HP Reverb G2 Vs Valve Index Vs Vive Pro | Which Is King? – Max Lang-Orsini

As the years progress and more Virtual Reality headsets release, choosing your next VR headset becomes very difficult. It’s a good thing the VR experience has come a long way with its technology, but every competitor poses a new challenge.

However, for the average consumer, it can become pretty difficult to consider every specification of hardware and software to get the most out of your money.

HP Reverb G2 Vs Valve Index Vs Vive Pro

In this article, I (Maximilian Lang-Orsini) will go into depth about VR headsets and whether we have a king currently. I will only focus on the three top brands as of right now; the Valve Index, HP Reverb G2 & Vive Pro.

Valve Index

Released by Valve on June 28th 2019, this expensive kit gathered many fans on launch. It’s price is like this because of it’s incredible tracking accuracy on top of the best of the best audio quality along with the strapped controllers wrapping around the hand comfortably.

The index headset has a refresh rate of 144hz allowing for smooth gameplay with extremely precise finger tracking, you won’t notice anything off about it.

HTC Vive Pro

The HTC Vive is the war veteran of virtual reality headsets. This model was originally released in January of 2018 as HTC collaborated with Valve and is an upgraded version from the original Vive.

Even though the Vive has been out for (almost) three years, it can compare to even the index because of it’s high resolution giving it a high quality image.

HP Reverb G2

The HP Reverb G2 is the newest model out of the three that was released this year in November (a month ago). The Reverb G2 is set to be an upgraded version from the original Reverb, like the Vive Pro.

The headset provides an ultra high quality display, a high refresh rate and display and provides the same high quality speakers as the Valve Index. The only issue with the Reverb is that it requires a PC to operate.

Getting Nerdy

In this next segment, we will dive into the specifications of each VR headset so you can buy what’s right for you and your budget.

Image Quality

The image quality is most likely the utmost important to any casual consumer. The things you want to consider is what has the higher resolution, and what is not prone to the screen door effect.

The Valve index has a resolution of 1440p x 1600 pixels with an LCD screen.
The HP Reverb G2 has a resolution of 2160 x 2160 pixels with an LCD screen.
The HTC Vive Pro has a resolution of 1440p x 1600 pixels with an OCLED screen.

On top of that, the refresh rate and field of view are also very important. Ideally for smooth gameplay, you want 90hz or more, which is what all of these headsets provide.

The Valve Index has a refresh rate of 80 – 144hz and a field of view of 130 degrees.
The HP Reverb G2 has a refresh rate of 90hz and a field of view of 114 degrees.
The HTC Vive Pro has a refresh rate of 90hz and a field of view of 110 degrees.

Weight & IPD

The weight of every VR headset is important when buying as you do not want something breaking your neck as you slice blocks in beatsaber. All headsets are fairly light on a good note, but over long periods, you may feel strain.

The Valve Index weighs 550g with an adjustable IPD of 58 – 70.
The HP Reverb G2 weighs 550g with an adjustable IPD of 60 – 68.
The HTC Vive Pro weighs 770g with an adjustable IPD of 60 – 73.

The Price & Worth

That is all for the nerdy specifications, but what is most important to everyone else is the price. The price must balance out the worth but, if you are on a budget, I will recommend which one you should get.

To answer which would (arguably) be the best Virtual Reality headset at the moment, I would have to say the Valve Index and I can only say this based on statistics on paper. The higher refresh rate combined with the realistic colours make VR gaming more surreal. It’s resolution is very high and has the highest field of view compared to any other headset.

Obviously, the price is way too much for the average consumer as the Index goes for $999 (with the full kit). This, I would say is the top of the range at the moment, but for those looking for a cheaper alternative, I’d say go for the new HP Reverb G2.

The Reverb G2 provides a high refresh rate of 90hz with a slightly smaller FOV of 114 degrees, but for its price, it will take over as the go to VR headset for consumers on a budget. Going for $599, the Reverb G2 has many expectations and has hype surrounding it.

