Sarah Obloy, Author at GeeksHaveGame

June 17, 2019

THE OUTER WORLDS [E3 2019]: Fallout’s Infinite Skies.

THE OUTER WORLDS (Private Division/Obsidian Entertainment – X1/PS4/PC – October 25, 2019) – Space…the final frontier. As imagined by Obsidian games, that frontier is less high-tech paradise and more Wild West outpost, where smuggling is acceptable and everything has a price. In The Outer Worlds, the newest sandbox style RPG game from Obsidian, you journey into a civilization that is part Fallout, part movie western…

The lands are populated by foul mouth tavern owners, genetically altered animal stock, and enough tongue-in-cheek/punny dialogue to keep you amused as you play. Your character is created as a blank slate, neutral until your gameplay builds their character; you can choose to be a good guy, a bad one, or something in between.

Branching dialogue during quests allows you to send the story –and your character– where you want it to go, and your choices and their effectiveness are helped or hurt by your skills: lying, charisma, and the like. Your character comes with its own tiny posse, and all of your qualities can work together to enhance your play (or hinder it, depending on how you roll the metaphorical dice).

The game doesn’t have the sharpest visuals, but they lend themselves well to the gritty feel of the overall game, and the demoed gameplay runs smoothly. Plus, who can resist the opportunity to gain access to areas by flirting in binary with the patrolling robot guards?

For those of you with the game, and perhaps struggling with it, you can always check out a guide to help you along. Gnarly Guides gives the best advice and perks on The Outer Worlds game for those of you who are fans; there’s no shame in a helping hand!

Overall, The Outer Worlds E3 behind closed door demo offers a strong showing, and should be in the “need to play” list for anyone who enjoyed the Fallout/Bioshock series or likes a little strategy in their gameplay.4/5 Bibles.

-Sarah Obloy

June 13, 2019June 13, 2019

LEGO STAR WARS – THE SKYWALKER SAGA [E3 2019]: Rise of the Open LEGO World.

LEGO STAR WARS: THE SKYWALKER SAGA (Traveller’s Tales Games/Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment – PS4/X1/Switch – 2020) – The last two Star Wars movies soured a lot of people on the franchise, and has led to a lot of heated debates. One entry into the universe that should get everyone back on the same “Star Wars is awesome” page is the upcoming Skywalker Saga game…

Even if you, like a certain GHG staffer (OK, so it’s Moody, who is completely eating his own $*** right now), aren’t big on LEGO games, this one will have you questioning your own doubts. The Skywalker Saga covers not three, not six, but all nine movies — including the one we have yet to see. As a result, the images and our ability to play the game is limited at this point, since it (hopefully) contains major spoilers for The Rise of the Skywalker.

Utilizing new technology, it is both familiar to those who have played other LEGO games and a whole new experience. The backgrounds and worlds look amazing (and very non-LEGO at times), but then you also get a fully LEGO Sarlaac pit. All ships were actually constructed out of millions of tiny LEGO bricks, inside and out, and the result is worth the months of time each build took. On desert planets like Tatooine, the bricks are dusty and weathered, like you would expect LEGO’s left in the sand to be.

Because the game covers the entirety of the Star Wars story and is open world, once you’ve got a ship you can fly to any planet in the universe — provided you’ve unlocked it, of course. The attention to detail is awesome; although I will be disappointed if there aren’t tiny burnt skeletons of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru when you play Episode 4. You can play the episodes in any order which means that if you want to pretend that Phantom Menace never happened, your wish can be granted.

Gameplay perspective has moved, another departure from the last generation of LEGO games, and the fighting and abilities have been beefed up. You can now melee attack, use the force more effectively in combat, and target enemies with ranged attacks. There are also plenty of side quests, like the one given by gonk droid Gonko in the demo we saw. Overall, The Skywalker Saga looks to be the beginning of the next stage of LEGO games and a surprisingly excellent addition to the Star Wars universe. 4.5/5 LEGOS.

-Sarah Obloy

June 13, 2019June 13, 2019

DYING LIGHT 2 [E3 2019]: Fright Knight.

