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Roleplay or Effectiveness?

Casual Goblin

Ever felt like you had to build a certain way in games, one that you didn’t really like the feel of? The first time I encountered this was in World of Warcraft, a long, long time ago. I’d made a hunter, and I loved the idea of a customisable pet to act as my buddy – enter Polly the crab – and wanting to get the most out of Polly, I decided to go beast-master spec. Now, this worked great for soloing, but having a tank oriented companion and not using the marksmanship spec reduced my overall damage output – … Continue reading Roleplay or Effectiveness?

Elder Scrolls

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Casual Goblin

Skyrim, a harsh, frozen land threatened by civil war, ghosts, vampires, werewolves and dragons (no to mention sticky-fingered adventurers) forms the backdrop of the fifth Elder Scrolls title. Keep an eye out for the Special Edition in Steam sales. Good: This is a huge game, with a vast number of quests and areas to explore. You could put a thousand hours into this game and still be finding new things, even before you add in the expansions or mods. Join guilds, slay dragons, hunt vampires, become a werewolf or summon the dead to do your bidding. Buy a cottage or … Continue reading The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Miscellaneous Reviews

Review: Fallout 3

Casual Goblin

Fallout 3 lets you wander the post-apocalyptic wastelands of America. Play hero or villain, scientist or savage – the choice is really up to you. Good: The first thing I noticed about Fallout 3 was just how much terrain there was to explore. Even discounting the additional areas added by the DLC included in the GOTY edition, the map is absolutely massive you could spend a huge amount of time just exploring, scrabbling through the wreckage of civilisation for ammo, drugs and food. Of course, there are plenty of stories to discover if you take this approach, even ones that … Continue reading Review: Fallout 3

Path of Exile

Build Concept: Tesla Turrets

Casual Goblin

This low-investment Templar/Scion build uses Arc totems to deal heavy damage whilst staying out of the way. Pretty easy to play, and needs no special gear to work. Gems: The centre of this build are your Arc totems – you’ll need Arc and Spell-Totem Support to start off, which you should be able to pick up after ‘The Siren’s Cadence’ in act one after level 12. Later on, you’ll want to add Multiple Totems Support, and probably Lightning Penetration Support. You’ll also want something you can use directly – this is pretty much open, but I’d recommend something you can … Continue reading Build Concept: Tesla Turrets

Path of Exile

Review: Path of Exile

Casual Goblin

You might have heard about this free-to-play gem, available for download via Steam. This isometric dungeon-crawler has an almost infinite number of ways to build a character – though it can be a but overwhelming. Good: A free, complex game, with an interesting story, great world-building, good sound design, randomised endgame areas and frequent content updates. As a top-down isometric RPG like Diablo, this is a great choice if you want a highly customisable loot-centric game. It’s worth noting that it really is a free-to-play, as the only things you can buy are cosmetic (of which there are many) or … Continue reading Review: Path of Exile

Miscellaneous Reviews

Review: Fallout – New Vegas

Casual Goblin

If you’ve never played a Fallout game before, you might be rather taken aback at the mixture of tragedy, dark humour and absurdity laced throughout this series. Set in a sixties vision of the future and seasoned with nuclear war, New Vegas explores the efforts of an insane tycoon trying to keep alive his vision of Los Vegas in the irradiated Mojave desert. Face off against raiders, mutants, cannibals, sinister secret societies and even a madman’s version of the roman legions – or potentially join them… Highs: With a solid cowboy theme, New Vegas can inspire some pretty neat ideas … Continue reading Review: Fallout – New Vegas

Star Trek Online

Guide: Energy Weapons

Casual Goblin

Overview: Probably the simplest form of play-style, revolving around blasting things with beam or cannon attacks. All ships can focus on this damage type, though science ships should really be making use of their high end exotic abilities as well. Increasing Energy/Weapon Damage: Energy Weapon Training is a catch all skill that will increase both beam and cannon damage of all types, available on the first row of the skill tree. Beyond this, you’ll need to look into consoles (usually tactical) for percentage increases in much more specialised areas, with a choice between energy type or weapon specific. Look on … Continue reading Guide: Energy Weapons

Miscellaneous Reviews

Secret World: Legends

Casual Goblin

The unexpected re-release of the original Secret World, Legends attempts to meld the strong points of before (excellent story, superb world building, unique missions and rich lore) with accessible game-play and better underlying performance. Chosen by Gaia, your character gains enhanced physical power, access to magic and the ability reconstitute from death. With all these talents, it’s unsurprising that you’ll be “recruited” by one of the three major secret societies of the setting (The Illuminati, The Templars or The Dragon) each of whom have their own ethos and way of doing things, reflected in the central storyline and in mission … Continue reading Secret World: Legends

Elder Scrolls

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

Casual Goblin

Good: Something of a golden oldie, Morrowind really defined the RPG genre when it came out, and you can see its influence in many modern games. You can pick up game of the year edition on Steam (£13 as I write this, keep an eye out for sales) and get an enormous amount of content for your cash. One of the earlier sandbox/story hybrids, the game takes place in the titular Morrowind province, a volcanic island with insect based ecology and a rich history of technology and the supernatural. From the crustacean shell dwellings of house Redoran to the organic … Continue reading The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

Shadowrun

Shadowrun Returns

Casual Goblin

Based on the Shadowrun role-playing game, this turn based, top-down tactical RPG (think of it like a board game) is set in a cyberpunk fantasy world, where orc cyborgs rub shoulders with human neo-shamans under the umbrella of the megacorps. Good: Character creation and development is pretty flexible – you can slash enemies to ribbons as a cyborg troll, command drones as an elf rigger, light enemies on fire as a human mage, or make your own mix and match abomination to taste! The story-line and atmosphere of the game is pretty solid – there’s a decent amount of content, … Continue reading Shadowrun Returns