Giopolis

In preparation for Fallout 4 coming out I've recently replayed the previous two Fallout games and their DLCs. It's been 8 years since Fallout 3 came out in 2008 and with the exception of a couple of graphics issues and some bugs in the DLC the game still holds up pretty damn well today. The lack of emotional range with the NPCs may spoil the mood sometimes but it mostly adds to the charm of the game since in the apocalypse there's only three facial expressions: rage, indifference and over excitement. The game-play stands the test of time too, and although New Vegas is bigger, the capital wasteland feels larger. It still looks amazing too.


If you don't know already one of the best things about Fallout 3 is that you grow up in a vault, Vault 101 to be exact, and Liam Neeson is your dad. It's appropriate the vault is 101 as the growing up in the vault part of the game is the tutorial for all the basic skills in the game. It's still my favourite tutorial ever at this point. Later you escape the vault and you get mixed up in a war between The always cool and bad-ass Brotherhood of Steel (I mean that name alone is awesome enough), the ever-enraged super mutants and their messed up attack dogs the centaurs and the stereotypical bad guys, the Enclave (they are basically Nazis). Another thing I love about the Fallout games is the personal merc unit you build up with some awesome and some not so awesome companions. I love collecting a uniform to get them all to wear but stuff like that is easy for me to do in games due to my OCD. One of the best companions is Fawkes, with the exception of Uncle Leo, he's the only super mutant in the game that isn't hostile to the Lone Wanderer. I think any game fan will agree that Fawkes is one of the best companions in video games in general.


Pro-tip for you, everyone always warns new Fallout players about deathclaws but no one seems to mention the reavers. Stay away from these guys until you are a high level. There's a small chance of a low level player taking down a deathclaw (if you're lucky) but there's no chance of taking down a reaver as they will 100% kill you with one hit and are not only fast but can normally be found in pairs or amongst at least 3 other feral ghouls. You do only need to deal with them if you have loaded the Broken Steel and Point Lookout DLCs though.


The Fallout 3 DLC is some of the best DLC I've ever played, a couple of them like Point Lookout and Mothership Zeta could easily be stand alone games.

Operation: Anchorage

Operation: Anchorage. Enter a military simulation and fight in one of the greatest battles of the Fallout universe – the liberation of Anchorage, Alaska from its Chinese Communist invaders. Gain access to unique armor, weapons, and exotic gadgets while you build and command interactive Strike Teams to win the battle and defeat the Chinese base.

                                                                                    — official description

I loved playing this DLC and hope there's more missions like it in Fallout 4. I love the battle ground feel of the DLC and the best bit about it is the clean and pretty awesome looking power armor. Personally I also loved the novelty of playing a Fallout game without kicking cans every time you walk. I hope that's something that's changed in Fallout 4 cause it always annoyed me that even rich people or organizations like the Brotherhood of Steel and NCR lived in squalor.


The Pitt

The Pitt allows you to travel to the post-apocalyptic remains of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and become embroiled in a conflict between slaves and their raider masters. Explore a sprawling settlement ravaged by time, neglect, nuclear radiation, and moral degradation. The Pitt is filled with morally gray choices, shady non-player characters, new enemies, new weapons, and much more.

                                                                                          — official description

As with the previous DLC I loved The Pitt due to it's ability to give you something very different but it still feels like the same game. Love the prison break feel to the DLC and what's left of the city being turned into a mine for scrap that's mined by slaves and prisoners is such a great concept for a game. This DLC looks so moody and it's perfect at making you feel a bit gloomy.


Broken Steel

Continue your existing Fallout 3 game and finish the fight against the Enclave remnants alongside Liberty Prime. Broken Steel moves the level cap for your character from 20 to 30, allowing you to experience even more of the game, including new perks and achievements.

                                                                                          — official description

I think the missions in this DLC are my favourite, can't get enough of missions that have you expanding a military force (it's why I love the game play of Far Cry so much). Also we get to see more of Liberty Prime, one of the coolest robots in games.



