Showing posts with label GTA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GTA. Show all posts

1.09.2015

Grand Theft Auto V - One snowball too many

Plain and simple, don't fuck with the Police in Los Santos. Even if you're just trying to have some Christmas fun and have a smidgeon of a snowball fight. They fired something else back.



9.18.2013

GTA V Special edition unboxing




Grand Theft Auto V has been released, and it is all anyone is doing nowadays. I sprung for the middle tiered Special Edition copy of the game, coming in at a retail cost of $79.99. For the special edition, you get:

  • Metal game case
  • Blue Print Map
  • Digital upgrades
    • Special abilities for each character regenerates 25% faster
    • Bonus outfits, tattoos, deals from in game vendors
    • Free special weapons at Ammu-Nation
    • Stunt Plane Trials
It's nothing too special, but I don't mind springing for extra in game stuff like that and a pretty cool blue print map. One pretty cool thing I have found out through reddit, is that holding a black light to the blue print map will show secrets about the game. Since I don't have a black light, here is the link to the reddit post about the message GTA V SECRET BLUE PRINT MESSAGE. There's also a map included with every game with two sides. One being the full map in the game, the other side being a zoomed in more detailed look at downtown Los Santos. Below are some poor quality phone pictures I took with my phone. They're also kinda shitty because I was way too excited to start playing the game and could care less about the proper positioning and good lighting. Shame on me, I know. 

Anyway the game so far is awesome. It truly feels like an open world, with so much to do. I've done a couple missions, and driving around as Franklin is a ton of fun, especially with his special ability to slow down as he drives. Overall all it's kind of overwhelming so far. There really is so much to do, that it would be difficult to spell everything out at this point, especially considering I'm only about 3 hours in. I'm going to attempt to get a review out in relative time. Probably some time around when GTA Online starts up, that way I can incorporate it into the review. IF you haven't picked up the game, go do it now and enjoy. 

Rich


The box

All the Contents

 The Blue Print Map

Downtown Los Santos Side

 Full Map

8.29.2013

New GTA V TV trailer and It continues to impress



Another trailer has dropped, this time geared towards the television audience, as it's only clocked in at a minute long. But it is ripe with new shots, and heavy on the story. It appears like two of the main characters, Michael and Trevor, have been best friends for 10+ years, and that Trevor is one of the major reasons that Michael heads back into the heist game. Franklin also seems to have ties to the two, pretty heavily. I'm not sure if this story info was ever really divulged much, but it's clear they all have some sort of past, or at least know what each other is capable of. The balding blonde haired guy in the glasses also seems to be somewhat heavily involved in the story and heists, as he is pretty excited that Michael is back. The trailer is heavy on showing off the heists, Michael having a meeting with more than just the two usual cast, ripping what looks to be hard drives out of servers, removing glass panes for stealth entrances, and what is definitely a surprise is a Juggernaut style game play segment. Someone is running down the street in full bomb disposal gear with a mini gun, just plain wreaking havoc on everything in his way. Explosions, jets, high speed chases, gun fights, and Trevor smashing his head on a pallet are all in there too. If you're not excited for this game, check your pulse. Watch the trailer below. 

Grand Theft Auto V comes out on September 17th, 2013 on Playstation 3, and Xbox 360.

8.15.2013

GTA V Multiplayer reveal - Grand Theft Auto Online


Rockstar announced back when they had the game play reveal trailer that more information on the their redefining of multiplayer would come at a later date. Today is that day. What we saw originally in the final few seconds of the 5 minute trailer was a boat load of people causing shenanigans all over the maps. A player walked around an apartment to a floor to ceiling window and caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a traditional GTA race, helicopters floating around, other players just moseying about, and then finished with a fighter jet buzzing the apartment complex, finalized by the commentator saying "... And then there's Grand Theft Auto Online, which we will show you properly, soon..." Well about 21 million views on the Rockstar channel alone, and a month later, we finally have more information.

