Bethesda did not do themselves any favours with the awful marketing they did for DOOM, in fact, they very nearly put me off buying it all together. The multiplayer beta was a disaster, not for one all-consuming reason but just because it came across as generic and boring. Then in a surprising move, the big B decided not to send any review copies out to media outlets, which as we all know is a good sign something is amiss. The reasoning given was so that reviewers would not critique the game's multiplayer aspects on empty servers: are you kidding me? Why not just embargo the multiplayer portion until a few days after launch thus allowing review sites chance to review the single player campaign?
Yet on launch day as I booted up the game with such legendary heritage something was not as it should be, this was good... actually, this was very good. It is always great when a game you assumed would be a flop actually turns out to be one of the better games you have played that year. I also think that the big media sites are going to show a disconnect with how they review DOOM and how the average gamer sees the remake of a classic. I have just finished reading IGNs review and I honestly think they just don't get it. Ok so if you come at this game with the mindset of comparing it to all the other modern FPS games out there then on paper DOOM will end up lacking in many aspects. However, I believe a remake of DOOM needed to be the old game but improved, not a new game that looked like the original: still with me? The game we have been given is fast, ferocious and leaves your palms sweating and heart thumping. If you would like to read my full review please check it out here.
So we finally got to play an elusive target mission, an aspect of the new Hitman game that has been living up to its name. In fact, near missed the damn thing and only caught it with four hours left due to a friend mentioning he'd just done it. So how was it? Well, it's interesting, on the face of things it was a fairly dull mission: find a famous artist and make sure he had painted his last masterpiece. However, the sheer fact that you get just one chance to play this mission made every move tense and I ended up second guessing everything I did. An impressive thing to accomplish when I know the Paris level like the back of my hand. I still need to check out the second setting for the new Hitman so expect an update on this soon.
Today marks the one-week countdown to Overwatch, a game that pretty much all much gaming friends are aching to play again: impressive considering how much we played the beta. There is a palpable sense of anticipation for this new arena shooter from Blizzard and while I held off as long as I could: I think I am on the hype zeppelin with the rest of the gaming world. From what we can see the launch version will be almost identical to the beta client so that should help me get a review out in good time.
After spending all week drooling at screenshots for Uncharted 4 I finally gave in yesterday and picked up a copy. Apart from work, my PC may be getting the longest rest it has had since I built it. I have only played a few hours so far but damn, Naughty Dog can make games like no one else. I might grab some screenshots for the Shooting Gallery because this might be one of the prettiest games I have ever played.
That is all for now folks, as always please follow me @riggedforepic, find me on Youtube under the same name and if you wish to contact me you can get me at Riggedforepic@gmail.com.