By no means is the Vive Pro to be overlooked as it still has a compatible attitude to the Reverb G2 and the Index. It’s technology is still very modern, so if you currently own one, there is no point in switching just yet as it still provides an incredible VR experience.

I hope you enjoyed this article, make sure you follow for more in the future – Maximilian Lang-Orsini

How Did ‘Among Us’ Become So Popular? – Max Lang-Orsini

To think that a simple indie game exploded in popularity and became one of the most popular games of all time is hard, but the game Among Us managed it. I had to call this emergency meeting as I saw (according to Steamcharts,) 438,524 players in September 2020 all playing concurrently, competing with the top games like Dota 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (which is pretty sus).

What Caused Among Us To Be Popular?

Released in June 2018, the game only saw a couple of hundred to a thousand players playing at one time, which sounds like a lot, but compared to your competitors is nothing. It wasn’t until the end of August 2020 when it really began to rise in popularity. In this article, we will target the points that caused this uprising for this video game.

Streamers

Arguably, big twitch streamers began streaming the game which is the biggest argument for the popularity boom. It all makes sense, your favourite streamer played the game, you wanted to play the game, it’s basically free promotion. On top of that, streamers and content creators began playing together and many collaborations that viewers finally wanted happened (like KSI & PewDiePie).

Viewer numbers on Twitch can be misleading to determine a game’s true popularity, a good example is Valorant and its beta drops, but Among Us is different. With Among Us, you can tell that everyone watching is genuine.

COVID-19

Another big point to why so many players are playing this game right now is COVID-19, the lockdowns and isolation. You see, when people are having to isolate or be locked down, many turn to gaming as a pass time and because so many people are doing so, it doesn’t appear to be as difficult to get a group of players or friends to have a laugh.

Among Us has become a hilarious option to escape from the year that is 2020.

Easy To Learn, Easy To Play

For a third reason on the Among Us’ popularity boom has to be the gameplay. I don’t have to mention the simplistic style of the game that any age can play, but the core mechanics of the game have purpose.

As a ‘Crewmate’, you have to complete tasks, causing you to potentially split away from the group and allowing the impostor to make a move. The tasks for crewmates are very simple, and within a game or two on either side, you already understand the basics for the mechanics.

As an ‘Impostor’, your job is to kill your fellow crewmates, get away with it and outnumber them before they can complete their tasks. You are able to vent in areas around the map to help navigate quickly.

Mobile Game

Something that makes the game have a huge audience and ties to a previous point is the fact that you can play on mobile, for free! Mobile Among Us is free and can play cross platform with PC, meaning you can play with friends just about anywhere. This is a great addition for multiplayer gaming

Furthermore, it increases the reach for Among Us even more by being one of the top games on the Google Play Store and IOS App Store. So in reality, there are more than 440,000 players playing at once!

Among Us has become a titan in today’s gaming, proving no matter the basicness of your game, you can still conquer the top games like Dota and CS:GO.

Dead By Daylight | A Survivor Review

Dead By Daylight is an unforgettable gaming experience full of thrills, torment and laughter as you evade against the killer to escape. The concept of Dead By Daylight is like no other, and for so long people wanted to translate this into an actual game and well, it happened.

Dead By Daylight Survivor

Over recent decades, online gaming has advanced tremendously. Not only in its graphical quality but the creative ideas are truly coming to light, Dead By Daylight is a spectacle of this.

In Dead By Daylight, you can play as a survivor, but you can also play as the killer. In this article, however, we will focus on the survivor side but if you wish, you can read the killer version I created.

Trivia

This great game was published by Behaviour Interactive on Steam in the June of 2016. Shortly after, Dead By Daylight gained a significant following with many live streamers and content creators making content on this fantastic horror game. It was later ported to Xbox and PlayStation in 2017 following it’s instant success.

Dead By Daylight is a multiplayer game (that sadly has no voice chat) where there are 4 survivors and 1 killer. It’s a grindy like game as you progress up the levels, spending your hard earned bloodpoints (points by playing) to level up characters for better perks, items, add-ons and offerings.

