Elder Scrolls MMO confirmed

I noticed a trailer when I got onto facebook this morning.  I saw the trailer posted and thought "well it was only a matter of time I suppose".  After watching it, I am very unsure about this venture.  I know they will try their best, but I am not entirely confident it will work out people have their hopes to.  The villain appears to be Molag Bal.  For anyone that doesn't know, he is a daedric prince of enslaving mortals, corrupting souls, and feeding on them. That sort of thing.  The way the trailer plays it off, the three factions will have to band together to stop the threat at the same time ambitions will be rekindled.  My theory there is that ambition will be in the form of factions trying to conquer lands.  Which will mean tons of pvp.  My biggest fear is the whole banding together common enemy spiel has been hashed way to many times.  I would not like this to be a throw back to the WoW mentality in those regards.  Though this is Bethesda, so I have some faith in their desire to keep this franchise strong.  More info will be released at E3.

The insert a video isn't working for me but still look up the trailer see what it's about.  A reminder we have no details about combat or anything yet, so please hold your judgments till after E3 or so. 

Guild Wars 2 Beta

So first off I wanted to say is WOW!!!. The beta for guild wars 2 this weekend was amazing.  There were a few glitches in the in the system but they were fixed in a reasonable amount of time. Now I am going to break down what I saw.

Character Creation: Creating characters in the game is a great improvement over the first.  The kind of customization that the creator has choice from is greater than most mmos that I have seen.  There are many hair styles, faces, and what not which you get to choose from.  One of the best parts is that all races can be any of the classes.  There are no restrictions what so ever in those terms.  For each race there are set of questions that the game asks you.  That resembles like most modern rpgs, but this to a lesser extent.  When you are asked a question, how you answer affects how your character turns out throughout the game.  There are three categories that define your character.  Dignity, Charm, and Ferocity.  Throughout the game when you talk to some npcs. There will be prompts that would add points into either of the three.  I am not exactly sure what they do later on.  My speculation is that it would turn out similar to dark and light side points in TOR.  It acts as a tool to define your character from other ones.

Combat: Combat is loads of fun.  I don't know how long I had this much combat wise in a mmo.  There are ten slots in which you get to customize your skill bar with.  Every class has their set of skills. Each weapon has their own set of skills.  When you reach level 7 you get the option to be able to switch between two weapon sets during combat.  As you use the weapon you unlock more skills.  There are no casting bars. By that I mean you can't tell what another player of mob is casting.  This requires the player to be paying to attention to the animations and predict what skill is being used.  The skills when out of range don't red out and yell at you two far away.  So you have to be watching your distance between enemies to ensure you are hitting them.  There is no mana just cool downs.  There is an endurance bar which allows you to evade.  This makes combat much more interesting than most mmos.  Which usually means standing still, not standing in pixels, npcs are moving around making combat much more mobile.  

Graphics and the Environment:  The graphics in my opinion were very well done.  I have a top of the line computer so I was able to throw everything on max settings.  With that being said the world is very beautiful.  While walking around Divnitiy's Reach and Lion's Arch I was pretty amazed how well the buildings looked as well as the other players and npcs that were roaming around

Story:  Now just like mmo there is a deep story going on.  As soon as the racial intro begins after character creation.  With all the answers from your questions take into account.  The intro animation goes over what is going on the world in relation to your race and character.  There are so far from what I saw character quests or maybe racial quests.  I haven't yet figured out if there is any difference in those quests, between the classes or the questions you answered  I don't know if those have any bearing.  At the very least each race has its own thing going and some where they converge on the main issue at hand.  From what I did experience the story was very interesting.    

PvP:  Pvp like the first game is very well done.  At anytime after the intro quest you can enter PvP part of the game.  When you do enter you are automatically set to 80 regardless given generic gear that every has, making the playing field level for all.  You first enter a lobby that goes over the basics of PvP in the game.  Afterwards there are numerous portals in which you can select from. There is World vs World and smaller objective based maps such has conquest.  World vs. World is the competition between three severs at all times.  There are three home maps one for each server and one current map that you right on.  There are many keeps, supply bases, outposts, and a giant  castle in the middle.  To get into any of bases that have walls you must first destroy the door first.  The door as large amounts of armor so it could take 10-20 mins to get through.  The fastest way to get in is with the use of siege weapons.  To get siege weapons you need supply.  To get supply you need supply bases.  Every 10 minutes there is a caravan that is sent from all the supply bases you control to your keeps.  Make sure you protect them because anyone from another team can ambush it if you are not careful.  There will be tournaments to partake in.  Which I believe will be similar to Temple of Ages style.  You enter in a team of members and go as far as you can till you loose or if you are lucking win it all.  I'm there will be guild vs guild action as well. 

