Destiny 2 Beta … More of the Same, Less Story

Remember the original Destiny Beta? Great gunplay, a bit to explore, a nice teaser for a story. Shame 99% of the story was in the beta though …

With the Destiny 2 Beta, we get even less story: The tower and the traveller are being attacked, you flee, you die. That’s it. Everything’s also very linear and it is exactly Destiny – not more, not less – the same three classes, great gunplay, alien bullet sponges, a few tweaks, but that’s it. No interesting cliffhanger at the end of the Beta, no really new elements, no exploration. Destiny 2 is playing its Beta safe – you get what you expect, but nothing more. Actually, it’s even a bit less without even a bit of exploration, without finding new loot and without levelling.

Sure, there’s also a Strike in a more open environment that has a cool boss encounter where you fall through the floor repeatedly. Well, that’s the interesting part, as the boss requires nothing but emptying magazine after magazine while you try to stay alive.

But story-wise, it seems Destiny 2 is either hiding a great story or there isn’t one. Judging from the first game, one should be rather cautious than expect an epic narrative. This bare-bones Beta with a bare-bones story string won’t convince anyone who got disappointed by the first game. Bungie wasted a good opportunity here, that’s for sure.

Rabidgames yawns: This Beta only shows that Destiny is still the same old – if that means good or bad, that’s for us to decide. Pre-ordering the game on the merit of the gameplay alone might work for fans, but Rabidgames rather waits for the reviews to see if Destiny 2 is more than endlessly running through the same environments slaughtering the same alien sponges without anything really happening – again.

Wolfenstein 2 Wins with This Great Trailer

It is E3 time, and we see lots of things, right? Well, Wolfenstein 2, which also has the working(?) title “The New Colossus“, and is technically not Wolfenstein 2 … anyway, this is the best trailer we’ve seen for quite a while, and not even just because of the gameplay. But see for yourself:

Let’s just hope we don’t get to fight naughty Liesel …

So it seems Wolfenstein 2 brings us to the US of Nazi America, where good old B.J. fights from Roswell and New Orleans to a post-nuke New York, and does what he does best – slaughtering Nazis by the thousands!

Rabidgames laughs: So far, this trailer has been the highlight of E3. Now we can only hope Wolfenstein 2 follows The New Order with the great level design and the nice character development as well. And as a bonus, who knows what we will discover in Roswell …

Agents of Mayhem Will Feature Johnny Gat! But …

Remember the soon coming Agents of Mayhem, which looks like an insane mix of Overwatch, Crackdown and a pint of Saints Row? Well, part of the open world slaughter fest in the unusual setting of Seoul will now be the baddest motherfucking badass of video games, Johnny Gat!

Sadly, this has to be taken with a grain of salt: Johnny will only be available for those who pre-order Agents of Mayhem via retail, as online pre-orders will contain a-fucking-nother character … Sigh.

Anyway, if you were not sure about the Agents of Mayhem, Johnny might change your mind. Oh, in case you wonder about the plot, the simplified version goes like this (copied from Wikipedia because let’s face it, writing those names ain’t fun): M.A.Y.H.E.M. (Multinational AgencY Hunting Evil Masterminds), founded by Persephone Brimstone (a character first seen in Gat out of Hell) and funded by the Ultor Corporation (one of the main antagonists of Saints Row 2 and the Red Faction series, later merging with the Saints. Bearing the Saints’ iconic purple logo, M.A.Y.H.E.M’s goal is to stop supervillain organization L.E.G.I.O.N. (the League of Evil Gentlemen Intent on Obliterating Nations) from destroying the world’s nations. And there you know it’s going to be batshit crazy.

Rabidgames wants: Despite this pre-order bullshit, Agents of Mayhem has always looked interesting. With Johnny in the mix, it is a must-have for Saints Row fans.

