Narco Road.... Gut Reaction. And my off topic waffle.

So with a break from hospital visits I had the luxury of staying overnight in my own home a few day's ago. After the essentials were taken care of (House still standing, pet cactus watered.... it's a thing!), I got to boot the PC and take a look at a few updates etc. (Damn you Windows 10 creators update!)

With my updates UPlay downloaded the newest DLC "expansion" for Ghost Recon Wildlands. Narco Road.

It's only a small fraction in size compared to the main campaign. Smaller map size yet more challenging in events to complete. Your character starts at level 20 for this DLC. I'm not happy that I had to create a new character for it. Even with my characters recreated there is a disconnect in my mind. I would have liked some sort of character use from the main campaign or at least an import option.

As for the expansion, maybe because I've lost my interest in GTA in the last few years/editions that I'm not that keen on this DLC.

I recreated my first two characters, then played a few missions on the recreated first character.

#1

#2

While this DLC turns the game into a hyper GTA version of itself, living life to the max at full speed. I found that rushing in was not good even if the game itself suggest that it is, as I got killed in what seemed like increasingly convoluted missions. Complex for the sake of it not just to test your skills but hard to actually do in a meaningful way. I think it's the second mission that shows this best so far; Escort the chopper, but you can't ride in it, go by road and your too slow to keep up, even going off road, so you fly, fly as an escort and you get a new objective to remove two anti-air missile sites, yet still need to keep up with the mission chopper, by the time you try and destroy the sites the mission chopper has flown on. It's a mission that could have been done better as a multipart. And all the game gives you for your efforts to try harder is essentially hassle over not having the cojones to do it. No shoulder to cry on here, just a fade to black and try again....

As amusingly rough and off topic as real player co-op can be they are a help in most ways, in this expansion you don't even get the a.i. versions.  At least early on. Anyway I'm a solo carebear first so I want to try it all solo. It's why I have three characters.... Solo once, solo twice, laugh at co-op character three.

So after an hour with the DLC I'm not feeling as compelled to play as I did with the main campaign.

That's my initial gut reaction.

Given my current real world happenings maybe I'm being overly critical and missing the obvious.

While writing this I thought I was harsh but there is this review, which I mostly agree with but have to say I feel the opposite in regard to the way the author feels about the vehicles. In my view the plane is the worst handling and the ground vehicles are feeling a lot better in the expansion. I guess it's all about game settings and perspective.

Here is another review also worth the read:
http://moviesgamesandtech.com/2017/04/25/review-ghost-recon-wildlands-narco-road-dlc/

So abandoning the DLC I went back to what I knew best, the main campaign.
I was a little taken aback when I saw that each of my characters campaign progress was reset to zero!!!!!

But thankfully after logging into each it was showing the proper progression details.

I was again tempted to pick between The Ilama and The Division rifles on my third character. The Ilama is better on paper but in practice I still find The Division rifle "feels" more accurate and effective. A true first world problem. As I said before it also sounds great.

My mood wasn't up to doing anything with serious objectives so I went onto my co-op character and tried some tag along.
Ultimately my mind wasn't with it at all, so it wasn't long before i bailed from the game altogether.

It's going to be a week or more before I get to do anything like that again.

On a side note: Yes a pet cactus, my wife isn't a cat or dog lover so there are compromises(on my part). In truth I saw the cactus in the local hardware place and it looked cool in a bonsai tree way, I had to get it. Comedic love at first sight, I picked "him" up, turned to my wife and said "I shall call him Spikey", then popped "him" into the basket with our other purchases. Another funny moment came a week later when we needed to return an item we had gotten on that day but couldn't find the receipt. I gasped and with a sad face turned to my wife and said "you lost his adoption papers!!"
Well worth the purchase for those two moments alone. :-D

GRW.... An update

I've not been able to play Ghost Recon Wildlands in just over a week, due to circumstances/being away from home etc...
I am however able to view the screenshots I took while I was playing and with my forced spare time I may as well fill in a blog post to keep things updated. Some details, some relevant screenshots and some not so relevant eye candy. If it's one thing this game can do it's give you more than ample opportunity to capture eye candy.

The Unidad Conspiracy was pushed out, It was cleared easily with my main character. Being only 3 missions long and seeing as I'd already cleared that map sector I wasn't surprised. The requirement for getting the content was to have preordered the game and played the game on or before a specific date (release day I think). As the game itself was released a few week ago I think The unidad Conspiracy should have been in game since day one. This contents main story would have made more sense as part of the bigger picture. Still nice to get it.

My second character, my solo SMG/LMG specialist is doing well. I like having the close in rapid SMG firepower, sync shots from the NPC squad mates don't make me really miss the sniper rifle and an LMG for taking out vehicles or bunched up enemies is reassuringly effective. Effective and fun. I've been clearing out the main campaign map in a slightly different order than my main. This has lead me to see and tackle missions from alternative angles that give more perspective. This has lead me to be very effective during co-op missions, more on that later.

Her loadout at the moment:

Maybe it's been the latest patch but I feel it's now more easy to get Unidad and the cartel to shoot at each other.

I've also begun to master the plane 'landings'. A crash on a crashed plane is a thing.....

The Assassin's creed pack unlocked and I was able to try out it's content. The flintlock pistol (Jackdaw) is unique, as is it's reload animation. For me it's an impractical weapon. You would really need to be hardcore roleplaying to use it.

 And some more eye candy....

My 3rd character, my co-op grey man.

While I did go over my co-op experiences in the last GRW update, there are a few more things to talk about.

There is a sweet spot for co-op gaming that suits me. 8PM to 10PM (GMT). It seems to have the right balance of people playing. Playstyles/attitudes/maturity etc. Everything that matters (to me) seems to align for my optimal gamplay experience and enjoyment. I've played outside those hours and had great fun but 8 to 10 PM seems to be the sweet spot.

When I mentioned earlier about alternative perspectives on missions I think half the fun is the unknown challenge. Knowing too much and getting from A to Z bypassing all the letters in between can take the fun away. That's where co-ordination and communication comes in. Without those you can ruin a groups fun in trying things out. On the flip side if there is a mission that is on the 3rd or 4th try showing an effective alternative is also a must. Fine line to balance on but the fun factor is a great reward. Plus maybe learning things in a new way can be good(Drunk player on a motorbike causing a distraction at the base you are going to attack etc.).

It's funny to me that people will join a group, fail in a mission and like a failed dungeon group in WoW people will start to bail on the group. I put that down to people wanting to be carried. While I've not seen a great deal of it happen in GRW I did see it happen. I would hate for that to be 'the way' it goes.

Gaming with these guys was great, planning, coordination, execution, fun.

It may only have lasted for a few missions late/early in the a.m. but was well worth it. And if they ever read this blog and recognise themselves from the pic.... the helicopter incidents had me cracking up.

I also got to try out the new free assault rifle, the SIG556 Llama. I thought it may be better than the freebie division rifle but the tradeoffs are not worth it(imo).

  I'll be sticking to my usual.

Darkest Dungeon.... Shrieker

A boss added with the radiant update tempted my on my old NG+ save. NG+ (New Game plus) is now called 'Stygian Mode' I think.... modes.
I'm not sure I have enough time to get new characters up to spec to clear the last Darkest Dungeon run. With that patch came an extra reduction in timescale, I now have only 10 more weeks left and my luck has been bad. Time will tell.
The new boss is The Shrieker, I expected a full dungeon run to get to the boss but it was a one room fight. Maybe I should have looked that up as I over stocked my inventory in anticipation. I also seem to have won that fight by getting the boss's health to 50%. The rewards are worth the effort, it's not that hard a fight for my top end people. Trinkets galore. I would like to have see the special item that allowed me to finish combat and claim the boss specific trinkets. Maybe there will be a next time.

Cities Skylines: XOE

I've had a huge amount of quality time with the PC version, I'm still popping in and out of it, it's one of those games that can be done in spurts of interest.  

It's a pity that the Xbox One version of Cities Skylines seems to be a lesser port of it's greater PC version. Not only missing additions that the base PC game has developed over time but options that were in the base PC version at launch. No option to speed up the time!?!

ACG

Further reading:


http://www.gameinformer.com/games/cities_skylines/b/xboxone/archive/2017/04/21/cities-skylines-xbox-one-edition-game-informer-review.aspx

http://www.windowscentral.com/cities-skylines-xbox-one-review

http://www.cgmagonline.com/reviews/cities-skylines-xbox-one-edition-review/

http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-one/cities-skylines---xbox-one-edition


Also a playthrough worth a look:

CONFLICTNERD Dylan

The freebies....

It seems with the Starcraft Remaster on the horizon Blizzard have decided to gift the original version to all as a freebie. https://starcraft.com/en-us/articles/20674424
I was more into C&C than Starcraft but it's been fun to see the Starcraft elements in Heroes of the Storm.

Also of note is GOG.com who are giving Saints Row 2 away for free.  Not a game series I was into, At the time the first one released I did play it while waiting for the next GTA to come out.

Getting there....

The patch was patched. Great progress, more tweaking needed but I know it's still work in progress....

Paving the way....

Two recent patches that are paving the way for bigger updates to come in their respective games.

Terraria (news)


Euro Truck Sim 2 (update)

GRW.... Narco road DLC

The new DLC looks very different from the main campaign's angle. Almost like a single player version if co-op mode. That kind of craziness in both good and bad ways. With my version of the game getting early access to the DLC already I wish I could comment on it first hand but circumstances prevail. Still I think my 3rd character would suit this new content better (in looks alone) than my more straight laced 1st and 2nd.

Craptacular....

This week/last weekend/Easter hasn't been a good one. Real life has hit with a vengeance in the worst ways.Waiting for things to happen when you can't do anything yourself about a situation is grinding to the soul. Lots of prolonged waiting away from home has lead to less involved lighter diversions. Specifically music. My "eclectic" playlists, as well as others (*) are getting a workout. I more easily go to the likes of this, more for the lyrics than the video.  A songs meaning can be radically different from what a listener takes away but that's a whole other subject and entirely personal. Then there are fan made 'versions'.

