Monthly Archives: October 2015
Review: Blood Bowl 2
Score: 5 out of 10
Cyanide’s Blood Bowl II is a turn-based fantasy themed sport game. I say sport and not football because there’s only a loose base in American football. There’s a kick-off at the start of the half and after a touchdown and that’s about it, oh and the ball looks like a football with spikes. And the players’ uniforms are based on football uniforms. Other than that it’s completely different.
Bob and Jim
I know if you think about football is turn-based but this isn’t like that. Each half is 8 turns and during each turn you can move each player individually a certain number of invisible spaces on the field. If a player is standing in a space adjacent to and opposed player they can attack the player whether they have the ball or not. When you attack you roll die to see what action you can do. The action could be a simple push but where the fun in that it is called Blood Bowl so the action you really want is to upper cut them in the jaw and possibly KO them or maybe even kill them. If you have fellow teammates around you to ups your strength and can add one or two extra dice to give you a better chance at a favorable roll. That can work against you as well if the opponent has friends or is just plain stronger than you the dice will so up red meaning that the opponent can choose from the die which action happens. Attacks aren’t the only “dice rolls†that happen if you want to pick the ball up off the ground you are given a percentage of success and you hear the sound of dice being rolled, the same happens if you want to take a couple extra steps past your given movement area or if you want to run one space away from an opponent. If you fail any of these and it ends with a one of your players or the ball falling on the ground it’s turnover, which is a forced end turn. There were plenty of time my first action was to attack an opponent and I ended up rolling a player down which is when they uppercut my player and that immediately ends my turn.
There is a campaign with a story. You are the new coach of the once great human team, Reikland Reavers, which is now rank last in the league. 
Much of the first games are tutorials to teach you the rules. In some of those some of the games mechanics are turned off like turnovers. The match when the turnovers are turned on I swear that was when the computer AI started cheating. And I don’t mean cheating as a game mechanic, I mean I started rolling a lot of player downs and both downs. The both down die means that both players attack each other and if neither one has the block ability they both go down. In the previous games most of my players had the block ability then at that game none of them did. I could eventually level up my players to get a chance at getting the blocking ability back. It may have just been training wheels while I learn the game but to suddenly take them away and have every other roll be both down and have every opponent have that ability it a bit bullshit. Then as the campaign goes on after all the rules have been introduced, it ups the difficulty even more by having other objectives other and just winning the game be required to continue. The other objectives could be something like score with a certain player type or make sure this random thing happens, something that you could spend hours just to get to happen. If those were optional things you could do that would have been great but they weren’t.
Throughout the campaign you hear the comedic commentary of Jim the vampire and Bob the ogre. Their funny at first but like all commentaries you after hearing the same joke for 50th time it’s not funny anymore. The sound in general is pretty good. Hearing the player hit each other sounds just as brutal as it looks.
As you could tell earlier in this review I have some issues with the game. The major one is just that when you lose a game you don’t feel like you lose because you’re bad at the game you lose because the computer wanted you to lose. It replaces skill with a RGN (Random Number Generator). I did not play any games online with people but I’ve heard the community is as acidic and League of Legends or Dota 2. Another issue I had with the game was that the game doesn’t explain some of it’s team management mechanics.
I liked the idea of the game but it’s execution leaves something to be desired. I don’t think it’d recommend to anyone but fans of the franchise. This was my first time play a Blood Bowl game and I would have rather played something like a Madden with this art style which I know it not what Blood Bowl is. If you like this type of game then this is your game.
*Code Supplied by Publisher*
The GeeksFTW- Episode 236
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Due to a lot of things the podcast is very late. Well here it is. Sorry about that. Hopefully I (William) can get it up on time next episode
If you are looking for more from us then check out our YouTube Page for game reviews, quick looks and more. We want to know what you think of this episode so please let us know your thoughts. You can leave feedback on iTunes, Twitter, Facebook, Stitcher Radio, send email to TheGeeksFTW@gmail.com , or leave a comment below. And remember we are still looking for writers and guest hosts so if you are interested than please contact us. Show notes will be below. We hope you enjoy!
