Month: May 2023

Freedom isn’t free.

The new Zelda game is just running rampant across the internet, gaming news, reviews, whatever…it’s all over the place and a LOT of people are playing and enjoying it. I’m highly tempted to join them, except, and this is weird, I’m kind of intimidated by it.

Open world games are a wonderful concept. Giving the player the freedom to do whatever they want in the game. Even more so in Zelda with the construction/build aspect. Except that large open world games kind of make me a bit nervous. When it’s vastly open as with Zelda or maybe Elden Ring, I get a bit overwhelmed by my options and tend to turn off the game. Maybe it’s the thought of starting the journey that gets me, I’m not sure, but with no sign pointing me to a direction I tend to feel lost.

In fact, thinking about it now, I’m almost sure it’s the start that gets me. That small bump in the road of where to go and what to do, the lack of restraints keeping me from doing whatever I want without following the main story line, it’s all a bit jarring at the outset – for me.

But Zelda, like Elden Ring, is really REALLY big. And I haven’t played either of these games, I just know the incredible size of their maps and I know how I play open world, well…ANY game, for that matter. I cover every possible inch I am able. Which can also be a point of concern when starting out one of these things knowing how I approach them. The last Zelda game I played (at least up to the final boss) was Wind Waker. And I know the time that took me and how much I explored.

But I loved it. And I’m sure, once I eventually get started and settled into it, I’ll be just as in love with this Zelda game as that one. I’m looking forward to it, even if it’s with a little hesitation knowing what I’m getting myself into.

Speaking of looking forward to things I love…Ubisoft, it has been 3,548 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

A PC in every port(able).

A year ago if you told me that a year from then we’d have competing PC handhelds, I don’t think I would have believed you. When the Steam Deck launched I didn’t see or hear of any competitors around the corner for Valve. It was just them.

A year (and some months) later and we’ve got our second one about to hit the store shelves. And I think there’s about 2 or 3 more just on the horizon to be released. And better yet, they all have something to offer that’s different from each other. They aren’t carbon copies of any one system and they all do what they do in different ways. And better still, none of them, for the most part, seem to really be skimping on how they deliver a really good gaming experience on their device. At least from the reviews and previews of what’s available.

And really, all this means is that over the coming years you’re going to hear of improvements and updates to the existing hardware and better releases of the next version of every one of these that stick around long enough (and are successful enough) to make. This is great news for any of us interested in these PC gaming handhelds.

More so, if you never jumped into the PC gaming space because of what it took to build or just outright buy your own machine, a lot of these are a great secondary choice of doing just that. Although I’d argue that some of the pricing on these devices could warrant a better desktop PC than a handheld (even a laptop in some cases), but that’s totally up to you on that.

It’s already great that I have a Steam Deck where I can play a portable (but old) Splinter Cell. Still, Ubisoft, I’d really like a new one to play on-the-go. It has been 3,541 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Redfall. More like Redfail…

That’s a bad joke. There’s really no reason for dogpiling on the game at this point. The whole thing is bad and you don’t have to look for very long to see that in the reviews.

But I am ALL KINDS of curious as to how it got here. From a studio that has had its share of successes and back to back to back at that – what went wrong?

How did it get through testing? How did it get through any sort of Microsoft quality assurance or whatever they may have. How do you have a game from this studio slip through the cracks like this? It doesn’t feel rushed. This doesn’t seem like a game that was running on hype or anticipation, so I can’t figure they wanted to get it released as soon as possible.

Quality control is my big question here. Especially given the video reviews I’ve seen of how badly it controls, and how sparse the areas are of enemies at times. Look, it’s not the biggest failure of a game. I’m quite sure there’s some real champs that outshine this particular game, but it’s usually from a first-time studio. Not a company that’s put out bangers time and time again.

I don’t know if we’ll ever know the real reason, but I do hope they are able to fix this or do something to get this game to the polished shine they’d like it to be. I’d love another success story like Hello Games with No Man’s Sky. I hope we get that.

But I really, REALLY, want to know how we got here to begin with.

This is normally where I connect what was written above to something about Splinter Cell, but I’m not able to find that bridge at the moment. So yeah, blah blah blah… Ubisoft, it has been 3,534 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS