Dishonored 2: For the Watch!

There is a God


See that up there? The sequel to one of my favourite videogames has been announced at E3, and in a world that struggles to excite the child in me, its welcome news. Very welcome. You see im currently on my 42nd visit to Dunwall and my hunger for the FPS stealth 'em up shows no sign of burning out. Even after earning every trophy/achievement the game has to offer (and yup, including Clean Hands and Ghost).
As you might guess, the news of Dishonored 2 has me pretty hyped, and judging by the reception on Twitter, im not the only one. This and Fallout 4 means other developers will have to dig deep if they are to have any chance of stealing Bethesda's thunder.

Fallout 4

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The big news in videogames this week, arrived via Bethesda revealing the first trailer to the much anticipated Fallout 4. Naturally with a reveal as big as a triple AAA title, rising like a digital phoenix from a wasteland of indie games and remasters (and im not knocking either), the gaming world went into meltdown (it was trending on Twitter within minutes of the trailer being aired).
I won't beat about the prickly cactus plant, I liked it. I liked it a lot. My first two words after seeing the trailer were holy and shit and they still stand. Might be a tad 'green' of me, considering Bethesda's less than stellar record of bug free games on PlayStation 3 but whatever issues (mostly freezing) on previous Fallouts on that console, they can't kill my enthusiasm for Fallout 4.
The games are too damned good. Sure its hugely annoying when New Vegas stutters to a halt as your character is stealth boy'ing past Deathclaws roaming the Mojave and I have cursed Bethesda Studios to several trips to hell, yet despite this, my appetite for exploring the nuclear wastelands of America is equal to any blood thirst of the foul Deathclaw.
Of course not all of my gaming brethren are so forgiving and among the excited sunflowers, the dreaded thorns of caution were less than flattering. I don't judge them, but this is only 4 minutes out of what will be a 200+ hour game if Fallout 3 is any judge. Let's not condemn it to the scaffold just yet. Of course this being said, should Fallout 4 be plagued with the same 'annoyances' as previous games, I will find my Mad Max type, post apocalypse fun elsewhere. A few minor issues here and there is to be expected from massive, open world maps but if the equally big Far Cry 4 can do it fuss free, we should expect better from others also.

Hotline Miami

Strange In This Town


Games like Hotline Miami fill my 8-bit heart with warm, fuzzy joy because while we love to soak up the stunning vistas of titles like Far Cry 4 and The Witcher 3, we can also appreciate 'niche' titles like the surreal Hotline Miami (Dennaton Games).
Contrary to younger gamers (mistaken) belief that near photo perfect graphics is the main draw for Playstation 4, we retroheads who grew up in the 1980s with games like Manic Miner know different.
Here's a secret kids; gameplay is king. And it always will be. Developers can create the biggest, most detailed map ever seen but it will be for naught if there's no game to hold your interest. Grand Theft Auto V is a good example for me. Los Angeles has never looked better in a videogame thanks to GTA V but after completing the main campaign, I felt no urgent need to explore the map (no matter how cool being in that submarine was).
Anyway before this goes completely off track, lets go back to Miami. This game is Ace. 10/10 all the bells n' whistles ace. Yes its extremely violent (even for todays standards) and as tough as coffin nails (prepare to die LOTS) but the age old One-More-Go factor of Hotline Miami is like gaming crack cocaine.
If you haven't played them yet (there is a sequel) and are old enough to remember the original Grand Theft Auto on PlayStation 1 with its top down view, you will be on familiar ground. This also serves to help sugar coat the rampant violence because due to the birds eye view it never feels truly shocking. What won't be familiar (to newer gamers) is the unforgiving nature of Hotline Miami and its one hit kills because like retro classics of old, if you make the slightest mistake, be prepared to pay with your life. Fortunately the auto save will bring you back to where you died so the only frustration will be to the players monkey fingers.

It says a lot that for such a retro heavy looking game available on Playstation 4 when most people are doing cartwheels over Bloodborne (and obviously there is room for both), the only groan you could have is for the price. £10 each is a tad steep, and perhaps had Dennaton Games hung a £7 tag on it, it might have persuaded gamers who are still undecided to take the plunge. I'll be honest though, its still a very minor complaint when Hotline Miami is so darned FUN.


An easy 10/10 for me.

