Saints Row (2022) and Astro Duel II

Still clearing out those Epic giveaways...

Saints Row (2022)

This reboot of the franchise drops the characters and continuity from the original (where the protagonist has possibly fought aliens, been to hell and had the Earth destroyed) and gives you a brand new "boss" who happens to have skilled room mates that are already part of other various gangs, but are still unable to make the rent. They're pretty cool, as is the gigantic map you can play in. Alas most of the crazy side jobs tend to be locked by a grind, so its likely you'll complete the main mission first and once you do that, well... there's no real incentive in going back to do the unlocked stuff. Also, the towing type minigames suck which is a shame because that's one of the few new things they tried to add here. Everything else is just a "hey remember this from the other game... where it was better?". Only recommended to people who haven't played any Saints Row previously.

Astro Duel II

This is a strange pixel game where you fight other players (or NPC monsters for solo players) on maps that are both top down asteroid-type shooters with you piloting a spaceship, but if you fly into an area with gravity (or get destroyed) you hop out as your anthomorphic avatar to continue the fight. After a few moments your spaceship form returns too, but somehow being outside the spaceship gives you more options in the way of attacks. A very odd game and not one I recommend.

The Evil Within 2

After all the horrifying experiences from the first game, our protagonist decides to go back in to experience MORE HORROR!? Alas all those upgrades you worked hard on are gone (like his accuracy) and so you must build it up again but this time in a more "open world". Well, not so open - but there are some decently large areas where you can easily miss side quests and the like. You can also craft ALL forms of ammo this time (not just crossbow bolts) and the standard mooks are easier to deal with to. For one, you don't have to keep setting them on fire to make sure they stay dead like last time. :P

Can't see us if we're crouched! Lol

There are also far less insta-death mechanics this time around (or at least more spaced out) resulting in a less terrifying game as it progresses, as you'll be going carefully and slow at the start while not really giving a crap later on once you are loaded with weapons and ammo (but stealth kills are just so satisfying!). Obviously I enjoyed this one despite the game not seeming to know who the main villain should be. Is it better than the first game? Yes. Is it scarier than the first game? No. Do with that what you will.

Paradigm and Just Die Already

Games that try to be funny.

Paradigm

In this old school point and click adventure you play as the titular Paradigm, a pretty chill and happy mutant person who also has a decent sense of humor. The voice acting and jokes are surprisingly good here, and while most of the puzzles are straight forward expect to get stuck in a few places (or I'm just terrible at these games). I just wish he could run. Anyway, decent one to check out if you are feeling in the mood for this type of thing.

Just Die Already

Clearly created by people who hate their parents and/or grandparents, this open world sandbox has you play as a geriatric who must escape from their nursing home and "live" (get points) by doing ridiculous things in the super dangerous world outside.

To "help" with the fun, the controls are intentionally bad and you will most likely maim yourself before even making it out of your room. Not to worry though, respawns are endless but other than to feel a game that seems to drip with hatred for the elderly - what's the point? Not recommended.

Saints Row the Third

Introduces Professor Genki's Super Ethical Reality Climax!

When the Saints, now local celebrities, are captured by a rival crime syndicate it is up to you and the gang to claw take their island city away from these scumbags piece by piece. Much like the previous game, this open world has a lot of activities to do on top of the actual plot and is quite funny. The wide variety will ensure that while there are some you will hate, others will be very fun and nothing ever really feels grindy especially as most of them are optional. There is a good deal of customization too and thankfully the vehicle controls are pretty good, because you'll be spending a lot of time in them.

Even more crazy than last time!

While there are no huge story branches I did like that there were choices to be made during the main story which had some minor effect. Alas I wasn't too keen on the radio stations this time around - less catchy tunes I suppose and there was one mission where the NPCs kept failing the mission for me (colliding helicopters lol) which required a fresh restart of the game. Also Steelport, where this game takes place, feels inferior to the Stilwater map from the last game. Still very fun and quite addictive, I give this three penetrators out of five.

Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition

The law is different for undercover cops.

Wei Shen (voiced by Will Yun Lee) is an undercover cop trying to take down a triad in Hong Kong, and to do this he must do criminal acts as a gangster to keep his cover intact while also balancing out doing criminal acts as a cop because... its fun? And that's the important bit: FUN!

The multitude of activities in the open world map of Hong Kong range from the mundane to the hilariously out there. You have street racing, fight clubs, karaoke, chop shop thefts, debt collection, and for collectors lots of lock boxes and shrines to discover and vehicles and clothes to purchase. Yep, different sets of clothes provide different bonuses and I cannot think of another game where I changed attire so frequently. It's so easy to get engrossed in this one, even if Wei tends to inexplicably lose firearms all the time.

Occasionally, cars are made of explodium!

Losing guns doesn't matter though as guns are actually a "rarity" in the game (yeah, not so much later) making gun play one of the weakest aspects of Sleeping Dogs. Still serviceable, but just OK. Most of your fighting will instead be ye olde school martial arts with a system similar to Batman: Arkham Asylum but more robust. I cannot stress how brilliant the systems all work so well together. Also, if you get the Definitive Edition you have the additional content of the DLCs!

