Sunday 29 March 2015

10% Discount on US Playstation Store

Don't forget that there is a 10% discount code off Playstation Store purchases on the US Playstation Store!

Quite a number of God of War stuff on sale for this week, with the announcement of God of War 3 Remastered, so the 10% discount might have come at the right time.

Lasts till 30 Mar 2015 at 12 noon PDT only!
---

MKX Kombat Pack - Guest characters Yay or Nay?

You guys should already have seen the Kombat Pack reveal for Mortal Kombat X.

The Kombat Pack will be included in most Special & Collector's Editions. Wished more companies would actually include their Season Passes in their CEs.

If you haven't seen it, take a look!



Predator, Tanya & Tremor joins the previously announced Jason Voorhees.

Tremor makes his first appearance as a full-fledged playable character. One of the most-asked for character, Tanya joins him.

Don't have any idea about Tanya but I would have liked Tremor to have been included in the game to have some character buildup. Perhaps in the next MK game if he's well received by the fans?

Predator was highly anticipated to be one of the guest characters joining the MKX roster and here he is. 

Which leaves Spawn out of the picture, even though he was given the go-ahead by Todd McFarlane. Though a 2nd Kombat Pack might include him, if rumours are to be believed.

Guest characters in a Mortal Kombat game isn't something new but am I a fan?

I'm not necessarily a fan to be honest. Seeing characters making an appearance in a separate universe isn't something I like. Which is why I never bought the DC vs MK game. For me, it just is everything wrong about what I expect from a game. 

Call me crazy but I tend to get very involved in the lore and universe of the game. Which is especially true with the MK Universe. Obviously I know that it is Fiction.. but that's not what I want to hear.. Seeing Freddy or Predator turning up in a MK game, reminds me that this is just a game.. and I hate that. 

At least these guest characters don't turn up in the Story but in Ladder mode, when I'm fighting up the Ladder.. Suddenly I see Jason as my opponent... That just kicks the fun out of it! I wish there will be an option to turn off guest characters appearing on the Ladder or on any modes.

But... There's always a but.. I'm not 100% against the idea of guest characters in MKX. I mean where else am I going to have a chance of performing a fatality with Predator? Or using my favourite Scorpion & beating the crap out of my childhood nightmare, Freddy?

As much as I hate it to admit it, it's still a game and the inclusion of guest characters do add fun to the "Game". However, I would still like the option of excluding these guest characters when I'm in the mood.

What do you guys think? Yes or no for guest characters in MK X?
---


Thursday 26 March 2015

Liu Kang & Kung Lao to join Shinnok in MKX?

New trailer is out, featuring Liu Kang & Kung Lao who are allies with Shinnok.


Both Liu Kang & Kung Lao are in possessed forms, just like a couple of others we have seen before.


Quan Chi & Bo' Rai Cho also make an appearance in the trailer. Not sure if Bo Rai Cho will be a playable character or not, but I'm hoping he will be.

We see Liu Kang's Fatality at the end as well. Gory stuff!

But good to see more of the Netherrealm Invasion storyline!
---

PCS Collectibles' Sub-Zero 1/3 Scale Statue

After the success of the 1/3 Scorpion Statue, PCS has announced Sub-Zero as the 2nd character in the line.

Sub Zero will stand at 28 inches/71cm tall, this will cost a whooping USD$699.99.

Limited to just 350 pcs, this will go fast. In fact, it's a mad rush once Preorders open, and with the not-so-stable website, I'll consider myself lucky if I manage to snag one.

Just looking at this makes me drool on the prospect of owning one. The similar pose to Scorpion takes a bit away from its awesomeness.. but at the same time, make it a perfect companion piece to Scorpion or even alone.

Fingers crossed hoping I get one.
---

Wednesday 25 March 2015

PlayAsia's Annual Sale with 20% off!

PlayAsia.com is having a Annual Sale with 20% off their in-stock items.


Quite a number of decent deals available but nothing extraordinary that caught my eye.

Their Daily Deal however, gives you a decent discount over Final Fantasy Type-0 HD which got released a few days back I think? (Sorry, I really don't follow the FF Series)
At just USD$40.99, they seem to be selling pretty well though..


Final Fantasy Type-0 HD (Affiliate Link)

Check out the rest of their Weekly Specials!