 Beyonce the Tank Engine 

 

Everspace.... Double news.

The latest patch does a lot, Update 0.7.1.31567. The best line of the patch notes in my view at the moment is:  Added mysterious alien race, referred to as "The Ancients".

The game is also getting a proper launch date, May 26th. I've been glad to have been a part of early, to have seen it transform from good to great.

Ghost Recon Wildlands.... Co-Op

My expectations of co-op muliplayer within Ghost Recon Wildlands were initially coloured by what I've already seen and experienced in World of Warcraft. Where WoW has a set path and people generally know what is expected in a dungeon. The many, many ways to approach a mission in GRW has lead to some interesting experiences. Not all missions can be done in a single brute force way and vice versa. But brute force seems to be the preferred way. But after headbutting a brick wall most groups seem to take a suggestion that less action was more to quickly progress and move on.

The built in comms feature is needed, works well and from what I've experienced isn't abused. There is expletive language for good and bad moments but there doesn't seem to be a Call of Duty overly verbose crowd here. So far I've not encountered a person spewing verbal diarrhoea. Fingers crossed I never do. Groups so far have been giving civil response's and thanks with some tactical coordination. That in itself is a feat for random strangers via the internet.

Having gone through the game solo once and a second playthrough at 20%, I had a lot more experience in the game than most players I encountered. Especially with regard to helicopter piloting. I'm sure that will change in time.

I had started my co-op muliplayer experience with my Mad Max lookalike (using shotguns and pistol). While I found him effective he wasn't up to the sheer madness and randomness despite his movie name. It was obvious to me that shotguns weren't making the grade 10 minutes into co-op. It wasnt' long after that I switched character (to my SMG/LMG second playthrough) to see how that would be. That second character worked really well. The LMG was king but the SMG lacked the punch and I found myself relying more on the LMG overall. After a few missions with a great group I decided to remake my 3rd character. My Mad Max changed into a more rounded group support. With an LMG (free Unidad RPK). I traded off his other shotgun for the free and powerful 'The Division' weapon.

I decided against the other free G36C I've favoured in my initial playthrough, as the rate of fire and power of the Division weapon was well needed. It's almost like an LMG but with greater accuracy. Besides I didnt' want to go all over the map solo trying to get all the weapon mods to make the G36C "perfect".

He already had the handgun with all the trimmings so that was his silenced weapon.

 
Most other players seem to go assault & sniper so this character is a good for support and fire superiority. Me likeeey.


With the change in weapons came another change as I left the Mad Max costume behind and in remembrance of a great film I decided on a new look.

 
Most players show their face, conveying more character. Showing a lot more personal expression. But I really, really like the new look. The grey man.

It's been great to see him like that in cut scenes.

With just over 8 hours of co-op play done as I write it's been fun.
To be part of a group infiltrating a base, snipers picking off targets, the group moving in, then someone is spotted, alerts go off, search lights blazing, next thing you know your hunted and there are reinforcements headed your way, with helicopters over head. The jig is up, no use in being quiet now, swing round the LMG and start blasting. I've gotten great thanks after downing choppers and exploding vehicles before they can stop and dismount.
Quick blasting action like that needs to be tactical as well, you can't just stand up and walk around like a terminator, co-op and mutual support means a lot and is rewarded in this game.

Co-op mode has it's up's and down's. People going AFK or disconnecting. People belching, farting and arguing in another language. People just being dicks. They happen. And I've left groups fast enough. But it's the other side that I remember most. Like being in a car and being driven off a mountain because the car was shot to shit and handling was gone. The guy driving was German, the guy in the back seat was Spanish. we couldn't speak a language we all understood but when that car went off the mountain, careered down, tumbled, back flipped but eventually landed on the four wheels back on the road we all laughed. It's that kind of basic shared experience that you take away most from this co-op experience. It's what brings me back to play more co-op.

I'm glad I've done a solo, complete run of the game, I'm doing it a second time for the fun, seeing it from a different angle. Co-Op is a very, very different experience. I'm a completionist and doing it solo is best in that regard. My 3rd character, his map and collectibles are all over the place with nothing in order.

I'm doing this 3rd character for the fun of co-op, if I help players great, if I get to do missions I need even better but if not then I've had fun just by being in the groups.

It also occurred to me that without thinking about it I've gone for the special reward weapons in co-op.  I usually never show off in multiplayer games. This is also the first game I can say that I've played co-op/multiplayer and really done exceptionally well. Surprisingly so compared to other players so far. Not to toot my own horn too much.

I've been surprised again at the free offerings. From playing the demo of The division I've gotten a lot of rewards unlocked. While that is good I am not a fan of the backpack on the division costume.

I also claimed the Assassins Creed Black Flag look. It's unlocked but not yet available in the game. Those seem a bit odd in their release/claim timings.

And again a surprise in another free gun that I may use in place of The Division rifle. Mmmmmmmmmm options.......