Review: Life is Strange (complete game)
Life is Strange is a story-driven, episodic, adventure game from the developers at Dontnod. The game revolves around an 18 year old photography student named Maxine Caulfield. After a vision of a tornado that destroys the town she discovers that she has the ability to reverse time. She uses these new powers to save the life of her childhood friend, Chloe. The two try and figure out what happened to a local girl who’s gone missing.
By the end of episode one I was intrigued by the story and wanted to know what was up with Max’s time reversing powers. By the end of episode two I was hooked and had to find out how this story is going to end. This really was one of the best stories that I’ve played all year. The story is slow-paced but that was done on purpose, to get you to get to know the main characters and side characters better so if a choice comes up that might end badly for someone you have to really think about it. But thanks to the reverse time mechanic you can go back and make a different choice and see how that turns out then decide which one you want to stick with. Sometimes that can makes the decision even harder when you find out that both choices may not be favorable.
The art in the game is pretty damn good too. The characters and setting looks great. Most photographs in the game have this heavy bleed watercolor look (don’t know if that the technical word for it)
and I really liked it. The music in the game wasn’t something I’d listen to but it was defiantly something a hipster like Max would, so it was all good; but, the punk rocker, Chloe’s choice in music didn’t match when you turn on her stereo and they dance on the bed.
Not for things I didn’t like so much about the game. There were a couple times when I knew that a situation could turn out a certain way through a tree of dialogue options. The problem was, I was constantly rewinding so I could get the outcome I desired. If there was no rewinding then I would have just rolled with it but I could and spent way too much time on a conversation. My biggest problem is something that I’ve been seeing on a lot of other reviews. The rest of this paragraph is spoilers for the end of the game please skip ahead if you don’t want to know. You have been warned. Seriously. Stop reading. The final outcome of the game as nothing to do with any choice you have made up until this point. It doesn’t matter if Kate lived or died, or if you saved Alyssa every episode, or if your planet died. Now that doesn’t deter from that choice you have to make. They do a really nice job with the lead up, highlighting all the major points of Max and Chloe’s friendship from the previous episodes. When that choice came up it wasn’t much of a surprise 
cause I had guessed it earlier in the episode, but that didn’t make it any easier. I thought about it for a while. I walked around my apartment for a few minutes thinking about it.
I really enjoyed this game and am looking forward to playing it again with different choices to see how much it changes the story. This game also does make me want to look at Dontnod’s next game Vampyr and check out their previous game Remember Me. I absolutely recommend this game for anyone who likes a good story. I would not recommend it for people who have sensitivity to bullying and suicide and drugs usage.
SteelSeries IntroducesThe Siberia 200
SteelSeries Answers Siberia Headset Demand From Gamers Worldwide, Introducing The Siberia 200 and The Ambassadors Who Inspired The New Headset Colors
The Tournament-Darling and Award-Winning Headset is Back, Now in a Variety of Vibrant, Gamer-Inspired Colors
 
CHICAGO – October 20, 2015 – SteelSeries, the leading global manufacturer of gaming peripherals, brings back the most sought-after Siberia v2 gaming headset with refreshed features, an updated name, and in a variety of colors inspired by top-professional gamers. The SteelSeries Siberia 200 gaming headset brings next-level audio, microphone quality and unsurpassed comfort in a collection of colors that celebrate eSports.
The seven unique Siberia 200 headset color combinations are inspired by the passion and personal-style of top professional streamers and eSports athletes, hand-picked by SteelSeries. SteelSeries will release original videos about each of the ambassadors and the Siberia 200 color that was motivated by their profession, personality and individuality.
“After discontinuing the Siberia v2, gamers worldwide have demanded its return – we’re excited to announce that those demands have been answered with the Siberia 200. Refreshing and bringing this headset back to market celebrates a headset with a proven track record of success and delivers exactly what gamers really want,†said Ehtisham Rabbani, SteelSeries CEO. “The community played such an integral roll in this headset refresh, which meant the color choices we were going to offer needed to be deeply connected to influential gaming personalities – that’s where our Ambassadors came in. We’re thrilled to be able to bring meaningful color combinations and their stories to gamers.â€
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Gamer-Inspired Colors
While the decision to bring back the Siberia v2, now named the Siberia 200, was based on the feedback of eSports players, streamers and gamers from around the globe, SteelSeries wanted to deliver improvements and new choices as well. The 7 unique colors options were inspired by the personalities and styles of the new SteelSeries Ambassadors: Sumail “Suma1L” Hassan Syed, Eric “Snip3down†Wrona, Kevin “Broken†Georges, Kellsie “KayPea†Pelling, and Edwin “Castro†Castro. In the coming weeks, SteelSeries will release their stories, provide a glimpse into their worlds, and share what inspires the “true colors†behind this roster of talented and dedicated gamers.
