What I'm Playing

So this is a new type of article that I will occasionally post to talk about what I'm playing, my likes and dislikes and even recommendations. Note, I play a good deal of older games (2-3 years old) but I'll keep things fresh with new titles and stuff that isn't always found on store shelves.

Dark Souls - Xbox 360

So lately, what have I been playing? I think the question should be, what have I not been playing. I'll start off with Dark Souls. I picked this game up about a month ago after I got about half way through the PC version and realized I was leveling my character all wrong. Instead of using the min/max approach, I balanced my skill points and was being annihilated by common enemies. This time around, I put together a knight build, and played a lot smarter and with more strategy.

People warned me before I bought the game saying that I'd regret it, or return it, or that I'd get so frustrated I might punch a hole in the wall. I haven't felt that way once with Dark Souls. I've had plenty of "screw this" moments but I find the game to be more rewarding than frustrating. When I'm able to tackle a particularly hard area or take down a difficult foe, I feel empowered and accomplished. Completing parts of the game are also so rewarding because they unlock new mysterious areas of the game, ripe for exploring. While the plot is minimalistic, the game play is tense and exciting; I swear, my hands have never sweat so much while playing a game. If you're looking for a challenge and some good fun, try out Dark Souls. I should mention, I also went with Dark Souls because the sequel is right around the corner, March 11th.

Castle Storm - PC

Castle Storm is almost like Angry Birds meets medieval tower defense games. The 2D physics based destruction game comes from Zen studios and pits Knights against Vikings! In the campaign, you take control of the knights and ward off invading vikings using various projectiles, ground soldiers and magical spells. It sounds kind of hokey and looks childish but it's good fun. You gain money to upgrade your weaponry, train your soldiers and fortify your castle.

You can unlock special rooms to add on your castle that give you bonuses during combat. For instance, if you build a treasury room, you collect more gold on the battlefield. Build an architect's room to strengthen your castle walls from enemy attacks. These bonuses only remain active while the room is intact however. One of the cool aspects about Castle Storm though is that you not only ward off invaders but you are sometimes tasked with invading or destroying the enemy castle as well, so you need to be good at multitasking. The game also has multiplayer and cooperative modes which are a blast. Castle Storm is an enjoyable experience and the game is easy to pick up and put down, not requiring a great deal of time or devotion.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag - Xbox 360

After the mess of Assassin's Creed III I really wasn't that excited for AC IV. Sure it looked cool because it has pirates in it, you could sail your ship all around the Caribbean and hunt sharks and stuff but I wasn't ready to drop sixty dollars on the game. However, I had the opportunity to get my hands on a copy and I decided to try it out. I was pleasantly surprised by how addicted I became to the game. Note, I'm not really into Assassin's Creed so much for the plot line anymore, ever since Brotherhood and same goes for Black Flag. The plot is weak and predictable but the gameplay is great.

After a few missions of setting the scene, you come into possession of your ship and crew which you can sail anywhere you want in the Caribbean. This is the biggest world that Ubisoft has created for any Assassin's Creed game. Seriously, it's vast. In between my time sailing to different cities, I come across tons of awesome side quest opportunities such as searching for buried treasure, hunting animals for upgrade materials, searching Myan Ruins, destroying naval forts, harpooning sharks and whales, diving into ship wrecks and boarding enemy ships to steal supplies and ships to recruit to my personal pirate fleet. Yeah, it's pretty nasty the amount of stuff you can get caught up doing in this game.

Myan ruins and ship wrecks often yield items that while help you unlock special armor and weapons or unique upgrades for your ship, so they are worth your time. Combat is great as always in Assassin's Creed and the naval combat is leagues better than it was in AC III. Environments are also richer and more interesting than the frontier. If you're looking for a game to sink some time into, check out Black Flag.

Payday 2 - PC

Payday 2 has been eating up a considerable amount of my time since I bought it during the steam winter sale. I have two brothers who also bought it and I think I remember us playing it for the majority of two or three days while I was still on winter break. The thing I love about Payday is the cooperative play. Playing games is fun but playing games with friends is even more fun, especially when you're robbing banks and jewelry stores and smuggling drugs.

Payday 2 isn't some run and gun shooter where you can take a million hits or shoot every enemy you see. Heists require planning and careful coordination for things to go smoothly. Make a mistake and you'll have the fuzz all up in your business and that just makes things tough. In some missions though it's impossible to avoid conflict and you have to stick to your guns. Each heist isn't always the same either. You may notice small changes such as room locations, number of guards, camera locations and other things change each time you play a mission. It's a good way of keeping players on their toes. You can also increase the mission difficulty for higher payouts in both money and experience.

Money buys you weapons, upgrades for your weapons, and new masks as they become available. Players can spend experience on skills that are split into four categories, each with their own specialty and set of skills. There's the Mastermind, The Enforcer, The Technician, and The Ghost. Each class has a skill tree that you invest points into. My brothers and I took a balanced approach, one of us investing heavily into the Mastermind, one into the Enforcer and myself into the Technician. The variety in our skills gives us an edge and it's fun to plan out the heists based on what skills we have unlocked.

One of the greatest things about Payday is the thrill of the heist. Whether you're trying to keep things quiet or fighting off the police, it's always pretty crazy until you make your escape. If you like cooperative games and something that is pretty hectic but incredibly rewarding, look into Payday.