Confessions of a gamer

If you played the first Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance game then you would be interested in playing the second game as well, but the thing is that you don't play as one of the three (you can play as the bonus character Drizzt Do'Urden) main characters from the first game. You might think that's bad but you get five new characters in return and those look pretty interesting as well! But is this a game you want to play or just a waste of time? Five new faces. As I mentioned above you play as one of five new characters: the barbarian, the cleric, the monk, the necromancer or the rogue. Each character has his or her own personal story and skills that can help you beat enemies. What's really fun is how you get to explore their personal story a bit, which makes playing the game again with another character more interesting eventhough the main story remains the same unfortunately. As a true hack and slash player I like playing as the barbarian, but it's also fun tryin...

I could start with how things started for me, but even in those early NES days that was already quite a lot. I had enough friends that didn't have a console and the computer in the house wasn't theirs to use. It's almost the opposite of how things are now because now computers in the house are there also for kids, sometimes people have more than one computer in a house, and a lot of kids also have a console. But I don't get the idea that people always realize how lucky they are, it seems normal and in some cases people even complain about the smallest things. So I can't help but get the idea that gamers these days are a bit spoiled. Good isn't good enough? Even when games are up to standard, they're so much fun to play and yet there are always people that have something to complain or whine about. You could say that some people just have high standards but then again some people are just whiners, it's impossible to make them happy with something and ...

It seems silly but there are countries in the world where people consider sex worse than violence. I mean seriously? It's thanks to sex that we're all here, so how can that be worse than violence? Well some people are worried that sex in games will turn people into monsters (or something like that), but when people play games with violence then it's not a big deal. It seems ridiculous but for some reason this is how the world works, that's pretty fucked up! Sex is bad? When Mass Effect had 30 seconds of two character models rubbing against eachother (without you actually seeing anything interesting) the world almost exploded, how could this be in a game and look at the damage it could do to the children. Well first of all Mass Effect isn't a game for children, so any idiot that lets his or her kid play this game should first take a look at his or her parenting skills instead of screaming bloody murder. But let's also look at the fact that this is a game for ...

I was really looking forward to play Batman Arkham Knight, I love the previous Arkham games so this one had to be amazing as well...right? Well not exactly, sure the game is good (at least if you play it on a console) but the whole batmobile forced into the game and more of that type of nonsense really made me unhappy with this game really fast. So I thought let's give the dlc a chance, it looks good from the trailers and it gives you the chance to play with other characters in the Batman universe. Good, right? Wrong! Batman Arkham Knight dlc is super short? The biggest complaint I have for the Arkham Knight dlc is that it's super short, it's something you can clear in about ten minutes and that's not just one piece of dlc but almost all of it. Sure they give you a lot of races in dlc but I seriously doubt that people bought Batman Arkham Knight for racing. It just feels like I've been robbed, because you pay 40 Dollars/Euros for the season pass and what you get...

I've seen several times that games that got announced years ahead are usually not that well received, which kind of makes me wonder if that's because people have been waiting so long for it that hardly anything can live up to their expectations. Perhaps it's because people are a bit spoiled these days but then again it could also be that sometimes games are just not as good as we hope they would be. The longer you wait the worse a game becomes? Well I wouldn't say that, especially since some games take the extra time to take care of the bugs and glitches in a game. Which is a good thing because it's not fun to play a game that is almost unplayable, I think Ubisoft knows that all too well with their Assassin's Creed Unity game. Metal Gear Solid V also took a long time to finally become available to players but it was worth the wait, it's a fantastic game and it's a lot of fun to play. So not every game is bad when you have to wait a long time until yo...

I hear a lot of people that are excited about Black Ops 3, especially multiplayer, but I hardly hear anyone talk about the terrible matchmaking. The part where a team of random people who haven't even reached level 30 are facing a team of friends that have at least prestiged once and are even a higher level than 30 in that prestige level. Does that seem fair to you? No I don't think so. It's just bad luck? Sure you could say that, but when this happens seven out of ten times with matchmaking then you get tired of that real fast! At that point you realize that there is no real matchmaking, it's just putting people in the same match without looking at the level of the players, the skill level of the players and the amount of hours they have played. I'd say a team of dedicated CoD players will most likely destroy any random team out there, so there is no contest and without it being a contest it's just a load of bollocks! It doesn't matter what your level...

