Hi guys,
I have been looking forward to bringing you all this post for a very long time, my 100th post. I am going to cut to the chase and tell you that after many months of work I am very pleased to announce to you all that I have launched a website! This website will feature posts from this blog, and in the future will get posts that will not be on this blog! I would really appreciate it if you would go and check it out and tell me what you think, you can tweet me any of your thoughts or ideas here.
Go now and read the future of The Games Critic: thegamescritic.com
If you would like to tweet about my new website click here! This just helps to get the word out about the new site.
That is all for now, thank you all very much for reading and I can't really thank you all enough for the support you have shown me over the last couple of months.
Ed
Friday, 31 January 2014
Monday, 20 January 2014
Playstation 4 Review
Hi guys,
Just before I start this post I would just like to say that this is my 99th post on this blog. Within the next week you can expect my 100th post. The 100th post is going to be huge, it will change the whole format of my blog and I am really excited to bring it to you all. I have been working behind the scenes on this project for a few months now so it will be very nice to finally see it released. If you follow me on Twitter then you will have seen some tweets in-directly about it. That is the only hint you will get! Right after that intro I have an equally awesome post for you, my full review of the Playstation 4. Now this will be the first console I have reviewed so I hope I cover all of the relevant points.
DESIGN: Let's start with the design of the console, this console is a really stunner, if there was a bar where all of the games consoles hung out, when the PS4 enters the room she(I have given my PS4 a girls name, as should you!) would turn many heads. Moving on from that slightly weird analogy, seriously though she does look gorgeous, if you are a hermit at haven't seen what the PS4 looks like here she is:
CONTROLLER: That is the other major change with the PS4 the Dualshock 4, I can't stress enough how bigger difference you can feel just by holding the controller. When I first picked up the controller back in September at Eurogamer, I wasn't particularly infatuated with it and that gave me cause for concern. However as soon as I picked it up with my own PS4 I just fell in love with it, I think the first thing that will hit you is the size of it. This is considerably bigger than the Dualshock 3, and I personally think it is better because of it! It will take you a while to get used to it, but when you do it is simply a joy to use.
As you may know the start and select buttons from the Dualshock 3 have been replaced with the options and share buttons, and touch pad. As it sounds the share does nothing but takes screen shots/videos. The options and touch pad are the new start and select, with the touch pad usually taking the place of select and the options button taking the place of start. In the future I would like to see more games take more advantage of the touch pad. I can see it being a feature that will maily be used in first party games. I know for a fact that there are sections of inFamous Second Sons that will feature the touch pad, I can't wait to see what Naughty Dog can do with it! All in all I think it is one of if not the biggest improvement between Dualshock 3 and 4!
GRAPHICAL CAPABILITY: The difference between the PS3 and 4 graphically is staggering, if you look at a game like Battlefield 4(single player) and then you look at something like Uncharted 3, the difference is huge. Now I know you want a difference that big, but this is just the beginning of the consoles life span, the graphics/size of games is only grow the longer the console is out there! Lip syncing has also been greatly improved between the generations, I know it is some what down to the game engine/developer but the console itself gives them the opportunity to do so much more than they could before.Most of the games you will play with be 1080p and 60fps, if you don't know what that means, it is going to look gorgeous and run very very smoothly!
THE BAD THINGS WITH THE CONSOLE: Yes it is a shame that a few things are done wrong with this console, but non of them are huge and shouldn't get in the way of your day-to-day gaming experience. The first thing is actually the share button, when you take a screen shot(by pressing the share button once depending on what you have set it to in the settings) it will take a screen shot. When ever you want to upload that screen shot, you press and hold the share button and it gives you the option to either tweet the shot, or post it on Facebook. I would have really liked to see an option where by you can email it to yourself or others. This wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that you can only access your photos through the PS4, not through the Playstation website or something like that, I feel it was a big missed opportunity with the PS4.
My second problem with the PS4 is the downloads system, when ever something is automatically downloaded or you start something downloading, you have no ability what so ever to pause that download. This may not be a huge problem for many people but for me with a 1.8mb/s Internet speed any kind of download in the background means that I then can't play any multiplayer games. This is a huge pain especially as games for the PS4(Warframe for example is 50GB) are so big.