---

Gaming Heads' God of War Kratos on Throne statue

With the announcement of God of War 3 being remastered for the PS4, there was no better timing for new statues to be announced!

Gaming Heads will be releasing 2 versions of a Kratos on Throne 1/4 scale statue.

Regular Version




At 1/4 scale, the bottom to the top of the throne will measure 29 inches tall! That's huge!
Regular version will be limited to 1,250 pcs and will cost USD$479.99

Exclusive Version






The exclusive is fabulous! Kratos in Ares Armour looks stunning! Looks so freaking badass!
At just USD$20 more, the exclusive will be sold only at USD$499.99 at Gaming Heads' website. This will be limited to 500 pcs only.

I'm having a dilemma on which to get. Apart from being the exclusive, the Ares Armour version definitely looks a lot more badass.
But the Regular is more game-accurate as the cutscene shows Kratos without the armour. If this is available locally, the price difference will also be huge factor. The exclusive will mean having to pay shipping plus taxes on top of the statue's cost while the regular might save me over a SGD$100, unlike US Citizens who might just need to top up an extra USD$20.

Sucks but I might be forced to go for the regular. Not that bad of a deal, considering how awesome it looks and if I'm getting the rest of the Kratos statues from Gaming Heads, it will make for a better display..

Plenty of God of War news around.. Still waiting for the most important of them all.. You know what it is..

Source: 
---

Buy from Entertainment Earth with FREE US Shipping!
God of War Kratos 1:4 Scale Statue

Monday 23 March 2015

God of War 3 Remastered... Batman Arkham Games Remastered?

Few days ago, it was announced that God of War 3 will be getting Remastered for the PS4..

God of War 3 was one of the most visually epic games on the PS3 so I can't imagine how much more stunning it's gonna look. Well.. check out the announcement trailer.



Great news for those 'new gamers' who haven't tried the God of War games!

But this is like the 3rd or 4th time where they have teased a God of War announcement only for it not to be God of War 4. Everytime I think, "This is it.. they are going to announce GoW4, only for me to be disappointed. 

Perhaps this Remaster is to build up the fan-base before they announce it at a certain convention in June? *cough* E *cough* 3 *cough*.. I can only hope so.

Then there was some confusion, an article popped up with a rumour of a GoW: Ascension Remaster happening. Only for it to be contradicted by Sony Santa Monica who claimed that there are no other God of War games being remastered. So which is it?!

Batman Arkham Knight gets pushed back a few weeks to June 23rd, which is after E3 2015. Marketing decision??

And then another rumour, from a 'trusted industry source' about the Arkham Games getting the Remastered treatment, which will apparently be released end of the year. If that's true, don't you think it's strange that the Remastered games release after Batman Arkham Knight, which is the 3rd game in the series.

Too many Remasters though! I accept that publishers want to open up past-gen games to a new generation to build the fan base, but all I see are Remasters everywhere. Where are the new games??!
---


Sucker Punch celebrates inFamous Second Son's 1st year Anniversary

inFamous Second Son turns 1 and Sucker Punch is thanking the fans with a Digital Goodie Bag & Ringtones to celebrate!

And for those who missed the First Light free PS Plus offer, the game will be on a 50% sale from March 27-30. (US only confirmed for now).

2 PS4 themes for Delsin & Fetch will be available on March 31st (US only confirmed for now).

Check out the source link below for the Digital Goodie Bag & Ringtones.

Source: Playstation Blog (US)
---

Sunday 22 March 2015

Evolve: St Patrick's Day Challenge Weekend

This weekend Evolve is having a challenge for St Patrick's Day.

"Between 9:00 PM PT on Thursday, March 19 and 9:00 PM PT on Sunday, March 22, if we as a community win 35,000 games in Evolve with Griffin in the Hunter lineup, everyone who plays between those days and times, will get the Trapper Predator Skin set shown above, absolutely free."

I always enjoy these challenge weekends for exclusive stuff so let's help our Trapper friends win some games and unlock these for everyone!

I suck at being the Trapper so I'll be helping them win games with the other classes rather than playing as Trapper himself.

Come join me, if you are playing!
---

Thursday 19 March 2015

Thoughts on Evolve after a month..

It's been a month since Evolve released, and I have been playing lots of it.

So what do I feel about the game, after all these weeks?


It's.. great! Everything that I felt that was good about this game, was really good.


