Some videogame rambling

Blogging’s been a touch light due to actually getting some work done (huzzah!) and being mildly pestilent (buggerydoo).

Anyway, there has been some recent videogame news that caught my eye and I thought was worth a quick ramble. So ramble shall I.

Fallout 76 is to come out. I imagine a proper reveal and launch date will emerge during this year’s E3, but the murmuring at the moment suggests it’s not a ‘proper’ Fallout (ie a single player RPG along the lines of Fallout 4, or New Vegas). Instead, it sounds like a (primarily, at least) multiplayer online tosh pit, probably including at least some element of base-building.

I rather liked the building in Fallout 4, although I didn’t like Garvey being a nag (and a layabout, why did *I* have to save every damned settlement whilst he frolicked through the streets, whistling and doing nothing?) or the paid DLC nonsense. However, with Fortnite, PUBG and perhaps now H1Z1 dominating the time, and wallets, of millions of gamers it’d be unsurprising if there were a battle royale aspect.

I’m not a fan of multiplayer gaming, and not just because I’m a misanthropic monster who dwells in an isolated cave on a remote North Sea island and whose only human contact is when the local villagers annually deliver me seven redheaded maidens to appease my wrath. It’s quite remarkable, really, given how much time I’ve sunk into Skyrim (much, much more than Fallout 4) how Bethesda have managed to announce various releases since, only one of which I’ve bought, and none of which I’ve played for even 10% of the time I put into Skyrim. But, gaming is a business. If you can make eleventy billion dollarydoos with Elder Scrolls Online *makes the sign against evil* and it takes less time than creating The Elder Scrolls VI: Your Grandkids Will Be Dead Before This Comes Out, it makes financial sense.

Will I be getting Fallout 76? Well, let us imagine a lovely world in which time and money were no object. In that marvellous realm of fiction, the answer would be: almost certainly not.

A more tempting prospect would be the forthcoming Tomb Raider, the third entry in the reboot of the mega-series. Shadow of the Tomb Raider is pencilled in for the middle of this September which really isn’t that far off now. I’ve played both immediately preceding instalments, as well as perhaps a third of those preceding the reboot, and have high hopes this will live up to the standards recently established.

It’s also being touted as completing the ‘origin trilogy’ which will see Lara Croft emerge from the cocoon of ordeals as an arse-kicking heroine. Although she did seem to be there by the end of the second game, if not the first… Anyway, it’s set in South America, with jungles and incredibly steep pyramids all around. This means both camouflage and never skipping leg day will be vital if Lara is to survive this particular adventure.

We are not yet certain what endangered species Lara will be murdering, or what priceless artefacts and/or cities she’ll be wrecking, but I’m sure that’ll come out in due course. Camouflage does play a role, though whether that’ll be just mud and leaves, or something akin to Metal Gear Solid 3’s approach, I don’t know. (As an aside, if you haven’t played Rise of the Tomb Raider yet, you can get it on Amazon for the PS4 for £16, so it’s worth a look).

One thing I will say against Shadow of the Tomb Raider is that the fancier ‘Croft Edition’ comes out 48 hours earlier. That kind of thing is just nonsense, in my eyes. Bonuses in swankier editions should be limited to cool extras like maps, posters, that sort of thing. Getting to play earlier because you’re Captain Moneybags does not sit well.

I’ll probably end up getting this, but not at launch.

On the new games front, this last is a ‘sort of’ entry. The Banner Saga Trilogy Bonus edition for the PS4 comes out towards the end of July (£30). The first game was the first, and so far only, game I’ve ever bought electronically. I have to say I liked a lot about it. The art style is interesting, I liked the strategic combat, and the element of uncertainty/deceit with the characters was intriguing. I also liked the ending a lot. However, I never got around to buying the sequels. Hard to say if it just slipped my mind, my dislike of electronic stuff got the better of me, or what. It’s not the best game ever made but it is a good game and well worth considering, particularly if you enjoy tactical combat, Viking(ish) settings, and tough moral choices.

Banner Saga review here: http://thaddeusthesixth.blogspot.com/2016/01/review-banner-saga-ps4.html

Speaking of electronic stuff, I still plan on getting Blood & Wine DLC for The Witcher 3 at some point (this may seem like I’m absentminded, but given at least 16 years elapsed between me buying the first and second entries in the Death Gate Cycle, this is a small delay). I might also see about getting some XCOM 2 DLC at some point, but less sure about that.

