My Year as a PC Gamer

It has been a year since I switched my primary gaming platform from consoles to a gaming PC. In my year as a “PC gamer”, I’ve learned a lot. This article will be a recap of the good and the bad experiences I had when I switched to PC gaming after a life of relying on consoles for playing games.

The Good

Graphics

One of the very first things that I could say I enjoyed about owning a gaming PC was discovering just how great games could look. Having been limited to the capabilities of the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, both dated pieces of hardware, I did not experience 60fps all too often, aside from the occasional hack-and-slash and fighter. Moving to a world where all of my games, despite age, moved at a fluid framerate, was pretty dandy. Coupled with high resolution outputs and a myriad of PC graphical options, I won’t deny that simply having better looking games is something that I enjoy.

Mods

Now, you might think I’m holding to graphics a bit too much when I give my first mod example … but look at that picture above.

When I first played Skyrim, I just couldn’t get into it. I sank nearly 100 hours into Oblivion, but I couldn’t do the same with its sequel. I attribute my general lack of interest to the game’s visuals, not graphically, but artistically. Vanilla Skyrim is drab, dark, and visually unstimulating. If you know me well enough, you probably have learned I love color. I love stylized art directions, packed with vibrancy. With mods, I was not only able to improve Skyrim’s textures and effects, but also its color palette. Sure, there’s an argument that I’m playing with visuals not intended by the game’s developers and artists, but modding the game has allowed me to appreciate what the rest of the game has to offer.

Outside of Skyrim, I’ve enjoyed some time in Garry’s Mod and Just Cause 2’s multiplayer mod. Garry’s Mod isn’t my cup of vomit tea, due to being filled with loud teens and dreary sounding adults that take memes too seriously, and being a game founded in chaotic and inconsistent gameplay, but it’s got its audience and I respect that. A lot of things can be made in that game.

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The ability to tweak older games to work to modern standards (for me: System Shock 2’s HUD, Silent Hill 3’s aspect ratio), is extremely valuable as well.

Multiplayer

I’m not really big on competitive multiplayer. I sorta used to be during the early days of the Xbox 360’s life cycle. I played a whole lot of Gears of War, Perfect Dark Zero, and Far Cry: Instincts Predator. While I still prefer singleplayer, story-focused games, DayZ has become my most played game … possibly ever. Steam tells me I have logged 280 hours into that game. Why do I like it so much? Perhaps its the scope of its multiplayer world, where nothing can happen for hours on end, but the threat of being seen or attacked keeps you ever-vigilant.

Overall, multiplayer games on PC are less restrained in their scope. Just Cause 2’s multiplayer mod supports up to 1000 players. 1000! It’s madness.

Even a game like Battlefield 4, also on consoles, allows for twice as many online players on PC. It’s that sense of scale that heightens multiplayer for me, and until now, I’ve not experienced it.

Did I mention that I don’t need a subscription to play with other people online? That’s been nice!

Backwards Compatibility

There’s not much to say other than I can play old games, with resources like GoG, whenever I want. Unlike consoles that need to find software or hardware solutions on a system-wide level to make older games work or become accessible, there’s less of a concern playing old games on PC. If there ever is an issue, fans have the option to help make games playable again with the ability of mods.

Reviewing

Reviewing, previewing, and developing content on games has never been easier for me. The immediate perk of playing a game on the same machine that can run other software means that I can record footage, stream my game session, and edit content quickly. Before I had a gaming PC, my only option was to purchase a capture card (with decent ones costing $100 or more), and rigging it up to my TV and my laptop. My headset would also get in that mix, covering my media area with an uncomfortable amount of semi-suspended wires.

Now all I do is run OBS to record footage, then play, and then edit the file when I’m done.

For reviews, coupling my pretty capable gaming PC with my Astro A40 surround sound headset means I can enjoy games to their fullest. Clean visuals, and crisp surround sound audio allows me to soak up a game’s detail to new levels of appreciation. For horror games … oh boy.

The openness of the platform also allows me to receive advanced review code, which makes my job a lot easier. Deep Silver sent Saints Row 4 PC a month in advance. I had more than enough time to fully enjoy the game prior to writing my review – something more publishers should consider.