Dungeons:  From what I heard and saw, dungeons the player goes into will never be the same thing twice.  The first time will be for story purposes.  Anytime after that new bosses will show up, you can make it harder.  This sounds very intriguing sadly I didn't get the chance to do one.

Guilds:  Guilds are going to have customization off the bat.  When you have members log in and spend time online the guild gains influence points.  With these influence points the guild can unlock many perks.  Such as experience boosts, unlocking merchants with what I believe are guild halls.  There are tons of things to spend influence points on.  Rewarding active guilds and having a great time with your mates is going to be a good time to be had.  

Overall I think this game so far is very well done and I can't wait to play again the next beta weekend.      

Guild Wars 2 Beta weekend 27-29

The next beta weekend will be taking place the last weekend in April.  This even is public so no NDA.  I will be taking a bunch of screenshots and making a follow up post to this.  I will try to cover all aspects of the game. Pvp, Pve, and everything else.  Hope to see you then.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13.... OH! I Play This Game!

I am afraid this one is going to be a little short. There isn't really much to say about PGA Tour 13, but I will go over it all anyways. The game was developed by a division of EA studios called EA sports. PGA Tour 13 requires a lot of dedication and skill for a sports game. Which is probably why I don't like it. It is not a game that you can pick up and play. After playing for three hours I only managed to finish one hole without going over par. The controls are overly sensitive and the gameplay is a little "too" realistic. But I'll get into that later on. Before I start I want to establish the fact that I have absolutely nothing against golf games. I have enjoyed playing some of the older games. This one in particular, I found more frustrating than enjoyable.

Visual - 7

Overall the graphics of the game are very good. The movement is realistic, the character design is fantastic, but there are some flaws. During some sequences, for example, tracking the ball while wind is blowing through the trees, the frame rate drops down slightly. Also, the textures on trees, and grass phase in and out from time to time. Even when your golfer looks nice, when the terrain around him looks gaudy, its pretty unappealing.

Audio - 8

The soundtrack for the game is very relaxing. It has a mixture of calm, background music, that is actually hard to notice if you don't pay attention. Yet another relaxing feature is the calming, natural sounds like the wind in the trees, birds chirping, or bubbling brooks. The announcers however, are not so relaxing. They have a very limited set of lines that they say and you'll find yourself listening to the same comments about your own shot as your opponent's. It isn't so bad at first, but after a while it becomes quite annoying.

Story - 6

Now you'd think that a sports game wouldn't have a story, but this is not the case with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13. In PGA Tour 13, there are two different "story" modes: a career mode, and the Tiger Legacy Challenge. In career mode you can create your own golfer and make your name for yourself as a professional golfer. The character customization in this mode is spectacular, but even so, the mode itself is nothing special. In the Tiger Legacy Challenge, you are basically playing a tutorial combined with Tiger Woods biography. It gradually explains new concepts in the game, while you play as Tiger Woods growing up into the pro golfer he is today. Most of the people I've talked to who wondered if the mode would also teach you how to cheat on your wife. Bad joke I know, but in essence it is a simple tutorial, also nothing special.

Gameplay - 5

You are probably why I gave such a low score to it here. Well, it is because of the newest addition to the game. It has great potential, but learning how to use it is more painful then its worth. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 introduces a "total swing control" system. You use various methods to plan out the shot then take the swing. To plan out the shot you can select the area you're want to aim for, position your feet, adjust to the wind factor, and change the angle you hit the ball. Then when it comes to the swing you pull back on the joystick and then push foward when you have the power you want. In theory it sounds great. But the controls are so sensitive and the realism causes the wind to change frequently. It takes hours of practice to master this system well enough to be able to actually play the game without struggle. In total, the new system is more like torture then entertainment.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 had great potential to be another enjoyable golf game, but instead it made me too frustrated to really enjoy it. I imagine that the game is very enjoyable to those who want a realistic feel to their golf game, or to those who actually play golf on a regular basis and know how to plan out a shot better then the average person. In the end I'd personally give the game about a 5, its an ok game, not something I'd pick up and play on a regular basis. The overall quality of the game gets it a 6 though.

