Almost a year ago now when I first published the Red Sector, it was done with a few ideas in mind. I never wrote these down in stone, but they were the core tenants of what I had in mind on day one. Among them, was that I would not use or require review scores for a review to be on this site. However, as explained after the break, this is now changing.
Borderlands 2 (PC) Review
I will probably never forget my original adventures on Pandora. The original Borderlands game was a blast, and I had a lot of fun running around shooting stuff with the random people that graced my game… but towards the end, I had found myself wanting to play alone and just finish the game rather then keep doing side missions as everyone else wanted to. And by the time I finished three of the four expansions (I was warned about Mad Moxxie’s arena-based one and avoided it), I had had enough of Borderlands for a long long time.
Now after having bought the sequel on sale with Steam, I find myself looking on the game I just finished with a smile, though fully aware I should wait on diving into the DLC to avoid feeling so “done” as I did before. It was good, but please read on to see what Pandora offers you this time.
Linux: A Possible Future?
A little while ago, Gamespy produced a short article in which they suggested we might, just might, be seeing the beginning of a shift in PC gaming from Windows dominating to Linux taking over. In the short article, they promptly asked at the end if we as gamers would embrace such a change. Today, we explore the possibilities… what if we are about to see the beginning of this shift? How would it happen, and how would we be effected? Join me in a little “future history” and see if maybe you could see this happening.
Update on the Gamespy Debacle
How do you know an issue is big? When poor saps who have the same name have to write a massive article to say, “We didn’t do this. We are not even the same company.” And then the other company feels the heat enough to respond….
….While Studios Can Be Pure Awesome…
Other publishers can be pure shit. And sometimes, it’s not the one publishing the game that ruins it. Currently, the shitty guy is Glu, a company you may know for shit-tastic cell-phone games from before iOS and Android who recently bought Gamespy… and promptly made them absolute garbage.
The PC World is Getting Easier For Everyone
And in the past week, we have seen two HUGE steps forward. We have now witnessed the first REAL move to place PC gaming in the living room, as well as a beta to not only automatically update your graphics drivers as necessary, but optimize your games so those who want to jump in and play can get the absolute best out of their games. The future is really bright ahead!
Journey: Collector’s Edition (PS3) Review
…Guys… usually I write for you: the people who want to see what I think of the game. But this time, I need to talk to the publishers, so if you could excuse me for a moment, I’ll have my say and then get back to the review… but this really needs to be said.
Sony, I appreciate a collection disc as much as the next guy. In one swoop, you can catch a new gamer up to everything, and it’s great to do that. Doom 3 BFG is a prime example of doing that well. But would it be so hard to ask that if you make a disc like this, you make it a quality one? In the case of this disc, which while it’s called Journey, is actually a ThatGameCompany collection disc, you messed up, and you messed up big.
Mass Effect 3: Leviathan (PC) Review
Well, I did it. I finally caved and bought the 2nd expansion to Mass Effect 3. I didn’t expect to do this when I first finished the game. It was awesome, but I just didn’t feel like it needed more. I still don’t, but I wanted more… and the promise of finding out a little bit more about the reapers was something I ultimately couldn’t turn down. So was it worth it? Why don’t you step inside….
Quantum Conundrum (PC) Review
This game and I have a small history. Back during the summer sale this year, I was interested, but not sure I should put my money into it… and then my brother opened up the demo on the 360. I believe he was trying to show me how bad the game was, but what he showed me is an amazing turn of events where I was jumping between flying furniture, dodging lasers and having a blast with it all. I bought the game that afternoon. Now, having just finished it, I am not sure I should have been as excited as I was. Overall it was great but there were issues along the way had I known they existed, I probably would have bought it with a little more “this will be fun” and a little less “HELL YES!” Let’s go over it, shall we?
Weekly Roundup: 11/15/12
A day late, but certainly not a buck short, things have been exceedingly active over the past week in gaming land. So lets dive right in!