This brings me onto my third problem with the PS4, the memory. Now I know that in time there will be much bigger options available for the PS4, but to only have one 500GB(the size that was available on the PS3 at the end of it's life cycle) option at launch I feel was a wasted opportunity. I have already filled half of my hard drive with 4 disk games and 3 digital games. I have no films and no media other than the screen shots that I have taken.
My fourth and final problem is the on/off button. For some reason I can't make my PS4 turn of just my pressing the off button(or pressing and holding), which puts it into standby mode, but I want to turn my PS4 totally off. So instead of actually using the power button I have to go through the menus of the PS4(which sounds worse than it is)to turn my PS4 off. This isn't a huge thing but it is a bit annoying.
Anyway that brings me to the end of my review for the PS4 as a whole, if there are any points you think I have missed you can either leave your ideas in the comments or Tweet me or hit me up on Facebook.
All in all I absolutely love the PS4, and the bad things I have mentioned have little to no impact on your day-to-day gaming, they just would have been nice to see.
I feel as though it wouldn't be right to give a whole console a score, so I will leave you with this. No matter what your console preferences you should definitely pick up a next(now current?) gen console. They are a master piece in gaming design and I am very very excited to see what this next year will bring us. If you are a gamer, you had better strap yourself in because what is to come, will be know for years to come, as the best time to be a gamer.
As always thank you for reading,
Ed
Twitter
Facebook
Just before I start this post I would just like to say that this is my 99th post on this blog. Within the next week you can expect my 100th post. The 100th post is going to be huge, it will change the whole format of my blog and I am really excited to bring it to you all. I have been working behind the scenes on this project for a few months now so it will be very nice to finally see it released. If you follow me on Twitter then you will have seen some tweets in-directly about it. That is the only hint you will get! Right after that intro I have an equally awesome post for you, my full review of the Playstation 4. Now this will be the first console I have reviewed so I hope I cover all of the relevant points.
DESIGN: Let's start with the design of the console, this console is a really stunner, if there was a bar where all of the games consoles hung out, when the PS4 enters the room she(I have given my PS4 a girls name, as should you!) would turn many heads. Moving on from that slightly weird analogy, seriously though she does look gorgeous, if you are a hermit at haven't seen what the PS4 looks like here she is:
As you may know the start and select buttons from the Dualshock 3 have been replaced with the options and share buttons, and touch pad. As it sounds the share does nothing but takes screen shots/videos. The options and touch pad are the new start and select, with the touch pad usually taking the place of select and the options button taking the place of start. In the future I would like to see more games take more advantage of the touch pad. I can see it being a feature that will maily be used in first party games. I know for a fact that there are sections of inFamous Second Sons that will feature the touch pad, I can't wait to see what Naughty Dog can do with it! All in all I think it is one of if not the biggest improvement between Dualshock 3 and 4!
GRAPHICAL CAPABILITY: The difference between the PS3 and 4 graphically is staggering, if you look at a game like Battlefield 4(single player) and then you look at something like Uncharted 3, the difference is huge. Now I know you want a difference that big, but this is just the beginning of the consoles life span, the graphics/size of games is only grow the longer the console is out there! Lip syncing has also been greatly improved between the generations, I know it is some what down to the game engine/developer but the console itself gives them the opportunity to do so much more than they could before.Most of the games you will play with be 1080p and 60fps, if you don't know what that means, it is going to look gorgeous and run very very smoothly!
THE BAD THINGS WITH THE CONSOLE: Yes it is a shame that a few things are done wrong with this console, but non of them are huge and shouldn't get in the way of your day-to-day gaming experience. The first thing is actually the share button, when you take a screen shot(by pressing the share button once depending on what you have set it to in the settings) it will take a screen shot. When ever you want to upload that screen shot, you press and hold the share button and it gives you the option to either tweet the shot, or post it on Facebook. I would have really liked to see an option where by you can email it to yourself or others. This wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that you can only access your photos through the PS4, not through the Playstation website or something like that, I feel it was a big missed opportunity with the PS4.
My second problem with the PS4 is the downloads system, when ever something is automatically downloaded or you start something downloading, you have no ability what so ever to pause that download. This may not be a huge problem for many people but for me with a 1.8mb/s Internet speed any kind of download in the background means that I then can't play any multiplayer games. This is a huge pain especially as games for the PS4(Warframe for example is 50GB) are so big.
