Atlantic

RE: Nick and MGSV Some structural spoilers:

The DLC for Dark Souls reused some stuff from the base game, but it gave it some interesting lore implications. It also had one of the best boss fights in the entire game. The Dark Souls II DLC is generally considered the best parts of that game. It's quite a high bar they have set themselves, but I am a bit suspicious of the price tag.

It only needs one shot to kill you.

You're really connecting the dots in the Robin Atkin Downesaverse.

Hold Square or X or whatever is the quick dive button and you'll speed up.

I've managed to win about 5 defenses, but not an invasion when the other player gets summoned. If you do get the drop on someone, the best thing I've found to do is CQC them and then fulton them if you can. Or pick them up on your shoulder and throw them over the side of the base. It could also be that your weapons are not upgraded enough or that the other played is wearing battle dress, which has better defense. I don't think there is a way to have greater defense against being judo'd by a robot hand.

I'm not an expert, but whiskey is definitely my drink of choice. I wouldn't recommend diving straight into an expensive bottle of Scotch or Irish whiskey, but maybe try to find a whiskey tasting so you can get a taste of a few different bottlings and someone informed telling you what to look out for in terms of flavour and how it is best served. Also, I think dibs is in Ireland (as am I), where buying whiskey in a bar usually comes with an extortionate price. It's more for when you know what you want, rather than experimenting and trying new things.

Another suggestion is to order a G&T from another bar, or to ask for an additional lime (the citrus can mask a lot of different flavours). It might just be the case that your palate is used to one thing and now that you're switching you might need to force yourself to try new things repeatedly. I went through a similar thing when I was diagnosed with diabetes when I was 19. I had to change my drinking habits, and part of that was trying various spirits multiple times until I got used to them.

The feeling I get is "Mad Max is coming out on the same day as MGSV!?" What a lovely day.

Firewatch opens with FMV of Rich Sommer looking directly into a camera and saying: Kept you waiting, huh?

Dear Esther I like this idea.

-- The idea of Snake becoming an old man is interesting in theory, but it never leaves the realm of cutscenes. Over the course of MGS4, Snake is falling part while we are not in control, hacking up a lung and getting half of his face burnt off. While we are in control of him, no part of the game changes. The only gameplay effect of Old Snake being old is that sometimes after crouching for too long his back gets stiff. I suppose that's the idea behind the suit and the nanomachines (take a drink), but the essence of it is that the game tells you he is old and outdated, but then you control him as a super stealth bastard or a gun-toting lunatic and it doesn't matter that he has a biological killswitch. If the major theme of MGS1 is about genes and the encoded nature of a human being, then MGS2 is about memes and the ability to nurture and change that nature through manipulation of the environment (and the conflict between nature and nurture). Raiden begins his story by trying to copy everything Snake does (in both cutscenes AND gameplay). Later, we have revelations about Raiden's back story as a child soldier in Liberia, and then he wields a sword, which Snake never did. In other words, the overarching controlling idea of the game is expressed in the bits we don't play just as much as the bits we do. TL;DR: MGS2 is better than MGS4 because it is a video game you play, while MGS4 is a video game you watch.

Actually, I'd revise what I said and say 3, 1, 2, 4, because 2 doesn't work unless you've played 1.

The final boss fight is glorious. The first time I got to it I laughed the whole way through, because it's so silly. I like when Liquid gives Snake a kiss on the cheek (which is something that can happen in that fight). How did you feel about the epilogue? Ultimately, MGS4 is uneven, but it's still a very good game. I'd agree with you though: 3, 1, 4, 2.

Between Sonic Dreams Collection, GTAV hacking, and the gas lighting robot, this was a good week for nightmares.

I'll take a Stevecast and like it. RIP Hitchbot

In a world of grimdark open-world collectathons, Binary Domain is a great antidote. I get the feeling that the people who made it had a lot of fun doing so. And I like that every cutscene swerves between comedic farce a seriousness at every opportunity. If you have a PS3 still hooked up, it's on sale on PSN for very cheap (at least on the EU store).

I came here to say this too. Classic sirens. I have mixed feelings about it. I don't think the Last Guardian footage looked great either, so on one hand I am expecting a game that should have come out in 2011 to come out next year. However, in some ways Ico and SotC felt very far ahead of their time, and because of that it could still be amazing. That's what was so special about the original announcement: it's another game from the same people, and it seems like it's going to mix Ico and SotC into the same game (escorting the catbird). I would have liked to see some other part of the game, a different location with different interactions with the catbird. I know that these games are lean and spartan, with no crufty side missions or other superfluous things, and it relies heavily upon doing its small set of mechanics in a few different and interesting ways. Showing off later parts of the game where all of these things start to come together is basically a big spoiler, so I understand why they did it. I'm excited about it, but I would have liked to have seen more.