On a wider note, rumours abound that the PS4 is drawing towards the end of its life cycle, although that still means going on to 2021. Given the bullshit pulled with the PS4 Pro, I shan’t be in a hurry to throw hundreds of pounds at Sony next time around. I’ll wait a few years, and see if they pull the same nonsense again.

And don’t forget, if you enjoy fantasy (serious or comedy), do check out my Amazon author page and the lovely five star reviews: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thaddeus-White/e/B008C6RU98/

Thaddeus

Fallout 4’s Survival Mode

A couple of weeks ago the enhanced (or ‘proper’...) survival mode left PC beta and was made available on all platforms (mine being PS4).

So, is it any good?

Here’s what the new difficulty includes:

Wellness – regular food, drink and sleep required. Failure to get enough leads to increasingly significant penalties (reduced, sometimes drastically reduced, stats).

Saving – can only be done in a bed/sleeping bag.

Damage – far more both taken and received. Explosives almost always lead to instant player death.

Compass – enemies do not appear (excepting when you use a recon scope) and places only appear when you’re very, very close.

No fast travel.

Vastly reduced carry weight – my low strength (3) character could only lug about something like 120 (applies to companions as well). This is not helped by ammunition having weight (big guns are not practical 99% of the time because they and their ammunition just weigh so much).

Healing takes longer – not only that, fallen companions must be healed with stimpaks or they’ll just wander off and refuse to follow you for a while [not had this happen yet].

The substantial increase to damage dealt and received means that certain play styles would seem to be difficult or even impossible (good luck going for a bareknuckle brawler), while others (the sniper style) gain an advantage. It also means some perks are more or less advantageous than in the usual mode.

If you want to get crafting then supply lines are a lot more useful, because your spare capacity after food, drink, armour, ammunition may be around 20-40 and you just can’t stuff your pockets with everything you find. Similarly, the increased damage dealt and weight limit means using pistols can be pretty effective.

There’s a lot more stress and tension because death can come very quickly. Step on a mine, and it’s over. Get hit by a Molotov Cocktail, and you’re dead (my first death was when Dogmeat wandered in front of me just as I was throwing one. One was not amused). A swarm of bloatflies can be deadly.

The explosives point is double-edged, though. I was struggling with a Glowing One, but cunning use of grenades caused it massive damage and obliterated its legs, enabling me to introduce its face to the business end of a shotgun.

Naturally, this is exacerbated by the lengthy distances between save points. However, the increased difficulty does make the game more exciting (on Normal difficulty I never felt particularly challenged).

There are downsides, though. I had the game crash, just the once. Luckily for me, this was right after I’d saved, but it could easily have been 40 minutes of hard slogging lost. I also think the days are too short. I’ve never run out of food or water, but it feels like the need to eat/drink/sleep is a bit too frequent.

Exceeding the weight limit leads to periodic health damage, which is fine. Except if you’re in conversation with a bone idle slacker who claims to be restoring the Minutemen and who gives you a flare gun which just nudges you over the limit. On a similar note, I quite like settlement building, even though it’s significantly harder in this mode, but it’s irritating having thirst/hunger crop up as problems when building.

Perhaps the most substantial problem is that the uncertainty of saving means you need a fairly hefty chunk of time to play. If you’re time-poor, this mode will likely not be for you. Not only can it be lengthy periods between saves, but if you make one wrong move that can be the end and you lose all progress.

I think it’s a bit of a Marmite mode. At the moment, the positives of increased difficulty, and corresponding feeling of accomplishment, means I’m enjoying playing through with a mixture of pistols and rifles. If you do like it, the Survival Mode can inject new life into the game, with an added air of desperation and difficulty.

Thaddeus

Fallout 4 (PS4): First Impressions

This is an early review, (obviously, given the game’s only been out a few days), on my initial thoughts. I might do a more comprehensive review later on, depending how much I play the game if my opinion alters, and if I have the time.

I know spoilers have been all over the place. This review will have no story spoilers whatsoever. Gameplay mechanics will be discussed in a little more depth. For a comprehensive review, I’d include longevity and replayability, but obviously that section won’t make an appearance here.

For those wondering, I played the game after downloading the 500MB day 1 patch.

Character Creation

Bit of a change here. Instead of a list of sliders, you just move the cursor over the face and alter the part you want to.