Next-Level Audio Features
The acoustically tuned audio creates realistic immersive sound that pumps out of the headset’s 50mm speaker drivers. Gamers have volume and mic mute controls on a discreet, in-line remote. The durable, retractable unidirectional microphone outputs vibrant and clear voice audio so your teammates, opponents, streams and friends can hear every word. The included 3.5mm, 4-pole adapter provides compatibility for PC, Mac and mobile use.
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Proven Comfort
The Siberia headset line is synonymous lasting comfort – unmatched by any other gaming peripherals brand. For years, gamers around the world have trusted the comfort of Siberia headsets at competitive events, neighborhood LANs, to some of the largest eSports tournaments. The self-adjusting, over-the-head suspension system keeps the weight of the headset balanced, while the leather-like ear cushions softly rest around the ear.
The Siberia 200 Gaming Headset is available now – select colors options are available for pre-order as well on SteelSeries.com for $79.99 / €79.99 MSRP – http://steelseries.com/siberia200.
Show Your Colors Contest
The Siberia headset colors are designed to meet the unique tastes of different gamers. To celebrate the introduction of the Siberia 200, SteelSeries is launching a contest that embraces this diversity. Open to everyone around the globe on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, the Show Your Colors campaign asks gamers to show-off their true colors and share what makes them awesomely original. The three-week long event will award more than 75 winners including a grand prize; more details can be found at www.SteelSeries.com/ShowYourColors.
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About SteelSeries
SteelSeries is a gaming brand that leads the market in building peripherals with quality, innovation and purpose. The company’s passion has been the driving force behind many first-to-market innovations and technologies that continue to become the industry standard and have-to-have requirements of gamers. The global brand continues to support the growth of competitive gaming tournaments and electronic sports leagues through professional team sponsorships, partnerships and community support. The company surrounds itself with the passion and the commitment to being the best. It is with this mentality that SteelSeries chooses to partner with some of world’s most respected and recognized brands that work together to push the growth and evolution of the gaming industry into an even greater proposition http://SteelSeries.com.Follow SteelSeries on social media for the latest updates at http://facebook.com/steelseries and be a part of the conversation on Twitter @SteelSeries.
The GeeksFTW- Episode 235
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
We are a day late, but we had a little technical difficulties that made editing take a little longer but here the show is for you!
If you are looking for more from us then check out our YouTube Page for game reviews, quick looks and more. We want to know what you think of this episode so please let us know your thoughts. You can leave feedback on iTunes, Twitter, Facebook, Stitcher Radio, send email to TheGeeksFTW@gmail.com , or leave a comment below. And remember we are still looking for writers and guest hosts so if you are interested than please contact us. Show notes will be below. We hope you enjoy!
The GeeksFTW- Episode 234
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
We are a bit late because we recorded on Saturday but nonetheless we are back!
If you are looking for more from us then check out our YouTube Page for game reviews, quick looks and more. We want to know what you think of this episode so please let us know your thoughts. You can leave feedback on iTunes, Twitter, Facebook, Stitcher Radio, send email to TheGeeksFTW@gmail.com , or leave a comment below. And remember we are still looking for writers and guest hosts so if you are interested than please contact us. Show notes will be below. We hope you enjoy!
The GeeksFTW- Episode 233
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
The Podcast is super late. Tons of reasons that you probably don’t care about, but here the show is now posted and it is a shorter show too. I promise to make an effort to get 234 out on time!
If you are looking for more from us then check out our YouTube Page for game reviews, quick looks and more. We want to know what you think of this episode so please let us know your thoughts. You can leave feedback on iTunes, Twitter, Facebook, Stitcher Radio, send email to TheGeeksFTW@gmail.com , or leave a comment below. And remember we are still looking for writers and guest hosts so if you are interested than please contact us. Show notes will be below. We hope you enjoy!
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