Is Sonic Mania The Game The Fans Wanted?

Since its release, Sonic Mania has been getting a lot of praise from critics and fans alike. With gamers even going to the extent in stating that this is the best Sonic game ever made. As you can imagine my expectations were pretty high jumping into the game over the weekend and after playing the game for a few hours I can see why people are giving Sonic Mania a lot of appreciation.

A Return To Retro Sonic

At its core Sonic Mania brings back what people fell in love with in the early 90s during the good old Sega Megadrive days. A 2D side scrolling game where you collect rings, run at high speeds, complete bonus stages and jump on the heads of many an unsuspecting robot animal. It is everything that Sonic the Hedgehog used to be, even going to the extent of putting you in fan favourite stages such as Green Hill Zone and Chemical Plant. Each of the returning zones has been redesigned, to give the hardcore fans out there a new game experience so if you have committed Chemical Plant to memory, it will do you no good here.

Much like the original Sonic games, each zone comes in two acts with boss battles at the end of each act. Each boss is pretty varied which means you will not come up against the same sort of boss twice, however, as this is a Sonic game you will come across a cheap boss every now and again which can disrupt the flow of play. I can’t count amount of times I have had to restart a level because of a cheap boss, but then it can be argued that it goes with the territory.

Expanding On The Formula

Whilst Sonic Mania has all the elements of an original Sonic game, it also has some new elements that jazz up the gameplay a bit. Off the bat Sonic has a brand new ability that lets him charge up a spin dash in mid air. There are also various brand new gameplay elements within each of the zones which vary up the gameplay nicely.

Whilst playing through the main story mode, players are able to unlock new abilities for Sonic to use in the game’s ‘No Save mode’. What is also pretty cool is that these unlockable abilities come from past sonic games, for example, players are able to unlock Sonic’s speed dash from Sonic CD. However as mentioned before these moves can only be used in the game’s No Save mode (as the name suggests players aren’t able to save their progress in this mode) and you can only equip one ability at a time. These are not the only unlockables however, as players are able to play through special stages to collect medals for even more unlockables.

The game also comes with a classic head to head mode and time attack mode as well, which adds further challenge to the game. Players are able to choose from Sonic, Tails, Sonic & Tails and Knuckles which also gives all of the game modes some much needed replay value. It would have been nice to see more playable character such as Metal Sonic or Shadow but you never know what Sega have up their sleeves for DLC or a sequel to the game.

Sonic Is Back In A Big Way

Since the release of Sonic Generations, the Sonic games have been a bit lacklustre. Sonic Mania brings back what fans first fell in love with and also gives new comers a much needed taste of the original Sonic The Hedgehog. Is Sonic Mania the game the fans wanted? In a word, yes, as it’s giving a lot of fan service whilst adding some new gameplay elements. It would be nice to see how far they can push the games engine however and come up with a truly unique game that fans and new comers will love. If you are a Sonic fan I suggest you go and play it.

Have you played Sonic Mania? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

The Best Moments In Uncharted

With the release of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy only a little while away we thought it would be an awesome idea to list our favourite moments from the Uncharted series. Here are some of the most epic and best moments in Uncharted.

We also ranked the Uncharted games from worst to best, you can check that out here. Then fight us, go on, you know you want to.

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune : Chapter 18 – The Bunker

Before The Last Of Us was a glint in Naughty Dog’s eye the closest the publisher had ever come to zombies/mutants/monsters that want to rip your face off, was in Uncharted Drake’s Fortune. What starts off as a pretty bog standard platforming level quickly turns into more of a survival horror affair as Drake finds himself battling against monsters with only torch light and a machine gun to keep him company. It’s an adrenaline fuelled chapter where players will more than likely be caught off guard by a cavalcade of howling zombie dogs.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves : Chapter 20 – Cat and Mouse

Talking of being caught off guard, there is a moment in Uncharted 2 where Drake has to help defend a Tibetan village from a warlord’s tyrannical army. All goes relatively smoothly in this mission until the tank arrives blowing up everything in it’s way. This is another mission where players have to think quickly on their feet in order to take this tank down. You will be using countless rocket launchers and heavy artillery in order to take this beast down, and cover really doesn’t last long either.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves : Chapter 1 – A Rock and a Hard Place

It can be argued that this is probably one of the most iconic Uncharted moments of all time. In the opening chapter of Uncharted 2 Drake has to battle for his life as he wakes up on a crashed train overhanging the side of a mountain. What follows is some of the is some pretty amazing platforming as Drake has to climb up the over handing train. This opening sequence just goes to show that Naughty Dog are capable of making some of the best moments in Video Games. It would be hard for anyone to play this chapter and not be awe struck.

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception : Chapter 17 – Stowaway

If scaling a train dangling over a mountain side didn’t cut the mustard for you then how does a shoot out on a cargo plane that is on a collision course with the ground sound? In another epic chapter, Drake has to fight his way through various enemies on a cargo plane in mid flight. Things take a turn for the worse as mid battle the plane gets so damaged it starts on its collision course with the ground. Players then have to navigate their way through what can be only described as a disintegrating plane in one of the best parachute jumps seen in video games.

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End : Chapter 11 – Hidden In Plain Sight (Clock Tower)

Probably one of the Uncharted franchises most elaborate puzzles, this chapter has both Drake and Sully finding the entrance to Avery’s secret chamber within the King’s Bay clocktower. Players have to ring bells in a certain sequence in order to open the secret entrance. Not only is this one of the best puzzles the franchise has to offer, (as it uses the whole clock tower) it also has some fantastic chase sections as Drake again has to run for his life as the whole tower collapses around him.

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End : Chapter 11 – Hidden In Plain Sight (Car Chase)

It’s safe to say that Chapter 11 in A Thief’s End is probably one of the best Uncharted Chapters you will ever play. not only do you have to escape a collapsing building, you are also thrown into an epic car chase sequence. This part of the mission has Drake swinging off of cranes, making heart stopping jumps from various vehicles and even has him being dragged through the mud by an army truck. It is a pretty epic chase scene that you will be reminiscing about probably for years to come.

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception : Chapter 15 – Sink Or Swim

Before Drake goes on his plane escapade in Uncharted 3 he first manages to escape a sinking cruise liner. much like Uncharted 2’s iconic opening chapter (instead this time around it’s a huge boat not a train) Drake must find a way out of the sinking ship before it takes him to a watery grave. It’s true, the reason why the ship is sinking in the first place was due to the huge gun fight Drake got caught up in at the start of the chapter but the highlight of Sink Or Swim is the death defying platforming moments players have to go through in order to escape.

Honorable Mention – Uncharted 4: Crash Bandicoot

Naughty Dog’s take on Game-ception, Uncharted 4 has players play through a level of Crash Bandicoot in a cute scene between Nathan and his wife Elena. In game the boot up a PlayStation and Elena challenges Nathan to beat her score, it is then up to the player to play the level of Crash and see if they can get to the top of the leader board. It’s a great little easter egg that when first discovered had many gamers reminiscing about the good old Crash Bandicoot days, well, if you like Crash Bandicoot.

So thats it for our best ever Uncharted moments. Do you think The Lost Legacy will have anything on a similar scale? Or have we missed one of your favourite moments? Let us know in the comments section below.

XCOM 2: War of the Chosen’s Most Intriguing New Features

XCOM 2’s expansion War of the Chosen is coming out real soon, and if you’re a fan of XCOM then you’re probably thinking about getting it. If you don’t know why you should, then I’m here to share with you why I think WotC will make the best XCOM experience ever.

AP Points

Did you ever think that the promotion mechanic in XCOM was just a bit under-developed? Soldiers would fill a hidden experience bar by getting kills and finishing missions, and they would get the choice of one skill or another per promotion. Now however, soldiers will earn AP by making tactical plays in battle. Blowing up barrels, getting stealth kills and rescuing civilians will earn you points, which you can then spend on soldier upgrades, that you can get as well as your standard one-per-promotion.

