The Never Ending Backlog Blog

From the Evil Assholes (EA) that brought you (closing a famous and renowned studio) and Star Wars Battlefront 2s PR nightmare, EA has produced a stellar remake of its beloved horror Dead Space, without any unnecessary multiplayer or micro transactions tacked on, (As of writing this 22/2/23), which I now publish five months later.

Dead Space looks amazing, with an updated engine, and textures to match the powerhouse units of 2023, the USG Ishimura has never looked better, and never been more traumatizing to stay alive in. Isaac has also received a facelift, modelled to look like his voice actor Gunner Wright. Several roles have also been recast, Hammond and Daniels, with the new actors smashing their roles out of obit.

The story still follows the originals faithfully, albeit with several characters more fleshed out, several new side quests which give more time for side characters to shine. Isaac also drops his strong silent act, and instead comments on the scenario that he finds himself in, making the game feel a lot more natural, for instance Issac swears if he runs out of ammo, or if the player decides to spam the stomp button repeatedly. Neat!

The game is a technical masterpiece, the player can travel around the ship, and backtrack at their leisure, something the original did not allow, when I returned to previous areas, I found Necromorphs who I had killed, lying in the same position from hours before, next to ammo or pieces of the environment I used to kill them.

The games lighting and sound is something to be cheered about, I haven’t felt a more tense atmosphere in a horror game as of late. Hearing Nercomorphs in the walls, and far off in the distance creates a stellar atmosphere dripping with fear of what’s outside the range of my flashlight. Taking away that lighting and leaving the areas in pitch darkness, with the player only being able to use their torchlight to see, is another added mechanic that is a chef’s kiss.

Frustrating elements have been removed, such a transporting a huge spoiler through an area, instead, the player must survive a gauntlet before moving on to the next story beat. As well as the old gravity moving mechanic, instead of having to aim and jump spot to spot, Isaac can use his rocket jets in Zero G, a mechanic that feels fun to use, and could have been a disaster if the programmers didn’t get it right.

So, I went dark after equal parts of trying to juggle an acting career, a journalistic career, a full-time university degree and a full-time job.

But hey, I’m in self isolation and that means I have time once again to attempt, and I use that word ‘attempt’ to try and finish my backlog. Which with all due respect will never happen because I am an impulsive buyer and my drug that I indulge myself is video games.

I’m currently playing Mass Effect Andromeda again after its initial release. I’m enjoying it, taking my time with it, and loving the new spin this intended series was taking. It does make me sad knowing it won’t get a sequel anytime soon.

I’m playing Jedi Fallen Order as well. I’m enjoying my time with it. I’m about halfway through the story and I’m really invested in the story, however, I don’t expect a happy ending, given that Luke Skywalker is yet to start his own journey in defeating the empire. That’s the trouble with telling a story with an already established canon, there’s not much wiggle room.

This is my spoken review and thoughts on Metro Exodus that I did for the Never Ending Backlog blog. Please enjoy.

A ruff game.

Played on Xbox one.

Fun and flashy is the best way to describe Watch Dogs 2! By the end of my playthrough, I had indeed had fun with the game, but bad shooting mechanics, repetitive mission designs and two-dimensional characters, didn’t leave me wanting any more of colourful futuristic San Francisco. The fact that there are dogs in the game and you can pat them, is the best thing ever.

From the start I really liked the new character of Marcus, not often do we see a POC character written so well, without the usual calls to stereotypes. Marcus is a smart dude who enjoys nerd pop culture, a hacktivistic with a heart of gold who occasionally saves the day one hack at a time. But Marcus isn’t alone, he is joined by a team of Deadsec hackers. The teams humour feels fun, yet incredibly forced at times. One instance, the group is wary of Marcus and wanting him to prove himself, the next mission Wrench and Marcus already have an established relationship and act like best bros.

San Francisco is fun to explore and has its own loveable charm. Random NPCs offer little titbits of their lives when they are scanned, and sometimes interesting text conversations can be read, one that stood out was the BRAINSSSS viruses’ message, that turned every message into a zombie’s favourite word, it then leads the player into a side quest. 

