Category: FPS

Destiny’s April Update and Why Sterling Treasure Boxes Are No Big Deal

After months of waiting, Bungie is dropping a sizable content update for Destiny next week in the form of the April Update which features a new Strike and updated Taken versions of the Winter’s Run Strike and the Prison of Elders. It also brings in new armor, gear, some customization for said armor and gear in the form of “Chroma” and a Light level increase to 335 (from 320).

To earn some of that gear, you’ll need to get one of the new Sterling Treasure boxes. You can acquire three of these by playing the new Level 41 Prison of Elders, one round of the weekly Crucible playlist and logging in on the weekly reset. Aside from the three boxes you can earn just by playing, you can also buy Sterling Treasures from Eververse, the microstransaction store at the Tower. This last source of the new hotness is giving the Destiny community a bit of pause. Continue reading Destiny’s April Update and Why Sterling Treasure Boxes Are No Big Deal

Star Wars Battlefront is Gorgeous Fan Service, But Not Much Else

Ever since EA and Disney announced their partnership to bring more Star Wars games to the market a Battlefront reboot helmed by DICE, the developers of the Battlefield series, was inevitable. The pre-release material showed us all the right stuff: gorgeously rendered Stormtroopers and Rebels mixing it up in iconic locations with tantalizing glimpses at the famous heroes, villains and starships thrown in for good measure. Now that Battlefront has been out for a while, how has this seemingly killer formula measured up?

There’s no getting around it: Star Wars Battlefront is quite possibly the best looking and sounding game I’ve ever played. With no last-gen version to hold it back, DICE went all out on recreating assets from the original trilogy down to the smallest scratch of paint on the X-Wings. DICE leaned heavily into their location research and promotional shots of the material they got from LucasArts as part of their marketing and their dedication to capturing the look and feel of the first three movies paid dividends. Continue reading Star Wars Battlefront is Gorgeous Fan Service, But Not Much Else

Destiny: The Taken King Took Us By Surprise

The Darkness was winning.

Mitch, weary of the grind, traded in his copy of Destiny. After the lackluster experience of The Dark Below, Eddy traded his in, as well. It was a fun experiment that gripped us tighter than any game in recent memory, but it seemed like its time had passed.

I alone persisted, putting it aside for a time, but waiting for The House of Wolves expansion. It was good, much better than The Dark Below, but without my Fireteam, it was harder and harder to get a group to experience any worthwhile content, the eternal cross that Destiny bears to this day. I had a bit of luck with r/Fireteams on Reddit, but too many bad experiences with trolls and jerks soured me on the whole thing. I put Destiny aside again, not trading it in, but with the intent to do so if The Taken King didn’t blow me away. Continue reading Destiny: The Taken King Took Us By Surprise

Heading Back Into The Wasteland in Fallout 4

To use an analogy that is perhaps a bit staid by this point, playing Fallout 4 is like eating your favorite dish for the hundredth time. It’s still filling and satisfying in its own way, but has lost some of the magic it once had.

Don’t get me wrong, Fallout 4 is not a bad game; I’ve put around 40 hours into my adventures in the Commonwealth and I’ll more than likely be close to double that by the time I’m done. Even though Fallout 4 hews closely to the established Bethesda formula, there’s a reason it works so damn well. Continue reading Heading Back Into The Wasteland in Fallout 4

The Destiny Post-Level 20 Guide to Earning Legendary and Exotic Gear

destiny legendary gear

Hey Sushians!

Like many of you, I’ve been playing Destiny since it dropped on September 9. I hit the level cap of 20 about a week after release and I floundered for a bit wondering how to progress. Bungie doesn’t do a good job of explaining Destiny’s post-20 game outside of vague terms, so I put together a guide for how you can increase your Light and earn Legendary and Exotic gear. I’ve tried to be thorough and explain or remove as much of the jargon as I could. If you have any tips, please add them in the comments! Continue reading The Destiny Post-Level 20 Guide to Earning Legendary and Exotic Gear

Destiny Roll Call!

destiny roll call

Today is the day, Sushians! This is the day we step into Bungie’s brave new world and plumb the depths of Destiny for sweet loot.