Whenever there is a game coming out with online competitive multiplayer there is always this quest to find the best class, the best loadout and the best way to quickly level up. What's really surprising that this isn't always the same, because one person might prefer one class/loadout and someone else might like another class/loadout. This is actually a good thing, but for some people it can be confusing. So how do you deal with that? That's simple, do what works best for you! There is no best class/loadout? Well usually there is, a weapon that can get kills fast and/or a class that is just a bit stronger than other classes. For example in Black Ops 3 the M8A7 is a very popular weapon, the same can be said about the sunbreaker titan in Destiny because you'll see a lot of people in multiplayer use that class and get a lot of kills with that class. That doesn't mean that other weapons or classes in those games are crap, but it does mean that some are just better t...

This might sound weird to some Halo fans but Halo Reach is my absolute favourite Halo game, sure there are other great Halo games but for me Halo Reach is the absolute best. Why? Well I can explain it as Halo Reach being the first Halo game I played or that it's a great game to get familiar with Halo games. But to be honest it was really the story that made me love this game so much, it's so sad and yet so good! What's also nice is that you could make your own character, so you weren't bound to the character the game would give you but you can decide if you want to play as a male or female spartan and what colour your armor is. Not just one man or woman. In Halo Reach you follow Noble team, you are the latest addition to the team (Noble six) and you're tasked to investigate some strange things on the planet Reach. At first it just seems like some disturbances but later you'll figure out that there's a lot more going on. What's great about this game i...

One of the things people always told me is that you should always keep calm, ignore the frustration and just move on. Of course this is easier said than done and the worst part is that the frustration will stay inside of you making you miserable from the inside. Maybe you deal with frustration every day, do you think it's a good idea to just ignore it or wish it away? I don't think so! How do you deal with frustration? First of all I'm not an expert and I definitely don't qualify as someone to tell you how to live your life or what's best for you, but I am someone that has dealt with a lot of frustration in my life and I can tell you that it has never done me any good if I ignored my frustration or tried to put it away. I let the frustration out, if I'm upset then I get mad and let the anger out. Of course not against other people, it's not that if someone frustrates me that I'm going to spit in their face and scream in their ear. No I let the frustr...

As you probably know it's double xp weekend in Black Ops 3 and it's the Iron Banner event in Destiny the Taken King, but does this really lure you back to multiplayer or are you going to continue playing the game you were playing before the double xp weekend and the Iron Banner event? It's tempting, but going back to the same 'old' games can be less fun than playing new games. I guess it really depends on how invested you are in a game. Double xp is worth going back? If you don't like slow leveling up in multiplayer then double xp (in some games it's even triple xp) can really help you out! You get to a new level faster and get acces to new weapons and powers faster, which is perfect for people who don't have a lot of time to play or people who don't enjoy grinding. Even if you don't like multiplayer that much you will be tempted to give it a try now, because you'll level up faster and have a better chance to get to higher levels in a sho...

I don't think you even need to be a Star Wars fan to have fun with this game, it's a fantastic shooter that allows you to play for either the Republic or the Empire. But is this really a game that can stand out in all the other first person shooter games? Well let's take a closer look! Hero or soldier? It's pretty simple, two teams and the one who has the most points wins. But I think you don't do the game enough justice. You all start as soldiers and then fight it out on a huge map, on this map you can play as all types of characters. For example you can be a pilot or control the huge AT AT on some maps, but the most fun you'll probably have playing as one of the heroes. For the Republic that's Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Leia Organa. For the Empire you can play as Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine and Boba Fett. They all have their own special powers and can help the troops, but the problem is that some heroes are just a bit more useful than others. For ...

These days people seem to be offended by the weirdest things, usually because someone takes the game too seriously or is just looking for something to rage against. But are certain games really offensive? Let's find out! Women aren't always correctly portrayed in games? What one person likes the other hates, that becomes pretty clear when you look at how some women are portrayed in games. In some games they're hardly wearing clothes and when they do wear clothes they're almost bursting out of them with their breasts or they seem to be a size or two too small. It doesn't surprise me that some people (mostly women I assume) find this offensive. But is it really so bad? Well in some cases it goes pretty far, as in women are just objects for lust and fantasies in those games. But sometimes developers are just a bit silly with their characters and make them look good, perhaps a bit too good but I doubt their is any ill intent tied to that. It's easy to get offend...

