It's the calm before the storm, Niners - we're about time enter November, and the time of PS4 and Xbox One. Even though it's current gen's twilight, that doesn't mean there's nothing to look forward to. Batten down the hatches, everyone, it's time for Tuesday Game Room!
What have you been playing this week?
I'm slowly plugging away at some more Hearthstone, building my strengths in the Hunter and Priest decks. I gave up trying to master the Paladin, because I can't field an effective deck with it, and spend all of my games either with a hand full of cards I don't have the mana to play, or end up being frustrated and feeling useless in the face of much better opponents. That said, I am having an absolute blast with Anduin and Rexxar's decks. I play a Hunter in WoW so the foibles of beast management and traps are all second nature, but I'm surprised at how much fun I'm having with a 'Healer' deck, a spec I never touch in MMOs. There's something very satisfying about the Priest's stable of cards, from shadow words to massive heals and shields to mind control. If anything, Heartstone's beta has kinda made me want an actual Hearthstone card game to play face to face with friends. I never got into the WoW TCG, but the mechanics here make for a really enjoyable and fast paced card game.
Still plugging away with Pokémon X too - I've somehow sunk 30 hours into it with only 3 Gym badges to my name! I think I'm having way too much fun in Pokémon Amie and the Super Training minigames (even if I barely know what I'm doing with Super training) alongside the regular Pokémon journey. My party completed its full roster with the addition of one of my favourite ever Pokémon, Mareep the electric sheep, after spending 2 hours searching for one on Route 12. Maybe that's why my playtime clock is so high. I've spent quite a while hunting down the specific Pokémon I wanted in my team - it feels like the RNG for appearance rates has screwed me over in X far more than past games ever have. Onwards, to more badges!
New Releases!
Last week was hectic enough - now we're really in the autumn release schedule. The party starts here, kicking off with the current gen versions of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and Battlefield 4 making their way to PS3, Xbox 360 and PC (not for ACIV though, the PC version is delayed), as well as the first non-THQ WWE game in years, with 2k's WWE 2K14 bringing the wrasslin' to consoles.
Nintendo's Sonic exclusives for 3DS and Wii U, Sonic Lost World also squeeze in this week, as well as Non-phone ports of Angry Birds Star Wars for absolutely every platform you can think of.
And now, the News
Once again it's time for a few select picks from the last week of Gaming news, via Eurogamer:
- Stand by for Titanfall: Respawn's new shooter lands in March 2014 - The Xbox exclusive that's managing to rustle everyone's jimmies finally has a release date for early next year, as well as an obscenely priced collectors edition. It does come with a whacking great robot statue though, so there is that.
- Next Gen is Cancelled: The Sims 4 is pushed back to late 2014 - Awww! I love The Sims franchise, so this is annoying. At least EA are making up for it though: preorders get a free upgrade to the limited edition as a way of saying sorry. You can expect to see The Sims again in autumn of next year.
- Leaked CoD: Ghosts mode sounds like Zombies meets... The Zerg? - Man. I was set on not buying the Call of Duty game this year. I prefer Treyarch's CoDs, Ghosts looks uninspired, the next gen versions don't look hot at all, the setting does nothing for me, insert dog joke here, whatever. But scrapping the turgid Spec Ops mode for something that's a lot closer to the excellent Zombies mode Treyarch have built over the past few games? That could be a tipping point.
- Prepare to Feel: The Walking Dead is back for a second season - Well, I think this speaks for itself, doesn't it?
We'll be back this time next Tuesday for more gaming discussion, but for now, sound off in the comments with the games you've been playing, and what you're looking forward to this week - and don't forget to join us on Steam!
