Xbox One Vs Ps4

[StillUnknown]

MGS: Phantom Pain is getting great reviews. Haven't played MGS in a while, might be tempted to pick this one up.

[Warhead36]

Ground Zeroes was pretty fun. Good to see Phantom Pain getting great reviews. Will definitely pick it up.

[Momma There Goes That Man]

Until Dawn got s 9 from GameInformer too. Sounds fantastic.

Announced in 2012 as a Move-based PS3 game, Until Dawn has undergone a number of delays and design changes during its prolonged development. Normally, such production woes are a bad omen for the fate of a game, but Until Dawn doesn't just limp to release like a bloodied survivor; it emerges as an excellently penned teen horror tale that sets a new standard for the adventure genre.

Like Telltale's myriad series, Until Dawn is more story than game. You control a rotating cast of eight endangered teens trying to survive an ill-fated night at a secluded mountain lodge. There are no puzzles or inventory management in this adventure – gameplay is comprised entirely of exploring eerie locales, timing your way through action sequences, and making an endless series of choices that shape the story. However, thanks to topnotch production values, Supermassive has polished the formula to a triple-A sheen. Outstanding visuals, commendable performances from a cast of professional actors, and a mood-setting dynamic score all bring the characters and environments to life.

But Supermassive's improvements aren't just superficial; Until Dawn redefines the importance of player choice in story-driven adventure games. Gone are the closed-loop decisions showing you the immediate repercussions of your choice before funneling you back onto the main path with everyone else. Instead, your decisions in Until Dawn continue to reverberate, impacting later events in complex and unforeseen ways; alienate a friend with your dialogue choices or actions, for instance, and they may not be there to save you hours down the road.

Numerous feedback techniques highlight the importance of your decisions (including the Butterfly Effect menu that tracks various choices and their consequences), but none are more effective than the swift decapitation of your character, or any number of equally brutal death sequences. It's not just smoke and mirrors; while certain characters prove more resilient than others, every member of the main cast is capable of living or dying based on how you play, and you can't go back and fix mistakes – the story continually auto-saves, pushing towards its climatic finale without the chance for checkpoints or retries. Who lives to see it depends entirely on you.

Your choices wouldn't be particularly meaningful without a compelling story, but Supermassive excels here as well. Until Dawn lovingly serves up a multitude of successful horror film locales and motifs, while still adding a few fun and novel twists to its three-pronged mystery of who is tormenting our stranded gang and the surrounding area of Blackwood Pines. The journey is riddled with jump scares throughout; some are well-designed and expertly paced, while others are of the cheap haunted-house variety, but they equally had me cringing and uttering obscenities. Later environments like a dilapidated mine and deserted sanatorium build genuine tension with their creepy atmospheres.

The cast of dumb teens is also rooted in horror clichés (expect a good helping of groan-worthy sexual innuendos and catty arguments), but the characters evolve during the game based on how you play them and offer up chances for redemption (or revenge). Certain character traits are more baked-in than others (Mike is always going to be a bit of a jerk no matter how noble you play him) and a few dialogue exchanges feel disjointed, but overall the story flows remarkably well.

Until Dawn's narrative is augmented by collectibles that actually matter. Curious players will uncover dozens of clues hidden in the environments providing insight into the underlying mysteries and the motivations of key characters. You also find totems that offer tantalizing glimpses of what may happen to your protagonists, such as Death totems that foretell a character's demise or Fortune totems that can guide you towards a beneficial situation. These visions are so quick that I only figured out some of them in hindsight, but they are engrossing nonetheless and help reinforce the variety of possible outcomes. By including meaningful collectibles, Until Dawn also does a nice job of getting you to make the same kind of risky decisions that foolish teens do in horror films – my curiosity got the better of me on more than one occasion, and would've had the audience yelling at the screen if it was a movie.

Until Dawn's mysteries lead you through three-fourths of the adventure – the home stretch is all about trying to keep your remaining characters alive. Thankfully, Supermassive implements the best use of quick-time events I've seen in a game to create nerve-racking action sequences. I normally loathe quick-time events, but Supermassive eschews pointless button mashing for timed presses, precision aiming, and on-the-spot decision making, all of which keep you rooted in the moment. Don't Move prompts are also an interesting addition, tasking you with holding the controller as still as possible to hide from stalking predators. Like the branching choices, these sequences work because your fear of death is genuine; watching a character that you've played as for hours die because you flubbed an escape sequence is brutal. Death isn't quite as ever-present as it may seem on a first playthrough, but there's enough danger to constantly keep you on your toes.

