Tag: pc

RAPTOR’S GAME OF THE YEAR 2017

Posted on - by RaptorFire

Every year is an adventure, huh?

It’s easy to look back on the time you’ve had over the last 12 months and say “we had a really great year!” or “this was our worst year yet.” Perspectives are a penny a piece when it comes to the human race. We all have our own challenges, tragedies, gifts, triumphs, and tastes. Some people experienced their first year of marriage or saw their favorite movie. Others were forced to face the loss of a loved one or could never look past the failures of their own government. When it comes to the gaming scene, we had some of the biggest, boldest, far-reaching titles in a long, long time. We also saw the rise of the most disgusting, obnoxious business practices that proved just how little the monolithic software companies of the world have for their own paying customers who continue to put them in business. However, given that the purpose of this blog is to focus on the positive side of our little hobby, I’ve decided to overlook all of the latter transgressions for now. Though I urge all readers to exercise their best judgement when making a purchase. This medium is special to a lot of people, and I feel it’s important to be thankful of the good things we have on this earth while always looking for ways to improve, pushing back against practices that are both predatory and immoral.

That said.

I generally avoid a simple ranking of games from 10 to 1 when coming up with a list like this. My goal today will be to praise, in no particular order, the games I enjoyed playing the most this year that were released from January onward, while also giving out “awards” for specific categories that I feel deserve a nod of recognition. Only games I’d played will be on the list… so no Switch titles, unfortunately. I also like to name my Game of the Year just for fun, outlining the game I thought gave me the best time and encapsulates the finest that video games can offer. For reference, here were my last 7 GOTY:
2016- Overwatch
2015- Undertale
2014- Super Smash Bros.
2013- Bioshock Infinite
2012- Halo 4
2011- Portal 2
2010- Mass Effect 2

I haven’t been able to cover all the following games with a blog post… and I may get to that. But without further ado, here are my top picks for this terrific year:

Zelda fans finally received an all-new adventure with the excellent open-world of Breath of the Wild. The wacky but wonderful sequel we never asked for, Nier: Automata, gave gaming another strong story with all the fantastic meta-narrative elements that only a video game could accomplish. Persona 5 presented its take on the classic turn-based JRPG formula, then knocked it out of the part in the most stylish way seen in years. The fantastic world of Pyre proved to everyone that Supergiant games were no two-trick ponies, effortlessly blending character and gameplay in compelling contests of strength. The multiplayer landscape was once again taken in a surprising direction with Invisigun Heroes’ unique use of invisible player characters, creating an experience both fast-paced and strategic for all four players involved. The long-awaited Cuphead promised a whimsical cartoon world from the 1930’s and delivered on every level. Shovel Knight proved it still has what it takes to revitalize the classic side-scrolling designs of yesteryear with it’s amazing expansion, Specter of Torment. Sonic Mania saw Sega’s decades-old mascot frustratedly turning on its own makers and telling them off for missing the point of what the blue blur is all about… all by delivering the best Sonic game of all time 25 years post-inception. We discovered a shocking story within the game that showed off both the best time-travel mechanic of all time and the most ridiculous name of all time, The Sexy Brutale. And finally, while not reaching the same monumental heights as its predecessor, Wolfenstein II: The New Collossus still showed us just how much fun can be had with with just a hatchet… and a Nazi.

Great gaming soundtracks are incredibly important to me, so let’s kick the categories off with that, yeah? I’m a huge fan of many Japanese composers, so it’s no surprise that Nier: Automata’s sorrowful-yet-soaring soundscape really stuck in my brain long after the credits rolled. Its incredible use of vocals, strings and piano set such a unique mood that has been achieved in very few games since. Zelda’s always had great tunes (like, LEGENDARY great tunes), and this year was absolutely no exception. Though the music was spread particularly thin in Breath of the Wild, the songs that we DID get set the mood of this epic, open-air quest. Pyre showed off some amazing variety from the legendary Darren Korb, with memorable character themes, folk music, and minstrelsy peppered throughout the story. And let’s not forget Cuphead’s fantastic devotion to its source material, complete with record filtering, old-timey vocals, and the best big band sound on this side of the swing era. However, it’s the unbelievable variety and style of Persona 5 that wins this category. Never have I heard a better mix of j-pop meets jazz meets funk meets heavy metal. I haven’t stopped listening to this OST since April, and if you haven’t started yet, get on YouTube and fix that!

