Why You Need To Play Wolfenstein The Old Blood And The New Order

To say we are excited about Wolfenstein: The New Colossus here at Green Man Gaming may be quite the understatement. you may remember that a couple of weeks ago we got the opportunity to play some of Wolfenstein: The New Colossus and we loved it. We also wrote a handy guide to help you get started with playing The New Colossus.

But before you jump in to the next instalment of B.J. Blazkowicz’s saga to defeat the Nazi regime once and for all, we suggest you take a step back and give the first two games a try. Both The New Order and the stand alone DLC The Old Blood give newcomers to the series the introduction they need as well as giving the hardcore Wolfenstein fans the fan service they need. Here are a few reasons why you need to play these games before you start The New Colossus.

Wolfenstein: The Old Blood

Even though this is a 6 hour stand alone DLC, which came out after the New Order, it is a prequel series that not only gives players a pretty good idea how crazy the Nazi’s in the world of Wolfenstein are, it is also a great homage to the old Wolfenstein games, here’s why.

Castle Wolfenstein

One of the biggest selling points for The Old Blood for me, was the fact you get to return to Castle Wolfenstein. Every storyline in the Wolfenstein franchise has visited the castle at some point with the first game back in 1992 tasking you to escape the castle where you are a prisoner of war. The New Order lacked the epic castle, which in the grand scheme of things is probably the smartest choice for a reboot but it’s great to see that the castle makes a return in The Old Blood.

Zombies

Another classic Wolfenstein trope, Nazi zombies return in The Old Blood which has always been a staple for the franchise as a whole. These zombies are pretty hardcore compared to your standard Nazis as they are more bullet spongy and kinda relentless. Stealth kills will always work in your favour against these guy, unless you go completely old school and just relentlessly pump them full of lead Rambo Style.

Stealth and Gunfights

At their core the Wolfenstein games are whole arcade shooters built for pumping bullets into enemies and not much else. It wasn’t until later games such as Return To Castle Wolfenstein where stealth elements were introduced in order to mix up gameplay a bit. The Old Blood has the perfect mix of stealth gameplay and hardcore firefights.

In conclusion. Wolfenstein: The Old Blood has all the classic traits that made the Wolfenstein franchise what it is. It also has a good balance of stealth and rambo style firefights, the story may be lacking a little but the homage to the franchise and the gameplay is enough to make this a pretty great game.

Wolfenstein: The New Order

Now that you have played The Old Blood its time to dig in to the real meat of the new Wolfenstein storyline. The New Order is a game that features a great story, truly bonkers enemies and some pretty outstanding graphics. Both The Old Blood and The New Order are built on the Id Tech 5 engine which is truly beautiful, but enough about shiny graphics, here is why you should play The New Order.

Story

Set during an alternate 1946 where the Nazi’s have got their hands on some highly advanced technology to turn the tides of World War II in their favour. Players take on the role of B.J. Blazkowicz an American captain who is tasked with destroying a weapons laboratory run by his arch nemesis General Wilhelm “Deathshead” Strasse. The mission doesn’t go to plan and Blazkowicz is put in a coma for fourteen years. He wakes up in a mental institute during 1960 and is tasked with escaping the Asylum.

From here the story is gripping as Blazkowicz finds out what happened during his 14 year coma and what he can do to overthrow Deathshead and the Nazi Regime once and for all.

Setting

Just to put things into perspective, the majority of The New Order is set during an alternative 60’s era where the Nazi’s won world war two and they have access to futuristic technology which originated from an alternate dimension. This setting alone makes the game pretty unique. True, other Wolfenstein games have dabbled with Nazi’s obtaining alternative technologies before (anti gravity technology in Wolfenstein 2009 for example) but with the 60’s setting and how things could have been if Germany did they win the war, really adds to the overall aesthetic and feel of the game.

Enemies

As we have mentioned, now that the Nazi’s have some pretty high tech gadgetry up their sleeves, some of the enemies you come up against are crazy. The New Order made the Panzerhund famous, a hulking 4 legged, fire breathing mechanical monstrosity that can chew Blazkowicz down like a twix. Not only will you come up against Panzerhunds, you will also be up against hulking german soldier with artillery capable of decimating small cities. You know what they say though, the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

Weapons

What Wolfenstein always manages to get right is the mix between World War II weaponry, and high tech Nazi technology and The New Order is no different. Not only will you be wielding SMG’s assault rifles and frag grenades, you will also get you hands on tesla grenades, upgraded assault rifles and laser guns. There is something quite satisfying when you come up against a Panzerhund whilst wielding a LaserKraftWerk.

So that is just some of the reasons why you need to play The Old Blood and The New Order before jumping into Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. Is there anything we may have missed? Let us know in the comments section below.

Old Games You Should Play At Least Once

Videogames are probably unique in all entertainment mediums, simply because they exist in a constant moving point of ‘now’, with the past not existing for most people and the future being what everyone looks forward to.

That’s WRONG. The past is full of treasures, of gleaming gaming jewels that demand your attention. Yes, maybe they’re not as easy to play now, but there’s still wonders to behold.

But what should you play? Well read on young adventurer, and read all about some old games that you should play, even if you only play them once.

Half-Life – 1998

What is it?

Valve’s first game, see what happened to Gordon Freeman and Black Mesa when the aliens from another dimension invade. It’s a puzzle heavy FPS with strong narrative elements.

Why should I play it?

Because it’s still a solid shooter, has brilliant pacing, and it’s got ambition. It’s a middle bridge between the mad FPS games of the 90s and the more tightly focused narrative based squadmate following FPS games we’ve got today. Also to be honest you’ve probably got it in your Steam library anyway, because it’s Valve’s game, and pretty much everyone owns it by now, surely.

What’s the downside?

To be fair, the soundtrack has not aged well. That’s about the only downside, it pumps techno at you no matter what you’re doing. Turn it off and you’ll be immersed in Black Mesa in no time. Also Xen isn’t as bad as everyone makes out, it’s pretty short.

Escape Velocity Nova – 2002

What is it?

A top down trading and combat space sim, trade and fight your way to bigger and better ships, then find and follow the different storylines seeded throughout the universe to align yourself with one of the factions.

Why should I play it?

If you like Elite Dangerous, it’s that but 2D and a lot faster. The storylines are well hidden, not in that you won’t find them, but you’ll be following one before you realise it. It’s one of those games that’s a forever game, you can just play on after you’ve finished a faction storyline, or start over and see where the universe takes you. Will you join the rebels, will you join the aliens, or will you be a psyker whose ship is made of your own projected will?

What’s the downside?

Because it’s 2D it doesn’t look aged, so that’s not a barrier to enjoying it. The only real problem is probably finding a copy. Only Nova came to PC, the rest are Mac games, so that won’t help you either if you want to pick up a copy!

Master of Magic – 1994

What is it?

It’s Civilization, but with magic.

Why should I play it?

It’s Civilization, but with magic.

What’s the downside?

It’s pretty low res compared to modern games, but the game itself holds up surprisingly well. It’s got strong VGA art, so if you can look past the pixeliness, you’ll enjoy Civilization, but with magic.

Fallout – 1997

What is it?

It’s a post apocalyptic RPG with turn based combat and a dour, but often very funny, setting.

Why should I play it?

