2019 is fully rocking now, everyone has forgotten about Christmas and is probably feeling a bit rubbish. That’s why we have video games!
Hell Let Loose
I backed Hell Let Loose on Kickstarter over a year ago (I think), last year they held some closed Alpha tests available to backers and I got a little bit of time to play then, it was rough, but I could see the potential in the game.
This weekend the developers held another closed testing weekend and I got a bit more time on it, with obviously a much more complete build. I’m undecided how I feel about it.
There is a heavy focus on Hell Let Loose being a more realistic FPS, which for me is both a positive and a negative. There are classes to choose from when playing, one of which being a medic, I decided to try it out to see how I could help my squad as we tried to capture various objectives across the huge map. As a medic you only get access to a pistol to defend yourself with. Pretty much everyone else has a rifle of some sort, so you’re always out gunned. Fine, I’m not meant to be on the front lines getting in to fire fights. But one particular objective we were trying to capture was at the foot of a bit of a valley meaning we were approaching from one side and the enemy defending from the other.
It was just a blood bath of getting repeatedly killed by people I couldn’t see. I tried hiding, but then I’m literally contributing nothing. So I tried to sneak around reviving allies, but always got shot as soon as I reached a downed player. You get smoke grenades to provide you with a bit of cover, but they were average at best. Basically I felt useless as a medic and it just wasn’t any fun.
And this is the problem with Hell Let Loose, it’s focus on being so realistic can be at a detriment to the fun side of a game. There were too many moments where it just wasn’t fun. The game relies heavily on team work and communication, so if you don’t have that you lose and generally have a bad time.
But, on the flip side to that, if you do have a squad that works together, and I did for one match, it becomes really good. We pushed objectives together, called out targets and dominated objectives for a short time. When gun fights do break out over objectives, they can get pretty intense too.
I can see potential with the game, but I think it’s only going to appeal to a more hardcore audience and I feel like it’s learning curve and reliance on team play with put a lot of people off.
DayZ
I’ve been getting back in to DayZ a little bit recently. Since it’s 1.0 release and the fact that modders can now get their hands on the game it is rapidly changing for the better. It’s pretty amazing to see what some people have already managed to do in such a short space of time. I’m feeling really excited about the future of the game after so many years of limbo. It’s truly awesome what the modding community do for what is basically a bit of fun to them.
Anyway, I put together a video of my recent fresh start on a modded server. Check it out below!
-Will
Resident Evil 2
Resident Evil 2 is out incredibly soon, and Capcom spoiled us by releasing a one shot demo. The demo is timed, meaning you can only play it for 30 minutes, so progress as much as you can in that time. It’s also a one shot, so once you’ve had your 30 minutes timed to your account, that’s it you can’t play it again. A tad annoying, but still.
I picked my free 30 minute slot where I knew I would not be disturbed on Saturday and dived into Racoon City Police Department headquarters.
Firstly, visually, wow, it is insane. Replaying this game in these visuals is something else. Secondly, how god damn atmospheric is it. I remember upon first replaying Resident Evil 1 remake on the Gamecube and how terrifying that was initially. The sense of deja-vu hit me straight away as I progressed through the level with fear and dread as I approached every corridor or door.
The zombies seem to be stronger than I can recall, with some taking a fair few head-shots to go down. As ammo became sparse I started to melee more with my knife, but upon being attacked and countering with my knife, I hadn’t realised that I had in fact lost my knife in the body of a zombie, so later began trying to melee another attacker only to do nothing and get bit as I had no knife. It was a weird few minutes.
I enjoyed the brief stint that I had with the demo but can be sure It’ll be a game that would take me some time to complete based on how slowly and cautious I’d be progressing through the level. The demo had me shook. It was awesome.
Spyro The Dragon – Reignited Trilogy
One of my Christmas presents that I was uber keen to get, I’ve been progressing through Spyro one this new year. I’m currently sat at 55% complete with every level and world I’ve been on thus far completed at 100%.
I want to say I can’t remember the game being this easy, although to 100% some levels is a tad more challenging finding the hidden gems and such. But now I find I’m not exiting the level until I have got it at 100% complete.
Needless to say, much like the Crash N.Sane Trilogy remaster, the work done to rebuild these games in awesome new visuals is brilliant. The very first thing you see when starting the game for the first time is quite incredible and immediately punches you in the face with nostalgia.
I’ve been posting videos of completing the flight trials for each world and how to 100% them in one run. So far I’ve got the first 4 of them done, so if you are playing and are a little stuck on how to get all the items per flight level in one run, check out the videos on our Youtube Channel.
– Murr
