The Daily Goat Show

Video Game Culture, Reviews and Media

Category Archives: Game Reviews


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The time is right to buy a Vita.

From the moment I first learned of the Vita back in 2011 I wanted one. So why did I wait nearly four years to buy one? I’d like to think because I also waited four years to buy a PSP and felt the need to be consistent. But in truth I never really could justify the price until the Borderlands 2 bundle came out. Even then I was hesitant to spend the cash.

I felt I wouldn’t play it as often as I thought I would and didn’t want to waste $200 on a whim even though my PSP still gets a lot of attention. Also I was unsure about the library of games available for the system especially since big triple-A support has seemed to fall off.

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Uncharted: Golden Abyss

I wanted an excuse to buy a Vita and Uncharted was nearly reason enough I thought. So I waited a bit and with all the bugs of Remote Play squashed I figured those two things together was enough reason and I bought one. Little did I know that Uncharted was worth the price of admission alone. I’m a huge Uncharted fan, it’s probably my favorite game series of all time if not tied with Resident Evil. Uncharted: Golden Abyss tries very hard to continue the magic of the PS3 trilogy and in many ways succeeds.

I bought the Borderlands bundle since it came with a memory card already. It was the cheapest way to get what I needed. I already have Borderlands 2 on PC, 360 and PS3 so I figure what’s one more system. Luckily I had Uncharted free, I downloaded it onto my PS3 months ago when it was a PS Plus free game because I knew one day I’d get a Vita. I will end up getting a physical copy soon since that’s how I roll.

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Batman Arkham Knight First Day Impressions

The long wait is over. A game I pre-ordered a year ago has finally made it’s way into my PS4. I have put a solid few hours into it and it has definitely made an impression on me both good and bad. Here are my thoughts.

This game just screams Triple-A title. It oozes with polish in a way few titles do. There is no doubt a lot of work went into the game and the little details seem to all be taken care of. The opening scene sets the tone for a dark game and the first cinematic continues that theme. It feels like the opening to a new Batman movie. It’s done incredibly well.

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Elder Scrolls Online for PS4. The First Week.

I didn’t even know this was coming out a week ago. It wasn’t until a co-worker asked me if I was getting it that I looked into it. Being a fan of Skyrim and seeing that the quests were actually very single player friendly for a MMO, I went out on my lunch break and bought it. I had just finished Witcher 2 and was eager to start Witcher 3 but decided not to wear myself out on that franchise and pop in the new elder scrolls.

Cue the 15GB mandatory update. I got home at 7:30pm and was finally playing it by 10. And by playing I mean staring at the log in screen. But not to worry I was assured I was first in line with one second left. So obviously I was going to get right in there…ten minutes later. Longest. Second. Ever.

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The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings

Well the Witcher 3 just came out and I really want to play it seeing as I’ve heard great things about this franchise. However, story is important to me so I wanted to start at the beginning. I bought the Witcher and Witcher 2 on Steam and excitedly fired up the Witcher. I then nearly immediately shut it off. I did not like the gameplay at all. Point and click adventuring works great in Diablo, but not so much in the Witcher, at least to me. I even set the camera to over the shoulder but still could not get passed the click-to-kill mechanic which makes sense as I hate the mouse in FPS games as well.

So I fired up the Witcher 2 and was happily thrown in to a 3rd person action RPG. I played a few minutes before having to go take care of something else. The game seemed like it was going to be complicated in terms of character and item management but if the gameplay is good then I can look past that easily.

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The Order: 1886

A little late, especially as I finished the game a while ago, but I feel the game is worth talking about still. The game received a lot of press talk about how plain or boring it is. Personally I do not get it. I think the game is just plain fun.

The first thing to know is that this game is short. And while it has received criticism because of it I don’t think it matters, in fact I kind of prefer that. It’s a great weekend or long afternoon experience that is worth playing again I feel. The strength of the game is in its presentation. Video games are a form of entertainment and part of that entertainment factor comes in the story and how it’s told. The Order nails that part of the equation. A lot of games get a bit convoluted and overly deep with the story that by the end of it I’m lost and left wondering why exactly the main character was on this adventure anyway.

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Mortal Kombat X

Fighting games used to be a staple in my gaming collection. They were the most, if not only, played genre for me in middle school. Mortal Kombat 1 and 2, Street Fighter 2 and Killer Instinct were all I needed for years.

But lately I have not played them as much. Street Fighter IV and Injustice got me back into them for a bit. But just fighting proved not to be enough for a while. Luckily MK9, Injustice and Mortal Kombat X have story modes that are more than just an afterthought, more an actual game mode. Mortal Kombat 9s story mode was decent but kind of pissed all over my childhood with how it “retold” the story of the old games, but Injustice’s story mode was fantastic. I’ve played it multiple times, it’s that good.

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Resident Evil Remastered (Re-Remake?)

It’s back! The game that will seemingly never die has been released yet again. Just like last time I’m thrilled. I know what I’m getting and since this is just an upscaled version of the Gamecube version I have no fears of it being re-imagined (ruined).

The game starts up and looks just like the Gamecube version with the low-res zombie waking up on a gurney perfectly intact. My nostalgia senses were going crazy at that point. The game feels just like the older one with one major difference that I refuse to accept.

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Far Cry 4

I am not a Far Cry fan. That doesn’t mean I dislike the series, it just means that I haven’t played the series. Far Cry 4 is my real introduction to the series. I do have the original and second in my Steam library with a total of 20 minutes spent between the two but other than that I went into this one completely ignorant of any storyline.

