Free-to-Play Reappearance: Marvel Heroes 2015

How do all and welcome back for Day 2 of Free-to-Play Reappearance. Yeah that didn't feel extremely long-winded at all. Well I wanted to see more of a dynamic in the sense of teamplay, storyline and maybe even voice work for the characters. My opinion the right voice for some of these games just sets the tone that much better. David Brevik (creator of Diablo and Diablo 2) presents a free-to-play MMO set in the Marvel Universe with our heroes combining not only game-play of a Action style RPG but MMO in using the rather substantial library of heroes in the verse.

Teaming up to defeat Doctor Doom from the horrific side effects of the power of the Cosmic Cube (SHIELD really needs to lock that way) following the story written by Brian Michael Bendis (The New Avengers, Ultimate Spider-Man, Daredevil and Mighty Avengers), just find a favorite and get in the game. This is Marvel Superheroes 2015.

BEHOLD!!! THE COSMIC MCGUFFIN!!!

After thwarting the Utau the Watcher (Huge ancient bald guy that has proceeded over Earth since its creation) Doom proceeds to remake the Earth in his image...yet this somehow didn't alter all the heroes...PLOT HOLE! That being said, our heroes rally to do battle with Doom and his villainous allies (Ugh, this type of writing is why I am not making a comic book title), repair that which has been done to Mother Earth and kick the crap out of a tin-plated overbearing dictator with delusions of godhood. So I chose Johnny Blaze a.k.a. The Spirit of Vengeance: Ghost Rider. Thought a wee bit of Hellfire, guts and some soul searing was in order...also someone already laid claim to Doctor Strange so can't have the Sorcerer Supreme, go with the Supreme Supernatural Ass-Kicker.

Okay before we go into the standard game-play pros and cons, let's hit my favorite, the voice cast.

You can't pit a decent set of pipes to the character then who wants to play them?

Yeesh, feels like Ghost Runner rather than Rider.

For example: Steve Blum (Wolverine of Wolverine and the X-Men, Hulk Vs Wolverine, Batman: Arkham Origins, Lego Marvel Super Heroes, Transformer Prime Beast Hunters: Predacons Rising), Christopher Daniel Barnes (Spider-Man of Spider-Man, Spider-Man: Secret Wars, Malcolm & Eddie, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, Spider-Man: Edge of Time) one of my personal favorites the gravely and downright sinister Keith David (Nick Fury in Marvel Heroes, Gargoyles, Spawn, The Thing, Platoon, Community, and Sons of Liberty).

Say aren't there superheroines as well? Oh yeah we have: Julianne Buescher (Black Widow in Marvel Heroes, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Naruto: Shippuden, Guild Wars 2, XCOM: Enemy Unknown,Sid the Science Kid and The Muppets), Kat Cressida (Elektra of Marvel Heroes, Dragon Age: Origins, Guild Wars 2, Skylanders: SWAP Force, Elder Scrolls Online, Skylanders: Trap Team, Batman: Arkham Knight and Fallout 4) and Kat Higgins (Scarlet Witch/Jocasta/Firestar in Marvel Heroes, Monster High: Freaky Fusion, The Last: Naruto the Movie, Sailor Moon Crystal, and Son of Nor)

Okay, I could name names all day but let's get down to the game mechanics. So we have a lot of mouse control her with left button down to move to your location of choice, cursor on an enemy and click for attack. Right click for a different power and the optional keyboard (A,S,D,F,G,H) for the other powers. This is mostly about teamwork with other players that you can simply end up joining in your collective quests.  MMO community that aids the newbies and gives flack to the noobs. Newbies are polite and confused on the mechanics of the character, environment and game. Noobs claim to know everything and bitch excessively. Bottom line: Don't be a noob.

