What We’ve Been Playing

There have been some big releases these past few weeks, in the world of video games. Non-Fiction Gaming staff have been wearing down thumbs with great vigour.

eSports is getting bigger, we’ve been behind the wheel with Need for Speed Most Wanted, breaking down doors in Medal of Honor Warfighter and Stiv has been helping readers make their way through Borderlands 2 

Senior Stiv

Been keeping myself busy this week with quite few games and actually making some accomplishments. I just finished my first play-through of Dishonored. I was able to keep a low chaos status throughout the game so I received a nice happy ending. I’m going to do a second round and make a guide for finding all of the games runes. I figured I’d be more destructive this time and not worry about the ending, staying focused on finding all of the runes.

I’ve also been spending some time back in Skyrim, preparing myself for the Dragonborn DLC. I’m hoping to get my blacksmithing to level 100, so I can finally start making dragon armor and weapons. Going to need to prove how much of a bad ass I am when I go to Solthseim.

William B

This week has been pretty busy for me but I have found some time to fit in a bit of Borderlands 2, supplemented with a wee bit of Secret of Evermore. I like to go back occasionally and rehash my teen years of playing SNES RPGs, pretend I have no responsibilities and drink pop until my insides turn to sludge.

I’m liking Borderlands 2 a lot. After playing Dishonored, which I didn’t seem to enjoy as much as everyone else did, it’s a whole heap of fun to not be embroiled in any particular political battle; I am really enjoying the humour. Lots of guns, enemies and explosions – I didn’t realise I have been craving this kind of insanity.

Secret of Evermore is also pretty great. If you haven’t checked it out, I suggest doing so. Unfortunately, my SNES is not available to me so I have to use an emulator however,I own the real game so it’s fine. The story is as compelling as I remember and the battle mechanics are fun.

KRS 2

In a few short weeks I will be playing the Wii U, and initial reviews for Nintendo Land and Mario Brothers U have me more excited than I was before! So to tide me over, I have perused my extensive library to decide what games I wanted to play that I never got around to finishing. Should I perhaps continue my Wii binge and play Mario Galaxy or Xenoblade Chronicles? Or perhaps go back and finish Pokémon White? Maybe even finish Final Fantasy XIII…

Then my brain decided it didn’t like choices, so I instead borrowed Alice: Madness Returns off one friend and Pokémon: Conquest from another, neither of which was a mistake as I’m enjoying both quite a lot. Alice has wonderful, twisted visuals to keep my eyeballs entertained, and plays like a strange hybrid of many games I love. The platforming reminds me of Banjo-Kazooie, having me double jump and glide to reach distant platforms, while the battles remind me of a combination of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Ratchet and Clank 3. The gameplay might be a little dated for some but I highly enjoy the game and if any of what I said above appeals to you, give it a crack!

As for Pokémon Conquest, I’ve only just started it, but I’ve enjoyed what I’ve played immensely and always have fun with strategy RPGs like this. After all, what’s not to love about taking over a Japanese style country with an army of Pokémon – yes that is my actual objective.

Anthony

This week I finished the second instalment of the Dead Space series, so psyched for the third title due to be released next year.

Last night just picked up a copy of L.A Noire at a garage sale for 50 cents, SAY WHAT? I know right, now my weekend has a purpose, catch bad guys and solve crimes 1950’s style, so hot right now.

Matty D

Skyrim is the great blind pimple on the modern face of gaming. The more I refuse to touch it, the more I feel compelled to fiddle. Endlessly. I have lost track of relatives. So at least there is a bright side but once you find yourself searching for the “Health, Stamina, Magic” bars after every glance skywards, you may be due for a break.

So Skyrim’s been my weeks’ fix (yay repetition) along with the occasional revisiting of my Minecraft utopia.

My latest Minecraft project has been to recreate Sarah Jessica Parkers’ chin mole on the side of a mountain. This project was yesterday scraped however, as I have run out of mountain.

Let us know what you’ve been playing in the comments below.