VALKYRIE QUEEN (GOD OF WAR)

God of War (2018) might not stand toe-to-toe with the likes of God of War 2 and 3 as far as the sheer quantity bonkers set-piece boss fights is concerned, but the optional fights against the Valkyries almost made up for that. And the Valkyrie Queen was the hardest, most memorable of them all. Countless God of War players have gone up against her again and again and again and come away with nothing to show for it. Of course, that swelling sense of satisfaction you get when (and if) you do beat her is an excellent reward in and of itself.

But though they’re no longer the dominant style of games, that doesn’t mean they’ve gone completely extinct. In the past few years, there have been quite a few excellent linear single player titles, and in this feature, we’ll be taking a look at the best of the best.

Do note that this list is in completely random order. You’ll also notice that some of the games in this feature have multiplayer components, but the purposes of this list, it goes without saying that we’ll only be considering their single player campaigns.

With all that out of the way, let’s begin.

UNCHARTED 2: AMONG THIEVES

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call Uncharted 2 one of the most influential games to have been released over the last ten years. Though Uncharted 1 was a great game in its own right, with Among Thieves, Naughty Dog perfected the art of interactive storytelling and bombastic Hollywood-esque action. Uncharted 2 was a watershed moment for this industry, and the mark it made on video games is clear to see to this day, and will be for a long time to come.

HOLD R2 (GOD OF WAR)

God of War has always been a power fantasy, a series that focuses on visceral, brutal combat, and replacing Kratos’ chained blades with an axe did nothing to change that. Perhaps the attack that is the most fun to use in the new God of War is the charged heavy attack. As Kratos brings the axe up and gathers all his strength to bring it down in one heavy blow to cleave through his enemy, you can feel the controller vibrating in your hand with immense power- it’s immensely satisfying. Maybe even the the single most satisfying move in the entire game.

]]> https://gamingbolt.com/15-attacking-moves-in-games-you-shamelessly-used-over-and-over-again/feed 0 380560 https://gamingbolt.com/15-video-game-companions-that-were-interesting-than-the-player https://gamingbolt.com/15-video-game-companions-that-were-interesting-than-the-player#respond Mon, 27 Aug 2018 17:41:30 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=353622 It’s all too easy to bungle a video game companion character spectacularly, and there have been several high profile examples over the years that support that notion, sadly enough. But by that same token, there have also been so many games that have featured some truly amazing companion characters. Characters who are along with us for the journey (or parts of it) and make it so much richer than it would have been without them, characters who constantly delight us with their amazing personalities and antics. This feature is dedicated to all those characters, and here we’re going to list fifteen of them. Do note that this isn’t a comprehensive list by any means, and given the sheer number of amazing companions we’ve seen in games over the years, there’s every chance that we’ve missed out on several notable ones. So if you can think of a name that you don’t see on this list, don’t forget to mention it in your comments.

WARNING: There may be some spoilers ahead.

TRIP (ENSLAVED: ODYSSEY TO THE WEST)

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is a woefully overlooked and criminally underrated game, and the character of Trip is perfectly emblematic of just how good a game it was. On paper, Trip should be nothing more than yet another annoying character in a glorified escort mission – you literally have to carry her weight – but she proves to be so much more. During gameplay, she can actually be pretty helpful, but what helps her really stand out is just how well written she is as a character, plain and simple. That excellent writing is backed up by equally excellent acting and voice work, and watching her relationship with Monkey grow over the course of the game is one of the highlights in an excellent game.

Once upon a time, games needed to be that black and white because there wasn’t much space for a lengthy script in the tiny space on an NES cartridge. Technology is a wonderful thing however, and games can get complicated in some brilliant narrative ways, where who’s on the right side of history isn’t always so black and white. Here’s 15 of our favourites, but make sure you share your memorably tragic villains in the comments!

Xander – Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright

Within Fire Emblem Fates, the player character Corrin is forced to choose sides against either the kingdom that raised them but stole them away as a child, Noir, or against his birth kingdom of Hoshido. Late into the game, the player goes up against the eldest brother of the kingdom they stood against. While the tragic circumstances and the fact that neither brother manages to live through the battle is hard to watch on either side, Xander, Scion of Noir that you take on in the Birthright path wins out on how heavy it is. The encounter with Xander begins with him accidentally cutting down his own little sister, who stepped between them to stop them from fighting. Instead of heeding her final wish to lay down his sword, Xander is forced to stand with Noir, and raises it against the sibling he believes betrayed him.

Platinum Games, makers of cult hit action games such as Vanquish, The Wonderful 101 and Metal Gear Rising Revengenace, will apparently be announcing a brand new game at E3 this year, IGN reports.

The title will premier on Tuesday, June 16 3pm PT (6pm EST/10pm GMT), and will feature an extended look at some actual gameplay footage from the new game. Since Platinum and IGN have stressed on the ‘unannounced game’ part, it seems pretty clear that the title in question is not Scalebound, the Xbox One exclusive action game that they revealed in collaboration with Microsoft last year.

As for what this game may be, it’s anyone’s guess. A Bayonetta 3? A new Wonderful 101? A Vanquish 2? Something made in collaboration with Sony? Who knows, really. We can just speculate. But stay tuned to GamingBolt, and we will bring you the latest.

Konami has announced an exclusive pre-order deal with retailer Amazon for the highly anticipated Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. The exclusive pre-order will be available only during PAX Prime 2012, August 31st – September 2nd.

Consumers who pre-order the game at the Konami booth will receive a limited edition t-shirt available only to attendees of the show.

Konami will showcase and take pre-orders for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance exclusively on the PAX show floor at booth #442. MGR is scheduled to release on February 19, 2013 for the PS3 and Xbox 360.

There also teasing an E3 demo for the same, and this is just a teaser that that they have revealed. It shows Raiden in intimidating form. The game will be released on the PS3 and Xbox 360 and is developed by Platinum Games of Bayonetta and Vanquish fame.

Playable demo of the game will be available at Konami’s E3 booth, but there’s still a bit of time to go before the event. Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Metal Gear Rising Revengeance is currently in development for the Xbox 360 and PS3. Raiden, one of the most popular characters in the Metal Gear Solid universe, will star in the all-new title from Hideo Kojima.

Raiden first debuted in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system as a playable character and appeared as a non-playable cyborg in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for the PlayStation 3.

Stay tuned for more news and updates.

First recovered video segment from agent Raiden’s severed arm. Warning: Subject’s personal memories may have become entangled due to trauma.

Share this video to speed up the decryption process of the next video segment and report back to http://www.metalgearsolid.com/rising/ for all updates.

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.