Category: Shooter

The Division Delivers But Only in Fits and Starts

Tom Clancy’s The Division, a game about American sleeper agents taking back New York after a brutal viral outbreak, released at the beginning of March after one of the most prolonged hype cycles in recent memory. I’ve played a decent amount of the Division, completed the story and found every single collectible (all 290 something of them). I’ve fought tons of bullet sponge enemies and spent minutes scratch my head over whether some gear is better than others thanks to the somewhat impenetrable item stats.

The Division is getting a significant patch next week that is adding an end-game activity called Incursions and bringing in sweeping changes to loot, crafting and a whole bunch of other stuff. This impression covers everything pre-patch and some of my feedback might be addressed come release, but this is what I thought of The Division during the first month of its life. Continue reading The Division Delivers But Only in Fits and Starts

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

Helldivers is Hardcore Co-op Action

For you PlayStation Plus owners out there, Helldivers is available for free this month. The GamerSushi crew, plus a friend of Eddy’s, checked it out last night and an awesome time was had by all.

If you are not familiar with Helldivers, it’s a top down twin stick shooter where you play as the eponymous soldiers who are dropped onto various planets to wipe out the alien races for the glory of Super Earth. The game has a very tongue in cheek sense of humor; when you kill aliens, your person shouts things like “HAVE SOME DEMOCRACY!”. If you’ve seen Starship Troopers, then you’re familiar with the kind of milieu this game is going for. Continue reading Helldivers is Hardcore Co-op Action

Rise of the Tomb Raider is a Great PC Port if You Have the Rig for It

A mere three months after its exclusive Xbox One release, Rise of the Tomb Raider has arrived on the PC bringing the rebooted Lara Croft’s mass-murdering rampages to PC players everywhere.

On the scale of PC ports from Arkham Knight to Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, Rise of the Tomb Raider falls closer to the latter, but it still requires a beefy rig to get the most out of it. The minimum requirements are pretty forgiving (i3 or equivilant, 2GB GPU) aside from the 6GB of RAM, which is quite the ask for most builds. For reference, I’m running an i7-2770k, 16GB of RAM and a 4GB GTX 980. Despite the taxing nature of the game I ran it on the highest quality with nary a dip below 60 fps aside from a couple areas at the end when everything was popping off – fire, lighting, multiple enemies, collapsing geometry, you name it. Continue reading Rise of the Tomb Raider is a Great PC Port if You Have the Rig for It

Testing the Division Beta on PC

This past weekend the Division beta finally gave us a glimpse into the long-gestating title that Massive has been working on. The hype train for The Division has been a long and strange one and it felt good to finally get my hands on the game.

While the beta was fairly limited to one mission and the Dark Zone, I had an awesome time taking on the gangs throughout New York and going rogue against others agents to steal their loot. I played on PC and the game was fairly well optimized for a Ubisoft-published title. While there was some concerns about the “bullet-sponge” nature of the enemies from pre-beta impressions, I didn’t really notice it too much at the time. Continue reading Testing the Division Beta on PC

Watch 50 Minutes of The Division Gameplay Because You Know You Want To

Youtuber JackFrags (along with a bunch of other YouTube channels and outlets except for us and Kotaku) visited Ubisoft recently to get a peek at the long-in-development Tom Clancy third-person shooter RPG hybrid The Division. A lot of the videos that made their way to the Internet last week were short and had voice-overs, but JackFrags put up 50 minutes of commentary-free footage featuring some co-op mission action and Dark Zone shenanigans. The footage was recorded on Xbox One, for reference. Watch the embedded video below if you want to know more:

My hype level for the Division has been steadily climbing since the previews started hitting. I’ve seen some complaints about the “bullet sponge” nature of the enemies, but it makes sense if you think about it as an RPG first rather than a twitch-based shooter. I’m in the beta that will be hitting the PC at the end of January so I’ll most likely be streaming the game for anyone interested.

Who else is riding that Division hype train? Anyone on the fence?

Source – JackFrags’ YouTube channel

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?

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

The Visible, Violent Deaths of Sniper Elite 3

sniper elite 3

Over the weekend I put a decent amount of time into Sniper Elite 3, Rebellion’s latest foray into the realm of shooting a lot of Nazis (and Italian soldiers!) in the face and testicles in slow motion, and I have to say I’m digging it quite a bit.

I’d describe Sniper Elite 3 as a “rough diamond” of sorts. The folks at Rebellion have done a great job of making a fun stealth title and if you like sniping then this is definitely the game for you. Just be aware that there are a few hiccups that might detract from your experience. Continue reading The Visible, Violent Deaths of Sniper Elite 3

Review: Watch Dogs

watch dogs review

Nothing screamed “the next gen is here” more than Ubisoft’s E3 2012 stage reveal of Watch Dogs. The PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One weren’t even revealed yet, but everyone knew what Watch Dogs was heralding when Ubisoft showed it off for the first time.

Two years and one delay later, we finally get to hack the mean streets of Chicago. Is Watch Dogs a next gen standard bearer or does it barely straddle the line between the last generation and this one? Continue reading Review: Watch Dogs

Watch a Speedrunner Beat Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes in Less Than Four Minutes

Ever since I watched the 30 minute Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain E3 gameplay demo, I’ve been on kind of a Metal Gear Solid kick. I’m interested in Ground Zeroes, the prequel of sorts to TPP, and even though I understand the game has a lot more content than it appears to have at first glance, this speedrunner beating Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes in less than four minutes with an S rank kind of belies that.

He has an almost perfect run and relies pretty heavily on the Reflex mode, but it’s still damn entertaining to watch.

Modder Restores Watch Dogs to its E3 2012 Demo Glory

Between its debut at E3 2012 and its final release on May 27, Watch Dogs received a noticeable downgrade in the looks department. An intrepid modder over on Guru3D.com found some unused files in the games install folder that restores Watch Dogs to its former E3 2012 visual glory as well as fixing some of the console port-itis the PC version suffers from.

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

Get Your Watch Dogs Review Score Round-Up

watch dogs review scores

Ubisoft’s long awaited open-world hackathon Watch Dogs is finally upon us. The embargo lifted late last night and a torrent of reviews flooded in from all over the Internet. It seems that Watch Dogs is getting fairly positive scores across the board, mostly being criticized for some funky driving mechanics and for not really being that unique of an open-world game outside of the hacking abilities.

Here are some review scores from some other websites you may have heard of:

I’ve got Watch Dogs sitting on my PC right now but InFamous: Second Son is currently taking up most of my gaming bandwidth (along with Battlefield 4 and some Company of Heroes 2) but I expect to get to it soon. I hear there’s an interesting glitch right now where taking to the river will cause you to lose your police pursuit as the Chicago PD of Watch Dogs doesn’t have a maritime presence.

Has anyone here played Watch Dogs? What are your initial impressions?