Hope you enjoyed this review of PGA Tour 13. Do you enjoy playing golf games? Do you like them to be realisic, or easier to just have fun with? What would you like to see in Tiger Woods PGA tour 14? Once again, leave your answers, questions, and comments in the comment box below! Don't forget to subscribe for weekly updates!

NEXT TIME ON OH! I Play this game!: Xenoblade Chronicles. Is it just another JRPG, or does it bring a whole new classic to Nintendo's Wii?

April is a new month.

April is a start of a new month. What new wonders will be coming into the world of gaming in this month. The next call of duty won't have any perks in it at all.  That's correct no more juggernaut, last stand, etc.  Rejoice out dream come true.  Also heard that the guns will have different stats. New sights and the  infamous missing recoil that we haven't seen for years.  More players will be allowed per map possibly up 64. Long have we awaited for more players like battlefield maybe we can hold out for vehicles.

For it's maps they are going to be making bigger more intricate maps for the first time in a long time. Activsion originally wanted to do this with the last title but didn't have the time to meet this with their almost yearly model. "Oh my god bout time" said my friends when I just told them this right before I started to write this post. It is a long while these fans have been waiting in the dark.Waiting in the dark for ages to get their game back.  What a  stupendous day this is.

Dust 514

For those that don't know what Dust 514 is it is a new mmofps coming from the creators of Eve Online.  Now some may say that this game is just another mmo that is going to hit a market full a mmos that fade within months. You are then missing the bigger picture.  This game could be potentially groundbreaking on multiple levels.  One this game will be coming out for the PS3 and the vita.  Now they have brought mmos to the PlayStation before such as DC Universe and the Final Fantasy mmos before, but nothing like Dust.  What Dust has over all others previously stated is the scope of the game.  Dust is going to be able to work with the Eve Online on the PC.  Both games will be on one server.  This one server will able to hold all players at one time from both games.  In Dust the player will be in control of Dust marines which will be fighting over control over planets.  Players will be able to create corporations just like in Eve.  Corporations will be fighter over planetary control all times for themselves to make money or the will be being paid as mercenaries through Eve corporations.  Now when the game hits release planets will hold 64 player action with the intent of being able to hold 128 or more.  During the battle Dust marines will be able to purchase guns and vehicles to use to take over control points. The planets these battle will taking place will only be the earth like planets.  The Developers stated that the will try their best to generate as much unique terrain as they can.  The best part is that this game will be free to play.  I think the reasoning behind is that Dust will be great awareness to Eve Online to bring new customers that want to see the other side of the game.  This is definitely a game to keep tabs on.

Street Fighter X Tekken... Oh! I Play This Game!

Street Fighter and Tekken are two of the most well known fighting games in the world. First released as an arcade game in 1987, Capcom's Street Fighter featured 12 characters in total and 6 who would proceed into the following games. Of those characters the two friendly rivals, Ken and Ryu, have captured the spotlight of the series. As the popularity of arcade fighting games increased Namco joined the party with Tekken, released in 1994. Tekken had 5 more characters than Street Fighter's original title upon release. Though the Tekken franchise was less popular than Street Fighter, it still kept a large fan base through out the years.

Street Fighter X Tekken, also known as Street Fighter Cross Tekken, sets the most popular characters of both games against each other. It was released on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and will be released for the PC on May 11th, and on the PlayStation Vita in fall 2012. Having followed both games off and on over the years this crossover caught my attention. At first I thought that the different styles of each series would lower the quality of the game, but I found the two to mesh quite well. New innovations in online fighting have also been added, but how does the cross over stand up to it's parent games?

Visual- 9

Street Fighter X Tekken has very stylized graphics. All the character and stage designs follow the cell shaded style of Street Fighter 4. Namco is currently working on their own version of the game called, Tekken X Street Fighter, which will change the style to look more like Tekken. The game takes advantage of the current generation's graphics with strong high definition visuals. With smooth transitions from intro cinematic to gameplay, as well as smooth graphics through gameplay, SFxT stands out among fighting games.

