Key

As well as there being a large quantity of indie games making their debut over the last year or so, games that rely on survival in a post-apocalyptic world have also made their debut, far more recently than i've seen in some time. 60 Seconds falls into both categories, and does so wonderfully.

So, what is 60 Seconds. Well, it's a post-apocalyptic survival game. But not the type you're thinking of. When you hear post-apocalyptic, I imagine the first game you think of is Fallout. Well this game sort of follows that same formula, but in a different fashion. Imagine if Fallout were completely stripped of the adventure and RPG elements and brought it to it's simplest form, survival. The way the game is played is that you start off in your house as apocalypse nears closer and closer. The name 60 Seconds comes from the fact that you literally have 60 seconds to pick up as many supplies and family members as you can, and send them down to your fallout shelter to start your adventure. The game doesn't play like most survival games in the sense that you don't walk around or find items. Instead, it's more focused on a point and click function if you will. As each day passes, you have to choose certain options that either makes you send some family members out into the wasteland to find supplies or talk to people that have reached your fallout. In some cases, those decisions can be good decisions and have good outcomes. In some other cases, you can make a mistake by choosing that option which will either use the supplies you are trying to keep for as long as possible, and that can cause your chance of survival to dwindle very quickly. From what i've seen, the most important thing to bring into your shelter from the get go is water and food, because as the days pass by, you will need to feed and hydrate your family members. I suppose you could choose to leave some family members behind and pick up as much food and water as you can to allow you to survive on your own, but the ability to have the family members go out into the open is very useful if you want to have any chance of getting more supplies without feeling like you're going to fail right away. Sometimes you can use your family members as bait to see what the outcome of a certain option will have, which is a bit of a dark twist to choosing those options, but it can have some positive outcomes in the long run. For example, say you are given an option to send your son out into the wilderness, fully knowing that there is a toxic gas forming. You can send your son out to search for food that has been said to be near, but you risk your child getting sick, which will cause him to die quicker. But...the positive outcome of this is that you were able to track down more food to allow the rest of your family to exist longer. Those sacrifices will need to be made throughout your playthrough and sometimes, it can be difficult to make those decisions, especially if you've managed to survive for a long time.

The gameplay is really cool, and it pretty much covers everything you need to know about surviving a post-apocalyptic world, in a game sense. I enjoy the sense of urgency at the beginning, because it already puts you at the edge of your seat, and sometimes, it can be hard to find certain items like a fireaxe, or a radio, because each game you play, the items are put in different places. It's all about prioritizing what you want to bring with you, and leaving behind items that you know you won't need. If you don't find the items you want right away, you may end up finding them throughout your days in the fallout shelter, which is where sending out your family members comes in.

60 Seconds is certainly a good way to waste a few hours if you've got nothing else to play, but I wouldn't say the gameplay is as immersive as a lot of other post-apocalyptic games out there, mostly due to you not really being able to move around anywhere. But, if you're a fan of the more point and click style games, and you're itching for another post-apocalyptic style game, this one is definitely one to look into. It's still a great game for what it's worth.

Key

Everybody at this forum should know by now how big of a fan I am of Runescape and the lore that comes with it. Well, when I heard about a card based game that was coming out based on the game, I thought to myself "man, it's just going to be another Hearthstone ripoff". Let me say right now before I say anything else that I haven't actually played Hearthstone before, even though it's gained a tremendous amount of popularity through it's existence. I've seen videos and images of the game, and although it looks interesting, I never really found myself to be a big fan of card based strategy games. However, Chronicle: Runescape Legends seems to take the idea of a card based game and bring it to the next level.

Now I know what else you're thinking, "Ki, you're just saying it brings it to the next level because you're a big fan of the game in general." Well, part of that is true. But I read reviews of the game before I decided to spend my time on it, and the reviews for this game are exactly how I feel about the game. First off, you don't have to be a big fan of the game or the lore to really submerge yourself into the game, because the mechanics that the game offers allows for anybody to get into the game and have a good time.

