been a fan of competitive online shooters for years as games like COD or battlefield just don't appeal to me with the high kill/death ratio and my general crapness at playing them.

But the amount of team work needed, the slower pace and more tense gunfights are really fun plus the one life per game aspect really makes the game enjoyable forcing people to work together against the other team rather than like in COD where its every man for themselves.

Not sure how the full game will turn out and at the moment the terrorist hunt mode is maybe too hard even on normal difficulty with my squad of three friends constantly getting killed by suicide bombers seemed unbalanced.

Along with Rainbow six been playing the Bloodborne dlc which so far is excellent.

[deacon05oc]

Been playing the Uncharted Nathan Drake collection. I hadn't played the core series since 2011 when I played Drake's Deception. I have a Vita and have played Golden Abyss. The first time I played these games I was amazed and captivated from start to end and I figured I would be again after 4 years. I've completed Drake's Fortune and Among Thieves and I've come to the conclusion that for me while these games are undoubtedly influential, I think there are some games that have taken that which made Uncharted great and have done their own things and pretty good as well. Recent examples for me are Tomb Raider and Rise of the Tomb Raider. Also I know it didn't meet much positive press, but The Order 1866 stands out to me from a presentation standpoint despite having a short length. Plus I feel like playing those over again. I've played the 2013 Tomb Raider 3x's now and love and enjoy playing it. I didn't feel engaged with Uncharted again. Now I certainly will get A Thief's End when it is released, however as far as Uncharted 1-3 in order to preserve the memories I have of them, I think this will be my final playthroughs of them as I feel if I go at them again I'll end up hating on them simply because they are older games and I don't want to feel like that because Naughty Dog is a great studio and this is a great series.

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

Halo 5: Guardians

So I’ve had three sessions with the game so far - 2 x three-player campaign co-op on Heroic, 1 x Warzone multiplayer.

Firstly the campaign. Everyone seems really down on this but I’m going to stick my head above the parapet and say I’m loving it so far! I’ll caveat that by saying we’re only on mission 6 but for me it really does feel fantastic to play, like an amped up version of Halo that’s faster and more agile than ever before. The Prometheans are also a much more enjoyable enemy to fight than in the last game (although still not a patch on the Covenant) and their weapons have been tuned to be far more effective than their previous impotent incarnations.

One of main reasons people seem up in arms about the campaign is the story and perhaps this why I’m enjoying the game so much, not because the story is any good but rather because it’s simply not important to me. Now I’ve played all the Halo games through many times over and do have a passable understanding of the narrative as far as the games themselves go. However, I’ve never got involved in any of the wider fiction and while there is much to appreciate in this universe the actual nuts and bolts of the narrative have never grabbed me enough for it to really effect my enjoyment of the games one way or the other. This is the case more than ever with Halo 5, as the story relies so heavily on knowledge drawn from beyond the games that I’ve pretty much completely given up on understanding what the hell is going on. All I know is it looks cool, there’s some very earnest acting going on, and there are some nicely choreographed cut scenes that I’m quite enjoying!

It plays great, and for me that’s all that matters (oh and it looks pretty too).

As for Warzone (the only multiplayer mode I’ve tried so far), it’s an absolute blast. Non-stop carnage from first minute to last, it really lives up to it’s name - this is a warzone! Yeah I’m a bit rubbish at the moment because I don’t know the maps very well and I’m still getting my head around the new REQ system, but for pure fun factor alone I can see myself dipping in to this for many weeks to come for a bit of light relief. It also feels far less serious and pressured than Halo multiplayer often does, which for a guy who usually shies away from online multiplayer is perfect. You’re only one of 12 at the end of the day, so if you have a crap round it doesn’t feel like you’ve let the team down quite so much as in say a 4v4 match.

Overall I’m loving Halo 5 right now. Plays great, looks great, superb new multiplayer mode and, if you’re not that invested in Halo lore, a fun ride of a campaign.

Also playing:
Witcher 3 (PS4) - this has become a real war of attrition - every time I think I’m nearly done the game throws another heap of missions my way! I will finish this game even if it kills me….
Broken Age (Vita) - A fare few hours in and loving it so far. Beautiful, funny, challenging - good times!

[Flabyo]

I didn't like Warzone much at first, but it's grown on me a lot. One thing I'd recommend is to use your REQ points to buy Silver and Bronze packs initially rather than save for Gold every time, you want to get the 'weapon permit' items for the level 3 guns you like as soon as possible, and those are just as likely in the cheap packs as the expensive ones. Once you have the basics like needler, plasma pistol and the warthog 'unlocked' then you can switch to saving for gold packs instead which is where the rarer stuff is. But you need a good set of the basics to be able to adapt to the changing objectives.

I'm mostly still playing Fallout 4 at the moment. I can spend hours in there and then realise all I've done is explore a few buildings and maybe moved a side quest or two on. It never seems to feel like busywork though, the exploration and discovery aspect of it is so much denser than in Dargon Age Inquisition so it doesn't feel like the game is padded out for the sake of it.