As you can see from this cinematic trailer, there is a lot of stylized graphics using water. This is due to part of the story, which I will address later. This style is overused however throughout the game and is somewhat unappealing. Although the graphics are good they still don't take advantage of the full potential of the game due to the style of the game. The stylized graphics are both a plus and a minus to the visuals.

Audio- 8

Though there's nothing really special in the sound department of the game, Street Fighter has some excellent voice actors. Both the English and Japanese dubs of the game have big name voice actors like, Kyle Hebert, Fumiko Orikasa, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, and Unsho Ishizuka. The music and sound effects however are nothing to write home about. They simply follow the generic fighting game sound effects and bring back classic background music from both series. Overall the music and sound effects aren't bad, just nothing special. The voice acting is really where the talent lies, even though there isn't all that much actual speech through out the game.

Story-7

Street Fighter X Tekken's story revolves around a mysterious cube that falls to Earth in a meteor. Researchers flock to the unknown object to study it and determine its purpose. Soon conflict arises over the cube. When the fights break out the cube reacts, releasing a liquid that makes the nearby combatants stronger. Because of this, it is named "Pandora". Soon more conflict arises, due to the cube's nature. Who will end up in control of this wondrous power?

Most fighting games are lacking in the story department, Street Fighter X Tekken is no different. Though the story has potential, it isn't well executed. As mentioned earlier, the water special effect is caused by the "Pandora Mode", which is similar to "X-Factor" in Marvel vs Capcom.

Gameplay-8.5

Combos, Super Combos, Ultra Combos, Hyper Combos, almost every fighting game has them, as does Street Fighter X Tekken. But this crossover brings some new elements to the table, as well as some familiar ones from a different title. One of the key features is tag team gameplay. Similar to other games like Marvel vs Capcom and Tekken Tag, Street Fighter X Tekken allows you to switch between two fighters in a fight. This also allows for special "cross" combinations, which involve both members of your team. Also, your character in reserve will gradually recover a set amount of health over time. However, if one of your fighters gets knocked out, you will lose the fight.

Another new feature is the Gem system. It allows you to customize your fighter to fit your playing style. You can have up to five gems equipped at one time. Gems have special conditions for use, and are activated instantly in combat when those conditions are met. Yet another new feature is the ability to play cooperatively as a team. One person can control one member of the tag team, and the other character can be controlled by another player. Still, only one character can be used at a time. The Exception is when you use a "Cross Assault". This expends 3 special bars and allows both characters to be used simultaneously.

The final addition to Street Fighter X Tekken is "Pandora Mode". To utilize it you sacrifice your partner and gain a number of bonuses: multiplied damage, decreased damage taken, and an unlimited special bar. The downside is, you lose a partner, and your health decreases over time. So, if you're in the middle of a super combo and your health reaches zero because of Pandora mode, you will lose the fight, even if the super combo would have finished your opponent. Pandora mode seems to be just a gimmick. Though interesting, it doesn't really seem worth using. If I were to use it, it would be as a last ditch effort to finish my opponent, but overall it doesn't add much to the gameplay. Here's a video explaining the new gameplay features in a bit more depth.

In the end Street Fighter X Tekken is a good game, and a new and interesting fighter. It does a good job at combining the two classic arcade series into one game. I love seeing some of my favorite characters like Heihachi and Yoshimitsu or Ken and Ryu face off against each other. Also the new features like multiplayer tag teams is definitely a welcome innovation to online fighting games. I look forward to seeing Namco's side of things later. Overall I give the game a personal score of 8.5, and a quality score of 8. I like the game, but I probably give it more credit than it is due.

Are you looking forward to Tekken X Street Fighter? What do you think of Pandora Mode? Do you think that fighting games need to try and make more newer innovations, or do you think that classic style fighters are better? Once again, leave your answers, questions, and comments below! And don't forget to subscribe for notices when new articles are posted!

NEXT TIME ON: OH! I Play This Game! - Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13, Will it be a hole in one, or leave you twenty over?

Author's note:

I will be writing reviews weekly now on weekends. Check back weekly or subscribe for new reviews! Also, from time to time I will post special "episodes" of Oh! I Play This Game! reviewing older games, board games, card games, or any other kind of game I can think of! Hope you find my reviews helpful and enjoyable!