DYING LIGHT 2 (Techland Publishing/Square Enix – PS4/X1/PC – 2020) – Picture it. You’re living in a city where the environment is beyond repair, people have divided into factions, and the water is about to run out. No, I’m not talking about California in 2019, but District 2 in the immersive world of Dying Light 2..

Set 15 years after the original game ended, the world has gotten darker and the plight more dire– all good for you as a player, of course, since Techland brings in new techniques, abilities, and mechanics.

There’s an interactive component to DL2, so the choices you make as you go through the story all influence the outcome. Stay and help a friend or chase a foe, and your story goes a completely different way. Because of this and the various side missions, it is playable multiple times and would be a different experience each time.

Visually, the game is even more stunning than the original. The cities blend aspects of our modern monoliths with the vibes of medieval fortresses, making your characters modern knights in an apocalyptic wasteland.

As always, the undead are there, hiding in abandoned buildings and dark corners, just biding their time until the sun goes down and they can come out to play. More city interaction, beefed-up parkour abilities (and a paraglide) and enhanced UV light mechanics help you master your surroundings.

Reveal wise, Techland did a great job showing off their game, despite the lack of hands-on gameplay at E3.. again. The new interactive features were shown off and the presenters were enthusiastic and sold their product– and their comfy seats, open bar and welcoming environment didn’t hurt.

If you like survival games, dig a post-apocalyptic storyline, or want a game with excellent visuals, Dying Light 2 seems like it’s definitely worth adding to your “to buy” list. 4/5 Bibles.

-Sarah Obloy

June 1, 2019June 2, 2019

THE E3ODUS [E3 2019 Previews]: Harry Potter / Vampire Masquerade / Resident Evil 8.

HARRY POTTER: WIZARDS UNITE (Niantic/PortKey Games/WBIE – Android/iOS – 2019) – Are you a hardcore Potterhead who looks at all their friends sharing Pokemon Go trainer requests and wished that there was a similar game that would let them catch Thestrals?

Wait no more, Muggles!

Wizards Unite is a Potter version of Pokemon Go, where your GPS and actual location and phone camera are used to help you track and capture fantastic beasts and locate portkeys that will bring you into 360 augmented reality versions of famous Wizarding World sites. The game is currently beta testing in Australia and will be released later this year.

VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE – BLOODLINES 2 (Hardsuit Labs/Paradox Interactive – PS4/X1/PC – Q1 2020) – The Masquerade is back– bigger, badder, and darker than the original. An RPG game that plays off of the old pen & paper/real world games, this sequel to Bloodlines moves the action from Los Angeles to Seattle. Players start as a factionless vamp and choose a family and a faction and fight for power and control over the city. Its narrative-driven play and multiple options encourage repeat game play and multiple side quests increase overall gameplay time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYvWfDxhm_s

Unlike in a traditional, physical RPG, you can’t choose or design your character but you can choose your human occupation, which will have an influence on how others react to you throughout gameplay. Bloodlines 2 currently has five playable clans: the Brujah, Tremere, Toreador, Ventrue, and Malkavian, and every player starts off as a Thinblood. Initial powers are limited but will increase as you develop your character and join a clan; additional clans and powers will be added after the initial game release.

RESIDENT EVIL 8 (Capcom – PS5/Xbox Scarlett – Q1 2021???) – What do we know? There is going to be a new game released for the next generation of consoles. What else do we know? Basically nothing. Will you still be playing in first person perspective, like you did in Biohazard? No clue. When will it come out? No clue. Will RE8 continue RE7’s survival horror vibe? Probably, but really, no clue. Where will it be set? Haven’t the faintest…

Shinji Mikami, the creators of the original Resident Evil, has expressed interest in coming back to the series. Is he actually involved? No clue. To sum it up: there will be a new Resident Evil game, probably sometime after Fall 2020. But beyond that, it’s anyone’s guess.

-Sarah Obloy

May 22, 2019

THE E3ODUS [E3 2019 Preview]: The Sinking City.