Point Lookout

Point Lookout opens up a massive new area of the Wasteland – a dark, murky swampland along the coast of Maryland. So hop on the ferry to the seaside town of Point Lookout, for the most mysterious and open-ended Fallout 3 DLC adventure yet.

                                                                                         — official description

This DLC was so good, it was fantastic to be somewhere that wasn't a desert. I was also awesomely creepy and dark with a Texas Chainsaw Massacre feel to the place.


Mothership Zeta

Defy hostile alien abductors and fight your way off of the massive Mothership Zeta, orbiting Earth miles above the Capital Wasteland. Mothership Zeta takes Fallout 3 in an entirely new direction – outer space. Meet new characters and join with them in a desperate bid to escape the aliens’ clutches. To do so, you’ll wield powerful new weapons, like the alien atomizer, alien disintegrator, and drone cannon, and deck yourself out in brand new outfits, like the Gemini-Era spacesuit and even samurai armor.

                                                                                            — official description

This is the one that sticks in my mind most out of the DLCs. I love the whole concept of basically being in an alien horror movie where you are the "monster". Think about it, you break out of a cell by beating the guards to death, you and the other humans create a "nest" in one area of the ship, making it more habitable for humans then you go from floor to floor wiping out the ship's crew (some of which just run when they see you instead of fighting) where attempt after desperate attempt is made to stop you. It's basically Alien but with the roles reversed and it's awesome.


It also has one of the most nightmare inducing enemies in games ever; the Abominations, the only things worse than these super creepy guys in Fallout (so far) are the ghost people from Dead Money.


You should at least play Fallout 3 before Fallout 4 comes out if you haven't already. If you have played it you should play it again, it's still as good as I remember it.

I've recently and finally been able to play the God of War franchise on PS3 and I've read the basic plot of the 2 PSP games and I loved the story. My only problem with this set of games is that there are rumors of a new game coming out and that bad thing about that is that the rumors say the game will be a reboot of the first game. Now that's not needed, there are a few things that need a reboot or a remake (Power Rangers) but God of War is definitely not one of them. If another God of War game is to come out it should definitely be a sequel and this is my own opinion of what that game should be.

At the end of God of War III we are lead to believe it's the end of Kratos but he has died a few times before and at the end of the credits we are shown that his body has gone but we didn't see it explode or turn to ash like the other main characters that die. The game also repeats that he will forever be haunted by what he's done no matter what happens.

Mysterious Angels

Now what I'd do is have Kratos come around in a lovely looking part of Earth and he thinks he's reached the fields of Elysium but it turns out he's been "saved" by a group of god-like people, some of whom look like angels. One in particular claims he is the rightful and one true God. He claims that if Kratos helps him hunt down and murder the remaining Olympians, Titans and other powerful creatures from Greek myth that he can re-unite Kratos with his family. We'd also find out that these new 'gods' have already successfully killed a few of the minor gods (throw in a few names people might recognize like Eros and Pan).

Eros

Pan

Apollo

Early boss battles could include well known gods like Apollo and Artemis. I'd say round about the halfway point of the game you'll be re-united with Prometheus, who has conveniently just came from the underworld where he learnt of this new guy who has Kratos' family captive. Guess who it is? It's Satan and not only is it Satan it's the guy from the beginning. And the angels? Yup, actually demons. Maybe the 7 Princes of Hell (That would give us a Titan-sized boss fight in the form of the massive Leviathan, the demon of envy). Now Kratos joins forces with Prometheus and goes after the latest bunch to betray him.

Leviathan

Satan

After all the violence is done with Prometheus would take role of top god. After all there is no other old god more like the common image of the Christian god than Prometheus, he's a wise old-looking muscular man in a toga with a beard who created mankind in his own image and who's greatest crime was loving mankind too much (after all they are all his children) and coming to our rescue when we needed rescuing the most. As for Kratos, it would make sense if he was to end up guarding Hades to make sure no one he's messed up gets out. An ending like this would be a great finale and leaves it open for potential sequels.