We got Team-Ups, Patrolling regions, Holographic simulated battles to better train you in your powers, we have characters within each classification or group. Hell form your own group. Make an Avengers of the Supernatural if you feel so inclined. Doctor Strange, Satana, Ghost Rider, Man-Thing and maybe Magik. Maybe an all bruiser squad with Hulk, She-Hulk, Thing, Wonder-Man and Thor. The options are open. Yes X-fans plenty of mutants with tortured souls and nifty powers to partake in the action. Hell I saw a Cable running around gunning creatures down and a nice TK takedown. I however am not a nut for avid gaming for longer than 4 hours so pass on me for raids. 

Rocket Racoon blowing up...ninjas?

Free-to-Play Reappearance: Neverwinter

Greetings all as we explore Free-to-Play Reappearance Day 1. Well I promised we would take a peek at some of these games and see how they roll. I thought we should start with a very popular title and none more popular than the ever expanding MMORPGs. Yeah these glorious graphics and eager amounts of wasting time have been a staple since 1997 with Ultima Online and ran via LANs providing hours of entertainment until up to Everquest. Typically speaking this would involve players to log on to a client and then allow them access to the world which would change, update even when no one is on.

Now several MMORPGs charge a service fee of monthly or annually like Warcraft does with 10 dollars a month but extra effects like class or species changes like DDO does can get a bit pricey. Not to mention additional magic items, tomes of power and creature companions. That can eat up your checking account toot sweet. Why am I speaking of costs on a free to play week? Well some games are free to start but eventually you will want gear that gives you not only an edge in a dungeon but in PVP (Player vs Player for those are not hip to the term.) So let's see if today's game is any different. This is Neverwinter.

Are you digging these graphics as much as me?!!!

Developed by Cryptic Studios and released in 2013, Neverwinter is based on the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop universe as well as the four novels by R.A. Salvatore (Gauntlgrym, Neverwinter, Charon's Claw and The Last Threshold), the City of Skilled Hands or Jewel of the North is a spiraling metropolis of the northwestern Sword Coast of Faerun. The games Neverwinter Nights 1 and 2 get their name from the city itself. The land is deemed the most civilized and cultured city in all of Faerun and has a unique diversity among the races. While being way up in the mountains (picture Greenland) the Neverwinter River flows and many believe that fire elementals living nearby in Mount Hotenow deep in the woods heat it.

Okay with that bit of babble out of the way, let's get on with the game overall. You start off shipwrecked on Neverwinter due to the city, its guards both warriors and wizards are having a massive throw down with of all things a blue dracolich (Undead dragon with the abilities of a spellcaster that somehow avoids death through dark arts of magic.) blasting the very ship you were on. Rummaging around the wreck you find subtle clothes and whatever weapons your class depicts and make your way on your very user-friendly map to the icon NPCs to correct this awesome evil.

Sgt Knox here is voiced by the late Sir Christoper Lee, which makes him that much more awesome.

Classes range from: Control Wizard (crowd based death dealing as well as protection) , Oathbound Paladin (Armored Warrior that has blessings, buffs and limited healing as they are holy warriors) , Devoted Cleric (Holy man/woman granting stats boosts, temporary hit points, healing and protections from evil), Hunter Ranger ( Archer/Fighter adept to firing multiple arrows to handling duel weapons), Great Weapon Fighter (Heavy weapon fighters with no regard for a shield use a two-handed weapon and brute strength on the enemy), Guardian Fighter (Protector and defender, this warrior relies on cunning, tactical analysis and usually the leader), Scourge Warlock (Magical practioner of the dark arts ranging from necromancy, thaumaturgy and grimores of dark magic) and Trickster Rogue (Stealthful fighter, thief, assassin and official treasure finder). Finding your weapons and dealing out some decent damage you team up with the existing army of the Winterguard and make your way to the city encountering tons of zombies, skeletons and even a few slain warriors from the dead.

With the private NPC red shirt you make your way to the gates with the lich Valindra leaves her own gate guardian to deal with you both. The dude is massive. Fallout 3 fans, imagine the Behemoth and you know where I am coming from. So I chose Hunter Ranger and managed to kill that monstrosity after 2 attempts of the leveling up with new powers option. My arrows had to hit him facing me period. This guy turns his back and you cannot even damage him.