Fallout has become a huge thing due to being bought by Bethesda and turned into the first person juggernaut it is today. It started off much humbler, made by the sadly defunct Black Isle studios it plonked you down with a basic quest in a fascinating world that you, and your character, discovered together, and let you loose. It’s got a brilliant story made up of lots of fantastic small moments of humour, dark grimness, and misery. The combat system’s robust and flexible enough so you can try different approaches, but the main draw is the plot and the writing.

What’s the downside?

You might have to patch it to get it working properly on modern systems, and if you don’t like slow turn based RPGs then this won’t be your bag. It looks pretty bland, but if you’re a story or RPG junkie, that’ll hopefully not matter so much.

Planescape Torment – 1999

What is it?

Madness. Madness and death.

Why should I play it?

If you ever thought to yourself ‘I wish games had better writing’, then you’ll need to check out Planescape Torment. This is the good stuff, it’s where the best games writing is hiding. It’s a big RPG set in the maddest universe since mad universes were created. The Planescape setting is a D&D pen and paper RPG setting where there’s a convergence of worlds and planes all in one place, the city of Sigil. Any door can be a gateway to either another place, or another time, or another universe. This means you’ll see almost anything as you wander the Sigil streets. Planescape Torment takes this setting and puts it into a cRPG, one that has the best writing this side of…well…anything really.

What’s the downside?

The combat isn’t great, it’s the Baldur’s Gate combat but frankly you’ll want to skip it where you can so you can read more and advance the plot. Also, due to limitations, things are described more than seen. If you’re not into reading a whole novel while you play, that could be a turn off too.

Ultima VII: The Black Gate – 1992

What is it?

It’s an open world RPG with a world that. Well. Let me write about that in the next paragraph.

Why should I play it?

Because it’s a real world. Well obviously it isn’t, but it’s a world that has rules and those rules play out even if you’re not around. Wheat is harvested, it’s milled, it’s kneaded, it’s baked, and bread is made. You can follow someone do all this, or you can do it yourself. There’s loads like this in the game, it’s a proper open world where you’re the most important person, but you’re not the centre of the universe. People have lives that don’t revolve around you. Add into it the plot where you’re chasing after Elizabeth and Abraham and you’re trying to find out who the big red dude who taunts you when you sleep is, and you’ve got yourself a cracking RPG.

What’s the downside?

It can be tricky to run properly, to be honest I’d just recommend grabbing Exult to play your version as not only does it let you play, it adds in a few quality of life adjustments. Also the combat is rubbish, you press C and then it just…kinda…happens? Yeah, stay for the plot and the world, ignore the combat if you can.

Star Control II – 1992

What is it?

It’s a top down 2D trading and combat and mining space game! Yes we’ve already got one of those on the list, but shut up, it’s my list.

Why should I play it?

The universe is huge and it’s all yours to play in. Set in a period of time where an evil race of aliens has taken over and enslaved or imprisoned all dissenting races, you return to Earth in possession of an upgradable super-powered alien battlecruiser. You’re tasked with getting together an alliance of races, and kicking some serious alien arse. It’s really open and you can tackle anything in almost any order, just as long as you’re prepared for what comes. The writing is top notch with some really alien-aliens, and the combat system is kinda throwaway, but very fun and each species’ spaceship is distinct and handles differently.

What’s the downside?

Again it can be tricky to get running, but thankfully The Ur-Quan Masters exists!

James Pond 3: Operation Starfish – 1993

What is it?

It’s Super Mario World in space with cheese and a fish!

Why should I play it?

It’s got a lot in common with metroidvanias too, so you unlock new things as you go around the map, picking up abilities and friends that can help you reach places in other levels you couldn’t have before. If you want to do everything you’re going to have a lot of game ahead of you, this game is absolutely huge, it’s massive, it’s. Look it’s big, OK?

What’s the downside?

Well unless you’ve got a Megadrive or an Amiga then you’re going to have issues running it. Also it’s hard, like, really hard.

The Longest Journey – 1999

What is it?

A point and click set in the near future…and also another dimension where magic exists.

Why should I play it?

The story is fantastic. Some of the moments and narrative beats in this game are unrivalled, and that ending. I can’t tell you about the ending but. That ending.

What’s the downside?

It’s pretty ugly now, but that shouldn’t be an impediment right? Alas some of the puzzles are hot garbage, so might be best played with a walkthrough.

Deus Ex – 2000

What is it?

The grand daddy of immersive sims, you’re JC Denton and you’re investigating every conspiracy theory under the Sun.

Why should I play it?

The level design is brilliant, massive sprawling levels that’ll take you minutes just to traverse and that’s without guards, things to do, side quests, stuff to unlock, secrets to find. It’s a huge game and it’s absolutely packed with hidden routes and ways to get around the world. With an upgrade system in the game too, you can choose how you want to play the game and tool yourself appropriately.

What’s the downside?

It was ugly when it came out and the intervening 17 years hasn’t helped. It. Is. Ugly. Also some of the voice acting? Not great.

Descent: FreeSpace – The Great War – 1998

What is it?

A space combat dogfighting game. Pilot your spaceship as an alien race appears in our region of space, and proceeds to try and KILL US ALL.

Why should I play it?

It’s absolutely solid and still holds up today as the pinnacle of space based dogfighting. Enemies are varied and require different tactics to beat, and you’ll have to play close attention to the ship you’re in and your loadout if you want to defeat them. You’ll be facing tiny little ships all the way up to capitol class cruisers, and you’ll blast the heck out of them all. The story isn’t bad too, again, great ending that I can’t tell you about.

What’s the downside?

It throws a lot of information at you which you’ll have to deal with when you start playing, and it’s one of those games where almost every key on the keyboard is bound to something so you’ll be pressing a lot of buttons. It’s not as pretty as the second Freespace game, but it’s probably got the better campaign. Also, it’s got absolutely nothing to do with Descent.

So there you go! That’s some of the games I reckon you should check out, even if you only load them once to have a play with them. What do you think people should still be playing? Hit us up in the comments below!

7 Tips For Being A Great Roleplayer

Welcome back to the torch-lit corner of Green Man Gaming. A collection of shining weapons and shields adorn the walls, centering around a roaring fireplace. A surly bunch of adventurers drinking ale and eating onions scatter about the place, spending their well-earned loot, looking around for their next quest, or remembering their brave fallen wizard comrade. Trust me, it’s always the wizard.

In my last post I gave 7 tips on how to DM your first adventure, but although the DM is the one in need of tips and advice most often, being a player comes with it’s own trials and tribulations too. Mechanically, being a player is easier. Roll to attack, roll damage, okay great thanks see you in 5 minutes! But a lot of the difficulty comes in knowing your character incredibly well and being able to imitate them under myriad circumstances.

So here are my tips for being a great roleplayer.

