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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of STAR WARS Battlefront in Video Games

Jun 19, 2019  
STAR WARS Battlefront
STAR WARS Battlefront
Shooter
We have spent a lot of time with EA Star Wars Battlefront since we did extensive coverage for the game at launch with our various Holiday Gift Guides. In the time since launch, we have seen comments both good and bad about the game and as such; I took my time with the program before entering into the written portion of our coverage. The game is a fantastic looking solo and team-based shooter set in the classic era of the Star Wars trilogy. Few dispute the absolute gorgeous graphics of the game and the incredible attention to detail that the developers have poured into the game. The biggest criticism seems to be that some believe the game is little more than a shell for the DLC that is available for an additional price and that the finalized game is lacking enough to justify the full retail price.

To me this is complete and other nonsense as I don’t know what people had in mind for the game one was announced but for me; the developers have delivered what they promised. The game features multiple online modes of play ranging from starfighter battles, Walker Assault, Blast, solo training modes, Supremacy, Cargo, Droid Run, Drop Zone, Heroes versus Villains, and Hero Hunt.
Each mode lets players play as either the Rebel Alliance or Empire and they can customize their loadout which includes the look of their character, weaponry, special abilities, and special weapons. As players gain experience the rebel to unlock new and better options as well is gained special weapons, vehicles, and even the chance to play is a classic character thanks to special icons located throughout the map.

Each gameplay mode has multiple maps although locations are set on Hoth, Tattooine, Endor, Sullust, and such. There are however multiple maps for each locale.
EA has also released two free updates of significance one that offered a new gameplay mode called Turning Point which features to locale set in Jakku from the most recent film. There has also been a recent update which brought new enhancements to the game as well as costumes and additional maps made available for various gameplay modes all at no cost.

While I understand some people’s complaints about the game not having a campaign, it was pretty clear from the beginning that this was designed to be an online experience. My biggest complaints center around the balance issues such as some characters taking multiple hits from a rifle and grenade and walking away while others go down fairly easy in 1 to 2 blasts. It’s simply a matter of getting to know your weaponry and what it takes to successfully take down an opponent as once you get into a groove, you’re able to do quite well. Players are going to die a lot as there is a lot going on specifically in the Walker Assault and Turning Point modes but if you stick with it, you are often rewarded and getting to play as a classic character or taking the controls of a vehicle is always a very nice bonus and allows you to turn the tables quickly on the other team.

EA has listened to the community and continues to offer refinements to the game and have said they will do so beyond the DLC which is coming this year. For me, EA Star Wars Battlefront is a true gift to the fans in that it gives games a graphically detailed and gorgeous as well as immersive Star Wars experience that is fun to play and is constantly being refined and added to by the company.
I had a fantastic time playing it since it came out and I look forward to seeing what is coming next in both the free and DLC categories for this game as it is truly been and can used to be a real treat for Star Wars fans especially when you consider how many bad games based upon the license have been released over the years.

http://sknr.net/2016/02/08/a-review-in-defense-of-the-awesome-ea-star-wars-battlefront/
  
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Kevin Wilson (179 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of Trials Fusion in Video Games

Jul 10, 2018  
Trials Fusion
Trials Fusion
Racing
Super addictive (3 more)
A lot of fun with friends
Hundreds of tracks
You will never get bored
Almost impossible for completionests (1 more)
Would get headaches and become achy from time to time
Addicting platforming racer!
I had brought this over a year ago but never found the motivation to play it until it became free on ps plus and all my friends got it.

We played a few races together and I instantly became addicted. I was always last but I gradually got better at the game which makes it more fun and it convinced me to play the career mode which I will get more into later.

Starting with multiplayer, all the tracks and bikes are open to you. No need to unlock them. All the tracks from the career mode which there are so many as well as hundreds of user created which are excelllent, fun and sometimes weird. I played 1 where your bike turns into a squirrel and a fun track where everything is moving and messes with your head. There's always something new with these game. Even the extreme tracks where I can't even get past the first obstacle (I'm looking at you inferno) is frustratingly fun and to this day I have not got past that first bit.

There are 6 dlc packs with the season pass (not including the unicorn dlc) and all the tracks from these packs become available in multiplayer too. So if your with a group and only you have the packs, as long as your hosting, they will also be able to play them which is insane.

The career mode has so much to offer too. About 8 sections, each with about 7 tracks. Each track makes you want to go back again and again thanks to medals and leaderboards. I'm constantly wanting to go back to beat my friends scores which I've never been into before.