That's what I suspected, but the ending seemed to wrap up the character arcs decently. There are a couple of things that I could see going differently though. None of the skills ever felt like they had any sort of effect. I'm sure some of the health boost and health regen nanomachines helped out a few times, but I can't point to a moment specifically. I never had a problem with any of the shooting mechanics, but I have the luxury of knowing how this game was received before I started playing it. I know it wasn't going to blow me away. PS. I like the French robot and that you have to fight a chandelier (the fight is not great, but it's a silly idea that I enjoy) PPS. Ditto for the motorbike boss

I have played through MGS3 half a dozen times and I still get tripped up on the controls sometimes. I think I might have grandfathered in controlswise due to MGS2. There are a lot of similarities, but all of the new systems on top means that there are a lot more things to considered every step of the way. There's a reason MGS4 plays more like a third person shooter than its predecessors.

I recently completed Binary Domain. It's a strange game: a cover shooter where all of the enemies are robots and you develop your relationship with the rotating cast of your squad by doing well in combat and by responding to their questions. There's a little mechanic where you have a few one or two word answers to the things they ask you. I'm not sure exactly what any of it contributed to though. It's a bit of a mystery. Maybe I didn't pay enough attention. One of the things that I liked about the shooty bits was that it feels like every bullet counts. Sometimes enemies in games are bullet spongey or the guns feel ineffective. In Binary Domain, all of the enemies are robots, and the sound design and the feel of the weapons come together and it feels right. In the later game when you've upgraded your assault rifle it is very satisfying to plow through a few waves of I, Robots. There are odd little things that crop up every now and then. I get the impression that they were trying to do Uncharted-style set pieces and gameplay variations, but they didn't have even a fraction of the budget. For instance, the opening chapter has the character you play, Dan Marshall, and his old pal Big Bo (!!!) infiltrating Tokyo by being sneaky and swimming. Neither swimming nor stealth make a return throughout the rest of the game. There are also about five QTEs, all of which have you use a different mechanic that is then immediately discarded. The story is interesting though. There are a good few cutscenes and they have kind of a low budget Metal Gear vibe about them, without the length or talkiness. It's hard to pin down exactly. I was expecting a certain twist, and the twist was a off-kilter take on what it seems like it's going to be. The part that stood out most to me though is that the character that you play as, Dan Marshall, is a character. He has a personality that is not necessarily in line with me, and he makes decisions in cutscenes that I wouldn't have made (if this were that kind of game). It highlighted why so many characters in AAA games are bland: they're trying to appeal to too many possible people, rather than being a part of a cohesive world.

HITMAN HUGMAN The non-lethal methods of dealing with the targets in Dishonored were often creepy. Lady Boyle in particular gets a terrifying send off, and the Pendleton twins get their cosmic comeuppance.

ALSO! If you point a gun at a guard's head or his balls (I think they're all men...), they will shake and drop a dog tag. Sometimes they will resist, and you will need to shoot them. If you have a handgun, you can shoot them in the hand or the leg. If you point your gun back at their head they will drop the tag. Every soldier in the game has a unique name, and every difficulty setting has a different set of tags. I wouldn't worry about trying to collect them on your first run through. The point is that there are a lot of ways to mess with the guards that are not always apparent. If you leave a BOOK out for a guard (it's supposed to be porn), they will see it, read it, and then cluck like a chicken. RE: CONTROLS IN MGS2/3 There are some weird controls in MGS2 and MGS3, but I think I'm just used to them. Figuring out how to peek around a corner, aim down the sights, take a shot, and then return to the corner requires the holding a lot of different buttons that makes it completely useless. Also, discovering that you can do pull-ups is weird. That doing 100 levels up your stamina, and another 100 levels it up again is weird. That there is a codec call that happens because you're wasting time is magical. While it can be difficult the first time through getting close to guards and so on, on repeat playthroughs it becomes amazingly easy. Because all of the guards follow a very set patrol route and all of the camera angles do not change, the points at which you might get hung up on during your first time will become smoothed over. If you skip the cutscenes and know where you're going, it's very easy to get through the entire game in under two hours. I have a lot of fondness for MGS2 despite all of the weird things about it. In MGS3, I still get confused about some the CQC controls. The last time I tried to get a no kill hard mode run going I grabbed the first guard instead of slamming him into the ground. And then proceeded to slit his throat. MGS3 is a masterpiece though.

I still have a 20GB Xbox 360 from the days of yore because I never had the spare cash to get a newer model. Part of me wants to get this one with big HDD so I don't have to go through that rigmarole. The fear is that I am going to have this thing for... 7/8 years? and I'd like to be somewhat future-proofed. I would like to go for an all-digital future, but there are two big problems with that: 1. Currently, the internet speeds in my area are slow. It'd take about a week to download 40GBs. There is work being done to improve this (more widespread broadband and fibre optic cabling), so in the future this may not be the trouble. 2. Regional PSN pricing is a kick in the balls. Most major releases on the PS3 store were €70 (roughly $80). Buying a physical copy on Amazon and waiting for shipping would be 2/3rds or half the price, and probably quicker re: internet speeds. Still, I think I may have done well in not buying one today. Even if the 1TB SKU isn't worth the price, it will probably push down the prices of the 500GB version. Either way I'll get a better deal on one. Thanks for all of the input though.

That's not a bad idea. It all depends on the price of the PS4 in my part of the world. A big caveat: PC components are a good bit more expensive here than in the US. Unless I can get a good deal on a 1TB drive it will probably be the equivalent of $75 (and that's one that has already been reduced). If this new SKU works out cheaper than that it'll be a much more compelling offer.