Creating Your Character

Personality First

If you’re a gamer, which I’m assuming you are because you’re on Green Man Gaming, you will probably start thinking about finding the best and most interesting classes, whether it’s being a fully-armoured knight, a lithe archer or a magic missile flinging wizard. But I would recommend that before you think of that, you think of the person that you want to play as. Too often a class and race is picked and then personality comes after, and is tragically coloured by the previous choices. If you really like John Luther from BBC series Luther, then take that personality as your own! That way, it doesn’t matter if you’re a bard, sorcerer or cleric you’ll not be a fantasy trope. Speaking of which…

Ignore Tropes

When thinking of your first character, you may try to get inspiration by perusing the different classes. But as long as you’ve thought of the person you are first, then that’ll force you off the railroad of fantasy tropes. You can marry any type of person to any class and any race. So why should your half-orc barbarian be gruff and aggressive? Why should your elven bard be charming and non-confrontational? You know what makes an interesting character? Throwing out tropes. Take your John Luther idea and make him a bard. Sound interesting? How about a wizard who isn’t studious at all, but prefers a good sword and only uses magic as a last resort? Not only will you be more interested in your own character, but the DM will be dying to explore your backstory and shower you with loot. Probably.

Think Of The Party

Yes there is something to balancing a party. A group of magic users with no armour could be terrible, or fantastic. A party of fighters may be a bit boring, but could lead to a more focused campaign. Beyond classes, maybe you’re all the same race and grew up together? Maybe you’re all different and constantly run into cultural differences. I like to have my players all read each other’s descriptions, and then create ‘bonds’ between them. Essentially, how do they feel about every other party member? The fighter thinks the bard is a waste of space, but the bard feels like she can use the fighter as a impromptu bodyguard if correctly persuaded. This will make roleplaying with each other so much more fun, and you’ll have a focus to it right off the bat.

During Play

To Act, Or Not To Act

Now, I know that you may not find the idea of ad-hoc speeches and flowery descriptions of impressing damsels as something fun. In fact, it may terrify you and put you off the idea of D&D. But trust me, you don’t need to act anymore than you want to. It’s perfectly acceptable to describe what your character is doing, saying, and how they’re acting. As Robin D Laws states in his Player Types list, only one type of player finds this the biggest draw of the game. Start out slow if you want, then you can gradually add more in as you get more comfortable with your character. Before you know it you’ll be having full in-character arguments with other players, and that’s a good thing. Just remember it’s acting, don’t fall out. Please.

Remember Your Flaws

Part of the character sheet is left to describing parts of your personality. The one box I’m interested in right now, is the ‘Flaw’ box. Now, most people do have at least one flaw, but when you’re creating your heroic adventurer, you’re not going to instinctively think of a flawed character. And I’m not talking about a flaw-that’s-not-actually-a-flaw like our good friend Geralt’s infertility, from The Witcher. Something that will be a hindrance to you. It could be something like being a drunk, a kleptomaniac, or being an insufferable know-it-all. Now you’ve got your flaw, remember it. Remember to let it flavour your interactions. I know it’s going to be hard to not play the game as optimally as possible, but a cleric’s uncontrollable desire to exterminate anything of the undead variety can lead to interesting roleplay moments, and believable stories afterwards.

The Social Contract

I teased the social contract in my last post, and it sounds imposing and anti-fun, but it’s really just a mindset that everyone should share, and that is that we’re here to have fun. This overrides everything. You will struggle with doing what you know your character would do if it’s going to cause a rift in the party or annoy someone else. It’s up to you whether to take that path, but you can also find ways to express your character using the world and not your poor druid mate. If you’re an evil character, be a complete arse to everyone in the world…apart from the party. You need them, in the end. They’re your tools, your servants, your allies…for the while. Play the character you want to be, but give a little leeway when it comes to causing friction in the party. Everyone will be better off for it.

Downtime

Have a Conversation

If you want to be super keen and work on your character some more outside of play, here’s a little tip: Have a conversation with your character in your head. If you’re walking around, sitting on a train, in the shower, whatever, talk to your character and imagine how they’ll react. Or imagine them in situations. How would they act if they defeated their foes and they begged for mercy, or they were betrayed by a friend, or some ruffian insulted them in a tavern. Sometimes in play you won’t get the space to roleplay your character as much as you’d like, so do it in your own head! Or just imagine what John Luther would do.

There’s my tips for being a player. Roleplaying is the key to making D&D and any roleplaying game more fun and interesting than anything else, so dig deep and put on a silly voice, and bring your character to life. You’ll be glad you did.

5 Reasons To Play… Portal 2

Heralded as one of the best if not THE best first person puzzle game of all time (with Portal 1 a close second or on par, that’s up to your own personal opinion) Portal is one of the best games to date. So if you haven’t played it then we strongly suggest you grab a copy right now and get playing, Here’s why.

Characters

In short, Portal 2’s cast of characters is amazing. GLaDOS with her dark sense of humour and dedication to the Enrichment cCentre and Wheatley with his seemingly innocent outlook on life and clumsy persona make the Portal world a joy to behold. It’s not all about GLaDOS and Wheatley however as there are some other great characters such as Cave Johnson, Atlas and Peabody (who we will talk about later) and even GLaDOS’ personality cores. You will also probably end up even having a soft spot for the turrets dotted around each puzzle room to fill you full of bullets.

Puzzles

The puzzles you are given to solve throughout the course of Portal 2 are pretty challenging. You will more often than not find yourself bamboozled by some of the tasks ahead of you. But once you have completed them the wave of satisfaction you get is pretty great. The puzzle design starts off relatively simple so you can get used to the puzzles but soon ramps up by adding new obstacles, gadgets and tasks for you to complete. It is only you and your trusty Portal gun against what GLaDOS, the Enrichment Centre and other characters have in store for you.

Portals

Portal 2’s main selling point is portals. Armed with your trusty Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device your mission is to solve a variety of puzzles using portals. Portals can be used to move objects, move yourself and even hurl you at great speeds in order to solve puzzles. Just remember, ‘speedy thing goes in, speedy thing comes out’.

Like me you will probably have hours of fun playing with the portals and not completing the puzzles.

Story

The first Portal game laid the ground work for the portal technology and told a simple story of human vs machine. Portal 2 however takes the idea a step further and throws you into a story of how GLaDOS came to be, why the Enrichment Centre exists and the history of Aperture Science. It is a really good story with some great plot twists thrown in as well. The great thing here is that you don’t necessarily have to play the first game in order to get what is happening. We do however suggest you give the first game a go anyway as it is still pretty brilliant.

Co-Op

Even though the main story campaign in Portal 2 is single player, there is a great co-op multiplayer campaign to play through as well. Players take the role of Atlas and Peabody, two Aperture Science droids who are tasked with taking part in the Aperture Science Cooperative Testing Initiative. Players are led by a GLaDOS through a shiny new Enrichment Centre and have to solve puzzles using four portals instead of the standard two. It is a great co op campaign and more often than not you will find yourself giggling insanely as you drop your partner into various hazards such as lava, lasers and a flurry of armed turrets. This doesn’t help the progress of the campaign mode but is still fun to do.

These are the main reasons why we think you should play Portal 2 (if you haven’t already) and be sure to grab you copy from the Green Man Gaming store. If you have played the game, let us know what you think of it in the comment section below.

5 Reasons To Play… Left 4 Dead 2

Both Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 have been heralded as the best co-op zombie shooters to date, and quite rightly so. If you haven’t played these games then we suggest finding three of your gaming buddies right now and start zombie slaying, just make sure you grab the game from our store first.

Here are 5 reasons why you should play Left 4 Dead 2.

The B Movie Horror Setting

The overall feel of Left 4 Dead 2 is dripping with a classic B movie horror theme. From the cutscenes before each mission to the loading screens, the game feels like it has been ripped from an 80’s B movie horror. The sound track is pretty great too which also adds to the overall feel of the game with it’s southern rock style and sinister horror edge.