Prometheus

Smosh Games recently done another 'games that need to be made' video and it got me thinking about my want for a Predator RPG. This is something I've been saying for many years. When I first wished for it the technology wasn't there to make it, or at least make it good. Now we have everything needed to make this game and it has the potential to be one of the best games ever. Think about a space exploration game like Mass Effect with the collectible orientated game-play of Assassins' Creed. You could even have space battles, upgrade your ship and change its appearance.


The game would also need the customization of an Elder Scrolls game. We've learned from the movies and games that already exist that there are many different types and clans of Predators. We should have a system where we create and upgrade a character (like in Skyrim), customize your clan (similar to the saints row gang customization) then pick a side in a multi-faction war taking place between alliances of Predator clans fighting for dominance, get some political strife in there for a reason to play the game.


Another thing you'd need in a Predator RPG is the most obvious thing you'd need, a hunting system where you go to different planets (maybe even Earth) and hunt down the most dangerous beasts and best warriors of the planet and take their skulls to decorate the trophy room. This allows the developers to go wild and design any creature and the player to customize their Predator according to who or what they want to hunt.


And if they have the licence for Aliens they could have missions based on clearing out Xenomorph nests and collecting the heads of "legendary" Queens and special types. Basically there'd be a lot of cranium collecting in this game.

I must admit I was never the biggest fan of Halo, I mean the first one I played was ODST and that got me into it, after that I played 3 and then Reach and I loved Reach, it's definitely the best in the series as far as I'm concerned. Love the concept of it, the planet of Reach is loosing a battle with the
Covenant and Nobel team are going on a suicide mission to take as many of them with them as possible. Loved seeing more Spartans in this, would be cool if Halo done more of this, maybe a prequel. I mean they must have had to breed the Spartans for some reason.


If you haven't got into Halo yet you should, the story is fantastic and if you can't be arsed at least play this one. The multi-player is fun too but just like Call of Duty it's full of enraged, racist children that hate your mum.

Murdered: Soul Suspect is exactly the kind of game I've been wanting to play for years. I remember playing an online game with a similar concept a few years ago and wanting more but the sequel never came out (I wish I could remember what it was called). I love the game play in this and the atmosphere was awesome, even though I was a ghost myself I still found myself crapping myself every now and then. The game could have used more things to poltergeist about and more interaction with other ghosts and the living but it's still awesome anyway, even though it feels unfinished somehow. As I said the concept is awesome, being a ghost and working with a medium to solve a serial killer case that just so happens to be the case you died investigating. The main characters are pretty likable too though are a bit stereotypical.


I also love the look of the killer in this, basic generic white male with black hoodie and you never see his face. Basically the description most people give when attacked and they don't recognize the guy.


The creepiest thing about this game is the demons. Yes the float about like a dancing goth girl but I've never panicked so much playing a game that wasn't made by Telltale Games before.


The main problem I have with this game is that it wasn't long enough, it was a good length for a game but I could have played it for much longer than it lasted. Let's hope there's another one with either more choice or more free-roaming.

Alone in the Dark has been my second favourite horror game franchise since 2001. I've always loved the atmosphere of these games, it's classic horror at its best. I wasn't expecting much from this release but I like it almost as much as New Nightmare. I also love that it's an open world game set in Central Park, New York.


The game play is quite similar to Alan Wake so if you like that game you might like this one too. Just like Alan Wake the enemies can only be killed after or by exposure to light. The look pretty cool too and they are easier to fight than you'd expect.


I still love the atmosphere of this game.

This game is fantastic. I love the way the game starts. To start with it's annoyingly hard but once you get used to the combat it's non-stop fun. Even dying isn't annoying. As for the combat it's pretty fun, it's not a fluid as Assassin's Creed or the Arkham series but it's still pretty fun and looks amazing once you get a good rhythm going.  I thought the pauses while a captain was introduced to you would get old fast but it hasn't annoyed me yet.


I started off playing with Talion's default outfit but changed to the Dark Ranger outfit. It's extremely cool and fits with the character I think.


The wraith aspect, Celebrimbor is cool as hell too. I love the way he looks, it's no wonder why the orcs are terrified of him. I also love how the orcs run away from you even early on in the game.