However Marcus’ idealistic save the world one hack at a time attitude, is ruined where the player has access to an untold amount of firearms. Now the game encourages you to be stealthy, what with the Quad Copter, the Jumper and the always on hand stun gun. Upon a frustrating run of trying to complete the mission in pure stealth, I decided to pick up a shotgun and try my hand at run and gun. Not only did I complete the mission easily, but it broke immersion, with Marcus being a good guy, but also no repercussions or mentions from my buddies at Dedsec. Karma mechanics in games aren’t always necessary, but when done well, they add to the story E.G Dishonored.  When the stealthy path in a game is unrewarding and tedious, it’s always going to be easy just to run and gun.

Watch Dogs 2 is a fine game, but it's also a frustrating game. Repetitive gameplay loops of, go here hack this, save the day from bad guy, doesn’t really offer anything new in the late game. bad shooting mechanics had me in a rage with the bad cover mechanics. I struggled to remain interested whilst finishing this game, more often feeling frustrated, than having fun.

Verdict: With colourful characters, an interesting protagonist and a gorgeous San Francisco to run around in, Watch dogs 2 has flair and style, it’s a fine game, but nothing more than that. You’ll enjoy your time, but you’re not missing out if you never play it.  

Played on Xbox One’s Game Pass.

So, after finishing another game off my ever-increasing backlog, I impulsively searched for a quick game already installed on my Xbox to play whilst my other game downloaded in the background.

I had recently downloaded a few Xbox game pass games, to save for a rainy day. The first game on the list was a little indie game called Abzu. Now, I knew basically next to nothing about this game, apart from the odd time I confused it with Subnautica.

Now as I dove into this game I had no expectations and no idea what I was getting myself into. You play as an unnamed diver, who was woken up drifting on the surface of the sea. From there you are free to swim, dive, and launch yourself from the water in any direction.

I had so much fun playing this little game in the first few minutes. The developers nailed the feeling of being underwater. The feeling of zooming around felt fun like I was straight out of an Aquaman comic. I remember at one point picking up speed whilst swimming around, and shooting myself towards the surface, firing up into the air like a man shaped dolphin.

Interacting with the wildlife in Abzu is one of the best features, each of the creatures of the sea has been painstakingly crafted and researched. From massive Great White Sharks, to the friendly dolphin there is plenty to see under the sea.

But it is the mystery of Abzu that really has me hooked, I have only played the first three levels of the game, but it is already apparent there is more to this game than just swimming with the fishes. Big underground structures and complexes hint towards a civilization that lived here before they vanished. Environmental storytelling is one of Abzu’s strengths so far, sinking the hooks into me, making me want to find out more. I don’t want to speculate too much for spoiler’s sake, but for a game that I was only going to spend five minutes in, it has me fully submerged in it’s underwater mysteries.

Played on a Xbox One. 

I've always enjoyed the Metro series, and Metro Exodus is no exception. We plunge straight back into the Russian Metro, fighting for our very survival as Artyom, a member of the elite spartan order.

My first thoughts on the game was that the graphics looks amazing, I initially put that down to thinking the opening intro was a pre-rendered cut-scene and a dip in quality would occur when I took control of Artyom. However when Artyom simply froze, and I realised I now had control of him and the graphics still looked amazing, I was simply taken aback by good they were! I played this on a day one, Xbox One.

The story kicks off with Artyom desperate to prove that he did indeed hear a radio signal in the closing events of Metro 2033. Risking high amounts of radiation exposure he spends more and more time on the surface. It is one such trip with his now wife Anna that hurtles them into events that takes Artyom and the Spartan order across Russia, indeed an Exodus. ( I'm sorry I couldn't resist, also trying to keep spoilers to a minimum)

It is with this Exodus, that a change in level design can be kicked up a notch, no longer are the dank creepy tunnels of the Metro the setting of the game, instead we are taken to harsh deserts, beautiful forests, and a small town that worships a giant catfish, this open level design was a breath of fresh air, and allows players to freely explore the areas at their own pace. The forest level stands out to me, as generally terrifying at times, a pack of wolves roam the forest randomly, and if you are unlucky to cross their path you might be their next meal

The train, named the Aurora serves as the hub area of the game. Throughout time, the train becomes more packed, and things are changed to show that actual humans occupy this space. It does an amazing job to make it feel like this is a home for some desperate survivors, but it is a well loved home. These brief hub episodes provided some of my favourite moments in the game, and made me feel Artyom was part of a group, a family. making me care about the characters who travelled with me. 

