BLACK FRIDAY DEALS [Review Round-Up]: GeeksWantGames.

With the plethora of video games that release every Fall season, it’s pretty tough to keep up– both critically and financially. So, we’re killing two birds with a GHG stone here, a review round-up of Black Friday Deals that should help those gamers still on the fence. Breeze, buy/not-buy and let us know how you did below!


“Brother” Myke Ladiona
@onemyke

If you’re a single player/campaign shooter fan there aren’t a lot of options out there for you this holiday season. Sure the soon to be released Halo Infinite, and to a lesser extent Deathloop, are almost on every gamers wish lists this season; you’re still not going to have the power of choice that the multitudes of PvP FPS gamers have these days. If you’re more of a simple meat and potatoes (or maybe the more apropos rice and beans) kind of player you have even less options.

Enter Fry Cry 6 at the low-low price it’s being sold at for Black Friday. For just a few dollars more than seeing a Marvel movie in IMAX for a mere two hours, one can have some pretty decent fun living in an action movie as the venerable badass Dani Rojas for 20+ hours. While the game certainly does not break any type of mold, especially the franchise’s own, it’s still a very entertaining time – especially if you’re nostalgic for the tone of 90’s action movies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnLgFTLa4To

There may not be a better shooter title that is perfect for just turning off your brain, having a few laughs, and fulfilling a power fantasy than FC6. The new weapon progression systems are a decent enough carrot-on-the-stick for gamers who like to see numbers go up.

Those of you who love getting endorphin hits from incremental upgrades will be like a pig in glorious open-world shit. Couple that with the new Supremo weapons, outlandish pets, vehicle upgrade paths, and the presence of one Danny Trejo in a new patched-in-mission are enough flavor to justify jumping back into a very familiar sandbox. Tres/5 Tequilas.

$35 @ Amazon for PS4/5/Xbox

-Myke Ladiona



Dee Assassina
@assassinasan

As exhausted as I was with the Deathloop marketing, it still remained one of my most anticipated games of 2021. It seemed to have all the DNA from other Arkane Studios titles like Dishonored, but transformed into a super stylized first person shooter with a time loop system. What we got is so much more than that. Even after rolling credits, I still want to run more loops…

For $25(!!) this week, what you get here is a title with a charming, unique concept. It’s also refreshing to see a game adopt a new formula to an over-saturated genre. By the end of your time with this game you’ll know every corner of Blackreef Island. I’m absolutely enamored with the game and any complaints I have are absolute nitpicks. Deathloop is dope. 4.75/5 Whiskeys.

$25 @ Amazon for PS5
$25 @ Walmart
$25 @ GameStop

Read the rest of the review right here.

-Dee Assassina



Ronny “The Baptist” Lecuyer

As a whole, Battlefield 2042 was launched in a disastrous state. I’ve been a Battlefield diehard since 2008’s Battlefield: Bad Company, and this is by far the worst launch I’ve seen for the franchise. Besides game-breaking bugs like falling through maps, becoming unrevivable, to straight-up not being able to spawn and having to hard reset, it’s been pretty rough, to say the least…

Battfield 2042 is also not as polished in the sense of what we are used to getting with quality of life gaming expectations. There’s no scoreboards, no in-game way to turn off cross play. You hit the button and it sends you to instruction on how to turn it off in your Xbox’s settings, which reflect the entire console. There’s no squad management neither. And can’t join friends when they’re in a match. BF2042 puts you in an eternal perpetual state cue which makes you have to close out the entire game to get out of. Empty/5 Glasses of Whiskey.

…just until the next 2 patches are out, one set for today and another next week that’s supposed to address a lot of the issues.

$47 @ Walmart for PS4/5/Xbox

-Ronny Lecuyer



Travis Moody
@TravMoody
YouTube: A Toy Kinda Mood

This was not what I was expecting. Not after Marvel’s.. ermmm.. Crystal Dynamics’ Avengers. Sure, that “games-as-a-service” wound up a touch better several months later (with a few neat DLC story additions and much improved gaming mechanics; the current-gen graphical enhancements certainly help, too), but then CD gave Peter no narrative to thwoop his webs through. #SMH. Well, props to Eidos-Montreal for shooting their twin Element sidearms.. the other way.

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, like the movie (at least the first one, for sure) is such a pleasurable experience. The character dialogue is just damned good; the characters are nearly as spry and quirky as James Gunn’s films and look nearly as cool, minus Drax. He looks bad, but it doesn’t ruin the game; in fact, Jason Cavalier‘s voice performance is profound and the awkward stares The Destroyer often gives mid-conversation are hysterical.

While just 4+ chapters into this splendid experience so far, I’m loving strolling around the Milano — a mini-Normandy experience for me, coming off the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition — and the ME-style character choices you make with Quill that impact the story, rather surprisingly. The graphics are rock solid on Xbox Series X, and the soundtrack.. oh, the soundtrack! If you saw the flicks, you know what I’m talking about. If you love Marvel anything, just go get this already– it’s less than half-price. 4/5 Whiskeys.

$25 @ Walmart for PS4/5/Xbox
$25 @ Amazon

-Travis Moody



Dee Assassina
@assassinasan

In his own standalone expansion, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, the new Spidey is an absolute gem. He is funny, nerdy, for the people, too friendly for his own good, makes little quips during battle that genuinely made me chuckle, and he is very much so an apprentice. I am looking forward to seeing how Miles’ character develops in future Spider-Man games.

