The Division

There was one game that since its E3 debut I like so many others was so excited for. This is of course Tom Clancy's The Division. The division wowed crowds at E3 and did so every single time that it released any new trailer or the smallest bit of gameplay. So after such a massive hype and the vast amount of excitement I personally felt over it, does it live up to my expectations? Short answer, not really.

Now I don't want to say no straight off the bat because that there is so much that it does well but then there are some parts of it that I felt really let me down.

This is one of the games that received a "Massive graphical downgrade" which got a huge amount of media attention. Now, I have seen this game played on the Playstation, I played it on the Xbox and I have to say graphical downgrade or not this game looks amazing. The weather is awesome and actually affects gameplay, visibility sometime being a real issue. The city looks incredible, and is so full of really rich detail. So graphically it lived up to my expectations, but sometimes I felt as I played that the beautiful visuals was all that it had.

Okay so the bad. The game for me lacked variation with the enemies only having a few classes and there only being a few factions the enemies got very repetitive after a while. The weapons also suffered from the realism, I normally love realistic weaponry in games and I'm not usually one for laser weapons and crazy ass shit all going off everywhere, but I found myself wishing for more guns. The level system also didn't do it justice, I don't have a problem with the levelling system in general as Borderlands is one of my favourite games but the level system coupled with the lack of weapons added to a sort of ploddy monotony.

So the main game feels like you are always grinding and the bullet sponge issue that a lot of people have a problem with is a bit of a problem for me especially with the boss fights. Basically what i like to call the single player part was a disappointment for me.

The Dark zone is a part of the game that feels very removed from the main game. It feels like a full game in its own right, which is a plus for me. The negative I suppose is that I didn't enjoy it. The tension of the game I quite enjoyed and the excitement of finding loot and trying to extract it is really good and can be really fun right up until THAT moment. Other players can be arseholes. I am normally very chilled out and gracious when it comes to playing any game online but this is totally different. While trying to extract your new bobble hat you notice that other players have started to come to the extraction site and there is bound to be at least one dickhead among them with an overpowered gun that will mow you down because of your tiny hanging yellow loot bag. I know that some people say that I get frustrated because I'm not as good at the game or because I have no friends. Well they are half right, my friends got the game before me and were way to high level to go looting with a puny level player. As for good at the game, they're right. I wasn't good at PvP in this game and after finding out I didn't enjoy it I didn't bother working on it.

So there it is, my most anticipated game of about three years and with a heavy heart I would give it a disgustingly low 5/10 and no one is more disappointed than me.

Mad flavour Gamer out

Top Five Open World Games

 One of my favorite games of all time and despite its rocky start online it still remains a good online game even if people have a tendency too try and kill you at every possible moment. This is my number one for open world games and I look forward to the day when its toppled off the top of this list.







Another of my all time favorites even if it is newer than GTA it still managed to make it into this list. This is a game that is fraught with bugs and glitches and yet I can somehow ignore all that and focus entirely on the story and the gameplay and that is a rare thing. This is my second favorite open world game and it will again be difficult to top it.



The crew is a game that surprised me. After a movie marathon of the fast and furious films I picked up cheap and then played it for about a week solid. I enjoyed it despite the graphics which have been likened to the PS2 for good reason but regardless the world is huge and I enjoy taking massive road trips.






Elite Dangerous is a game that takes so much time and effort but is worth it. There are games where you need to grind and then there are games where you lose hours grinding and somehow don't notice. Elite Dangerous makes it onto my top five mostly because the scale, having a whole universe is really cool but you don't often find a game where you really are free to do what you want, Elite Dangerous is one of those games.


Bully is one of those classic games that I would happily play again and. The second Rockstar game on this list its just straight up fun and in an unusual setting in comparison to the GTA franchise.

some honoroble mentions
Shadow of Mordor
Skyrim
Fallout 3
GTA San Andreas
Dishonored

Wolfenstein new order

this was a happy surprise. As a fan of Wolfenstein 3d and return to castle Wolfenstein I had mixed feelings about this new installment. After getting it with the purchase of my xbox one however my doubts were somewhat soothed.
It turned out to be a solid first person shooter with a linear storyline that is easily followed. Its what I call a popcorn game, it's easy to get into and it has a strong story focus that makes it feel like an interactive film rather than something that makes you think for yourself.
I don't normally like popcorn games that much but this one was just entertaining and I actually really enjoyed myself. The New Order is a good interpretation of an alternate history as it focuses on if the allies had lost the second world war. It had a good range of weapons that could all be upgraded, you could also carry all the guns which made a refreshing change from the realism of a two gun limit that has saturated the recent games market. There is also a nice array of enemies to challenge you, the robot dogs being one of my favorites even if they are a nightmare when playing on harder difficulties. the franchise also warmed me up with the latest dlc which also came out on disk which was nice.

Wolfenstein, the Old Blood was a pretty accomplished game add on and even though it was short it was well worth the £15 I spent on it. The fact it was a stand alone game was nice as well. The Old Blood focuses on how the events of the New Order came to pass and how the Nazis were able to win the war. The main character is the same as all the other games you play as Agent William Joseph Blascowicz who also surprised me as an engaging character in his own right.