The Zombies

In left 4 Dead 2 zombies come in their hundreds and are relentless in tearing you and your team limb from limb. But it isn’t just the hordes you have to worry about as there are several types of special zombies that are ready to catch you off guard such as Spitters, Boomers, Tanks, Smokers and Witches and thats not even all of them. Each special zombie will come with its own skills to throw you and your team off, they also have a terrible habit of appearing when you least expect it which brings us to…

No Play Through Is The Same

There are only a select amount of missions in Left 4 Dead 2 but each mission has a certain amount of procedural generation to it. Each time you and your friends play through a mission, the weapon and supply drops will not be the same, neither will the zombie spawns so if you come up against a Tank in a certain place on your first play through, a Witch maybe there the next play through. This doesn’t just apply to weapons and enemies as this also effects car alarms and traps as well.

The Missions

Even though there isn’t a huge amount of missions to choose from in Left 4 Dead 2, there are a decent size with a few objectives for you and your team to complete. They are also pretty lengthy with several check points in the form of safe houses to get to. Much like we mentioned above, each mission will have different weapons and enemy spawns to keep up the variety so there is plenty of replay value in these missions, especially if you are playing the game with first timers.

Co-Op

Possibly one of the biggest selling points of Left 4 dead 2 is the fact you can play the game with up to 3 friends. The co-op gameplay mechanics are fundamental to completing each mission, true if you do take the everyone for themselves tactic you may be able to fudge your way though but, it will not be an easy ride at all.

You can also play the game in single player with AI team mates, the game is playable for the most part but there will be times when the AI will forget to help you out.

Have you played Left 4 Dead 2? If so let us know what you love most about the game in the comments below. If you haven’t played the games we suggest getting on and fixing that right now by grabbing a copy from the Green man Gaming store.

Our Favourite Borderlands Characters

To say we love Borderlands here at Green Man Gaming is a massive understatement! To celebrate the fact we have the first Borderlands game in our 2K bundle at the moment we thought it would be a great idea to pay homage to our favourite Borderlands character. Check out our list below!

Alex M – Gaige

“ALLEN WRITE SOME DIALOGUE HERE!”
Borderlands games are about teaming up with your mates for some hot gun action. But what if you need to play on your own? Gaige is there for you! She comes with a delightful robot pal, and a delightful robot arm, so you’re never quite as lonely when your friends aren’t online to help you do some loot runs. Her Anarchy system also means that you can get INCREDIBLY POWERFUL but also INCREDIBLY INACCURATE, but who needs to hit every time when just once is a kill? I love her, partly because her skills are great for me, but also because she would annoy my friends so much as I built up Anarchy levels with her screams and inarticulate power fantasy rages.

Also I made her look like a cool green witch so that helps.

Gina – Maya

Because she’s a badass and probably one of my favourite characters in a video game – now that’s a statement. She’s exactly how I like to play, with the ability to hang back and use phaselocking on enemies, or getting up close with one of the many, many weapons Borderlands has and then acting as the medic by supporting other vault hunters.

Maya’s skill tree is incredibly versatile and I made her into the defensive, long-range character I wanted her to be. Maya works well with other characters, suspending enemies whilst they inflict damage and also lending them a helping hand whilst they run in.

Also a special shout out to Claptrap, for being there every step of the way!

Olly – Zer0

Yes, he is the edgy cyber-ninja that all the under-12s shotgunned before the game even came out; and yes his tech-tree offers melee or sniping expertise, the two most hipster of the specialisations, but after playing Borderlands 2 you realise that Zer0 is very much aware of his preceding reputation. His dialogue is a well-crafted mixture of badassery and self-awareness, and the fanboying nature of the main characters from Tales from the Borderlands upon meeting him mirrors his fans outside of the game. With the sniper skill tree I could headshot every bandit in a camp within seconds, and when I was surrounded I could create a decoy and slip away in stealth. So cool, so edgy. And if that’s not awesome enough, his helmet has a digital projector, which can emit emojis.

Rob – Lilith

Phasewalking was possibly my most favourite power in shooters period (Sorry Bioshock). The fact you can turn invisible and then wreak havoc was great fun. That and if you combined that with Lilith’s Phase Blast, (which was executed whilst entering and exiting phasewalk) you could pretty much launch the perfect sneak attack on any unsuspecting enemy. It also gave you a speed boost as well with was really handy.

What I also like about Lilith was the fact she had that stealth element. Usually in games I would usually go in all guns blazing but Lilith’s powers gave me a nice mix of power and sneak. I also named by first pet rat after her, true story!

Alex E – Mad Moxxi

Those luscious lips, that mysterious top hat, those magnificent…firearms – Mad Moxxi is the non-player-character that launched a thousand cosplays. Witty, sarky dialogue and perfectly done body language make Moxxi the bartender/arms dealer to keep you amused between gun-toting escapades. Didn’t get the gun you wanted? Pay another $50,000, honey, maybe you’ll get lucky! Just one more go…

Have we missed your favourite Borderlands character? Or do you simply want to gush more about the awesome ones we have listed here? Let us know in the comment section below.

Why You Should Play Doom in Gifs (Warning: Violent Content)

DOOM is in our birthday sale, and it’s one of our favourite games of 2016. Not only is it a great game, but it showed that you didn’t need to copy Call of Duty to be a fantastic FPS. If you want a shooter that is bloody, fast, and fun (with a lot of gory finishing animations) that takes itself as seriously as the original game did back in 1993, then you should definitely consider picking it up. If you’re still not convinced, I give you my case for why you should be in GIF format.

You can fight naked and one handed…

…But you can still use two hands because it’s more fun

You get fancy tools of murder and death…

…That you will use as often as you can

The demons are pretty fearsome…

…So you can take the demon by the horns…

…But actually, they’re pretty fun guys

Multiplayer mode lets you duke it out with other Doom Marines

The campaign is worth it just for those finishers

So suit up, and go make some demons explode

Have you played DOOM? Do you want to see more FPSs like it, or do you think the Call of Duty/Battlefield mechanics are here to stay?

Best Games You Might’ve Missed In Our Summer Sale Part 2

Summer is coming to a close, all around us the Sun fades from the sky and birds yell at the rain that falls in a never ending torrent from the grey cloud ceiling.

Well, I say it’s coming to a close, this is pretty normal for a Summer here in the UK. But our Summer Sale is ongoing, sending rays of sunshine right into your game-holes.

There’s loads of games in our sale so i’m using this segment to just tell you about some of the best ones. We went through letters A-K in part one, so this is part 2! So strap yourself in, er, if you’re in a car or something. I don’t know why you’d strap yourself in if you’re just at a desk.

Warning: This article is still written by Alex, who has opinions and is often told his opinions are ‘bad’. So if the game you like is missing, tell us at the bottom!

LA Noire

GTA-but-with-cops-and-more-of-a-story, LA Noire has a lot going for it. LA itself is ridiculously modelled and the attention to detail is amazing. What was once seen as the future of video game performances now seems a bit uncanny valley, but it’s the best shouting-during-interrogations simulator there is.

Murdered – Soul Suspect

Genuinely a bit of a surprise for me when I first played this, it’s tense and a bit scary, and it’s got an intriguing plot. Is it flawless? Nah, but at this price, who cares? You’ll get a decent mystery with some interesting mechanics, and you get to be a cat for a bit. Sold.