Your Job As a Survivor

Your main job in Dead By Daylight as a survivor is to complete 5 generators to power the exit gates, in which you can open once powered and escape. Sounds easy, but when there is a killer on the loose, the difficulty ceiling does get higher. The maps in the game vary in size, tho typically are big with many places to hide, one of the common places are lockers. Lockers look like an obvious hiding spot, but because it looks so obvious, who would use them?

To know where the killer is, you can listen to the ‘Terror Radius’ to determine how close they are. The terror radius is a heartbeat that progressively gets more and more intense the closer he is, this is a good sign to get out of there.

When the killer enters a chase with you, a good way to tell which way he is facing is by looking at the red light in front of him. Good killers will know this and if they know you can’t see them, they will turn around as they come round the corner, giving you less time to react.

Perks, Items, Add-Ons

To help you survive, the game has various ways you can use as aid. These perks, Items and add-ons for the items vary, so when you bring them into the trial, make sure you have a strategy.

Perks

To start with perks, I will mention the ‘meta’ perks that everyone finds to be the most strong and effective. For new players, you must level up a survivor to levels 30, 35 and 40 to unlock all of that character’s unique perks. To see which perks you can get from characters, read the ‘character info’ by pressing F1 on PC or you can read about teachable perks.

I find the combo ‘Deliverance’ and ‘Decisive Strike’ a good combination. Deliverance means you can instantly escape off your first hook if you have previously made a safe save on another teammate. To combine this, Decisive Strike allows you to get off the killers’ shoulder if he picks you up within a minute of unhooking yourself, giving you a quick get away.

Items

Every survivor has the same items, these items are; medkits, toolboxes, flashlights, maps and keys. Most are obviously by their name, but flashlights, maps and keys work differently to how you would expect.

Flashlights

Flashlights are not a tool to help you see, rather they can shine in the killers’ eyes to blind them. It takes a few seconds to have an effect, so I wouldn’t recommend doing this when you’re mid chase.

Maps

Maps are similar to how you would expect. When in use, the map reveals the aura of generators, or, if you are using a rainbow map, almost everything interactable.

Keys

Keys are used to open ‘Black Locks’. For those who do not know what this means, it’s referring to the ‘hatch’ that spawns randomly in the trial opening up a free escape.

Add-Ons

For the items above, you can apply add-ons to increase the duration, or increase the amount of charges your item has. Some can apply unique effects, such as the toolbox’s brand new part. This part allows you to complete 25% of a generator if you land the skill checks correctly.

The Survivor List

Before we dig in, it’s important you know that it does not matter much which survivor you play. Some injured survivors are louder than others, but that is only the real difference and is not significant, so here are my favourite survivors.

Laurie Strode | Determined Survivor

The first licensed survivor to be added to Dead By Daylight was Laurie Strode. Laurie Strode is the main character from the classic horror movie, Halloween with the inclusion of Michael Myers.

Her teachable perks are; Sole Survivor, Object of Obsession and Decisive Strike. Click each named perk to read more about how it functions.

Yui Kimura | Hardened Streetracer

Yui Kimura is a fairly recent survivor that was added to Dead By Daylight, however, a bit of bias may be on her side because of how great her outfits are. Yui Kimura is a Japanese motorbike racer who is The Oni’s survivor opposition.

Her teachable perks are; Lucky Break, Any Means Necessary and Breakout.

Quentin Smith | Resolute Dreamwalker

Quentin Smith was the survivor version of the ‘Nightmare On Elm Street’ DLC. This determined survivor helps lead his team survive through thick and thin.
His teachable perks are; Wake Up!, Pharmacy and Vigil.

Dead By Daylight | A Killer Review

Everyone has heard of Dead By Daylight by now, it’s definitely earnt its mainstream fame, rightfully so. The concept of Dead By Daylight sounds like one of those games that will never get made, but now has its own title with its thrilling gameplay!

Dead By Daylight Killer

Dead By Daylight has two sides, the survivor side and the killer side. In this article, we will primarily focus on the killer side, but if you wish to read the survivor side instead, go ahead.