The karma system returns and affects more than just your ending. The way you play in certain levels can affect you and your team's survival. A stealthy player may pass by a group of enemies without harming them, avoiding a future conflict. Whilst a player who goes in guns blazing might escalate a group of enemies who'll have you in a tight squeeze later in said level.  Ultimately the way you play the game is up to you, however the game does lean towards a more stealthy approach, yet never forces you to. Forced stealth mechanics and segments never improve game play.

I loved Metro Exodus, it's literal journey across Russia had me thinking of it time and time again after finishing the game. I was invested in my crews safety, and took every effort to make them survive in the end. I felt tense till the very end of the game, something I hadn't felt since the closing moments of ODST, and had an emotional pay off that I loved. (again, trying to avoid spoilers)

I myself spent nearly every week of 2009 (the year I had enough to buy it on the Xbox 360.) playing it with a school friend, let's call him H.

H and I memorised the maps, beat three out of the four levels on its respective hardest difficulties Death Toll always eluded us, and, we became the perfect team.

I was happy to jump into the game. It had almost been eight years since I had last played it at university. My university friends never had the same gravitas as H, and I felt something was missing when I replayed Left 4 Dead with someone new.

I am happy to report, that the game has aged incredibly well, the shooting feels responsive ( although it was a bit strange not to have left trigger shoot down the sight, a curse of the modern video game trend.)

Graphics still look great, the characters models wouldn't look out of place in a modern game.

The four levels pacing feel balanced and thr crescendo events still felt tense. The sound design and audio cues, were years ahead of their time.

My girlfriend and I delightfully made a good team. She had a lot of fun, and made the same comments along the lines of what I've said, her only criticism was that there was only 4 levels, she wanted to see more levels. Unlike the PC, the Xbox 360 only has Crash Course, and The Passing as extra levels.

Left 4 dead is still an excellent game, many games have tried to emulate and never quite made the same magic or impact this game has had, it's the perfect multiplayer game to play with three other friends online, or the perfect couch co-op to play with a school friend or a introduce to a significant other.

Left 4 Dead has incredible replay value, the A.I keeps things fresh each playthrough changing the pacing and zombie horde placement, and triggering special infected.

The special infected are worth mentioning as a excellent game design choice, keeping game play fresh and tense, the amount of times I ran back to the safety of the group after hearing a hunter growling or a smoker coughing, a subtle reminder I shouldn't run ahead of the group, this is a team game after all. 

This game is among legendary status, it's a gem to play and still holds up to todays standard's of modern day gaming 

Part 2 and 3 of thoughts on the game.

I am instantly immersed in the amazing cinematic moments of this game. The game's cutscenes let you watch the magical writing unroll in front of your eyes, characters like Nate, Chloe and Elena, are hard not to love, brought to life as well by thier amazing actors. (Nolan North was born to play Nathan Drake)

This is a pillar of what modern gaming should be, and is essentially one of the best games of the last generation. A high point for single player gaming something which only Naughty Dog could achieve.

Another thing that struck my.mind was the amazing music, I felt like John Williams himself had put his magical Indiana Jones musical magic, making me feel like I was in a Hollywood adventure film.

Gameplay us still fun and firefights never get old. However the disbelief of Drake simply slaughting wave after wave of enemy troops make me question if I'm truly the good guy!

So I finished the game only a couple of minutes ago and I wanted to put my thoughts down whilst they're still fresh. I have to repeat myself yet again and say this is still an amazing game. Even a game that's ten years old it's aged phenomally well!

Rank: An essential gaming experience.

Ten years on, and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is still a thrilling adventure to play. This game is a must play for any PlayStation owner. The familiar theme of Nate's theme filled me with glee as soon as I got to the title screen.

The opening moment kickstarts the heart and sends the adrenaline glands into survival mode as we Nathan Drake climb up a dangerous dangeling train cart with gravity hellbent on killing us.

The graphical updates makes everything smoother and much more fluid. I've already sunk an hour into the new additional photo mode, especially in the Borneo level with the blue flame sequence.

I'm starting this blog almost halfway through the year, because one I'm unorganized, and two, I only had the idea to start writing for this blog till recently.