Bonding

If you really wondered how much your soldiers really got on with each other inside the game, and not just in your own head, then now you can find out with the new bonding mechanic. Each soldier has a cohesion rating with each other soldier, meaning they’ll bond faster if their cohesion is higher. Bonds can be leveled up, giving both soldiers access to better and better unique abilities. Be careful though, if someone loses their buddy, they’ll be less combat effective, not before they go into a mad rage. Still, now not only can your soldiers be named after your friends, but they can actually be friends too!

Faction Soldiers

The biggest change of course is that now you can have soldiers that aren’t strictly XCOM. Hiring from other factions such as the Reapers, Templars and Skirmishers not only gives you access to all their cool armour, but gives you a powerful agent with unparalleled abilities. Reapers for example specialise in stealth and sniping, are incredibly agile and look like badass Metro 2033 elite soldiers. They also have access to their own skill trees, giving more variety to more types of soldiers. Some are well suited to certain mission types, and it’s not impossible to take a full squad of Reapers in a confrontation mission, meaning you can be almost permanently stealthed through the whole game, invulnerable from ambush.

Research Breakthroughs

Back on your ship, Firaxis have thankfully noticed that getting those research projects complete and unlocking new guns and armour is probably the most satisfying thing. In WotC, your scientists can have Eureka moments, breakthroughs in certain tech which will speed up the research, or even allow you to skip a few steps. Your scientists may just have an idea to stick some alien energy cores in a shotgun and see what happens, and you can reap the benefits. These can also result in stuff costing less and requiring less power. Now research is more exciting, you won’t just be grinding through the boring pre-requisites to get to the plasma guns.

Photobooth

You know what XCOM isn’t? The Sims. You know what’s really fun though? Having heaps and heaps of customisation for your soldiers so you can make them look like a group of unique heroes like the Avengers, or have a matching theme like the Guardians of the Galaxy. Now there’s a photobooth mode where you can create inspirational posters with your soldiers on the front. Once created, these posters will appear around the ship, and in the game levels! Bonded soldiers can pose together, as can post-victory squads. I’ve been sharing pictures of my squad since my A-team were kicking ass back in XCOM 1, it’s now officially part of the XCOM experience.

War of the Chosen is on our store for pre-purchase at -25%! If these new features sound good to you, join me in picking it up and playing through XCOM 2 yet again.

Gamescom 2017 Schedule

As Gamescom 2017 is kicking off tomorrow we thought we would whack up the schedule so you can keep up with the live streams and conferences happening over the show. Here’s what’s coming up.

Xbox Gamescom 2017 Conference

Sunday 20th August 8pm BST/9pm CEST/3pm EDT/12pm PDT

What can we expect from the Xbox conference?

We are more than likely going to get the same sort of thing that we got from E3. We’ll probably get another look at the X Box One X, just to keep the hype going up until November. We also expect some new footage from the like of Forza Motor Sport 7, Crackdown 3 and maybe some new Sea of Thieves footage.

EA Gamescom 2017 conference

Monday 21st August 5:30pm BST/6:30pm CEST/12:30PM EDT/9:30am PDT

What can we expect from the EA conference?

We will probably get a wealth of information for FIFA 18 and another look at the Ultimate Team feature, as well as Journey mode and information on the Switch edition. We will probably get some information on other sports games such as Madden NFL 18 and NHL 18.

As confirmed earlier this week, we will also get a glimpse into the space battles of Star Wars: Battlefront 2. We will also probably get some more content for Battlefield 1.

Blizzard Gamescom 2017 livestreams

Monday 21st August and Wednesday 23rd August 5pm BST/6pm CEST/12pm EDT/9am PDT.

What can we expect from the Blizzard livestreams?

We expect all of the Blizzard big hitters to make an appearance at this years show, such as World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Overwatch, Diablo 3, Starcraft 2 and Heroes of the Storm. We will get a new Overwatch map announcement, a new fireside gathering feature for Hearthstone, info of the new World Of Warcraft patch and a look at Starcraft remastered.

Nintendo Gamescom 2017 livestreams

Wednesday 23rd August Super Mario Odyssey livestream 2pm BST/3pm CEST/9am EDT/6am PDT

Thursday 24th August Metroid: Samus Returns livestream 11am BST/12 noon CEST/6am EDT/3am PDT

What can we expect from the Nintendo livestreams?

As the names suggest we are more than likely going to get quite a bit of information on both Metroid: Samus Returns and Super Mario Odyssey. We can probably also expect some information on Fire Emblem Warriors, Xenoblade 2, Pokken Tournament DX and Monster Hunter. We will probably also get a final look at Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle before it comes out on the 29th.

That’s it for the major livestreams and conferences happening over Gamescom 2017. Do you have any predictions about the show? If you do let us know in the comments section below.

Absolver Is The Fighting Game Martial Arts Fans Need In Their Lives

When it comes to fighting games not much comes up against Absolver. True, a lot of gamers out there may compare Absolver to games such as For Honor, but the game is so much more than that. Absolver takes what we love about martial arts and throws these ideas into a dystopia where the players key objective is to prove themselves in order to become one of the worlds sworn protectors. Here is what you can expect from this epic fighting title when it comes out on the 29th August.

Setting

The game is set way in the future where society as we know it has fallen. The peace in the land is held together by the Absolvers, a unit of highly trained martial artists who essentially keep the peace and order throughout the known world. Players control a faceless character who has to use their combat skills against other players and AI in order to prove themselves worthy enough to become an Absolver.

Players have to navigate through an open world defeating opponents and progressing their story to become an Absolver. The game can be considered an MMO as players share the same world and can face off against each other. Players can also train other players and vice versa.

Character Creation

Even though player characters hide behind a mask, characters are fully customisable both in their move set and aesthetically. You will get the opportunity to choose from three initial classes while other classes will be unlocked throughout the game. Move sets are fully customisable meaning players can create a character that fits perfectly to their play style. These move sets are customised in the players combat deck, here you will be able to select and choose cards that correspond with moves in order to create you own combat deck.

Combat

Much like games such as For Honor, combat in Absolver is based on judging your opponents next move and looking for an opening to attack. Players will be able to choose from four stances which they will be able to switch between on the fly. These stances are based on which way your character is facing and will allow your character to perform various moves in order to keep you opponent off guard.

As mentioned above, players will be able to choose from different classes. This heavily influences the type of fighter you will become as each class has its own special techniques and fighting style. There is even a class based on drunk boxing, a fighting style that was made famous by Jackie Chan.

Absolver is going to be a great game for those of us who want to get their martial arts fix. The game is out on the 29th August and you can pre-purchase your copy from the Green Man Gaming gaming store right now.

FIFA Retrospective

FIFA 18 is coming out later in the year, so we’re heading back to the ol’ flat rectangle, the ol’ kicking field, the ol’ jamboree of legs.

FIFA 18 is the latest in the long running FIFA series, but do you know about all the previous ones? Here’s all the FIFA games that have been released so far, to whet your appetite for more FIFA.

FIFA

The original FIFA was a straight up recreation of the World’s Greatest Sport. Football. It featured teams such as Overton Wanderers and The Big Kicker Kings in incredible graphical fidelity.

F2FA

The second FIFA took the game series a step further, featuring different stadiums all round the world with every single blade of grass being individually modelled. Move over Pixar, FIFA is here!

FIFA F Edition

Billed as the ultimate FIFA experience, FIFA F put the focus firmly on football. Every kind of football was there, from the official FIFA branded balls, to a rolled up pair of socks in a balloon, like the kind of football that children would use on the streets.