50 lucky SOBs are getting the Mass Effect Trilogy Free
Read here for details, but as of right now, Bioware is answering Activision’s mess-up with an in-prompt-to drawing. If you are one of the first 50 people to send them a picture of you and your messed up disc 2, they will send you a code to download the entire Mass Effect Trilogy for your trouble.
So… for the cost of one game, you now have a potential collector’s piece, and 3 additional really good games free! Gotta love it!
I have to share this… NOW!!!!!
To all of you who doubted the nerd…. BWAHAHAHAHAAAAHAAAHAA!!!!!
Yes this is real… and yes… Im hyped.
Persona 2: Innocent Sin (PSP) Review
Finally! I have always been excited whenever I saw a Persona game hit shelves, but when it’s a title we simply never got here, let alone one with a little Lovecraft mixed in, I couldn’t resist, and as soon as I found a copy, I picked it up. Being a portable game, I dragged it out a bit by mainly playing when away from home, but having finished, it’s time to talk about it. Come on in and enjoy.
Weekly Round up: 11/7/12
Welcome back for yet another round of gaming news. Of course with the election that just happened, I'm sure most people will think of this as minor as they either elate or despair the results. But that does not mean gaming hasn’t had it’s share of amazing news in the past week. I think it’s about time we talk about it.
Weekly Roundup: 11/1/2012
Welcome back for another week’s worth of news. There has been a delay from the original planned date of this, but then again a hurricane has a way of doing that. So after a few days without power followed by Halloween, we are back with the gaming news that frankly, struck me as interesting. So what has happened? Why not read on?
Weekly News Roundup
Greetings and welcome to a new feature we will be hosting at the Red Sector. Once a week, we will be gathering a bunch of gaming news for our readers to see in one place. We will try to make this a Wednesday article, but for now, the this being a new feature, the date may not be finalized just yet.
In any case, welcome to the news and commentary. Enjoy!
Amnesia: The Dark Descent (PC) Review
Extra Life begins!
Friends and readers, the time is now! We have come together as a community to raise what we can for the kids, and now it is time to get to the fun part… and play! Obviously if we have some late donors, we are more then happy to accommodate. After all, this what it’s about… helping the kids by doing what we love.
But for now, we can focus on the gaming at hand, and to that end, we have a UStream Channel setup just for this event. If you want to see how we game, then please, follow the link below to it…. and on behalf of every gamer in this marathon, every hospital to be helped by this marathon, and every child we are reaching out to through them and the event… thank you… thank you so much for your support.
You can watch us game at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/red-sector
You can watch many others listed at http://blog.extra-life.org/2012/10/the-extra-life-live-stream-directory.html
PSA: Steam-Related Security Risk Detected!
It happened today… or rather the potential was found today. At this moment, anyone who read the article from PC gamer knows their computer running Steam could well be at risk of hackers taking over their computer. How could the mighty 800 lb gorrila of PC gaming fall like this? Well, it’s a little more complicated then that. Let’s talk, so you know how to protect yourself, as well as understand exactly what happened.
One Week till Extra Life
The time is coming, my friends. We are about 1 week away from the Extra Life, things are looking great, but that doesn’t mean we can relax yet. It’s crunch time to bring as much in for the kids as possible. But it’s also time to reveal how we are doing here at the Red Sector. Read on to see a special message, a preview of what to expect, as well as links to participate/donate.
Interested? Read on…..
Torchlight II (PC) Review
2 weeks ago, PC gamers rushed the Steam servers. Between Torchlight II and Borderlands 2, loot-driven maniacs got to pick their poison and get lost in so much content it was simply astounding. We each picked our choice, be it the block-buster multi-platform hit or the indie challenger to Diablo’s thrown. I think it’s pretty obvious which choice I made, but was it a good one? Read on, fellow dungeon crawling gamers… read on…
PSA: Extra Life… Progress and News
Hello, my friends. It’s time to reveal the full plans for the event known as Extra Life. For those of you who do not remember, Extra Life is a yearly gaming marathon that raises money to help kids with illnesses in the same line as cancer. I am personally honored to have been a part of this since the first year, but now, I have the honor of inviting you all to join in. When we start playing on Oct. 20th, it would mean a lot to a lot of kids as well as myself if you were there. How do you get involved? Read on….