The real fun with Hunters is when I play with friends. I haven't had the opportunity to play with a full team of Hunter friends but many times there were 3 in a team.


The communication I have when I play with people I know (or at least with people who do use the mic) is essential.


Without the communication however, all hell breaks loose. It's frustrating when a team member is fighting wildlife, when we are hot on the tracks of the Monster. And plenty of times, I really have no clue what the other guy is doing (or maybe he doesn't know what I'm doing), without the communication.


I feel that is what turned many gamers away from Evolve.


It isn't that bad actually.. The 'pinging' system is a great way to communicate for those who don't use the mic. Sometimes, all you need to do is just 'ping' the location of the Monster and the rest is mostly common sense.


Unfortunately, that isn't always enough. But.. it isn't a problem with Evolve only, to be honest. Like a lot of co-op games, the game just isn't the same without proper communication or friends.


However, if I'm playing as the Monster.. Then, I don't have these problems.


Here, it's all about me. The tension is a lot more but the wins are so much more satisfying!


This just doesn't get old. It's immensely satisfying to take the victory when it's 1v4, no matter how powerful you are.

I have already unlocked all the Hunters and the Monsters, but I'm mostly playing as Goliath when i get the Monster class.


I told you it doesn't get old.

As for the Hunters, I'm playing a mix of it right now. Hank as Support will always remain my favourite Hunter, but I have grown to enjoy all the other classes and the different Hunters. 

Progression-wise, I absolutely hate it. There are 3 tiers for each hunter to unlock, with 3 (or 4 for the monster) different skills that I need to spam to complete the progression.



To go on the to next tier, I will need to complete all of the skills progression for that tier first. 

For eg: Hank has 3 skills; Shield Projector, Orbital Barrage, Laser Cutter.. I have to complete the progession for all those 3 skills before unlocking the next tier.

So lets say, I have completed progression for the Shield Projector & Laser Cutter, I will still be stuck in Tier 1 until I have completed progression for Orbital Barrage.

It isn't that bad for the Hunters, especially with the Evolve Mobile App, but for the Monster, there's 4 skills and I tend to mostly put my skill points in 3 for most games. When I'm playing Goliath, I tend to use Leap Smash, Fire Breath & Charge and skip Rock Throw. 

But because of this, right now I'm stuck at Tier 2, trying to complete progression for Rock Throw which I absolutely hate. It just messes up my tried-and-tested build and at times when I feel I could have finished the game off.. I'm there throwing rocks which miss completely, because that's just not they way I play.. resulting in me screwing up and even losing!

There are ways to workaround this I suppose, like playing solo against AI but that's not what I want to play!

I guess I just have to be resigned to the fact that I really have to complete progression for all skills to attain 'Character Mastery' but that's just rubbish. I want to play as Goliath with a build that I'm confortable with, not be forced to use skills I don't like..

DLC..

Ah yes, the DLC that accompanied the release of Evolve. Extremely bad timing..

Yes it was bad timing.. Was it bad DLC? No.. it was just bad timing.

Releasing that much DLC on release date unannounced was a huge surprise for gamers who thought that pre-ordering whatever edition would net them all the content available for the game. But no.. Bang! On release day, more DLC drops and all that smugness disappears in a second. 

It's just skins I thought.. Not bad DLC but redundant DLC. It wasn't going to affect gameplay in any way. But.. its just the way a lot of us gamers think..

You want the 'full experience', the sense of completion of owning everything the game has to offer.. Which is why people preorder just for that extra piece of content.. But telling people on release day itself, that whatever you paid for is just half of what Evolve has to offer, just didn't sit well with gamers..

And ultimately, that led to a lot of bad press for Evolve. I felt that a lot of people who were sitting on the fence about the game saw this bad press and decided against getting the game. 

Which was annoying! Shit! This game's good.. Yea sure, some people may not have liked it but the disgust with the DLC saga made them blast the game, when otherwise they would have not been so critical. 

If they had just postponed the DLC to maybe a couple of weeks later, people would have seen the game for what it really is and not a money-grabbing milk cow. 

The publishers argued about the value of the content, which is up to you and me to decide if it was worth it. My argument isn't about the cost of the DLC or whether it should have been included for free, but rather the timing. Day 1 DLC just doesn't go well with gamers.

What I thought about the game modes... 

