In GameDrone Monthly I give a recap of my gaming activities in the past month, some new articles on GameDrone that you might have missed and what I expect to be doing in the coming month.
Maybe you’d like share your experiences, send in a game you’d like me to cover on GameDrone or team up for a multiplayer or co-op game this month. Whatever the reason, feel free to leave a comment and we’ll discuss :)
As for May, it wasn’t such a busy month in terms of noteworthy game releases, but I did get to play a fair few different games. Steam also helped a lot with its various free weekends, of which there is another one coming up this weekend for the excellent multiplayer FPS Shattered Horizon!
May on GameDrone
May kicked off with a critical look at how games have become significantly easier over the years and how difficulty settings no longer carry quite the same weight as they once did. And in keeping with the pessimism streak I followed up with an article that explains why high performance memory modules are useless for gaming … and most everything else.
The launch of the Stimulus Package for Modern Warfare 2 on Steam caused an European Steam blackout for half a day, which – together with the Stimulus Pack itself – was covered as well. And the upcoming Resurgence Pack for Modern Warfare 2 looks to repeat this scenario a few months from now. It’s fortunate that Shattered Horizon isn’t quite so popular, because it’s free Firepower pack was certainly worth the wait.
I unexpectedly got to play a lot of StarCraft 2 with some friends in May, so I got to set up a live streaming channel with StarCraft 2 beta footage. In doing so I documented some of the differences between the two major game streaming services and offered up guides to get started with Ustream and optimize Livestream performance.
ArenaNet have kept their promise of providing gameplay information in 2010, with a lot of new blog posts and articles. I’ve covered most of them simple bullet-point lists that highlight the new information. There was some info on dynamic events, more dynamic events, a reveal of the personal storylines feature and some more personal storyline details.
The month ended with Valve launching a new feature for Steam with rather unimpressive digital strategy guides for a variety of games. Mass Effect 2 also got a critical look after an inspiring read on Bio Break and the greatest tournament of the StarCraft 2 beta ended with two very memorable decider matches.
May was the month of Stimulus
Games I played
I had intended to finish the WarCraft 3: The Frozen Throne singleplayer campaign last month, but I only got as far as the last mission of the human campaign. As a result the undead and orc campaigns will have to be completed this month. The reason for this delay is the StarCraft 2 beta, which I’ve participated in a lot more actively lately thanks to the introduction of 3v3. This allowed our entire group of friends in the beta to play together and now we’re ranked top 10 in gold league.
On the shooter month there was still decidedly more Modern Warfare 2 being played than Bad Company 2, but I did gain a few new levels in Bad Company 2 as well. Those double experience weekends just make Modern Warfare 2 a tad more alluring, aside from the fact that few of my Steam friends play Bad Company 2. I’ve also finally gotten around to playing my first few hours of Left 4 Dead 2 and it’s impressive. It’s a definite improvement over Left 4 Dead and I really like the Dark Carnival campaign. The new variety in weaponry and items makes for a much more interesting game, but I do prefer the original cast of characters.
The lovely free weekends over on Steam got me playing some Football Manager 2010, which proved more addictive than I had anticipated. Definitely not a game for me, but I can at least see why it’s so highly ranked in the Steam game statistics. Another free weekend game proved more entertaining, namely Altitude. A sidescrolling multiplayer airplane fighting game doesn’t sound like a big deal… and it isn’t. What it is, is a lot of fun. Unlocking new airplanes and playing through a wide variety of game modes was enjoyable enough that I purchased the full version. There’s also a demo, so give it a go if you missed it!
The last game I got to play in May was Fallen Earth, which actually proved to be a rather interesting post-apocalyptic MMORPG. It’s obvious that it’s not a big budget game, with a few quirky design decisions and an unusual control scheme, but the gameplay seems solid enough thus far. I’ve got a few months subscription to go, so I’ll probably be covering it on GameDrone sometime soon.
This has top priority in June!
Games I intend to play
A repeat of last month’s primary mission: finish WarCraft 3: The Frozen Throne. At least now there are only two more campaigns and one final human mission to go, which should be easily accomplished within a month’s time. I’ll also be getting in some last bits of StarCraft 2 beta gameplay before the beta closes next Monday! It’s time to get that StarCraft 2 coverage up, because I won’t be able to once the beta is on hiatus.
Modern Warfare 2 and Bad Company 2 seem likely prospects in the first person shooter department. There might also be some cameos of the Left 4 Dead series, because those first few hours of Left 4 Dead 2 certainly left me wanting more. And Fallen Earth is a given, because I am paying a subscription fee!
There are a few other games that I’d like to play in June as well. This includes Guild Wars, Heroes of Newerth, League of Legends and Alpha Protocol. If everything goes according to plan, then I should have plenty of time to sneak those games in somewhere. Undoubtedly a few other games will pop in as the month progresses, but I’m not looking to finish anything other than The Frozen Throne. That’s top priority!
Not quite as lengthy a list as last month, but then I barely got half of them in last month. So hopefully this will work out better and I’ll see you next month for another GameDrone Monthly – without a Frozen Throne!
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