Extra Life is Coming….
Extra Life is ON! And the Red Sector is going to be there! Having setup our team page, we have declared our intention to help with this worth cause and to go game with everyone in it’s name.
Ubisoft… actually… learned?
This morning while scrolling through videogame news, I saw something that nearly made my jaw drop…. according to IGN, Ubisoft has pulled a 180 on their stance of DRM, choosing to back off from their current draconian ways of requiring a constant connection while playing their games. This is indeed big news to anyone who has tried to play their games right after a Steam sale (it never works cause their servers are flooded).
Rather, it seems uPlay has been morphed into a service much like EA’s Origin in which your account is linked to the game for activation, and you go on playing without worrying that a bad connection will kill your game literally in the middle of your final swing before a boss is defeated. As shocked as I was to hear this from the same guy who a few weeks ago was claiming the platform needed such DRM cause games get pirated at a 95% rate, I have to admit, I was pleased to see this was nothing more then a final tantrum before giving their paying customers what they want and have been very vocal about…. DRM that isn’t unreasonable to said paying customers.
If they can build their name back up now in the PC community, I will have to say “good job.” It’s a daunting task, but not impossible. Just ask EA. Good Luck, Ubisoft, and God Speed.
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron (PC) Review
Once again, the Transformers have it the PC with High Moon Studios picking up the reigns. When this did this with War For Cybertron, they created an amazing game, and the second time anyone on any platform got a descent Transformer game ever. (In case you are wondering, the first was the Trasnformers for PS2… the one made to go with the Armada cartoon.)
Now we have a proper sequel, and it’s time to see if High Moon Studios can do it again. Read on and roll out!
1000 Views!
I would like to take a moment just to say thank you, readers. As of today, we have had 1000 views here at the Red Sector, and we are still only hitting our stride. Expect more to happen as the days go on!
But for now, I just wanted to say thank you.
ANOTHER Zombie?!?!??
Today, gamers around the world can rejoice. Choosing Kotaku to give their press release to, Popcap Games has officially announced Plants vs Zombies 2 is currently in the works. Yes, you heard me. Soon, their will be more zombies on your lawn.
Now if you think like me, you are thrilled, if a little confused with this. I mean, who could not be happy to see this? The original game was simply amazing and one of those few titles that can draw casual and hard core gamers in droves, so I find the idea that anyone wouldn’t smile at this news kinda surprising.
But right now, we have more questions then answers. What kind of new plants can we expect? Will it all be plants? What about the zombies? What new ones will we see? And where will we see them? As of right now, PopCap has not announced an initial platform, and with how far the original got (from smart-phones to consoles to portable systems to PCs… it’s everywhere), who goes first will be anyone’s guess. But it will be more shocking if the sequel doesn’t follow the original’s footsteps.
When will we see this game? Officially we are looking at Spring next year, but a lot can change. Keep your eyes peeled… those pesky zombies can be anywhere.
Plants vs Zombies: Game of the Year Edition (PC) Review
There’s a zombie on your lawn… there’s a zombie on your lawn…. yeah you know the song, I’m sure… but how has the game held up since launch? Well, time to talk about that.
Hold on to your hats…. (even if you plan to make more)
Just a quick FYI for those who have not been paying attention to their news or do not have Steam to see this, but Valve is in the middle of an overhaul of the community system within their distribution service. It seems they have seen another way to add things that we do not yet have, did not know we wanted, but can now drool over. All this week, they are giving away information on how things are changing, a little bit each day.