FIF4

With this entry, EA took the grand game of football into the 4th dimension, that of time. Featuring speed up, slow down, reverse time, rewind time, make time go upside down, and ‘black hole’ settings, the world of football has never seen chronological japes like this. Unfortunately, this version was never released as the disc required to run the game was a metre wide, meaning it couldn’t fit into any but the most gaping of DVD drives.

FIFA: The One With Footballs

After the disaster of FIF4, EA decided to go back to basics and put football back in the limelight. FIFA: The One With Footballs featured footballs, everything was a football, from the crowd to the players, to a secret multiball mode where a thousand balls would appear on screen every time Football United scored. Unfortunately critics were not kind on this instalment, with it only getting 1/10 from noted Football fansite, Rock Paper Shotgun.

FIFA: Back in Black

After the second disaster of FIFA: The One With Footballs, EA decided to offer up a simple football game. Featuring a retro style, FIFA: Back in Black is set in the early 1900s, featuring footballers dressed in long shorts and old-timey-animations. The game didn’t sell amazingly well, but was highly regarded as an avant garde look into the brains behind FIFA. It is also notable for its anachronistic soundtrack, with its music being provided by AC/DC.

FIFA vs Capcom

What’s better than football, EA wondered to itself. Football where the opposing side is made up of Capcom characters! EA was struggling financially during this year, so teamed up with Capcom to release the superlative FIFA vs Capcom, the game which single handedly kickstarted EA and Capcom’s finances, and led to the fine tradition of crossover games that we’ve seen since.

FIFA: Mission to Moscow

With FIFA vs Capcom being a critical and financial success, EA decided to follow it up with another crossover, with the incredibly popular and wildly successful Police Academy series. FIFA: Mission to Moscow was a madcap game featuring a single player campaign where you as Steve Guttenberg take on the Russians in a fight to the death…but with footballs!

It didn’t do well.

Fédération Internationale de Football Association

FIFA decided to go serious with this one, taking the game to Switzerland for high fidelity football action, featuring appearances by Sepp Blatter amongst other FIFA luminaries, it let you build your own team and take them right to the top of the football tree, eventually deciding the rules of the game for yourself.

FIFA: Kicking Everything

EA brought on a new team to take control of FIFA for this instalment, and they decided that the failing of previous games had been that the focus had been on the balls, not the legs. In this game, you play a huge footballing monster called Ambulatoria with the goal of kicking every item in the universe into a net made of stars. Featuring mechanics similar to the Katamari Damacy series, it had you starting off small, kicking individual grains of sand, until you worked your glutes enough to be able to boot the solar system past Ganymede and back.

FIFA Boom

FIFA got its own Saturday morning cartoon series, and the development of this year’s FIFA followed the cartoon. Featuring a lovable cast of footballers, such as Wayne Racoons, a raccoon, Daniel Stoattage, a stoat with attitude, and Raheem Starling, a bird with amazing air control powers. It followed their adventures as big bad Dr Seppster tried to get them to play football even when they were tired or had school.

It was cancelled after one season.

FIFA 1

This was a port of the original FIFA, optimised for newer systems and with the teams updated. Gone were The Big Kicker Kings and in were modern teams like Football 2000 and Football_Hashtag.

FIFA (The ‘A’ Stands for Animals)

Deciding that human players were not only too expensive to licence their appearances and they were also too complicated to animate, EA went with animals for this version of the game. Similar to Tokyo Jungle but set in football grounds, FIFA (The ‘A’ Stands for Animals) let you choose your animal, and play football with them until they attracted a suitable mate.

FIFA: No Corruption Here Edition

With rumours besmirching the real life game of football, FIFA: No Corruption Here Edition aimed to clear its name by showing that football is good, clean fun and that any allegations of corruption or any wrongdoing are simply untrue.

FIFA Goes To Court

It didn’t work.

FIFA In Space!

Time to cast off earthly concerns, FIFA next went into SPACE! Where the only rules are the rules of physics, and even then who cares about them when you’re booting a ball into a gravity well caused by a collapsing star? Or using the frozen rings of Saturn to rebound a shot?

(All joking aside I’d totally play this one).

FIFA 17 – Alex Hunter Kicks Every Ball In The World And He Can’t Be Stopped

FIFA 17 introduced a new character to the world of football, that of Alex Hunter, a plucky young hopeful who aimed to kick every ball he could. Over the course of the single player ‘Journey’, Alex Hunter grows in power and influence, until he can command vast armies of footballs that he can kick en masse to fulfill his perverse desire to kick every ball ever made. Alex Hunter’s Journey will continue in FIFA 18!

So there we have it, all the FIFA games from the very first one until now. Did we miss your favourite? Let us know in the comments below, and remember that FIFA 18 is available for pre-purchase now!

How Agents Of Mayhem Fits Into The Saints Row Universe

You have probably heard that Agents Of Mayhem is a spin-off series from the Saints Row franchise, but how does Agents Of Mayhem fit into the overall Saints Row plot and universe? Read on to find out how Agents Of Mayhem fits into the Saints Row canon.

Story

Before we get the ball rolling it’s good to highlight that Agents Of Mayhem is primarily a spin off of the Saints Row games. This means new players don’t need any prior Saints Row knowledge in order to fully understand Agents Of Mayhem, the game is its own brand new beast.

For the Saints Row loyalists out there Agents of Mayhem is in the Saints Row canon. In the Saints Row IV expansion Gat Out Of Hell the game ends (Spoiler Alert) with the universe ending and being re-created. The organisation who is behind this somewhat cataclysmic event is called M.A.Y.H.E.M, aka The Multinational Agency Hunting Evil Masterminds. This company was founded by Persephone Brimstone and funded by the Ultor Corporation. Ultor Corp are the main antagonists in Saints Row 2 and the Red Faction Series (more about Red Faction later) who then later merge with the Saints in Saints Row: The Third.

In Agents of Mayhem, players work for M.A.Y.H.E.M who also bear the famous fleur-de-lis logo the Saints used in the Saints Row games. In this alternative reality (or universe if you prefer) M.A.Y.H.E.M are the good guys whose main goal is to stop the the League of Evil Gentlemen Intent on Obliterating Nations (or L.E.G.I.O.N) from destroying the nations of the world.

Characters

Agents of Mayhem has a roster chock full of characters, some of which cross over from the Saints Row universe. Check out some of the Saints Row characters that will feature in Agents of Mayhem below.

Persephone Brimstone

As mentioned above, much like in the Saints Row universe, Persephone is the founder and current leader of M.A.Y.H.E.M. In Agents of Mayhem, she is a former lieutenant of L.E.G.I.O.N and is currently in the back pockets of the Ultor Corporation, who fund M.A.Y.H.E.M.

Johnny Gat

Saints Row fans will recognise Johnny Gat from the Saints Row series. Johnny is a M.A.Y.H.E.M field agent. Born in Seoul where Agents Of Mayhem takes place, Johnny becomes a M.A.Y.H.E.M field agent after he awakens from a year long coma. When he wakes he finds out that his old police unit has been wiped out and replaced with robots. Brimstone hires Johnny to join M.A.Y.H.E.M, as she believes his reputation is a perfect fit for the team.

Kingpin

Kingpin, aka Pierce is one of the founding members of the Saints back in the Saints Row universe. In Agents of Mayhem he is a field agent, Kingpin was formerly a gang leader and feared in the criminal underground before M.A.Y.H.E.M took him on.

Yeti

Also know as Oleg Kirlov, in the Saints Row universe, Olge is a former KGB agent who is saved by the Saints in Saints Row: The Third. In Agents of Mayhem, Yeti was a part of a controversial experiment fronted by L.E.G.I.O.N known as Cold Warrior. This drove most of the test subjects mad but Yeti was able to escape with his new found powers. He was then picked up and recruited by M.A.Y.H.E.M.