The Curious Case of Plague Inc.’s Brexit Trophy

You might know Plague Inc. You know, that great game where your aim is to infect and eradicate mankind from the face of the planet. It’s fun. Great fun. Not just because you rid earth of the human pest, but also because of the hilariously funny news reports you get, and because of some weird trophies you can unlock …

The weirdest one though is called “Brutal Brexit” and the description reads “Put Britain on the road to madness when it leaves the EU”. Now it should be noticed the road to that trophy (or achievement to be consolely correct) is quite muddled – it seems your disease is not allowed to have hit the UK when Brexit gets announced, but then you need to hit Britain with very specific symptoms and you need to infect everybody in the entire UK.

In a game full of black humour and the black death, such a trophy shouldn’t be a surprise. And of course, Plague Inc. was developed in the UK. British humour at its darkest. And best.

Rabidgames smiles: Trophies are often dull. One could claim they’re completely unnecessary. But in some instances, they just make you grin.

Far Cry 5 Says Hello to Montana’s Right

First of all, here’s the Far Cry 5 trailer everyone and their mama are talking about, some of ’em already foaming and moaning about the damn left-wing liberal communist SJW gaming industry:

So, Far Cry 5 will be set in rural Montana’s Hope County, where we will ready our weapons to kill us some fine christian far-right extremists. There will also be some characters helping us, the customisable protagonist (among other things, we can choose gender and colour), to tear the zealots apart. Oh, and it seems we can finally fly planes! Far Cry 5 will also be entirely co-op compatible, which seems to be a big deal these days. Whatever.

One thing is for sure – Ubisoft knows that controversy creates cash, and that’s what they’re trying to do. It still seems to be a taboo in gaming to kill christians on US soil, no matter how corrupted or insane they are. And set in the Trump era, Far Cry 5 and its depiction of backwards American rednecks lost in extremist delusions is one way to add fuel to the fire. Then again, it’s always been okay to kill Arabs in military shooters, and how many decent American citizens have we already digitally removed from their mortal shells in the likes of GTA, Saints Row, or Watch Dogs? But hey, it’s going to be interesting to see what Breitbart, Fox and their ilk will come up with …

One interesting detail is the cross, replacing the stars of the US flag, which also adorns many of the extremists’ buildings and vehicles in Far Cry 5; while some think it looks similar to the iron cross used by Germany, it could also be interpreted as being similar to the Templar cross featured in Assassin’s Creed – and since there was an Abstergo facility in Far Cry 3, both universes seem somehow connected anyway.

Rabidgames is ready: Visiting this virtual Montana will be great fun – the graphics look great, the setting is interesting – now we need to wait. For some titbits of information to be brought to us during E3, and then it’s going to be a long wait until February 2018 … Let’s just hope the setting of the game remains fiction until then!

Dragon’s Dogma Finally Coming to PS4 and One

First Final Fantasy XII, then Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, and now, Dragon’s Dogma will come to the next-gen consoles! Fuck yeah! About time! Fuck yeah! Finally! Yes! Yes! Yes!

In autumn this year, Capcom finally – seeing reason – will re-release Dragon’s Dogma, oh no, not just Dragon’s Dogma, it will be the all-DLC-including Dark Arisen. A move fans of the game have been waiting for since the release of the PC version, and now it finally happens!

Now, re-releases are not always great, and by the tail of a chimera, if Capcom fucks this one up, there’ll be hell to pay, but while Dragon’s Dogma was great, Dragon’s Dogma with improved graphics a stable frame rate and less bugs will be even greater! And if you’re still not convinced, who doesn’t want to listen to our pawns and wisdom such as “Even in numbers, a weakling is a weakling still” or the all-time favourite “It bears the head of a cock”?

Rabidgames is happy: Finally, finally, finally! Fuck words. Let’s drink to the good news!

Star Ocean: Till The End Of Time Will Be Here Very Soon!!!

Star Ocean: Till The End Of Time will hit the PSN Store in North America and Europe next Tuesday, 23 May. BOOM! Square Enix just released that bombshell out of nowhere, and while the confirmed US price of $21 is not exactly cheap, this great game will be worth it!

Now, in case you don’t know why Till The End Of Time is loved by many JRPG fans, well, how does mixing a great deep and tactical combat system with a part sci-fi/part fantasy story and then turning everything upside down with a big twist in the middle of the game sound?

Rabidgames throws money to the screen: Shut up and take the money already, Square!