But the baby got bigger (much bigger) and the only time I seem to get to game at all is on the rare occasion that my wife and I share a day off work or when it's her turn to put him to bed and even then that doesn't take very long. But I will endeavour to find a way to make better use of my PS4. When last I blogged about games I had just started Dragon Age Inquisition. I joked I could be 40 before I finished it. As it happened our new born was a really good sleeper (he still is a good sleeper but not so much in the day time) and I got to plough through the game relatively quickly.
Most of you will have played it by now so I won't bore you with the details except to say it's a perfectly decent RPG with solid production values. Dragon Age has always been a team game where you pick the partners that you consider most suitable to a particular quest. Side quests were a mixed bag, the most challenging of these were the dragon quests. Ten of these badasses were to be hunted down and destroyed. When I encountered the first dragon, it fucking annihilated me but, as ever, a little patience and a lot of levelling up was all it took. However, as the dragons got stronger, the right team and the right tactics were hugely important. I liked this aspect of the game. It made you pick and change your team. Sometimes you had to drop your "star player" in order to complete a specific task. The main storyline was the usual fantasy dross but the game was tightly scripted and well acted. Will I go back for the DLC? No, I've had my fill of this universe but it was an enjoyable romp all the same. Trophy count: 80% Score: 8/10.
Quicker gaming thrills were required for a while and I got them in the form of Resident Evil Code Veronica HD and Resident Evil 4 HD which were both on special offer on the PS Store. I had played them on PS2 and had a hell of a time and while I can say Code Veronica holds up really well, I found RE4 ever so slightly disappointing. It's still a hell of a game but the HD upgrade I was expecting never really materialised so it loses a point there. That said if you've never played it or if you want to play it again it's still the same game... exactly the same game so there is fun to be had. Trophy count: 47% Score: 8/10.
Code Veronica, for me at least, is the spiritual successor to the amazing Resident Evil 2. Back in the day Sony had a hold on all things Resident Evil and while the game developers wanted to take RE3 to the Dreamcast (I think) Sony weren't having any of it. So they made a pretty decent game called RE3: Nemesis for Playstation and Code Veronica for Dreamcast. Code Veronica has all the elements that made RE 1 and 2 so wonderful and a couple of graphical improvements are also welcome. All your favourite beasts are in here along with a couple of newbies (the tremors monster is a favourite of mine) and it is a big game by RE standards. There is a sense of it being too big for you to deal with but that just makes it all the more satisfying as you progress through the game. Combat is pretty much as you'd expect though there are a couple of weapons where you have to go POV but that's a fun addition. CV is a greatest hits of the previous two games. I love it for doing that, it's like when you go to see a classic rock band. Yeah you got their new album but really, you just wanna hear the hits. Code Veronica plays all the hits. Trophy Count: 56% Score: 9/10.
Not finished with Resi yet as I absolutely flew through those two games which meant I had time for another hit. Resident Evil Revelations 2. Some people find it annoying that these "revelations" come out "episodically". I just wait for them all to be released and buy them like a normal game... So is it any good? I'm pleased to report, it's a ton of fun. Like it's predecessor the emphasis is as much on action as horror, no bad thing. The action lives and dies on the weapons and they are very satisfying, the horror is beautifully presented with deliciously bleak corridors and claustrophobic outdoor sections. There is a team aspect to this game where you have to protect a kid who may or may not be evil or work in tandem with other characters as you progress. The plot is the usual Resident Evil gubbins but we just wanna kill badass monsters... you'll get to do that here and in very enjoyable ways too. One of the monsters (which some found to be unfair) is invisible to you until you shoot it or you can use the (possibly) evil kid to point them out... I thought it added a huge amount of tension to proceedings and while I was annoyed when it killed me (by puking huge bugs all over me) I also enjoyed going back and killing the fuckers! My trophy count on this game is quite low as I don't play with or against others online. I'm happy to play against someone in the same room as me but never online. I just don't enjoy it and I don't suppose I ever will. So RER2 is another must own for resi fans: Trophy count: 17% Score: 8/10.
Back in April I got The Witcher 3 as a birthday present. I finished it in November. Value for money? Yes but it does not hold a candle to Skyrim for longevity. More on this in a minute. The Witcher 3 is your bog standard Tolkien-esque universe with all manner of creatures to hunt and fiends to fight. There's card game called Gwent which everyone in this world plays (but not me as I never understood it) and there's the usual bonkers storyline, which again I didn't really understand featuring a girl being hunted by a powerful faction called "The Wild Hunt" who want her for her Elder Blood (whatever). The main character, Geralt of Rivia, is her guardian and when she goes on the run from the Wild Hunt your job is to track her and, ultimately, help her fight these evil fuckers. Geralt speaks with a gruff voice so we know he's a badass... he has friends and is at the centre of a love triangle (by far the most interesting of the two women is Yennefer pictured below) and to the game's credit you do grow to like Geralt's gruffness and his "cut to the chase" attitude.
So is it any good? Yes, yes it is... for the most part. It was met with universal acclaim when it came out and the clip had me drooling. I got right into it and I enjoyed it... for a while. The problem with The Witcher 3, for me anyway, is the rinse and repeat of it. The game does try to make you utilize all your skills but once you level up to a certain point, kicking ass becomes quite easy. Did I do all the missions? No. I finished the game on Normal level, I completed all the Witcher contracts, I saved a lot of villages (not all) I killed a lot of assholes, I found a lot of treasure, I blew up a lot of monster nests and I investigated an endless amount of question marks. Ah the question marks! There's too fucking many of them. 99 of them on Skellige alone and the vast majority of those are in the ocean. This leads to you sailing out to sea, jumping into the water, crossbowing a few hapless monsters and raiding a treasure box... over and over and over again. It's not fun, it's not satisfying and it's not worth it. There is fun to be had with The Witcher 3 but make no mistake, there's padding here. It tries hard to bring you all the gameplay of Skyrim but where Skyrim found ways to keep you coming back for more, The Witcher 3 beats you over the head with the same missions and expects you to be happy with the prettiness of it. And some people are happy enough to do the same shit over and over. Not me though. In summary, The Witcher 3 is a great looking game and through a decent surround sound system it packs a fair punch. I enjoyed the main storyline and the Witcher contracts. I enjoyed exploring the game maps to a point too, just not to the point of doing it in my sleep. Trophy count: 61% Score: 7/10.
Finally I just started Arkham Knight and while I am loving it, I am struggling to find any enjoyment with the Batmobile. When the absolutely stunning Arkham City came out people bemoaned the lack of the Bat tank to which the game developers responded, "Batman is the ultimate vehicle". At the time I felt like that was a cop out but I'm starting to agree with that statement. I only ever travel in the Batmobile when I absolutely have to as I much prefer gliding as the Bat from rooftop to rooftop to get to my destination. Unfortunately for me there is a lot of use for the Batmobile. I've only ever enjoyed a couple of car games in my time and, truth be told, I was never very good at those so I was always going to struggle with this. I'm currently trying to rescue Catwoman from the Riddler and it involves a lot of Batmobile. I'm struggling and it's frustrating... because I suck with cars. I do hope I can get to grips with the Batmobile though as the rest of the game is an absolute blast.
Next up will be the Resident Evil Zero HD update on PS4 which is a couple of weeks away. I hope to get to it soon.
Cheers,
G.
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