What games you playing and why? - (Jan-March 2014)

[Nimrod]

I thought it would be interested if every 3 months I made a thread and we can all share what we're currently playing (on any platform). That way it will be fresh and provide suggestions and ideas for others who are looking for a new game to play.

So here goes.... List 1-3 games your currently playing (Between January and March 2014) and really enjoying and why.

Titanfall Beta (Xbox One, PC)
This one really shocked me. If any of you have played with me on Xbox Live recently your know I've grown fed up of console FPS's. Call of Duty Ghosts didn't do it for me, the campaign was boring and multiplayer on that game is toxic. Everyone is usually hardcore (playing for hours a day) which makes it impossible for me or any casual gamer to even do anything without dying. Team Games or Objective games are also pointless as everyone is obsessed with K/D ratio over actual team work. The game has become very casual unfriendly. The sort of FPS that I really liked where classic Unreal Tournament 2004 or UT3 styled games where everything is balanced and everyone has a chance. Where's COD spends its time with unlockable loadouts and killstreak rewards which only rewards the people already doing better and making less skilled die.

Then came along Titanfall. It was a free beta, so I thought why not give it a go. It started off ok then eventually turned out amazing. They managed to remove the toxic parts of COD and bring out a FPS which is way more casual friendly. I ended up putting in over 20 hours of gametime in the 5 days the beta was out and really enjoyed it all in all. Everything seems balanced, the Titans werent overpowering and the fact every gamemode in the beta was team based meant people actually focused more on team related tasks than focusing on K/D ratio. Also killstreaks didnt exist and the load outs in the beta were limited so it kept it all balanced.

The question I do wonder is when the final game comes out in two weeks if it will be the same as the Beta in terms of fun online, or if it will slowly become toxic as more COD players move over. The lucky thing is I'll be playing it on Xbox One and the 16 year old kids who do nothing but play video games will be priced out of the Xbox One which is an advantage. Of course, there be more unlockable loadouts which might give more hardcore players a chance but I'm willing to give it a go. I went from ignoring the game to putting it on my must have list.

Rayman Legends (Xbox One, Playstation 4, Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC)
What's there to say about Rayman Legends... hmm. Well first of all, it's one of the best platformers that's come out on a non-Nintendo platform in years.
It's fantastic value, at $40 you get 5 new worlds with 8-10 levels each, as well as all the Rayman Origins level's thrown in as free as unlockables (taking it up to ten worlds with over 100+ levels if you include challenges and boss battles to! - Each level is uber unique to which is really good).
As I never owned Rayman Origins, nor Rayman Legends on Xbox 360, it made a great purchase on Xbox One. The best Single Player experience I've had in a long while and it's one of those games you can pick up and play 30 mins whenever your bored. Once you completed the levels once, you can go back and try to save more of your friends or get a high score to unlock Gold cups which further unlock more levels for you so it has a lot of replay value.
If you have $40 spare (or even less in retail with some of the deals out there) and looking for a simple, fun and content packed platformer, it's a good choice.

Defiance (Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC)
This game is like Borderlands, but massively multiplayer. I bought this game about 6-8 months ago but after finding out it was region locked server wise (ie Europeans stuck with europeans and American's stuck with American's) I ignored it for a long time as my gaming partner for this was digiex member Kingburnzx. Later down the line they released a patch to let you pick what server you wanted to go on and off we played. This game consumed about 4 weekend's (so 8 days of non-stop gaming) and was a blast to complete every mission and side mission. If you liked Borderlands, this is a good game to pick up on the cheap now and has no monthly subscription fee. The only disappointing side of it is the DLC addon's were poor, and free content has also been poor meaning the game is very stale. Once you got 100% completion there isn't anything left to do in the game. But with it retailing for as little as $20/£15 or picking up a second hand copy even cheaper, it's one of those games I suggest completing before the server's get taken down in a year or so and you miss your chance.


So what games have you played and enjoyed and why?

 

[Dark Scyth]

Betafail'd 4 (Battlefield 4 Xbox 360)

I've been doing nothing on this game except playing the multiplayer, which is still kind of buggy but is in a much better state than it was at launch. There's nothing like going 15+ and 0 in a match and then having people call you a cheater because of it. It's a game that when you're playing alone, it could be really dull and kinda annoying to play but when you even have just one teammate that you can do callouts to, it can become a pretty amazing experience, especially when you're taking down two squads in SDM that are aggro on you and no one else.

Rust (PC)

Nekkid dudes. Rust is still one of those games that isn't extremely entertaining in large sitting (keep in mind, it's still early Alpha) but can be quite enjoyable in short bursts. You can either take the time to try and build a fortress so massive no one will try to breach you or become one of the bandits that do nothing except try to breach buildings and loot people.

Defiance (Xbox 360)

It's a decent MMO with no sub fee. Weapons have random stats which is nice but even legendary weapons seem disappointing as they're just like normal drops but with little bonuses.

Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition (PC)

Most people see this game as a relentless death trap no matter where you go but i've never had much issues with it. A few deaths here and there but nothing too major. This is an amazing game, i've beat the game on 360 and now i'm playing it on PC. This game has one of the most unique selections of armors and weapons of any video game that i've played. The combat is very fluid and your actions have a reaction. Unlike most RPGs where you can get hit by a weapon (looking at you Skyrim) your character doesn't care that a massive sword hit them in the face so they keep swinging away. In Dark Souls getting hit by anything can and most likely will stun lock you for a brief amount of time. It really gives that sense of knowing when to take the attack, when to defend and when to just get out of there.

(I plan to update this list after Titanfall and Dark Souls 2 comes out.)

 

[InsaneNutter]

Pokemon Y (Nintendo 3DS):

I have gone through phases of playing the Pokemon games over the years dating back to the originals on the GameBoy when i was really young.

Pokemon Y is a lot of fun as not everything is restricted until you finish the game, you can trade with anyone over the internet almost from the start of the game. I really like the Wonder trades, this is basically a random blind trade. You put a Pokemon up for trade and you randomly trade a Pokemon with a random person. Ive found this is a great way of obtaining rare Pokemon you can then breed and build up your perfect team right at the start of the game.

Flappy Bird (iOS and Android): (Android Flappy Bird Download)

A stupidly simple game, which is extremely hard. I must admit i hated this at first, however its so simple i kinda got addicted to beating my score.
It's the perfect game to play for 10 mins on the way to work, as it has online leader boards you can compete against your friends for score.

That's about it really, I haven't played much since GTA 5 was released.

 

[MonsterMMORPG]

playing dota 2
almost everyday

with my real life friends
it is like getting socializing