Dishonored (PC) Review

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When this game came out, everyone simply loved it, no matter what they played it on. For me, however, I honestly got the impression from the trailers that it was trying to be “Dark Half-Life” or something, and while I was interested in playing it, I knew it wasn’t a game I had to play right away. As a result it wound up something I picked up in a sale and then landed in the dark void known as the “steam backlog.” (And every PC gamer who reads this is now nodding their heads knowing EXACTLY what I mean.) Fast forward to now and I found myself expecting to be playing nothing but the newest titles in my “must play” list. However, that was not to be due to delays and in one case, the demo of a game being so underwhelming it dropped away. So, with some time to visit that void, I pulled this title out of it… and, I should not have ignored it for so long.

Gamers Are Going to Have to Step Up 3: Fear of Bad Press

I really wish I was done writing these kind of articles, but as always, the SJWs who control the websites I have yet to go back to made it necessary once again. You see, as much as #Gamergate has been going on for over a year now and even won it’s major objectives (how many sites now don’t have a ethics policy?) there is still an ongoing culture war over video games. Looking over stories in the past year, you can see signs of it in things from forcing a joke on a random gravestone in Pillars of Eternity to be changed, to Lionhead Studios being forced to apologize for an image from Fable to being on their website YEARS LATER, even just the announcement of Final Fantasy VII being remade being enough to get demands for Tifa to get a breast reduction before we see any art work, but just a teaser at E3.

Pneuma: Breath of Life (Xbox One) Review

Pnemua_Logo_NewEye_BlackBG_JPEGIt’s been a while since I played through a game on the Xbox One. In fact the last time was early this year when we all played through Halo: The Master Chief Collection. And while the games on that collection were good on their own, that specific disc of them was found fairly lacking. And since then, the system has pretty much served me for Youtube, to chat with my brothers who use the system religiously, and as a BluRay player. I have not found myself playing it since just yet.

And then came Extra Life. Originally I had no intention of playing this game on the big day, as we were having guests over and I wanted as much social gaming as possible. But for whatever reason while I had chosen to test the capability of my main media machine’s streaming with this game. Now before anyone argues, yes, I know the Xbox One can do it on it’s own, but that is not the only console I have or expected to play with. It was just the one I had on at the time. And while playing around with it, it struck me… this was a game I was going to play through. And when everyone started to pass out at around 22 hours, I decided to continue my journey. I do not regret that choice, or the choice of finishing my marathon with this gorgeous title.

The Yawhg (PC) Review

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As I’m sure you are aware, last weekend was the big one for Extra Life, and we at the Red Sector celebrated in traditional fashion. But in my traditional fashion, I prepared a lot more games then we wound up actually playing. But as the evening went on, we got to a small game I picked up on sale called the Yawhg. I already went in expecting something simple, but dark humored. Come on in and see what we got.

Extra Life 2015 Recap

The big weekend of Extra Life is now past us, and before we begin, I must apologize for the delay in this recap, even if it couldn’t be helped. But I will go into detail later. Suffice it to say, I really could only begin writing on this one about 3-4 days after we had finished.

Still, I'm sure the first thing on everyone’s mind is “How did we do?” Well, I think I can sum it up in one word: Phenomenal.

Extra Life Begins!

In mere hours, the big marathon is about to begin. As mentioned in several previous articles, today we begin Extra Life, a gaming marathon to help sick children around the world. As we get ready in the final hours, I have to once again say we are honored to be a part of this, and it’s still not too late to either donate to the cause OR enter into the raffle we are hold of Steam Games. If you haven’t donated yet to this event, you can do so by clicking the thermometer on the right of this site, selecting the member you want to donate to and clicking the donate button. And remember, tonight there will be a raffle where we will be giving away the games listed below. But before we list that, we have a few other links to offer:

http://www.twitch.tv/twitchwithjoe: Literal family of the site. They too will be playing in this marathon.

http://www.twitch.tv/megabyte114: our own steaming site. We will be doing as much of this marathon live as possible.

Now, onto the game list.

Transformers Devestation (PC) Review



Anyone who knows me knew the moment this game was announced it was going to wind up in my library. After all, I didn't stick with a lot of the franchises I loved as a kid, but something about the giant robots from Cybertron always stuck with me, and to see them now take form like they did when I was little was very exciting. But at the same time, as a fan of the franchise, I have seen many bad Transformer games over the years, so I watched cautiously... until I finally saw the game played by none other then "Motherfucker" Mike of Cinemassacre. I was sold, and as soon as I finished playing SOMA, I began playing.

