What Are You Playing?

When I’m not writing for DCT or catching up on maintenance jobs around the house, there’s now more time to indulge in my favourite video games, especially now. With so many free games and special offers available, as mentioned in my earlier article, Free Games And Special Offers, why not take advantage of the spare time available between trying to make some money for you and your family?

Resident Evil 2

At the moment, I’m playing Resident Evil 2 which is a 2019 remake of the 1998 classic where you can play either as Claire or Leon in the infected world of Raccoon City where zombies and other mutants roam.

Finding yourself in an abandoned police station, you need to roam around looking for weapons, ammunition and other resources in order to survive the zombie hordes roaming the offices and corridors. Not only that, but you also need to unlock all kinds of head-scratching puzzles in order to gain access to certain areas and weapons. That particular aspect is my favourite because the puzzles involve simple logic, sometimes some missing parts that you’ll have to find in another area and a feeling of achievement once completed. But this game is scary. Maybe not as much as The Evil Within or Alien Isolation, but the sounds are so very realistic– such as the distant moaning and gurgling of the infected and unknown, heavy footsteps approaching you around the next corner. I don’t really like survival horror games as a rule and if it weren’t for the puzzle elements, the superb graphics and sound, I probably wouldn’t be playing it. Mind you, I did pick it up very cheap at Green Man Gaming having read so many glowing reviews.

Tomb Raider

As many of you know, I’m a big fan of the Tomb Raider games and still play all of them in one form or another at various times. Recently, I’ve been playing modded versions of the first three, which have been greatly enhanced by new HD textures, yet remaining faithful to the original game in every other way. Paul Gardiner at Glidos developed TombATI which gives Tomb Raider I and Unfinished Business a new lick of paint and you don’t need Glidos to run it.

Tomb Raider II and III can also be given HD textures, so why not visit the Tomb Raider Forums for patches and guides. I also never get tired of playing the later TR games right up to the latest Shadow Of The Tomb Raider with its incredible visuals.

I’ve always said that replayability is an indicator of an unforgettable and well-produced game and I go back to TR games more than any others.

Half-Life

A perennial favourite of mine, Half-Life is always top of the list with its thousands of texture, AI and story mods, none so remarkable as Black Mesa— a total remake of the original game.

Forsaken Remastered

For a game released in 1998 and remastered by NightDive Studios, Forsaken holds up remarkably well and is as much fun now as it was when I first bought it. I still have the original CD but could never get it running on Windows 10, so this totally compatible version came as a wonderful surprise when it appeared on Steam in July 2018.

The key to Forsaken is becoming accustomed to navigating around narrow tunnels in a 360° movement. Once you’ve mastered that odd perspective, this addictive game opens up to you for hours of action and shooting mayhem.

Control

Control is hard to describe in a few words. Suffice to say that it revolves around our heroine, Jesse, when a secretive government agency is invaded by a threat from another dimension. The fun in this game is Jesse’s kinetic powers, much like Gordon Freeman’s gravity gun, where she can lift and toss objects at enemies with huge force. It’s a challenging game with puzzle elements, a few bosses and some amazing graphic rendering, as you can see from Jesse’s face below.

Forza And Grid Car Racing Series

Clearly, I can’t be shooting and looting at every turn, which is when I jump into the racing games and transport myself to Le Mans, Brands Hatch, Daytona International Speedway and many others around the world. My current favourite is Grid Autosport because the AI is very aggressive, the challenges are hard — such as finishing a race without a collision — and it brings out the devil in me. It’s frantic stuff and with headphones, I’m completely transported into a frantic, high-speed world.

Other Games I Play

• Far Cry series
• Max Payne series
• Hitman series
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• Dying Light
• World War Z

All these games can be bought through Steam, Epic, Microsoft, Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, GOG and others, with many offering either free games or special offers, as mentioned in my previous article. Many of the digital platforms are responding generously to the current health crisis, so keep your eyes open for deals!

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