Criticism in Previews

Recently I published a hands on impression of Assassin's Creed IV on Vooks (with a more in-depth preview just uploaded to TGND, which I admittedly did de-snark a bit). It was short because it was going to be combined with other peoples' like how we did our PAX AU  games impressions (heck, I think my ACIV impressions were longer than the impressions I wrote for the other games), so I focused on my key point- that I was one of the people who found ACIII unbearably awful, and that ACIV appears to be the exact same. I backed this up, saying that combat is as brain dead as it was in ACIII (it played the exact same) and that it's unfocused and incohesive, just like ACIII was, with assassinations that aren't really assassinations at all, and mid-battle 'minigames' that decide to pause the action and break the flow of the game. I do actually describe what happened in the demo, I just added why I disliked all of it! Apparently people weren't happy with this! The article got a few negative comments (which apparently never happens on Vooks), and I had a few aggressive subtweets directed at me which I laughed off. Now, this wasn't a crazy Internet outrage, we're a smaller Australian site, but people spoke to me about the review nonetheless. Supposedly I have a bias against the Assassin's Creed series (based off me saying I wish the series would go back to its pre-ACIII levels of quality, even saying I loved the games back then. Go figure!) and my article wasn't objective enough. Well to be frank- no shit it wasn't objective!

Assassin's Creed 3 Critique (Uni Assignment)

After the positive response to posting a DayZ essay on my blog that was done for a uni assignment, I figured I'd keep posting any game-related critiques/essays that I do throughout my degree. This was an assignment that was essentially a review, where we had to critique a game on what it does well and not so well, but more from a design point of view than a typical review (we were also told to write it "without the hyperbole you see in some commercial reviews - so keep it sober", lulz). We had to identify the flaws, and analyse how they were in keeping (or not) with the designer's vision of the game, and how they affected the game as a whole.

When we got this assignment, I knew from the beginning I would write about Assassin's Creed III. Anyone who follows me on Twitter knows exactly how I feel about this game. It's my go to example of the faults of the AAA industry approach to game production, and I had plenty of things to say about it. If we didn't have a word count I could have ranted for pages and pages on exactly what the game did wrong, but unfortunately we did, so I had to keep to that.

Hopefully this gives some insight into just some of the reasons I think Assassin's Creed III is a total turd. tl;dr it's a visionless mess

2013 Game Rankings List

I was playing some games this week (big surprise, I know!) and was thinking about how I'd rank the games I've played so far this year in terms of quality. I thought I'd keep a Top 5 in my head and change it around as the year progressed, and that would be my GOTY List. I was having a bit of trouble remembering all the games I'd played so far, and had an awesome idea. I could keep a ranked list of EVERY game released this year, that I play, and update it as I play more games. This would make compiling my GOTY list easier, and also lets people know which games I actually played this year. "What!? X is on your GOTY list but not Y!? Y was amazing!" "Oh, yeah, I didn't actually play Y..." It will help make sense of my opinions a little. This list will update whenever I play through a new game, so feel free to keep checking back every now and then.
EDIT: Ranking them all is too hard, I'll keep a Top 5, and then just list the other games I've played. Too easy.

I would have put Persona 4 Golden in one of the top two spots, but I did play it last year, so it doesn't really count I guess. It only just came out in Australia/Europe this year, so if you haven't imported it then consider this my recommendation to buy it :P Likewise with Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen, it's a re-relase/expansion moreso than a new game. But definitely one you should play!

1. GTA V
2. Animal Crossing New Leaf
3. Payday 2
4. Ace Attorney 5
5. Saints Row IV

Other games I've played from 2013 (not in any order)
Battlefield 4
Pokemon X/Y
The Last Of Us
LEGO City Undercover
Slender: The Arrival
FUSE
Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon
Luigi's Mansion 2
SimCity
Dead Space 3
Battle High 2
God of War Ascension
DLC Quest
Tearaway

Darksiders II Tops Australian Charts, DLC Details

The NPD Group Australia have confirmed that Darksiders II topped the Australian sales charts in its launch week beginning August 16th! Congrats to THQ, it's a great game that really deserves the attention it's getting. Sequels that actually change and improve upon their predecessors should be commended. If you haven't bought it yet, check out my Darksiders II review which should hopefully convince you ;)

Buyerhazard- Stolen Copies of Resident Evil Being Sold in Poland

Apologies for that awful, awful pun.