Basically, at the beginning of each game, you start off with a hand of 7 cards, and these cards can differ from creature cards that you attack, to support cards that give your character health and armor. You can discard a couple cards at the beginning to get a chance to pull some of the cards that will give you an advantage. It's all based on luck though so you won't know if discarding a card that you could have used was a good idea until you start pulling cards from your deck that you can't use because you don't have enough gold, or it gives you a big disadvantage at the end.

You go through 5 chapters for every round, and each round, you have to play up to 4 of your cards in your hand that can either damage the enemy you are facing, or have it help you 100% by getting your armor and health and attack stat up to prepare yourself for the final battle against your rival. The play field is neat in the sense that you are watching the character you have been leveling up, reveal these cards one by one and reap their benefits, or disadvantages as the game progresses. So it's very immersive in the sense that you really do see what effects your cards have on you or your rival.



As you go through each fight, whether you win or lose, you gain experience in a number of different skills, and for your character in general, and you level up. Each time you level up, you have a chance to pull a new card for your deck, or in game currency that'll allow you to craft new cards to put into your deck. In the 2 hours I've played so far, I've found that I have changed my deck around at least 10 times. At the point I'm at now, I've found a deck that works really well for me, and I've been able to win a few games as a result. Again, it is based on the luck of the draw, so don't go thinking if you put a card in your deck that you know you can win with, 50% chance you won't even pull the card, or you'll play a card that discards that card altogether. I've found myself even taking a few minutes to decide what my next move is, because there are a lot of factors that go into it, and sometimes you make the right move, sometimes you make the wrong move. I recently had a game where the HP difference between me and my rival was literally 2 HP. My rival was able to get the last blow due to their attack stat being higher than mine, with how they managed their card draws throughout each chapter.

At the end of each game, you do end up fighting your rival on one on one combat. And it's all based on the stats you've conjured up throughout the cards you have played through each chapter. So you can go one chapter and only play cards that will support your character and not inflict any damage on your rival, or you can go full on tank mode and only play cards that will inflict damage on your rival, but have no benefit to your character. You have to be careful though, because the rival could easily be hiding cards until the last chapter to raise their stats to much higher levels than yours, and with that type of strategy, they can destroy you in the final battle.



A game like this is really refreshing and for a company to go the route that they did with a card based strategy game, it's certainly been done well. I'm enjoying the heck out of this game, even though i've lost most of the games i've played so far, but it's all a learning thing and you have to come to build a deck that will work in each chapter, so that each draw, you have something to play.

Did I mention the game is free? Yeah, it's free. It's on Steam, and I guarantee if you like Hearthstone, you'll love this game, and Hearthstone will fall into the dusty shelf because of how much you'll play this one instead.

Key

Do you understand what this means? This means that there is going to be hundreds upon hundreds of games that will be going on sale through Steam, and I plan on getting my hand on quite a few of them. It's the first day that I've seen games on sale, and i've already picked up two that i'm really excited about, and i've only spent close to 20$.

One of them is of course...


Euro Truck Simulator 2

I've been wanting to get into these simulator games for a while, and I absolutely loved what I saw with the first Euro Truck Simulator, so I figured i'd go ahead and spend the 5 bucks for the second game. I'm really enjoying it. It's great to be able to put some really calming post-rock or dark ambient in the background and take to the streets with your big rig. It's surprisingly relaxing as well. I could honestly sit here all day and drive all day. It's a very fun game, and i'm definitely happy to have gotten it.

Another one that I just purchased and am super looking forward to is...


Alien: Isolation

This game right here is a good example as to why I love these types of sales. This game is usually going for 50$, and right now, it's on sale for 12$. I've heard nothing but great things about this game, and I'm really a huge fan of the survival horror genre as a whole, so i'm really looking forward to playing this. It's gotten great reviews, and i've seen some gameplay of it, but I look forward to turning down the lights, and ****ting myself with fear as I play this one. I hope it's as scary as Amnesia: The Dark Descent is, because if it is, i'll love it.