Since Destiny is coming out on a fair number of consoles, I thought it would be a good idea to do a classic GamerSushi Roll Call! What system are you playing Destiny on? What class are you going to go with?

Personally I was leaning Titan for a while, but I made an eleventh-hour decision to roll a Warlock based on that classes’ level 15 healing and buffing ability which sounds like it will come in handy. Also, space magic and trench coats.

But what about you? How are you planning on playing Destiny?

Destiny Beta Action with Anthony

I streamed some of the Destiny Beta on PS4 this morning and thought you guys might fancy a glance at it. Did some Explore mode in Old Russia with my Warlock.

Has anyone else been partaking in the Destiny beta? What do you think so far?


Watch live video from starkiller81 on Twitch

Battlefield 4 Dragon’s Teeth Expansion is the Only DLC I’ll Ever Need

battlefield 4 dragons teeth

Yes, my legendary love/hate affair with Battlefield 4 continues. The newest installment of this on-going saga has to do with Dragon’s Teeth, the latest expansion pack that dropped yesterday for Premium members.

An infantry-focused map pack taking place in urban settings in several Asian cities, Dragon’s Teeth removes a lot of the things I don’t like about Battlefield 4, such as almost every type of vehicle, but leaves in all the sweet on-foot action you can handle. The maps are somewhere between the regular size for BF4 maps and the cramped Close Quarters DLC for Battlefield 3, meaning that a lot of the running and dying between objectives has been removed. Continue reading Battlefield 4 Dragon’s Teeth Expansion is the Only DLC I’ll Ever Need

Celebrate the Fourth of July With a Battlefield 4 CTE Easter Egg

I don’t need to remind you what today is because I think we all know. It’s three days after Canada Day!

Naw, just kidding: it’s Independence Day, the day where the USA celebrates their victory over the British and their freedom from the monarchy which is a feat they accomplished all by themselves and not with the help of the French, no sir.

To commemorate this occasion, the team at DICE LA who are behind the Battlefield 4 Community Test Environment (CTE), which has fixed more bugs in BF4 in a few months than DICE proper fixed in almost eight, added a very special easter egg in their most recent patch. Professional Battlefield 4 sleuth JackFrags (who found the Megalodon in Naval Strike as well) shows off the Fourth of July celebrations added to the map Dawnbreaker:

Pretty cool little Easter Egg from DICE LA in the Battlefield 4 CTE there, I must say. I think the CTE has done great things for Battlefield 4, the “netcode” update being chief among them. I signed up for CTE but haven’t had a chance to try it yet. I hope all of our American Sushians have an excellent Fourth of July!

A Whole New World: Destiny Alpha Impressions

destiny

I’ve had this weird sort of fascination with Destiny ever since Bungie first released news about it. There’s one part of me that feels a tinge of regret whenever I see it in motion, knowing that I could have been involved with it in some way (a job opportunity that ultimately didn’t pan out for me). Another part of me has moved on from multiplayer games almost entirely—other priorities have taken precedence in my life, including family, writing and friends. And even though videos of the game in motion never quite thrilled me, there was something about the game that I found intriguing.

And the Alpha won me over completely. Continue reading A Whole New World: Destiny Alpha Impressions

Bungie’s Jason Jones Explains Just What the Heck Destiny Is

Are you confused by the lack of information about what the available game modes of Destiny? So am I, which is why I’m grateful that Bungie put out a video where Jason Jones explains what you’ll be doing when the Destiny Beta drops on July 17, or when the full game hits on September 9. Check it out:

So it seems like we have the Tower (third-person social space), story-missions, a free-roam/do side-quests type of thing, Strikes, and a multiplayer arena. Destiny seems to have a lot of stuff to do but I still can’t shake the feeling that it might be kind of bland. That might just be me though. How is Destiny shaping up for you?