The Bad

Tech issues

I may know a few geeky things and am able to work my way around some basic issues, but my biggest fear with PC gaming is running into tech issues. I recently had a scare where I started to get the BSOD after going a year without any real issues, and it gave me an unhealthy portion of anxiety.

What scares me about tech issues with a gaming PC is the multitude of culprits that may be responsible. Is it a driver? Is it a virus? No, I did a virus scan. Is it a faulty Windows update? No. Is it something hardware based? Shit! Is it the HDD? Is it the GPU?. IS IT THE CPU? THIS IS GONNA COST SO MUCH MONEY TO FIX! IS IT THE MOTHERBOARD? IS IT DUST? FUCK YOU DUST?!!!!

Thankfully, I think I resolved that issue…I hope.

*Lights some incense, borrow some feathers from my parrot, and prays to Zeus to keep my PC healthy*

Console Exclusives

The downside to stepping out of the console world (at least for the time being) is missing out on the exclusives. I want to get a PlayStation 4 down the line. Games like inFamous: Second Son, Metal Gear Solid 5, The Last of Us, Kingdom Hearts III, Destiny, and others call to me, because they’re on consoles only.

I’m not beating myself up about not having a PS4, I can wait, but there will be games that I won’t be able to play until I buy another gaming machine, preferably Sony’s.

Inadequacy

Despite building my PC just a year ago and being able to run many things at visually impressive levels, there’s always the thought what if I can have better? Sometimes I’m just a few settings away from maxed out visuals and a consistent 60fps, and I think to myself maybe I should get better RAM; the sticks I have were free. Maybe I should overclock just to get a few more frames in [Insert Game Name]. 

Ideally, I would like to overclock my CPU to a safe level and boost my RAM, but finances will prevent that. Also, my S.O. would yell at me for spending the money. But I won’t be spending frivolously boosting my PC and become one of scary people on /r/battlestations. Prepare to feel like shit if you click that link.

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So, it has a been a year since I became a “PC Gamer”. Would I recommend it? Hell yeah.

The Late E3 Post

It may be a little late to talk about E3 2014 (which happened to be my first after years of waiting to go – sqeee!), but it just occured to me that pointing at my E3 coverage on my blog makes a lot of sense. Aside from setting up our entire schedule ( + filming and editing), I also happened to appear on camera for a few things as well as writing a hands-on preview of Alien: Isolation.

Below I have included my impressions of Dying Light and Akiba’s Trip: Undead and Undressed, and then a guided demo of H1Z1 where I ask questions as it’s played. There’s also a video recap of the entire show between me and Zack. We filmed that on my last day in LA, and if you listen closely you might hear me being out of breath due to asthma that was aggravated by allergies. I also wish I put an upbeat tune to that video, but oh well – live and learn!

I look forward to next year’s show and hope double the amount of content we put out!

Review: Outlast Whistleblower [Rely on Horror]

Outlast: Whistleblower is absolutely gruesome; it’s the most violent game I’ve ever played.

I have no other way to begin this review, because that was my very first thought upon completing the expansion to an already shocking madhouse of a game. Envelopes have been pushed (to lengths I’m sure people will consider too far), and I’m honestly surprised this released without any objections. Whistleblower blows the original game out of the water in its attempts to make animated gore scary once again, and I’m both appalled and impressed.

Preview: Broforce [GGS Gamer]

Broforce is one of the best Steam Early Access games that I’ve played to date. Imagine the concept of The Expendables but in video game form – minus the high probability of being a subpar licensed tie-in. Broforce takes some of the most familiar action heroes from the last few decades and puts them into an arcadey shooter the likes of Contra, with a pixel graphics and world deformation.

Despite being in alpha state, Broforce performs exceptionally well and all it really lacks at this time is polish to its many game modes. But how does it play, you ask? Like a democracy-bomb filled with bald eagle feathers, that’s how!

Review: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 [GGS Gamer]

There hasn’t been a great Spider-Man game since Treyarch’s 2004 Spider-Man 2. Fans of the character and that game have been waiting a long time for something to rival its quality. Since Spider-Man 2, we’ve had two open world games with Spider-Man 3 and Web of Shadows, both being nothing but a step down (in my humble opinion). French Canadian developer Beenox entered the scene in 2010 with Spider-Man: Shattered Dimension, dropping the open-world in favor of linear levels. Edge of Time released the following year, also linear.

