Archive for the 'Gaming' Category

Making a console PC to play multiplayer PC games on the TV is one of the best decisions my husband and I made this year. We’ve had several game days with friends, and it’s been a ton of fun to have them over. Online is great for convenience and for playing with people who don’t live near you, but it’s definitely missing the type of interactions that you get when playing together in person.

We’ve been keeping an eye out for multiplayer games that would make great “couch games” and have tried many of them out. These are our 5 favorites so far!

SpeedRunners

(Up to 4 players | Steam page)

You know how there’s always that one jerk who runs ahead in Mario levels and kills everyone by leaving them behind? Well, that’s the point of SpeedRunners. You run through a course filled with obstacles and items, and you win if you leave people behind enough that they hit the edge of the screen. Thanks to the game’s fast pace, it’s also really fun to spectate while you’re waiting for a turn.

The great part of this game is that people seem to get the hang of it quickly, and being in front isn’t all that easy. The person in the lead is near the front edge of the screen and cannot see the obstacles ahead. It gives people in the back a chance to catch up, and we’ve had a lot of really close matches because of it!

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Last year after E3, I made a few game recommends that related to games shown at E3 that I was excited about. I decided to do that again! Though this time around, I’m featuring games that were already announced before E3, but they were shown again during the expo. Here are a few more games off of my favorites list!

Just Cause 2

Sypnosis: Panau is an island run by an oppressive dictator named Pandak “Baby” Panay, who cuts off all ties to the United States. Rico is dropped there to take care of Panay and track down his old mentor, who may have gone rogue.

My thoughts: Once upon a time I said, “I can’t do open world games; I wouldn’t know what to do.” Boy was I wrong. It turns out open world games are one of my favorite types, and Just Cause 2 is one of the better ones that I’ve played.

The thing to remember with Just Cause 2 is that you’re not going to get a great story or great character development. What you get is the pure satisfaction of blowing things up, exploring a beautiful world, and just running around doing stupid things. It’s such a big map that you’ll always find something to do, and it’s just plain fun.

My thoughts on Just Cause 3: The early trailers of Just Cause 3 made it look just like Just Cause 2, and well, I had no issues with that. I want more of that. E3 showed improvements to the grapple and parachute, which is pretty exciting because that’s a large chunk of what you use. Multiple grapple lines? Yes please! [E3 trailer]

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Last year I posted some co-op video game recommends for Valentine’s Day. Like I wrote before, every couple has their thing that they like to do together, and for my husband and I, it’s playing video games!

The games I chose last time had single player options, but I felt that their strength was in the multiplayer option. This time, I’m recommending co-op games that are great as both single and multiplayer games. So whether you’re playing by yourself or with someone else, all that matters is that you’re having fun, right? 🙂

Portal 2 (PC, Mac, Xbox 360, PS3)

Sypnosis: You wake up as Chell, the protagonist from the first Portal, and find that the Aperture Science complex is falling apart and looks like it’s about to be destroyed. While trying to escape with Wheatley, they accidentally wake up GLaDOS, who separates the two and makes you go through new test chambers again. In the multiplayer, you go through additional test chambers as the two testing robots, Atlas and P-body.

My thoughts: Portal 2 continues the greatness of Portal 1, especially the cleverness of the puzzles and the witty humor. The single and multiplayer modes are different though. In terms of story, the multiplayer actually takes place afterwards. I recommend that both players go through the single player first. Not only is it a great game, but it introduces all of the elements that multiplayer uses. If there are any Portal newbies, going through the single player will also help you “think with portals” for the multiplayer mode.

Multiplayer means two Portal guns, and with 4 portals… oh man, the craziness you can do. It introduces new ideas that aren’t possible with a single Portal gun and really makes you work together to solve all of the puzzles. The trailer for the co-op actually shows several examples of this. We loved it, and the multiplayer mode is one of our top co-op games.

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