Extreme tracks are so difficult to get gold medals so if your a completionest it may be difficult but the game is a lot of fun yet frustrating. I find myself getting headaches if a track is too annoying or my body starts moving in awkward psoitions to the point I feel so achy.

Best played with friends in my opinion but as fun to play solo and try to beat those times for bragging rights. Even the costumes you can wear are fun. I have the PS4 version so Im not sure if it's the same everywhere else but you can unlock Rayman, Aiden from watchdogs and an assassin from the creed games. There's also many more from hazmat suits to rhino helmets.

I can recommend this easily for anyone wanted to just mess around.
  
The Elder Scrolls Online Tamriel Unlimited
The Elder Scrolls Online Tamriel Unlimited
2015 | Massively Multiplayer
Many of my friends kept telling me I should play Elder Scrolls Online because it was a lot of fun and set before the events of Skyrim. I told them I didn't have it yet, but eventually I would check it out. I liked that they followed in the steps of Guild Wars 2 by not having a monthly subscription, once you buy the game it's yours to play to your heart's content. I waited until it went on sale on Steam and got the collector's edition which included three DLCs and a horse mount. I was excited to create a new character and explore the world of Elder Scrolls Online. I actually made two characters both in the Nightblade job class a Dark Elf and a Wood Elf. You can have 8 character slots which is pretty nice. I may go and try out a Khajiit character later.


One of the many Khajit characters in the game.

The character creation is very user friendly with a variety of options. However, I once again wondered why there so many different variations of bald for the female characters. I suppose that just gives you a lot of options if that's your thing. I did like that there were plenty of longer hair options for the characters. Once my character creation was complete, I could not wait to start my adventure. I also had to pick which server to play on North American or European. I went with North American as the time difference doesn't really let me play with my European friends. Depending on which character you pick: Dark Elf, Wood Elf, High Elf, Khajit, Argonian, Nord, Breton, Redguard, or Orc you start the game that gives you a tutorial introduction for the game controls and then you have racial origin quests you can play. I play the game on PC so my controls were for the PC, but you can also play the game on PS4 and XboxOne. Once I finished the tutorial quest I was able to really begin exploring the world of Tamriel.



My Dark Elf ready for adventure!

One great thing that stands out is how easy the controls are to map and use. The user menu for items and quest logs is incredibly user friendly making the game feel nicely streamlined. There is literally tons to see and do in Elder Scrolls Online ranging from a myriad of side quests to origin story quests as well as the main story quests. Another thing I like is the dungeon system. While I like Final Fantasy 14, the one thing I really do not like is how many forced dungeon crawls there are. Elder Scrolls Online has made it so that if you want to do a dungeon you can or you can just skip it if it's not your thing.

There are actually seven different types of dungeons. You have the public dungeons which if you have the right character build, you can solo very easily. This dungeon is open to everyone so solo players can come in and explore and team up with people who are in there if they wish. Public dungeons are a bit more challenging than the other dungeons so in general a group definitely helps. Delves are solo dungeons pertinent to whichever quest you're on. Non-Veteran group dungeons are instanced dungeons that require a group of four and are normal mode and scale to the level of the group leader. Veteran dungeons are instanced as well, but they don't unlock until you're level 50 and they are a higher difficulty than the other dungeons. Trials are 12 person instances that are mainly for endgame content and require a solid group and teamwork. Craglorn delves are instanced dungeons that have you kill a specific bosses inside. Finally, there is the Dragonstar Arena which is a 4 person instance PVE (Player versus event) arena. This has 10 different levels where you work together to fight 5 waves of monsters in each level and a final boss at the end. This is a difficult level dungeon for experienced players.


Battling in a Delve.



There is chat of course and for the most part it's alright in the fact that you can learn about events or people looking for groups so you can team up for quests and dungeons. This also lets you know what guilds are out there recruiting. Other times I tend to turn off zone chat because there's only so many sexual innuendo and dick jokes I can take. For the most part I run around by myself doing quests and I always have fun doing them and I have done a few group dungeons which are fun as well. The community in Elder Scrolls Online is quite friendly from what I've experienced and there are a lot of players who are willing to help if you need it and give advice about the game and class builds. I've even had a few players trade gear with me to help my Nightblade characters be even better which was so nice of them. That alone has made my experience with Elder Scrolls Online even more enjoyable.