It wasn’t until 2012 that the Spider-Man video game series once again became open-world. To coincide with the release of Sony Pictures’ film of the same name, Beenox brought Spider-Man back to New York City with free reign to swing above its streets. The first The Amazing Spider-Man game isn’t perfect, not by any means, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I would go so far to say it’s the best Spider-Man game since Spider-Man 2 – perhaps on par or lesser so than Ultimate Spider-Man.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 film is in theaters and with it comes another licensed tie-in game. Beenox has returned to release a new game to accompany the film, and unlike its predecessor, it’s not a sequel to the film, but more of a re-imagining of its key events and villains. Beenox has slowly been improving on their Spider-Man game formula, so the question is: does The Amazing Spider-Man 2 game excel where their previous games have not?

Well, yes and no.

ESCAPE: Extended Edition | February 14th Update

I said some words and I feel self conscious about my performance, but that’s OK. Check it out!

A Certain Blogging Tobiichi

Hello everyone, hope you checked out the Valentine’s Day trailer for ESCAPE: Extended Edition above, it reveals the voice of Robert’s husband Lucas, played by CJ Melendez, as he tries to get in touch with Robert who has disappeared.

I thought I would give you guys a few new details on the upcoming version of the game, what it will contain and things like that.

• New Story Content
  The original ESCAPE was divided into two chapters; The Bedroom and The Basement. In ESCAPE: Extended Edition we have rearranged some stuff in those two chapters and added three new chapters. These new chapters let you explore new rooms and find out new information about what is going on. You will also learn about and possibly interact with new characters.
• New Voice Acting
  Zack Furniss returns as Robert Fairs, providing new lines for the new content. CJ Melendez stars as…

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Shut Up, Kid!

12 year olds are the most detestable group in multiplayer gaming. The moniker “12 year olds” is not representative of the actual age of the children within this group, but the connotation is quickly and generally associated with “asshole kids” to those in the gaming community. When someone complains about children in multiplayer games, you’d be remiss not to hear them called “12 year olds”.

There are some despicable kids out there across Xbox Live, PSN, and PC – vile children whose parents should be monitoring them and washing their mouths out with soap when they hear a stream of expletives or verbal attacks come from their offspring. Racist and homophobic remarks get bounced around like a playground ball, and personal attacks are commonplace in online communities where children are present. There is a troubling issue at hand that stems not from the children, but from those they share their online communities with: the adult gamers. These children are merely a product of their online environment and it’s about time we stop calling for their exclusion and take a stand against those that act so vehemently toward them.

2013: A Year in Review

This idea came to me the other day while in the shower (like all of the best ideas). I should have recapped all of the things that I wrote in 2013 in one post. It’s a bit late to do so, but I figure it can’t hurt to post a few links to the things that I’ve written about and reviewed last year.

A Plea for Penis – Striving for Realism and Maturity in Games

Nudity in video games has been a mostly one sided affair – with the amount of visible female anatomy far outweighing that of men. Video games have featured women completely nude, breasts and groins exposed. Similarly to the movie industry, men – pardon the pun – get the shaft and rarely have their parts visible on-screen even during nude scenes within mature-rated content.

The absence of male nudity within games is ignorant, dismissive of a variety of demographics, and in some cases, nonsensical. A variety of scenarios across a breadth of genres have equal opportunity for tasteful and non-sexual nudity – as a means to show maturity within the medium.

There is an issue of inequality present. Publishers believe that the targeted male demographic can only handle seeing women exposed in video games. Bare penises in video games are few and far between. I’m not talking about the occasional suggestive joke image or dildo. Nor am I calling for more sexually explicit games with on-screen sexual activity. Logistically, we should be seeing far more male nudity than the game industry is willing to show us. Penises can be a vital storytelling tool to evoke an emotion out of the player – whether that be fear, comedy, or simply displaying a fact-of-life situation within a sophisticated narrative. But there is still a hesitation: a lack of contextual male nudity in popular media, especially in video games.