Graphics don’t make a game, but how a game looks in motion is an inescapable factor in its ability to compel a player forward. Over the years, art styles have grown more vibrant, charming and wonderful; the fact that there was even competition in this category this year is a testament to that. When I saw Persona 5, I thought the contest was over already. Persona takes advantage of its new HD engine and pours style into its every facet, from its menus to battle commands to monster designs and even the text bubbles(!?!?) Every action taken in the game pops out of the screen with reckless abandon, showering the player in red-soaked anime goodness, demanding they have the time of their life (before it steals your heart). Did I mention this is a PS3 release??? Then Pyre showed up about a few months later, straightened its tie, and proceeded to beat Persona’s aesthetic into the ground with its own hand drawn, glorious animations and environments. Characters come alive with amazing designs and colors, while the titular Pyres burst off the monitor with every victory goal. And YET… both still couldn’t keep up with the fabulous animation of Cuphead. There are 19 bosses in Cuphead. Each of them had to be drawn and re-drawn thousands upon thousands of times in order to get the silky-smooth 1930’s artstyle that simply needs to be seen in action to be believed. It’s a true testament to Studio MDHR’s commitment and passion for its vision, and the result is a game that will forever stand as a gold standard in independent game development. In the world of gaming aesthetics and artstyles, Cuphead is a triumph.

My final category goes to the game that surprised me the most this year. I love surprises. Games and movies that throw clever curve balls and continually subvert expectations are the kind that usually give me the most memorable experiences (Undertale and Madoka still haunt me to this day and I love it). This year had plenty of great experiences, but not quite as many surprises as usual. There are few exceptions that stuck out: Pyre was a particular treat, as the concept of a “fantasy sports RPG” didn’t appeal to me at first blush. But as the reviews came out and the true scope of the game became clearer, my interest grew enough to give it a try, and the result was an unforgettable story of my own making. In a similar way, Nier: Automata’s meta elements and its talent for changing its audience’s expectations at every corner were delightful to uncover, with its dozens of endings, secrets and thoughtful psychological musings peppered throughout. Sonic Mania, on the other hand, promised a return to form for one of my favorite childhood heroes, and the surprise inside wasn’t found in its adherence to that promise, but in simply how spectacularly I found the game’s execution of Sonic’s original vision. On top of all that, a strange little game named The Sexy Brutale came from seemingly out of nowhere, giving the player one of the best examples of a time-travel mechanic I’ve ever seen in a game. (I’d love to talk more about what makes it so great here, but you’ll find my more complete thoughts on Sexy Brutale in an upcoming spoiler-ific post.) In the end though, the most fantastic surprise I found was in my escapades within the twisted world of Persona 5. As my introduction to the celebrated series, I could not have picked a more excellent gateway. Persona 5 oozes style, personality and swagger from every pore, extending beyond its striking visual aesthetic and seeping into its formulaic but ingenious execution of classic JRPG dungeon-crawling. P5 eliminates so many of the issues I have with the JRPG formula, namely the stat grind. Battle commands have shifted from a scrolling menu into a single button press for each action (making P5 one of the few RPGs that remember how many buttons a Playstation controller has, thank you very much), and if that isn’t quick enough, Persona’s trademark “Rush Mode” clears out enemies that can hardly be bothered with in a jiffy. Outside of battle, the min-maxing remains compelling through the Confidant system, where players are required to build relationships with teammates and neighbors. The stronger your relationships, the stronger your Personas can be, cleverly weaving together your character’s personal growth as a young man and his growth as a warrior. The compelling nature of your social interactions, the emphasis of stealth to drive home the theme of “Phantom Thievery,” and the experience’s inimitable style throughout its 100+ hour run… the pleasant surprises this game offers are endless. I approached it intrigued. I left blown away. Like Fire Emblem Awakening before it, Persona 5 simultaneously made me stop wondering why I still owned a PS4 while revealing to me a whole new franchise to have a place in my heart. And there it will stay, waiting patiently for the countless P5 spinoffs to drip from Atlus’ depths before Persona 6 inevitably comes out on my 50th birthday, probably.