The different areas that I've explored so far are beautiful. Just exploring is a lot of fun in itself because each area is completely different so it's a lot of fun to just look around at everything. The music in the game is fantastic as well and sets a great atmosphere for the story and quests. The battles are fun and easy to navigate. Leveling doesn't feel like a chore and unlocking skills is simple to do and with enough skill points you can even morph your skills into more powerful abilities. Traveling is great too because once you unlock a way shrine you can fast travel to those spots that you have unlocked. It does cost some gold when you fast travel however, but with all the quests you get under your belt it's not that big a deal. Traveling on a mount is easy, you can just use a command that has your character whistle and your mount will appear so you can head to where you need to go.


My Wood Elf admiring the beautiful scenery.

There is PVP (player versus player) in the game. You can fight in Cyrodiil from level 10 and above. You can also challenge other players to a duel anywhere in Tamriel. If the person accepts your duel challenge, a flag appears and you fight in the designated area marked by the flag, if you leave that area it results in a forfeit. I tried it out once just to see what it was like (PVP is not my thing) and it was alright. For those who love PVP it is one more fun adventure thing you can do in the game.

You can do crafting in the game as well. There is an introductory quest to crafting that you get so you can learn about the craft you choose. There are six crafts to choose from: Blacksmith, Clothier, Alchemy, Enchanting, Provisioning, and Woodworking. The tutorial on how to do the crafts is easy to follow and once you get started it's easy to do. This is also a terrific way to make a bit of extra coin in the game for all the things you need such as gear and healing potions.

The one issue I have with Elder Scrolls Online is that there is no cross platform gaming. This means if you play on the PC, but your friends play on the PS4 or XboxOne consoles you can't play together. This means that PC players are on their own server and the console players are on their own separate server. I can understand a bit why they did it that way, but it kind of sucks that I can't play with my friends who are on the console platforms. In that regard, Final Fantasy 14 is winning because you can play with your friends across all platforms. Perhaps that may change in the future, but for now that's not the case.

Lack of cross platform gaming aside, Elder Scrolls Online is a great game. It's a fun adventure with a ton of content to explore and plenty of things to see and do. I'm glad I was able to check it out and I'm enjoying playing by myself and with other people. It's an MMORPG that offers a lot of great things in its game and gives a huge amount of freedom to the different play styles that people have allowing everyone to enjoy the game the way they wish. Now, I'm off to do some more adventuring in Tamriel!
  
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Butch Vig recommended Country Life by Roxy Music in Music (curated)

 
Country Life by Roxy Music
Country Life by Roxy Music
1974 | Rock
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I am a huge Roxy Music fan! I was the president of the Roxy Music fanclub in Madison, Wisconsin, which only had about seven members. We used to have Roxy Music nights, once a month, we would play their albums, all the different members' solo albums, and the live bootlegs. I love all their albums but I think for me Country Life was kind of their most consistent and most focused one. You really start to hear some of the sophistication that Bryan Ferry would later bring to Roxy Music. The first couple of records had a lot of quirky artiness to them yet the songs were so well written and their arrangements are spot on. There are so many great songs on Country Life including the opener, 'The Thrill Of It All', which is just epic. I love 'Out Of The Blue' and 'Prairie Rose', and 'Casanova' – that’s like a dirty funk number. One of my inspirations as a drummer is Roxy Music. I love Paul Thomspon's drumming on all the records and I've always looked at him as an inspiration. At the time of release they covered the album with a brown wrapper as the artwork was deemed to be offensive - the cover has this beautiful slash trashy glam vibe to it and that kind of defines what I loved about Roxy Music."

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Billy Gibbons recommended Carter Girl by Carlene Carter in Music (curated)

 
Carter Girl by Carlene Carter
Carter Girl by Carlene Carter
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Rick Rubin embraced Johnny Cash when he was floundering without a label. Rick thought this was unthinkable. He started soliciting writers beyond the country community and they did two great, odd, dark records. I wound up writing a song called 'I Witnessed A Crime' without knowing that Rick was going in this more contemporary vein. I later discovered it was too mid-’50s; too perfect for old-school Johnny Cash. So it didn't reach release until it was bootlegged out of the studio and found its way to YouTube. 

Rick called me up – I live just walking distance from house-to-house: ""Can you come over?"" I said, ""Well, you still got that old Fender guitar down there? If you let me play it I'll come on down."" He had this stunning Fender Esquire from 1954. I walked down and the door opened up, he ushered me into the living room and sitting on the sofa was Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. I was dumbfounded. So we sat down this close and he said, ""I like that song."" June started welling up and said, ""Ooh, you played the solo just like Luther Perkins."" I said, “Well, I'd like you to help me get through it.” We wound up singing it across the table. Little did I know that Rick had hidden microphones, capturing the whole thing."

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