This brings me onto my third problem with the PS4, the memory. Now I know that in time there will be much bigger options available for the PS4, but to only have one 500GB(the size that was available on the PS3 at the end of it's life cycle) option at launch I feel was a wasted opportunity. I have already filled half of my hard drive with 4 disk games and 3 digital games. I have no films and no media other than the screen shots that I have taken.
My fourth and final problem is the on/off button. For some reason I can't make my PS4 turn of just my pressing the off button(or pressing and holding), which puts it into standby mode, but I want to turn my PS4 totally off. So instead of actually using the power button I have to go through the menus of the PS4(which sounds worse than it is)to turn my PS4 off. This isn't a huge thing but it is a bit annoying.
Anyway that brings me to the end of my review for the PS4 as a whole, if there are any points you think I have missed you can either leave your ideas in the comments or Tweet me or hit me up on Facebook.
All in all I absolutely love the PS4, and the bad things I have mentioned have little to no impact on your day-to-day gaming, they just would have been nice to see.
I feel as though it wouldn't be right to give a whole console a score, so I will leave you with this. No matter what your console preferences you should definitely pick up a next(now current?) gen console. They are a master piece in gaming design and I am very very excited to see what this next year will bring us. If you are a gamer, you had better strap yourself in because what is to come, will be know for years to come, as the best time to be a gamer.
As always thank you for reading,
Ed
Saturday, 18 January 2014
Contrast: First Impressions
Hi guys,
A game that sees you playing as an imaginary friend of a young girl who hasn't seen her farther in years. Also this friend has the ability to turn into a shadow. So just you average game then! This is a game that in principle should be really good and enjoyable to play, I say in principle because it isn't. I know I haven't beaten about the bush, this is a game that should play well, but is help back by the plethora of glitches and bugs in the game.
Now as the title says these are my first impressions, so they may change by the time I review this game, but from what I have played you can barely play for 15 minutes before you will get a glitch. Now when I say glitch you will conjure an image of a table that defies gravity or a leg that bends the wrong way, if that was the case then you could put up with them. But when this game does glitches it DOES glitches, I'm talking about being a shadow and the camera can't cope with what you have just done, and thus will not move. Or when you as a shadow get squashed between something top and bottom, and what the game should do is pop you out the wall, but in some cases you don't do that and the then stuck in the wall with nothing to do!
When this game does work, it works really well, and is a puzzling game to play. You have to combine certain shadows in order to progress through the level, and though the puzzles are never very hard they do a good job of making you feel a sense of achievement for completing them. Also the story behind you and the little girl(which I won't spoil) is one that is both beautiful and haunting at the same time. I don't quite know how it does this but you really connect with this little girl and can't help but play as well as possible to help this poor little girl out!
That brings us to the end of my impressions of Contrast, if it can sort out the glitches then this could be a game to treasure playing, but until that is the case I can't recommend playing it as it will put you off playing the game once it has been fixed.
Many thanks for reading,
Ed
Twitter
Facebook
A game that sees you playing as an imaginary friend of a young girl who hasn't seen her farther in years. Also this friend has the ability to turn into a shadow. So just you average game then! This is a game that in principle should be really good and enjoyable to play, I say in principle because it isn't. I know I haven't beaten about the bush, this is a game that should play well, but is help back by the plethora of glitches and bugs in the game.
Now as the title says these are my first impressions, so they may change by the time I review this game, but from what I have played you can barely play for 15 minutes before you will get a glitch. Now when I say glitch you will conjure an image of a table that defies gravity or a leg that bends the wrong way, if that was the case then you could put up with them. But when this game does glitches it DOES glitches, I'm talking about being a shadow and the camera can't cope with what you have just done, and thus will not move. Or when you as a shadow get squashed between something top and bottom, and what the game should do is pop you out the wall, but in some cases you don't do that and the then stuck in the wall with nothing to do!
When this game does work, it works really well, and is a puzzling game to play. You have to combine certain shadows in order to progress through the level, and though the puzzles are never very hard they do a good job of making you feel a sense of achievement for completing them. Also the story behind you and the little girl(which I won't spoil) is one that is both beautiful and haunting at the same time. I don't quite know how it does this but you really connect with this little girl and can't help but play as well as possible to help this poor little girl out!
That brings us to the end of my impressions of Contrast, if it can sort out the glitches then this could be a game to treasure playing, but until that is the case I can't recommend playing it as it will put you off playing the game once it has been fixed.