To be honest, I hardly play the other game modes apart from Hunt. Which was also a huge complaint from many. I'll have to agree, the other modes just didn't weigh up but if your main mode is fun enough, why do you need more? 

Games like Dota strive on 1 game mode and I feel that Evolve is the same. Everything about Evolve is in Hunt. I have played the game over & over again and I'm still not bored of it. 

While I think the DLC was a bad move, 2K should be applauded for their willingness to allow gamers access to the game long before it was released. Evolve was available to play in so many events all over the world. Alpha & Beta access were freely given. So many publishers these days seem to be afraid of letting people try their games.

And all these turned out in their favour, Evolve was winning awards across the board. The servers were put to the test and on launch day, it went smoothly. How many games have we seen having launch issues, servers not being able to support the stress etc etc.


It's a pity that one of my most anticipated games for the year had to shoot themselves in the foot, because of the DLC saga. 


I focused a bit more on the negatives in this post because I have been raving good stuff about this game in all my previous posts, so I didn't want to repeat myself. Reading back on those posts, everything good I have said about Evolve is still relevant so do check those out to see why I think this game's awesome..


Looking forward to Evolve

Thoughts from the Closed Beta
Thoughts from Big Alpha (Part 2)
Thoughts from Big Alpha (Part 1)
Preview Session in Singapore (Part 2)
Preview Session in Singapore (Part 1)

I'm thoroughly enjoying the game, and one of the reasons why it took so long to come up with this post was because I just wanted to keep playing the game. I urge everyone who skipped this game, because of what they have read, to reconsider. Check out the gameplay that I'll be putting up soon and hopefully you will give it 1 more try..

---

Wednesday 18 March 2015

MKX Story Mode footage & News from the London Event.

New Kombat Kast came out last week with a good 7 mins of story mode footage.

Skip to 14:38 for the Story Mode part.



Looks great! As much as MK9's story mode was awesome, I thought it was a little cheesy. From the looks of it, MKX's story mode is a lot better with improved acting, graphics and voice-acting. Combat in the cutscnes is a lot more brutal and the fight sequences pack a lot more punch.

Great to see Scorpion back in his MK9 outfit, though I feel it will only be for the first few chapters. At least my MK9 statues won't feel so outdated..



Sub Zero looks badass as well, but he has the possessed look that Sindel had in the Story Trailer.

For a full preview of the first chapter, check out The Kombat Tether's article. Spoilers of course.. If you read it, hit me up to tell me your thoughts.

We also got the reveal of the first guest character for Mortal Kombat X..



Jason from 'Friday the 13th'. I'm not really a fan of having guest characters in a MK game but this will please a lot of fans who enjoyed playing as Freddy Krueger in MK9.


Other news that came out from the exclusive London Event included Johnny Cage's Variations and some of the Mobile to Console unlocks that you can get from playing MKX Mobile:
Kombat Koins
Klassic Kitana Skin
Farmer Jax Skin
Injustice Scorpion Skin

Kombat Koins will be useful to help unlock some of the content faster. Klassic Kitana and Injustice Scorpion skins will be nice to have. (That's a lot of alternate Scorpion skins revealed already!!)


But.. Farmer Jax?? When was he ever a farmer? Those metallic hands would come in handy with the farming I suppose..

So, that pretty much confirms Jax as a playable character I guess..

Along with these few..







There hasn't been official confirmation that these characters will be playable but I could say these images pretty much guarantees their inclusion.

Good stuff eh? Just under a month to go before it begins!
---


Friday 13 March 2015

Mortal Kombat X Mobile Gameplay!

Gameplay footage of the Mortal Kombat X Mobile has surfaced!




Gameplay mechanics look almost exactly like the Injustice Mobile game; using the swipe to finish off a combo and other touchscreen uses to enhance the special abilities. 

Fights are also in 3-character teams.. That will be fun! Choosing your favourite 3 kombatants on your team. 

The graphics however, look a lot better than the Injustice game. I don't know if this is actual footage from the mobile version but that could have passed off as last-gen console graphics.

Looking forward to this, hoping for lots of unlocks!
---

Thursday 12 March 2015

GTA Online - Race to Level 100! (Day Game Over!!)

So much for my Race to Level 100..

Anyway.. it all worked out in the end..

One of the main reasons why I wanted to get to Level 100 before moving on to PS4 was so I could get all the online trophies on the PS3 version before I jump to PS4 and unlock them again.