You can take a look at their page here and see what’s going on. I’m not going to attempt to summarize since they have not told us everything yet. But I bet you will be happy.
It has finally happened… Blizzard has officially been HACKED!
The news just got out hours ago. Blizzard discovered a breach in their security and that someone had gotten in. If you have an account with them, you probably already know the drill… change your password and any password similar to it. More news will likely follow… but every WoW gamer right now, be warned. (Im assuming D3 is all but dead as I don’t mention to warn them.)
Binary Domain (PC) Review
Sometimes, when you try out a game the potential in the demo is so strong you can smell it. And while I don’t like playing anything that relies mainly on guns and aims with the camera on a controller, I had already decided when the price dropped, I would get this game on my PS3 because of such a smell. And then something wonderful happened… Binary Domain was announced as a Steam Download! Once the demo showed me just how right this game feels on my good old mouse, I couldn’t resist and this became my big Steam Summer Sale game. Now, I have finished it. It did not disappoint. Step inside.
Because Jim has it PERFECTLY Right
And I mean perfectly. In his latest video of the (in)famous Jimqusition series, Jim Sterling takes on the way fans become rabid and insist you are either with them, or against them about their favorite title. And, well, he couldn’t have nailed it better if he was Mr. Hammer, MC’s father who really earned the family their name as a carpenter. (Ok, I’m making that up. Don’t sue, Mr. Hammer… please. It was for fun.)
Citizens of Araxis Past! The Wait is Almost Over!
According to an article on Gamespy, the beta is officially opening up sometime between Monday and Tuesday... and those of us who were there back in the day are first in line! Time to shine your armor, soldiers. For the New Conglomerate!
Dear Console Makers: PLEASE don’t do this.
I’m writing this not as a fan of any one platform, but as a fan of gaming. We keep hearing rumors about what the “Next Gen” of gaming is going to do: and all of it seems bad. From download only to locking out used games, it seems like every story we hear isn’t even about how powerful the next gen will be (like we used to get each time a new one was coming), but how it is poised to bend over it’s fans and have it’s way with them.
Breath of Death VII: The Beginning (PC) Review
Well this was a long time coming. Almost a year ago, PC gamers got access to a pair of Indie RPG titles they had been forced to miss out on the year before. Sadly, the Xbox community also missed out due to the games being released as XBLIG titles: A little spot on the XBL service where anyone who is willing to shell out $200 can release titles or utilities with little or no over-view by the community.
On top of the rather obvious results in quality this will have, none of the games have that drug all XBL gamers seem to need in their games… achievement support. The result is these games were stuck in a shit-stain that Microsoft effectively covered with a plush run they took out of their bathroom: It doesn’t fit and no one wants to go near it.
When these games hit Steam, they were sold as a bundle, and I immediately got my hands on it to review “Cthulhu Saves the World.” I still stand by every statement in that review and highly recommend getting the bundle for that title alone. But how was the older game… the one Zyboyd Games made before they brought Chtulhu to light? Well, it’s time to talk about that.
Politics in Video Games
If you live in the United States, the idea of politics polarizing people is probably not very alien to you. It’s been going on for a long time. It’s gotten so bad that I can personally attest to hearing stories about how local stores were making policies in which politics could not be talked about at all in the office. This may sound reasonable to “keep the peace” but think about that for a moment. You can’t voice your view because it might piss off the guy next to you because you lean right or left? Really? But it wasn’t even for reasons that “benign,” but because customers were actually choosing to shop or not shop based on what some guy at a cash register believed in their political views….. and that was 6 years ago. Things have only gotten worse since then, and now it’s spread like a plague to our favorite hobby and the gamers we share it with.
PSO2 Announced for a US launch!
You heard right! First (that I know of) announced by PSO World, Phantasy Online 2 has officially been slated for a US release! I for one could not be more pleased at this news. To date I have an almost complete collection of the Phantasy Star Franchise for a reason… the whole thing rocks! And the original PSO is no exception. (PSO Episode 3 was… but I have a hard time considering a card game a main part of the series.)