Everything you do is up to you. And the world seems more like it's own character rather than just another map to waste time on. Below is a list of details from the game, and the full video is below that. 

Mechanics - Movement, cover, moving into cover, shooting, and the weapon wheel and more will carry over from single player into multiplayer. 

Weapon Wheel - Apparently you still have the magical purse from Harry Potter that Hermoine carries around. In the weapon wheel you can carry a handgun, sub machine gun, assault rifle, sniper rifle, shotgun, a heavy weapon like a grenade/rocket launcher, and a thrown weapon. There are a bunch of different weapons that can be slotted in each spot. 

Crew - You can either choose to play alone, or form a crew of friends and allies.

Missions - In your crew, or alone, you can complete jobs, heists, robberies, as well as traditional GTA style game modes like Team Death Match, races, and more.

Races - The only solid detail they gave was that you can race in any of the vehicles; land, sea, air. Also I'm gonna assume that the GTA style races will be back where you can shoot each other and blow each other up.

Reputation/Money - Completing all of the above gets you and your crew money and reputation. What you do with this money is completely up to you. You can buy anything from weapons, character accessories which includes clothing, hair styles, tattoos, and accessories in general, cars, garages, and even real estate. Since it's a persistent world, I assume that once you purchase something like a car or weapon that it might be yours forever, so you can pick it back up at your base of operations or your garage. Everything you do in the game earns you some form of reputation or money.

Activities - These are scripted and unscripted things to partake in through the city that were shown or talked about. Some of which have already been discussed.

  • Cliff/base jumping
  • Tennis
  • Golf
  • Racing
  • Arm Wrestling
  • Missions
  • Heists
  • Apartment Hangouts

Support- Rockstar as proclaimed they will be supporting the game for a while to come by providing content updates, along with user created content. It's still GTA but not even technically part of GTA V. They are considering it its own entity. Online will not be available at launch, but rather two weeks later on October 1st and will be free and no extra charge on top of the game. 

Players - There are a maximum of 16 players, but whether or not you're locked into a server wasn't addressed. 

That's the one thing I'm curious about. If you buy property on one server, do you have it on all servers? Can you be on multiple servers with different characters? What if the server is full and you can't get a crew member in? There's definitely a few questions I have.

Overall, this game looks like it might blow away any competition it will have as a Game of the Year contender. They're packing so much content into this that it's hard to believe anyone will be able to say that it's too short, or that they can't find something in the world to do that isn't fun. I can't sing praises enough about how much I love Rockstar, and how they're one of the few companies that can take as much time as they need to put out a game because everyone knows what they turn out is quality. Only one month left until GTA V hits. I know I'll be counting down the days.

Grand Theft Auto V ships on September 17th, 2013, and Grand Theft Auto Online will be available two weeks later on October 1st, 2013.



7.09.2013

Grand Theft Auto V: Official Gameplay Video



Today marks a big day, as the premier gameplay trailer for Grand Theft Auto 5 has been released. And to put it lightly, holy shit. There's a lot to dissect from the trailer. 


  1. The massive map
  2. Ditching the traditional shoulder buttons to switch weapons for a weapon wheel
  3. Golfing, tennis, cycling
  4. Car customization
  5. Character Customization
  6. Weapon Customization
  7. Sky Diving
  8. Progressive Characters to switch to on the fly - meaning they'll be involved in their own daily activities whether you're playing as them or not
  9. Multiple air crafts
  10. Bounty Hunting
  11. Scuba diving
  12. Choose your path heists, as well as who you proceed with
  13. Tattoos
  14. Purchase of stock and real estate
  15. Grand Theft Auto Online - which appears to be a continuous progressive world, but no further information is provided




Stop reading this and watch the trailer. The Game releases September 17th.


6.10.2013

E3 Starts today - Microsoft & EA

E3 begins today, and I expect there to be a ton of new news and content as Microsoft will kick off their conference first, then a couple of dev studios, then Sony. I'm currently in a training meeting, so I'll try to keep the website updating especially through the Microsoft and Sony conferences with the big named stuff. Keep an eye out in the next couple hours for updates.