It's a clever trick to keep people tied to your game a bit longer, because if you want to know all the endings (and perhaps discover the one true ending, if that exists) then you have play the game multiple times. Sometimes people just want the achievements/trophies tied to different endings but sometimes people are just curious about the other endings. Especially if the ending you had wasn't as good as you hoped it would be. Multiple endings are lame? I know that some people hate multiple endings, especially in long games where it takes you a lot of hours to make it to the end. Do you really want to go through all that just for a different ending or to get another achievement/trophy? I guess the die hard gamers will say yes, but it's a lot of work for just one or two things while it's probably more fun to play another game you haven't played before. But sometimes it is rewarding, for example getting rewards that help you in the next playthrough. If you get a ce...

One the things that really annoys me is how some people have to ruin the fun for others, maybe it's not always their intention to ruin the fun for others but that's often the result when someone has complaints about a game or even a video on youtube. Instead of not watching that video or not playing this game there are people that demand this game becomes forbidden and that certain videos are being removed from the internet. Sure it's their right to be an asshole, but instead of being an asshole someone could also do something else with their life. Right? Some games and videos are just too much? I know that some games are quite violent, but somehow that's usually not the part that worries people. No it's the part in a game where you see a breast (maybe even two of them) or two guys or girls kissing eachother in a game that makes it 'dangerous' in the eyes of some people. The same counts for videos, even when someone shows a fragment of sex (it's even...

This is one of those games that got some mixed reactions, on one side the die hard Lara fans that didn't like this game because it didn't feel like the other Tomb Raider games and on the other side people with an open mind and willing to give this game a chance. I must admit that I was never a die hard Tomb Raider player, I kind of stopped playing these games after the third three games and I really welcomed this new version of Tomb Raider. So is Tomb Raider a good game? It's a great game! Young and inexperienced. What some people hate is something I actually like, to see Lara get started and turning into the woman we all recognize from the previous games. So no hotpants and dual wielding guns, just a cheerful and intelligent young woman. But she'll have to change quickly because things go bad pretty fast and danger lurks around every corner, which means you need to be ready to press the right buttons at the right time and figure out how things work. You learn how t...

From the moment Fallout 4 was announced it seemed that almost everyone was excited about that game, it looks so cool and the things you can do are amazing! But once the game was released the hate started to spread, within a day people already started to hate the game. Why? Because the graphics in the game aren't pretty enough, because the loading screens are long, because there are bugs in the game. I'm not saying that this is all acceptable but if you know other games from Bethesda then you surely know that this is nothing new in their games, that doesn't mean that it's all ok but I don't think it's normal to immediately start to hate the game. It's easier to hate? Unfortunately it is, because why love a game when it's so much easier to hate a game. I think some people were even looking for things that didn't work in the game or things that weren't perfect, just to have something to hate about the game. I don't think I have to mention ho...

After a fantastic experience with the 2013 version of Tomb Raider I was really excited about Rise of the Tomb Raider. So I bought the game and played it, but is it just as good as I was hoping it would be? Yes! It's a fun game and definitely worth checking out! Lara kicks ass? Absolutely, she looks pretty cool and in a realistic way as you would expect from the previous game. Sure certain things are a bit over the top but then again this is a game and realism just goes that far. The important thing is that the action moments are back, the moment where everything goes to hell and you better get moving or you're dead! This keeps the game alive and make it an adrenaline ride, but there are also some moments where you need to investigate and where you can explore a bit. There are also collectibles and other things you can discover, one of those things are documents that help you learn an new language. Learning a language? This is one of those things that's a bit less re...

It seems easy now, just turn on your tv or go on the internet and gaming videos are almost slamming through the screen but more than twenty years ago that was a lot different. I'm not saying that there were no commercials but gaming was by far not as big as it is now, so getting familiar with gaming was actually not that common because most people wouldn't even admit having a console. It seems silly now but people weren't that comfortable to talk about games because some were afraid of being bullied for that and others just kept that information to themselves not thinking that others would like games as much as they like it. I'm not saying that this is how it was for everyone but this is how it was here when I grew up. First contact with games. It was nothing new for me, I've seen games on tv or in movies where people would play games but I never saw that as something I would do. I think the main reason was because I didn't consider it as something that was ...