Trivia

The horror game, Dead By Daylight, was published by Behaviour Interactive as a multiplayer game on Steam in June of 2016. With its instant success and climbing followers, it was later ported to Xbox and Playstation in 2017.

This game was perfect for streamers and content creators as it was something you could stream and record with ease, but was something completely new that the gaming industry has never seen before, thus helping its follower count climb.

Your Job As a Killer

In Dead By Daylight as a killer, your main goal is to prevent the survivors from repairing generators and, well, kill them. Your job is to force the survivor into the ‘dying state’, pick them up, and place them on meat hooks. Sounds gruesome, but you have a tremendous amount to worry about as the killer.

As a killer, you have a ‘Terror Radius’, which to the survivors will be a heartbeat, and that heartbeat beats faster the closer the killer is. This way the survivors will know you are on your way…

Something that does make the killer easier is the fact that survivors will leave a trail (it looks like a load of red scratches) when they run. The tracks can get messy, especially when there’s a lot so in some instances can be your enemy by leading you to confusion.

Perks & Add-Ons

Now, you’re not technically on your own as you can have perks and small add-ons to help you catch those pesky survivors. These perks can range from seeing the outline of the survivors, or causing the skill checks to be harder for the survivor to land.

Some perks you can combine with others, for example, one of my favourite perks to using together is ‘Distressing’ and ‘Unnerving Presence’. ‘Distressing’ makes your terror radius huge whilst ‘Unnerving Presence’ causes skill checks to be incredibly small and appear more often.

As the killer, you are in a first person perspective whilst the survivors have a 3rd person perspective, knowing this will hopefully allow you to use it to your advantage.

Each killer has their own perk types relating to their ability kit. Ah yes, there is more than one killer, there’s around ~21 killers in the game currently.

The Killer List

One of the elements that makes Dead By Daylight so good, especially in today’s age, is because of how many characters in the game there are. Remember that each killer has their own 3 unique perks, that’s 63 perks alone not counting the default ones.

In this section, I will cutdown and name a few that I particularly love playing whilst jumping to some nerdy parts of the character.

Michael Myers | The Shape

The classic killer was the first licensed killer to be ported in Dead By Daylight. I may be a bit biased since I love the Michael Myers horror movie series (excited for Halloween Kills) but his playstyle I find stands out from many killers. Your power is stalking, quite literally how he acts in the movies. You build this power up and go through 3 tiers.

Tier 1 – Your lunge is small, but you have no terror radius, meaning you can sneak up on your prey. Tier 2 – you become more standard, however, you are unable to go back to tier 1. Tier 3 allows you to have a huge lunge and instantly down any survivor from healthy, but sadly this has a timer and you will drop back down to tier 2.

Evan Macmillan | The Trapper

Evan Macmillan was the first killer added to Dead By Daylight and was their very own original character. His power is unique and is one of the few killers in Dead By Daylight to be able to place things around the killing game.

He is able to place bear traps around the place with the hopes that some unsuspecting survivor will step right into it. This disables the survivor from doing anything until they are able to escape themself, or have help from another survivor.

Caleb Quinn | The Deathslinger

For ages in this game I’ve always wanted a character that could shoot some sort of weapons, the deathslinger finally gave us this. The Deathslinger, as you can imagine, is a killer that was born in the backlands of the american midwest and was attracted to the idea of a harpoon like gun to reel in his prey.

This killer is a little more mechanically skill based compared to other killers as not only do you have to predict the harpoon delay as it’s launched, you’ve got to focus on the survivors movements and the potential objects that could interfere with your shot, but I must say he is a blast to play.

Pyramid Head | The Executioner

For those who remember the classic horror games, Silent Hill will definitely strike a bell. There was huge demand for Pyramid Head, so the developers added him earlier this year to celebrate the 4 year anniversary. His unique gameplay and power makes him arguably one of the strongest killers in the game.

He is able to strike judgement on any survivors that get in the way of his path. Leaving torment trails around the place allows him to send survivors to a judgement tank somewhere random in the trial. On top of this, he has a secondary ability known as ‘The Punishment Of The Damned’ allowing him to launch a direct and straight strike in front of him, hitting any survivors in it.