Rich 


UPDATED

Xbox One/360 (I will only be posting a few big name things as there is a lot to cover)

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain - Starting off here, Microsoft announced the Phantom Pain for the Xbox One, and showed off some interesting new gameplay. Also to note, if you previously didn't know, Keifer Sutherland will be voicing Snake.

Sunset Overdrive - In something that is sure to be surprising, the former Sony exclusive developer, Insomniac, is bringing a new IP to the Xbox One as an exclusive called Sunset Overdrive. It reminded me somewhat visually of the EPIC game that wasn't released, Fort Nite, mixed with some crazy action and gunplay.

Halo - Not much else is known, other than there will be a new Halo in 2014. I'd look to a holiday release for this. 343 Industries is still at the helm for this, and is promising a new Halo for a new generation. Hopefully its more Halo, than Call of Duty this time around.

Titanfall - The much awaited game from Respawn Entertainment (the guys who made Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2) is an Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC exclusive. There's mechs, soldiers, and a whole lot of explosions.

Ryse: Son of Rome - I was able to watch some of this at lunch, and it looks pretty decent. Roman era combat, mixed with some great graphics, and crisp combat. The only thing I was a little worried about was their was a lot of quick time event button pressing involved in the combat. That kind of stuff gets old awfully quick.

Minecraft - The Minecraft craze will continue exclusively on the Xbox One, featuring bigger maps and more multiplayer functionality. Not much else is known.

Dead Rising 3 - This is one I personally am greatly exciting for, I almost jumped out of my seat during training. It will follow a new protagonist named Nick who in vein appears to be doing the same thing that happened in the previous installments. Hopefully, they do abandon the time sensitive shoot yourself/someone up with Zombrex bit every so often, and go more open world.

Pricing/Release Date - Finally a price. The Xbox One will release on November 21, 2013, retailing at $499.99. Further information found is -


      
This report of what comes with the Xbox One’s $499.99 launch day bundle comes from Siliconera:
  • Xbox One system (500GB hard drive)
  • Blu-ray drive
  • In-unit wireless
  • Kinect peripheral 
  • Free 14-day Xbox Live Gold trial
  • Xbox One Wireless Controller
Players that reserve the Xbox One for purchase on launch day will receive a commemorative bundle with some digital incentives and special black packaging.
  • Exclusive “Day One” achievement for bragging rights
  • Ryse: Son of Rome: Special multiplayer map, weapon, and stat boosts
  • Forza Motorsport 5: Four cars tuned for high performance
  • Dead Rising 3: Exclusive Frank West and Chuck Greene Tribute Packs with enhanced attributes.


That's the important stuff I took away from the Xbox presser. Up next...

EA/EA Sports - (The majority of these are all multiplatform)

All the Sports - EA showed off all their sports franchises with a lot of detail. All were present including UFC and the much maligned NBA Live series that's been dead and dormant for some time now. The titles look crisp, and it appears they're trying to prevent the same backlash that they got from the launch lineup with the Xbox 360. These will launch on all next gen and current consoles.

Star Wars Battlefront - The rumors had been circulating that a new Battlefront was in the works, and the title has been confirmed. DICE will be taking control of the title, which is probably the greatest possible news. Not much was shown other than a small clip of a soldier on Hoth, and an AT-AT foot crashing down. No word on release dates.

Need for Speed Rivals - A new Need for Speed was announced, running on the Frostbite 3 engine from DICE, and being made by a new EA studio call Ghost Games. The game will similarly focus on pursuits between racers and law enforcement.

Mirror's Edge 2 - A new Mirror's Edge game was announced. The cult classic showed a trailer of the free running star moving through environments and battling foes. No word on release, as it was stated at the end "when it's ready"

Battlefield 4 DLC - In a somewhat odd twist, Battlefield 4 has DLC announced, before much of their multiplayer has even been shown or talked about. Named Second Assault, it is Xbox One exclusive and will be released at some point after launch. It is however only 4 remastered maps from Battlefield 3, which will probably end up being on other hardware at some point.