Capcom have come out today and said that a couple of stores in Poland are selling 'stolen' copies of Resident Evil 6, much earlier than its release date. One of the buyers of the stolen copies has even put in on eBay, with the current bid being 478.78 Euros, and a Buy It Now price of 1,196.71 Euros.

"Capcom is currently undertaking a thorough investigation into reports that Resident Evil 6 is being sold ahead of its official October 2 release date," Capcom have said in a statement. "At this time, all we can add is that it would appear this unfortunate incident is limited to a small quantity of stolen copies of the German USK PlayStation 3 version of the game."

I'm a bit unsure what they mean by 'stolen', whether they mean the stores somehow got their hands on illegal copies, or if they were just shipped really early and the stores put them on the shelves, breaking the street date by an entire month. I highly doubt that would be accidental.You could say that once Capcom's lawyers get a hold of them there will be No Hope Left. Ah? Ah? Thankyou, I'm here til Tuesday.

Battlefield 3 Armored Kill Assignments, Trophies and Achievements Detailed

The Australian spell-checker inside my head pains me to spell it this way, but the upcoming Battlefield 3 expansion pack Armored Kill releases this week for PS3 Premium users, and next week for PC and 360 Premium players, and DICE have revealed all the assignments, trophies and achievements that the DLC will introduce, including 5 Premium exclusive dog tag assignments. These assignments unlock a black and gold dogtag much like the class specialist ones released previously, except these ones are basic dog tags, meaning they're the ones that appear on the left of your tags. They have designs based on the various vehicles of the game, and are listed with their requirements below.

Skyrim's Hearthfire DLC Launches September 4th, Details Within

Earlier this month Bethesda filed a trademark for an upcoming Skyrim DLC, Hearthfire, and a supposed leak suggested that the DLC will revolve around home-making. It was confirmed today that this is in fact the purpose of the DLC. The description reads:

Yet More GTAV Screenshots, More On The Way

In addition to the other 6 screenshots posted in the past few days, Rockstar Games have posted the last four Grand Theft Auto V screenshots for this week, promising more in the next few weeks. These screenshots appear to show crimes and side jobs in the game, including the crop duster shown previously, a rifle with a laser scope and some sort of garbage disposal/freighting business.

New GTA V Screenshots Showcase Leisure Activities

Rockstar have just updated their site with three gorgeous new screenshots of the upcoming Grand Theft Auto V, which show off some leisure activities which players can presumably partake in in the game. These activities being dirt biking, tennis and parachuting.

Bethesda Files 'Hearthfire' Trademarks for Skyrim DLC

Bethesda has filed a trademark for a new Skyrim DLC, titled 'Hearthfire', along with the description "Computer game software for use with computers and video game consoles; downloadable computer game software offered via the internet and wireless devices." This is consistent with a supposed 'leak' from Redditor derptemp6698 who correctly leaked details of some of Mass Effect 3 DLCs. The description he gave for the pack was as follows:

Darksiders II Review

IMPORTANT: A run-down of how my reviews work:
http://marioboneyard.blogspot.com/2012/03/review-overview.html

The much hyped sequel to THQ's cult classic Darksiders is finally here. Does it bring Death to a franchise, or sow seeds of life for its future? And will these review descriptions continue to have awful puns and rhetorical questions? Josh answers one of these questions in this review, you'll never guess which one it is.

More Mass Effect 3 DLC Leaks

A few months back, details on Mass Effect 3's Leviathan DLC were leaked, including a script. It was revealed that a rogue reaper named Leviathan could be recruited in the fight against the Reapers, and used as war assets, which made me think it could somehow affect the ending. Turns out it will in a way, as it will add more dialogue in the game's ending sequence. Eurogamer found discussion on the Bioware forums about new script leaks, which divulge some more dialogue added into the game's final sections. So as to not ruin the experience for people I won't be posting details of the leak, you can read them for yourselves if desired at the linked pages (though you may want to stop reading after the trailer, there's some potential spoilers there).

A trailer for the Leviathan DLC can be seen below

Also, in the new Firefight weapon pack DLC for the game, a list of unreleased weapon mods seems to suggest future DLC will involve a return to Omega from Mass Effect 2, due to the locations the mods are assigned to use the same location code as Omega assets in Mass Effect 2. Combined with the fact there's cut dialogue in the game suggesting at a re-take Omega mission of sorts, this seems rather likely.

Mass Effect 3's Leviathan DLC will release later this year.

