This week we reviewed Sonic Mania, LawBreakers, and Observer. Next week you can expected reviews for Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, Madden NFL 18, and Agents of Mayhem.
Among our hottest features was No Man’s Sky‘s resurgence thanks to a major update, a hands-on preview of Project CARS 2, and a look at how the first-person mode in PUBG is becoming the golden standard.
Be sure to let us know what your first RTS was for this week’s Tell GR.
Below were 10 of our most popular community comments during the past week.
1. smartroad
Article: Update Propels No Man’s Sky to Positive Reviews and #1 Spot on Steam
Comment: I just bought it while it was 60% off and have to say it is not half bad. I find it a nice thing to play when I want to relax. For me it’s the perfect chill-out game.
Although I wouldn’t say the marketing campaign was extremely successful. It over hyped the game and that led to its initial downfall. A successful result would have been a campaign that kept interest but managed expectations.
2. MattAY
Forum Thread: What Are You Playing – The Official Thread
Comment: Crash Trilogy is all done now.
I’ve gone back to Furi and am going through it on Furier difficulty….pulling my hair out lads, pulling my hair out.
3. drathbone
Article: 10 Beautiful Screenshots of No Man’s Sky After the Atlas Rises Update
Comment: I didn’t play it when it first came out. But it’s loads of fun. I think I’ve got 20 hours in it and I’ve only had a it a week, that’s alot for me.
It added a bunch of things like missions, factions, rudimentary multiplayer, improved dogfighting, expanded/better storyline and lore etc. Whereas before you just fly around and scan stuff I guess?
At the $24 price point, that was about the sweetspot to get me to buy it. 100% worth it.
4. Nanotroll 2
Article: What Makes A Good Video Game Spinoff?
Comment: I really think that sequels and spinoffs are best done when new technology comes to market so you can get newer, better game engines – and newer, better gameplay.
FIRST: you make a SOLID original game or sequal to an original game.
THEN: You take that original/sequel and build your spin off based on its fundamentals.
Look at the Far Cry series for example… Far Cry 3 came on Xbox 360 and was undoubtedly a good, solid adventure game. Once the technology improved to Xbox One, we got Far Cry 4 which felt like a newer, improved version of Far Cry 3 in every conceivable way. Then, they spinoff Far Cry Primal.
Same goes for Mortal Kombat, Crysis and Gears of War (Splinter Cell hasn’t gotten their upgrade, nor has Half Life or Left 4 Dead)
Half Life for example had BLUE SHIFT and OPPOSING FORCE
Crysis had WARHEAD. The gameplay was more streamlined and improved in both examples – but by that time, technology had improved to allow for it.
I’d be happy if the design efforts for every generation of console were at their highest – this way we could see the absolute best the system has to offer.
Battlefield 3 on Xbox 360/PS3 and Battlefield 4 for XBO/PS4 is another good example.
5. sliverstorm
Article: The Evolution of LeBron James’ Model in NBA 2K and NBA Live Shows How Far Gaming Has Come
Comment: Pretty incredible that you can actually see him age as the models cycle through.
6. Wigglewithit
Article: 5 StarCraft Custom Maps That Kept Me Playing for Years
Comment: Didn’t play the Starcraft custom maps, but did play WC3! It was pretty awesome. Loved tower defense and survival. My most fun was all the LOTR inspired maps thanks to both being out at the same time.
7. Oblivion437
Article: Tell GR: What Was Your First RTS?
Comment: C&C Gold (which is unforgettable for so many reasons) and Red Alert. A year or so later came Age of Empires, Starcraft and Total Annihilation. I’d go so far as to say that those five games form the core of my thinking on the entire genre. I did play Warcraft II at some point around then but I really don’t remember it very well. There were a lot of other lesser titles like Dark Colony as well that have faded into antediluvian obscurity to all but diehard genre junkies and two titles that stand out in my view; Warzone 2100 and Homeworld.
I’ve never played another game like Warzone 2100. Other games have tech trees, Warzone 2100 has a tech forest. Google it. There are more upgrades for improving the effectiveness of a specific subtype of a weapon than there are units or techs in most other games. The game doesn’t even have units out of the box except for infantry – it has a set of modules that can be mixed and matched as desired. Choose a body type (from a list of 14) then propulsion (five different kinds with different strengths and weaknesses) and finally turret type (I’m not sure how many turrets there are, when you do the math there’s over 2,000 different possible combinations) and you’ve got your vehicle. You build your own roster to meet your needs, in accordance with your playstyle. It’s free, now, so just google Warzone 2100 and you’ll find it before long, and the community continues to maintain and update the game with skill and care.
Homeworld? Well, a lot’s been written and said about Homeworld. I’ll just say the first one is one of the games that convinced me games could be art.
8. R0ADK1LL
Article: What We Need to Know About Middle-earth: Shadow of War Microtransactions
Comment: Basically there are two options.
1. The microtransactions have been jammed in at the last minute, they basically hold no value & are just a way to scam some extra money from whales & vulnerable people.
2. They were there from the start, meaning the game is designed to have a lot of grinding. The microtransactions only hold value in that you can pay to skip playing the game because the game is intentionally slow & boring.
I could say that I hope it’s the first option but that’s still pretty bad.
9. Manuel Rodriguez
Article: Observer Review – A Mindbending Mixture of Cyberpunk and Horror
Comment: So happy to read the review. It seems a good game eh? I think I am gonna get it asap, I just saw it in the xbox store. Thanks for the review!
10. Sean
Article: 19 Years Later: The Most Iconic Unit Quotes Of StarCraft
Comment: The best unit line I think is from the Siege Tanks: “I’m about to drop the hammer and dispense some indiscriminate justice!”