As well as this, there are some slider-type options for make-up, hair, and imperfections (moles and scars). There’s also a basic body changer. It’s a triangle, with thin, muscular and fat at each point, and you move within that triangle to alter the body. It’s simple, but a nice touch. No option to change height, alas.

One thing I disliked about the new system was that there are now only pre-defined hair colours. A decent range, to be sure, but I liked the older system which allowed you to make your own colour as well. The styles may be appear fewer than before, at creation, but you can get the post-apocalyptic styles when you visit a barber in the game.

Overall, it’s pretty good.

Story/Quests

At the time of writing I’ve done a few main storyline missions, and perhaps a dozen side quests (I’m around level 14, and playing a sniper build). Because of that, and the zero tolerance of spoilers, this is going to be brief and vague.

There’s a nice premise early on, both on the global and personal levels. The initial mission or two feel a bit vague rather than compelling, but that may be intentional, so that people who want to wander off feel able to do so comfortably.

Side-quests can come about from overhearing conversations, wandering into range of radio distress signals or just stumbling across them. So far, and keeping with the minimal spoiler theme, they appear quite interesting and can yield opportunities to join new factions and gain legendary gear.

Gameplay

The atmosphere is tense, not just because VATS has become slow-motion rather than a total pause, but because of the way enemies appear. Ghouls lie dead, until they rise and attack in a horde, or they might creep through the walls. Mole rats burrow up through the earth, and you’re never quite sure whether a house might be mined or not.

The non-VATS shooting has been substantially improved, but VATS is still useful. A balance needs to be struck between using it for some enemies and not others (because action points are limited). I play as a sniper, so my approach is to take out the most distant enemies possible without VATS (this is more accurate at long range), shift to VATS for any charging medium range enemies, and then switch to a more rapid weapon and out of VATS when they’re about to claw my face off.

Weapon modding is intuitive and easy, likewise armour modding.

It took me a little while to get the gist of settlement building, perhaps because I’ve never played a game with that sort of aspect, but I’m enjoying it so far. I think tens of hours could easily be sunk into this, and am looking forward to how it develops.

Allocating your 21 SPECIAL points is tricky. It’s a good number, because it feels too low and forces the player to compromise. Incidentally, you can increase (by both bobbleheads and using up a perk point) your SPECIAL stats during the game, so I’d advise against setting anything at 10.

Levelling seems to happen faster than in previous games (as Intelligence affects experience gained, I should note that mine is set at 4, so I’m not playing a jacked up Intelligence build). This is good as, initially, there are at least half a dozen perks that all seem very useful but you only get one per level.

Companions are the biggest surprise for me so far. They seem much more three-dimensional than in Fallout 3 (or Skyrim), commenting when you see certain locations, praising or criticising your actions, and occasional joining in conversations you have with a third party (when it is appropriate). When I replaced one companion with another, he and she had a brief conversation about looking after me, which made them feel more realistic.

Graphics

The world looks nice. More vivid than Fallout 3, though not quite as beautiful as The Witcher 3. Weather effects are a good addition. I’ve seen dense fog, rain (unlike previous games, I think, your clothing does get wet) and glorious sunshine. Not encountered a radiation storm yet, but these do exist.

Faces are a bit ropey, and the facial animations/lip-syncing is somewhere between mediocre and poor (think comically bad 1970s kung fu film dubbed into English).

Objects, whether clothing, weapons or larger/smaller are generally pretty good.

The PipBoy looks better than ever, and now the icons are animated (a small change, but still a nice one). The Perk chart looks good too. You can also alter the PipBoy (or HUD, separately) colour to whatever you like.

Sound

The voice-acting so far is good, and I’m enjoying Courtenay Taylor’s portrayal of the female protagonist. I discovered early on that there’s a classical radio station, and when I get the time to properly dive into settlement building I think that’ll be my station of choice.

There’s also a pleasing absence of repetition, both regarding specific lines and the issue Bethesda had previously (especially in Oblivion) where one voice actor/actress has too many roles.

Sound effects are good, it’s nice to hear the thrum of bullets firing or the inane moaning of a ghoul trying to eat your face.

Music is very good, whether that’s the ambient sound track or the classical music station.

Bugs and other issues

I have had the game freeze once, and close a couple of times.

On a couple of occasions, conversations have had an awkward moment where my character stands there in silence when she should be speaking (uncertain if subtitles would partially remedy this, as I don’t use them).

