For the week of October 21 – 27
Check out what I played last week
October 21 – A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead
While I was in Japan, I managed to secure a code for A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead. I quite enjoyed the first film. But I also know that game adaptations of film properties don’t always translate well. As this is an original concept, I was eager to see how the developers would approach it. While I plan on doing a more in-depth blog about the game later in the week, for now, I’m disappointed.
My biggest frustration with this game is its pacing. For the first 45 minutes of the game, they try to world-build but it lacks the tension you’d expect. You play as Alex, an asthmatic girl who so happens to also be pregnant. There is a lot to unpack here. The game jumps around from the current day to the first few days of the invasion and highlights some of her drama. The key here is that there seems to be a lot of animosity between Alex and her boyfriend’s mother, Laura. Early in the game, we see one reason why, but you have to play a bit more to find out the other reason.
I can look past the story if the gameplay is fun. Unfortunately, I am not enjoying it. The problem is that the monster(s) show up, it turns the game into a series of trial-and-error scenarios. In one, you need to navigate around a boobie-trapped infested campground. After that, you’re trying to navigate around a train yard. While the levels change, the concept is the same.
The other problem I have is that the game doesn’t leave room for error. It makes sense to avoid detection but there is rarely an opportunity to hide or avoid death if you’re spotted. If you trigger the monster, you get a cutscene and Alex dies. It’s annoying that there are no attempts to allow for any sort of hiding, even when there are places you can go. I’ll have more to share about the game later in the week, but I’m not sure my opinions will change.
October 22 – MechWarrior 5: Clans
I worked at Piranha Games when MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries launched. While I had zero involvement in the development, I was glad to be a part of the team for a franchise that I was very fond of. MechWarrior 5: Clans launched last week and I wanted to see how it faired. This comes out during a great time for mech-related gaming. Although I couldn’t get into Armored Core 6, it did manage to reintroduce people into these types of games.
MechWarrior 5: Clans focuses on a group of new members of Clan Smoke Jaguar. You don’t have to know much about the BattleTech universe. This game features a lot of exposition to help you get familiar with its particular story. At the same time, the first few missions give you a great chance to get used to the controls and combat. While these are easy to pilot, being smart on the battlefield takes practice.
My only frustration with the game is the lack of checkpoints. In the first story-focused mission, my squad got overwhelmed. I noticed that the AI wasn’t that smart, often getting in the way of shots or not following my orders. There was no way to repair my mech in this battle so we died. Instead of starting back at a logical checkpoint, I had to restart the mission from the start. This wasn’t a short mission either, so that was a good 20 minutes down the drain.
When I started this game, I was hopeful that this would be a great place to get more people back into MechWarrior. I don’t know if it will. It’s nice that this game is available through Game Pass, so people should try it out if they can.
October 23 – Red Earth
During my trip to Japan, I picked up some Dreamcast games, most of them were fighting games. I plan to try a few for this feature. While researching Capcom fighting games from the 90s, I came across Red Earth. This is one I didn’t know anything about. Once an Arcade exclusive, it was a part of 2022’s Capcom Fighting Collection. Since I never tried it, I thought this could be a nice game to try midweek.
Red Earth is a bit different from other Capcom fighters I’ve played. There are only four characters to choose from. Instead of fighting against the other characters, the story focuses on boss battles. You’re on the hunt for the game’s main antagonist. But along the way, you’ll face off against a half-dozen different boss fighters.
Fights are a bit different. All Characters have one life bar. The bosses have significantly larger health bars and it takes a of to take them down. The other key difference here is that this game features a leveling system. As you progress through fights and collect experience, you’ll unlock content. This includes learning new attacks, improving your defense, and other stuff.
The fighting is fun but it’s also very difficult. Boss characters have incredible range. Meaning that some can strike you from the opposite side of the screen. I was often losing fights because I could get close enough to attack. The continue system is forgiving. Instead of having to start the fight from the beginning, boss characters get a bit of health back. So, you can chip away at them and win the fight.
October 24 – Alien: Isolation
After starting A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead, it was finally time for me to try Alien: Isolation. I owned this game back on the PlayStation 4 but never ended up playing it for whatever reason. I got it for cheap with every intention of playing it but never did. I bought it yet again, this time on PC since it was on sale. With it being “Spooky Month”, this is a great time to play it. I’ve played for over an hour and I’ve yet to encounter the Xenomorph. So, I kind of see the criticism this game got when it was first released back in 2014.
Unlike Monday’s game, I’m fine with the pacing of Alien: Isolation. Here, the world-building and plot make sense. We don’t need to encounter a Xenomorph immediately. We are Amanda Ripley, the daughter of heroine Ellen Ripley. She learns that a space station may have recovered her mother who went missing over a decade ago. You head there and things of gotten weird.