Nightmare at North Point sees Wei take on supernatural beings (which features a rarity - the Chinese hopping zombie / Jiangshi), Year of the Snake deals with an end of the world cult who have way too many explosives, and the Zodiac Tournament is where you are invited to a remote island to fight against the other best fighters in the region. An easy one to recommend I give this game four and a half DZS-90s out of five. Yes, even with the random bugs. It's just so much fun!

Insight: Always get massages. If you are going to fight, also drink some Dragon Kick and eat some street food before hand. Also, remember car-fu is stronger than any kung-fu so feel free to run over any criminal scum when you can.

Just Cause 4

"A plan is just a list of things that can go wrong."

The residents of the Isle of Solis are oppressed by an evil tyrant who is rich enough to develop a weather control device as well as field an endless supply of soldiers and war machines. Lucky for them, Rico, a superhero  in everything but name (you) comes to the rescue!

Yes, Rico is outfitted with some seriously advanced tech that doesn't get damaged outside of cut scenes, as well as superhuman resilience to damage. Basically a Latin Spider-man mixed with Punisher as he definitely loves to grapple everywhere AND kill everyone, at least at the start to raise his army of chaos. This is pretty cool actually, as you can use your allies to slowly take over regions until you literally have all of  Solis under your flag.

Lots of crazy stuff to do in this game.

There are loads of vehicles you can operate as well and some really far fetched and crazy missions to win. I had tons of fun with this game, though I did find it repetitive towards the end - and this is already skipping some of the other minor tasks of the stunt and tomb raiding variety. Highly recommended if you just feel like violently taking over an island, I give it four Just Causes out of five.

Insight: Take the time to do Javi's intro mission as that unlocks fast travel and supply drops. Otherwise you'll be like me and have to commute everywhere (which is fun too, just longer).

Astroneer (Alpha)

Mining the galaxy for... fun?

Astroneer is a cute but strange little game where you take the role of a titular Astroneer to land on lonely, randomly generated, decent sized planets and build bases on them. To do so, you (and your buddies if in co-op) will need to use your magical vacuum cleaner to collect various materials to research and construct things.

Exploration is essential in finding some of the rarer components, often requiring cave spelunking where hostile flora often resides. That said, the worst threats are of an environmental nature - either from powerful wind storms or from simply going too far from your tethers and running out of air.

Better take shelter from that...

Once you progress far enough, you can build a shuttle to take you to the next planet and start all over again. That's pretty much all there is to this game at the moment and while it certainly is pretty it's not really my cup of tea. Probably one currently better suited to the Minecraft crowd, we'll see if it gets more interesting when it goes live for real.

Absurd Game Ideas - Pussy... of Death!

[Part of the Absurd Game Ideas folder]

Many game bloggers, including myself, usually talk about our ideal games or how to improve the games we currently play. Well I thought it would be fun to flip the script and share our most absurd and silly game or game mod ideas! You are invited to blog your own crazy ideas too! :)

For today I give you...

Pussy... of Death!

In this open world stealth sandbox, you play a stray cat whose goal is to charm and woo your way into the hearts and homes of humans - and then murder them. Trip them downstairs, drop active appliances into their baths, startle them into traffic, or just push them into wood chippers all while avoiding patrolling hound and pound units and keeping suspicion low as to access the next unwitting human's home.

Multiplayer supports co-op where you can team up with buddies to perform even more devilishly gruesome executions or competitively to see who can kill the most humans in a set time limit. Earn the respect of your fellow felines and become the true Pussy... of Death!

Developer Appreciation: Stalker

In mother Russia, your first quest is to kill yourself!

The Stalker series is easily one of my favorite to date. In it, you wander the irradiated zone around Chernobyl while solving mysteries, fighting men and mutants alike, and generally try to survive the oppressive and grim environment which tends to shuffle and respawn random encounters and anomalies every so often just to keep you on your toes.

Metro 2033 which has a similar vein loses out here since it squarely fits into the "shooter" category and gives you structured missions with often claustrophobic maps. Stalker is an open world. There are story missions, but you are free to just go hiking and spelunking to find those random powerful artifacts at your own peril.

Just don't be outdoors when the skies randomly go red.

Having the pack space and weight limit also forces you to decide if you really want to bring that second rifle instead of other supplies like food, anti-rad, bandages, or simply more ammo. Of course, your primary weapon might break at any moment so... perhaps a light pistol is a better alternative? Good luck taking down an army partrol or multiple blood suckers with that though. Sneaking by is always an option, as is getting factions to kill each other.

Challenging, fun and most definitely immersive

Prototype

Should be marketed as a super villain game.

Thanks to military experiments, Alex Mercer is infected with a virus that gives him special powers. He can shrug off bullets, run fast, leap and glide over buildings, shape shift, carry and throw cars around, regenerate and most importantly... consume people. That last one you will be doing a lot of.