Talbot Grimes | The Blight

The Blight is the latest and 21st killer to be added to Dead By Daylight. This original character brings fast paced unique gameplay, arguably making him one of the top strongest killers at the moment.

His power allows you to charge forward, but you can only attack after you bump into an object. Imagine playing ping pong in a killing game, how insane does that sound? Nevertheless, the developers created this monstrosity bringing another form of ‘mind games’ in chases, easily one of the most fun killers to play. Whilst he takes a bit to get used to, good survivors who know how to counter his movements can make The Blight look silly.

Freddy Krueger | The Nightmare

Freddy Krueger, this killer has his own home within the classic killer neighbourhood. Pulling survivors into a dream allows Freddy to play his game whilst they are asleep.

His main power is ‘dream snares’ that causes hands to come out the ground and grab to slow down any survivor that runs into this puddle.

If you wanted, you could switch this for fake pallets, playing on survivors’ feeling of safety. On top of this, he is able to teleport to any generator that is not completed, causing the gen to spew blood and himself coming out of the ground next to it. The most fun out of this killer is seeing every survivor scarper, only to be messed about in some way.

How Is CS:GO Still Popular In 2020? – A Retrospective

CS:GO – A Retrospective

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO for short) was released back on the 21st August 2012 by Valve during an extremely competitive time for First Person Shooters. Since this game was released over 8 years ago, and with the previous installments being over 20 years old, what keeps people playing CS:GO?

Going Back In Time

Before we look at how CS:GO began it’s resurgence, let’s understand how it got to its original point.

With CS:S (Counter-Strike: Source) failing to transfer its total player count from the original Counter-Strike game, it meant that part of CS:GO’s purpose was bringing the players to one place. However, the launch of GO did not turn out as Valve expected.

Players that were popular esport competitors or just well known in the community criticised the game for being ‘too easy’ and lacked the skill component when compared to the previous installments. This is a good time to bring up that other shooters (like Call Of Duty) lacked the ‘skill’ element. The Counter-Strike franchise brought skill, smart thinking and intensive quick reactive moments, this is why CS stood out.

As updates rolled out and CS:GO began to age, it’s ‘lack of skill’ developed into a signature title as one of the most skillful games in the scene.

It’s Rising Active Player Count

As more and more updates rolled out and more and more game modes and fun challenges were being released, CS:GO’s popularity really began to climb.

An important factor to note is that during the winter months, CS:GO’s popularity always fell by a proportion. This could be argued that the school holidays had this effect, but another reason was the ‘CS:GO Majors’.

These ‘Majors’ were hosted 3 times a year (now 2), and in simple terms, is the ‘World Cup’ of CS:GO. These majors showcase the eSports scene in a highly advertised amount to the build up of the tournament. These majors consistently grew in popularity gaining way over 20 million hours of total watchtime which led the CS:GO player count to increase.

These eSports tournaments are different when compared with other games. There is something about CS:GO that has great energy to watch, similar to League Of Legends’ big eSports tournaments.

The First Peak

The first peak came around 2016, the same time MLG Columbus 2016 was hosted and is believed to be the reason. MLG brought many fans across from other FPS games, showing what a great attraction to what these games can be. Other popular games started taking notes on how they can incorporate skill into their games like CS:GO did, this is how GO earnt it’s staple.

The energy of CS:GO Majors was like no other, the CS:GO crowd stood out to other games. Maybe the drooling 3 map finals to find that Major eSports title for a team really pulled people in (those who watched Eleague Boston 2018 will know the true greatness of CS:GO Majors).

At this point, the game followed a consistent pattern in its active CS:GO player count. It spiked during the beginning of the year to slowly decline during the winter months. This was the case until the severe decline during 2018, when it was the era of Battle Royale games.

The Era Of Battle Royale Games

2018 saw a huge amount of players playing games within the Battle Royale genre. Games like ‘Player Unknown’s Battle Grounds (PUBG)’ and ‘Fortnite’ began experiencing ridiculous numbers of player counts and because of this, the CSGO players began searching for something new.