The beginning of Until Dawn boasts that the decisions you make during the game will craft a unique and personal story. By the time the credits rolled, I was a believer. Sure, every player follows the same narrative skeleton, and a few of the more "expendable" characters aren't instrumental to the ending (I'd also kill for a way to fast-forward scenes on subsequent playthroughs). However, the script kept me entertained and feeling like my decisions mattered throughout my 10-hour playthrough. Thanks to some good twists, a few fake-outs, and limitless jump scares, Until Dawn would make a solid horror film. As a piece of interactive fiction, however, it's a remarkable experience that horror fans shouldn't miss.

[Warhead36]

May have to give UD a chance. I love story driven games where your decisions impact the story.

[Mr. Sinister]

MGS: Phantom Pain is getting great reviews. Haven't played MGS in a while, might be tempted to pick this one up.

If you are a patient man, I suggest picking up PeaceWalker and Ground Zeroes, which succeed Snake Eater in the Big Boss transformation/storyline. Lot of stuff covered in those two. Things may be fairly confusing story wise if you jump straight into Phantom Pain

[The Evil Genius]

If you don't want to wait for the Vader PS4 bundle, you can get the Arkham Knight bundle right now at Target for $340 before tax.

 

You need a Redcard from them though.

 

http://slickdeals.net/f/8061286-ps4-340-target-b-m-w-cartwheel

[ixcuincle]

Who is getting MADDEN 16

[Momma There Goes That Man]

Who is getting MADDEN 16

Me! You getting it on PS4?

Btw I played it early on EA Access and I think it's awesome. Really feels polished and refined. The physics, animations and tackling are probably the best it's ever been. The WR/DB interactions and catch options are fun, realistic and add a lot of risk/reward to the passing game which I think cuts down on cheese.

Franchise has been rebooted a bit too which is quite nice.

[ixcuincle]

I might.

[Mr. Sinister]

If you don't want to wait for the Vader PS4 bundle, you can get the Arkham Knight bundle right now at Target for $340 before tax.

You need a Redcard from them though.

http://slickdeals.net/f/8061286-ps4-340-target-b-m-w-cartwheel

I remember there being an Arkham bundle from Gamestop too. Get Arkham Knight plus one extra game free (buy 2 get 1 free)

[Gamebreaker]

Want to play Until Dawn....need a ps4 first.

[Dont Taze Me Bro]

Me! You getting it on PS4?

Btw I played it early on EA Access and I think it's awesome. Really feels polished and refined. The physics, animations and tackling are probably the best it's ever been. The WR/DB interactions and catch options are fun, realistic and add a lot of risk/reward to the passing game which I think cuts down on cheese.

Franchise has been rebooted a bit too which is quite nice.

 

Ix doesn't play online though.  Mine will be delivered tomorrow.  Can't wait to get our league started back up man, good times.

[Momma There Goes That Man]

Ix doesn't play online though. Mine will be delivered tomorrow. Can't wait to get our league started back up man, good times.

Ah that's no fun. But yeah, really looking forward to the new season with the league

[nemocystem]

I'm torn....pre-ordered the GOW ultimate, but now i'm being tempted by you lot with Madden for PS4, & the reviews (including an astonishing 10 by IGN) for Phantom Pain.

I pretty much have to choose 1 unless someone wants to get me a B-Day gift (j/k), so this is proving a tough decision.

Quick question....is Madden still open for EA Access subscribers?

[codeorama]

Who is getting MADDEN 16

Already preloaded. Will be up at midnight to play.

[Warhead36]

I don't really play sports games anymore, but I am thinking of getting FIFA. Always enjoyed those games in the past. I typically try to get one FIFA game per gen(not die hard enough to get a new one every year).

[Taylor703]

Got Madden and Gears for tomorrow and Phantom Pain already paid for on Amazon. I'll be set until Need for Speed, Battlefront and 2K16. This is going to be a hell of a year for gaming.

I'm torn....pre-ordered the GOW ultimate, but now i'm being tempted by you lot with Madden for PS4, & the reviews (including an astonishing 10 by IGN) for Phantom Pain.

I pretty much have to choose 1 unless someone wants to get me a B-Day gift (j/k), so this is proving a tough decision.

Quick question....is Madden still open for EA Access subscribers?

I'm a metal gear fanboy so I'd say phantom pain if you had to choose one.