Battlefield 4 Getting “Netcode” Patch on All Platforms

After weeks of testing in the CTE (Community Test Environment) the Battlefield 4 “netcode” improvements are being rolled out to every version of the game today in a patch according to a new post on Battlelog. The “netcode” patch improves (among other things) the server tick-rate, or how often you computer receives new information from the server. Battlefield 4 previously had a tick-rate of 10hz, or ten updates a second (industry standard for FPS games is 30-60).

Battlefield: Hardline Revealed in Battlelog Update

battlefield hardline

Update: Yep, Battlefield: Hardline is real.

Battlelog, DICE’s browser-based interface that they’ve been forcing on the gaming public since Battlefield 3, received an update this morning. Instead of the assignments for the upcoming expansion pack Dragon’s Teeth, an entierly different kind of surprised was included.

While digging through the source code of Battlelog, denizen of the Internet Koen Vlaswinkel found a whole bunch of information about Battlefield: Hardline, including weapons, vehicles, classes, gamemodes and who’s developing it. From the images Battlefield: Hardline looks like it will be SWAT vs Thieves on a variety of urban maps with gamemodes such as Heist and Blood Money, giving it a very Payday feel. Continue reading Battlefield: Hardline Revealed in Battlelog Update

Halo 5: Guardians Announced, Hitting Fall 2015

halo 5 reveal

In what is probably the least exciting Halo game announcement of all time, Bonnie Ross, General Manager of 343 Industries, took over the Xbox Wire to reveal Halo 5: Guardians which will be coming to the Xbox One in the Fall of 2015.

Continuing the story of Master Chief from where we left him in Halo 4, Halo 5: Guardians is being built with a completely new engine and will deliver a 60 frame-per-second performance, a first for the series. A Halo TV series is also teased to be released in a similar time-frame to Halo 5: Guardians.

The Spartan on the top of the box art will apparently be a new character according to series Executive Producer Josh Holmes on Twitter.

Microsoft is certainly getting a lot out of the way for E3. Typically a Halo reveal is a big to-do and Bonnie Ross promises that more will be revealed at E3 this year, but I can’t help but feel a little deflated that a game series that once commanded attention is now relegated to blog post unveilings.

Source – Xbox Wire

Far Cry 4 Coming November 18 2014, Takes Place in the Himalayas

far cry 4 reveal

Do you know what the definition of insanity is? Not getting a sequel to 2012’s stellar hit Far Cry 3. In a surprise leak/announcement today, Ubisoft officially unveiled Far Cry 4 which will be coming to the (deep breath here) PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on November 18, 2014.

Not much is currently known about Far Cry 4, other than that it takes place in a fictional region of the Himalayas called Kyrat and you’ll be fighting the reign of a self-appointed king. You can feast your peepers on the box art for Far Cry 4 by clicking the previous words. Looks more like a Pink King than a Yellow King to me, but maybe we’ll go to Carcosa in Far Cry 5.

Far Cry 3 was one of my favorite games of the last generation and if Ubisoft can turn around some of the less appealing aspects of that game (nonsensical “white savior” story and a rather bland second half) then we’ve got a huge hit on our hands. If the logical progression from flamethrower dubstep is elephant-riding RPG madness, then consider me sold.

Who’s on board for a little more Far Cry when it hits every consoles except the poor Wii U this November?

Source – UbiBlog

Having Some Dumb Fun with Sniper Elite: Nazi Zombie Army 2

sniper elite nazi zombie army 2

About a month ago I got gifted a copy of Sniper Elite: Nazi Zombie Army 2 on Steam and I didn’t bother playing it until this past weekend. I didn’t expect much from it, but I was surprised at how fun it ended up being.