Over The Top Wackiness

Much like the Saints Row universe, Agents of Mayhem promises the same level of over the top gameplay that players fell in love with during Saints Row: The Third. Expect lots of quips, tongue in cheek humour and parodies of 90’s cartoons to boot.

You Should Also Play Red Faction

Even though Violition, the developers of Red Faction have confirmed that the series isn’t canon to Saints Row, the amount of similarities and easter eggs that Red Faction and Saints Row share can’t be overlooked. The main similarity that players should take away is that the Ultor Corporation have been the main antagonists in the Red Faction series since the first game. Which has sparked many theories that both Red Faction and Saints Row are set in the same universe.

There have been other similarities and easter eggs scattered around the Saints Row games, such as the Red Faction developers logo appearing in three of the four Saints Row games. As well as the final speech in the Saints Row Mission ‘Gangstas in Space’ almost mirrors the same speech by Parker at the end of Red Faction: Guerrilla.

So that is what we know so far about Agents of Mayhem fitting into the Saints Row universe (and possibly Red Faction if theories are to be believed) Will you be picking up Agents of Mayhem?

Uncharted Games Ranked From Worst To Best

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, the first Uncharted game to not star Nathan Drake is arriving 22nd August. So of course we’ve ranked our favourite Uncharted games, how will the new one fit in I wonder?

FOURTH PLACE, In last place is the first entry to the Uncharted game, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune…sorry

We wouldn’t have had three more games if it wasn’t for the first in the series and this game did a great job at defining a fantastic new hero in gaming. This game introduced us to the Nathan Drake and his mate Victor Sullivan. I love games that I don’t have to play solo, sometimes they get too lonely, but the dialogue between these two characters keeps the story alive and by the time the story takes a turn, you’re already heavily invested in their friendship. Uncharted games were not created for the shooting, which usually comes in waves, broken up by bosses, instead they are for the characters, the adventures, the puzzles, the treasure and the weird magical elements that are prevalent throughout. There’s also zombies, I love zombies.

THIRD PLACE, In at number three, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

It all gets a bit soap opera in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. There’s the introduction of Drake’s old flame Chloe, who is set to be the main character in the upcoming Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. I don’t instantly warm to her. I understand how they are trying to portray her character as this strong, best in the biz, ruthless, heroine, but she doesn’t quite clinch it for me. Not until later, and we see her softer side anyway. I didn’t really understand the boss at the end, although I loved the setting of discovering this hidden city of Shambhala and these strange monsters that inhabit it that try to fight them off. They’re even better on the lead up to the city, when they are dressed in Yeti costumes. The journey to get to Shambhala is long, but it’s well worth the wait and all the action and mystery found in this magnificent place. However, the end game takes a turn and you’re basically thrust into this small cave to fight the baddy that has drunk the special tree sap that gives him superhuman powers (okay) and you need to blow up a bunch of weird crystals to kill him… Then there’s some more explosions and the city starts to fall and Elena is left badly injured. YAY back to love story!

SECOND PLACE, Is Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

Nathan Drake and his pal Sully make for a great story in itself and this Uncharted makes the most of exploring their friendship. The setting takes a turn from the lush, exotic familiarity of the first two Uncharted games and explores Arabia and Francis Drake’s secret voyage. The story is great at filling in Drake’s back story and we learn more about our favourite treasure hunter. There’s also plenty of flashbacks to how Sully and Nathan meet and these are tons of fun to play, as a scrappy young Nathan Drake already on the hunt for answers. The walk through the desert scene is a little painful, but it’s part of the uncompromising nature of this game. I absolutely loved diving through the boat in panic and riding horses across dusty planes, jumping from car to car shooting baddies!

FIRST PLACE, How could it not win, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

THE GRIT, THE EMOTION, THE ARGGGGGH. I just loved this game, I played it at ridiculous speed, because I just needed to know what would happen to Nathan Drake. It’s perfect. It starts out with him leading a pretty nice, if a tad humdrum (for him) life with his wife Elena, who has been there since the beginning. Before, his long lost brother turns up! OH MY. Then it’s all running away from his lovely life with his brother to find buried treasure and Drake being torn between settling down and rampaging through tombs. It explores more of Drake’s troubled past and how his brother grew up and then [NAMELESS TERRIBLE INCIDENT]. The characters including Nadine, who features alongside Chloe in the new Uncharted, and the villains and incredibly villainous. The end boss fight is one I’ll never forget, followed by Nathan Drake’s sign off, which resulted in an emotional post-Uncharted few days.

Special shout out to Uncharted: Golden Abyss, the PS Vita game, just to squash that right now.

Getting Back Into Warhammer 40k

Warhammer 40k is 30 years old this year.

Take that in for a minute, it’s not only old enough to vote and drink, it’s old enough to have kids. Warhammer 40k is old.

This year Games Workshop have issues one of their periodic refreshes of Warhammer 40k, which has had a huge effect on the game.

The rules have been simplified, the plot is moving on in the world, and there’s new models and game boxes available. All this means that now’s one of the best times to get involved with Warhammer 40k, and thankfully there’s a few of us here in the office who mysteriously have decided to get back into 40k at the same time!

So here I am, with my Warhammer Friends Olly and Milo, and we’re going to lead you through our advice about how to start getting back into Warhammer 40k, come join us. Come, play tiny people. It’s calling to you.

Anyway.

Step 1: Don’t Overthink It

You’re going to want an army, that’s how the game works. Without an army you’re not playing 40k, you’re just musing about 40k. But what army?

The first advice we have for you is; don’t overthink it. If you think an army is cool and you like their backstory (the fluff), then go for them. Don’t sit there wondering who’s best in a fight or thinking about what all the stats are, that can come later. Just look at the different models and if you want to, read their backstories, and then grab whatever you think is cool.

Don’t even think about stuff that might be coming out in the future. If you think something’s cool today, you’ll think it’s cool tomorrow. Get things you love and you’ll love them forever.

So go with your gut, because then you’ll have something you love, today and tomorrow.

Step 2. Overthink It.

OK Step 1 works if you’re like me, I’m wanting to play the game for narrative and social reasons, and also because the Word Bearers were right.

If you’re wanting to win and win HARD, here’s Olly with some tips before you buy:

“It’s a big decision to pick an army and the units you want, if you have the chance, you should play with other people’s armies just to see what they play like. No amount of rule-reading will teach you how the armies will play out. You may like orks thematically and visually, but if you cringe every time you lose a model on the battlefield then you don’t have the facial creases spare to lose the 40 you’re going to need to lose in order to win. Try out fast armies like Eldar, slow ones like Necrons, and find out if you really care for space marines or not. There’s a good chance you’ll get sucked into buying some space marines at some point, you should probably find out if you actually like to play them.”

So by now, you should have an idea about what you want to play. Time to move onto the game itself.

Step 3. Don’t Be Afraid To Walk Away

If you’re very lucky you’ll be playing Warhammer 40k with your friends. If you’re not so lucky you’ll need to find someone to play with, which can be difficult.

Approach your local Games Workshop if you have one, if not try to seek out a local group you can join in with. There’ll be message boards or Facebook groups, they are out there just they might take a little finding.

Then go and meet them and when you’re feeling ready, jump in for a game.

But, and this is very important. Don’t be afraid to walk away.

If you’re not enjoying yourself, if you’re feeling bad, if they’re making ‘jokes’ you’re uncomfortable with, if you’re hating the game because of them.

Walk away. You don’t have to put up with anything and Warhammer 40k has a huge amount of people playing it, especially now. There’ll always be someone else you can play with, the right group is out there so just find them!