After that, you are in Neverwinter. Yup everything I just described to you was all outside the city walls. Let's talk game control dynamics now. The standard W,A,S,D, for directions via PC gamers along with the mouse right click for weapons overall and F is your main interaction with loot, conversing with NPCs and treasure chests. Behind the city walls the game is very fluid and open ended. There are quests, dungeon delving(exploring underground caverns or sewer regions) and campaigns galore. Special powers and items come by very quickly and for all you DDO purists, leveling happens SooOOoOoO much quicker. Overall story lines seem to arc very nicely and in general I have enjoyed it thus far and I am quite impressed with it.

Give me your pump, the oil, the gasoline, and the whole compound, and I'll spare your lives.

Free-To-Play Reappearance

Hello and welcome back to Rotten Reelz. We had a week off due to needing to make some serious funds. My apologies but I do not get paid to write 4 to 5 times a week on here and believe me if I did I wouldn't miss a beat as writing is one of the greater gigs out there. That being said we have had zombie films, horror films and some sci-fi as of late but I am thinking it is time to hit Steam up again for some free-to-play games and find out what the big fuss is about it. As many of you know, Steam engine maintains several games ranging from multiple genres, tastes and ratings. I myself enjoy the ones I have downloaded and CANNOT WAIT for Fallout 4. That game will be my jam!

Jake's G/F is in the shower.  I'd give details but I am sworn to only watch.

I thought I would focus on different titles, genre and play and re-play-ability. From the continuation of Ghost Recon: Phantoms for hardcore FPS to trying my luck at team building, adventuring action of Neverwinter after its now 6^th expansion. Who says I don't get my geek on?

'Tis a battle greater than getting on DDO's hub.

Oh FYI to all you Phantom players, the pricing guide for updated weapons just got a whole lot more reasonable costs so enjoy that. I have been trying out Neverwinter since all of...well last night. I will get my co-star of Rotten Ramblin' On Shawn on the horn and get his take on Neverwinter vs DDO.

Who knows, maybe I will even give the massively unnecessary reboot of Marvel Heroes 2015 a gander but I am a wee bit sick of revamps, reboots and re-imagining.

One and all are welcome to join me as I burn out my retinas and blow my ear drums on some old school PC gaming goodness. Ta ta!

Ew, he is peeping in that girl's shower...lucky bastard.

Rotten Ramblin' On 4! We almost sound professional!

Shut Up Wesley was put on hold today for a brand new Rotten Ramblin' On podcast # 4.   Our valiant heroes tackle the standing of sci-fi games of both video games and this archaic concept known as tabletop games! Once again, this is NSFW and Adult language.

This armor chafes a bit.

https://soundcloud.com/jake-peck-2/rotten-ramblin-on-4


Again I do apologize as I am going to get indigogo up and running again for some fundage to properly host the podcast and maybe even give it a snappy intro music!!!

Yeah doll, the orcs smell like drek but they soak up bullets, see?

Free To Play Week

Howdy all and welcome to the week. Well given the level of nostalgia I have had for the last couple of weeks has been Movies and TV and once again I have been neglecting video gaming. So to make up for this oversight I have decided to tackle some of these freebie games and see if even half of them are worth what they are cracked up to be.

Get the feeling we are cannon fodder, Rob?

Ranging from point and click to MMORPG, these games can be promos, beta tests and introductions bringing a wide range of gaming and for all ages overall. Most of these games tend to offer a pay as you play or even a monthly charge to a credit or debit card. Puzzles, strategy and fps and survival games in genre of action, adventure, horror and science fiction bring different levels of enjoyment and provide some much needed fun.

To what end of each game is to find out how much money can be dropped past the basic campaign or initial quests is still remains to be seen at this time but we will research each title and different classes of game. Well I think it will pass on the Goat Simulator. Oh yes it exists and frankly it looks more mind numbing than a documentary on Pokemon Vs Dragon Ball Z.

Two horrors awaited Ensign Ricky.  A Borg attack and assigned under Captain Crusher.