For a shorter experience than the original Insomniac Spider-Man, there’s a lot of good supplemental content to help maximize your experience. In all I’m grateful that I got to step into this next Spider-Man experience with a fulfilling understanding of Miles Morales as a character, and as Harlem’s Spider-Man. 4.25-4.5/5 Miles-Not-Old-Enough-To-Drinks.

Read the rest of the review right here.

$30 @ Amazon for PS4/5

-Dee Assassina



Felipe “Deacon” Crespo
@F7ovrdrv

“Those who don’t love Forza Horizon just haven’t played it” – Confucius, 1978

I couldn’t be more elated that one of my favorite game franchises is back, and showing off what the Series X is capable of. As great as FH4 was, FH3 was my favorite entry in the series. Until now. Now, despite being snubbed at The Game Awards (you surprised? Geoff Keighley is basura…), Forza Horizon 5 dethrones 3, with even more environment variety and color found whilst also bringing over the best innovation from 4: the Seasons and just how much it affects the races.

Graphically, Horizon 5 already could be called the best looking game of the year. Even when playing multi-player events loaded with other players, I’ve seen no frame drops, pop in, or fidelity loss. What Playground Games has accomplished is unreal. The audio – everything from each of the engines’ nuances, the tires’ burning rubber on tight corners, to the deep soundtrack — is as carefully curated as it ever has been.

I could go on singing FH5‘s praises for quite a while, but this is a mini-review. The game is pretty much flawless, and the best Black Friday deal in town because it’s free— if you have Game Pass (and you should, since it’s only $1/month for new members and was just on sale for $25 for 3 months)). 5/5 Coquito & Egg Nogs.

$0 @ Game Pass

-Felipe Crespo

FAR CRY 6 [Review]: ‘Roost’ in the Darkest Hours.

Dee Assassina
@assassinasan

I didn’t even think I would have much to say about Far Cry 6 aside from how Ubisoft’s annual releases make the game feel nothing more than iterative. Instead, I came out of this game wanting to talk to someone about the story and it’s ending. Don’t get me wrong, this is just another Far Cry game with smoother than ever gunplay and traversal. It’s just been a while since the characters and story in a FC game left an impression…

The player will indeed be going to different outposts, clearing the threat, and taking it over. That always has been the gameplay loop in Far Cry games, and Far Cry 6 is no different. There is an improvement that shouldn’t be disregarded. The gunplay and movement are smoother than ever, adding a nice slide and ping system reminiscent of Apex Legends. There’s no denying the open world sandbox of choosing your destination, selecting any vehicle you want, and swapping among your preferred weapon can be comfort food for some and played out for others. Personally, it’s a bit played out.

If Far Cry isn’t going to evolve their formula to keep the series refreshing than I’m hoping it at least stops releasing annually so I can miss it. Ubisoft games in general seem to be holding onto this same formula through all of their projects (e.g Assassin’s Creed, Immortals Fenix Rising), and its making me not want to play any of their games. I’m guessing enough people like that redundancy for Ubisoft to keep turning out the same type of game.

Yet, here I am still charmed by Far Cry 6. I expected a gorgeous environment and detailed map, and like most Ubisoft games, it delivered. What I didn’t expect was there characters I cared about and story twists that dropped my jaw. You may be thinking Giancarlo Esposito carried this narrative, but I was impressed by the main character Dani Rojas and every ally she met through the revolution. I cared about more characters than I anticipated because the missions did a good job fleshing them out.

Even the side activities were fun. For example, helping a rooster with a Mohawk beat up soldiers and tag walls up with graffiti. There were even cock fight and dominoes mini games. These activities gave personality to the land of Yara.

My biggest complaint about Far Cry 6 aside from the redundant gameplay is the crafting and gear system felt useless. I typically stuck to the same weapons and gear because swapping it out didn’t feel too substantial and some of the weapons I looted felt more useful than anything I could craft. It was also annoying how many soldiers there were at all times, but I suppose that was purposeful to the narrative. The people of Yara are constantly terrorized by Castillo’s (GianCarlo Esposito) forces, and so was I.

Overall, there were many moments where the monotony of taking over outposts bored me but the strong narrative, smooth combat, and easy to use vehicles kept me going. Far Cry 6 had one of the stronger endings I’ve experienced in a game and I think its narrative is worthy of spoilercast discussions. 3.25/5 Tequilas.

-Dee Assassina

GEEKDOM GAMESCAST [Episode 38]: Our E3 2021 Preview.

After a year off, the gaming world is gearing up for another E3. Nature is healing. Myke and Travis are joined by returning guests Artez, Jamison, and newcomer Matt Robb to rundown the entire schedule of what has been announced for E3 2021

We get into what we know already, what we’re hoping to see, and what some companies need to show us in order to win us back. Myke also goes over his initial Biomutant thoughts, the demo for the upcoming Scarlet Nexus, and the crew spout off on extended play for Far Cry 6 and Horizon Forbidden West!

THE GEEKDOM GAMESCAST [#G3G2020 – Zoom Edition]: Ubisoft Forward!

#G3G2020 continues with our focus on Ubisoft Forward!

In Episode Eight of Season Two, host Myke Ladiona and yours truly Moody are joined by our resident “Viking” Dan Witt to dig into Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and talk Watch Dogs Legion, Far Cry 6, Ubisoft’s newest IP Hyper Scape and more with Dee Assassina and Michelle Kisner!

And stay tuned, because our long awaited The Last of Us, Part II spoilercast will be zoom-zoom-zoomin’ up on YouTube and GHG tomorrow.