A Call to Dunwall

When Dishonored was released in 2012, I paid almost no attention to Arkane Studios tale of betrayal and revenge in the plague ridden, steampunk city of Dunwall. Ive never been a huge fan of FPS (First Person Shooter) type games, and when I saw Dishonored is a stealth game (a first person sneaker?) I was even more doubtful. I love stealth games but until recently, they have been games like Tenchu, Hitman and Mefal Gear Solid, titles played in 'third person' (ie players can see the character the are controlling).
I really had no interest in Dishonored until a few months ago when I tried (and loved) a demo of another FPS stealth game, Thief on Playstation 4. (And being honest, I only tried Thief because of the lack of good titles that was on current gen at the time but I'm glad that desperation turned into a revelation).
When I saw Dishonored on a PS3 sale at the ridiculously low price of a touch over £6, I decided that a trip to Dunwall was in order. It was instant love. So much so that I barely leave the city during my gaming time simply because, apart from the beautiful oil painting type style of graphics, the replay factor (for me anyway) is enormous. Oh, and the games characters (voiced by some Hollywood names like Susan Sarandon) are all fantastic.
The story is simple: Corvo, the Lord Protector to the Empress, is framed for her murder but on the eve of his planned execution, escapes with help from loyalist conspirators and goes all out for sweet sweet revenge (wearing one of THE greatest looking masks of all time). But its not all about killing. In fact you can complete the game with 'Clean Hands' (zero kills) but this doesn't mean the baddies get a free pass for their wicked deeds. In fact, often sparing the life of your intended target/s, might grant them life but to be honest, its a fate worse than death.
And Arkane Studios have devised some very cool (and lethal) powers for Corvo and the murderous Daud to use. Both wear the mark of the Outsider, a kind of half angel, half devil spirit, and by the Void, these powers are so fricken cool! Blink (teleporting), Possession, Bend Time, hell you can even summon a plague of rats to dispatch your hapless victim.
Dishonored might be set in a very grim Dunwall, where plague is rife and corpses litter the streets, but its still so much darned FUN. Corvo is like a Victorian, steampunk version Batman who bounces around Dunwall dealing justice to the corrupt and wicked. Of which there are many. Indeed Dunwall doesn't suffer the good and as the legendary assassin Daud points out, "its a city that eats innocence".
Talking of Daud, you can play Daud's story (as Daud obviously) in the two DLC (Knife of Dunwall and The Brigmore Witches) to learn the full story of Dishonored, and they are both excellent added content (usually DLCs can be lazy extras).
Another refreshing thing about the game is there are no true boss battles. Corvo and Daud can both dish out fatal, one hit moves on targets owing to their supernatural powers and personally I find it a breath of fresh air (well as fresh as can be in a world inhabited by rats and plague victims, or 'Weepers' as they are known).

If you are like me and have initially been put off by FPS stealth games, then fret not. Dishonored is a great game where everything slots perfectly into place. And as its three years old, you can pick it up for peanuts.
Of course there have been rumours of a sequel but part of me hopes this never happens because if it turns out to be rubbish, it could take some polish off the original game. Sometimes less is more, there have been too many successful games/movies that have piled sequel upon sequel because it sells but its usually at the cost of the franchise. We can all name a series that have out stayed their welcome and gotten worse with every instalment. I'd hate this to happen with Dishonored. But we shall see.
All I do know is the first trip to Dunwall is a trip you soon won't forget in a hurry.

Murdered: Soul Suspect

When Murdered: Soul Suspect was originally announced, it it barely made a blip on my gaming radar (truth be told, there was no blip at all. Not even half of one). I'm an action kinda guy, more at home shooting bad guys in BioShock than trying to solve violent deaths (even if that violent death involved my grizzled old self). So imagine my surprise when I saw Murdered: Soul Suspect in a December PSN store sale on PS4 and found myself putting it into my digital basket without second thought. (Though I must be honest, if it was more than the £12 I paid, I probably would have clicked on by). Luckily the timing (and price) was right and I was on the hunt for something different, and Airtight Games had the solution with Murdered: Soul Suspect.
The game takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, and you play Detective Ronan O'Connor, a former petty criminal turned cop. (And before I forget, tattoos look pretty cool on ghostly skin. This game is very easy on the eye).
Det. Ronan is on the trail of a serial killer known as the Bell Killer, a rather vicious, hooded killer who sadly for Ronan is strong and brutal and ends up throwing the detective out of a window before pumping his dying body full of bullets. You know, just to make sure the lawman is dead. Then something weird occurs as officer O'Connor 'wakes' up wondering how he has survived his attack. And then (here comes the odd bit), he realises he didn't survive at all and finds himself looking down on his bloodied corpse. He meets his long dead wife who explains to her ghostly spouse that he can't join her in the Afterlife until he clears up the unfinished business he has in the living world.
And this is where the 'fun' begins. Walking through walls, possessing cats (you read that right), playing poltergeist, jumping into living bodies and reading their minds and executing glowing demons who truly are quite terrifying, especially when you get too close to one and it screams in your face. Basically you acquire the abilities we all imagine ghosts have (apart from the cat possession thing, although it would explain why cats seem to have different rules to other animals).
Murdered: Soul Suspect is one of those games that pop up now and then, leaving you wondering where it came from, and how it slipped under your gaming radar. Mind you, it was released around the same time as bigger, more well known videogames so perhaps there's no mystery there. But make no mistake, Murdered: Soul Suspect is well worth your dosh. The puzzles aren't the obscure types found in games like Silent Hill and its very satisfying when pieces of the puzzle all come together to help track down the Bell Killer. There are other side missions to tackle as well as the main campaign but I won't spoil them here.