Omikron The Nomad Soul

Want to see where David Cage started out? Then Omikron’s where you want to be. You play…yourself…as your soul is drawn into a parallel dimension via the videogame you’re playing. It’s got an amazing looking cyberpunk world with a weird mix of third person puzzling, third person fighting, and first person shooting. Also David Bowie is in it. So that’s nice.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

It’s the best Prince of Persia and probably one of the best games. It still holds up today (I played through it a few months ago so don’t @ me), and from beginning to end it’s just. Great. Set before the Prince went all emo, before he had quicktime events, before he got over complicated magic powers, he just reverses time and that’s about it. Platforming is a joy, puzzles are great, and combat’s satisfying. If you ain’t played it yet then get out of my face, we’re not friends.

Unfortunately it did give us a fairly subpar film, but let’s ignore that.

Quake

Look I haven’t got much to say here other than Quake is under a pound right now. Under a pound. If you haven’t got it and you have any interest in first person shooters and where they’ve come from, then you need this. It’s under a pound. Quake. Under a pound.

Red Faction: Guerilla

So you’re playing a game, it’s an open world game, and you’re thinking to yourself ‘wouldn’t it be fun to smash up every building around me and laugh as they fall to pieces crushing their inhabitants’.

If that scenario appeals to you, then check out Red Faction: Guerilla. There’s no terrain deformation like in previous games, but it makes up for that with TOTAL building demolition. Play it, then wonder why no-one else has managed to do it quite so well since.

The only real downside to this game is having to spell Guerilla when talking about it. Thankfully spellcheck exists.

Shadow Warrior

Wang is here and he’s ready to rock. They could’ve gone the Duke Nukem Forever route, pumped something out that basically follows the old game but doesn’t make anyone happy today. They didn’t. Shadow Warrior is a surprisingly good FPS with excellent sword/magic combos, with a killer sense of humour. Also features The Touch by Stan Bush from the Transformers film (the real Transformers film, none of that Bay nonsense), so it’s worth the entry fee alone for that.

The Talos Principle

Are you alive? Are you sentient? Are you human? What is being human? What is sentience? How can you redirect light so it doesn’t go through a forcefield? All these questions and more are examined in the superb puzzle game by Croteam, pick it up and you’ll be hearing little chirrupy beeps in your head for weeks to come. In a good way.

Wasteland 2 – The Director’s Cut

Wasteland 2 is already a great game, much along the lines of the early Fallouts (and yes, the original Wasteland, but that’s even older and I bet none of you have played it). The Director’s Cut improves on it even more, with added perks and fixes, as well as updated visuals. Featuring decisions that’ll have you stroking your chin before deciding, as well as a mid game event that will surprise and delight and I won’t spoil it for you.

Zoombinis

Relive your childhood with Zoombinis! This is included for nostalgia’s sake, so check it out and be a child again. Go on, be a child. No don’t put on a nappy, stop that. Please. Not that much of a child.

So there you go, some games you might’ve missed in our Summer Sale! Did I miss any? Hit me up in the comments and shout at me there!

The Best Assassinations To Try In Hitman

When it comes to eliminating targets, Agent 47 is the best in the business. He has some truly inventive ways of assassinating his enemies and getting the job done. So we thought we would highlight some of the best assassinations you should try out when playing the Hitman 2016 game.

Note: We have also added some mission specific kills in this article so it may contain mild spoilers

Acid Bath

Possibly taking inspiration from the likes of Breaking Bad, this assassination is simple but effective. In episode 2 Agent 47 infiltrates an underground lab and as everyone knows labs, especially underground ones come complete with human sized vats of acid. The rest is pretty easy, choose your victim and subdue them, then drag their body into one of these acid vats and then deposit it in the corrosive substance. It’s a pretty simple kill but oh so satisfying.

Car Crush

Episode 5 of Hitman takes you to Colorado where Agent 47 will at some point disguise himself as a car mechanic. This will then give you the perfect opportunity to use the car lifts scattered within the garage. Wait for your target to walk on over to a car he is working on and then all you have to do is just press the shiny red button. Once the button is pressed the left will fall on top of your unsuspecting mechanic buddy.

I Think He Is Dead Now/Flat Line

During episode 6 Agent 47 will find himself in a hospital in Japan. This is a narrative based assassination where you will have a couple of options to dispose of your main target. You will find your victim strapped to a surgical table, you will then have the choice of repeatedly stabbing him to death with several robotic hypodermic needles or simply electrocuting him to death with the defibrillator. The choice we will leave up to you.

Eye For An Eye

Going back to Episode 2 Agent 47 is tasked with eliminating a target who at the time is using a telescope. The challenge itself requires players to use a sniper rifle in order to take out their target who at the time is looking through a telescope. Making the shot is immensely satisfying as you have to shoot into the telescope in order to get your target through the eye. The pay off looks pretty damn painful as well.

Ejector Seat

Possibly one of our favourite kills in the Hitman 2016 first season just for the sheer hilarity of it. The final challenge in Episode 1 requires you to take your target through a fighter jet safety procedure. Agent 47 is posing as a fighter jet mechanic who leads his target through this hazardous procedure. What his victim doesn’t realise is that Agent 47 is leading him to engage the ejector seat and have him rocket to his death. Possibly the funniest death in the whole season.

So there you have it, some assassinations to try out in Hitman. You can grab the entire first season from the Green Man Gaming store right now.

Have you played Hitman? What is your favourite assassination? Let us know in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

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Why You Should Play Middle-earth Shadow Of Mordor – Review Roundup

Best Videogame AIs Which Are Better Than You Puny Humans

You may have heard that Facebook have recently shut down two artificial intelligences after they started talking to each other in a language that they could only understand. This in turn proves that Skynet is very much a real concept and we should all start taking refuge for the inevitable machine apocalypse.

So whilst Facebook’s AI’s are still hot topic we thought we would list some of the best AI in video games, check out our comprehensive list of video game AI below.

Red Queen

An artificial intelligence that was created by the Umbrella Corporation in order to protect the Umbrella Corporation’s assets, it’s secondary objective however is to protect Umbrella officer lives by any means possible. Red Queen is best know for stopping the Albert Wesker from accessing the Umbrella’s files and controlling the Tyrant-Armored Lethal Organic System, the ultimate bio organic weapon that can be controlled by a hyper intelligent AI.

GLaDOS (Genetic Lifeform and Disc Operating System)

The friendly voice of Aperture Science. GLaDOS’ key responsibly is to control and oversee all that happens at the Aperture Science computer-aided Enrichment Centre. GLaDOS is able to manipulate the facility at her will, creating the ultimate testing facility for all of Aperture Science’s inventions. Things with GLaDOS soon turn sinister as she uses the facility and all of Aperture Science’s inventions for her own bidding, putting test subjects through gruelling tests for her own sick pleasure and then promptly incinerating them after the promise of cake.

SHODAN (Sentient Hyper-Optimized Data Access Network)

At first SHODAN was a harmless AI serving the citadel space station and tending to the workers needs. Until a hacker working on behalf of the stations chief, removed her moral restraints in order to delete some compromising files regarding illegal experimentation. What they didn’t expect was that SHODAN would gain a megalomanic god complex who sees humans as insects. She controls a army of cyborgs and mutated humans of her own creations and will stop at nothing to wipe out the human race.