Early Conclusion

Obviously much too early to give a definitive view (I’m a few missions into the main quest and have done perhaps a dozen side missions). At this stage, Fallout 4 has significantly exceeded my expectations. Combat is engaging, companions have greater depth, the new approach to perks/skills seems to be working very well, and the world is a great place to explore.

Preliminary score = 9/10

Thaddeus

E3 Round-up

Just a summary of the major points that interested me at E3 (mostly RPG-focused). There are minor gameplay-related spoilers, and very small plot spoilers (relating the premise of a story, not including anything I’d consider twists).

Not going into detail into all these games, but some which caught my eye were: Fallout 4, Mass Effect Andromeda, FFVII, Rise of the Tomb Raider and Uncharted 4.

Fallout 4

I had planned on buying this but waiting either until the price had tumbled or until a Game of the Year edition emerged. Got to say that it looked bloody fantastic, though. A warning: if you check out the videos from E3 about Fallout 4, you may well come across early plot spoilers.

Female protagonist is confirmed, as is the fact both genders are voiced. Courtenay Taylor (Jack in Mass Effect 2) will be FemSurvivor, with Brian T. Delaney voicing ManSurvivor.

Dogmeat returns. He’s also invincible [although M. Bison thought that about himself too], so he won’t get killed. Instead, he’ll get knocked out, and you will get killed. Glad to hear this.

VATS returns but this time it’s slow-mo rather than time-freeze. Probably makes combat more exciting, but as I have the reaction times of a drunk giraffe I’m not sure it’ll suit me.

There’s a rumour (based on Pip-Boy footage) that there will be no skills, just stats and perks.

Mods will be coming to consoles. How it’ll work is unclear (although a console gamer I know that PC mods can be massive, and a lot are a shade risqué, so I guess some at least won’t be transferred), but it will happen for Xbox One in the early part of next year, and come a bit later to PS4 [probably, not sure that’s 100% confirmed].

Crafting looks like it’s had steroids applied, crack injected into its eyeballs and nitroglycerin inserted in every remaining orifice. Not only can you massively customise weapons and armour, you can also build and decorate your own house. And, in fact, your own settlement. Or settlements, to be precise. Generators, lights, turrets, traders, it looks very extensive.

The release date is 10 November 2015.

Mass Effect Andromeda

Not Mass Effect 4. The title, rather than number, helps mark a clean break for the series. Andromeda is a nearby galaxy to the Milky Way, and is used in the title because the human race is looking for more real estate. It’s unclear whether this is to escape the Reapers, or happens long (or soon) after the events of Mass Effect 3.

Sadly, it seems the protagonist must be human once again, but the usual male/female gender option will be present (unclear if we’ll get 2 or 4 potential voice actors).

Release is around Christmas 2016, which is fair enough given people might just have finished with Fallout 4 by that time.

FFVII

Final Fantasy VII is being remade. Not remastered. As well as graphics being enormously improved, it seems the combat will not feature random encounters and turn-based mechanics but instead adopt a more modern approach. More surprisingly, the story will not be exactly the same. No idea if that means little tweaks here and there, or a full-blown re-write. Whatever they do with mechanics and storyline will cause some people to be annoyed. I just hope they keep the themes the same.

As an aside, it’ll be odd hearing Red XIII’s name. I misread it the first time I played, and have thought of him as Red Eight ever since.

Not Indiana Jones

Lara Croft and Nathan Drake both get new outings (the former coming to Xbox first, the latter a PS4 exclusive, as per usual). I may look at the new Tomb Raider when the price drops (enjoyed the reboot, but I’ve always been off-and-on with the series). Doubt I’ll bother with Uncharted. Liked the first two games but they didn’t grab me enough to keep my interest.

Not a videogame, but glad to hear Xbox is bringing backwards compatibility to its console. Shame that hasn’t happened with the PS4 (and probably won’t). I hope the next generation is another story, but that’s some way off. Backwards compatibility is not only great for gamers, it’s good for the firms because helps lock in loyalty from one generation to the next.

Thaddeus

Fallout 4, XCOM 2, and Mass Effect 4

E3 is just around the corner, and there are a number of potentially great sci-fi videogames coming out soon, so I thought it’d be a good idea to have a little look ahead.

NB there will be some general spoilers, but nothing too specific. So, you’re probably fine reading this unless you’re on a full-blown blackout.