Yes, it's quite difficult / impossible to be a good guy in this game, especially since Alex is seems enraged all the time. Despite that, and the weird sound issue where some cut scenes are soft and others are deafening, it is quite enjoyable to cause mayhem across the open city.

Eat your heart out, Wolverine!

There are many optional side events as well that get you closer to unlocking more abilities or stronger variants of the ones you have. Being able to use firearms, drive tanks and fly helicopters is really neat too. All up, a very fun and slightly addictive game - I give it 4 supreme hunters out of 5.

Saints Row 2

Open world silliness at its best.

The Saints Row franchise has never been on my radar, and I only got this game when Greenman Gaming was giving it for free. Yes, it's now very dated and the combat is hilariously bad/over simplified, but props for getting some capoeira in there.

It's got tons of humor, story, and skilled voice actors as well as a decent vehicle system, when you get used to it. It also has a great selection of radio stations, one of which my wife kept singing along with while I played!

You play as the resurrected Saints gang leader, and are tasked with violently taking over the open-world city. There are a multitude of extra activities (racing, stunt jumping, being a bodyguard to celebs, stealing ho's, lowering real estate value by pouring poop from a sanitation vehicle, and more) as well as collectibles hidden all over the place. I've finished the game and I'm only on 70% completion!

Need to stop more prostitute uprisings. With a chainsaw.

There's a crazy amount of customization too - for your character, your clothes (each article independently), your vehicles, your gangs, your cribs. Yes it's silly, but god damn it's fun. Graphics wise, its very dated but I still can recommend it for anyone who likes driving around in open world craziness. Three police cars out of five! Now my interest is piqued for the other Saints Row games...

Assassin's Creed: Rogue

It counts on your kleptomania.

Since I'm currently dealing with assassins in my Skyrim adventure I thought it would be a good time to review this game!

In this outing of Assassin's Creed you get to play as Shay Cormac, who enjoys the maps, systems and side characters from AC3 and Black Flag. This is good, because Cormac himself is not a very compelling character - not even compared to Connor (who I didn't like). The method they tell his tale via "glitched memories" is a silly one, and it also doesn't help that he seems to be deaf in his left ear as the "hearing based on which direction you are looking" idea is a bit broken - and honestly, stupid. I hear better than that in real life. :P

Not that it matters though, since he's pretty much a walking machine of destruction just like any other Assassin's Creed hero, complete with the insane number of weapons (this time including a grenade launcher) while parkouring about in New York or the little ports in the Frontier and North Atlantic. Those three big maps are mainly navigated by sailing, which is fine, but you will probably miss the horse riding at some point because most of the maps are empty space and some wandering NPCs. Indeed, the only purpose to venture out into most spots is to acquire collectibles of which there are GAZILLIONS.

Of course I went and got them all.

Also back is the hunting and crafting parts where you can take a break from murdering people to murdering animals (some of which are not so defenseless). For resource sinks you can upgrade your ship, your gear, and renovate structures all over the place. Perhaps the best addition for me though are the assassin enemies. Since Shay gets hunted later on in the game, it's fun to have the tables turned where sly bastards are waiting for you in the bushes, tree tops or haystacks and can only be detected via eagle vision (because that's a teachable skill apparently).

Ridiculous hiding techniques deserve bullets to the head.

It doesn't help that the hidden people whisper gibberish pretty loudly as you get closer though. I'm beginning to question the intelligence of these "assassins". Even their "Everything is permitted," motto is sort of the anarchist/terrorists go to line. On the seas the epic battles also make a return, and the last one is a real fun challenge. On land you may never see the strongest enemies in the game: the bounty hunters. While their naval counterparts are pushovers, the ones on foot can easily stand toe to toe with Shay. I suppose they are only there to dissuade you from killing innocents.

Also returning in this installment is the silly management/idle game game, this time in the form of the Naval Campaign. To be fair, this is the best version of it I've seen and it actually ties back to your fleet of captured ships etc. Unfortunately many missions are behind time block bullshit (wait 2+ hours for this mission to finish) which means only the most tenacious (or most casual) of players will see it to its 33 mission completion.

All up it's pretty fun for kleptomaniacs and good to get more screen time for characters from the other games, but is just one of those games that doesn't really have any substance to it that will be missed. I score it two out of tune sea shanties out of five.

Sojourn at Entropia

Decided to try out this little MMO called Planet Calypso, now better known as the Entropia Universe, an open world sci-fi experience and one of the few games whose currency ties directly to the US dollar (1 US = 10 PED). Yup, if you earn enough PED you can even cash it out. Wonder how well a F2P player would fare in such a place? So did I.

Chapters:
No Better Lure
The Locals
Taking a Walk
Port Atlantis
A Helping Hand
The Crashed Boat
Broken
Body Parts and Shrapnel
Plans for the Poor
The Swim
Caligula
A Lesson in Space
Exploring the Peaks
Strength Keep
Pushing the Limit
The Feffox Attack
The Moth 
The Flame
An Awesome Rescue
Sara by Sea
A Test of Piloting
No Sweat
Rifleman
The Outback
Accidental Disciple

This story has finished for now! Thank you for reading! :)