5.15.2013

My Top 10 games of this generation

It's been a somewhat slow months for gaming, and for this well. Work, personal life, sports, gym, and more have been consuming my life, but with my new position at work, it allows me a little more time to maintain. So, with not much going on, other than the announcement for the next Xbox coming up, I figured I would write my list for my favorite games from this generation, so far. I know there are still some big name titles around the corner, but I toyed with this idea since the Playstation 4 was announced.

It was a difficult task. Too many quality titles were released, and to be honest, I probably will have forgotten and left out a few. Let's give it a go, in descending order from 10 to 1.

10. Batman: Arkham City - A game that proved licensed property doesn't always have to suck. And not only that, but was a wonderful game overall. Improving on everything Arkham Asylum did, it gave us the feeling of being Batman in a large scale world. A ton of gadgets, and unlockable moves, progressing through the story multiple times was a blast. Playing this is the closest thing to be the Bat as you're going to get, other than wearing the costume and getting beaten up on the streets by people wanting to test your skills...




9. Dark Souls - I was prepared for death. I told myself I wouldn't stop till I beat this damn game. I stopped. I traded it to a friend, and said screw it. 2 weeks later, I was pondering what I could have done differently? Why I was dying so easily? Maybe I should have tried a different build? I ended up having the itch to try Dark Souls again, and never looked back. Racking up a couple hundred hours of game play and play throughs, I fell in love with everything about this one. And with Dark Souls II on the horizon, I'm looking forward to the frustration all over again.

8. Halo 3 - It was a long time ago, but Halo 3 was a huge part of this console generation. People seem to overlook it, especially with Reach taking a lot of the praise away from the game that gave it the hype it was semi worthy of. Halo 3 brought me into online gaming more than I ever was before, and I loved everything about the balanced game play and shooting mechanics, and awesome story that kept me coming back to play Legendary with friends. This one deserves a spot on the top ten.

7. Borderlands - Borderlands brought a lot to the table. I must have played through it 4 or 5 times, I actually lost count. A couple on Xbox, and a couple on my PC, I couldn't get enough. There was something strangely addictive about finding gun chests scattered throughout Pandora and mixing different gun combinations to fit your character class. Borderlands combined everything people loved about first person shooters, role playing games, and a comically smart story line to keep me not caring about any other game I had, even months after release.

6. Metal Gear Solid IV: Guns of the Patriots - Oh boy, this one. The fitting conclusion to Solid Snake's journey. A ridiculous story line that had more twists than any right minded person could count, fun stealth and camouflage game play, addicting gun customization, and a proper sending off for Old Snake, this game is as close to perfect as it will ever get. 




5. Uncharted 2 - As a game that felt more an experience rather than just another title, the overall grandiose cinematic adventure that was Uncharted 2 was something of legend. Fun characters and fun game play. Fun run and gun action, and a fun story. Guess what? The game was fun. Plain and simple fun. I was never frustrated, it flowed perfectly. Even on Crushing difficulty, it was a blast to play through. Add in some decent multiplayer death matches on top of the stellar everything else, this game was damn good that everyone better have played from front to back.




4. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Here is where things get interesting. Modern Warfare is the game that started the first person shooter craze. Yes, Halo 3 was made before it, and it was the game that got the FPS genre going, but Call of Duty 4 took it to the next level. This was the type of shooter that everyone was clamoring for after the World War 2 setting had become stagnant. Finally a game set in modern times, with M4A1's, M1014's, M240's, Clay-mores and C4. A compelling story with major tones of national unrest and the threat of world war by terrorism. Pepper in some beyond addicting multiplayer with a progression system that everyone and their mother's developers have copied since. This game was and will go down as the shooter to spawn the rest, and it did one hell of a job in the process.