Many thanks for reading,
Ed
Resogun review
Hi guys,
Armageddon, that is the word that fuels Resogun, this is a game like no other I have played(bear in mind I never played any of the super stardust games) and I personally think it is brilliant. If you are unaware of the concept of Resogun, you are put in a small space ship that is tasked with saving the last humans. You can move up, down, left and right and shoot left and right but not up and down. That is it really, Resogun is one of those games where you have to play it to know what everyone is talking about.
In any one level there are 10 humans to save, space ships called keepers come down from the top of the level and you have to shoot them all in order to release one of the humans from their cages. With me so far? I know it is quite complicated and the lack of any tutorials is a bit annoying for the first level, but after that you will know what to do well enough. The more enemy ships you defeat the higher you combo will get, the higher your difficulty the higher you combo can go, but also the faster your combo will disappear.
As far as the health of your space ship goes, well it has none, you can only take one hit from anything and you will die. Thankfully you get 3 lives per level, but rest assured you will be hard pressed every time you raise the difficulty. In terms of content in the game, at first there appears to be very little(you will beat all the levels in a few hours) but then you through in the difficulty option and the constant need to beat your/your friends high score and you have a game that you can play for a very long time. Resogun is currently free with Playstation +(which is required to play online on the PS4) so you have no reason not to play this game. Be warned though it will suck you in to its addictive levels and make you want to play it for hours on end!
Time for the scores!
Length: If you only want to play it once it will only take you 2 hours but it is very fun and it is only a PSN game. 7/10
Graphics: Not particularly noticeable but very smooth on the eye. 8/10
Multiplayer: Just multiplayer versions of all of the normal levels. 8/10
Sound: Satisfying as there is rarely a quite moment. 8/10
Gameplay: Really brilliant gameplay and is just a very fun game to play! 9/10
That gives us a total score of 8/10 a game I definitely recommend you play especially as it is currently free!
Thanks for reading,
Ed
Twitter
Facebook
Armageddon, that is the word that fuels Resogun, this is a game like no other I have played(bear in mind I never played any of the super stardust games) and I personally think it is brilliant. If you are unaware of the concept of Resogun, you are put in a small space ship that is tasked with saving the last humans. You can move up, down, left and right and shoot left and right but not up and down. That is it really, Resogun is one of those games where you have to play it to know what everyone is talking about.
In any one level there are 10 humans to save, space ships called keepers come down from the top of the level and you have to shoot them all in order to release one of the humans from their cages. With me so far? I know it is quite complicated and the lack of any tutorials is a bit annoying for the first level, but after that you will know what to do well enough. The more enemy ships you defeat the higher you combo will get, the higher your difficulty the higher you combo can go, but also the faster your combo will disappear.
Time for the scores!
Length: If you only want to play it once it will only take you 2 hours but it is very fun and it is only a PSN game. 7/10
Graphics: Not particularly noticeable but very smooth on the eye. 8/10
Multiplayer: Just multiplayer versions of all of the normal levels. 8/10
Sound: Satisfying as there is rarely a quite moment. 8/10
Gameplay: Really brilliant gameplay and is just a very fun game to play! 9/10
That gives us a total score of 8/10 a game I definitely recommend you play especially as it is currently free!
Thanks for reading,
Ed
Saturday, 11 January 2014
Battlefield 4 First Impressions
Hi guys,
You may have seen in most gaming news outlets that people are saying that Battlefield 4 is a broken game and you shouldn't buy/play it. Now to some extent this is true, there are quite a lot of things in the game that need to be fixed. However that doesn't mean it isn't worth playing, so far I have only played for about 13 hours, but I can assure you that time will increase dramatically.
This is a game that I can get lost in, a game that is worthy of many accolades, then the game crashes and you lose all your match progress(in my 13 hour play time my game has crashed about 12 times). This gets very irritating, though it takes about 30-60 seconds to get back into a match. From what I have played there hasn't been too much lag and when there has been it has been because I have been downloading a game in the background. To say that I only have 1.8 MB/s internet speed it is remarkable that I have had as little lag as I have!
My one problem with the game(when it works) is the levelling system, every time you level up you don't get anything, every 2-3 level ups you get what is called a battlepack. With a battlepack you get a certain number of random things, they could be XP boosts, attachments, camos, knives and more! Now the problem is when you only get these every 2-3 levels you begin to feel that they are quite a low incentive for levelling up.
