Exponential Growth

 

Have you ever just jumped into doing something, not quite sure where you would end up? I would imagine you have and that's exactly where I am now. As I've already mentioned in previous posts, the inclusion of video content seems a given and a part of modern games journalism. If I'm honest, I do the written reviews as much for myself as for other people, I just enjoy the writing process and breaking a game down to see what makes it tick.

 

This week, while playing Alien Isolation for my review, I've been using Nvidia's video capture software Shadowplay and I think I've been lucky with some of the footage I grabbed. So, with the written review almost done and a folder full of video clips, it was time to do something I've been putting off for years: stepping into the Adobe showroom with my eyes wide shut. I have always wanted to get familiar with Photoshop and Lightroom, so it's weird that when I finally get around to getting an Adobe product it's their video editor that's first in line. So far I've just been getting familiar with the basics and so you can see my first edit in the Isolation review, this comprises a few gameplay sessions showing the varied situations you may find yourself in. I hope you enjoy it.
 

So some of you may be sat there wondering why I'm reviewing games that have been out for months and years? Well the answer is threefold. First off, I need to practice reviewing games:  previous efforts have been a labour of love in which I've not been trying to produce it for an audience so I'm having to spend a lot more time looking at spelling, format and grammar (and begging my wife to check it). Incidentally my wife is a spelling freak who usually spots mistakes everywhere from government documents and to large companies, so I force/bribe her to read my writing which is good of her as she's not a gamer.


Secondly, as I play games and get a taste for reviewing them there are plenty that I've finished and thought 'that would make a cracking review some day'; games like Dying Light which I'm currently working on a review for. As it happens there have been some good updates in the last six months including DLC and such. There was also an interesting teaser released this week showing what looks like the inclusion of vehicles into Dying Light. I'm just worried the current game is a little bit too crowded with street debris, so the vehicles will either have to be super manoeuvrable or they will have to add new areas (I'm in favour of both!)



 

The last reason I'm reviewing old games is that while many people are on board on day one there are many who miss good games for a plethora of reasons. These days we are spoilt for choice and if games like The Witcher 3 and Fallout 4 came out on the same day it would have to be a choice (for most). I remember owning the original Metro 2033, trying it for an hour and then getting distracted with another game. I picked up Metro 2033 Redux and Last Light in the Christmas Steam sale and well, it has to be one of the most atmospheric games I've ever played bar none. So after Dying Light this will be my next retro review and one I'm very much looking forward to. There are hundreds of gems out there and rummaging through old games to say 'hey, why don't you play this?' is going to be a constant feature on my site and one which I hope helps gamers find new games they never considered before.

 

As an aside, I'll be attending ComicCon in Manchester tomorrow (Sunday 26th) to check out some games and hopefully speak to some fellow gamers. I've managed to cobble a business card together today and find a printer before they all shut for the weekend; so I'm hoping to hand some out and get more people using the site. That's enough ramblings from me for now guys, I hope no matter what lead you here you like the site and as always if you think it's missing something to just want to contact me please feel free on riggedforepic@gmail.com follow me @riggedforepic or you can now find me on YouTube as Rigged for Epic.

 

Peace out,

Genophix

 

Cracking E3 Gromit!

Heya guys,


Well as the dust settles from E3 I've been looking over the pile of games that gamers were shown. There were a few surprises, a few disappointments but I think it's fair to say this was one of the best E3's in recent years: mainly for me because there was a feeling 2015 was going to be a quieter year.

Bethesda opened the show and boy oh boy did they nail it. I can't remember another E3 show that seemed to generate such an electric buzz around the audience. The game that made this happen for me was Fallout 4. I don't think anyone could have asked for more, not only did we get an extended look at the game running but it caught a lot of people off guard with in game features. The pre-E3 trailer had left a few people a bit flat as it was kinda what we'd been expecting: a better looking Fallout. This stage demo seemed to look better, play better and now we were seeing what Bethesda had been busy with.


 

They started with a look at some of the beautiful concept art used to craft Fallout 4 and then moved right into where we make our character. As they explained that the game would start before the bombs fell we were treated to a very high quality face customisation scene: it's also great news we can play as male or female. This time around we also seem to have a faithful hound at our side who can help you in your travels, one example was the dog fetching a wrench for you. I hope you can use this feature in creative ways and dangerous situations. The VATS system makes a return and overall the game combat looks like it will be in the same style, which is great. Where the demo really hit turbo was when they revealed that with the special edition gamers will get their own Pipboy replica which houses your smart phone and with the help of an app will work as a real Pipboy. If that wasn't enough we were also treated to a demonstration of how the base building and crafting works in the game, the freedom we are being given is mind blowing: once you've placed structures and a power source you have to actually wire it all up yourself! The crafting also has a new twist because weapons can be made from a whole array of household items, items which in previous games were just vendor trash. It's really easy for me to say I think Fallout 4 was the game of E3 and stands a pretty good chance to dethrone The Wicther 3 as the best game of 2015.. we shall see.

 


 

Doom looks heart poundingly good, really good in fact with plenty of what we would expect from a modern looking iteration but as is often the case I think people usually hope for a bit too much: hence the media outlets like Gamespot and IGN weren't too excited about this one. We were also treated to a CGI trailer for Dishonoured 2, a sequel to what must be one of my favourite FPS games in recent times. This time it looks like time has jumped forward and new technology has emerged. It's exciting again we can now seemingly play as either Corvo or Emily: one to watch for sure.  

 

Let's see, other stand out PC games.. ok so we've got another Hitman in works. For now we know little so I'll file this until we know more. As always we hope and we pray. No Mans Sky was still looking vastly impressive as ever and yet I felt they really needed to show something other than how cool the procedural world generation looked. They remain coy regarding actual specifics and I hope this doesn't backfire. Hey I get it, they don't want a game tethered to constraints and set conventions, I'm totally onboard with that but at some point I hope they make the mechanics a little clearer so gamers have an idea if they will dig freedom of this scale. For Honour and Horizon: Zero Dawn also both look very promising. The Division again looks great but as I'm still stinging from AC Unity until I'm playing it I'll not hold my breath. Little was shown of Mass Effect Andromeda and Mirrors Edge Catalyst but again, they exist and I'm sure we'll see more from these in the near future.

 

And finally the first ever PC Game show, where PC game developers got a chance to stand up and tout their wares. Regardless of how successful it was the fact it happened is great step for PC. As my site is aiming to help change the profile of PC gaming in the wider audience a recognition of how well the platform has been doing in recent years is great. I woke up at 2am to watch it live and I felt it was a mix of good and bad, some stilted appearances and Phil Spencer looking like a fish out of water.. ("Yeah you know" I kept muttering) but there were also some great things shown. While we know (and they know) Microsoft have let the PC down badly in the past, it sounds like we're seeing a renewed level of commitment now from them: let's hope it's genuine, that DX12 sings and we don't get anything akin to Games for Windows Live forced on us again.

 

There are of course plenty of games I haven't mentioned here but again, for me the stand out part of E3 was Bethesda all the way. I'm going to aim to make it to the next E3 in some capacity but for now we have a very busy year ahead of us in PC gaming.