Video Game Review: Helldivers 2

One of the fondest memories I have is playing video games on Thursday evenings with my brothers and dad. This is when online gaming started taking off and so you didn't have to be in the same room or even the same house. We would log onto our PlayStation 2 consoles and play SOCOM 2 with each other. I have missed the online game playing and so I thought I would start something similar with my own 2 sons. I have one that lives across town and another that lives across the country. Once again we have designated Thursday evenings as our night to play and our game of choice is Helldivers 2.

I started playing the original Helldivers when I still worked at Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) and enjoyed the top-down shooter platform. It didn't feel natural though and took awhile to get used to. The latest version of the game is a 3rd-Person shooter very similar to SOCOM 2. It feels like so many other shooter games that it should be easy for everyone to play.

While I am no longer at SIE, I still work for Sony and have access to discounted versions of the game. I purchased 3 copies so I would have one for myself and my 2 sons. Retail price for the game is $39.99 and well worth it if you are looking for a fun online playing experience.

The game is very similar to the movie Starship Troopers from 1997 where you are part of an elite team of soldiers sent to eradicate either bugs or robots from planets throughout the area. There is a lot of propaganda shown throughout the game relating to how you are spreading freedom throughout the galaxy and it adds a level of humor to the game play.

One difference between Helldivers 2 and SOCOM 2 is that you are always on the same side as the people you play with. The bugs or robots are controlled by the game. That means that the only competition you have with your teammates is to see who has the most kills or other similar statistics. This makes for a much more friendly environment.

The game is limited to squads of 4 and so it will not accommodate larger groups. You can play as a single person, but that can be really tough as you often need others to help unlock storage garages or align communication dishes. Fortunately the game won't keep you solo too long as other players may decide to join your mission and help out. This allows you to see how others play the game and learn from their technique.

My son who lives in Ohio will be gone this evening (Thursday) and so we played Tuesday this week. After an hour or so of running around and squashing man-eating bugs, he sent his brother and me a text saying how much fun he had. I agree, we did have a great time.

Helldivers 2 has an ESRB rating of M for mature due to intense violence and blood and gore. As you can hear other players playing, you will often hear strong language as well. The original version had a rating of T and the new one does deserve that M rating. The game is somewhat limited to the PlayStation 4 and 5 consoles but is also available on the PC. Naturally I play on the PS5.

A Case for a PlayStation Vita

It is no secret that I am a PlayStation fan. Ever since my brother gave me a PS2 for my birthday complete with SOCOM II, I have been a fan of the PlayStation consoles. When the PlayStation Vita came out several years ago, I picked one up and purchased a few games for it. Unfortunately it has sat in my home office for almost a year without anyone picking it up. That may change next week.

One of the problems with the Vita is a lack of good games. Most video game companies have a limited number of resources and trying to put their games on all of the consoles, including the PS Vita does not always make sense. As someone that plays games, I would much rather buy a game for my PlayStation 3 or 4 than my Vita, so I understand why there is a lack of content.

Fortunately for me, there are a number of free games I am given all the time. Some games are good while others are not. This afternoon I was going through my library of games and noticed I have "The Walking Dead: Season 2" for the Vita. Now I know I said I wasn't going to play it in my last review. However the Vita has one thing that will make me change my mind: it is portable. I spend a lot of time on airplanes and in airports. The Vita is a perfect platform entertaining me in those situations.

Next week when I fly to the Bay Area, I will bring my Vita with "The Walking Dead: Season 2" and see if I can't continue the game. Naturally I will provide a review.

Battlefield 3

My brother used to work for Sony PlayStation which is officially Sony Computer Entertainment of America. One year for my birthday, he got me a PlayStation 2 and sent me a copy of SOCOM 2. It was a first person shooter (FPS) and was a lot of fun. One nice thing about SOCOM was that you could play against others online as long as you had a broadband Internet connection. I used to get online once a week with my brother and other family members only to get shot to death for hours. FPS games are my favorite and so when Battlefield 3 came out, I used one of my contacts at Electronic Arts, also known as EA, to get me a copy. A neighbor who was one of my former scouts wanted to play the game and so I gave him my unopened copy. Then a few weeks ago, I found myself having lunch at EA in California with a different friend and picked myself up another copy. EA has this great store on their Redwood City campus and as long as you have an employee with you, you can get copies of their products for a huge discount. If you don't know anyone that works at EA, I highly recommend finding one, simply to get some of their products.

Battlefield 3 was developed by Dice, one of EA's studios, and created using the Frostbite 2 engine. The guys at Dice spend an insane amount of effort making sure that their engine is incredibly real. I have to say they succeeded. You can do things like blow up a building and then walk through that area. While most other FPS games make you feel like you are in a maze, Battlefield 3 is not like that. Of course if you do find yourself leaving the mission area, you have a number of seconds to get back on course or risk failing your mission.

The game runs on the PlayStation 3, XBox 360, and PC. Naturally I have it for the PlayStation 3 and the matching HD TV to go with it. The graphics are incredible and so you are going to want something better than standard 480p resolution. Mine is cranked up to 720p which is the best the game can do. To be honest, I thought it was 1080p when I started playing and didn't realize it was on the lesser setting until I checked the TV.

I have yet to play online as I am just trying to get familiar with the game. I'm sure it will be a lot of fun and once again I will spend a lot of time dying.

Battlefield 3 is rated M for blood, intense violence, and strong language. It has really strong language and I wish I could turn that off. I am all for realism, but I wish I could turn on some sort of censoring so that when the players swear, you hear a beep or a substitute word. It is also a first person shooter and so killing people is part of the game. Sometimes at really close range. So far I am enjoying the game and would recommend it to anyone who likes FPS games and isn't offended by strong language.

Online Video Games

Working away from home during the week can take its toll on your family life. While I have plenty of time to talk with my family, it just isn't the same as being there. Video conferencing with Skype helps a bit, but it is easy to miss that interaction you get by just hanging out together.

Several years ago, my extended family started a weekly game night. My Brothers, dad, and I would play an online video game on Thursdays with our sons. While some of us live close to each other, my older brother and his son are in San Diego. The game we started playing was SOCOM, which is a first-person-shooter game where you are a Navy SEAL that hunts terrorists (or visa versa). We originally started playing the game on Playstation 2's. Then it came out on the PSP. The PSP is nice because you can bring it on the road with you and don't have to lug around a larger console, nor do you have to worry about connecting it to a hotel TV.

My youngest son is 14 and really needs his Dad around. Since I can't be there, I try to talk to him on the phone. Unfortunately he is a boy and doesn't really like to talk on the phone (unlike his older sisters, who can talk for hours about nothing). Lately we have pulled out the PSP's and started playing online together. It may only be for a half-hour or so, but we are doing something together. I have the headset game in one ear and the cell-phone headset in the other. We are in constant contact the whole time. While we aren't in the same room, I think that this is as close as it gets to being home even though I am out of town. Now I just have to get better so he stops complaining how lousy I am.