During this period, CS:GO entered a state of recession. It’s active player count started dipping below 400,000 players which was the lowest it have ever gone since 2014. Other games started to pop up around, like Apex Legends, also taking these average players of Counter-Strike away.

Everyone knew, however, that these Battle Royale Games would not last, and over time this would prove to be correct. It was a very long decreasing process of the genre, taking over a year to blow over the popularity boom.

During this peak however, Valve had their own trick up their sleeve. Valve announced in late 2018 a new game mode called ‘Danger Zone’, which was CS but battle royale. It was a running joke for many to have a Battle Royale in CS, but this joke became a reality. When players heard the news, they began to try out this new mode which proved itself clearly.

Valve did a tremendous job in the Danger Zone project by somehow taking the skill and intensive gameplay to a completely different genre. With this praise, players began to return to the game after they got that taste of CS:GO with this new and refreshing gamemode.

The Resurgence

The Resurgence of Counter-Strike was like no other. You can argue it also came about at a really good time. For the first time, CS:GO’s active player count did not decrease in late 2019, rather, it grew a lot.

Like I said previously, it did strike a bit of luck on the timing of everything. COVID-19 began happening and when many countries began Locking down, players began turning to Counter-Strike. CS saw it’s biggest peak with over a million concurrent players at one time and further growing to 1.3 million active players at one time.

This brings us to today, where the game sits at a stead 1 million concurrent players and the top game of Steam as of typing. CS has brought many achievements and has been industry changing.

This is how Counter-Strike’s journey led to it being a staple in the gaming community and has brought many games we know today. Players will never let this game dismiss into the darkness for one reason; it’s Counter-Strike.

Written By: Max Lang-Orsini

Sea of Thieves – Why Should You Play?

Released on the 20th of March 2018, a new-born adventure game set sail on an endless journey, 2 years later it has arguably become one of the most iconic Xbox Games right now, even arguable video games as a whole.

Sea of Thieves is included on the Xbox Game Pass, so if you wanted to try this out first before paying the full price, you can.

I, Max-Lang Orsini, will test the depths of the waters and bring you a full article breaking down why you should play Sea of Thieves.

What Makes Sea of Thieves Great

I’ll be here typing forever if I had to label every single thing, but I’ll name a few and leave the rest for you to set sail on the high seas, and make many memorable moments on the vast ocean that is the Sea of Thieves.

Treasure Variants

Treasure variants, you heard it here first. That’s right, you can not only be a classic pirate, and find yourselves many treasure chests by following treasure maps, but you can also fight the infamous skeletons that also sail the seas.

Treasure Chests, Mystical Skulls & Merchant Cargo

Defeated the captains to obtain a skull and sell this to the Order of the Souls reputation, or dig up treasure and sell to the Gold Hoarders, or even deliver cargo as part of the Merchant Alliance reputation!

Commendations

With many treasure variants, many reputation variants will also exist, providing more challenges. If you are wanting more of a challenge, look at your ‘Commendations’ which are like achievements.

Player Vs Player

Arguably one of the most influential parts of this open-world pirate game. The intensive ship combat allows for suspense as you plunder your opponent’s ship with your crew members, stealing their treasure right before selling to the correct companies.

Cannonball Types

For a better PvP experience, there are different types of cannonballs for different effects! You can get the ‘Cursed Cannonballs’, which will have a different effect on which one you’re using. Make your opponent anchor in the middle of the ocean, prevent them from shooting you, or even make them wobble around on their deck drunk! It’s a lot of fun.

Not just that, you can get ‘Chainballs’. Hitting a precise shot on the ship’s mast will destroy it, making it fall down and disabling them from moving! You can even use ‘Fire Bombs’ to put the enemy’s ship in a blaze!

Weapon Combat

Maybe you like to be up close and personal, and that’s fine too! Board the enemy’s ship and attack them with a tense sword battle before switching to a pistol for a final blow! These moments are by far the tensest. Remember by killing one player, there are fewer players to control their own ship!

