A Steam Console?

Hey gays and gals yet another surprise by value today but this one taking the shape of a Steam Machine or Steam Box as people are calling it  which will let you play 3000 games while more to work via streaming. If you are panicking that you will have to buy this new hardware don't worry Value have said that you don't have to purchase it if you don't want to, for more information about this new Steam Machine click on the Link.
If you want the chance to test on of these machines Value is giving only 300 away so you can help with the development so what are you waiting for go check it out. 

A Steam Operating System

Hey guys and gals after a busy week I'm back and ready to work and to start things off Value announced yesterday that Steam is getting its own OS or Operating System. I am hugely excited for this due to the fact that I have a stupid amount of games on Steam thanks to their awesome sales also Value will be bringing something new and exciting to the table. For more information about the Steam OS click on the Link.

    

Steam Family Sharing Gets People Excited

Hey guys and gals Valve has announced a Family Sharing system for Steam this allows users to share their  game libraries with family and friends. Users may only access a shared library one at a time so if you're playing something and someone wants to play one of  your games they have to wait. The library owner will always take the priority, so if someone's in your library and you want to play say Rome II they'll have a few minutes to quit playing or purchase the game they're running.

Steam accounts can authorize up to 10 devices at a time, however not every Steam game will necessarily be available for sharing external services such as Origin and Uplay, subscriptions, and other tech limitations may prevent you from playing someone else's games. However Valve notes that if you borrow a game you also have access to an owners DLC content.

I think that this I pretty neat espically that Microsoft took family sharing away from the Xbox One then decided to bring it back again, for more information check the Link to the official steam page where you can sing up to the beta.  

PayDay 2 Review

Hey gays and gals have you ever dreamed of having lots of cash or robbing a bank then fighting your way though swat teams and police? if so then Pay day is just around the corner.

PayDay 2 is one of the games that you either love or hate and for me personally Iv'e been looking forward to this since it's announcement. The first PayDay when it was released had a cult following until  PayDay was part of a steam sale where it again exploded in popularity, whether  it was the fact that you could rob a bank without facing the the police in real life I don't know , all I know is that the first PayDay was bloody amazing and PayDay 2 capitalises on this success in a big way. 

 First things first if you are going to rake in the cash in PayDay 2 you will have to think and act smart for unlike its predecessor you can't go in running and gunning...well you can but you won't get as much cash than if you went all ninja like. Payday 2 rewards thoughtful behaviour for if you can get in and out without alerting the guards then you will be buying upgrades for your guns left right and centre but this is always difficult for the objective locations are randomized. 

The randomization adds a great challenge every time you start a new game from security cameras being moved to entire rooms being in different positions. However this can cause some glitches for instance after a swat team had ambushed me and my fellow players carried 10 bags of shall we say illegal substance to one place only to find out that the door to the van to collect the goods had disappeared, we then had to fight our way though one of many assault phases to get the bags to a different location so we could try to outsmart the glitch and I can say that my heart was pounding as the adrenaline coursed though my veins as we tried to outsmart the glitch.

PayDay 2 is one of the best online team games I've played in a long time 

One of the most iconic aspects of the PayDay series is the famous masks and this return with a vengeance in PayDay 2. Masks in PayDay 2 can be customized from the patterns and colours that are provided to you and these can be found via cards that you pick after each mission but these cards or also random so you might get some money or a attachment for one of your guns but these still need to be paid for so in PayDay 2 cash is your worst and best friend.

Now the days of shared cash and XP have gone for in PayDay 2 each is now separate from each other and by that I mean you like any other FPS you gain XP from completing your objective and not by collecting cash a system which I miss. Also new are the skills which as you level-up can be purchased via points which can range from skills costing 1 point to 4 then on top of that you can ace these skills to make them generally better for example getting a skill that can leave you carry bags faster then by "aceing" or upgrading that skill you can throw loot bags further.