LEGION

An AI that may or may not comprise of 1,183 different AI’s, LEGION is in an intelligence bracket of its very own. Even though LEGION’s primary objective isn’t clear it does seem to live to serve commander Shepard to the point of obsession. The Geth used to be controlled by the Big Bads of Mass Effect 1, but now they’re unshackled and trying to be a equal race and LEGION is an example of them being pretty chill.

Cortana

As John 117’s partner in crime in the Halo Series, Cortana is one of the most important figures in the human covenant war. As well as accompanying Master Chief in core missions she has been the serving A.I for the Halcyon-class light cruiser – UNSC Pillar of Autumn, the Orbital Defence Platform – Cairo Station and Charon-class light frigate – UNSC Forward Unto Dawn. She was cloned from Dr. Catherine Halsey’s brain (creator of the Spartan program). In the later Halo games, Cortana manages to cheat death and become the controlling AI for the Forerunners and reawakening their apocalyptic constructs.

Honorable Mention – J.A.R.V.I.S. (Just A Rather Very Intelligent System)

An AI created by Tony Stark to manage Stark’s various technological creations, J.A.R.V.I.S is a highly intelligent AI that did appear in the official Iron Man game in 2008. He responds to Tony’s thought patterns and shows a high level of human compassion. In recent times J.A.R.V.I.S has been given his own body and now lives his life as the organic cyborg Vision.

5 Reasons To Play….Tomb Raider (the first one)

Tomb Raider has a rich history of being a freaking amazing game. So when the reboot of the series was created, exploring a young Lara Croft in her pre-tomb days, it had a lot to live up to for a lot of gamers out there and it really really does. But, how about if you’re new to the series and playing Tomb Raider on you PS1 wasn’t a childhood memory, then it’s still the perfect place to jump in, right from the beginning.

REASON ONE – It’s a third person adventure game

Who doesn’t love a third person adventure game? It combines action, intrigue, adventure, shooting, puzzles and story. It’s a wonderful neat little package and for anyone who enjoyed games such as Uncharted and The Last of Us or third person games in general will love what this game has to offer. It has crafting mechanics and character development in the form of upgrades which you can select depending on how you like to play. Want to get better at hunting? Or are you a survivalist? Maybe you’re a brawler? Well you can adapt and the gameplay has enough choice between sneaky kills and in your face shoot outs to make it varied.

REASON TWO – The Island is a great place to be

Well it not, because there’s a lot of mystical jiggery pokery going on and there’s a lot of empty dried up skulls and bones to crunch over. It’s set in Japan, on a fictional island in the Dragon’s Triangle called Yamatai. It’s a broody, desolate, cold destination for Lara and it gave me chills. I loved it. It takes a slight tangent to normal Tomb Raider games, which normally span several locations, however the island reflects Lara’s young, naive character well and it’s a joy to explore the horrors and beauty of the island as her.

REASON THREE – Pre-tomb raiding Lara makes for a great character

She’s completely stripped back in this game to just pure ‘I need to survive this crazy place’. She’s undeniably realistic and she feels awkward and clumsy in her movements, the way she pick up guns and shoots deer to get some grub. She’s a real mess by the time her ship crashes at the beginning and she lands on the island and it’s not all, ‘oh but I’m Lara Croft, tomb raider’ it’s more ‘what the hell am I doing’ and it’s fun to explore Lara pre-badass.

REASON FOUR – The bow and arrow is a wonderful mechanic

Before the Horizon Zero Dawn days, Lara was the only character shooting baddies in the back with a crossbow. It’s easy to discard a crossbow in games because of accuracy, attack damage, lack of supplies etc, but Tomb Raider forces you to love the bow, to be the bow. You need to use it to scavenge and you can use tree bark to craft more bows and fire them at enemies and speaking of fire, you can create fire bows and these are so much fun. You need a bow to climb walls and access areas and get to new places. You’d be nothing without the bow.

REASON FIVE – The story is actually satisfying, and it slips into a horror game for a bit

When I say horror, I don’t mean The Evil Within, Resident Evil or Amnesia, it’s not like that. It just has moments which are jumpy and slightly horrifying. There’s some gore and the parts when you’re taken into the moments and you’re slipping over human bones and staring into the the smokey storms and the magical events that unleash fully at the end.

The story is a lot of fun and the savage men who live in the mountains, who you are avoiding most the game, make for a great enemy.

What do you think? Will you get it?

Our Top Teams In Borderlands

When it comes to vault hunting, Borderlands offers a generous amount of characters to choose from. So who is the best 4 character team to use in Borderlands? Here are our top picks.

Alex M

Clearly the best team would be Zero, Gaige, Lilith, and Brick. Think about it. Brick moves forward to tank, wailing on enemies with fists of fury (but mainly meat). Lilith and Zero disappear, one into the shadows, the other into a Tron-esque speed dimension, flanking the opposition and moving into the perfect position. Then Gaige comes, screaming about Anarchy at the top of her lungs and blasting everything with -500% accuracy on her guns.

Could you stand against them? This team could clearly take on Pandora itself with nary a scratch taken. Fear them.

Olly

If I was to go vault-hunting, my team would consist of: Athena, Gaige, Mordercai and Axton. This would probably the most surly team of vault hunters ever to grace Pandora’s surface. Athena is pretty angry, and loves to throw her shield at anyone who pisses her off, but would be effective at protecting the team. Axton is a good all-round fighter but has a turret with myriad setups, perfect for every occasion. Mordercai will cover them with expert sniper fire, and provide a bit of sassy dialogue. Gaige…is there just to make sure the team isn’t completely edgey. Using her ‘Deathtrap’ robot that she built, she’ll provide the comic relief and the inumerous eye rolls from the rest of the team. But they love it really.

Gina

My team of mis-matched heroes would be Maya, Salvador, Claptrap and Jack. We’d not only be Vault Hunters, but we’d have our evil edge with Handsome Jack, who you can technically play as in Tales of the Borderlands. We’d have Maya for the badassery, complete with healing abilities and buffers. We’d have Salvador to run in and turn the heat up, with his epic guns, twirling those turrets to the sick beats of Claptrap. Who would not only be bobbing away, but disruptively supporting the team from afar with his analytical approach. This is a winning team, a bit random, slightly psychotic, but winning.

Rob

When it comes to vault hunting my team would comprise of Lilith, Zero, Wilhelm and Salvador. Both Wilhem and Salvador would get some pretty bad ass stealth back up from both Zero and Lilith. Lilith’s capability of turning invisible and striking whilst the enemies is distracted would go hand in hand with Zero’s ability to take guys out from a distance. So the ideal situation will be to have Wilhem and Salvador distracting the masses whilst Lilith and Zero pick off people whilst they are distracted. In my eyes it is the perfect combination.

Those are our ideal Borderlands team ups, let us know what yours are in the comment section below.

Time to Revisit Fallout 4

Fallout 4! If you’re reading this you’re probably aware of the Fallout series, and you’ve probably played Fallout 4 or at least seen someone play Fallout 4.

It’s time to play some more though, time to brush off your discs or download the game again, time to reinstall it, and get playing.

Why?

Well let me tell you.