My initial impression of Far Cry 4 was good, I liked the way it started and it set the stage for me to want to know what is going on. But my exploration was short-lived since as soon as you gain control, you are thrust back into a cut scene and the story is laid out in front of you. The game actually lays out the story better than most other games at first. It’s a shame that after the first few story missions you are left thinking, “Why the hell am I doing any of this?”. The game also doesn’t do a great job of telling you that you HAVE to do some side missions to keep the story moving. I ran out of story missions and wandered around for over an hour before figuring that out.

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Venetica – Throw Back Thursday

Today we are throwing it back to 2009 and looking at Venetica. A 3rd Person Hack-n-slash RPG by Deck13 Interactive, one of the studios also behind Lords of the Fallen. Haven’t heard of it? That’s no surprise. The game received average reviews at best overall and based on the price cuts shortly after release I can’t imagine it sold well; having a female only protagonist also didn’t help which I find to be absurd but that’s the way things go unfortunately. Even the PC version now has no kind of key code or activation, that’s basically the developer going “Yup, it’s a game.” and just throwing it out there.

I, however, feel it’s one of the few hidden gems out there that hasn’t received much coverage. And that’s a shame. This is a great title that can be bought for very little cash nowadays. So first off, basic story is basic as they say. You play Scarlett who is the only one in a small village without any family aside from a half-brother. The village is attacked by assassins that are looking for her. She survives the attack and then it’s up to her to hunt them down for killing her lover. As it turns out the only way to exact revenge is by using a special sword called a Moonblade. Scarlett, of course, is the only one that can locate and use the blade making her the hero by default.

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Call of Duty Ghosts

I’m on the delayed plan when it comes to Call of Duty. I don’t play the multiplayer so paying full price for a five hour campaign does not seem worth it to me but after a few price cuts, and a sale, the price finally fell in line…usually once the new one comes out. So I can’t wait to play Advanced Warfare next year!

For a series that’s known more for its multiplayer, I always have a good time with the campaign. It’s a shame that many people never even play it. Every single Call of Duty campaign I’ve played has been entertaining in some way. They later games seem to cram in a lot of different game styles, like a sample platter of the things you can do in multiplayer, into the campaign in a way that usually works seamlessly. It’s nice to break things up.

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Bound by Flame

I wasn’t quite sure what to make of Bound by Flame once I started it up. I am playing the PC version and after some issues getting everything working it’s running quite well. However I have to disconnect my mouse in order to use my gamepad. It’s a known issue with the game. Research showed it was an issue with Logitech wireless mice and the game. So I bought a Microsoft wireless mouse, same issue. That’s an annoying issue that many have experienced, how it has not been fixed is beyond me. But aside from that, it’s been a smooth experience.

Once in the game the first thing I noticed was the visuals. I was expecting more I think for a game that was also released on the PS4 and XBone. Granted it was also released on PS3 and 360 so the visuals probably came under some kind of compromise. They do the job but look like they’d be at home on last gen consoles…near the beginning of release. I only mention this because of how jarring it was considering when the game came out. However the art style is fine. People have compared it to Borderlands, I guess I can see that but it’s a bit of a stretch.

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Ryse: Son of Rome

Ryse was recently released for PC and I got my hands on a copy, or rather my PC got it’s hard drive on a download…or whatever. Either way we got it, and I’ve been playing a lot of it. It’s still the only game that I wanted from the Xbox One lineup and almost bought an XBone just to get it. Luckily I found it was released on PC and Steam had it on sale for $19. Score! I’ll still pick up an XBone when Halo 5 releases I’m sure.

It runs very well to my surprise. PC ports are usually not optimized the best but this runs well on my system which has a AMD Phenom II x4 945 running at 3.3Ghz, 8GB of DDR3 and the GTX 750ti SC video card that was featured in the install video about a month back. Not a major powerhouse compared to what’s out there, but more than enough to keep up with the latest games at very playable resolutions and frame rates. I did notice some frame rate issues at first but a few helpful guides on the internet had that sorted quickly.
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Middle Earth Shadow of Mordor

EDIT: Ok, changing this to Reluctantly Recommended. While I stand by everything I wrote I can’t stop playing the game. It has the “Destiny” effect. It’s not a great game but you keep playing it. I will say that the main missions are fun, but the side stuff (Warchiefs included) that you have to do to unlock missions still feels like work and the cheapness of the encounters are still very prevalent. So be warned.

I really want to like this game. It’s pretty, it’s a big title, it’s got swords, I paid $30 for it…but I don’t. I’m sure people that are heavily invested into the lore of Middle Earth may really like it, but I can’t find any fun in this title. The combat is repetitive, VERY repetitive. I realize all games are but the sheer number of enemies this game throws at you making you mash the same two buttons over and over to win a battle after you’ve already grown bored of it is just stupid.

That’s my main issue with this game. There is something here that is good. Like Batman meets Assassin Creed. It has the makings of a great title. But it ruins the experience with the combat. It’s the same combat system used in the recent Batman games but Batman knew how to make it fun. You were never overwhelmed with enemies around every corner, but in Shadow of Mordor it seems every fight is a test of patience. Add to that, every one of your enemies seems to have a lot more health than you do which just adds time to an already uninspired battle.

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South Park: The Stick of Truth

I recently purchased this on a Steam sale and let it sit in my library for a bit. I decided to jump in. Hours later and I had to force myself to put it down and type this. I could not be more impressed by what the guys and gals over at Obsidian Entertainment did with the license. It really does feel like you are playing an episode of the show.

It picks up right where the Black Friday Trilogy ended. You don’t need to have watch the shows to understand the game but they are very entertaining so I’d recommended it regardless. In fact if you are a fan of the show you will be treated to almost non-stop fan service. There is such a history surrounding this show that it has a virtually bottomless bag of references to pull from. Continue reading →