Operation Supply Drop is on!
This is more of a special announcement then any real commentary on my part. But as anyone who has followed me along may know, I was a writer for Front Towards Gamer fairly recently. In being so, I have had the pleasure of working with and getting to know some amazing people. How amazing? How about every month gathering donations in the form of games or cash get games so they can ship them off to troops on the field in the Middle East in the form of gaming packages. And as always, they are at it again.
Click here to check out the event. Come, donate, play with the team, and maybe even win something at the raffle! Have a good time, and know this actually is doing something nice for those who are out there so we don’t have to be.
Thank you for listening, and we may now all return to our regular gaming events.
Bastion (PC) Review
Here’s a game that caused quite a stir as it was making it’s way to release. Between the way the map sort of floats into place before you and the promise of a narrator that reacts to you rather then repeating the same tired line as long as necessary till you get past point A B or C, a lot of dungeon crawler fans were watching. While it looked interesting, it wasn’t something I personally was hyped up about. However, as I put down my controller for the last time I have to admit, those guys were really onto something.
Milestone Reached
My friends and readers, we have done it! 5 days after the official 5 month mark, The Red Sector has been viewed 500 times! Again, I have really not done much to advertise the place outside of a few facebook links and (currently) reposting an article here and there on the Destructoid blogs, so I will take this as an nice achievement.
That is not to say this site is done. Oh no, we are just warming up! With any luck we will have another writer soon… maybe more, if others show interest. But the Red Sector is alive and growing…..
Dr. Who Adventure Game: City of the Daleks (PC) Review
I’ve been eyeing this title for a long long time. At first, when it was offered on D2D, I decided since I didn’t know the publisher, it was likely not worth my time to try on that service. And besides, I had only seen a few episodes of the fairly new series, and didn’t have a real need to play a game based on the Doctor. A few years later, that changed thanks mainly to Netflix and a new Dr. Who game on the horizon. Seeing the series again in the Gamestop library, I was interested. Seeing each episode sells for $5, I had to try. Listen to me, so you don’t feel the need to follow.
An Apology: Diablo 3 NOW is DRM
Alice: Madness Returns (PC) Review
I have a confession to make. Many years ago, I actually bought and played the original Alice game on PC… well, as far as I could. I was really skimping against the minimum requirements on my Pentium II back then, so after a certain point, the game ceased being playable. Still, I liked what I had seen, so to see another shot at this magnificent world, I was more then interested. Alas, this rabbit hole went nowhere good, but it’s time to show you exactly where it did go….
Platforms of a Platform: Redux
A few words about Diablo III and DRM
With all the bitching about Diablo 3 always needing to be online going on, I figured it was time to clear the air and speak up on it myself… and I do not think the haters are going to like what I have to say.
Grandia (PS3/PSP) Review
So when this game got added to PSN, I knew I had to get it. I remembered loving this game back in the day, but I really wanted to see how it ended. Was it worth it? Why don't you read on....
Resistance 2 (PS3) Review
Mass Effect 3 (PC) Review
Darksiders (PS3) Review
Please look... this is important
Gamefly, direct2drive, and a knife in gamer's backs.
First Impression: Vessel (PC)
BIG GAME coming
First Impressions: Mass Effect 3 (PC)
The Darkness II (PC) Review
First Impressions: Binary Domain (PS3)
Our first milestone
First Impressions: Lunar: Silver Star Harmony (PSP)
Dungeons (PC) Review
First Impressions: Twisted Metal (PS3)
A break from reviews...
Resistance: The Fall of Man (PS3) Review
Limbo (PC) Review
The Darkness (PS3) Review
Time to liven this place up...
Can you? That is my first question to you, since you are entering my little section of this crossroad. Can you see the value in any given platform to game on, regardless of which is your favorite. We all have those, after all.
If you can the welcome, friend... welcome to the Red Sector...