From the "Yes these morons exist" Files: "Batman returns"

I should have seen this coming... I really should have. After all, this is the internet and Steam is arguably one of (if not the) biggest online community these days. After all, as I write this the most people logged into it at the same time has broken 11,000,000 within the past 2 days.... not have accounts, but simultaneously logged in. And we all know on the internet that forums for anyone able to say they are huge online will always have large doses of stupid injected into them.

SOMA (PC) Review



Happy Halloween everyone! As we approach this holiday, it seems appropriate to look for scarier games to play, and this is one I've been waiting years for. Ever since it was announced, I was looking forward to something that would redeem the name Frictional Games from what they let the Chinese Room do to it,I and with them working alone again, I had high hopes for this title. Suffice it to say, I was not disappointed. Please step inside.

UbiSoft: Competition for Worst Publisher?

Extra Life 2005: Update III



This one is going to be a but quicker then previous updates, but with news this good, I couldn't just say nothing. Friends, we are officially heading for yet another record breaking year!

Red Steel 2 (Wii) Review

http://redsectorshutdown.blogspot.com/2015/09/red-steel-2-wii-review.html


Do you remember the launch of the Wii? Back in 06/07, the machines were next to impossible to find, even as people were only buying it for a few of it's admittedly large launch line up. Ubisoft's own sword fighter Red Steel was among these games, but with the poor reputation it was earning, no one was interested. Fast forward to 2009 and Red Steel 2 came out promising to do much better between the add-on the Motion Plus it required and generally more effort. At the time I wasn't willing to take a risk on this game due to the fact that to play I would have to buy the new add-on to play and not being the biggest fan of westerns.

A few years later, however, I got ahold of the add-on for the controller for reasons that now escape me, and stumbled on a copy of this game still sitting on the shelf pretty cheap, so I decided "what the hell" and picked it up. Right now, I'm glad the game was cheap as it proved broken for me, making it the second broken game I have reviewed on this site. Step inside.

Extra Life Update II

http://redsectorshutdown.blogspot.com/2015/09/extra-life-update-ii.html


Extra Life 2015 draws ever nearer and with it, one of our best chances we as a global community of gamers has all year to do some real good for those who really need it. And we here at the Red Sector could not be more excited. This will be the first time we will be having a live gathering of between members of the site and friends who are ready to spend the night to eat, drink, and game to raise what we can for those who need it most. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Like I have said previously, Extra Life is a fund-raising event in which gamers from around the globe do their best to bring in as much as they can for the various hospitals of the Children's Miracle Network, and finish the drive with a 24 hour gaming marathon, many of which stream for their sponsors and fellow gamers to join them in celebrating just what this community is capable of doing for those around us, and here at the Red Sector, we welcome you to join us.

Pathologic (PC) Review

http://redsectorshutdown.blogspot.com/2015/09/pathologic-pc-review.html

"In Soviet Russia, Game plays YOU!" I know this is an old joke, but after playing this abomination, I have to say it fits. I picked this game up a few months after finishing Amnesia: The Dark Descent. At the time, I began to feel the itch for something else that would leave me in that perfect state of dreading what might come next, but needing to see it and loving every second of the conundrum. It was around this time, I found this game on sale on GOG.COM and with the title page they offered, I decided to have a look. This trailer is the first thing I saw (courtesy of Gog.com):


That trailer convinced me I would absolutely have to play this game, and I would get a lot of the true survival horror thrill I was looking for... but as I said, this game played me like a damn fiddle... It took my cash and in return it was a chore to just play the 8 hours I demand before I review a game for you guys. Come on in and see why.

Guild Wars 2 goes Free... kinda...


Well the day has arrived. Many people have been saying that Guild Wars 2 will eventually become a free-to-play game simply because that's the only way any new MMO survives. However, when it takes 3 years to do this, I really do have to wonder how much satisfaction these people can have in "being right." But it has come to pass as yesterday a news article announced that effective immediately, Guild Wars 2 no longer requires you to buy the game before you can play it.

Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (PC) Review

http://redsectorshutdown.blogspot.com/2015/08/wolfenstein-old-blood-pc-review.html


Last year, I returned to this series, eager to enough to see what was next that I actually bought a physical of Wolfenstein: The New order at launch. I had a great time with the game, but the ending just left so much wanting. And while I would have liked an expansion to come out to explain that rather sour last note, instead, the inevitable expansion turned out to be a prequel. Knowing this, I still found myself wanting the new part of what I still hold as a very favored franchis, but I did not feel the same rush to pick it up I did the last time.

