Category: Computer

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Shmee’s Top 5 Video Games Of 2017!

In preparation for the Xbox One X I was saving my money, so I didn’t play a lot of new games this year, but the ones I did, I generally liked, and I also got to tackle my backlog which was nice.  Anyway, here are my top five games of 2017 in reverse order!

5: Mass Effect: Andromeda

After all the pre-release hate this game was getting, I was expecting not to like Mass Effect: Andromeda, but I ended up really enjoying my trip to our closest galactic neighbor.  After a bad first impression, I learned to love my crew and got invested in their stories, and I wish there was more.  Sadly that is not to be, but at least we got one more Mass Effect game.  I hope the series doesn’t stay away too long.

4: Batman: The Enemy Within

Batman: The Telltale Series was an interesting look at what it was like to be Bruce Wayne in an alternate year two scenario, and Batman: The Enemy Within continues that exploration.  I love it.  I love interacting with all these familiar, but incredibly different characters.  It is the best thing to happen to Batman in a long time.

3: Cuphead

1930’s art combined with old school mega man/contra style controls?  I am in.  Cuphead was a great first outing for Studio MDHR.  The bosses and stages were unique, and the game was challenging without ever being unfair.  They deserved all their game of the year accolades.

2: Torment: Tides of Numenera

Most people would be turned off if I told them an RPG played more like a book than a video game, but then they would miss out on the excellence of Torment: Tides of Numenera.  Despite the strange title, the story, the story you build, about the Last Castoff is one well worth taking, and one I will not forget any time soon.  Its ending is a little shaky, but everything that comes before that is gold.

1: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds

Who knew that an ugly game where you are dropped on an island and scavenge for weapons and gear would take the world by storm, but PUGB did just that.  It plays poorly and it looks bad, but the hook is exhilarating.  It proved the old adage that looks aren’t everything.  PUBG was this year’s can’t miss title, and if you haven’t played it yet, do yourself a favor and give it a try.

Those were my top games of 2017!  What did you like this year?  Let me know in the comments below.

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PUBG Goes 1.0 On PC! So How Is It?

I finally stopped playing PUBG on Xbox One long enough to go back and try out the 1.0 version on PC, so what is different than pre-release?  Obviously vaulting and the new map are in place, but the big difference is the optimization.  The game plays much better on my PC.  Not great, but way better than it did when I first started playing.

I used to get frame-rate swings from 80FPS down to 10FPS while just looking at a wall.  It all had to do with how many enemies were around at any given moment, but now the swings are not quite as bad.  They go from 80FPS to 55FPS, and while things still get worse when other people are around, the swings seem to have more to do with the areas I am in.  For instance, my computer seems to have a harder time in cities, as you would expect.

Vaulting is nice.  Not getting stuck jumping over a low fence is always appreciated, but this feature has been on the Xbox version from the start, so it is nothing new.  The new desert map on the other hand, Miramar, is.  While I am not sure Miramar plays better than Erangel, I can say it looks much better.  Everything about the old map is cookie cutter.  The buildings all look exactly the same.  Meanwhile Miramar feels more organic.  Like it used to be a real place once, and while the same building may crop up from time to time, they have disguised it so it doesn’t stick out as much.  Even better, its rolling hills are perfect for sick motorcycle stunts.  The biggest downer for me is that there is no vegetation, so it is a sniper’s paradise.

All in all, it is a good update that adds a lot to PUBG, and makes it much more stable.  For most games I would say that it seems like it is still in beta, but that it no longer feels like an early release alpha either, so now is probably a pretty good time to give it a try.

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In Defence Of PUBG On Xbox!

PUBG on Xbox One has gotten off to a rocky start, especially on the vanilla Xbox One, but all is not lost.  PlayerUnkown’s Battlegrounds has never been about graphics or performance, but instead the experience of trying to survive this crazy game.  Constantly choosing whether to stay in the shadows or go on the offensive.  Drive further in to the safe zone or to stay close to the edge of the circle, so that no one can get behind you.

