Grand Theft Auto 5 ‘Greatest Hits’ (literally) Collection

We’ve done a lot of videos on Grand Theft Auto Online, so we thought we’d condense some of our funniest moments into Part 1 of our ‘Greatest Hits’ collection.  And we mean that literally, this is a montage of our best crashes, accidents, deaths, fails and humour, we hope you enjoy it.

Grand Theft Auto 5 Online – Pacific Standard (Convoy) Heist

For our first Playstation 4 video in a while we take on the Pacific Standard Heist on Grand Theft Auto 5 Online, starting with the Convoy setup mission. Along the way it’s business as usual, with plenty of explosions, crashes, deaths and of course being run over by our teammates multiple times.

Early Access Games – How Long Is Too Long?

‘Early Access’ is the idea of releasing an incomplete game to the public in alpha or beta form and allowing them to effectively test the game and feed back any issues, bugs or ideas to the developers.  When the idea works it’s a great way for developer and consumer to communicate, and can be a great way for gamers to shape the direction an early access game is going in.  A good example of an early access title done correctly is Prison Architect, a game that has been in development for some time but the team constantly release monthly updates and continually listen to feedback the fans have given them.  As a result the game has gathered a lot of momentum and made a fair amount of money for Introvision Software as each update provides either new gameplay features or important ‘bug bashes’ but along the way incorporates fan feedback both positive and negative.  Eventually a full game will be available that’ll be a unique collaboration between fans and developers, and for me personally it’s been quite the thrill ride along the way, I’ve been watching the game grow since Alpha 8 and we’re now approaching Alpha 36.

Prison Architect is how early access should be done

On the other hand early access can go horribly wrong. Towns is one of the most high profile examples of this, it was one of the first ten games released under the Steam Greenlight banner and also the first to be released as an early access title.  Despite a lot of hype and more than 200,000 copies sold – a reasonable amount for an indie game – the man behind Towns suddenly abandoned the game citing lack of money made as the main reason.  He then almost immediately moved on to other projects and even had the audacity to openly talk about ideas for Towns 2, and as a result those who bought the first Towns game have vowed to boycott anything the guy is involved in for the foreseeable future.

The point is games like Towns and numerous others have dented the reputation of the early access model, to the point where only about 25% of games actually make it to a final release, or at least what the developers consider to be that.  Gamers are understandably a lot more cautious when it comes to parting with their money, but at least with Steam updating their policy or early access games it’s now easier to discover how early access games are progressing simply by looking at the information page about the game.  If there has been no news from the delopers for a while avoid it, whereas if there are continual updates available it might be worth investing your time and money into it.  Another example of this is with Ark: Survival Evolved (a game that Alan and I actually play quite regularly), updates are released almost every other day so it’s easy to see e developers are still serious about releasing a finished title.  Of course there is still the risk that it could be abandoned like so many others, but with the amount of support that game has they’d be foolish to do that, and of course further dent the early access model for future games.

Dying Light Part 3 – The Hunt For Antizin

In Part 3 of our Dying Light playthrough we go out looking for airdrops containing the zombie virus suppressant known as Antizin for the good people holed up in The Tower, seeing as rival faction leader Rais stashes it all for him and his people to sell it for ridiculous sums of money.  We also learn that our hero Crane isn’t the nice guy everyone thinks he is, we get our first taste of how intense night time can be, and that we really suck at navigating the city.

The opening track to this one is from a movie called Casshern, the track is called “Prayer.”

To get up to speed with what we’ve done so far, check out Parts One and Two where we play the prologue.  For everything else check out our YouTube page.

Grand Theft Auto 5 Heist Adventures

Recently we replayed the Series A heist on Grand Theft Auto 5, including stealing a large tanker in a setup mission. Along the way are crashes, explosions, and moments that’ll leave you wondering how the hell we made it through the whole thing…

Why Do Game Developers No Longer Give Any Info On Their Newest Games?

I used the love the thrill of reading through a magazine as a child to find out all the latest news on an upcoming game.  How it was being developed, what features were being included, when it was being released.  I’d hang on every word about how it would revolutionize a console or become the start of a next big franchise, and then a few months later read an in-depth review in the weeks leading up to the big day, with a final score rating of 9/10.  I’d ingested enough information by that point to know that I had to have this particular game, so I took my pocket money and slapped a pre-order on that bad boy and come release day I was never disappointed.  Super Mario 64, Civilization II, Gran Turismo, all favourites of my childhood for one reason – I’d done my homework on all of them, because I had my trusty gaming magazines to conduct my research.

I miss that thrill.  It doesn’t exist anymore and not because commercial Internet all but wiped out gaming magazines as a few still exist, but because the information simply isn’t there anymore.  Gone are the days of extensive previews, new pieces of news filtering out of the developers office every week in the buildup to a release, now everything is all hush-hush to the point where at times I know very little about a game until I actually play it.

Dying Light Part 2 – Prologue End

Continuing on from Part 1 of our Dying Light playthrough where we started the Prologue, in Part 2 we step out into the city, find another small settlement and run a few errands for them in preparation for a nighttime scavenge – when the really nasty zombies come out.

The intro song is “Light And Solitude” by the Japanese band Envy, from their album Recitation.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of The Duelist Review

Available on: PlayStation 4, Xbox One

Release Date: July 30th 2015 (Xbox One), July 31st (PS4)

Genre: Card & Board Game

Legacy of The Duelist is the latest in a long line of games based on the Yu-Gi-Oh card game phenomenon, a strategic game in which players battle with decks of cards.  It’s based off a manga, or comic if you will, which spawned a long running anime TV series and a real life card game which is by far the most popular in the world of its kind.  It all might sound like a game based on a specialist interest or even a niche title, so how does Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist appeal to both fans and non-fans alike?

I’ll start by saying I’m in that ‘non-fan’ camp, I’m not into the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise overall as I’ve never read the manga nor watched the anime.  Even as far as the video games are concerned I’ve only played Forbidden Memories from back in the original PlayStation days and Duelists of The Roses on PlayStation 2 – the latter of which I really didn’t get along with.  So after 14 years I decided to try the latest game mostly because the story mode consists of four ‘arcs’ and follows key moments of the manga and anime series – the original Yu-Gi-Oh, then GX, 5D’s and finally ZEXAL, which all meant absolutely nothing to me before I bought the game.  What appealed to me most is that the original card game can be played – the one I enjoyed – and then for people like me who don’t have a clue what’s going on it gradually introduces the rules to each new game mode and gives a short narrative on key parts of the story as well.

Legacy of The Duelist costs £16 in the UK and I believe $20 in the US, and for those on the fence a demo is available that covers the opening tutorial of the absolute original card game in the story mode and you can then play the next match unaided too, which is plenty to help you decide whether or not to buy the game.