Key

Continued from the previous post...

I can't stay away from the sales, even when my unemployed self tells me not to. My wallet can't take it, but the temptation is too much. I mean, how could you possibly give up sales that make a game 90% cheaper than it's original price. It's freakin' impossible. So, I've bought two more that I'm very excited about.


Super Meat Boy

I didn't even realize Super Meat Boy was on Steam until I saw it on sale for the summer sale. I put many hours into this game, and I love it to death, especially the soundtrack. I had to have it on Steam, and for less than 2 dollars, I couldn't pass it up. I played for about an hour and got frustrated, but that's the whole point of the game. It's still a really well made game, and I would've bought it at full price had I known it was on Steam, but whatever, I bought it cheap anyway.

The next one I just got was...


Age of Empires III: Complete Collection

I feel like i'm repeating myself when I say that you can't pass up these sales, but these are just ridiculous. This is a $40+ package for less than 10 bucks during it's current discounted price. I had to have it. Again, another game I played years back and had a **** ton of fun with, so now i'm hoping I can relive that fun with this purchase. Definitely some worse graphics than I remember, but I guess that's due to the evolution of graphics etc. Still a great RTS though.

The Batlord

*clicks on Steam... beats wallet until it stops crying*

__________________

Key

That's pretty much exactly how it goes. I can't stop buying games, and my wallet hates me for it, but it's just too good to pass up.

Key

Alien: Isolation

I'll be honest, I was a bit skeptical of this game at first, because I really didn't want to be disappointed with it, and I wasn't ready at any time to dish out the full retail price for it, so luckily I did pick it up on sale. Having put a couple hours into the game so far, I have to say that the full retail price is definitely where the price of the game should be. I'm a big fan of the survival horror style games as people are well aware of by now. I absolutely love the Amnesia games, I love the heck out of Outlast, unfortunately didn't have a very good experience with SOMA, but i'll get back to that game eventually. Naturally I felt that I was going to really enjoy Alien: Isolation.

I have been enjoying the game for what it is thus far. It's definitely got what the genre calls for. Jump scares, a scary environment, and a pretty good story, but I definitely underestimated how often I was going to be on the edge of my seat when I play this game. I've played my fair share of survival horror games, but now a lot of them really get up there in the sense that this game has done so far. I feel as though I'm having to look over my shoulder all the time, and I always feel like there's going to be something waiting for me every time I crawl into a vent, or when I open a door. It's got that feel to it that really makes you feel like you are the one walking in the **** trying to avoid all the nonsense going on.

There is one thing that I really like about this game that differs from a lot of survival horror games that I've played. Alien: Isolation gives you the ability to take down the enemies you are trying to run away from. Granted, I understand that this also means you will be using the limited amount of ammo that you have access to, but I always wondered what a game like this would be like if you had the ability to shoot at the stalkers etc, and it works really well. Especially in this setting. I still do find myself trying to sneak around and run away from enemies, but unfortunately, this game makes it so running away isn't as forgiving as other games are. I can't even tell you how many times I've tried to run away from the alien, when the better solution would have been to shoot at it and hide. But, I learn from my mistakes. Unless the alien decides to jump from the ceiling and take me out on one blow.

But I digress. It's a great game, and I urge everyone to get it while it's on sale, because even if it wasn't on sale, I'd pay full retail for it. I'm sad that I didn't give myself the opportunity to play this game earlier when it was released, but i'm making up for it now. It's definitely got a lot going for it, so i'm excited to continue it.

Key

Enter The Gungeon

When I talked about this game before, I hadn't actually experienced the game for myself, but I went ahead and bought the game today, so I can now give a legitimate First Impressions look into what I think of the game so far.

So, I will probably make this brief due to my previous post being a lot more lengthy, if you want to read that one as well, you can find it here: http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ml#post1697242

Anyway, yes, I bought Enter The Gungeon today while it was on sale for the Steam Summer Sale, but even if it weren't on sale, I probably still would have paid full retail for it, if not more, because this game is absolutely fantastic. It exceeds the expectations I had for it, and those expectations were already pretty high due to watching a lot of people play the game already. You basically play as 1 of 4 selectable characters and you make your way into the "Gungeon" to fight mobs, and open chests to equip yourself for the tougher levels that lie ahead in a roguelike fashion. Just think of The Binding of Isaac with guns. I have to say after just buying it today, i'm not surprised at all that I've already got about 4 hours of gameplay into it. I'm probably even going to put even more than that today, as well as for the rest of the week. It's really caught my attention and could potentially be a game that I would rank very highly for my "Games I purchased this year" list, if I ever come to make a list like that.

Anyway, definitely do give the game a shot (pun intended) because i'm enjoying the hell out of it. If you're a fan of Nuclear Throne and are looking for a game that's a bit more polished than that, in a Binding of Isaac sort of roguelike fashion, this one is definitely up your alley.

Key

Screenshot worthy moments in Fallout 4

I've been playing a lot of Fallout 4 recently. And by playing, I mean i've put in about 15 hours in the last two days. Don't know what it is, but i've been enjoying the hell out of this game again. I have up to 70 play hours right now, and I'm done with the main story, and i'm still managing to find stuff to do. So many places to explore, and stumble upon. It's a good time. So much of a good time, that I have been taking screenshots of various things that I've either found funny, or things that made me sit back in my chair for a minute to think. Bethesda games tend to do that, and i'm going to show you a few of them.





These 3 images are of a story that was told through a holotape I found in an abandoned bunker. Things like this are really sad to hear because you really get a feel for what people lived like before the nuclear apocalypse happened. Makes you feel bad that these people couldn't be spared.

I love hearing the guards in Diamond City say random ****, because with the Boston accent added to it, it makes it even more funny. Especially this...



Then of course we have Piper, who I have chosen to be my companion throughout the rest of my hours in this game. She's fun to have around, but sometimes the game seems to think that she doesn't want to walk anymore, so they make her fly.



Last but not least, I finally ran into some parts of the X-01 armor. It's a random chance that you find even 1 piece of this armor, let alone 3 at a time. I haven't found the other two pieces yet, but I'm happy I found this like I did. I was just running around the Commonwealth and it popped up.

Key

Recently, I have been talking a lot about Fallout 4. I've been talking about it so much that you'd think I literally just picked up the game. Well, that's not true, since I have over 70 hours of gameplay on it already. I would like to however reference a post I made a while back that gave my final thoughts on the game without actually completing the main story of the game. At that time, I thought it was fair to critique the game the way that I did, but recently, I have been growing much more fond of the game and everything it stands for. If you'd like to read my previous final thoughts, you can find the post here: Final Thoughts for Fallout 4 (not irrelevant)

I could literally sit here and write paragraphs about each reason why I was wrong to make such accusations about the game when I wrote my final thoughts for the game before, but I'm going to make it simple and sweet, because I want to talk about another part of the game as well, and I feel it would all do well in one long post. Anyway, I love the game again. I loved it from the day it was released (granted there were a few minor issues with getting the game to run, but everyone seemed to have that issue, at least with PC users) and playing it from the day it was released, I've seen a lot of things that really have made this game much better than the previous games in the series. I do want to mention that I do miss the stress on role play that was very evident in Fallout 3 and in Fallout: New Vegas, but I've recently found in Fallout 4 that you can make some of your companions fall in love with you, and with that brings added benefits by giving you companion specific perks, to other various things like companion specific quests. That right there has made me a believer that Bethesda didn't completely dismiss the role playing aspect of the game, they just made it less obvious unless you wanted to do something on the side. The other thing I have really come to appreciate about Fallout 4 is how vast the game really is. There was a lot of gripe from hardcore fans of the series saying that the map seemed to small, and at first, I did feel the same way, but as I ranked up more hours into the game, I had started to realize that I was spending hours and hours just going into buildings I hadn't discovered before and finding things out about people before the great war, and seeing a lot of things that really tug at your heart, one of which I talked about in this post: http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ml#post1717371

