Because of circumstances in my personal life, these last couple of weeks have
been a real drag, to say the least. So I have been struggling to find the
motivation to write anything of late as I binge cooking shows on TV. However,
you can’t stay stuck on the couch forever, and I thought if I was going to
write it should be on something I care about a lot, so bring on those video
games. Much like my personal
top 10 films list I needed to come up with some criteria to be able
to sort through all the really good games I have played in my life.
Games that are beautifully constructed
(art, story, etc)
TL;DR – An interesting look at the rise of one of the world’s most played video games, even if there are a few rough edges to the presentation.
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene
Review –
When you think about sporting spectacles, you think about Wimbledon, or Superbowl, or The Olympics. However, as time is going on, Esports is a growing phenomenon drawing in more people and more money than ever before. In this world of Esports, one of the biggest and fastest-growing games is a MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) that goes by the name League of Legends. This documentary explores the history of Riot Games’ League of Legends, its growth and its potential future.
The fact that a game created in 2006 is still around today, is one of those quirks that rarely happens in the video games industry, the fact that it continues to be one of the most popular games in the world makes it more so. For that very reason alone, it makes this documentary interesting because it is really engaging watching a game go from being working out of a basement to having a grand final in the Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing. This is coming from someone who does not actually play the game. I have tried to get into MOBAs like LOL and DOTA before and while I like watching them be played but I have no skill in playing them.
TL;DR – This is a really good
resource for parents wanting to know more about video games to help understand
and engage with their kids on the issue
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
Video games, they are the latest hotness in the world, but like a lot of new
technologies, there is a lot about them that can be difficult for people to
understand if they are not familiar. This is amplified when it is parents
trying to understand the world that their kids are living in. Today we look at
a series that is trying to de-mystify some of the real issues around gaming and
to give parents the tools needed to understand and help kids develop.
Each episode of the show revolves around one aspect of the video games industry
and how it applies to children and then talks to the experts to help parents understand
the issue. For example loot boxes and microtransactions. This is all presented
in a form that is easy to digest which is important when dealing with very
complex issues where there are quite often no straight forward answers. I feel
that this show is really important because it does not shy away from the problematic
aspects of video games but it also does not lean into the sensationalist
reporting that you get from most of the Australian media that does not know how
to write stories unless it is about “insert game is the new addiction” like we
saw just last week with untitled goose
game. There are real problems and concerns with video games, but these are
no different for any other types of media and as a parent it is important to be
across these issues.
TL;DR – This is an
interesting take on the End-Of-The-World genre
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
When I say to you Zombie Apocalypse, I think for many people the first thing
you would do is suppress a sigh. As a genre, it has been used multiple times
and these days one could say that it has been done to death as long as they immediately
followed it up immediately with ‘pun not attended’. However, every now and again,
a new show will use the setting to explore something new and today we get to
look at just such a show.
So to set the scene, we open in on Day 42 with Jack Sullivan (Nick Wolfhard)
the only known survivor in his town. 42 Days ago portals opened up over his
town and monsters and zombies came flooding out attacking the town. Some escaped,
some were rescued, but more still were turned into zombies to roam the streets.
Abandoned by his foster family, Jack survives by hiding in his foster brother’s
treehouse and using that as a base of operation. He is trying to find his best
buddy Quint (Garland Whitt) and rescue his flame June (Montse Hernandez), but
first he needs to survive being hunted by a monster angry because Jack poked
its eye out.
TL;DR – Adding aBattle Royale to a Civilization game
seems really counterintuitive, that is until you play it.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
In 2019 if there was
ever a trend that could be considered the new hotness that every video game
company wants a chunk of, well that has to be the Battle Royale mode. For those
who may not know, a Battle Royale mode/game is where you have an ever-shrinking
map so you need to gear up, get to the safe zone, defeating any enemies you
come across, and be the last one standing. This is where you get your chicken
dinner, or in this case your escape from a dying planet. But most Battle Royale
games like PUBG, Fortnite, and Call of Duty:
Black Ops 4: Blackout are first/third-person shooters, surely it can’t work
in a strategy game, well I’ve been able to play a couple of rounds so far so
let’s see.
My experience with Battle Royale games is not as extensive as some people, however
I have played/watched enough of the genre to get a good sense of the common
aspects of the game. You have the same phases in a match, when you land you
have to roam around quickly to try and get resources, troops from ruined
cities, helicopters from raider camps, or even a coveted nuclear weapon. You
need to move quickly because everyone else is out there doing the same, so you
have to stretch your resources, but not so much that you overburden yourself.