Step 4. Don’t Be A Stickler

We’re back to Olly for some advice about rules:

“The rules are vast, and you aren’t expected to know all of them. Instead of interrupting play with rules checking and page-flipping, roll a dice to settle disputes, or take the thing that sounds most right. We didn’t know if psyker spells needed line-of-sight, instead of looking it up we just decided that powers manifesting in the warp wouldn’t require the caster to see all of the opponent. Turns out we were wrong! But we looked it up after and learned the right way to do it, but it didn’t ruin the game. If one person is more experienced, then they should give the newer players benefit of the doubt and let them retry things (to an extent).”

It’s good advice, don’t take it too seriously, at least at the start. You’re a learner and even if you’ve played years ago, things have changed and you’ll take time to get up to speed. So have fun first and foremost. THEN crush your foes under your iron shod feet.

Step 5. Get Out Of It What You Want And Don’t Listen To Anyone Else

A long step, but one worth remembering. Take into account your personal position, your free time, your resource, your likes and dislikes, and focus on that. If you’re short on time and money, maybe just a few models that you paint slowly and a more narrative focus is best for you. If you’ve got more resources and free time, maybe you want to buy up an army and head to battle sooner than later. It’s all up to you, the hobby is big enough and open enough for you to get into it, however you want.

Just remember that your way is the right way, if you’re having fun, that’s all that matters. If the end of your Warhammer 40k journey is painting models, great. If it’s winning every tournament, then go for it. If you’re just there to have a laugh with some mates while bashing some plastic people about, awesome. If you just want to read the books and theorise on the lore, more power to you. If you want to field an entire army of snotlings painting in Hello Kitty colours, brilliant! Also send pics.

It’s up to you. That’s all that matters.

So There You Go

That’s some of the steps we’d recommend you think about when you’re looking at getting into Warhammer 40k. Hopefully if you were thinking of getting back into the hobby, these steps will ease some of the worries you might have. Just remember the golden rule: have fun. And the other golden rule: don’t be a dick to anyone else. Remember those, and you’ll be good.

And of course, once you’ve chosen your army, bought some stuff, and got used to the new rules, why not head down to the Green Man Gaming offices and challenge us? We’ll take you on. And lose, but hey, at least my lovely Chaos Boys will get an outing!

A Year On – The New Potential Of No Man’s Sky

Back when No Man’s Sky was first released players were expecting a space exploration game where ultimately anything was possible, base building, multiplayer and the ability to create your very own on a space opera like scale. What players got was a Space exploration game where you were given an infinite universe to explore, true it didn’t have much of the gameplay that was promised before release but what you got was a serene exploration game that was a joy to play.

It has now been a year since the No Man’s Sky was released. The game has been getting a lot of updates and today saw the game receive the biggest update yet. The Atlas Rises update changes every aspect of the game, breathing new life into No Man’s Sky and giving it new potential.

Story And Missions

Story

No Man’s Sky now has an expanded story mode. Even though it was first advertised as an open world survival game, the inclusion of more story to the game adds so much more depth to No Man’s Sky’s lore. The history of the universe has always been something that the game has touched upon and something that Hello Games have always brought up in interviews. We now finally can dive into the lore and story that No Man’s Sky has to offer and see what the story behind the Atlas truly is.

Hello Games aren’t just putting in the story as an afterthought as the story will take around 20 hours to complete, and also include a brand new alien race to support the story.

Missions And Factions

Brand new procedurally generated missions have been added which will add to players unique stories outside of the newly added core story. There is also a new faction system that has been implemented which gives players the opportunity to join alien factions. This in turn only depends No Man’s Sky’s story and gives the game the potential to have a space adventure that will grip players.

Trading

Trading has now been given a new layer of depth. When the game first started Trading was very bare bones and there wasn’t any real incentive for the player to really explore the trading system. Now players can make a viable living through trading. Star systems will also feature “socio economic variables” which will affect trading and the star system economy. This new depth to trading also goes hand in hand with the story and truly giving players the opportunity to create their own space adventure.

Exploring Space

Portals & Map

Exploring the universe is now easier with the inclusion of Portals. Back when the game first released players found it hard to return to solar systems they had already discovered. Portals will now give you the opportunity to return back to these these systems and potentially lay claim to your own galaxy. The map has been given an upgrade as well making it easier for players to navigate and pinpoint where they have been and what lies in front of them.

Environments

More environmental biomes have been added to planets, this gives the game a new level of planet exploration whilst also giving planets a more unique feel. Some more extreme and abstract biomes will be rarer and will be tied to the game’s story. This will also also make new planet discoveries more exciting, especially if players stumble across the rarer biomes.

Multiplayer

You will finally be able to find other travellers thought the universe. These players will appear as glitch/ghost like beings, even though interaction between players will be minimal to start with, future updates can make No Man’s Sky a truly amazing universe to explore with your friends.

Creation

Base Building

This was introduced in a previous update and has since opened up the No Man’s Sky Universe a bit more. We covered the foundation update when it was first released and the introduction of base building and making your own homestead was very welcome. Mix the base building with the Portals and map updates and sooner or later you will have your very own corner of the No Man’s Sky universe.

Terrain Editing

Many times I have found myself wanting to change the terrain around me Minecraft style. Now thanks to the Atlas update this is now possible, removing and adding terrain gives the game so much potential for players who just want to be creative and make things.

Farming and Harvesting

Farming in order to get materials was another feature that was brought into the game by the foundation update. Farming has now been upgraded with new gadgets for players to fabricate in order to keep their high value plants ticking over. This gives players the option to kick back and relax on the farm for a bit before they go of exploring distant worlds.

No Man’s Sky has changed a lot since it’s release a year ago. Even though the initial release was a bit rocky for Hello Games. We believe that No Man’s Sky now has the potential to be something pretty special.

Is Fantasy Better Than Scifi?

Fantasy vs scifi, it’s the age old question. Older than time, older than me, older than you, older than an old thing that’s covered in cobwebs and dust.

Of course both can exist. Both deserve to exist and it’s a ridiculous thing to say one’s better than the other. It’s all down to personal preference so if you love fantasy or you love scifi or you love both, that’s utterly valid and you should stand proud and love the things you love. Don’t let anyone tell you you’re wrong.

But if you think scifi is better than fantasy, you’re wrong. Here’s why.

Fantasy Is Human

Scifi is about dreams, it’s about the future and about what we can build out there, amongst the stars. It’s often hopeful in a way, that we’ll survive long enough as a species to get off this curséd rock and make our way out into the universe.

Fantasy is about being human, it’s about our history. It’s about examining the myths and legends that make up our shared cultural history, through the lens of the fantastic, the magical, the unreal.

It also uses the language that we as humans understand. Lets take videogames as an example.

Option Scifi: You’re playing a space 4X and you’re trying to pick up the basics. The currency is called florps, the upgrades give 0.873% to Space Warpitude, and your overall goal is to increase research by absorbing gluon sparks from the alterna-verse.
Option Fantasy: You’re playing a fantasy 4x and you’re trying to pick up the basics. The currency is gold, the upgrades give you horses so you can move faster, and your overall goal is to increase research by absorbing knowledge from the library dimension.

See? Whilst scifi is great, it makes you work a lot more. You’ve not only got to understand the game but you have to translate everything through whatever fiction the scifi writers have come up with.

Fantasy meanwhile uses language that we are mostly familiar with. As it’s built on cultural touchstones and stories we often grew up with (at least in the Western world), we often just ‘get’ it. It’s not something we have to work for, we know what gold is, what swords are, what medieval Europe looks like so when it appears in a game or a book, we have those cultural touchstones to rely on.

Scifi though? It’s pure imagination, maybe extrapolation, but it requires a lot more work to get into.