Perhaps you don't see the problem but this is the perfect way to create trouble in a loving family or couple. Why? Because people don't always like the same games and even when they do they can't always play it together at the same time. Which means you have to take turns and that doesn't always work with everyone. So do you need a second console or are you going to learn how to play together? Sibling rivalry is useful? You might not expect it but sibling rivalry can actually be useful in the two gamers and one console situation. Because you can try to beat the score of your brother or sister and that can put some friendly rivalry in games and give both of them a chance to play. I would like to add that I'm talking about a friendly rivalry with bragging rights, not the type where you fight and hurt eachother for some lame reason. In a Mario game you can keep it simple with who can beat a level the fastest or with the highest score, but in other games like Halo 5...

I must admit that this is the game I've been looking forward to all Summer and I can say in all honesty that this game is a lot of fun to play! It's a lot like Fallout 3 but with some nice improvements that make this game even more fun. For example your main character has a voice, you can put your own name in the game and there's a good chance the game recognizes it and uses it, you can build your own house and neighbourhood, you can track your missions now a lot easier as an arrow points out which way you need to go, you have some extreme weapon customization that allows you to create all kinds of weapons, the character customization is also pretty detailed and you can play as a male or female character so there's something for everyone! This is just a part of all the new things in Fallout 4 and I'm pretty certain that I probably haven't even discovered most of it! Who are you? You're someone from before the war, but then when all hell breaks loose you ...

I've heard several times from people how games have helped them through rough times in their life, because games take you out the real world and put you in a virtual world with infinite possibilities. Depending on which game you play you could do all kinds of things, wether that's shooting people in the face in a first/third person shooter or go on an epic quest in one of many (MMO)RPGs that take you into a fantasy world. It's a perfect way to forget about the crap you're dealing with at the moment, but sooner or later you have to go back to the real world. Games are more than just games? For some people this is difficult to believe and understand, how can a game be more than just a game? Well it's not that difficult because some games can mean everything for some people, which is exactly why they spend so much time playing that game. This doesn't always mean that it's an addiction, some people just have a lot of fun in a game and love to spend their tim...

With Fallout 4 just a day away it makes sense to look back at Fallout 3, the game that got me into the Fallout games and that is a lot of fun to play! In a way someone tells you a story in Fallout 3, but instead of listening you play that story and can make your own decisions in that story. I think that's one of the reasons why so many people love Fallout 3 and why a lot of people are excited about Fallout 4. It's the possibilities and the choices you make which then hopefully lead to a unique experience, this doesn't just mean that it's fun to play but it also makes it fun to play the game again and try something else. The chosen one? You start the game when your character is born, you can already choose the looks of your character (you see a type of prediction of the future you on a screen and you can alter the looks there) and of course decide if you want to play as a male or female character. Then you make a small jump into your toddler years, there you can deci...

My least favourite type of player in a multiplayer match is a camper, ok cheaters are also pretty bad but usually they're not long in multiplayer. Campers on the other hand exist in every first and third person shooter that has online multiplayer. Apparently it's just too tempting to stay in one spot and get some cheap kills instead of getting experience playing like a normal person and getting some amazing kills. But some people just don't play that way, why change something that works? Campers are lazy gamers? If with lazy you mean sit on your ass all day playing games then that would count for a lot more people than just campers. But if you mean lazy as in not doing much in the game itself and just aiming down sight for some cheap kills then that would be quite accurate. But it's not just people that are lazy, games also encourage camping. Just look at Halo 5 multiplayer, this is where running around gets you killed faster because you don't start healing when...

I played the Black Ops 3 beta a couple of months ago but now I have the game and I could play everything! The game got a lot of fans excited and I have to admit that things look good, but how good is this game really and can it really live up to all the hype? Let's find out... Your campaign, your character? One of the biggest changes in the campaign is that you create your own character, this gives you some customization options and a unique look in the campaign. This means that you decide how your character is going to look and if you play as a male or female character. Your character will also be quite talkative and not just in the cutscenes, now he or she will talk during the mission and does that with more than just a few words. Another change in the campaign is the four player co-op, which is of course completely optional and isn't required to beat the campaign. The campaign itself is fun, but some missions can be a bit frustrating (especially on a higher difficulty). ...