The game is definitely worth your gaming time, and it looks darned good on PS4. Personally ive had more fun playing this than Watch Dogs, a game im playing alongside Soul Suspect (though not at the same time obviously). And were I talking scores here, its easily a 4/5.

Styx: Master of Shadows

If you are looking for a Stealth 'em Up game in the style of Thief (and I enjoyed that game), then this isn't the game for you. You see, Styx Master of Shadows, is 100% pure stealth. In other words, if you get spotted lurking around, you can kiss your gobliny, green ass goodbye. Because you're not some muscle bound warrior who does a little sneaking on the side. Styx is a goblin, a quarter or enemies size and if you don't perform stealth kills and attempt a full on assault, you WILL be cut to pieces.
Battling gangs of bad guys simply isn't an option. Its sneaking all the way for Styx because anything else is suicide. Solid Snake or Agent 47 you are not. You play as a tiny goblin, and you'd do well to remember this. Of course, he isn't completely without tricks to lure the unsuspecting goon to his doom. For instance, Styx can unfasten heavy lighting (remember that classic scene in old British comedy Only Fools and Horses where they loosen the bolts to the wrong chandelier sending it crashing to the floor? Or the old poisoning food ruse? Both of these, along with more cunning tactics, are open to our goblin hero.
Proving you have enough Amber (the games 'skill juice'), you can even clone yourself and get to places inaccessible to Styx himself. Sure the clone has limited skills but he's a handy dude in a hostile city who look upon Styx as more demon than impish thief out to swipe the heart of the World Tree. Trouble is the tree is kept deep in the bowels of the impressive but maze like Tower of Akenash. (You can even hear some of the guards grumble about the complex nature of the Tower which can be comical).
That's another thing about Styx: Master of Shadows. The writing is quite brilliant at times, genuinely funny but it isn't above using swear words so perhaps remember this when playing with younger games. Indeed its the liberal amount of swearing that you need to watch out for when playing with children. In fact its wise to keep little hands away from Styx because foul language aside, you can use violence when reaching a difficult route (make sure you use stealth though because like previously said, going in daggers blazing will only result in hitting the restart button.
Developers Cyanide have had a good stab (pun intended)in making this prequel to the first game, Of Orcs and Men. Sure you'd probably find better looking games on PS3 but as we retroheads are fond of saying, gameplay wins over looks every time. You can create the most stunning looking game ever but if it plays like a dog then what is the point? That being said, its no walk in the park and you'll meet your demise many times. Certain areas can be balls hard and as Styx can be killed with one or two swipes from a sword, players would do well to never get spotted. Ever.
You have an orange tattoo that glows when unseen, and you'd do well to keep an eyes on it. Ignore at thy peril. I paid £15 for Styx: Master of Shadows on PlayStation 4 a few days ago, and as I enjoy a decent challenge which this game provides, ive not been disappointed. In a funny old way, it reminds me of Abe's Oddysee, a game that is a breath of air amongst the shooters and driving games clogging up the shelves.

And for that (in my opinion) the game deserves a 4/5

Sony PlayStation 20

20 years ago, two frikken' decades, Sony launched a home videogames console, the iconic PlayStation. We'd already had some pretty sweet games machines by then from the legendary ZX Spectrum to Nintendos SNES but I think we can say without argument that through clever marketing, it was the Sony PlayStation that made videogames cool. Hell, I even remember nightclubs having PlayStation booths which sounds kinda weird now looking back. But it proves if nothing else, that we gamers had seen nothing like it before. Videogames were now trendy *gasps*
Sure we had the likes of Street Fighter and Sonic the Hedgehog from consoles like Sega Megadrive and the aforementioned SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System), and these games systems paved the way for the even greater home arcades waiting in the wings (and let's be honest here, anyone having Wipeout 2097 on PlayStation in 1996 did feel like they had arcade quality games at home). Anyone young enough to have grown up with smartphones and tablets just won't get it. You had to have been there to witness a game like Tekken for the first time. Nowadays a tablet can handle these 90s classics without going into meltdown but in 1997? Games like Tomb Raider, Ridge Racer and Metal Gear Solid were pure gold.
I don't really consider myself a PlayStation fanboy, since ive owned (and still own and play) many other consoles including Sega Dreamcast (a personal favourite), GameCube and original Xbox (my 360 sadly flaked on me). But I must admit that its to Sony's boxes of tricks (I own all four), that I turn to first, so I guess there is a Sony fanboy lurking within me somewhere (wishing for a complete Resident Evil 2 reboot to arrive against all odds. Hey, a guy can dream right)?

So anyway, think ive bubbled on for long enough now. Especially since I have a few new PlayStation 4 titles to be cracking on with, including the aceness that is Styx: Master of Shadows and fighting a guy in a pink suit in the mighty Far Cry 4.
So have a very happy birthday PlayStation, here's looking forward to a few more decades of Sony glory! Its been an awesome ride so far and i'm glad you aeem to be winning the console wars this time around!