Every minute you are playing PUBG you are making decisions, and from my experience, most of those decisions will get you killed.  PUBG makes its players think in a way competitive multiplayer shooters haven’t forced their players to think in a long time.  Lately it has been all about how fast your reflexes are, and while that is still important in PUBG, safely maneuvering around other players to get the drop on them is much more important.

So while the Xbox One port of the game is in a rougher state than we hoped, with tons of rubber band lag and texture pop-in galore, it is still worth playing.  Though I will understand if you hold off for a few more patches.  In fact that is probably wise, but just don’t stay away forever.  PUBG is too good to miss, and so far the other Battle Royal games aren’t even close to as good.  Though they aren’t a bad way to tide you over.

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RPCS3 Works, But You Better Have A Beefy Rig.

I have always had fun playing with emulation, so RPCS3 has intrigued me.  The PS3 uses a very custom Power PC based processor called ‘The Cell’, so in order to emulate it on an x86 based processor it all needs to run at the software level.  The developer recommends an Intel Core i7 or better to get games running decently, but I thought I would give it a shot with my cheap overclocked AMD FX-8320.  It didn’t go well.

I couldn’t get games to run over 15 FPS, but I am guessing with a Threadripper or a an i7 I could have stabilized things a bit more.  Some people are able to get amazing performance, but most of us are stuck in frame drop city.  This is why it is incredible that the Xbox One is able to run un-recompiled Power PC Xbox 360 games so well, and even run some of them at 4K on the Xbox One X.

I am not condoning pirating, and if you are going to run emulators on your PC please buy the software first, and in RPCS3’s case, you can get a used PS3 for far cheaper than you can buy a PC that can run the emulator decently.  Not to mention most PS3 games are pretty cheap themselves theses days.  All in all, it is amazing what the RPCS3 team has accomplished, but don’t go thinking your bargain PC will be running PS3 games in a playable fashion any time soon.

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I Am Not Sure If Prey Is Its Own Game Or Series Of References!

I get the distinct impression that I have played Prey before, and not because I played the 2006 original.  No, because I have played the three games that Prey uses as its foundation extensively.  That being the case I find when I play Prey, I play a lot of it, but I am not sure it is because I like it, or because there is not a new System Sock, Bioshock, or Deus Ex to play.

In Prey you play as either a male of female Morgan Yu (I am playing as a girl) who has taken a job with her brother, Alex, aboard the scientific space station Talos I.  Morgan was going to be doing advanced science and research, but instead she finds the station overrun with unknown aliens.  It is up to Morgan to figure out what has happened and stop the aliens from getting to Earth.

To help Morgan on her way she can gain new abilities by getting Neuromods that jack in to her brain and help it function better.  Much like Praxis Kits in the newer Dues Ex games you need a set number of Neuromods to unlock an ability, so to get the more advanced skills you need to collect or manufacture a lot of Neuromods.

The most unique part of Prey is the ability to recycle everything and then make new stuff from the parts.  Practically what this means however is that you will find less ammo and useful stuff around the game, and end up just stuffing your inventory with a lot of junk until you can find a Recycler.  Then holding on to the recycled materials until you find a Fabricator, so this functionally ends up working like the vending machines in Bioshock.  Except instead of cash you carry around junk.

Like all games these days you get what I call a puzzle gun.  The gun you will use as your tool to get out of all your unfortunate circumstances.  Instead of a gravity gun, a portal gun, or a bow and arrow with cool stuff attached, you get a GLOO gun that can patch holes, make bridges and ladders, and entrap enemies.  It doesn’t quite do everything, but if you are stuck, it is safe to say it is at least worth pondering if the GLOO gun can help you out.

Almost everything in Prey is a reference to another game.  Right down to cribbing Bioshock’s Art Deco look, System Shock’s atmosphere (though a lot of games have stolen that), Dues Ex’s progression system, and Half Life’s special gun mechanic, and if I am honest, I think those games did their shtick better than Prey does.  However, Prey weaves them all together pretty well, and it is competently made, so it is worth your time and money.  Especially if you like the games it barrows from.  I am enjoying myself, but I just wish it was more original.