Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes

Released: March 18,2014 /// Consoles: Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4

Story: MGS:V's story picks up after the events of MGS: Peace Walker. After they received word that Paz, who betrayed Big Boss at the end of Peace Walker was still alive Chico went to go and attempt to retrieve her only to e captured and face torture himself. Using both Chico and Paz as bait Skullface summons Big Boss to camp omega.

Gameplay: MGS:V's gameplay is similar to previous games specifically Peace walker but vastly improved. Theres stilll a heavy emphasis on stealth and Non-lethal tactics.

Graphics: The game looks fantastic the attention to detail is one of the things that made the game really stand out. The main story mission where every thing is rain soaked is a shining example.

What they did well:

Story: Some people claim MGS' story is complicated or ridiculous but Ground Zeroes is despite its length good addition to the franchise.

Variety: The game offers a lot of variety through its assorted missions not just the games base challenges but small touches like enemies changing position mid game or Unlocking trials does add a lot of length to the game.

Soundtrack: MGS has always done a good job making its soundtrack impactful. GZ is no exception. Here's to you really stands out among the the horrible actions its set to throughout the game.

What could have been better:

Length: Even though additional missions and trial increase the games length its still a remarkably shot game. The main mission can be completed in just a few minutes.

Voice acting: I'm not saying Keifer Sutherland is bad, in fact he does a great job, but the point is, there was no reason to replace David Hayter as the voice of snake.

Overall : 7.8/10

Not every game needs to be competitive

I'm writing this to get my thoughts out on the massive loss of steam that hit this years first triple A title. I'm talking about Titanfall of course. Now as I said before about Titanfall I think its a fantastic game. That hasn't changed the core gameplay hasn't changed so its still the game I gave a 9/10. I still stand by that. Unfortunately I have to say that times have changed for the game, after a matchmaking update I could no longer bring myself to play the game and I'll explain why.

In a bid to make the game more 'competitive' a new matchmaking system was introduced bringing with it a change from the Call of duty style speed focused matchmaking to a new skill based one.

MLG ANAHEIM HERE WE COME!1!!

What does that mean?

To put simply before when you entered match making you'd be paired with other players randomly just to get into a match as fast as possible. After the update however it takes the time to find others of near equal skill according to some algorithms based on a multitude of factors.

So am I complaining about matchmaking times?

No.

My problem is , and I believe I've complained about Trueskill based matchmaking before, how the competitive ideology doesn't take in the idea that some people just want to play for fun. To be fair I've brought plenty of my issues upon myself as I do set a high bar in the trueskill department. I rarely do anything less than above average in most games I play. Now for Titanfall I suppose I truly screwed myself by having a 7.0 K/D, which to non gamers or just not shooter fans think if a 1.0 K/D is average i'm 7x better than an average player so to speak.

Now you may be thinking well if your so good why would you be upset at a more competitive approach?

Well to answer that I'd have to say I got that without trying I just played like normal against whoever I faced I rarely faced anyone in even a close caliber to myself. Now I don't mind a challenge here and there but matching a whole team of people of equal skill to face me? That I take issue with. Especially as a solo player I rarely have the teamwork required to overcome such odds. So a system where I can no longer rely only on myself is just not what I want.

That's what finally lead to my decision to sell the game. I didn't want to, but by switching to a more competitive style of gameplay they essentially sucked all of the fun out of the game. Normally this is about where I'd mention this is just my opinion, but as the hype and online community has massively dwindled already it would seem i'm not the only one who feels this way. Titanfall fell into a trap because Respawn seemingly never heard the saying "If it ain't broke don't fix it"

I suppose I should be used to it though as this isn't the first time this has happened. though the last time it wasn't even supposed to be a competitive setting. I'm talking about Mass effect 3's multiplayer. Now again I gave it some praise before on here too. In this case it wasn't a random change the community banded together to pressure Bioware into running their initially fun Multiplayer into the ground. Bioware made changes based on community input and thanks to that most classes were Nerfed into a state of near uselessness. The enemies on the other hand were buffed to near invincibility. Its one thing to make harder difficulties for those who wanted them but forcing them on everyone as a whole is what inevitably chased most people away.

At least I didn't mention the ending.........shit

Both of these games attempted to up the competitive ante and fell apart needlessly. Both were great on launch an just fell apart over time thanks to unnecessary changes to appeal more to certain crowds. Not every game needs to make it to MLG tournaments or push difficulty to ridiculous levels to be good. Sometimes its best to just leave the game to be fun rather than challenging.

One games gameplay meets another's universe

I'm trying to mix things up so not a list or a review just some cool ideas. I think every one has had a what if these crossed over idea whether it be Movies, Television shows, or in my case video games. I've thought up 5 what if  crossover scenarios that I believe could be completely plausible. Of course we'll likely never see any of them actually made because things aren't that simple. Still without further ado my five crossover ideas.