Which brings me to my Game of the Year. It’s shocking to me how much I really needed to ponder which experience meant the most to me, especially considering that this is a year that a new Zelda game came out. Alas, while Breath of the Wild’s scope and scale were impressive, serving as an example of the best open-world gaming has to offer, its various technical hiccups, lack of traditional dungeons and reliance on the ill-advised weapon durability system failed to enrapture me in the same way previous entries had. So the battle came down to Persona 5, The Sexy Brutale and Pyre. It was an incredibly close call, but…

My Game of the Year has to inevitably go to PYRE.

Pyre to me demonstrates both the raw talent behind Supergiant Games and how the challenge of blending gameplay and narrative (a feat that only video games can achieve, and one I believe every story-heavy title should strive for) can be pulled off with flying colors. Persona achieves this in many ways with its Confidant system, giving each face in your party a unique voice and background, but Pyre does something even more special. It successfully creates a cast of colorful characters whose fate is tied to your actions even more intimately and successfully than the legendary Mass Effect 2 did. Creating a sports RPG where failure is not marked by a Game Over screen, but by the knowledge that a dear friend must suffer in exile longer than necessary is simply brilliant. My favorite story from this year involved me giving up my own character’s freedom due to my own failure as a team leader. Few games can achieve such a simple yet dynamic approach to storytelling, and it’s this reason that ultimately, amidst so many other incredible titles, Pyre earns it’s place as my top game of 2017.

Thank you for reading! It’s my hope and prayer that your 2018 give you good health, great games, and wonderful memories.

“And That is Why I Succeed”

Posted on - by RaptorFire

Minor Spoilers ahead for Pyre

In life we fail. We fall. Mistakes are made, and no amount of regret or remorse can take away the actions we take, regardless of intentions. As a very wise cartoon man once said: “Whatever happens, happens.” Failure is a hard truth we all must swallow at some point.

Indie game studio Supergiant Games might know a thing or two about hard truths. In 2014, their second game Transistor was released to critical acclaim and tremendous sales success, earning over one million sales by the end of the following year. With this title and its 2010 Game of the Year contender Bastion under the studio’s belt, it’s safe to claim that Supergiant is practically the scale by which all indie games are measured. The hard truth was people were watching carefully, awaiting Supergiant’s next big indie blockbuster. If I were in their shoes, I’d be more than a little nervous.

So the studio, not content to make the same game twice, went back to the drawing board and brainstormed ideas. One of the more interesting ideas was centered around the hard truth of failure.

The concept of a “failure state” in gaming is an ancient one. In Pong, one side had to lose. In Pac-Man, a Game Over would force arcade-goers to feed machines more of those sweet, sweet quarters. The infamous Souls series won its reputation by getting players very familiar with death. (Very.)

Only recently has there been a growing trend in removing failure states from games… or at least rewriting the rules on them. The adventure game Heavy Rain featured not game over screen, only a story that continued to unfold whether the playable characters survived the journey… or didn’t. Most puzzle games only truly “fail” when a player decides to give up on a brain-teaser in frustration. Controversial “walking simulators” like Dear Esther or Firewatch are basically impossible to lose, only asking the player to experience the story by traveling from point A to point B. For years, developers have been experimenting and warping the rules of conventional gaming, with mixed results.

Which brings us to Supergiant’s newest title, Pyre. Pyre’s concept evolved from the studio’s idea to rewrite the conventions of failure in games. Would it be possible to create a game where defeat can happen at any time, and players are forced to face the consequences of their actions rather than be given infinite chances, as is the norm? Well, it should be. Reality is full of unchangeable failures, yet life goes on. With that in mind, the team devised a title crafted around this unique concept to modern video games, a non-violent competition between factions in which failure resulted not in character death, but in lessons to be learned for the next bout. Sound familiar? Think about it. Millions of Americans watch it on TV every week.

Pyre is, for all intents and purposes, a fantasy sports RPG. You play as an un-named exile, banished from his or her homeland for the unforgivable sin of literacy. You are rescued by a crew of fellow exiles who, upon learning of your unique skill, begin putting you to work deciphering a mysterious book detailing a path to freedom from eternal exile. Soon, this path is revealed to be attainable only through “The Rites,” thrusting you into an epic quest to travel the land, gather companions, and win enough Rites to earn your freedom.