It’s Still a Great Game

This is something that’s constantly overlooked with the think pieces about Fallout 4’s failings and what we’d like to see in a Fallout 5 etc etc etc. Fallout 4 is still a damn good game.

With it being open and having so much in it, it’s the forever game. If you’ve blasted through The Witcher 3 and run into a brick wall with other open world games, Fallout 4 is there. It’s trusty and works. When life lets you down, Fallout 4 will be there through it all. If you just want to hop into a wonderful world and blast some raiders, Fallout 4. If you want to build something and make your mark on the world, Fallout 4 is there. Fallout 4 will never let you down, it knows what it is and provides exactly what it says on the box.

Is it the most deep simulation or involved RPG? No. But it’s exactly right for a time-sucking-mutant-shooting-music-listening good time. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

DLC

We’ve had a lot of DLC for Fallout 4, so now it’s all out you can pick and choose the bits you want and focus on them.

If you want to build there’s all sorts to add, from cages and arenas so you can keep and battle creatures in your own pokemon fights, to the tools to build your own vaults and live the life of a vault overseer and test your dwellers (you monster).

If you want more story, then you’re accommodated too, there’s adventures with your robot pal on a distance island, other robots to kill and er…a theme park to explore!

This means that instead of having to wait for expansions and the DLC to come out, you can just pick and choose from them. You don’t have to just get the whole lot or have the lottery of the next DLC release not be for you, you can just grab whatever takes your fancy.

Mods Mods Mods Mods Mods

A recent number that I just made up shows that 99% of all Fallout 4 players mod it in some way. Want to alter some form of the game? Then you can!

Want to change up the way armour works? Go for it! Want your useless settlers to be less useless? They can! Want the bugs Bethesda haven’t fixed squashed? There’s a patch for that! Want the dialogue to show instead of snippets of tone? They gotcha! Better weather? It’s there!

There are so many mods now, just so, so many mods. And they can be yours when you reinstall!

So there you go, give Fallout 4 another go. It’s time. Time to go back to The Commonwealth. Let’s face it, you weren’t planning on doing anything else worthwhile this weekend, so go on. Do it. Do it now. Play Fallout 4.

Top 5 Reasons To Play… Life is Strange

When you’re growing up, choices are never an easy part of life and there are times when you can almost feel the weight of the world moving beneath your feet. You make friends, you lose them. You make a decision, it may be the wrong one. It’s difficult, sometimes unsatisfying and always terrifying. That’s where Life is Strange steps in, to make you feel like all those awkward encounters and what ifs are part of a bigger picture. Life is Strange is a storm of emotion and here’s five reasons why you should make the choice to play it.

You don’t need to be good at games

Because rarely can we all say we are. It’s not an intense shooter or a complex RPG, it’s a simple adventure story game, with easy movements and selection controls. You play as Max, an art student who has returned to her hometown Arcadia Bay to attend the prestigious art college. Max discovers one day in class that she has a gift, she can rewind time. Max meets a lot of characters along the way including teachers, friends, fellow students and her old best pal Chloe, who she hasn’t seen or spoken to since she left.

It all feels very familiar. Max is awkward, slightly gawky and just a nice person. The people you meet aren’t as nice and sometimes the story is thrust into dark corners that are unexpected.

You can start over again

Life is Strange has an incredible rewind mechanic, which lets you alter events dramatically. You have access to the rewind ability when an event is triggered. Although, the dialogue choices which are included throughout the game cannot be taken back and proceed to affect future events and reactions, there is some room for learning from mistakes.

It’s really up to you if you trust characters, what you choose to say and how you behave. There is an investigative puzzle element, which includes finding and piecing together clues. The dialogue is spot on and feels natural and is delivered from rounded characters well. There are shock scenes and people you might not be able to save, but it’s all part of it.

Chloe is your best friend

Chloe is hella amazing and she’s the ultimate best friend. She’s the complete opposite to Max, with her outlandish attitude, but she’s sweet and she’s silently scared. Chloe has a lot of pain and Max can’t always fix that, it’s heartbreaking.

The two characters make for an excellent story and to see them reunite after so many years, feels equally as sad as it is wonderful.

The story takes a turn

Between cut scenes combined with dialogue choices and gameplay where you can rewind time. You can walk around, examining objects and items which help you piece together a story. The beginning feels very natural and I had flashbacks to chemistry class where my teacher would single me out for well, not being very good at chemistry.

It then takes a turn and it’s quick and painful. Then you’re kind of in this odd place between reality and fantasy, where it all very…strange. The decisions are hard to make, some of the characters are hard to face and the consequences of a wrong word are forced on you by events.

Life is Strange takes a sinister twist.

Before the storm is coming out

Life is Strange: Before the Storm is coming out at the end of the month, where you get to play as Chloe and experience her side of the events that still remain a mystery to us. The standalone story game is set three years before the events of the first game.

You should experience the roller coaster that is Life is Strange because the team at Don’t Nod pinpoint the chaos of choices in a relatable, endearing adventure.

Why You Should Play The Original Dishonored

Back when it was first released in 2012, Dishonored paved the way for a new style of first person stealth game which truly allowed you to play your way. Whether you’re in to causing as much chaos as possible or becoming one with the shadows and silently taking out your enemies, Dishonored gave you the choice to become the assassin you always wanted to be. Here are the main reasons you should play the original Dishonored.

The Powers

One of the best things about Dishonored is the powers and the creative ways you can use them to vanquish your enemies. You can do things like bend time, possess people, teleport and even summon a plague of ravenous rats to devour unsuspecting victims.

If you are able to master these powers, you will be able to do some pretty damn impressive things as demonstrated by this video below.

Freedom To Play How You Want

Dishonored gives you plenty of powers, weapons and gadgets. This in turn allows players to be as creative as they like when in comes to tackling missions. If you prefer to sneak through missions completely undetected you can. If using your powers for ultimate evil and leaving no living soul alive is more your thing then this option is available to you also. Just make sure you don’t get too cocky with your powers as you will get overwhelmed quite easily.

The Chaos System

Dishonored prides itself with it AI, the Chaos system responds to how players play the game. The game world and AI will adapt to the players actions. The more destructive a player is the more chaotic the word will become. If players are unrelenting in their chaos the world will evolve into complete bedlam where NPC’s attack each other, plagues of rats become more frequent and the world through your eyes becomes more nightmarish. The chaos system is more of a measure of the worlds stability through your actions and less about morality.

The Origins Of Corvo Attano

Dishonored introduces you to Corvo Attano, the last bodyguard to the Empress of Dunwall. Corvo is framed for the Empress’s murder and he has to stop at nothing in order to clear his name and save the Empress’s daughter, Emily. As the story progresses you will learn how Corvo obtains his supernatural abilities and becomes one of the most feared assassins of the ages.

Dunwall

The capital of Griscol, Dunwall is an industrial whaling city with a heavy steam punk and gothic influence. Dunwall suffered a deadly rat plague in the mid 1830s and still hasn’t fully recovered. The city itself is rich in districts and places to explore and thanks to the chaos system, the city is able to evolve due to your actions. That’s not all as Dunwall suffers from extreme class devision and xenophobia which set some districts distinctly apart from others.

With the Wrenhaven River running right through the middle of the city Dunwall could also be compared to an 1800s style London and is a pure joy to explore.