Drink & Play Music Together

Perhaps you want to be friendly, and that is also fine, as long as the other crew agrees! These memorable moments are the best when you all get drunk in the tavern together and play musical instruments as the sun falls down! Don’t get too drunk, or your instrument may be out of tune…

Becoming a ‘Pirate Legend’

The most infamous name you can make for yourself on the seas is the title ‘Pirate Legend’. These are the most experienced players that have fought for their title with many wins under their belt. If you ever come across these ‘Pirate Legends’ for yourself, fear is the first thing you should feel.

Player Vs Environment

A category that is FULL of content. For a game that has been out for 2 years, it leads to endless possibilities and laughs on your journeys.

Skeleton Fleets & Ships

If you don’t fancy fighting a player ship, or perhaps you haven’t come across one, you can fight the skeletons on the seas too! These skeleton ships will appear randomly sailing the seas on their own adventure or sailing amongst a fleet, it is up to you if you want to disturb them.

Megalodon

Or perhaps you don’t want to fight any enemy ships at all, and that is fine too. You may come across the Megalodon. A big shark that can tear through your ship comes in many variants, the white Megalodon “The Shrouded Ghost” being the rarest. Some say it does not exist, but if you kill this thing, you will be among the few that has lived to tell the tale.

Kraken, Ghost Fleets, Ships & Skeleton Forts

Is this not enough? Well no matter if it isn’t, there is still so much more. Fight the newly added Ghost ships from an undead fleet under the Flameheart name, fight the Kraken for its meat and sell it to Hunter’s Call reputation for some sweet gold, and even participate in islands dedicated to the skeletons known as the ‘Skeleton Fort’. Completing this will reward you inexpensive goods across many reputation companies!

Single Player Playability

No matter if you’re a single player because there are special stories that you can complete. Learn the stories of other ships and fleets and how their demise was met, help recover other crew members in an exciting story known as the ‘Tall Tales’. Perhaps you don’t want to do this solo and with friends in an adventurous multiplayer game, that is possible too.

You can even set sail on your own adventure, peacefully digging up treasure, but be aware of those pesky pirates that will come and steal your loot!

The Beauty of Sea of Thieves

Moving on from all of this pirate ship stuff, throughout my entire time playing this game, I’ve got to admit it’s beauty. The graphics are quite intense, so if you’re on PC you will need a good system, but it is definitely worth it. The views and scenery all blend to create this masterpiece of graphics and is by far one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever played.

This is not everything. With the recent anniversary updates and the following monthly updates that have been released, it’s very easy to say this game is a lot of fun. This isn’t everything, there’s still more to mention, such as; The Devils Roar, Different Sized Ships, Different Voyage Variants, Pets, Cosmetics (ship, weapons and pirate), Emissaries, and the special Fort of The Damned. As you can see, you will never have anything to do in this game!

I’ll let you experience the seas for yourself and I hope to see you there. You can buy Sea of Thieves on Steam, or you can buy Sea of Thieves on the Xbox Game Store. Check the Sea of Thieves website for updates and events about the game!

Written by: Max Lang-Orsini

Evolve – Guaranteeing Excitement at Every Turn

Evolve

Evolve is a savage world of man versus nature and throughout the game you are never sure if you are the hunter or the hunted!

Evolve was created from Turtle Rock Studios, the same people who created Left 4 Dead. Evolve is the next generation of multiplayer shooters. The game is never short of action.

What is Evolve?

It begins with a team of four players who use their wits and weapons to fight against a human-controlled beast. A definite plus is that it can also be played as a single player game.

Evolve has 16 different maps, 12 hunters and 3 monsters. In this four versus one game you must take down the beast named Goliath. A fifth player is controlling the monster and helps it feed off other animals and plants to help it evolve and become bigger and stronger. This is what your team of four, when working together, is trying to stop.

The Depth Of Evolve

Evolve was created by combining the games Left 4 Dead and Counter-Strike. That is what makes this game unique and action-packed. It brings cooperative team play to a whole new level.