The Rites themselves make up the bulk of gameplay. Players select a team of three party members to participate in a competition that can only be described as a cross between blitzball, basketball and lacrosse. The rules are simple: grab the orb at the center of the arena and use teamwork to dunk it into the opponent’s goal (their titular Pyre) enough times to snuff it out. Achieve this before your opponent does the same to your Pyre, and you win. But as with all great sports, the simple rules can make way for some truly impressive tactical depth. Each and every exile you pick up on your journey has his or her own specializations , abilities and upgrades for you to tinker with, as well as a slot for equipment you can buy along the way. I won’t describe any of the options available to you for fear of spoiling surprises, but the customization of your three-member team goes far beyond big/slow/strong characters versus small/fast/fragile combatants.

And said combatants are what make up the meat of the experience. Like a great Bioware game, Pyre is full of memorable, distinct allies and adversaries that are full of both personality and ambitions, which delightfully your character will keep record of in his or her journal as your observations increase. This information-gathering is somewhat optional… but choosing to forego building a bond with your companions will also rob the player of the high stakes at hand when carrying out The Rites. As mentioned above, each encounter you have is a non-lethal ball game, but while life and limb of each character are not in jeopardy, their freedom most certainly is. Victory in each Rite will bring your companions closer to “enlightenment,” which in turn will eventually give you, the player, an opportunity to free one of your friends from the desolation of exile. This will allow your ally to achieve the dream you so desperately want to give them… but will cause your team to lose both a beloved friend and valuable combatant for the remainder of them game (and giving the player the ultimate choice on who stays and who escapes just rubs more salt in the wound). On the other hand, losing in a Rite will increase your opponent’s chance of escaping the wasteland, never to be encountered again. No matter how well or how poorly you perform in the game, a friend or an enemy will return home, and the story’s ultimate conclusion will be twisted to reflect your decisions one way or another.

This is far from a convenient choose-your-own-adventure gimmick, however. Your crew will go up against a variety of different teams of three, each with their own team name, history, emblem, color, captain, quirk, and jamming theme song. Enemy captains are given personalities and motivations just as compelling your companions’, and each adversary will likely hold some form of grudge against your team… or a teammate. The game records your win/loss ratio with each team, and like any good sports game, each encounter provides an opportunity for some compelling rivalries to emerge.

I’m going to give a slightly heavier spoiler warning here to give you one of my more interesting moments during one of these rivalries (so feel free to skip this paragraph if you want as little story spoilers as possible). Roughly midway through the game, my team was sitting pretty. We were undefeated, and ready to send another deserving ally back home. Our rival for the deciding match was a group of ex-terrorists, one of which was an estranged sibling of a different teammate bent on returning home to continue wrecking havoc on the homeland who’d exiled her. Despite my opponent’s relative on our team feeling torn about her sibling’s chance at freedom, we battled them as fiercely as ever… only to suffer our first loss at this critical juncture. Our enemy was released. My friend was forced to continue her unjust sentence because of my failure. The devastating effect of one simple loss was shockingly palpable… and eventually forced me to give up my own chance at freedom. Pyre is filled with situations such as this, each with its own triumphs, tragedies, and everything inbetween.

Pyre’s aesthetic is a beauty to behold, easily the best-looking game to be released this year (and when you’re going up against a game like Persona 5, that’s a very bold statement indeed). Every art asset is gorgeously detailed in vivid watercolor sketches and playful animations. Characters bounce about the battlefield with their own sleek personality. And those environments? Any fan of the popping, bright art styles found in Pyre could easily frame any of those wide, sweeping landscapes on their wall. Plus, I don’t know of another title that better captures the essence of cartoon, colored fire.

The game is bursting with lore at every turn, giving players an obscene number of opportunities to study the histories of this creative, Middle Eastern-flavored culture. This may not appease every gamer (expect to do some reading… a lot of reading), but even to the casual visitor to Pyre’s world, understanding the unfolding events can be as simple as hovering the cursor over a highlighted word of interest (I seriously wish more lore-heavy RPGs would do this sort of thing). On the other side of the spectrum, the hardcore historians in the audience are provided a vibrantly detailed in-game book that is gradually filled with pages upon pages of backstory as the player advances through the game.