Fantasy Is Like a Warm Hug

As I said above, scifi is often challenging. It deals with concepts and ideas that often are only constrained by the creator’s imagination. Try reading China Mieville, or Iain M. Banks, or Peter Watts, or Alastair Reynolds. You’re in for amazing books, but not relaxing books.

Fantasy on the other hand, in a large part because of the reasons above, but also because it relies on human stories about human issues. They tend to put stories in a context we can easily comprehend, from The Witcher to Lord of the Rings, you can slip into these universes like you’re putting on a pair of warm pyjamas. Even if they’re exciting, or tense, or disturbing, there’s a comforting familiarity that inhabits fantasy. Something that’s often missing in the cold sterile vacuum of space.

Alright But What About Non Space Scifi

Non space scifi tends to be very unrelaxing. A lot of it tends to have the -punk suffix, like Cyberpunk, which means it’s going to be inherently overtly political.

Which is fine, and good! Things should be political, and even when you’re not political you are showing your politics. If you create a world inhabited by solely white people and say that’s good, guess what, that’s your politics on show! If you say your protagonist is a dude who sleeps with a million women, then again that’s political!

But that’s all subtext, which if you’re relaxing might be all you want to deal with. Cyberpunk especially is very overtly political, with its themes being mostly anti-capitalist, and depressing. Which like I said above, does have a place in life and it’s good to examine your politics and what you believe, fiction and videogames being a great platform for that. But you might just want to play something a little easier on the ol’ brain, so fire up Skyrim and go thwack some baddies. Job done.

So You’re Saying That Fantasy Is Simple

Not always! But often. Fantasy can be smart, well written, and densely plotted. But because you have the background often taken care of by it being set in a familiar or even semi-familiar setting, the heavy lifting can be done by the plot. Look at things like Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, The Witcher, or The Wheel of Time, all of these aren’t set in familiar places but because they use familiar touchstones, they can focus on what happens.

Scifi can often be densely plotted but you have to really fight to get to that part, because a large part of scifi is world building. They can be amazing worlds, but you have to cover where we are, what science we’re using, how things work, and that’s all before the plot even starts.

Magic often has rules but fundamentally, we understand what ‘magic’ is. Bad fantasy often has dramatis personae that’s five hundred pages long at the start of a book, but to be honest, that’s bad fantasy.

Science fiction on the other hand is dense and complex in its world building, outside of any plot that might happen. If it’s not complex and dense, then usually that means it’s fantasy with science clothing, looking at you, Star Wars.

What Does All This Mean Then?

It means that we should stop sneering at fantasy, it’s got a point and a purpose in the world. Scifi is smart and clever and that’s absolutely fine, but fantasy is there, like an old friend that you can meet up with and it’s like you haven’t been apart at all.

Fantasy is trusty, it can challenge you but it doesn’t have to. It can be many things, and it can delight, shock, horrify, and excite. Embrace fantasy, just because someone’s wielding the +2 Sword of Sir Grundleflort doesn’t mean the story they’re in is bad!

Go on, give fantasy a go. It’s worth it.

And often better than scifi.

Ranking The Best Batman Games Of All Time

You may remember a while back that we here at Green man Gaming ranked the best Batman Arkham Villains. In celebration of season 2 of the Tell Tale Batman series, Batman: The Enemy Within, we thought it would be a great idea to rank the best Batman games of all time. And we won’t be limiting ourselves to just the Arkham series.

Note: This list does not include every single Batman game ever created. If there is a Batman game we have missed that you loved, then let us know in the comments section below.

10. DC Universe Online

Heralded as the best DC themed MMORPG, DC Universe Online lets players create their own character who interacts with the various heroes and villains within in the DCU. Players will of course come across the Dark Knight as the faithful leader of The Justice League and will be one of the first heroes you come face to face with. This however gets our lowest ranking as you can’t play as Batman. At all. Who wants to play a Batman game without Batman? Not even the Joker wants that.

9. Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate

A PS Vita and 3DS game that was then made available on the PS3, 360 and PC, Arkham Origins Blackgate felt more like a Metroidvania type game more than a true Arkhamverse title. It gave us a nice insight into the time between Arkham Origins and Arkham Asylum but didn’t give players the same moody atmospheric feel that the other Arkham games had. It was also side scrolling and just didn’t really feel like a proper Arkham game.

8. Injustice: Gods Among Us

Even though Injustice Gods Among Us centred more around the DC universe than Batman himself, the leader of the Justice League does get a considerable amount of screen time (Spoiler alert: seeing as his arch nemesis, the Joker, is killed by Superman and all). The game’s story mode takes players on a roller coaster ride through alternative dimensions and to a world where Superman is an evil dictator. It is a great story which just shows you what Batman will do in order to put things right. It’s also a very solid fighting game which created by the developers behind Mortal Kombat which is also a big plus.

7. Batman: Arkham Origins

The first Batman game that was canon to the Arkhamverse but not developed by Rocksteady, Batman Arkham Origins is a very solid game. Using a lot of the same game techniques that made Batman Arkham Asylum and Arkham City great. It even gave players the opportunity to explore Gotham, but in my opinion the game lacked something, maybe it was the iconic voice actors such as Hamill and Conroy. Maybe it was the fact that Gotham felt dead compared to Arkham City, maybe it was that the flow of the combat was disrupted compared to the others. Maybe it was that damnable Deathstroke fight. Whatever it was it just doesn’t compare to the Rocksteady Trilogy.

6. Injustice 2

Much like its predecessor Injustice: Gods Among Us, Injustice 2 carries on the story from where the previous game left off. Now with the option to also kit our Batman and a host of other characters with some quality gear and armour. This game lets you build the best Batman possible! Seriously, some of the looks you can give him are truly insane. The story is pretty awesome as well.

5. LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham

Possibly the best Batman LEGO game out there, Beyond Gotham was the pioneer to games such as LEGO Marvel Super Heroes giving players an open-world hub to explore and so many characters to choose from. Batman himself had a fair few character slots just to cover every type of Bat suit he owned (and I don’t think the game covered all of the Bat suits available). The game also pays a great homage to other Batmans such as Adam West’s ’60s version of the caped crusader.

4. Batman: The Telltale Series

TellTale games have done a great job with the Batman licence in Batman: The Telltale Series. In this episodic point and click game lays a good foundation for the TellTale universe, introducing us to Batman and other popular characters. In my option though the game will series will shine in Season 2 as we will be introduced to a lot more villains and also get the opportunity to ‘shape’ the Joker through our actions.

3. Batman: Arkham Asylum

The first game in the Rocksteady Arkham trilogy really let people become the Batman. The key feature that made Arkham Asylum so good was it’s gameplay. It introduced a detective mode for players to truly hunt for clues, the combat system is still amazing and has inspired other games since such as Shadow Of Mordor, and the ability to a variety of bat gadgets to help you explore the Asylum was frankly amazing. The voice acting from Batman veterans Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy brought the game to life as well, which made Arkham Asylum the best Batman game ever according to most Batman fans.

2. Batman: Arkham City

Building on the amazing Arkham Asylum, Arkham city made you truly feel like the Dark Knight. Players were able to navigate around an entire city coming up against some of Batman’s most notorious villains including, Ra’s Al Ghul, Mr Freeze, The Riddler and of course The Joker just to name a few. The open world game let you hunt down secrets, collectables and amazing side missions that brought out some of the best story lines from Batman’s past. Arkham City is truly an amazing game.

1. Batman: Arkham Knight

Letting players explore the whole of Gotham City this time around. Arkham Knight let you drive the Batmobile for the first time and also brought in the best bits from every Arkhamverse game released. Rocksteady knew that this was their final Batman game with Arkham Knight so they made the best Batman game to date. The story starts off simple but dives into a fantastic plot with plenty of twists and turns. The Riddler also get some decent screen time as well, who has been one of my all time favourite Batman villains. Batman Arkham Knight is the best Batman game and a great high for Rocksteady to leave on.