Picked up Wolfenstein the New Order and the Old Blood in the XBO black friday sale, £13 for the pair seemed like a low enough price for me to dive in. I'll get to those at some point this winter.

I'm also playing the new fancy Steam version of a game from my uni years, the Rogue game ADOM. I was supremely addicted to that back in 95 to 98, so to see it with a fancy new tile set and Steam achievements, I had to pick it up. It's still as good (and punishingly hard) as I remember. (A few years back I would've described it as a Rogue-like, but that term is so diluted now to include things that aren't really like Rogue at all...)

[Craig]

Inbetween games I popped on Contra 3 meaning to just have a little go and ended up playing until the end. It's not a long game by any means but because I played it a lot as a kid (though it was Super Probotector at the time) it's a warm and comfortable game.

Stepping back though it's pretty amazing how much is crammed into the short length. So many set pieces and memorable bosses it never gets dull and there are loads of things that you see once and never again.

Take level 1 for example, there is a tank you use precisely once in the game. The ground is shortly afterwards set on fire again for the only time in the game. It's an amazing experience and the variety and perhaps briefness of these appearances make them all the more memorable. Like The shoe in Mario 3 which in my latest playthrough I completely missed because it's only in one level. Despite this, everyone always talks about how amazing the shoe was.

Is the Megadrive contra worth checking out? I hear the Japanese version is perhaps more playable difficulty wise.

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

One thing I'd recommend is to use your REQ points to buy Silver and Bronze packs initially rather than save for Gold every time, you want to get the 'weapon permit' items for the level 3 guns you like as soon as possible, and those are just as likely in the cheap packs as the expensive ones. Once you have the basics like needler, plasma pistol and the warthog 'unlocked' then you can switch to saving for gold packs instead which is where the rarer stuff is. But you need a good set of the basics to be able to adapt to the changing objectives.

Thanks for the tip mate. It is quite a complex system (for me at least!) and knowing what's best to do with your points is a tricky one. I'll try your method when I get back on later this week and see how I get on! Once I've finally made it through Witcher 3 I plan to spend all my gaming time with Halo for a month or so, so hopefully it will become clearer with time!

[DeadpoolNegative]

Grand Theft Auto IV- wow, that "Wrong is Right" mission sure goes on forever, doesn't it? It's like, every time I've played it, I find myself unable to catch up to the guy until I reach a certain part of the city.

So, was Michelle a cop or a snitch? It's never clear.

for this play through I did what nobody ever does and killed Dwayne instead of Playboy X. And you don't even get to use Dwayne's shitty apartment afterwards! Dang. Wow, that was a badly staged execution scene, kids. But this time around, I did notice how nihilistic and unpleasant Dwayne is, despite being sympathetic. Killing him is almost an act of mercy.

Seven years after I first picked up this game, I finally unlocked the ability to get helicopter rides from Brucie. Yay me!

Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon- okay, this was $3.99 and I'd heard good things despite the reviews and I did really enjoy the first game. Uh... this was released on a 7th gen system, right? Wow, no textures at all and I think RoadKill had a more detailed faux vegas. Still, playing as Crypto is still fun and Richard Horvath as Orthopox is fantastic.

Also, it locked up my system 12 minutes into playing it. Can you tell the developer was shuttered a month before it was released?

[Flabyo]

Had a go at that Van Helsing game that's in Games for Gold this month.

It's ok, but I don't think it'll hold my attention. It's a Diablo clone, but the art style is so fiddly and over detailed it's hard to see things clearly (it's certainly pretty, but at the expense of clarity). It feels a little stiff to control as well, shame really as it's a nice idea.

[DomsBeard]

So the first game I played on my Xbox One?

Killer Instinct Gold

I don't remember it looking as ropey or being as slow. I only had five minutes before turning it off. Not as fun as I remember but I will go back and have another go.

I then popped in Titanfall...

And had the opposite reaction. I had originally only ever played the 360 version so playing this was like playing a superb, improved HD re release. Topped the leaderboard on my first game and won!. In a world where Day One DLC and season passes are forced it was most welcome to see that every piece of DLC released was free.

[ratsoalbion]

Yeah, the DLC wasn't always free, but after a while EA just took the purchase price off it. Which was cool (even though I'd shelled out for a season pass).

The 'new' Killer Instinct (currently in Season Two) - by first Double Helix and now Iron Galaxy - is worth a download by the way.

[Lego Solo]

Titanfall DLC is free!? Awesome I'll be checking that out. Really enjoyed it but didn't put the hours in, about time I remedied that.

[DomsBeard]

Titanfall DLC is free!? Awesome I'll be checking that out. Really enjoyed it but didn't put the hours in, about time I remedied that.

Over 4000 people playing it last night and I'll be caning it in between Fallout 4 for the foreseeable

[Lego Solo]

Cool. Well add me on live and maybe we can have a few matches as no one on my friends list plays it much anymore.