Failure is not the end in the world of Pyre, but the effects of loss are no less devastating. By the end of your lengthy journey through the Downside, each of the vibrant characters you meet will be different in some way, and this is reflected in both the epilogue and end-game minstrel song that sings over the credits (once again composed by the fabulous Darren Korb). Like the many, many games that have tried this before, Pyre turns into a tale that is truly yours in the end, one that I shan’t forget anytime soon.

For an experience that can harbor so much bitter failure, I believe there can be no greater triumphant success for Supergiant.

 

References used:

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/271161/How_Supergiant_Games_aggressively_prototyped_its_way_into_Pyre.php

E3 2017: Thoughts on Microsoft

Posted on - by Ian Ferguson

The first of the Big Three are here with their presser. This one is an interesting one as they have a new console to showcase.

XBOX ONE X

Project Scorpio has an official name: Xbox One X… WHAT!? That a terrible name. This is about as confusing as the Wii U’s name. The system is still boasting its 6 TeraFLOPS (Floating Point Operations Per Second) and 12GB of GDDR5 RAM. The system is to have a minimum of a 1TB hard drive for storage and the system is smaller than the currently available Xbox One S (see how confusing this can be). It will be the first console to come with a type of liquid cooling in the form of a vapor chamber, very similar to the Surface Pro that Microsoft also sells. It’s priced at 499.99USD and will be available on November 7th this year. Overall this system is going to be a hard sell with the confusion it will cause with average consumer who don’t know the difference between the S and the X models. Another concern is whether or not older games will run at higher frame rates instead of just high resolutions. I’m certain that this system will have the ability to run games at 4K, but highly doubt many developers will do that as more and more games become resource intensive. I believe that using Supersampling anti-aliasing for games running on 1080p displays is a giant waste of system resources as the game is still rendering the game at a higher resolution just shrunk down. You could easily give us the option to run games at high frame rates while sacrificing resolution, but you won’t give us that will you.

FORZA MOTORSPORT 7

I, like a lot of people, have forgotten where exactly we are with the Forza games. There are two sets of them and there seems to be one release every year now. I no doubt believe these are good games, but maybe slowing down on these releases would be more beneficial, but you know, Microsoft is hurting for exclusives these days. The game is to feature the latest Porsche 911, and this is such a big deal that they had it on stage before the big national car show which I don’t even know what the name of it is. There was eSports. 😡 Two actual racers demoed the game which is alright. The words immersive and dynamic were used in some capacity along with epic and grand. It’s a racing sim.

METRO: EXODUS

A bit of surprise with this one. There isn’t much in terms of details for the latest game in the Metro series, but it sure does look nice. Even if it was very scripted.

ASSASSIN’S CREED: ORIGINS

It was nice to see Ubisoft take a year to get their act together with this series after the disaster that was Unity. The latest game in the franchise is set to take place in Egypt at the creation of the creed. You play as a sort of “sheriff” that goes around killing certain targets like any of the other games. This game features an eagle friend that lets you survey the landscape and spot enemies and landmarks before entering a potentially dangerous area. There is also a leveling up system which may or may not turn people away from the game, and a loot system that featured Legendary equipment which could mean: Microtransactions. The demo also featured frame drops. Let’s just let that sink in.

PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS

If you already have it on Steam, no reason to bother.

DEEP ROCK GALACTIC

From the studio behind Goat Simulator is a game like Minecraft but in space and with just the mining and killing.

STATE OF DECAY 2

Based on what they showed us, you can already play this game. It’s called State of Decay.

THE DARWIN PROJECT

You already have Battlegrounds. Why do you need another battle royal game with eSports.

MINECRAFT

Of course this was going to show up. The biggest update to this was cross-platform play for every version of the game. There is also a Hires Graphics Pack coming soon. Because the last thing I needed was better graphics for Minecraft.

DRAGON BALL FIGHTERZ

Best looking game of the show. By Arc System Works with the same guys behind Guilty Gear Xrd. 3v3 battles. Did I mention the game looks beautiful.

BLACK DESERT ONLINE

Another blasted port.