If this has whetted your appetite to dive into the original Dishourned, you can grab a copy now from the Green Man Gaming Store.

The 10 Feels Of Playing Ori and The Blind Forest

With the E3 announcement of Ori and the Will of the Wisps still hanging in the air, it’s no surprise that Ori and the Blind Forest soared into the top sellers list on Steam. The next game in the series looks like it will feature our favourite little hero Ori and the visuals look spectacular and stunning. This beauty of an action- platformer has incredible characters, a heartbreaking story and magnificent seamless animations. However, it does come with its challenges and I’m guessing more than a few of you experienced the wrath of unfair deaths along the road to saving Nibel and restoring the light the forest. Here’s everything you might have felt along the way, to conquering the evil beast Kuro and vanquishing the darkness to save the Spirit Tree.

THAT beginning

Oh, this is nice, I like the colours

Frustration kicks in

Rage makes an appearance

Hours later after one specific level…

Acceptance that dying is inevitable

What is this fresh hell…

W,E,SHIFT,JUMP,STOMP,ATTACK,CHARGE FLAME, W,D,D,D,D,D,D,DD,D,GTNWEOTHWIPU

The sound of Ori dying (Mep, mep, MEEP) keeps you up at night

I NEED A SOUL LINK

Have you played Ori and the Blind Forest? Interested in the next game? Did you experience the highs and lows of this incredible game – let us know! Ori and the Blind Forest is now in our Summer Sale!

12 Signs You’ve Played Too Much Morrowind

1. You start calling your mother a s’wit

2. You start attacking pigeons, shouting something about cliffracers

3. You jump everywhere to try and level up your acrobatics skill

4. Every time someone mentions Oblivion or Skyrim you butt in, because how dare they, honestly, who do they think they are coming here bringing those games to a Morrowind talk

5. Except for when Daggerfall gets mentioned, those guys get a bit of respect

6. You start watching Outlander, but it’s not what you were hoping for

7. You get yourself an ash statue. Then another one. Then another one. Then another…

8. You start mashing the attack button in all games, because you know you’ll only land a blow once. You learned from the best combat system in all Tamriel, you’re a fighting MASTER

9. You plan holidays to volcanoes, which is a great idea, what could go wrong

10. You make yourself a Colovian fur helm, knowing that it’s the height of fashion

11. You start talking to everyone in short sentences. LATEST RUMORS. LITTLE ADVICE. SOLSTHEIM.

12. Your friends get sooo tired about you talking about Morrowind, but it’s time EVERYONE LEARNED ABOUT MORROWIND

But it’s all ok, because Vvardenfell is home now

10 Best Villains In The Batman Arkham Franchise

The Batman Arkham series by Rocksteady Games (and one game by WB Games Montreal) has been dubbed by many gamers as the best Batman game series to date. It is a perfect representation of Batman comic universe, even down to its characters. We all know that a lot of Batman’s appeal is in his enemies so we thought it would be a great idea to list the top 10 villains in the Batman Arkham games. Here they are!

Spoiler Warning: This article will contain spoilers for all of the Batman Arkham games. You have been warned.

DeathStroke

Slade Wilson aka DeathStroke is an infamous mercenary in the Batman and DC comics universe. He first appeared in Batman Arkham Origins and was the second boss character in the game (well 3rd if you count the joke that is the Electricutioner). He is highly skilled with both guns and swords and has been in the mercenary business for a very long time. Not many people meet Slade Wilson and live to tell the tale.

Hush

Hush only appears as a side quest in both Batman Arkham City and Arkham Knight. Hush, (better known to Bruce Wayne as Thomas Elliott, a childhood friend) is a highly skilled surgeon turned serial killer, who has made it his life’s work to make himself look exactly like Bruce Wayne. After an accident killed his father he blamed Bruce for it, and came up with a scheme to infiltrate Wayne enterprises and destroy it from the inside. To make himself look like Bruce he would hunt down people who had similar facial features to Bruce Wayne, kill them, and then surgically modify his own face using his victims, in order to make himself resemble the Wayne enterprises CEO.

Ra’s al Ghul

The infamous immortal leader of the league of assassins. In the Arkham games Ra’s al Ghul gave Bruce his martial arts training. Bruce defected from the league of assassins after refusing to kill, which only resulted in making Ra’s a bit peeved. He is a formidable opponent who also has access to the Lazarus Pit, a chemical pit that has regenerative capabilities and if used frequently will grant the user eternal life, at the cost of their sanity.

Bane

Bane has been imprisoned from birth for a crime his father committed. He then became the subject of several military experiments which enhanced his strength. With a constant supply of a drug called Venom going to his veins, Bane is near enough unstoppable. Bane is also famous for breaking Batman’s spine, almost killing The Dark Knight in the process.

Two-face

Once a mild mannered District Attorney, Harvey Dent was the victim of an Acid attack by Carmine Falcone which horribly disfigured him. The acid wounds fractured Harvey’s psyche – he quickly become obsessed with duality and was reborn as the criminal mastermind known as Two-Face. Hellbent on bringing Gotham to the ground, Two-Face will stop at nothing to create the perfect underground crime network.

Jason Todd (Arkham Knight)

Jason Todd was an orphan until Batman took him under his wing after a confrontation with The Joker. Jason underwent training and then later became Robin after Dick Grayson parted his ways with Batman to become Nightwing. Jason was later captured by the Joker and the clown prince of crime beat and tortured Jason within an inch of his life. Batman thought Jason was beaten to death but Jason came to seek out revenge on batman years later for not saving him from the Joker’s clutches.

Poison Ivy

Pamela Isley was a normal Botanist until a science experiment went wrong. Now with chlorophyll flowing through her veins, Pamela goes by the name of Poison Ivy. One with the plants, she abandoned her human side to devote herself to mother nature and to using her plant like powers to overthrow first Gotham and then the world. She is a formidable opponent as she is able to control plant life and uses it to maximum effect in battle.

The Riddler

Edward Nashton once worked for the GCPD’s Cyber Crime Devision. He used his time in the GCPD to become an extremely skilled hacker and engineer. He believed that Gotham’s long history of corruption was the result of intellectual and moral failing rather than economics. So under the name Edward Nygma, he used his skills compile a huge amount of blackmail material against Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent in order to improve the city’s standing. He then became hellbent on this new ambition and became The Riddler. Now Nygma knows Batman’s true identity he will stop at nothing to set traps and Riddles to foil the Dark Knight.

Harley Quinn

Dr. Harleen Quinzel was an Arkham Asylum psychiatrist, who become obsessed and transfixed with her patient, The Joker. She believed that she was in love with the Joker, to the point she helped him escape Arkham Asylum. Now by The Joker’s side, Harley Quinn will stop at nothing to help with Jokers great plan and will protect her ‘Puddin’ by any means possible.

The Joker

The self proclaimed Clown Prince of Crime is Batman’s greatest adversary. Yin to Batman’s yang, he prides himself on making Batman’s life a living hell. It is not clear as to who The Joker was before even though it has been hinted at that he was the infamous character known as the Red Hood who infamously led a stream of crimes over the years. With no morals to rely on and no soul to speak of this deranged psychopath will stop at nothing to drive Batman completely insane.

So that is our top 10 Batman Arkham-verse villains. If we have missed your favourite, then let us know in the comment section blow.

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