Posts

Thief

This week, Tom introduced me to 'Thief.' The title is fairly self-explanatory. The premise of this game is that you play (unsurprisingly) as a thief, stealing from within 'the city', working for Basso, your leader. The aesthetic of the game and its character design was slightly reminiscent of Oliver Twist in that sense, a bedragled man in a lopsided hat instructing his band of thieves to steal for him.  I went into this game, as always, completely blind. I had never even heard of this game- let alone seen any actual footage. The concept itself is intriguing- I think the gaming trope of the angsty 'loner' character is becoming increasingly popular (my own observation) and so I was excited to play more games with this type of arc.  The story of Thief is rather intricate, and as a first time player I was somewhat baffled. One minute you appear to be jumping between rooftops, stealing from people's houses, and the next your partner in crime falls through the roo...

Starwars Battlefront 2

  The second week of this series saw me jump into the Star Wars Universe to try out the various online multiplayer functions of StarWars Battlefront. I played 5 different games in total, though my experiences were varied across each one. I must first make clear that I don't really consider myself a Star Wars fan- I have seen the majority of the films and understand the basic lore, however my feelings towards this game are solely based on my experience with a first/third person shooter rather than having any kind of nostalgic or emotional connection to the franchise itself. In that sense, I am fairly unbiased in terms of this review and truly offer a pair of fresh eyes to evaluate this game as a whole.  Firstly, in contrast to last week's game, Red Dead Redemption 2, I found in terms of ludology the PS4 controller much harder to navigate than the XBOX1. I find that the PS4 controllers don't fit into my hands as well, I'm often having t stretch my fingers out to hit certa...

Red Dead Redemption 2

  We are starting off this series with a game that I went into completely blind. I had heard of Red Dead Redemption before, but had no idea what it was about, what the story was or how it was played. Overall I loved this game- it was a combination of factors I enjoy- (in-depth character story and detailed cutscenes) with things that pushed me out of my comfort zone (Aiming/shooting/combat games and fast reactions).  I really appreciated as a film student how cinematic the game was- during the cut-scenes there were very seamless transitions between gameplay and the sequences, adding to the immersion and providing some beautiful shots in the process. The story was also fairly easy to follow despite having no prior knowledge of the previous game.  I liked how the characters didn't fit the binary opposites of 'Good and Evil' but were instead somewhere in the middle, allowing the gamer to make their own judgements and shape the character around their play. I felt like my choic...

Introduction

Hello, dear readers, and welcome to 'Ready Player 2,' as much a blog as it is a sort of experiment. This blog is a platform for me to review and play videogames, detailing my experiences including the use of controls, graphics, immersion, community and my overall opinions.  This blog, however, is written from the stance of someone who has never described herself as a serious gamer- rather a gamer's girlfriend. Gaming is Tom (my boyfriend)'s entire world; if he isn't on some mission in COD, he's competing for a space in Fall Guys, shooting people in Borderlands or Levelling up his warlocks. This makes about as much sense to me as a new language- though the idea is to explore his passion and potentially unlock this love of gaming for myself.  I have some, if limited, gaming experience- mostly Five Night At Freddy's, The Walking Dead and Minecraft, however I wish to delve further into this medium that is becoming increasingly popular and see why games are adore...