THE LAST NIGHT

A pixel art cyberpunk game that is likely an adventure game. Looks great.

Oh and Zoe Quinn ? (she’s not involve, but wants to invoke a “witch hunt” on the lead dev).

THE ARTFUL ESCAPE

A nerdy looking dude with a guitar going on an adventure. Sounds like me. “Coming when it’s damn ready.”

CODE VEIN

Weeb Souls the Anime.

SEA OF THIEVES

A co-op pirate game that looks like a lot of fun. You get board other player ships the old fasion way or by blasting yourself out of a cannon. You can look for treasure in sunken ships or in caves. There are also Legendary treasures…microtransactions…………….

TACOMA

Walking Simulator 2: The Reckoning

SUPER LUCKY’S TALE

Cause no one bought an Oculus Rift to play a 3RD PERSON PLATFORMER.

CUPHEAD

Finally, September 29th. Microsoft Exclusive. DAMMIT!!!!! It’s going to be on the Windows Store.
CORRECTION: It will be on Steam.

CRACKDOWN 3

Terry Crews and explosions. That is all.

Addendum Joke: Old Spice the Video Game

ASHEN

Not to be confused with YouTuber and star of Ashens and the Quest for the Gamechild, Stuart Ashen aka Ashens.

LIFE IS STRANGE: BEFORE THE STORM

Hello Fellow Kids: The Prequel starring the worst character from the last one.

MIDDLE-EARTH: SHADOW OF WAR

One of the best Lord of Rings games in recent memories has a sequel that looks to improve on the Nemesis system with more involved stories like not actually killing an orc only to have them come back to seek revenge. You can actually recruit orcs to help take over strongholds as you wage war through Mordor. This might lead to large-scale battles, but not much was said about it during the presentation. If you liked the last game, keep a close eye on this one.

ORI AND THE WILL OF THE WISPS

Should be renamed to Ori and the Infinite Sadness. I haven’t even played the first game and this made me sad. Also, Gareth Coker provided live music for the trailer.

ORIGINAL XBOX BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY

They said they want to better preserve their game library by adding this feature to all Xbox Ones. This shouldn’t be a problem as both the Xbox One and Original Xbox have x86 processors and run on modified versions of Windows. It will be launching later this year.

ANTHEM

Well, we now know where all the budget for the facial animation went. This is Bioware’s latest game that seems awfully a lot like Destiny. Which in turn could be a good or bad thing. You get to put on an Exosuit and fly around different parts of a planet with your friends. Looks interesting but after Mass Effect 3, Andromeda and even Destiny, it going to take a lot of convincing.

OTHER TOMFOOLERY

  • Audience sounded like it was filled with the same people from the Xbox One’s reveal in 2013.
  • One guy accidentally referred to the system as the Xbone.
  • Phil Spencer pretending like he’s embarrassed with the cheering going on.
  • Scalebound is still cancelled.
  • Less talking and more games. Wow, that’s a first.
  • Xbox One X does not come with Kinect 3.0.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Overall, it was a pretty good showing of games. It was mostly no nonsense. Good Job.

Gears 4’s June Update Shows How Much Contempt Microsoft Has Towards Its Customers

Posted on - by Ian Ferguson

Back in October 2016, the beginning of a new Trilogy of Gears games started with a time skip of 25 year and starring the son of Marcus, JD Fenix. The Story Campaign was pretty good, but still needed some more to help flesh it out more as a complete story instead of a stepping stone. It was far more of an appetizer than a full meal. The Versus Multiplayer on the other hand had been mostly… underwhelming. With issues with gun balancing and tuning and a vacant PC playerbase, it isn’t something to even bother with. The Horde mode on the other hand has been really fun… with your friends (and just your friends). The added features of proper classes and being able to place fortification anywhere on the map makes for some good fun. The problem with it was playing with random people who just do waves 1 through 20 to complete as many bounties as possible. That means if you’re looking to do all 50 on Insane, you’re screwed. The issues people had was a lack of a 1 to 20 variation, a map voting system, or punishment for quitting in Horde. For the most part, Horde was fun to play even with the kinks it had.