What I wasn't expecting.. was the inclusion of trophies for Heists!

So now, I'm going to complete the trophies on PS3 before I jump over. Level 100? It will come.. It's the least of my concerns right now. Besides, I couldn't wait to try out the Heists. 

Some may say that they have waited this long for heists, a couple of days later won't hurt, but for me.. I'd say I have waited too f*cking long already. Not gonna wait any longer!!

So as soon as I hit home on Tuesday night, turned on the PS3 and started with the download...

Didn't manage to play much though as the servers were rather wonky. Way too many people back on GTA Online. So much for people saying that the Heists came out too late for people to be interested anymore. Come on man, this is GTA! The Gaming world literally stops when anything major GTA-related is released.

I was being bombed with random invites as soon I went online and each time I tried joining someone's heist session, it will say the session is full. Finally joined one.

I believe it was the Prison Break mission, and the 4 of us had to split into 2 teams. My team was to get onto a container ship and drive off with a car. It was only a setup mission but we didn't manage to complete it as someone always ended up dying.

Just like the regular GTA missions, we only have 1 (or 2?) lives shared among all 4 players. Missions automatically fails if we lose all our lives.

But I managed to complete my first Heist yesterday with a stranger - the Fleeca Job.

There were 2 setup missions but I only played one, where we had to steal a getaway car; a Kuruma, from some Korean mob. (This will lead the paper trail to them, instead of using our own car, which will lead the trail to us.. Yea makes sense I guess. Besides the car is armoured!)

As this the first and easiest of the heists, it was a simple task of heading to the top of a carpark and gunning down whoever was in the way. We got in, drove back down, and drove off with the steal back to Lester's warehouse, amidst gunfire from angry Korean mobsters. No biggie though, car's armoured, baby!

Delivered the Kuruma and got paid for it. Was returned to freeroam and waited for the invite from the Heist leader, for the final job....

... Invite never came.. Douchebag didn't rope me in for the actual heist and the big reward!

But that's what GTA Online's all about. Rockstar did warn us about the consequences of not finding a trustworthy team. Even if you helped someone out in the setup jobs, the call will be made by the leader on who makes the final cut.

And that is what you are in GTA Online. Just another criminal out there. Unless you have friends, no one can be trusted and everyone out there is competition.

So, I thought I should go set up my own Heist instead. While driving over, I got an invite from another random for the final job. Decided to join him. So, it works both ways.. you may not have helped with the setup missions but you can still reap the rewards at the heist itself!

Listened to Lester's info and we got into the Kuruma, that 'we' had stolen earlier. Drove down to the bank while my partner hacked into the bank's system. When we were ready, we got out of the cars and into the bank.

This is where, you and your partner have distinct roles. I, the driver, had to take out the 5 security cameras at the front while my partner gets into position. Once the cams were out, I had to control the crowd; the bank teller and 2 customers. I couldn't let the intimidation meter drop or they will sound the alarm.

So, while I'm out here in charge of crowd control, my partner is drilling into the vault. Once he broke in, the alarm went off automatically and it was time to get out of there. Got into our getaway Kuruma, joined shortly by my partner, and we sped off with the cops swarming.

Again, thankfully the car's armoured.. Rammed through the road blocks towards the bridge. How were we going to get away? That was the best part of the heist. A contact that Lester provided was waiting with a Cargobob. All I had to do was drive the car under the magnet and away we went with the loot!

What a relief! It had all that tension.. I had to keep the hostages controlled, drive carefully so we don't end up in some ditch.. Maybe it was because it was my first time but I kept telling myself not to screw up. 

But when it was finally over, the feeling was amazing! I felt like jumping from the couch and giving my partner a fist bump. The cutscene played, with us having a drink at a bar for the job well done and the money rolled in. Awesome stuff.. and this was just the first & easiest heist.

Bought myself another high-end apartment with the added riches..

Was tempted to get the armoured Kuruma to add to my fleet but I'll need a new garage to store the cars in either way. 

And I'll use this apartment for any heists I organise. Check out that planning room!

Rockstar also added a ton of updates in the Heists patch, do check the list out at IGN. Noticed a couple of Socialclub glitches also fixed. 

Great stuff so far and it has been an amazing content-filled patch. Can't wait to try out the rest of the Heists tonight!
---