PayDay 2 is worth its weight in gold whilst in multiplayer however if you decided to venture into single player you will be met with AI that just doesn't know what to do, these AI partners don't interact
with loot bags or any objectives this can leave you feeling frustrated and basically it's just not playable. As said though the multiplayer is one of the enjoyable and heart pounding that I have played but It's not with out its faults which are really few and far between.    

Dishonored Review

Hey Guys and Gals I became quite sad a couple of days ago, do you want to know why? because the steam sale ended although these sales are few and far between the boast some amazing deals such as Dishonored a steam punk idea that proved to be vastly popular within the gaming committee. Now no time to waste full steam ahead into the review!

The first thing you will notice about Dishonored is that the cover is very interesting for not only do you have that awesome mask but also you can see some type of magic that the person is showing off and that person is Corvo. Corvo the bodyguard of Empress Jessamine Kalswin is sent from Dunwall the setting for the duration of the game to find a cure for the recent plague that has begun to spread throughout Dunwall. On his return Corvo is forced to witness the assassination of Empress Jessamine Kaldwin and the kidnap or her daughter Emily, Corvo is blamed for this event and is imprisoned this is where you the player get to get to grips with the mechanics and style of the game.

The beauty about Dishonored is that you have the choice to either kill your way though footsoldiers or be all ninja and take the non-lethal approach however these do have there advantages and disadvantages. If for instance like me you prefer going all sneaky sneaky then the game will have less rats and infected but if you want to create utter chaos and kill everyone in your path then you will see more rats and infected as well as more guards as you progress though the game. The ending is also determined by your actions in game for a more violent and bloody play though will result in a darker ending than if you committed to a non-lethal take on the game.

As said before Dishonored can be played one of two ways or a mixture of lethal and non-lethal takedowns if you find that you have tried to take the stealthily route though a level and have been discovered you have two choices fight or run for your life. If you chose to fight then get ready for a repetitive but fun blocking and striking system, your primary weapon is your trusty sword/dagger thing that will be with you till the end I sadly named my weapon Kain after the legendary vampire from the Legacy of Kain series. Your secondary weapon can be swapped out from an arsenal of weapons from pistols to grenades these also vary, your crossbow for example can shot normal bolts, sleeping bolts, incendiary bolts and exploding bolts.

Movement is a big part in games where stealth is involved and Dishonored does this superbly from sliding to climbing, lucky for us Dunwall has plenty of opportunities to use these moves. Dunwall at its best consists of many hidden areas and secrets that can only be accessed by climbing and jumping around rooftops as well as the narrow lanes of the streets. One of the funniest and coolest things Iv'e done was running across a bridge getting discovered only to vault a stone wall and fall into a massive bin which kept me hidden from the search lights and the guards. 

Now the thing that makes Dishonored great is the fact that you can use that powers to create ways to kill that the developers didn't even think of, one of the earliest powers that you acquire is Blink now if you're a World of Warcraft fan you will know what this is if not then Blink is a power that allows you to move short distances in a blink of an eye. Blink combined with a jump can move you great distances which could mean the difference between life and death this combination has surely saved my skin a few times however my favourite power would be the ability to slow down and stop time this gives me some time (or until my mana pool runs out) to summon a pack of rats slowdown time and attach a bomb to them so when normal game is resumed the rats not only attack normally they explode as well its time consuming but the results are worth it.

Combining your powers to kill can take time but are totally worth it

All in all Dishonored is a bloody good game the option to kill or not to kill allows it to be played multiple times and this in today's age a game that has a good amount of replay ability is going to sell like hot cakes. The combat system could be improved from the blocking and striking system to allow chain kills if you are fighting a group of people, your powers however try to balance this out with the developers allowing you to use these while in combat to create maximum carnage. If by chance you did purchase Dishonored in the steam sale then your money has not gone to waste for Dishonored is one the best stealth action adventure games Iv'e played so far and with the rumours that there might be a sequel on the cards I for one am pretty excited as to where they will take this series.