The keyword here is ‘was’. The recent June 2017 update for the game made the obvious changes to Versus and gun tuning (which no one seems to be satisfied with after nearly 8 months of updates, can’t blame them). The biggest part of this update was additions to Horde in the form of Skills for the existing classes. If you want my opinions on them here it is: most of them are not very useful as the original skills are generaly better. I can’t find a reason why you would need use most of these skill. Cloak? A well placed grenade, Boomshot, or Dropshot will still kill you regardless of if you have this equipped and you have to be in cover just for it to activate and a decoy does a very good job of drawing away fire anyway. Berserk? No Heavy is going to willingly take damage to the point of near death just to get extra damage. The risk/reward ratio just isn’t profitable enough. Other skills like Dodge are great for Scouts because they can run out with a less likely chance of getting downed or killed with the extra defense. The Engineer’s Flow skill is a nice addition to give players a better chance of surviving a round of repairs. Believe me, trying to repair everything in 30 seconds is impossible. This just makes it that less frustrating.

The main reason for writing this article is the changes they made to turrets and Hammer of Dawn Strikes. They though it was a great idea to severely up the price of turrets by 33 to 100 percent (increasing by each level) and decreased its damage output, effectively making the one thing that actually gets you through all 50 waves, completely useless. The Hammer of Dawn Strike now costs more power to use which some people might believe it will prevent people from exploiting its destructibility potential. Maybe if the skills for each class were more powerful or you made the classes have passive skills that didn’t require a slot this would make more sense. Why would you change a non-versus gametype in such a capacity that playing a 1 through 50 will take nearly 4 hours instead of a little over 2? I know. Microtransactions!

The biggest reason for these changes is not because they want you to “diversify your approach” to Horde. Instead, they nerfed the turret and increased the cost to slow down your progress. This in turn will make your credits per hour rate get hampered immensely. They want to break your will until you start spending your real money for a chance to get more skill cards to upgrade. Not only that, they introduced a special Horde Booster pack that comes with 10 cards instead of 5 and costs $2.99. Okay. I’ll just save up some cred… oh, wait. I can’t use credits to get these. You can only get them with real money. That’s a scumbag move there Microsoft and the Coalition. Is the reason you added more skills to Horde is because you wanted to give players more options and a 6th level, or was it the fact that players were maxing out their classes leaving them no reason to buy more Horde Packs? It looks more like the later.

I said I was done with this game after I saw just how dickish Microsoft and the Coalition were for making these changes because of how greedy they were, but a glimmer of light showed up on the Gears of War Subreddit. A way to show that if these devs and publishers are going to play dirty, we should play just as dirty. If this isn’t reverted back by the beginning of July, they can take their 100+ Gigabyte game and shove it.

Xbox Live on Windows 10 Sucks!

Posted on - by Ian Ferguson

After several months since the release of Gears of War 4 on Xbox One and PC, the Xbox Live App for PC is still an unmitigated mess. Even after using the various troubleshooting pages on their official websites, the Xbox App continues to have its functionality crippled after every update for the app or the operating system itself. It seems as if both the app and OS are developed by two teams that lack a particular skill set that is needed: communication.

Every time there is a major update with Gears of War 4, the Xbox App has an issue of the Teredo adapter not working or the server connection being block by an imaginary program or outward force. It’s almost as if Microsoft doesn’t know how things like TCP/IP or server connectivity works. Steam is able to do this with no problem. No ports to open or external software needed to play. It just works. All you need is your PC, a network connection, and the internet. With Xbox Live this is not the cause. The are so many factors like software adapters, firewall policies, and antivirus software that will completely ruin your experience because you can’t talk with your​ Xbox counterparts.

I know some of these issues can pop up on Steam, but they’re so few and far between it isn’t really a giant widespread issue. If Microsoft would ditch their current setup for something like Steam or even Battle.net, things would be better. No more having to enable and disable things I never knew even existed in this OS or edit and restart Group Policies. I’m tired of fixing a problem Microsoft should have fixed over a year ago with at least the Anniversary Update. Sod off, Microsoft.

Addendum: While writing this, I updated my main PC to the Creators Update. It seems they might have fixed it or people who hadn’t updated to the latest version of Windows 10 were being blocked from server connectivity on Xbox Live (Wow, seriously). This doesn’t absolve them of this problem as it’s likely to rear its ugly head again after the next round of updates.