Everything taken into account I would recommend these games for solid entertainment value and shooting nazi's is something no one will ever get bored of.
I would rate the New Order at 7/10 and the Old Blood 7/10 also
Mad Flavour Gamer

Memory Lane Game

You know sometimes when you start thinking back to games that you have played and how fantastic they were? Well since my little sister is currently "babysitting" my xbox 360 I decided to buy her a few old classics that made my gaming experience all tingly and magical. My memory Lane games are those games that need to be reminisced about as you forget everything you didn't like about the game. Today's game is fable 2

Fable 2 (contains spoilers!)
Coming out of Lionhead studios came one of the few games for the last gen consoles that I actually preordered. The preorder is the highest commendation I can give to a game, If i preordered it then I thought so highly of it I spent money on something I wouldn't even get for weeks.
Anyway after picking up the first fable game and deciding it was one of the best games at the time and was slightly confused about how I had left it long enough that I was able to play it for the first time out the bargain bin. However after that first fable game and the irritating sound of that dudes voice constantly saying "your health is low, do you have any potions, or food" which to this day is ingrained into my soul, i looked out for the second installment. After a while teasing little screenshots started littering the internet and I could not get enough, and the graphics were something else entirely. At least 478 of the youtube trailer views were mine and thats when I knew I was obsessed.
After the realisation that I was obsessing about a game that at the time didnt even have an official release date I moved on to other games somewhat begrudgingly. This was until I received the amazon email of wonderfulness that said that the game I had forcibly stopped myself druelling over had been released more or less at the same time it thumped onto my welcome mat. this was an amazing surprise at the time bearing in mind that I had preordered it some time ago and had completely forgotten about it after that.
Life wasnt the same after that, I played for days... straight days.

The game itself would still stand up today from a story point of view with a pretty rudimental hero story with the choice to be who you want to be. this coupled with a classic silent protagonist and a faithful (and I mean this sincerely) not even remotely annoying dog.
Lets focus on the dog just a minute I don't know about you but this was the first time in video gaming when you actually get a useful and reliable companion that you actually get attached too. After the suicidal scientists of half life it was some relief. The dog was one of the biggest areas of contention however and lots of people didn't like the idea of the four legged furry friend following you. But I guess they also had the half life suicide scientist squad in the forefront of their mind.

the gameplay itself was just straight up fun with a simple button layout and everything you needed to terrorize villagers and make a character that reflected your personal tastes. My character was a straight up troll complete with bald head, half naked, horns, bright red eyes and a club the same size he was. Many an hour was spent clocking werewolves in the noggin.

Ok so I have made this sound almost angelicly good now but there were some issues (I say through gritted teeth) the loading times were pretty hardcore and the fact that it was built as like a few open world spaces with loading screens between. This system cam directly from the first game and for its day wasn't that bad but I can't help remembering that assassins creed had come out the previous year and had massively bigger spaces to explore even if it wasn't as good overall.
The good/evil thing was pretty god even though it was way easier to be evil and you had to work hard or pay through the nose to be good or get out of the evil slump that you had inevitably fallen into.

All in all even now I would give it a 7/10
even if then it would have been a 10/10

Brought to you by Mad Flavour Gamer

Top three

The top three that can be seen on the right hand side will be my constantly updated record of the newest or current games I have been playing. I do tend to get into one game more than others but I often have side games that I play when I'm busy or just in the mood for something a little different.

Breakdown

The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt
This has definitely been my staple game for some time, after completing it almost completely (side quests and all) on the difficulty one up from easy I thought that after the new game+ update I would give it a crack on harder. This has just like the first time taken over my life completely for the last week but its near again even though the difficulty took a huge leap. I will do a full review on the Witcher 3 in time but for now lets just settle for the five stars and they are all glowing.




The Escapists
Funny little game that while I still have no real idea of what I'm doing with the strange mix of gameboy graphics, minecraft style gameplay all set in a prison sim setting. Safe to say that its amusing and good for when you don't want to game seriously. My one issue with it however is that I was at the end of concocting the greatest escape plan in the history of the game when someone socked me in the head which insighted a prison riot which led to the security doors being open and me free to run out of them begrudgingly leaving my cunning plan and my super sock mace behind.





Battlefield 4
Almost everyone into the online shooter genre will at least know of the battlefield franchise even if they haven't played it. While I strive for originality the world of BF4 is engaging and difficult enough to hold my interest which sadly Battlefield Hardline failed to do. Unfortunaetly the single player of this game is shocking but then I didnt buy it for that so I'm not torn up about it. This is my perfect game when I want to shoot and get shot at by online players.




These are my three top games of the moment

Mad Flavour Gamer

First post

My name is Kez and I am a gameaholic. I have been playing games for years and I still can't help occasionally buying one full price after i fail at patience... again.

Anyway enough about me. This blog will be dedicated to upcoming games, new games, old games, games, consoles and more games. I will be publishing top tens, top fives and I promise not to sink below a top three unless I'm really busy. you will be able to find info on new games as well as old with gaming reviews every week or less.
When i get it all up and running I will try and get some lets plays on the go the first being MGS phantom pain since on the first of September it will be the pushed through my letter box and straight into my xbox.
My game of the Month will also come into play and I will be trying out and reviewing games recommended by you.

Quick disclaimer, I am not a fan boy! I will not lord the xbox over the playstation as in my eyes its all down to personal preference. My choice was so close it came down to me being too lazy to learn the operating system for the playstation.

Anyway this was the first blog post I hope you enjoy what follows, happy gaming.

Mad Flavour Gamer