I played StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty when it first launched but after that, and for the longest time, I couldn’t get my hands on the other campaigns, Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the void, the Zerg and Protoss campaigns respectively. But then a big digital sale came around near the end of last year!
But even so, the games languished in my backlog until just very recently when I decided to binge on them, to complete the campaigns and see the rest of the story, following Kerrigan and Zeratul. Continue reading StarCraft II – Finally Caught Up!
I’ve played World of Warcraft since the Wrath of the Lich King expansion and I’ve loved the series from before the MMO even existed. I quested and raided my way through all expansions up until Legion, though in both that expansion and its predecessor, Warlords of Draenor, my life took a few turns that meant I couldn’t play nearly as often as I wanted to nor do so with my American friends.
I missed out on some content, getting raid clears only on one-off appearances. But with Battle for Azeroth, World of Warcraft’s latest expansion, I’ve made it my goal to return to the old days, when I logged into Azeroth at least once a day and completed every task set before me. Yes, it’s a grind, but it’s a fun one, especially during the initial stages of the expansion. Continue reading World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth – The Road so Far
I love XCOM 2. I played it on release and gave it one hell of a score. Now Firaxis and 2K have released an expansion that’s making me love the game even more.
It’s not very common for me to return to a game for an expansion, especially not when the expansion releases so long after the main game. But XCOM 2: War of the Chosen has so much content in it and the concept of the chosen was so interesting that I couldn’t resist coming back for more. Continue reading XCOM 2 – Ranking the Chosen!
Last year I reviewed the quirky card-based dungeon crawler Guild of Dungeoneering, developed by Gambrinous, and followed that up with the review of their first expansion, Pirate’s Cove, which added more cards, more quests, a new class and a host of new and horrifyingly hilarious monsters and lyrics for that cruel bard.
Last month, Gambrinous released a brand new expansion for Guild of Dungeoneering called Ice Cream Headaches which has a massive heat wave strike the Guild’s homeland. The Guild Master, ever the wise and humble man, decides to pay a visit to the icy mountains of the Ice Cream Monks to ask what is going on, why they haven’t released their tasty treats. But on arriving he finds them under the heavy assault of Abominable Snow Men, Ice Cream Elementals and worst of all, Brainiacs, living, moving and very powerful disembodied brains. Continue reading Hands On – Guild of Dungeoneering: Ice Cream Headaches
Next week, World of Warcraft: Legion launches. I am extremely excited. I want to dive back into WoW, to explore new lands, complete quests, level up and explore the many storylines I’m sure I’ll find on the Broken Isles. I want my Artifact weapon and I’m keen on relearning how to play my Balance druid—because they change the mechanics every expansion, so ever Boomkin has to relearn the class every single freaking expansion!
As we launch date approaches, I find myself thinking back to the best and worst of times in WoW. Yesterday I wrote about my favourite RPG systems and today I’ll do another soppy post on good memories and good times with a game by telling about these wonderful Warcraft moments.
When the first rounds of DLC came into the gaming industry, people split into the hating, loving and uncaring camps, with some denouncing the clear money grubbing scheme and others defending this new way of extending the shelf life of a given title. For me, it’s never been that simple. I’ve always seen DLC from the point of view of its worth. Is it worth getting it, will it add something to the experience and most importantly, is the price right for it?
As we stand now in the industry and with the ever-growing market for episodic and cut up games, we’re never getting rid of DLC. In fact, if we consider digital sales platforms like Steam, GoG and GamersGate, then every game out there is DLC, Downloadable products. We’re sliding more and more into an era where retail physical copies become extinct and everything becomes Downloadable Content.
It’s all DLC when you think about it! (Image Credit: Gamespot)
But even if that is true, the development, marketing and release of DLC (and I’m referring to add-on content in this) could see better practices, something that works more in the consumer’s favour. As my friend Timlah always tells me, “you only see the side of the consumer,” and it’s true, I do. Because I am one and because I feel developers should respect their audience, their fans and some of the current trends in DLCs feel disrespectful.
George Carlin once said: “One of the things I like to do in my shows is complain, it’s kind of a motif for me, complaining…so this next piece of material, like most good ideas is fairly simple. It’s just a list of people who oughtta be killed!”
As you know from reading many of my opinion pieces, I also like to complain. I don’t like to accept things as is and I will strive to make even a tiny change in the world, even if it’s just in changing your mind or opening it to new ideas—and my own in the process. “Think Better, Think Bigger,” is my motif.
