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October 27, 2015 In News

Games I’m Looking Forward To: November 2015

I got all ready to make a monster post about the games of November this month, but guess what? The usual glut of games that makes November the busiest month of releases just isn’t there this year. With a bunch of games getting delayed into 2016, and publishers spreading releases out a bit more evenly through the year, November just isn’t the parade of releases it used to be.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t big releases to speak of this month. in fact, the one thing you can still count on is that November is where the biggest games are usually released. So without further ado, here are the games I’m excited about this month:

 

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Call of Duty: Black Ops III (Xbox One, PC, PS4)–November 6

I played a bit of the beta for Black Ops 3, and while it felt bit more like Titanfall than Call of Duty to me, the super tight gameplay that is the backbone of CoD was as good as ever. CoD is a game all of my friends play, and while my interest in the campaign has waned over the years, the multiplayer is something I’ll always jump into.

 

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Fallout 4 (Xbox One. PC, PS4)–November 10

If I could only get one game this month, Fallout 4 would be it. I am a huge RPG fan, and like many others, spent well over 100 hours with Fallout 3. I also live in Massachusetts, so the Boston setting is just one more reason I’m interested in the game. I will probably buy this one digitally, as I expect it to live on my console for the rest of the generation.

 

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Rise of the Tomb Raider (Xbox One, Xbox 360)–November 10

I came late to 2013’s Tomb Raider reboot, but when I did finally play it, I absolutely love it. Not only was Lara’s new origin story a great adventure, but mechanically, the game was fantastic. As a 40-year old gamer, I’ve been playing Tomb Raider games since 1996, when I played the first one on PlayStation. I’m really excited to see how Crystal Dynamics is building on the 2013 game, which completely revitalized the franchise.

 

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Star Wars: Battlefront (Xbox One, PC, PS4)–November 17

I did not get a chance to play the beta for Battlefront, but I don’t need to. I’m a big Battlefield fan (Hardline was great), and from everything I’ve seen, it looks like DICE got the aesthetic right. Not to mention, every single one of my friends that plays shooters will be getting this game. I expect this to be our go-to shooter for the next year. I’m just hoping the core game has enough content, as I’m not a big fan of season passes, which Battlefront is going to have.

As always, there are several more games coming out in November, and these are just my personal picks, so please sound off in the comments and let us know what games you’re excited to see this month!

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September 4, 2015 In Opinion

MGS V: Getting Ready for the Phantom Pain with Ground Zeroes

I picked up MGS V: The Phantom Pain this week, but I’m not ready to dive into it yet. See, I’ve had Ground Zeroes sitting on my PS4 hard drive for months now, and I’ve been meaning to find time to play it. I was going to skip over it entirely until I learned that you can upload your save from Ground Zeroes to Phantom Pain. Some of the POWs and NPCs you rescue/capture in Ground Zeroes can help you at Mother Base in Phantom Pain.READ MORE

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May 14, 2015 In Video

Check Out Our Dueling Dark Souls Let’s Plays!

This is a very exciting month for me. For those of you that follow the blog and our Co-Op Critics podcast, you know we spotlight one game a month for the show. This month’s game is Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin, and I could not be happier.

I am a HUGE Souls games fan. I’ve put over 400 hours into the first three games, and I’m currently making my way through Bloodborne (in a Let’s Play series you can check out here). I’m also an evangelist for the games, so when Nick agreed to take the Souls plunge and play Dark Souls II, I was ecstatic. I’d played through once on the PS3, but with the Scholar of the First Sin edition, there are some changes that make the game challenging even for returning players.
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May 7, 2015 In News

Win a FREE copy of Elder Scrolls Online for Xbox One or PS4

We’re giving away a copy of The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited to one lucky winner! All you have to do to enter is follow us on Twitter, tweet about the contest, and Subscribe to our YouTube channel (click the subscribe button in the sidebar). You can come back and tweet about the contest once a day to continue earning more entries! Follow the instructions in the contest widget below to enter.