Then Quakecon rolled around and with it, a sale I could not resist and a next "must play this now" sitting in my virtual shelf. And as I walk away, I find myself a bit more annoyed with how this one started, but a lot more satisfied with how it ended. Please, step inside.

We May Still Be Waiting for Phantasy Star Online 2

http://redsectorshutdown.blogspot.com/2015/07/we-may-still-be-waiting-for-phantasy.html


I'm sure if this title grabbed you, you have heard the news by now. Site after site after site has been making news about how PlayPark had dropped their IP block on anyone in the western world and had an English version of the game ready to play. This sounded like amazing news, especially for those like me who have wanted just wanted to play the next installment of a franchise so held dear that an official release to it is a system-seller. (Indeed, I upgraded my PC for the launch of Phantasy Star Universe and bought both the DSi for Phantasy Star 0 and the PSP for Phantasy Star Portable so this is not an overstatement.) However, not knowing the company hosting it, I figured I had to do my research before I play, and as such, never got to. It seems PlayPark has restored the IP block.

WB is Now the Worst AAA Publisher

UPDATE 3: Well, there goes any good faith WB has left with this trash. They got some back when they pulled the game, as we all gave them the benefit of the doubt. After all who stops selling a game? That was never done before? But then came reports that WB knew how bad the game was and pushed it out anyway.... but of course when the source we can find everyone using is Kotaku, I have to err on the side of caution. And then, Rocksteady themselves told the world it wasn' there fault, WB put Iron Galaxy on the port process... who then had a total of 12 people do the job. This is worrying, but at the same time, it's become standard when shit hits the fan and it costs the big publishers cash to pass the buck, I wasn't ready to see this kind of statement as big news. Overall, bad news, but not exactly news I saw as huge for one reason or another.

Today, however, WB's own behavior has ended that. The Batgirl DLC launched for the new Batman game today. This wouldn't be anything of note, if WB's PR people hadn't been telling PC gamers fixing their version is their top priority for weeks now, which would suggest either this was already made and cut from the game (the same bullshit gamers have railed on Capcom for in the past) or the company decided they were eating too many returns and lied to a part of their audience to stem the tied. Either way, this does not look good... then we get this bullshit. Seriously, read this. Basically their PR are telling anyone who didn't refund their pile of shit and the season pass they got with it that they are going to wait indefinitely while the teams do what they should have before the game launched, and the new patch possibility? Gone. And not only that, but with the two week limit is now up to refund a game for anyone who still owns it, they are stuck with that smell, settling for a broken game and one piece of DLC they are STILL EFFECTIVELY SELLING AT $40!

Of course reports are already coming in that the new DLC is about an hour or so of content and several hours of item collection filler...and somehow, I don't think WB has much respect for any part of it's audience.... considering anyone who pre-orders anything with them absolute chumps who have already given them their money... so as I said, all good faith in this company as a publisher is gone. As a fan of the F.E.A.R franchise, I didn't have much left when FEAR Online launched... but it's all gone now.


From the "Yes, These Morons Exist Files" The New "Metroid"

How many times do we have to do this dance, people? Seriously, I want to know. Last time I had to write on something similar to this, it was assholes who couldn't stand that people who weren't using their choice piece of plastic were going to get the chance to play Grand Theft Auto V. Since then, we have had at least 3 major attempts to remove games from markets, but over ideological/political reasons, most of which were in the past few months and by people freakishly dedicated to believing their narrative. I just don't expect anything more well reasoned from them and in fact, I fully expect more of this bullshit as major games from E3 like the new Doom get closer to release.

But at actual gamers who are passionate about the game and not some social bullshit seemed to have learned better, right? After all, when the closest thing I can see since that petition was public outrage from the same group that PCs using Windows 10 won't have to pay to use XBL Gold like they do, it would seem the community has realized it was a bad idea and do not want to do it again, right? Right?

Bard's Tale 2004 (PC) Review

http://redsectorshutdown.blogspot.com/2015/06/bards-tale-2004-pc-review.html

Wow... where to even begin with this game. When I finished with Axiom Verge, I decided something funny might be a good idea. This would prove to be a terrible decision, bad enough in fact this is the first game since setting standards of how long a game is played for this site, that I had to force myself to play the minimum 8 hours before I stopped playing and shit all over it. I basically only made it because I could stream and make fun of the last few hours live. So how did it get fucked up so bad? Well, step inside....

Extra Life 2015 Update I

http://redsectorshutdown.blogspot.com/2015/06/extra-life-update-i.html


On November 7th, gamers around the world will unite to help beat back childhood diseases, and we will all need your help to do it, so I'm hoping you all keep the big day free. As per our usual, Red Sector will be taking part in the big event called Extra Life, and just as last year we will still need your help to do it. We have a few big updates to the night I want to share with you all, involving how you can help, updates to the raffle we have planned, and even the start of the plans for the night, so please... step inside.

PC Gaming Just Got Easier.... Again: Valve has a Return Policy

This is unexpected. As in I probably would have expected my cat to make me scrambled eggs for breakfast before I went to work more then I expected this to happen. But yesterday I came across a story from TechRaptor in my Facebook feed, saying that Steam now officially offers refunds for games. Are you floored reading that? I know I was. But I also know that since Steam is basically THE big PC game seller in town, this makes buying for the platform a WHOLE lot safer for a whole lot more people.

Axiom Verge (PC) Review

http://redsectorshutdown.blogspot.com/2015/05/axiom-verge-pc-review.html


Here we have it. Once again, this year has a few must-plays for me on the way, and Axiom Verge is the first one. Unlike last year, however, this one took me by surprise. I had no idea it was even in the works until it released for PS4 back in March. When I saw the first screenshot of a giant head looking down at your character from where it was connected by bio-technological tubing straight out of some nightmare induced hybridizing of Alien and Akira, it had my attention. From there, everything I saw and heard only sold me more and more on the game, and when it launched a few weeks ago on PC, I had to pick it up day 1 and start playing. I've now finished and overall, I have to say this was an amazing title that more will need to play.

Why I Won’t be Buying Capcom Games Anymore (Updated)

UPDATE 2: As of now, it seems Mr. Joy has been able to reach Capcom PR who have assured him this issue is now resolved, as he has reported in his article on TechRaptor. He has been able to play and it looks like his not the only one. The only remaining potential caution is to not change the language of the game before you put in your key during this activation, but finally, it seems after months Capcom is finally making good on the purchases of their audience.

UPDATE: Since posting this article, I have been in contact via Twitter with both the Don Parsons, News Editor at Raptor and Shaun Joy, the author of the article I sourced at the same site. Since writing, the only company to get back to Mr. Joy has been SecurRom, who basically wrote an email back telling him they do not have the account in their database, so they can not fix the issue. Valve and Capcom have been dead silent. You can see the email in an update to the Techraptor article, as well as the current updates of his case in this Youtube video:

Cuortesy of Mr. Joy
In addition, that article also contains a link to a SteamCommunity thread as well as a pic from it where Capcom has said they are aware of the issue and have a knowledgebase entry on their own site about how to fix this. This “solution” is EXACTLY WHAT I SAID IN THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE, supporting the theory of how this happened and how Capcom is “fixing it.” I hope Mr. Joy can get a lot faster results then I have heard from the reviews of the game. But from my perspective, this only pushes me to place most of the blame on Capcom, a small portion on Valve for not kicking them off the store by now, and none on SercurRom (since really they are the only ones doing what they are paid to here).

Marvel Heroes 2015 (PC) Review

Marvel Heroes title source

I remember watching for this game as news hit that Marvel was making an MMO. At the time Diablo 3 was still new and the controversy of needing to be online all the time and the Live Auction House were fresh, hot, and scalding. You either loved the game or hated it, and usually all the hate came from these two issues combined. So obviously with half the people who bought the game seriously upset with it, the search for alternative Diablo-style games was on. At the time, I was interested in this title, if only because I could imagine what an Isometric RPG could do with that universe. But at the same time, I don’t do betas much anymore. You could say between Transformers Universe and Darkspore, I’ve been let down way too hard just in how they ran, so I generally wait for the full game now. As such, this game fell to the wayside for a while.

When I did play, I decided I was going to run with Black Panther, and did for about a week. At that point, I found out one of my all-time favorite characters were being added to the game: Venom. And with that I walked away. You see, I was really very early in the story line when this happened, and I wasn’t walking away disappointed. I was walking away with a promise to myself to return when Venom was available and I could play through the game as a new experience from Symbiotic eyes. We have not been disappointed….

The ESA Wont Let History Be Preserved (Fuck Them)

I really could sum up my entire feelings on this issue with one rude gesture, one table flip, and telling off the ESA (or Entertainment Software Association), but that wouldn’t be doing you or me any good, as it would explain nothing. So let me explain how the organization who is supposed be used to protect and allow for games to continue to be made has taken a stance to try and kill off gaming history.

Extra Life 2015

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Yes indeed, it’s time again to announce our participation in Extra Life once more! If you’ve been with us since the beginning, you know we have been Extra Lifers since this site was founded, and if you are a friend of mine personally, you know I’ve been one since it was founded by Doc of Sarcastic Gamer fame. Back then, it was touching to be part of such an endeavor, but over the years, it has only grown and become humbling as well.

But for those of you who have not felt the touch of this awe-inspiring event, what is Extra Life? Come on in and have a read about one of the best things I have ever had the honor of getting involved with as a gamer.

Guild Wars 2 (PC) Review

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This is a title that I probably should have played a lot sooner, but had a very unfortunate history that prevented me from doing so. For starters, the game it’s a sequel to (the original Guild Wars) kinda sucked. I played it back in the day because my brothers bought it to play together and none of us were ready to fork out $15 a month to play “just one game.” Even then, they were leading me down bad paths, it seems.

But it still took place in a rather interesting fantasy world, so when this sequel was announced and it was promising to fix all the issues and STILL have no monthly fees, I was willing to listen. When I found out you could play the Charr, the feline race you were fighting for most of the original game, I was interested. And by the time the game launched, I was ready to go. Unfortunately, it launched about a week before Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, and a month or so before I was going on vacation with the folks to visit family across the country. It’s day simply never game and it sat on my shelf for a few years.

Fast forward to a few months ago and I found myself without any “must play as they come out titles” since the Halo game I had bought to play with my brothers was not ready to play and while Venom was on the horizon for Marvel Heroes, he wasn’t there yet. I came back to this game, playing it seriously for the first time and dedicated what I should have the first time.

Unboxing and First Impressions Forced/IndieBox (PC):

Hey everyone. Well, it’s been almost a week since PAX East went by, and I have to admit, I wasn’t thrilled with it. It was ok, but, really, for me it was too big… anything I could want to do was probably going to require me to waste hours in line, be it play something huge coming out (like the expansion to Guild Wars 2 being demonstrated there) or meeting a few of the youtube people I watch regularly (Im a big-time fan of Markiplier and James Rolf (aka the AVGN)). In short, I got a very “Otakon” feel of the event. Fun, but just not as good as I wanted.

Still, I didn’t leave empty handed. A small company named IndieBox was sitting in one of the corners of the main floor, and it was actually my brother who found it and wandered in first. This alone was a surprise because he really doesn’t play PC games… at all, but it was also a pleasant surprise because I’ve been watching this small company with interest, but suspicion.

Journo Mentality Boiled Down in One Petition

Why do people INSIST on proving me right in the worst ways possible? Seriously, why? Once again, this is related to Gamergate, as the websites who have become known for claiming “gamers are dead” have continued to show their arrogance and complete disregard for anyone unwilling to toe their mentality. However, this story starts with a petition and one man’s attempt to “heal the rift” that currently exists in the gaming community.

Halo Master Chief Collection (Xbox One) Review

Halo picture sources Screenshot 2014-12-28 23-15-25

I can not say the Xbox One has been a great experience for me so far. At this time, I have bought two games for it total. The first was Destiny, which if you have read my review of that, you know I was not exactly thrilled with it. Still, I bought this machine to play with my brothers, and they immediately began getting excited about another game coming out, or rather four older games coming out together. Together, we pre-ordered Halo: Master Chief Collection.

We tried to play it day one, but as anyone who either has the game or looks at gaming sites knows, it did not launch in a respectable form. Any kind of multiplayer was fucked up beyond being playable, co-op or vs. And while Co-op seemed to work to some degree in a few weeks, it took about a month for vs gameplay to be worth anything. I would honestly argue this is the single worst launch I have ever seen, and I was one of the day-one purchasers of SimCity 2013. But things are finally starting to settle and it seems like the multiplayer is finally working well enough to use from time to time, so it was time to pop the disc in and play!

Clearing the Air and Valve Working On Greenlight

Hello and good day out there. While the Greenlight issue is why I am writing in the first place, I wanted to clear the air in a few questions brought up here prior. Admittedly, when the “uncaring” (yeah, right, how many posts have they left now?) troll asked about me not covering major fuckups in the gaming industry, I was snarky as hell rather then answering. I don’t apologize for that, nor will I. A troll is a troll is a troll, but even so, he did bring up two good examples that I would like to answer now before I take a look at Valve’s latest actions in their utility to let gamers choose some of the library they get access to.

Far Cry 4: The Disappearing Game

Wow, Ubisoft just can not catch a break, can they? Yesterday, reports were coming in to Ubisoft and Microsoft that Far Cry 4 was no longer available on Xbox LIVE as a download. Not only that, but anyone who had bought the game got a message asking if they own the game when they tried to run it. I can only imagine the frustration when a game you spent $60 on refuses to work anymore, and in fact behaves like you didn’t even buy it to begin with, but that is the issue they saw.