It seems Sony goes for gold when it comes to shooters, because a lot of popular shooters have exclusive deals with Sony and so fans of these popular shooters will most likely play them on the Playstation 4 to benefit from these exclusive deals. But what does that mean for the other consoles and PC? Is this the end for the Xbox One or do they also have enough to offer? Exclusive deals aren't that interesting? I play games on my Xbox One, I played Destiny on my Xbox One and not one moment did I feel like I was missing out on something. Oh sure the Playstation 4 players had extra strikes and weapons but it never bothered me, it also didn't mean I couldn't enjoy Destiny. Now that Sony has the exclusive deal with Activision the dlc for CoD arrives a month early on the Playstation 4, something that was for a long time the deal between Activision and Microsoft. I guess you could call Sony a sad imitator but in fact it's just business and who is the one suffering under that...

It's probably one of the most frustrating things in multiplayer, you spawn in the game and within five seconds you get killed by another player. That seems rare but unfortunately it happens a lot in multiplayer, not just in one or two games but in almost every online multiplayer game I can think of. Maybe it's impossible to create a safe spot in a game full of people that are eager to kill eachother but it's really frustrating to be killed so quickly immediately after spawn. So what can be done about that? A short moment of invulnerability immediately after spawn? This seems like a good idea, but then when someone spawns right in front of you then that person can easily kill you and there's nothing you can do about that. I think this will be very annoying for people on a killstreak and get taken out like this. Getting spawn protection is nice, but when people get a chance to use this against people then that becomes annoying and in my opinion wrong. You can pick y...

The opposite of fun in a game is frustration, for example not being able to beat a level and/or boss in a game or dealing with bad controls or camera positions. Collectibles are also frustrating, but somehow developers love putting these in a game. Why? To keep players busy? To add some extra background story, sometimes collectibles contain information, to the already existing world and characters in the game? It seems like an old trick to keep players in a game a bit longer than they would be otherwise, but do we really need collectibles for that? Gamers hate collectibles? Well not every gamer hates collectibles, there are some rare examples that even like collectibles, but usually people aren't that exited about collectibles and with good reason. You spend hours on finding items in a game just for an achievement or trophy and sometimes you even get a reward in the game. If there are less than 50 collectibles in a game it's not that bad, if it's over 50 then it's a...

I was quite optimistic about the campaign, things look good and I enjoyed playing as Locke. But in the end it was about Master Chief finding Cortana, at least that's what is important to me. Unfortunately that turned into something bad, something weird even that I don't like and it just feels wrong in the Halo series. I know that some people do like the Halo 5 campaign but there are also others that don't like it, so is the Halo 5 campaign bad or is it just not what you expected? Let me warn you one last time, there are spoilers below and if you haven't played the campaign or finished the campaign then I would advice you to stop reading! Too much Locke? Let me first say that I like Spartan Locke, he's pretty cool and the Osiris team is also a fun team. To be honest I think there's more fun in the Osiris team than in the Blue team. But I expected things to be more even, as in half the game you play as Locke and the other half you play as Master Chief. Unfortu...

I heard great things about this game so I decided to buy this game myself, but for some reason I didn't play it until it was a year later. I know strange but for some reason I was never motivated to play it, but I'm very happy that I eventually did play it because it's a lot of fun! It's a creepy platformer with some funny dialogue and quite memorable characters. It wouldn't surprise if some people wouldn't like it but everyone with a love for strange things and of course platform games has a great game with Alice the madness returns! Alice. You play as Alice, no not the sweet and innocent blonde Disney girl but a dark haired girl that has some issues, and somehow you find your way back in Wonderland. But this isn't the Wonderland you would expect it to be, this Wonderland is creepy and full of horrors that try to kill you. It's a good thing that Alice isn't so innocent herself, with her blade she can cut through enemies and she also has other to...

It seems silly but some people are afraid to play (certain) games. Why? Because some games can be quite scary! These are usually (survival) horror games that are meant to scare you and to make you feel uncomfortable. But there are also other reasons, for example people that are afraid that when they pick up a game they can't stop playing that game. Which is the main reason why they don't want to play it. Why would you play a game that is scary? Believe it or not but some people like scary games. Why? Because they like to test themselves, how much can you take and are you tough enough to make it through this scary game. Others just like creepy and scary things, that's just who they are and as crazy as that might seem to some people it's quite normal for others. Then there are people who play scary games for bragging rights, for example I finished Outlast all by myself in the dark with headphones on. I don't know if you get respect for that or if people will belie...