If you’ve played Call of Duty’s zombie mode, then the set-up will sound very familiar: four WW2-era soldiers battle the Nazi zombie horde while searching for a way to end the onslaught. The difference here is that Sniper Elite is very much focused on long-range combat, so you’ll mostly be pulling sick headshots on a lot of shambling zombies. Unlike CoD’s version, the zombies (for the most part) in NZA2 are the slow, shuffling variety so you always have a fighting chance. There are a few “super” zombies like the machine gun guy or the summoner, but as you progress the zombies don’t get faster and more resilient, which I greatly appreciated.

Nazi Zombie Army 2 is by no means perfect, as I found that actually controlling your character was fairly sloppy and the cover system was basically useless. What NZA2 does well, however, is giving you slow-motion shots of your bullets destroying undead Nazi skulls and in the end, isn’t that all we really want?

A friend and I played this for a couple of hours on Saturday and I had a blast. The fact that it was free definitely helped, but it was much better than I expected and it got me interested in the Sniper Elite franchise in general (which has a three-quel coming out, wouldn’t you know it). Has anyone played any of the Sniper Elite series? What do you think of it?

Bungie’s Destiny Will Cost Activision $500 Million

bungie destiny

According to a story published by Reuters, Bungie’s upcoming sci-fi shooter RPG thing Destiny could wind up costing Activision Blizzard $500 million in development and promotional costs when all is said and done.

The next game out Bungie in their post-Halo days is no doubt a big deal, but I don’t think anyone’s leaning on its potential success quite as hard as Activision. With Call of Duty: Ghosts’ weak showing last year, Activision is no doubt hungry for their next hit shooter. $500 million could wind up making Destiny the most expensive video game in history, which is a significant gamble for a company that often seems like it likes to play it safe.

$500 million is quite an insane number to be spending on development and marketing, but a lot of that is going towards the development of Destiny’s next-gen engine (which is in-house, a tradition for Bungie) and a lot of back end infrastructure costs. I don’t know about you guys, but with $500 million behind it, Destiny’s servers better not crap out on launch day.

What do you guys think? Is Destiny worth this price tag? Are you going to pick up the game on September 9, and for what platform?

Source – Reuters

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Trailer Will Topple Your Expectations like a House of Cards

Originally the plan was for the newest Call of Duty game, made by Modern Warfare 3 collaborator Sledgehammer Games, to be revealed this coming Sunday, but you know how the Internet works. The official trailer for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is out now and it features Kevin Spacey (who is a Southern accent away from portraying Frank Underwood), drones, exoskeletons, hover bikes and much much more. If you thought Black Ops 2 was futuristic, wait until you get a load of this:

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare certainly looks nice, but there are also a lot of signs that point to it being on an upgraded version of the same old engine (I swear, I’ve watched the same running animation for the soldiers in slow-mo since 2007). What do you guys think of this reveal? Back on the Call of Duty hype-train? Can Advanced Warfare pick up after the post-Ghosts slump? According to the trailer, the release date for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is November 4, 2014. No consoles were specifically listed, except for the Xbox One version which provided the footage for the trailer.

The Hardcore Tactics of Insurgency

insurgency game

It just occured to me that I’ve been playing Insurgency for the past few months but never made a post about it, which is a shame because this is a damn fine shooter.

Insurgency is a “realistic” team-based first-person-shooter based on an old Half Life mod. You play as either Security or the Insurgents in several gameplay modes but the kicker here is that the game is pretty unforgiving if you’re used to kill feeds, regenerating health or hit markers because it doesn’t have any of that.

The UI in Insurgency is minimal to the point of being non-existent, but for some reason that wasn’t a real barrier for me and actually makes Insurgency one of the most thrilling mutliplayer shooters I’ve ever tried. Because enemies aren’t called out for you, you have to move carefully around the environment, using the lean ability to peek around corners because one or two good shots will end you. So far my favorite weapons are the single-shot designated marksmen rifles, but I’ve been just as effective with the assault rifles or even pistols. Continue reading The Hardcore Tactics of Insurgency