The winner will be announced at the on June 2nd. To be considered, you must be currently subscribed to our YouTube channel and following us on Twitter. Winner will choose between a copy of Elder Scrolls Online for Xbox One or PS4.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

April 17, 2015 In Video

Bloodborne Diaries: Co-Oppin’ in Central Yharnam (Father Gascoigne)

While the multiplayer system in Bloodborne has its similarities to the previous Souls games, it has its differences as well. Instead of using soapstones to leave symbols on the ground for other to see, in Bloodborne summoning is done using bells. And while I received the Beckoning Bell (which let’s me summon other players) pretty much right away, I had to actually purchase the Small Resonant Bell with Insight, a currency similar to Humanity in the other games. And in order to even access the merchant where I could buy the Small Resonant Bell, I needed 10 Insight.READ MORE

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April 9, 2015 In News

LEGO DIMENSIONS is Going to Completely Redefine the “Toys to Life” Genre

Today Warner Brothers and LEGO and TT Games unveiled their next big thing–LEGO Dimensions, a “toys to life” game like Skylanders and Disney Infinity, where players will be able to play through all of the different licensed LEGO worlds using a portal, toys and figures they assemble themselves. Here’s the reveal trailer:

Now you might be thinking that since the addition of Nintendo’s Amiibo, the toys to life genre is a bit over-saturated right now. And that might be true, but LEGO is about to completely transform this genre, because they are adding an element that the other have not and cannot (at least to the same degree).

Building.

As you see in the trailer, Joel McHale actually builds the portal that is then used to activate figures and vehicles. He also uses pieces of the Batmobile to create an entirely new type of vehicle. And while we really don’t see much in the way of gameplay in this trailer, I believe those things are shown for a reason. With that in mind, imagine an expansion set for the game where you’re building the vehicles, weapons and structures yourself, and then porting them into the game. I’m sure there will be limitations as to what you can actually do, but even just building the Batmobile and porting it in is pretty darn sweet.

I have an eight year old son, and I can tell you he is going to lose his mind over this. We already have Skylanders and Disney Infinity, which we both play together. He is also a huge LEGO fan, as evidenced by the thousands of LEGOs we have and his LEGO Club membership. This game will be a day one purchase for us.

The potential of LEGO Dimensions is endless. And I’m sure everyone has their ideas of what sets they want to see in the future, so allow me to make a suggestion. If Microsoft is smart, they will find a way to make a LEGO Minecraft XBox exclusive set happen. Not only would it make the Xbox One the lead platform for LEGO Dimensions, it would sell gangbusters. I cannot wait to get my hands on this game.

April 7, 2015 In News

Bloodborne Diaries: New Ways to Learn from Death

Two weeks ago today, Bloodborne was released. And while the last couple weeks have been busy for me outside of gaming, I’ve managed to beat the first two bosses and die a whole heck of a lot. In short, I am having a blast.

And for the first time with the Souls series, I’m streaming and recording a good deal of my gameplay, which has been a really interesting experience as well. Like a baseball player watching videos of his at-bats, I’ve been able to go back and learn from some of my encounters, particularly with the bosses.

This has made Bloodborne a bit of a different experience for me, as I have previously relied quite a bit on guides and let’s play videos to navigate parts of the Souls games that I was struggling with. My previous strategy was to keep chipping away at a particular part of the game until I wasn’t progressing at all, and then seek out a guide or video to give me another perspective.

With Bloodborne so far, I’ve been revisiting my own gameplay videos to see where my strategy is breaking down, particularly with the bosses. Many times I’m just confirming where I thought I went wrong, but a few times I’ve seen things that I was able to go back and do differently the next time around.

Make no mistake, I’ll still be visiting my favorite wikis and let’s players during the course of my playthrough, and I have the hardcover Bloodborne guide on its way to me (if Amazon ever decides to ship it). But, being able to watch pieces of my own playthrough is a new tool that I’m really getting a lot out of. And since learning from death is a core theme with the Souls games, having another way to learn just adds to the fun.