A Strategy Guide for your Strategy Guides
On this episode of the SGR Coffee Break, we discuss delayed strategy guides and the effects of a guide coming out after the video game. Gee, I wonder which guide we could POSSIBLY be talking about.
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On this episode of the SGR Coffee Break, we talk about why brutally tough video games are so much fun! We also have a special guest this week. WOOHOO, SPECIAL GUEST!
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The addiction is real.
For the longest time, I’ve been a physical media person when it comes to console games. Well, I must now confess that I have broken that habit thanks to Bloodborne. I had no intention of doing a digital download for this game, but excitement got the better of me. Curse you excitement…and streamers!
However, this wasn’t a spur of the moment decision. I have been teetering on the edge of digital downloads for console games for some time. I did my research to learn I’m not saving any space on my PS4 hard drive with physical disks. I never keep my game boxes, so it’s not like I’m trying to show off my game collection. Downloads have drastically reduced in size thanks to compression technologies getting better. I mean, Bloodborne requires 24 gigs of space, but only required a download size of 5 gigs. That’s a big savings when it comes to my stupid data cap that the cable company feels they need to impose on me.
Then there is my contributing source of ‘Stack of Shame’ titles: Steam. I have long questioned why I am fine with buying a game on Steam, but not on Xbox Live or PlayStation Network. Is it because I joined Steam way back when it first came out and I have just grown to accept it for my PC gaming needs? Meanwhile, I’ve always associated physical media with console games since starting out on the Atari 2600?
I admit that the fear that my most recent PSN purchase is now in the hands of Sony. At any point they can just send a signal to my PS4 and kill my new game. I can’t just load a disk in and play it whenever I want. Yet, at the same time, this is also true for my ComiXology library, Steam library, and Nook books. Yet, the fear that Sony can take away my toys is very real.
I should also note that I almost never loan out my games, therefore that is a non-factor for me. I also never trade my games in, so I don’t even think about trade-in values. I know I can “loan” Bloodborne to a friend with game sharing, if that is ever a thing I need/want to do. So the two big advantages I’ve read about with the whole digital vs physical debate is not even a thing for me.
Will I continue to buy my games on PSN? Probably not all the time. This is especially true for collector’s editions as I like all the books, soundtracks, statues, and toys that tend to come with those. Yes, I do feel dirty for this recent action. Yet I got a game I wanted and I never left my house. I mean, it’s cold outside. It’s scary out there. I have to deal with people. I’d have to change out of my pajamas, and who wants to do that? That all seems like so much work now. I’ll just wash away my fears by dying over and over and over and over again in Bloodborne!
I was, and still am, excited about Evolve. The premise of four hunters taking down a giant monster totally has my interest. While I enjoy the game, sadly it’s already on the pile of “Games that Died Too Soon” thanks to a dwindling online community. Sadly, this will also be the case of the Evolve strategy guide by BradyGames.
This is a fairly easy guide to read and understand. As I was new to the game, as in I was kept away from spoilers and such, it was nice to learn how the various weapons and skills worked. This helped me form a plan as to what hunter I wanted to concentrate on and get the most unlocks for right at the start. This is true for the monsters as well as their attacks are spelled out and easy to know what monster fit my style of play. It was also handy to know what perks to pick for both sides, as those do make a big difference.
Could we get a bit more detail here. Like PRETTY PLEASE!
I found the Hunters and Monsters sections to be detailed enough to help me pick a favorite hunter and monster. Having the hunter combinations that utilize their loadouts against specific monsters was a nice touch. There are tips on how each character operates and what makes them tick. However, the tips are rather basic. Telling readers that a healing class should sit back from the fight and only swoop in when needed is pretty much Gaming 101 at this point. Having more advanced strategies would have made this guide a lot more useful.
The maps are a mixed bag. I like knowing where the monster spawns in relation to where the hunters drop and the power core. The various map effect details (dependent on game mode) will help new players as they are not only fighting one another, but also the environment as well. Knowing what a man eating plant looks like will come in very handy when running away from the Goliath in hopes of living to fight another round.