THE SINKING CITY (Frogwares/Bigben Interactive – Xbox/PS4/PC – June 27, 2019) – The Sinking City appeared at E3 last year in a stand-alone display and attracted attention. With its atmospheric background and terrifying mannequins, the game quickly freaked out convention goers who stopped to take a picture– only to be surprised when said mannequins moved behind/next to them. Since then, I’ve kept an eye on this intriguing blend of 20s detective noir and Lovecraftian horror…

The Sinking City is a third person open world detective-based, action adventure game (got all that?), where your skill and attention to surroundings affect your quests and progress.

Nearing release, there have been a few trailers and some gameplay footage; still, it’ll be great to get my hands on a demo at this year’s E3 just before the mannequins ask me of my initial impressions.

-Sarah Obloy

September 22, 2018October 3, 2018

OVERCOOKED 2 / STATE OF DECAY – DAYBREAK [Mini-Reviews]: Zombie Bread.

Overcooked 2 is a campy, fun game for the casual gamer, or one whose style is more “I play Candy Crush on my phone” than “hardcore console bro-dude”. Playing both this game and its 2016 predecessor gave me flashbacks to playing Diner Dash on my phone while I was supposed to be at work. The basic premise and gameplay is the same as the original, which allows the game to throw you right in with little to no getting-to-know-you period. The horror geek in me loved the storyline in Overcooked 2, namely that the king reads from the Necro-nomnom-icon and raises an army of the Unbread, who you then have to feed before they attack and overrun the castle (I straight up laughed for about 10-minutes about the Necronomnomicon, I’m not going to lie!).

Now, onto the game play. You have the option of playing as a single player, local co-op, and online co-op. As a game that relies heavily on timing and communication, local co-op is probably the easiest and most enjoyable way to play, followed by online co-op. As a single player game, Overcooked 2 loses a lot of its appeal because as the levels progress, it becomes more and more difficult to complete the levels as a team of one (and trust me, I tried). Your chefs must navigate a series of more and more complicated kitchen set-ups to feed the hoardes of the Unbread, chopping, cooking, and plating as fast as you can while dealing with kitchen fires, attacking food, and more.

The controls can be a little unweildy but not enough to throw off game play past the initial level. The graphics are nothing to write home about, but this isn’t the type of game you buy for its amazing visuals — you buy it so you and your friends can sit around, throw fake food at one another, and yell like you’re Gordon Ramsay in Hell’s Kitchen and everone else just burned the risotto.

Because half the fun is the interaction between players in local co-op play, it loses a little bit of fun in online mode, which I only got to experience for a brief time, since most of my gameplay happens in short bursts and isn’t condusive to online matchups. The online play feature is fun but the limited communication between players makes for a little more stressful challenge. Playing as a solo player means you devote most of your time worrying about back and forth switching between the chefs in your kitchen rather than worried about communication between them, and makes the ability to toss ingredients and supplies around the kitchen way less fun.

Overall, Overcooked 2 is a great way to spend some time and is a worthwhile investment if you’re looking for a fun co-op game. 3.5/5 Recipe Books.

-Sarah Obloy

Felipe “The 3rd Deacon” Crespo
@F7ovrdrv

I know everyone’s caught up with Spidey or Destiny 2’s Forsaken (lol, jk), but I’d figure I’d take a sec to fill you in on how the newest State of Decay DLC is. Goddamn brutal. Daybreak is fun, intense, and a lot more action-oriented than the vanilla game. There’s much more ammo lying around, but don’t let this lull you into a false sense of security; you still have to be quite conservative with wall repair kits, bandages, first aid kids, vaccines, etc.

The waves of enemies are unrelenting. Even when going up in early levels, don’t be surprised if you have to deal with a few Blood Juggernauts overrunning your area while the faster zombies go after your technician (escort). Your team AI is actually not bad, yet with like most games featuring a “horde mode”, you’re better off playing with other players–that aren’t idiots. Oh, I also really appreciate that the technician will dodge, run, and defend herself. 3.5/5 Wall Repair Kits.

-Felipe Crespo

P.S. Good luck getting the Guilty Spark achievement (survive 343 waves).