[Gamebreaker]

Getting Gears this Friday for sure. 

[Mr. Sinister]

Im on record as saying that its bull**** how these 10 ratings get thrown around every once in awhile.

But this is Hideo Kojima. And this is Metal Gear. Snake Eater and Peace Walker were gaming masterpieces, and Ground Zeroes was one hell of a setup for Phantom Pain.

This is going to be monstrous

[Zazzaro703]

Im on record as saying that its bull**** how these 10 ratings get thrown around every once in awhile.

But this is Hideo Kojima. And this is Metal Gear. Snake Eater and Peace Walker were gaming masterpieces, and Ground Zeroes was one hell of a setup for Phantom Pain.

This is going to be monstrous

I don't even read IGN, they are in the pockets of corporate and are paid off on reviews. That being said, I have no doubts Metal Gear will be a fantastic experience just like I knew Witcher 3 would be highly rated no matter what. There is no such thing as a perfect game, nothing should ever be rated as a 10 in my opinion but the metal gear games have certainly come close in the past. I too would say get peace walker out of those 3 games.

[PokerPacker]

I don't even read IGN, they are in the pockets of corporate and are paid off on reviews.

ign is indeed awful. I must be a masochist, though, because I still find myself going there. I generally like to laugh at how awful their reviews are.

I wonder how hard it is to start a game review site in this day and age.

[Zazzaro703]

ign is indeed awful. I must be a masochist, though, because I still find myself going there. I generally like to laugh at how awful their reviews are.I wonder how hard it is to start a game review site in this day and age.

They make me sick, giving high scores to the games that have big time publishers paying them off for good reviews while unfairly rating indie or lesser known developers with less money lower scores because they weren't paid off. That's what started off the whole gamer gate thing until they high jacked it and put their own spin on it making it go away for now pretty much. I haven't been to IGN in years. Anyways, yeah it's getting real hard to get good gaming journalism. But, I guess hell it's getting real hard to get good journalism in any field. I normally get my reviews from the youtube people I have come to trust that have similar gaming interests as I do if I'm on the fence about a game.

[nemocystem]

I go to several sites...but i'm generally not a fan of overly critical critiques for the sake of being critical (whew...redundancy alert). I feel like i get a better sense of how i feel about a game from a fair share of IGN reviews.

That said...this review was particularly flighty, & seemed to come from glasses that were too rose shaded for my taste. Still, they don't just toss out perfect 10s at any game that bats an eye.

Matter of fact...in most reviews of this game in particular i get too much of a sense of fanboyism & not enough objectivity.

Ftr...i generally detest Kotaku reviews as a prime example of what i described above. It feels like they try too hard to be overtly critical, & wear it as a badge of honor, & people give their reviews too much weight because they appeal to their nerdy penchant for picking every jaggy apart until you just hate life & want to strangle Mario in a bathtub in some po-dunk Motel on a rainy night.

Anywho...not defending IGN because i'm well aware of how many people feel about them...but i feel like most of their reviews come from the point of view of a gamer that wants to just enjoy the next offering, but is wary of certain pitfalls or annoyances that can make a game less fun.

Sorry for the tangent there...back on track....

Played a bit of Madden on Access...i like the mechanics a LOT more than the last 2 iterations. My main reservation is that when the Redskins suck...Madden gets put in a corner until the season is well over, & FA is in full swing.

All things considered, i'm leaning towards MGSV.....we shall see.

****edit****

Left out that most of my decisions get made nowadays by watching a few TWITCH videos to get a sense of how a game plays/feels/looks.

P.p.s. ..IGN has given plenty of good indy reviews of late, & i generally see the same pattern from most review sites. The thing for me is that 8/10 games get nearly all the same ratings across the board...what i like about IGN is that i don't feel like they go into a review with the angle that their job is to tear a game to shreds...rather they present reasons why a game's mechanics may interfere with your level of fun, if you care for the same standards.

[Mr. Sinister]

Funny. I just finished the AC: Rogue download, and though IGN (I admit it, I still read their reviews. I no longer live by them though) kinda destroyed it, im getting an epic feeling. Must be the score (they brought back the hymn from ACII and added an 18th century feel to it). Can't have a great story without great music.

Im in this for the story though. Can't pass up a good betrayal tale. Apparently this is supposed to explain why Achilles was so reluctant to train Connor in III, and wasted away while the Templars gained full control of the colonies. So set between Black Flag and AC III.

[ixcuincle]

FYI Madden is always ranked 10 by ign