While the maps are good for an overview, there isn’t much else to them. There are no prime routes marked for hunters or monsters. The lack of detail, outside of spawn and drop zone location, is very disenchanting. Having markings of where the bigger wildlife spawn points are, bird flock locations, and vantage points would have made these maps that much more useful.
Now this is full of win!
For those who want to get all the accolades, badges, and achievements will find the guide is very helpful here. Accolades and badges come in spreadsheet form and contain all the info that is needed to obtain these. The nicest part about this section is that the achievements are more than just a table with the name and point value. This guide actually details out what is necessary in order to snag every achievement available. That is not something we see in a lot of guides, and it is something I’d love to see more of.
As with any guides for a game of this nature, take all numbers and stats with a grain of salt. Patches, balance tweaks, and so on can easily render the numbers in this guide useless in one fell swoop. This guide also can’t be updated with future maps and hunter releases, and so the value of this information is rather limited to the game launch window.
Overall, the Evolve strategy guide is a great introduction to what players can expect from Evolve. I found that it was easy to read while drinking coffee or over a lunch break. I then was able to plan out what I wanted to focus on and unlock during my future Evolve play sessions. However, seasoned veterans will find this is more of a Sunday read than anything that is going to actually detail out solid strategies to make one a better hunter or monster. As is the game, pick your side and determine the value of it for yourself.
Author: Michael Owen and Will Murray
Publisher: BradyGames
Editions Available: Paperback
Acquired via Publisher
The addiction was real!
This week marks the 16th birthday for the original EverQuest. I have so many fond memories of this game. Sixteen years ago, I had just built my first 400 MHz Pentium computer, complete with a 3dfx Voodoo graphics card, 56k modem, and 64MB of RAM. Yes, just let those stats sink in for a moment. Broadband was not even a thing yet and man did waiting for a few hours for a patch to pull down because your girlfriend kept picking up the phone and disconnecting your modem suck. However, I waited it out and fell in love with my first MMO experience!
I remember working at Electronics Boutique and my manager and assistant manager couldn’t stop talking about this game. They were sharing stories of how they were exploring the world and finding all these cool mobs. They complained about having to do corpse runs after they died and they didn’t want to lose their gear. This new “raiding” thing sounded pretty kick-ass. I listened to their tales for a few hours while I sold countless Pokémon cards to various kids. By the end of the work day, I picked up the game and raced home to install it only to find I had some patching to do. Talk about buzzkill!
Eventually, the patching finished and I logged into a strange world. I rolled a Gnome Cleric and immediately got lost in my starting city known as Ak’Anon. Within mere minutes, I fell off a bridge and couldn’t get back to dry land. Eventually, a GM (Game Master) helped me out, gave me some gold and wished me luck. I eventually found my way to the city entrance and stepped out into a big, and beautiful, world. It was the hook I needed. It was new. It was intimidating. IT WAS AWESOME!
Over time, I found a guild. I made some great friends. I quested. Hell, this game took over my life. I’d get up two hours before I’d have to leave for work just so I could do some crafting. I’d race home after work and login and play until the wee hours of the morning. I lost so much sleep, but to this day I still think it was worth it. I mean, I still remember slaying my first dragon and praying to the gaming gods I’d get something special.
As my game play hours skyrocketed into numbers that shall not be mentioned here, I would follow my guild to other games such as Dark Age of Camelot, EverQuest 2, Guild Wars, World of Warcraft, and various other MMO type games. Sadly, just like the drug it was, nothing would capture that initial awe that was EverQuest. Sure, other games were fun, but after that first taste, it was nothing more than hopes and dreams to relive that high that I originally had. To this day, I still play the occasional MMO, but they all still pale in comparison that that first dip into the EverQuest pool.
EverQuest, thank you for the countless hours of fun. Thank you for making me excited to get my first broadband connection so I could play you with less lag. Thanks for making me appreciate not having to call up guildies, drag them out of bed, and force them into the game to help me recover my corpse. Thank you for the countless memories that you helped create! EverQuest, this beer is for you!