Let’s start with my favorite genre; horror. Consider this scenario: an evil corporation has transformed human beings into terrible, disgusting monsters. The mutations have ravaged their forms and the need for clothing no longer applies. All body parts are intact, but transformed. However, there is a distinct lack of monster dong.

Let’s look at this image of Resident Evil’s Tyrant. Its arms, legs, and body have increased in mass, and its skin a dull gray tone. The Tyrant is completely naked, but upon examination of its lower region, no trace of genitalia can be found. Sure, we can say that it was removed during experimentation, but where is the visible markings of removal? Resident Evil Remake has brilliant texture work, so any intent to suggest that the Tyrant had genitals prior to experimentation is not apparent. The Tyrant was simply designed to disregard this aspect of basic human anatomy. But why? Did Capcom’s designers fear that the inclusion of male genitalia, or even a slight suggestive mark, would make players more uncomfortable than gore and death? Apparently so.

Who took it?!

Looking at a Naked Zombie, also in Resident Evil Remake, there is a distinct lack of markings where the family jewels should be. As with the Tyrant, it’s as if someone simply airbrushed or covered the area with flat skin, removing any detail or suggestion that parts are missing. Code Veronica’s Naked Zombies actually had visible damage to their genital areas, which didn’t imply that the designers were afraid to acknowledge the existence of male parts, but merely had a lack of a desire to include them. The PS1 era Resident Evil titles wouldn’t have been able to render these parts if they wanted to.

If this matter is strictly due to the potential discomfort of players, then why wouldn’t a horror game make use of something so simple within the design of a nude male creature? Frictional Games’ 2007 episodic title Penumbra features a monster type called the “Tuurngait Infected”. Tuurngaits are naked, zombie-like creatures with mutilated genitals. This phallic and tubular body part that connects its stomach to its groin is the Tuurngait’s most striking feature. Had the monster not been equipped with such a strange-looking willy, its scare factor would have significantly been reduced.

Nudity makes most people feel uncomfortable. It’s socially unacceptable to go out completely nude in public. Being nude somewhat creates a feeling of vulnerability. Being confronted by a creature or person that disregards the social taboo to nudity and the feelings of vulnerability it creates, is frightening. When it comes to monster designs that are derivative of the human form, the more anatomically correct the creature is, the more discomfort it creates for players.

[Click for Uncensored]

Seen above is an image of the two brothers in Red Barrel Games’ Outlast. These two men are not creatures, but simply homicidal maniacs that lack clothing. The two brothers have a calm but threatening demeanor. Their disregard for the faux pas of public nudity further exemplifies the harsh conditions of the chaotic environment in which they reside – and their troubling mental states. Their exposed winkies have a far deeper connotation than simply being obscene.

The depiction of Lucifer’s oversized penis is meant to symbolize his pride (Dante’s Inferno)
[Click for Uncensored]

Penises don’t have to be scary, as much as some publishers and developers believe they are. They’re simply a part of the male body. If game creators want to strive for mature, contextual, and non-nonchalant displays of nudity in their games, they’re going to have to realize that the depiction of male genitalia won’t literally burn the eyes of immature and insecure adult gamers – clearly breasts and lady-groins haven’t produced those results.

Stubbs’ stub
[Click for Uncensored]

Let’s look at a few games that have featured male nudity in a light of a non-sexual nature. One of the most universally recognized examples would be in Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and the Damned. In a meeting with Congressman Thomas Stubbs, protagonist Johnny Klebbitz (and players) get an eyeful of flaccid man-meat after several intentional close-camera shots. Rockstar intentionally danced around the showing of a penis in a video game as if proudly boasting that they were brave enough to do so – expecting players to drop their guard at the possibility of ever seeing a penis so clearly in their game.

I have yet to play Grand Theft Auto V, but I’m told that male and female nudity is in no short abundance. GTA Online players have the choice to run around without pants. It may be crass and humorous to some hoping to be edgy, but Rockstar’s inclusion of a natural element of the human body shows progressive and mature thinking – whether or not it’s used as a comedic tool by players.