The competitive component is evident throughout the game of Evolve, unlike in the other games. Teamwork and communication are essential between the four hunters throughout the entire game in order to bring down the monster, Goliath.

The four hunters have the ability to give Goliath a real beating with their powerful guns, mines and their ability to shield themselves. But, this will only be successful if they work together as a team. Each hunter takes on an individual role. They can either be a fighter, a medic where team members aid the injured or they can be a trapper whose role is to contain the beast.

There is support throughout the game for the hunters. They can use orbital strikes and cloak themselves when necessary. The medic also has a tranquilizer gun that makes the monster green and slows him down, giving the hunters more time to re-evaluate their strategy and collaborate their ideas until the tranquilizer wears off.

Each hunter takes on a unique role in the game and if they work together, always remembering their individual roles, they can and will successfully take down the monster.

This is the only way to have success in the game of Evolve. There is no room for egos in the game of Evolve. There is no one hunter that takes on the leadership role. You must work together as a team to have a successful outcome.

It is important to note that every match that you play will be unique due to the fact that the monster is humanly-controlled. This is a feature that makes Evolve so desirable and fun. You never know what the monster is thinking and he never knows what the hunters have planned throughout the entire game.

It must be said that Goliath is not a pushover. He has the ability to throw rocks and breathe fire which intensifies as the game progresses. The fire that Goliath breathes can become so intense that it literally roasts the hunter.

The Key To Win

Staying focused throughout the game is essential according to Ivy Leaf Kennels. There are a diverse range of strategies in playing Evolve. The more you play, the more you will master these strategies. Each match is guaranteed to be different no matter how many times you play.

No matter what role you decide to play on your team in Evolve you must always remember to work together, discussing every strategy before it is executed and lending a helping hand to every teammate whenever needed. This is the only way to win over Goliath and the game of Evolve. According to Ivy Leaf Kennels, cooperation and teamwork is the key to Evolve.

FarmVille 2 Country Escape – a Gamers’ Review | Max Lang-Orsini

This is the mobile (very tablet friendly) version of FarmVille, available as a free download and a fun to play game for all. Before you read this article, give the trailer a watch and take your own perception and then read this article for a better understanding of the game!

Although you get access to more in-game rewards if you log in with your Facebook account, you don’t actually need to be on Facebook to play. From your mobile or tablet device just go to your app store and enter ‘FarmVille 2 Country Escape’ to download the game free and for a low storage space!

Image result for FarmVille 2 Country Escape

It’s a Zynga Games development, so watch out for the opportunities to spend your money (buying keys lets you unlock land for expansion & high value animals etc) but you can play the game without spending your hard earned cash. It makes sense since the game is free.

This a worthwhile farming simulation game – grow, harvest and develop your land; trade with neighbours, participate in regular events – there’s genuinely something here for all farming simulation fans.

Probably one of the best aspects of the game is the constant opportunities to earn rewards by participation in events – there’s something happening every few weeks that’ll give you the opportunity to earn a new farmhand (either a 30 day stay or a permanent placement) and that’s a massive bonus while you’re building your farm.

Plus if you’re a ‘builder’ who likes to grow, maintain and develop as part of your games this is the perfect choice for you – you can farm, harvest and grow to your hearts’ content. And if you’ve a competitive edge (and who in the Gaming community hasn’t?!) then the event participation and the chance to win bigger rewards for ranking higher is definitely going to keep your attention (and probably also keep you up all night too!).

For me, this is a better version of the game than the main FarmVille 2 game on Facebook: on the mobile Country Escape version you can constantly refill your water supply from the stream and lake, meaning you never run out of water to tend your crops with so there’s no ‘time lag’ like you can experience in the main Facebook version.

Overall, this is an addictive and really well thought out farming simulation game: I’ve played a few but this is the one I got hooked on (for all of the above reasons!) and still today I’m planning my farming activity tonight so I can win the current event reward…. A very good overall gaming experience, providing you can spare the time to get hooked on yet another great Zynga game of course!!

Check it out now on the Google Play Store and Apple Store!