3. GTA IV - Building on the success of GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas, GTA IV took a little turn to the more serious side of story telling. It was Rockstar's first GTA on the new hardware and they succeeded in every way, shape, and form. Ditching the cartoonish visuals of the Playstation 2, and Xbox era, they went with a real look, and real story, all while keeping their patented satirical humor, insane action, massive open world, and detailed character development. Grand Theft Auto has been a juggernaut since GTA 3 was released, and they haven't looked back. GTA IV is arguable one of the greatest games ever made, let alone this console generation. You could pretty much do anything you wanted in Liberty City, and it was a great way to kill your Sunday afternoon, or entire weekend for that matter. I could ramble on for a few paragraphs about every crazy thing you can do in game but I need to continue on. Just know this game needs to be played at some point in your life, or you just need to stop playing video games if you haven't at least tried it.

2. Fallout 3 - I must have spent close to 400 hours in the Wasteland, and I just started up a new play through on my Xbox 360. When I first learned about Fallout 3, I didn't know much about the series, nor did I even know much about Bethesda. For some odd reason, I was in college and I remember being at Gamestop, and something clicked in my head that I wanted to pre-order the game. It must have been a Gameinformer preview or something along those lines that made me excited about the title. So, I ended up at the midnight release with about two dozen other people. I brought it back to my apartment, and had an immediate attraction to everything the game had to offer. The way the story was presented, the feelings I had developed to characters and locations throughout it's massive map, my affinity for the secret weapons and the need to find and try them all, stellar DLC, and more side quests than I could remember. Fallout 3 has crept its way into one of my personal favorite games of all times, and it absolutely deserves it.




1. Red Dead Redemption - Rockstar has stolen the show. With two titles in the top 3, it's clear, to me, they have made the most out of this console generation only to have another powerhouse in GTA V coming down the pipe quickly for holiday 2013. Red Dead Redemption gave us something new and refreshing. A lot of people were a little unsure as to how the Wild West would lend itself to an open world environment, but coming away years later, it turned out to be, in my opinion, the greatest game of this console generation. The sheer amount of quality in the massive amount of quantity is above and beyond the competition. Do you want to hunt wild animals? Have fun stalking prey in the snowy mountains, and ranking up your hunter challenges. Want to cause a ruckus at the bank and fend off the local police from a rooftop? Good luck in the firefight with the U.S. Marshals. Want to ride the train through Mexico for a few hours picking off anything you see with your Winchester Repeater? It'll be a treat watching bandits, slide off their horses dead. Meeting strangers and other cowboys in the field, stumbling upon treasure, intense gun fights, awesome multiplayer, considerably the greatest DLC ever created, and a story to make a grown man shed a tear, Red Dead Redemption far and away takes the cake with a Winchester in one arm, and a lasso in the other. Bravo John Marston, bravo.




I really struggled with this, especially the last 5. Now, these aren't the greatest games ever made, nor am I saying that these are better than your picks. These are just the games that I think I personally enjoyed this console generation. The gap from 1-10 is minuscule. I didn't think it would be this difficult until i got to around number three. And I know there's major titles that are superb games that I left out; Bioshock, Bioshock: Infinite, Left 4 Dead 1 & 2, the Mario Games, the Zelda games, Dead Rising, Dead Space, Mass Effect, Rock Band, Gears of War, God of War 3, Minecraft, Killzone 2, Journey, Braid, Battlefield 3, Assassins Creed, etc. These are all games I spent time with and had fun with, a lot of time playing multiple play throughs and countless hours. 

Overall, I like my list. I tend to stick to the open world games, shooters, and RPG's. I ended up flipping a few choices back and forth a few times while writing it, but I'm comfortable with how it turned out. A few choices I was debating on putting in the list, and not the eighth through tenth, but pretty much throughout other than one to three. I guess to me, story, and character development have a lot to do with what I consider to be the greatest. Add in customization, some post release support, and fun multiplayer and it just helps out the cause. Hope you enjoyed the list, so what are your favorites from this generation?