[Click for Uncensored]

Rust, a recently released Steam Early Access title by the creator of Garry’s Mod is a game about survival in a post-apocalyptic world. Rust features a whole lot of male nudity as all player-controlled characters in Rust start out as naked, bald men. Rust is not trying to say anything or be groundbreaking with its inclusion of nudity; it merely presents the naked male form as a fact of life. In context of a survival game where hypothermia and radiation exposure are constant threats, nudity and all of the vulnerabilities and handicaps associated with it, exist to accentuate the realistic concerns that one would have while living in harsh conditions.

The Metal Gear Solid series is no stranger to acknowledging the frank and beans found between a man’s legs. Countless times throughout the series attention to a man’s parts have been used to bring comedic value to a scene – or even a means to confirm someone’s identity. I’m sure we all remember Raiden’s nude adventure at the climax of Metal Gear Solid 2, right? Comedic situations such as this can be found in a few older games as well.

In the past, during the arcade and pixel graphic days, some games humorously showed nude males and their pixel-by-pixel length wangs and/or butts. Rampage, which starred two men and a woman as playable monsters, would revert its mutant characters back into human form if they incurred enough damage to their health. The original Rampage had its characters cover up their special parts and nervously walk off screen. In Rampage: World Tour, graphical improvements gave developer Game Refuge Inc the raw technical power to render tiny pixel penises for their naked characters. River City Ransom featured a spa scene where the main character’s butt was exposed. But where there’s one semi-nude video game guy, there’s 100 times more instances of exposed women.

Practical “Armor”

Women have been subjected to objectified female video game characters for decades. A scantily clad warrior with impractical armor, the damsels in distress, etc. The fact that when we do see some skin in games, it’s mostly female characters retreading the same lazy and offensive path. Women are marginalized and ignored when it comes to the dominant demographic that most games cater to. Who’s to say that women don’t want to see some skin as well? I’m not asking for reverse objectification, mind you, but an effort to make the playing field equal. Games are largely designed to cater to a male hetero-normative demographic, despite reports stating that women make up 45% of gamers [Sales, Demographic and Usage Data, ESA]

In contrast to other countries (especially European ones), American sensibilities are still prudish – we’re a culture that’s far more supportive of violence in media than acknowledgment of human sexual nature. Murder, gore, and violence in gaming is less appalling – less challenged by consumers, than a female protagonist having a love interest, or optional gay character relationships, or something as simple as seeing a fake penis.

“Wah, I’m insecure about seeing sexual content I don’t identify with!”

For the medium to grow and to be all-inclusive, we must drop the stigma of male nudity within games. If a game developer sets out to feature nude women for titillating reasons, all the while purposefully ignoring their male characters, they’re not only perverting and abusing an artistic medium in hopes to appeal to a perceived male-only demographic, they’re promoting a double standard. A standard that considers their male demographic immature, perverse, and moronic – while showcasing their own aversion and fears towards male nudity.

Brothers, sisters, let us embrace the video game penis for all that it stands for: growth, inclusiveness, acceptance, and equality!

Note: the images are censored so the article can be safe for work. The uncensored versions are one click away!

My Top 5 GOTY games

So, like all the cool kids have done, I too have written my own GOTY list. There are five games listed in no particular order, and you may or may not agree with them. Check ’em out!

The Stanley Parable

The Stanley Parable snuck up on me and impressed me more than I could have imagined. I had never heard of the original mod, nor the hype prior to the release of the standalone version, but once I saw how people reacted to this game, I had to try it. I launched the game, not knowing what to expect, because a lot reviewers avoided spoiling the magic (much to my appreciation), and I became transfixed and highly amused by what I was seeing and hearing. The only way a person can recommend this game without spoiling it is saying that, “you should just play it as soon as possible”. So go do that, and also read my Honorable Mention in Horror article about The Stanley Parable, on Rely On Horror.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

It’s not often that I find myself so in love with a game that I replay it numerous times back-to-back. Before I did so with MGR, I played through DmC: Devil May Cry about two to three times. Before that, I powered through several replays of Silent Hill Downpour. Before that…I don’t remember a time when I could muster up the drive to do so, outside of my childhood.

My first playthrough of Metal Gear Rising was a tad disappointing. It wasn’t that I was hoping it would be more like MGS or even have some proper stealth elements, but I just didn’t get into it. Perhaps, this was because of how I was playing the game – stepping right off of DmC, I probably jumped into it seeking high number combos and flashy moves. I beat the game, loved the last fight (despite it being pretty difficult), and then replayed it. I then replayed it again. And Again. And again.