Halo / Dead Space

Now in Halo your generally filling the shoes of super solider Master Chief, who can stop entire armies essentially single handedly. In Halo ODST we were brought down into the shoes of an ODST who are Halo's equivalent to Seal team 6. We've always seen the UNSC grunts we know they're there but have you ever thought about how awful the entire series of conflict must be to the regular soldiers? They don't get advanced armors, weapons, or gear like the Spartans or ODST. They are also vulnerable to Halos Parasite race the Flood. The flood are scary enough behind Armor imagine if they had the upper hand? Like the necromorphs do in Dead space. Imagine walking through a building and if even a spore flood gets the drop on you your dead?

Here to set the mood

So that's the premise for my first idea. The Game would take place between Halo 2 and 3. Your a marine sent to assist a Colony against an attack presumably the Covenant. When your ship arrives the Covenant are quickly retreating, which is highly unusual. Chasing them isn't your priority though, its checking the colony for any survivors. Your team is dispatched to the surface where you quickly find out why the covenant were retreating. After confirming flood presence your team is quickly picked off. Your Evac isn't possible so you are left to fight their way through the dead colony to a new evac zone.

The second course of the game or sequel would have your ship emerge from slipspace only to find itself on a collision course with High Charity the covenants former home, now fully taken over by the Flood and hurtling through space towards earth. Your only option is to try and find an escape route off the ship before you die.

Fallout / LA Noire

Fallout is an open world game where you traverse the remnants of a post apocalyptic alternate reality America. In Fallout's world technology greatly surpassed our own but culture was stuck at the 1920-1930's level. The only time we get to see or here about Pre-nuked america in Fallout is through occasional flashbacks or in written/recorded logs scattered though out the game. Where you can find out some details like how the tensions were rising before the attack and some minor details like recent technology. Of course we get to see many things left over from before like car designs and robots but we never got to see things at their prime. we've never seen a living version of Fallout's world.

That is until we get an open world L.A. Noire style game set in D.C. before it was known as the capitol wasteland. Cars and people still moving along, going about there days not knowing their end was approaching. You'd play a federal agent tracking possible chinese militants hoping to stop whatever they are planning, of course like Halo Reach, from the beginning you know the end. But you'd get to explore the entirety of the Fallout 3 map before it was reduced to ruins. You'd get to hear the anti-communist propaganda, the liberation of Anchorage, the rise of Vault-tec, Nuka cola, and other corporations before the bombs fell and stopped time in the fallout universe.

Fable / Dark souls

So if your like me you though Fable 3 was awful and did way too much to hold your hand. You felt the game was lacking any real challenge. Even Fable 2 was incredibly easy but at least that had a decent story and world. Now what happens when you match a colorful and often humorous world with a gruelingly hard combat system and much more in depth equipment system?

so maybe fable wasn't always sunshine and rainbows

I'd imagine something pretty awesome. Both games would finish each other getting rid of Fables ridiculously low difficulty level and Dark soul's ridiculously drab setting. The game would predate Fable one at the founding of the Hero's guild. Albion is in chaos there is hardly a place that could be considered safe with nothing to cut them back Albion's traditional enemies are much stronger and more vicious. Using an artifact that would later be destroyed and forgotten, The hero's must sacrifice something precious to obtain pseudo immortality. However if they are slain in battle they will return much weaker and their obtained exp will be lost. The goal of the game is to tame the land and establish the Hero's guild.

Mass Effect / Battlefield

This is the only one i'm writing about with multiplayer in the forefront of my idea. I was originally going to say Call of duty instead of Battlefield but I think Battlefield's class system would work out much better. Not to mention the vehicular combat could be interesting as we've only seen a few of Mass effect vehicles. The teams would be N7 Vs. Cerberus else of course players would be limited to humanoid size characters for balance reasons. The game would be in Mass Effects universe but using Battlefields engine to allow destructible environments.  The maps and weapons would be based around those from the Trilogy.
The Biotic/Tech powers would be the biggest difference maker to conventional gameplay though. Many might have to not make it for balance reasons. Imagine using Tech armor to gain a slight advantage in combat or closing the distance with a biotic charge?

Is this picture from Mass Effect or Battlefield?

I don't know about story mode though, I honestly don't see when this could fit in. Possibly between ME 2/3?
It could focus on a campaign to stop the Illusive man and Cerberus' plans. It could be interesting to see a more combat focus take on the Mass effect universe. even still its actually the most plausible idea on this list considering both series are EA.

Gears of war / Last of Us 

Speaking of plausible it needs to get thrown out the window for this idea. So through out Gears we play Marcus Fenix and Delta squad as they fight back the Locust invaders. Even though the Cog are already at the losing end of the battle when we're introduced they're still a trained army with years worth of combat intel. But what about those civilians and non Cog militia types called the Stranded we see here and there?
How have they managed to survive an enemy that's crippled their entire planets military/government? Whats it like for those who abruptly have to move through a hostile landscape?

How/why did people live on this planet before the locust came anyway? This had to be an issue...

That's where this game takes place. Your a stranded who's settlement gets overrun by the locust you have to make it to another settlement or die trying. of course this wouldn't be much Last of us unless you had a companion. You have to escort the Daughter of a friend who's last wish was for you to get her to safety. Without food, weapons, and shelter you must make it across Sera's harsh landscape. Along the way you'll have to avoid locust patrols, Kryll, and avoid dangerous weather like Razor hail.