I've been having a lot of fun with the game as of recently, and that hasn't stopped at all. I've been finding myself wanting to play the game when i'm not playing it, and to have that feeling again with a game like this is amazing. It's the same way I felt when I started playing Fallout 3 for the first time. All I wanted to do was play Fallout 3, and although that game is aged, it's still a remarkable experience, especially if you had never played a Fallout game in your life, like I had at the time. It made me a believer of the series, so much to the fact that I now own every Fallout game ever made, including the first two. Granted I haven't spent much time in those games like I want to, but I can see how they can be appreciated and the leap the Bethesda team took when going from the second game to the third game.

So now, let's talk about...


Fallout 4: Far Harbor DLC

There's recently been a DLC titled Far Harbor for Fallout 4, and when it was released, I wasn't quick to pick it up, mostly because when it was released, I was in that mood where I didn't really see much appreciation in Fallout 4 as a whole. But of course, as I started playing the game again and enjoying it for the beauty that it is, I decided to pick the DLC up, and I have to say, bravo to Bethesda for once again, making a fantastic DLC to an already great game. I would go as far as saying that Far Harbor goes back to the roots of Fallout and makes you feel like you're playing Fallout 3 again, especially with the dark atmosphere that it brings, along with a bit more freedom with how you tackle the quests. I could even go as far as saying that the DLC may actually be better than the base game itself, but at the same time, with saying that, I'm complimenting how good the base game already is, and it's allowed a great framework for a fantastic DLC.

In my experience with Fallout DLC's, and i've only experienced The Pitt DLC from Fallout 3, it doesn't seem like Bethesda rushes these things. They do everything they can to make the experience even in a DLC to match and sometimes succeed the experience that you receive in the base game. To me, that just shows how much they appreciate the fanbase of the game. Some developers would just throw out a DLC and say "here, pay 50 bucks for it" and it doesn't add much. Far Harbor adds a new island with new monsters, armor, weapons, etc etc. I won't get too much into the story of the DLC just so I don't spoil it for anyone, and the fact that I haven't really dove into it too much yet, but if you are a fan of Fallout 4, I would definitely recommend picking up the DLC. You'll love it.

To end this potential tl;dr post that i'm sure most of you are super excited to read. I just want to exaggerate the fact that in my initial post about this game, when I gave my final thoughts, I want those thoughts to be seen as a bit more irrelevant to my actual final thoughts on the game. I don't want to delete the post, because it still holds a bit of history to my experience with the game, so I feel it's only fair to keep it in the journal. However, this post reflects my thoughts more about how I feel about the game, and i'm happy to say that I've got a much more positive outlook on Fallout 4 as a whole. It's been and hopefully will continue to be nothing but a great experience even as I make it into the 100+ hours of gameplay time.

In conclusion, I still don't really know where I would rate this game in relation to the other releases, because I don't think an experience with the first game that you ever played in a series could ever be surpassed, even if the game is obviously better. If I were to rate it however, I would probably put it as: Fallout 3 > Fallout 4 > Fallout: New Vegas. Fallout: New Vegas does have some charm to it, and I enjoyed watching people play it as well as play it myself, but I didn't have the same kind of experience that I had when I played Fallout 3 for the first time. And since I have that same exciting feeling about Fallout 4 that I had with Fallout 3, I feel that both those games could be almost equal in how I feel about each. Fallout 3 will always be my favorite though, and again, I don't think anything will change that, but...Fallout 4 is amazing in it's own way, and I don't think anything will change that either.