Resident Evil 6 No Hope Left Edition Announced

The No Hope Left Edition of Resident Evil 6 has been announced, and is exclusive to EB Games. This special edition of the game is exclusive to Australia and New Zealand so ANZ Resident Evil fans won't want to miss this deal. You'll be sure to REgret it *sitcom laughter*. The name is in reference to the game's tagline of sorts, which is also used in its quite literally viral advertising.

Final Darksiders II Pre-Release Trailer

With about a week until its US release, THQ have given us the final pre-release gameplay trailer for Darksiders II. Its narrated by Death, giving insight into his quest, and shows off some more boss fights, and a rideable golem-like creature.

Editable Gun Rotations May Be Coming to Battlefield 3's Gun Master Mode

Daniel Matros, Global Community Manager at DICE, posted on Twitter today that DICE are looking into giving admins of Battlefield 3 server some control over the guns used in the Gun Master mode introduced with the Close Quarters DLC for the game released earlier this year. This is by no means confirmed, but I'll keep you posted.

What Do You Want to Know About Darksiders II?

So, thanks to the lovely people at THQ Australia, I'll be getting my hands on a review copy of Darksiders II later this week. While I'm under embargo on coverage until the 15th of August (Aussie time), I'll be running a Let's Play of the game, and writing/recording a review which will be going up around that time. Now that's where you guys come in!

Who, me?

Um... sure, I guess. But I want to know which features of the game you want me to go into detail about. Do you want to know what the RPG elements are like? Do you want to know about Death's acrobatic abilities? Do you want to know more about the different areas of the world?

I want to know what love is! I want you to show me!

Oh, Death *sitcom laughter* Anyways, either comment here or tweet me @Mario__Bones and let me know what you want me to focus on in my review and Let's Play. Of course, I'm aiming to have my review be as in-depth as possible, but if there's areas you want me to focus on in more detail, let me know. And for my Let's Play, let me know whether you want me to scour the world for secrets and collectibles or just stick to the main storyline.

There's all kinds of skills and weapons to unlock and use, and they can't all be obtained in one playthrough!

If I get enough questions I might even have a Q&A post here answering as many as I can, so feel free to ask me whatever you like. This will be my first big, official review, and I'm really looking forward to it! Here's some more screenshots to tide you over until the 15th ;)

Death faces off against a Scarab Hulk in the Online 'Crucible' mode

It's a little known fact that Death actually mentored Darth Vader

Death uses his mask to cheat at staring contests

The Maker's Realm was the setting of my hands-on preview of the game #SelfPlug

I love me a huge boss battle

This screenshot's filename has 'Boss Rush' in it. Interesting...

Darksiders II releases 16th of August in Australia, and on the 14th in USA, so my coverage will be out around the time of the US release if my knowledge of time zones is correct.

Hands-On With Darksiders II and WWE 13 and a Preview of Company of Heroes 2 and South Park Stick of Truth

Now that's gotta be the longest title ever. I was lucky enough to be invited to a Darksiders II event held by THQ on Wednesday, and got to have a look at some of their upcoming games, and do some stunt work. Yes, that’s right, actual, genuine stunt work, it was a lot of fun. I felt comically out of place, because there were people from serious publications there, like Dan Chiappini (Editor of Gamespot Australia) and writers from the Daily Telegraph, and I’m just some random guy with a humble blog and Youtube account, but it’s great that THQ support little guys like me and give us a chance to report on things and give our opinions.

Battlefield Premium, One Month On- Is It Worth It?

I bought Battlefield Premium on one of the first few days it was released. It was AUD$50 on PC, and the expansion packs are about $20/25 each, so I’d be crazy not to really. I already had Back to Karkand, and Close Quarters didn’t interest me much, but the savings I’d make on the other packs, the teased exclusive content, and being able to try out Close Quarters should I choose won me over. A month on from its release, is Battlefield Premium worth the money? Here’s how I feel about it so far.

Watch Dogs ARG starting?

At E3 this year, Ubisoft showed off a new IP from out of nowhere. This game had everyone talking, and was arguably the biggest announcement to come out of E3. This game was, of course, Watch Dogs. In case you haven't seen it, here's one of the variations on the gameplay video shown:

Mass Effect 3 DLC Details leaked

About a day ago, Bioware released the much anticipated Extended Cut DLC for Mass Effect 3, in an attempt to make up for the original disappointing endings. However, it has been discovered that hidden away in this DLC was files related to an upcoming DLC pack, including a partial script. Spoilers follow.