Once I understood the game wanted me to play with Zandatsu in mind – eliminating enemies through my cuts rather than my combos – I started to become deeply invested in the game’s combat system. I finished one difficulty and then moved on to the next. Out of all of my friends, I am the only that can say that I completed the game on Revengeance difficulty. I’m not an expert player at anything, but I think I got damn close with MGR!

As of writing this, I am pumped to replay Metal Gear Rising on PC. I don’t know how many more playthroughs I’ve got in me, or if I’ve lost my ripper skills, but I’m  excited to hear more goofy dialogue feel the satisfaction of turning cyborgs into sashimi.

Outlast

Outlast won’t win any awards for originality within the horror genre. It takes place in an asylum, and it’s got an evil corporation in it; and…the enemies are crazy deformed people that want to hurt you. The game also has got its fair share of gore as well, and there’s a heavy usage of familiar gameplay mechanics. But despite all of this, it’s a hell of a good game. I reviewed Outlast and gave it my very first 10/10 on Rely On Horror.

Outlast takes a bucket full of horror cliches and tropes, freshens them up, throws an extremely polished coat of paint on them, and them confidently thrusts players into its wonderfully realized world of horror. The gameplay is simple but tense. The imagery is not original, but it is expertly designed to produce a foreboding and ominous asylum that is both impressive to look at and terrifying to be in.

DmC: Devil May Cry

I’ll start by getting this out of the way: I’m not a diehard fan of the Devil May Cry series. I’ve purchased and completed each game in the series as they were released since the very first, but I’ve never been extremely invested in the characters or world. I enjoyed the first Devil May Cry as a child – it was somewhat creepy but also very exciting to play. Plus, at the time, a game about shooting and fighting demons was on the top of my “that’s cool!” list.

As I’m sure many others will say, I didn’t like Devil May Cry 2 very much at all. As for DMC3, I loved that game when it released (so much so that I completed in a handful of days), but ended up selling it rather quickly. When DMC4 was announced for the Xbox 360 (the only console I had at the time), I celebrated like many others. But when DMC4 released, I was left disappointed by what I got; I didn’t like Nero, and I didn’t enjoy yet another game in which Dante acted like a reserved cool guy that felt too cool to tell anyone what he was planning (DMC2), and I most certainly did not like the game’s plot.

While the internet went ablaze when the line “My name is Dante” was spoken in the first teaser trailer for Ninja Theory’s reboot, I recall enjoying the trailer’s song and making a comment about how New-Dante looked a bit too much like Hilary Swank. Once I got my hands on the game for review, I fell in love. Ninja Theory’s Enslaved was quite the beautiful and charming game. My only issues with it was that the combat system was a bit simple and unsatisfying. With DmC, they crafted something much, much better. Like Enslaved before it, DmC featured a rich and colorful world and striking level design. The style of the game, heavily influenced by anarchist and rebellious behavior, along with its soundtrack by Combichrist and Noisia, won me over. In fact, I used to play a custom Combichrist playlist while playing DMC4, because the in-game combat track got of my nerves fairly quickly.

DmC‘s combat was deeply enjoyable, and new Dante has pinchable cheeks. Both of these features are among the top reasons why the game was one of my favorites this year. If DmC2 is ever sanctioned by Capcom, no matter how unlikely that scenario seems, I hope for a better story and deeper, more complex characters along with  a slew combat improvements.

The Last of Us

The Last of Us is a fine game to play and witness. With combat that’s as grim as its narrative, it explores mankind’s penchant for violence. It may be yet another “zombie” title about humans being the true monsters, but it handles this theme masterfully.

Naughty Dog has given us a story that’s filled with hope and despair. Hope for a world to return to what it once was: a mask of order and civility that hides what humans are truly capable of when all structure is lost. Hope for a father figure to save the world (or maybe just his).

The Last of Us is a culmination of a quantity of powerful, brilliant, and engaging elements that come together to forma  fantastic piece of interactive storytelling. 

Breaking someone’s skull with a brick is pretty fun, too.