Fallout 4 has been announced, and the release date has not. Well, not officially. Unofficially, it’s rumoured to be 23 October (this year). If that’s the case, expect it to be confirmed at E3 this month. It’ll be out for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

XCOM 2 (an intriguing title for a game which is either the 11^th or the 3^rd instalment depending on whether you consider the reboot XCOM: Enemy Unknown to reset the counter or not) has been announced for November (again, this year). Maybe they asked Xbox for help with the numbering. Anyway, it is PC only at launch, though some think it’ll come to the consoles in 2016.

Mass Effect 4 [which may well have a different title when properly announced] has been confirmed as in the works but very little beyond that is known. I’m hoping we get more info at E3. I’d be very surprised if it were cross-generation (as Dragon Age: Inquisition was).

It’s quite nice to have games announced just a few months ahead of release. Sometimes by choice, and sometimes due to delays, games can be announced a year or more ahead of time, and that just feels too damned long. So, what do we know so far?

Fallout 4

The game appears to be set in Boston, perhaps later than Fallout 3/New Vegas, and/or with a correspondingly superior level of technology. Lots of series favourites return (power armour, the protagonist appears to be a vault-dweller, and Dogmeat’s back).

The trailer ends with the protagonist’s voice. This has led some to believe there won’t be character customisation and you’ll be destined to be Johnny Whitechap. My gast would be flabbered if that were the case. The suggestion of the protagonist having a voice (or perhaps multiple, as per Inquisition) could be true, but I’m not sure.

The world’s also a bit more colourful (huzzah, Fallout 3 was the Land of Brown), and there may be gameplay in the pre-war era as the bombs drop (if so, it could well be a prologue).

It’ll be interesting to see whether there’s a ‘hardcore’ mode, like in New Vegas where you had to eat/drink regularly or suffer the consequences. The only thing we can be sure of right now is that it’ll sell by the bucketload.

XCOM 2

Massively disappointed this is PC-only. Enemy Unknown was one of the best games of the previous generation, all the more so because it was originally going to be another shooter before fans old and new pestered Firaxis into making it a strategy/tactics game [kudos to Firaxis for listening, and thus selling a ton of copies]. Anyway, it might yet move to consoles, but the initial launch will be just for the PC.

So, what’s new?

Well, you lost the war (or someone did, anyway). Aliens have conquered Earth and have been running it for what seems like a few decades. This time, you lead insurgents (although I suspect the aliens would consider XCOM terrorists) trying to free our beloved homeworld from the slimy grip of the extra-terrestrials. Insectoids have become humanised (whether due to genetic manipulation or human-insectoid frisky time is thankfully unclear), very cool-looking snake aliens are introduced (technically re-introduced, as they were in older games), and your base is now a mobile mothership rather than a subterranean refuge.

Gameplay hasn’t been revealed much, but one thing we do know is that if one of your veterans gets gunned down, you can save him/her by taking the wounded hero back to the evac point. Players of Enemy Unknown will be familiar with the problem of getting your whole A-team massacred, so the ability to withdraw with some but not total losses will help reduce that problem.

It also seems that customisation options will be improved, although details are scantier than a nudist’s bathing suit.

Mass Effect 4

We know this is in the works, and that, alas, Commander Shepard will not be the protagonist. I’ll miss you, FemShep. No date yet announced, and it’ll be interesting to see whether we get a trio of great sci-fi games close together or if Mass Effect comes out a little time apart [which may make more commercial sense].

The game occurs in the same universe as the three previous. So, expect Krogans, Turians and so forth to feature. However, it’s rumoured to be in the relatively distant future (compared to the original trilogy), so it’s unlikely we’ll see returning characters (perhaps excepting those with enormous life-spans). It’s also unknown what degree of character customisation will be available, or whether we’ll be human-only.

It’s said that the plot will involve civilisation looking for a home in a new galaxy, and that the protagonist will be a Path-finder, tasked with exploring the new galaxy for safe haven. And that’s about as far as whispers go for the plot. Reapers will not, I think, make a reappearance, having been dealt with one colour or another in Mass Effect 3.

Worth noting that all three are likely to have significant DLC (all preceding instalments did), so if you want maximum bang for your buck you could wait awhile and save [well, spend less] getting Game of the Year/Ultimate Editions.

It’s been a little while since the last blog. Personally, I blame The Witcher 3 for this (I think I’m near(ish) the end of my first playthrough. When I complete it, I’ll put up a full review).

Thaddeus