So there you have it, our best Batman games ranked. Do you agree? let us know in the comments below.

Is Foxhole The Next PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds?

Currently in Early Access, Foxhole is a team based RTS game set during the war (which war is still yet to be specified by the developers) where players have to work together in order to gather resources, build bases and eventually fight and overthrow the enemy.

After reading that you are probably thinking, ‘how is Foxhole in anyway related to PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS?’ Basically, it isn’t, both games are completely different. However with Foxhole steadily increasing in popularity recently, this game could be a contender to knock Battlegrounds off the current top spot. Here’s why.

Foxhole’s Unique Gameplay

Overall gameplay

On the surface, Foxhole is your typical strategy game where players have to mine resources, build things and then attack the enemy. That’s Foxhole on the surface, dive deeper into the game and you will see how unique it is. For starters, players are able to join the same team, this adds a whole new level to the game as your able to have many minds working on different things in order to both build up defences as well as attack.

Resource management

Unlike most RTS games, Foxhole is reliant on players finding resources. In it’s current form, Foxhole does not give players the opportunity to mine or find resources automatically. This means when you have resources you will need to keep a close eye on them and check your pockets before you head into battle. Once you die you drop all the resources you have on you. Resources are the base of building anything from buildings and vehicles to ammunition for your weapons. They are one of the key components to the game.

Drop in and drop out gameplay

Missions have the potential to last a very long time, so Foxhole has the ability for players to drop in and drop out of matches and join a team as they please. This is a great way for players to track down their friends if they need some extra back up in a match or visa versa. This is a great way to bring a community of gamers together without having to start a new match every time.

Campaign Mode

As the game is in early access there is a loose campaign mode at the moment, as mentioned a single match could last a very long time. One of the team here spent five hours over the weekend on just one mission. This could mean that a single campaign mode could potentially last weeks, think of the hours of gameplay you can get out of that.

Adding A New Depth To Online Play

Foxhole is heavily based on bringing a community of gamers together. The game is striving to do this in various ways as mentioned above. According to the official Foxhole FAQ the developers goal is to “support as many simultaneous players as we can and we believe that we can reach several hundred with our current technology.” This could mean that groups of gamers can find themselves in huge matches working together with other gamers.

These methods could make Foxhole one of the biggest online games to date. What are your thoughts? Does this game have the potential to rival games such as PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS? Let us know in the comments section below.

Times Games Told You to Git Gud

With Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice releasing today and the threat that if you die enough times in the game your progress will be wiped. We thought we would list some of the hardest video games out there. We are talking about games that punish you for being bad at them and have players either screaming into cushions or rage quitting with such force that no PC or console will be left alive. Much like this guy;

So here’s our list of some of the most punishing games out there, starting with the hot topic at the moment…

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

It has been stated that Hellblade is a difficult game. Ninja Theory, the developers have stated in an FAQ that Hellblade is “is tough to play and we’d prefer to just have one difficulty mode but that could be unfair to some.” Just to add salt to the wound as well, the game even goes to the trouble of threatening to delete your save data if you die too many times. I can imagine this is the type of permadeath situation that will have gamers hurling their monitors or TVs out of the window before too long. Which isn’t a bad thing, as notoriously hard games have come into vogue over the past few years thanks to…

Souls Games

High difficulty, steep learning curve and souls games go together like jelly and ice cream. If anyone out there thinks a souls games is a walk in the park they are either super human or probably not telling the truth. We aren’t just talking about Dark Souls one and two here either. We are also including Bloodborne, Nioh, The Surge, Dead Cells and any other game that falls into this bracket. The AI is relentless in its wrath to destroy the player, items are scarce and the games are truly just unforgiving. But people love the challenge and the fact you can lose dozens of gaming hours if you die once.

Fire Emblem

Fire Emblem is notorious for it’s Permadeath. In the original games, once you had killed one of your characters then that was them gone forever, no turning back (unless you reload your save from the start of the level and do it all over again). The amount of times gamers have screamed in rage because they have done a dumb move and wiped out their most powerful/favourite character in mere seconds is probably beyond comprehension. Even if you study the play area and take your battle tactics into heavy consideration, sooner or later one of your team will die.

The Binding Of Isaac

The Binding Of Isaac is a roguelike game that is teeming with difficult procedurally generated dungeons, full of difficult monsters and boss battles. If you manage to get through this game without dying they you would need some sort of epic reward saying you are video games royalty. Also just to add sat to the wound, The Binding Of Isaac also comes with Permadeath, imagine dying and then playing the game again not knowing what is in store for you thanks to procedural generation. One word, painful!

FTL: Faster Than Light

Another game that falls into the roguelike category. FTL is a space ship simulator where players control a single ship as it navigates it’s way through procedurally generated sections of space whilst it is being pursued by a huge rebel fleet. It sounds easy in practise but the game itself is pretty difficult. Much like the Binding of Isaac and the Rogue-like genre as a whole, FTL comes with Permadeath, making the whole experience that much more stressful.

Ninja Gaiden 2

Most hack and slash games have players ploughing through hordes of gormless enemies to get the biggest kill streak possible. Devil May Cry 3 took that idea and added a clever AI steep learning curve to it. Ninja Gaiden 2 took Devil May Cry 3’s idea and upped the difficulty level considerably. Granted NG2 isn’t on the same level as say Dark Souls but it is very easy for players to get over confident with their combinations and get overrun by enemies within seconds. You could say Nioh is the step in difficulty after Ninja Gaiden 2.

Honourable Mention – DOOM 2016 Ultra Nightmare Mode

DOOM itself is a mad game where you feel like you are on ice skates shooting the seven shades of crazy out of the demons of hell. It is easy to get overrun by the demons on normal mode. Ultra Nightmare mode however ups the difficulty to maximum, not only that it also add permadeath meaning even if you die once you have to start all over again. Some say this is the video game version of torture.

So that is just some of the hardest games out there that force you to Git Gud! If we have neglected to mention any of your favourite, be sure to let us know in the comments section below.

Alvina – Dark Souls

She might look fierce, but Alvina just wants to protect the area around Artorias’ grave. Chums with Sir Artorias and the great Sif herself, she helps you join on board as a Forest Hunter so you too can pitch in and protect Sir Artorias’ grave. Like any cat, she’s fiercely loyal and will hunt down any transgressors with the help of the Forest Hunter covenant. So go on, have a chat with her, just don’t mess with her. She’ll mess you up.

Dusty – Gravity Rush

Dusty is definitely cat shaped, even if they might not necessarily be a cat. Dusty is made of stars, and Dusty is also the source of Kat’s powers in Gravity Rush, meaning without Dusty it’d be a rather shorter game about ‘falling off a thing and then splatting’. In the sequel we find out that Dusty is the Sphinx Guardian, so well done catto, dream big.

Khajiit – A Heck Tonne of Elder Scrolls Games

There’s several different subraces that make up the feline Khajiit, from the humanoid-ish Ohmes-raht seen in Daggerfall, to the Suthay-raht who you see around Vvardenfell in the Morrowind province. They can look like humans with catty features, to full on bipedal felines who can’t wear shoes or closed face helmets. They have a bit of a habit of being, how do you say this, ‘drug fiends’, loving Moon Sugar and Skooma and putting Moon Sugar in every kind of food they eat. But it’s ok, because with a bit of love and the readings of Clan Mother Ahnissi, even the most committed skooma-addict can enter rehab.

The Cat – Catlateral Damage

The star of Catlateral Damage is a cat. You are the cat. Swipe things. Be a naughty cat. Get points. Smash things. Be a bad cat. There’s other cats to be, but they’re all cats. That are naughty. Bad cat. No tuna for you.