Then we have the enemies themselves. The massive variety of orcs is amazing and the nemesis system works so well. The three main antagonists are amazing too, they look pretty bad-ass.

The Hammer, The Hand, The Tower

I'm having a lot of fun playing this massive game and you will too if you like games like Assassin's Creed or if you're a fan of the Lord of the Rings.

I remember playing Doom 3 when it first came out on a friend's X-box. I didn't have one as I was a skint student. I've played it again pretty recently and it's still a great game to play. I love how it feels like the original game but with better graphics. It's also still able to give you a few jumps. This edition is amazing as it has Doom, Ultimate Doom, Doom 2, Doom 2's expansion No Rest for the Wicked, Doom 3 and both of Doom 3's expansion packs,Resurrection of Evil and The Lost Mission.


I love the enemies in the game too, the imps in particular look creepy as hell and they are the source of most of the scares in the game as they have a tendency to jump out at you from behind doors, around corners and from holes in the walls, floors and ceilings.


Then there's the final boss in the game, the updated version of the Cyberdemon looks bad ass. It's a lot easier than the original Cyberdemon though.


I loved Resurrection of Evil too, it's always awesome being able to kill a Hell Knight with one punch and the artifact you find in the beginning of the game allows you to do that.


I much prefer the Forgotten Souls to the Lost Souls as they look more like the Lost Souls from the old games plus a flaming horned skull is much cooler than a human head with rockets on it.


The Hunter boss battles were pretty good too, they look like pimped-out Hell Knights.


I also loved the lost mission as it felt more like Doom 3 but had all the tweaks from Resurrection of Evil.


If you're a youngster wondering what all the fuss was about or just want to feel nostalgic then you should try this out. You can get it for Xbox 360, PS3 or on Steam.

As I've mentioned before I love a good video game that goes through Hell. The more disturbing it is, the better. Most games show Hell in the same way: pits of lava and networks of caves, as do my number 5 and 4. These games really know how to set the mood and make you wanna get out of that area... and fast.

5. Doom Series

The Doom series is one that shows the traditional Hell, lava, caves and lots of demons causing chaos for the hero. Most parts of Hell in these games, especially Doom 3 look like heavy metal album covers and that's awesome.


4. The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion

Oblivion is a multi-layered Hell with many different looking realms, in the game we mostly see the realm of Mehrunes Dagon which is quite similar to the Hell in Doom. Vast oceans of lava fill this realm with islands filled with demons (or Daedra as they're called in this) dotted around. They house towers and forts filled with tortured souls and monsters.


3. Requiem: Avenging Angel

This is a PC game from 1999 and it has the first Hell from a video game that made an impression on me. I haven't played it for years and it still scars my mind. The walls, floors and ceilings are crafted from the compressed corpses of long-suffering souls with one or two popping out hear and there, still moving. Stained glass windows and stone carvings are dotted about showing scenes of death and torture and demons of all shapes and sizes roam the corridors, tearing at and eating the poor souls at the edges of the structures. Instead of rivers of lava, rivers of blood flow through this Hell. The worst part of all this is the soundtrack to these levels is the groans and screams of suffering and torture.


2. The Darkness

This one isn't the traditional depiction of Hell. It's known as the Otherworld and is home to millions of tormented and twisted souls, both good and evil. This hell is a never ending network of trenches and tunnels where every war ever waged are all being fought forever and all at once. Demons keep anyone trying to escape in and tortured souls can be found all over strapped to horrific medieval devices.


1. Silent Hill Series

Everyone that loves these games knows that dread feeling as the old siren sounds and the world starts to crumble away around them, leaving a deep impenetrable darkness. This Hell really fills you with a sense of loneliness and fear. It's basically a decayed version of the world the games set in. The walls and floors are replaced with rusted metal grates and panels. Corpses are strung up in a gruesome ritualistic manner and demons sit, waiting in the darkness for anyone dumb enough to get too close.


There you have it: 5 very different yet equally traumatizing versions of Hell. Excuse me as I go to my happy place...