The flip side to the poor levelling system is that everything is unlocked using it's own levelling system. So if you want to get a specific gun, say an assault rifle, then you have to get a certain amount of points with that section. I personally think this is a brilliant idea, as it is making me use my pistol and grenades more(to unlock more pistols and grenades). I feel this gives the game more diversity and the game is better because of it!
They are my initial thoughts on the games Multiplayer, I haven't played all that much of the single player but that will be included in my final review. Over all I am beyond loving this game, and I can't wait for the day when it preforms as it should. Unlike most of the gaming community I have faith in EA and DICE to fix Battlefield 4, and get it to the standard it so desperately deserves. The last thing I will say on this game is, if you are a Battlefield fan then you should pick this game as you will appreciate where it has come from. However if you are thinking of picking this game up from the point of view of someone who hasn't played any previous BF games, I would advise waiting for a few months until it is in a better state to be played.
That's all for now check back soon for more exciting PS4 content!
Ed
You may have seen in most gaming news outlets that people are saying that Battlefield 4 is a broken game and you shouldn't buy/play it. Now to some extent this is true, there are quite a lot of things in the game that need to be fixed. However that doesn't mean it isn't worth playing, so far I have only played for about 13 hours, but I can assure you that time will increase dramatically.
This is a game that I can get lost in, a game that is worthy of many accolades, then the game crashes and you lose all your match progress(in my 13 hour play time my game has crashed about 12 times). This gets very irritating, though it takes about 30-60 seconds to get back into a match. From what I have played there hasn't been too much lag and when there has been it has been because I have been downloading a game in the background. To say that I only have 1.8 MB/s internet speed it is remarkable that I have had as little lag as I have!
My one problem with the game(when it works) is the levelling system, every time you level up you don't get anything, every 2-3 level ups you get what is called a battlepack. With a battlepack you get a certain number of random things, they could be XP boosts, attachments, camos, knives and more! Now the problem is when you only get these every 2-3 levels you begin to feel that they are quite a low incentive for levelling up.
The flip side to the poor levelling system is that everything is unlocked using it's own levelling system. So if you want to get a specific gun, say an assault rifle, then you have to get a certain amount of points with that section. I personally think this is a brilliant idea, as it is making me use my pistol and grenades more(to unlock more pistols and grenades). I feel this gives the game more diversity and the game is better because of it!
They are my initial thoughts on the games Multiplayer, I haven't played all that much of the single player but that will be included in my final review. Over all I am beyond loving this game, and I can't wait for the day when it preforms as it should. Unlike most of the gaming community I have faith in EA and DICE to fix Battlefield 4, and get it to the standard it so desperately deserves. The last thing I will say on this game is, if you are a Battlefield fan then you should pick this game as you will appreciate where it has come from. However if you are thinking of picking this game up from the point of view of someone who hasn't played any previous BF games, I would advise waiting for a few months until it is in a better state to be played.
That's all for now check back soon for more exciting PS4 content!
Ed
Looking Ahead to 2014
Hi guys,
This is my first post in 2014, I know I have been away from your screens for some time, but I am back now and I am more passionate than ever to bring you awesome content that you will enjoy. As you may be aware over Christmas I was lucky enough to get a Playstation 4, so I am now part of the next generation. I currently have Battlefield 4, CoD Ghosts, AC IV: Black Flag and LEGO Marvel. I also have the 3 PS+ games available, Contrast, Resogun and now Don't Starve. You can expect coverage of all of these games in the coming weeks and months.
This was just a quick post to tell you what is coming your way, check back soon for more posts on all things Playstation.
For now,
Ed
This is my first post in 2014, I know I have been away from your screens for some time, but I am back now and I am more passionate than ever to bring you awesome content that you will enjoy. As you may be aware over Christmas I was lucky enough to get a Playstation 4, so I am now part of the next generation. I currently have Battlefield 4, CoD Ghosts, AC IV: Black Flag and LEGO Marvel. I also have the 3 PS+ games available, Contrast, Resogun and now Don't Starve. You can expect coverage of all of these games in the coming weeks and months.
This was just a quick post to tell you what is coming your way, check back soon for more posts on all things Playstation.
For now,
Ed
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