My Experiences In 2014
https://basementmtl.blogspot.com/2015/01/my-experiences-in-2014.html
Looking back at this past year in gaming, lots of things
have changed. For the first number of months I was actually steaming fairly
regularly until I just couldn't find the time. Then we started up the blog and
that has been going pretty strong. A lot of games were released in 2014 and I
purchased a great many of them on the PS4. Some were great; some, not so great.
But here is what stood out for me:
The Good:
I'm able to clump this into my list of 2014 games because
the release on the current gen consoles did happen this year. That and I never
played it the first time around. Easily one of the better experiences I had
this year, almost everything about Tomb Raider just shined. It was just a well
crafted game. The designers were perfect with the pacing. Every 30-60 minutes
something exciting happened and it was never too repetitive to the point of
being boring. The only sour note I had with the game was the multiplayer. Such
a half-assed affair, I almost wished they just never put it in.
When I first heard about the reboot of Wolfenstein I was
actually a little peeved. It was an arcade shooter that had no multiplayer (and
I know what you're thinking, I just said Tomb Raider should have removed the
multiplayer entirely, but I just feel a multiplayer mode fits better with an
arcade experience, which is exactly what Tomb Raider was not going for) and for
that reason, I almost shied away from Wolfenstein entirely. Boy would that have
been a mistake! Aside from the second chapter (which in my opinion was pure
filler) the entire game had meaning, a greater purpose if you will, towards the
story, which as a designer you want. It keeps the player engaged and that's how
I felt throughout the entire game. If you like shooters, you owe it to yourself
to try this game. It doesn't need the multiplayer, the story stands on its own,
no problem.
The So-So:
A lot of people hated the Thief reboot, I was not one of
them. Sure the game could have been better. Some of the design choices *cough* breaking up the map *cough* were questionable and made
things difficult, but the reason I liked Thief was because of the atmosphere. I
really believe Eidos Montreal nailed the atmosphere so well; it truly reminded
me of the older games. The only thing I was disappointed about was how shallow
the world felt. They had such an amazing trailer a month
before release that made the entire world seem massive, with lore to search out
and places to see that were outside the beaten path. Unfortunately, all that
was just my imagination and all I can do is say kudos to the video team,
because damn, did they make one kick ass trailer. Mild disappointment aside, I
enjoyed my time with Thief so much I went on to platinum the game, just goes to
show how much I liked it.
The Time Consuming:
Destiny wasn't a bad game in any regards, but it did hinder
itself in a few ways. Falling into the MMO trope of having a barely noticeable
story no one cares about because they're too busy grinding for stuff with their
friends is one thing. But like any other MMO, no one really cares—I know I sure
didn't. The main problem was things to do. There just isn't that many. On the
bright side, the multiplayer was crazy fun and if I still had a group of
friends that played it, I would be too. Still didn't stop me from plopping over
50 hours into the game (which is nowhere near how many hours other members of
the Podcast have put in).
I know, I know, I still haven't written much about this
massive game yet. I'm currently sitting at 36 hours on my current playthrough, with
not much end in sight. There is just so much to do, it feels exactly like an
MMO, just with no one spamming the region chat with group requests for the
local dungeon. I'll get to it soon.
Final Thoughts
My new year's resolution for 2015 is to read more books. I
plan to (at a minimum) read 1 book every month, which I think is very
reasonable. Thinking of it now though, I think I'm going to include trying to
beat at least 1 game every month as well. Of course, I'm sure to be playing a
lot more than 12 games throughout 2015, but let's at least see if I can beat
12.