Look I ain’t got much to say about this one, you’re a cat.

Simba – The Lion King

Oh I just can’t wait…for the level where you’re running away from a stampede to end. The Lion King features Disney’s best cat (sit down, Aristocats fans) and does so in a game that’s surprisingly good, difficult, and features pretty much all the high points of the film. From Hakuna Matata to grownup Simba, the game covers the film pretty well, even if it has some difficulty spikes which you’d think QA would’ve spotted before release. That said, it’s alright, it’s good to be king.

Cats – The Cat Lady

This non stop comedy adventure game features hilarious wacky cats who are always helping protagonist Susan Ashworth out in her barmy funtimes throughout The Cat Lady.

Right hopefully that’ll trick some people into getting The Cat Lady and then being utterly horrified by what they find.

The Cat Lady is a terrifying horror adventure point and click game with a cast of cats that lurk around the edges of the game and the main character, Susan. They call out and yowl at you, sometimes with human voices in the cacophony. They also show off Susan’s softer side as she will look after them, and when the piano’s played they’ll arrange themselves to listen. But don’t get on the wrong side of the cats…as you’ll find out if you play The Cat Lady.

King Tom – Ni No Kuni

The large king of Ding Dong Dell, King Tom’s got that essential cattiness down to a T. When you meet King Tom he’s in full lazy cat mode, just lying about until you restore some enthusiasm to him and he kings it up again. Like any good cat, he places high pride in his cleanliness and also good…woodwork? He also loves his favourite Red Herring, which proves that even kings like to play.

Red XIII – Final Fantasy VII

Alright first off, Red XIII is definitely a cat, not a dog. Yes he is. Yes he is. No you shut up.

Glad we’ve got that sorted. Red XIII, or Nanaki, is first encountered in Shinra Tower where he’s been experimented on. Through journeying together, you find out what happened to his father and honestly if you’re not crying at that part then you’re a monster. He’s obsessed with guilt over his father when you meet him, but over time he thaws a little and when you find out what happened in Cosmo Canyon he opens up a little to you. But for all that, he’s still a grumpy little fire-cat, and that’s why we love him.

Meowth – Pokémon

Meowth, that’s right!

I had to include Meowth, didn’t I.

Blinx – Blinx: The Time Sweeper

Blinx stars in the world’s first 4D action game, whatever that means. Blinx, armed with his trusty vacuum cleaner, has control over time itself and can speed time up, slow it down, pause things, reverse time, and more. Can your cat do that? What do you mean ‘yes’?

Blinx almost became the mascot for the original Xbox, before some Master Chief fellow came along and stole the show. But I ask you, who would you prefer, John ‘Bland’ Chief, or Blinx the time vacuuming cat?

I rest my case.

So there you go, the ABSOLUTE BEST cats you’ll find in videogames. Have I missed any? Let me know on Facebook or Twitter, or in the comments section below!

Honourable Mention – Trico – The Last Guardian

Not included because frankly I don’t know what this is, is it a catbird, is it a birdog? Or is it a mix of all three, or none of them? Trico’s amazing though, and would’ve been included if I could work out just what percent cat it is!

Honourable Mention #2 – Buffy the Mouse Slayer

Alright she doesn’t really have anything to do with games (she sits near the PS4 sometimes?) but LOOK HOW GOOD MY PARENTS CAT BUFFY IS. WHAT A CAT, WHAT. A. CAT.

Ahem.

Back to videogames.

Survival Games That Are Surviving Early Access

Many a game have made their way though Early Access, but not many Survival games have made it all the way through to full release. With the news that both The Long Dark and Ark: Survival Evolved are both getting full releases, there is still hope for the Early Access survival games yet. We have put together a list of survival games that we believe are surviving Early Access and have also mentioned the titles that have survived. Check out the list below.

Surviving Early Access

7 Days To Die

You really can’t go wrong with a good old fashioned zombie survival game. 7 Days To Die is an open-world which combines FPS, Tower Defence and RPG. The key mechanic here is survival and battling the zombie hordes.

7 Days To Die has been in Early Access for a fair old while. First hitting Early Access all the way back in December 2013, the developer went a little quiet up until recently. The game has now received an Alpha 16 update which adds so much more to the game. It’s nice to see that 7 Days to Die is back on track.

Fortnite

The game that basically combines Left 4 Dead, Orcs Must Die and Dungeon Defenders pits you and your friends against the oncoming monster hordes. The aim here is to scavenge for materials, build bases and defend your homestead. You also have a plethora of characters to unlock and choose from who have different classes and traits which can help you out on your adventure.

Fortnite will be going into Early Access this week. With the amount of promotion and updates that Epic have put behind this game, we can imagine that this title probably won’t be in Early Access for long. There is some controversy going around players having to buy the game at full retail price in Early Access before the game goes free to play on full release, but we are confident that Fortnite will be one of the big games to beat once it is completed.

Rust

Rust is a survival game which pits players against each other. So instead of surviving a cruel and harsh open world or putting players against a relentless horde of zombies/monsters. Rust challenges people to survive against other players. It also has a pretty great crafting system allowing players to build pretty much anything from the materials provided around the world.

Beginning as a game with similarities to DayZ, Rust came into its own by ditching the zombies and becoming its very own survival game. The game is updated weekly and dev blogs are uploaded via the developer blog. The game is now in Beta so hopefully it shouldn’t be too long before the game is fully released.

DayZ

It can be argued that DayZ is the first proper zombie survival game. First released back in 2013 it first came about as a standalone game to a the popular ARMA 3 mod with the same name. DayZ is set during the zombie apocalypse but much like rust, players have to survive against other players. There is also zombies which always puts a firm spanner in the works of your own survival plans.

The games developers are still updating the game but the game has not come out of its Alpha stage. The developers have been stating that the Beta is just around the corner so hopefully the DayZ snowball will get rolling to full release soon.

Conan Exiles

Conan Exiles, the Conan inspired survival game developed by Funcom throws players into the universe of the infamous barbarian with nothing, not even the clothes on their back. Players then have to survive the brutal and harsh land and build their existence from the ground up.

When the game first hit Early Access it was well received relatively good reviews and Funcom has been updating the game since then. There have been some issues along the way, but we’re hopeful that with time Funcom will get the game into shape. Funcom are also releasing a brand new free expansion for the game as well.

Survived

The Long Dark

A first person survival game where players assume the role of a pilot who has crash landed in the frigid Canadian wilderness after a huge global disaster. This is more of a survival simulation game where players will have to keep tabs on their body temperature, wildlife, hunger and thirst and even a whole load of environmental factors. The game features two game modes, story and sandbox giving players the opportunity to experience the story or make their very own.

The Kickstarter for The Long Dark finished all the way back in October 2013 and the game didn’t hit early access until September 2014. The Long Dark then finally released in August 2017. The Early Access period for the game got a good and steady stream of updates. The developer Raphael van Lierop didn’t want the community dictating the game’s direction and stuck to his guns as players wanted less of a hardcore survival experience.

Ark: Survival Evolved

Described as an action-adventure survival video game, Ark: Survival Evolved puts players on an island filled with roaming dinosaurs. Players will have to fight against these creatures as well as the increasing amount of hazards the island will throw at them. There isn’t just dinosaurs to contend with however as there will be hostile human players who will be after blood as well.

In June 2015 Ark Survival was released via Steam Easy Access and the Xbox Game Preview Program. The game received a nice stream of updates whilst in Early Access and remains as the only survival game to remain in Early Access for just over two years. The game will be coming out to PC and console at the end of August this year.

Now that both The Long Dark and Ark Survival Evolved have survived Early Access do you think the rest of the games in our list will get full releases, or are they doomed to be in Early Access forever? let us know in the comments section below.

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.