I’m not going to go into too much detail but a lot happens in the first hour. After spending the first bit wandering around alone, Ripley finally comes across civilians. This interaction leads her to see how bad things are. We do get a brief interaction with the Xenomorph but it’s an indirect one. I’m still waiting for that face-to-face moment that I expect should scare me.
From what I’ve read over the years, the cat-and-mouse hunt in Alien: Isolation is incredible. I’m a bit disappointed I’ve yet to see the Xenomorph up close. While I am fine with the build-up. But, I was expecting that within the first two missions of the game, I would have had direct contact.
October 25 – Home Sweet Home
Home Sweet Home is another game I got for free and have had in my collection for a while. Based on the description, it felt perfect to play in October and I’ve spent close to two hours with it. To be honest, this one surprised me. It’s a first-person horror game that incorporates Thai mythology. The scares here are genuine and I’m impressed with its execution in some parts. Yes, parts of this game need a bit more polish, but it manages to keep my attention as I try to get the main character home.
This one starts with minimal context. You wake up in a strange and decrypted apartment complex somewhere in Thailand. At first, I assumed my character was a tourist. It’s only as you progress you learn that Tim is Thai and is trying to find his wife, Jane who has gone missing. As you try to get out, the environment starts to change. Doors that were there one moment disappear, and vice versa. Are you still in a dream or is this all happening?
The scare elements work well. There are a few enemy characters, which mix up the gameplay. You can sneak past them, but if you trigger them, you better run and hide before they get you. Once you escape the first area, you start to see how deep this “rabbit hole” goes. You will then encounter different environments and new obstacles to overcome
There are a few gripes. This feels like a low-budget game. I was playing on the SteamDeck and it defaults to low-graphics settings. For a game that’s more than five years old, I was a bit surprised by this. On my PC, I managed to run it at Very High settings, so the visuals are a bit better but not that much. The sound is ok, but I wish the game defaulted to Thai instead of English to better immerse you into this world. My last concern is the game’s length. I was expecting a short experience, but I still have a lot more to go.
October 26 – Sylvio: Black Waters
The Sylvio series is one I knew nothing about until. This only caught my radar after reading GameSpot’s review for Sylvio: Black Waters. The nature of the review made me intrigued. For a game considered to be a part of the horror genre, I don’t quite see it. Yet, the audio design and the cryptic nature have me wanting to proceed further.
You awake on a strange planet of sorts. There is no sign of how you got there. The game starts with in the middle of nowhere with a few objects around you. You find a recorder and the person on the recording tells you about the code to access a Space Pod and what it is. Your character doesn’t know the combination. There are a series of lights on the ground that act as “breadcrumbs”. You begin to follow them in the hopes of understanding what’s happening.
A lot of things happen in the first 20-30 minutes of the game. There are two main gameplay aspects. The first is the wandering aspect. You need to find your way out of here but doing so isn’t indicated outside of the “breadcrumbs”. The other is solving the message puzzles left around. These seem to tell an overarching story, so finding all the clues will take time.
But that’s what’s keeping my interest in the game. I’m enjoying the wandering and sense of discovery. I don’t see any sort of horror, but there is plenty of mystery and suspense. It’s not clear how I’ll get off this planet. Do I need to collect these stories? Will I find the combination to turn on the computer terminal at the start? Or, is this all a dream? I’d love to keep playing and see how this turns out.
October 27 – Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
When it comes to Call of Duty, I am part of the minority who only plays the Campaign. Other than Call of Duty Warzone Mobile, I seldom touch the multiplayer. At the same time, it’s been a few years since I played a Call of Duty campaign from start to finish. The last one was 2020’s Modern Warfare. I got about halfway through Black Ops Cold War before getting bored with the story. So, when I launched Black Ops 6, my only intention was to play the campaign. So far, I’m having fun.
The big thing, at least for me, is the idea of a central hub in the campaign. After a mission, you return to your safe house somewhere in Bulgaria. Between missions, they allow for some RPG-lite aspects. These include interacting with your team members in conversations and performing upgrades. Upgrades impact how you play in later missions. You unlock them with money found in previous missions.
For me, this is a new thing to CoD games. While I don’t hate this aspect, it feels odd. This is something I’d expect from an Ubisoft shooter, like Far Cry and The Division. Its inclusion here seems like the developers are struggling for ideas. Why they are copying other games instead of doing something original?
But, for a Call of Duty game, I’m having fun. While the first mission was pretty standard, the second one was intense. It has a bit of everything. There are your stealth opportunities. You can approach the main goal in a few ways and there is plenty of action along the way. The story is fine but I’m here for the set-pieces where I have to act fast. As with previous games, I’m expecting a good mix of plot twists and crazy moments. If I can find the time, I’ll push through to the end.
