Member Red Dead Redemption

December 2014 was a terrible time to be a gamer. Not only did we have to contend with the buggy launches of DriveClub, Assassin’s Creed: Unity, and Halo: The Master Chief Collection, but we also had to deal with Lizard Squad who sought to ruin Christmas for so many gamers. With no purpose or intent, Lizard Squad bombarded PSN and Xbox Live servers with DDOS attacks. This crippled PSN and Xbox Live throughout the month, but also on Christmas Day when thousands of new PS4 and Xbox One owners were unwrapping their consoles. These consoles need firmware update to properly function, something that can’t be done if the consoles can’t connect online. We hope that in 2015 this malicious group stays away from PSN and Xbox Live.


There's a bit of a debate around this one. Just Northeast of Bacchus Bridge and Southeast of Donner Falls lies a hole in the ground. A somewhat familiar looking hole in the ground, for Tolkien fans. That being said, something about the whole house seems... off. Other than the obvious similarity of being a literal house in a hill, there isn't much about the house that seems like its Lord of the Rings counterpart. Style-wise, they're pretty disti


Is the truth really out there? At least in the Red Dead Redemption universe, that seems to be the case. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, just head between the "N" and "O" of New Hanover on the map, and you'll come across an old building. Inside, you'll be met with a pretty weird scene. There are beds lining the sides of the building, with a desk at the end. On the desk lies a note, which rather cryptically hints for you to come back to the building, or stay there, until about 2

Unfortunately, GTAV felt a little too cliché. This is where I get nervous that Red Dead Redemption 2 might lean too heavily on certain tropes. I would much rather see an American western tale that resembles a classic, opposed to a film that has been rebooted as of this year. I do not need a game with big set pieces, explosions and more ammunition falling than the leaves on the trees. I’m going to make one more recommendation of the west I envision opposed to the west presented by Hollywood: the Lonesome Dove series puts on the glitz of western tropes while also doing a great job explaining how people lived at the time. This is more in the style that would be preferred in Red Dead Redemption 2. A game where cowboys are cowboys, people are living by the land they’ve settled and getting along fine with the natives. Yes, there were some bad Tribes, but mostly few and far between.

It’s safe to say that Red Dead Redemption 2 is easily the most visually-impressive game Rockstar has ever created. While it’s difficult for Open world game patch notes world games to compare to more linear, focused experiences due to the amount of content shoved onto screen at once, there were times when I thought I was playing a CG movie. Maybe that’s a little bit of hyperbole as there are still some compromises that are taken, but for the most part this is arguably the best looking game of the year. Character models are remarkably detailed, even with the most insignificant individuals, and the Open World game Crafting guide world is absolutely gorgeous. Not only does it have an incredible amount of variety, from industrial cities to snowy mountains, but the way settings are organized bring the world to life in a sensational way. From a pure visual aspect, the only negative notions are minor ones, namely beards can sometimes look like they’re pulled off a character creator, and the rendering and reflections when moving through water has a strange issue on the sides of the screen. Animation is the only other aspect that can be bothersome at times. Don’t get me wrong, everything is animated meticulous, from faces to actions, but when you need to interact with something in the world, it can put you into an animation that takes a lot longer than you’d hope for. Other than that, I was blown away with what Rockstar was able to accomplish, as the world of Red Dead Redemption 2 is simply breathtaking.

Nintendo and Bandai Namco shook the world of Pokemon in 2014 with the announcement of Pokken Tournament, a brand new fighting game. Obviously there was a lot of excitement over this cross-over, until we found out that it was going to be Japan-only. Even worse, it would only be released in arcades. We’re hoping that Nintendo and Bandai Namco announce this game for the Wii U, and that will launch in North America and Europe.

Member the games you used to play? We member. The basement at the Hardcore Gamer office has a section known as the Crust Room, with an old grey couch and a big old CRT TV. All the classic systems are down there collecting dust, so in an effort to improve the cleanliness of our work space, we dust off these old consoles every so often and put an old game through its paces, just to make sure everything stays in working order. We even have a beige computer with a floppy disk drive.


Another couple of pieces on the collectible item list is the Broken Pirate Sword, complete with a stylish Tricorn Hat. To snag these items, you'll need to head just South of Saint Denis, to the small cluster of islands nearby. Keep an eye out for alligators as you search for an old and mostly destroyed boat that's washed up on the shore. Sticking out of the boat is--you guessed it--the Broken Pirate Sword, entirely usable as a melee wea