Then you might pick off one of the players that were not quick enough while
keeping to the ever-shrinking safe zone until there are only one or more
players left and you battle it out head-to-head.
TL;DR – A fantastic addition to the base game that really improves the exploration phase.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review – Last year I got back into Stellaris a 4X space strategy game, a combination that feels like a video game designed just for me. Over the years it has had a lot of improvements building upon the strengths of the base game. Since then there have been a couple of expansion packs and DLCs and today we are looking the latest addition for the game Ancient Relics.
The core component of this new story pack is the addition of archaeological digs and from this the addition of minor and major artifacts. As you explore out at the start of the game you may stumble across archaeological digs on random planets. These require a science ship to work them much like anomalies but with a little twist. There is a random element in the process where you have a chance to improve until you crack the next level. Most of the digs have multiple levels that you have to progress to before you can complete it and earn research points, resources, or more.
TL;DR – Every single feature of Civilization 6 (at time of posting) in one map, this time with Lakes, Seas, and Oceans
Article –
This week we got the latest update to
Civilization VI: Gathering Storm, and along with the boosted Industrial Zones
and several pages of patch notes there was the announcement of the game adding
water features to its growing list of geographical features. We have mapped Civ
VI in the past as part of our Map-It Project, and I
am always a completionist, so I thought it would be quick to add in a couple of
lakes. Well three solid days of work later and it was not the quick job I
expected, but it was a rewarding one as I got to learn more about the geography
of the Earth while brushing up on my Māori.
Now as always, a couple of notes before
we start, first the Civilization boundaries on the map are based more on
clarity than anything else, so in most cases, they conform to their modern
counterparts. We have also worked using the commonly implemented political
borders, not necessarily what nations claim, and this means making some
judgement calls which you will see below. Also, while all attempts have been
made to make sure that everything is accurately placed, putting this together
meant working from multiple different sources, and map projections, and as
such, no matter how much you try there might be some slight discrepancies here
and there.
We will be mostly going over the new additions and changes to the map in this update, if you want to learn more about some of the location choices that we made you can find more detail in our First Full Civilization Big Map and out Gathering Storm Update Map.
Finally, after the break there will be a lot of large images, so now is the time to check that you are on WiFi and are not using Mobile Data. Also a quick shout out to sonicmyst, God of Kings, Eagle Pursuit, Zaarin and SeelingCat over at the Civfanatics Forum for helping me with some of the obscure lakes I was having trouble locating.
TL;DR
– I look at the highs
and lows of the last 10 years of my Minecraft story, the video game I have
probably spent more hours playing than anything else.
Article –
This year is Minecraft’s 10 year anniversary, and if you are like me and can remember when it first came out, well that is one of those numbers that will just make you feel old. In those 10 years, Minecraft has gone from this small Indy darling that you heard about through whispers on the internet to a full-on industry juggernaut. There have been countless videos and tutorials, and while there have been a lot of imitators, nothing has ever reached the heights of the original.
As I thought back through the last 10 years, I had the sudden realisation that I have probably spent more hours in Minecraft than any other game I have played, bar maybe Civilizationthankfully Minecraft was never on Steam so there is not a tracker out there with the exact hour count. That was of course then a prompt to get all nostalgic about a simpler time, a time of dirt and cobblestone, and when zombies dropped feathers for some reason.
TL;DR
– It builds on everything that worked in the base
game and then adds features that make it a must play
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
Last year I had a look at a really interesting strategy game about starting the first ever colony on Mars. Just in its name, Surviving Mars, it told you just how hard it would be to build and sustain life on a hostile planet. You could set up a colony only to sit there and watch it die because you accidentally set up a negative feedback loop. But while this can be devastating, the game is always there tempting you to try again, and when you succeed there is so much joy in that moment. While I enjoyed my time in Surviving Mars, it did feel like it had yet to reach its full potential. Well, today we are going to look at the newest expansion Green Planet to see if this helps to fill in the gaps in the base game with copious amounts of Martian concrete.
So to set the scene, you are the commander for the first colony being sent to the red planet. When you arrive Mars is a bleak, hostile, but also a deeply beautiful place. It is a planet filled with promise but also death. You need to build up resources, construct domes to protect your people, provide oxygen and water, and keep it safe from all the disasters that can strike. However, while surviving is fine, there is a next step that you could take. Because what if we can shape Mars to be friendlier, what if we could turn it into a green planet?
TL;DR Movie Reviews and Analysis 