Christmas Presents From GameStop

I apologize for not getting this post out sooner as we are well past the holiday season. Two of my brothers gave me GameStop gift cards for Christmas, worth $90 altogether. Normally I don’t buy PC games from GameStop so my choices came down to whether I wanted to purchase games for Playstation 4 (PS4), Nintendo Switch, or the Xbox 360. I even thought about getting a new controller. But in the end, I settled on seeing how far I could stretch the $90 on PS4 games.

The chosen games were God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2, Trine Ultimate Collection, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint, Homefront Revolution, and Strange Brigade. One of my main goals in choosing this particular set was that I wanted games that would take a while for me to complete and ones that allowed for exploration. I know these games will provide countless hours of entertainment.

It may be hard to believe, but I am very late to the party when it comes to God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn. Other titles had my attention during the time those games were released. Yet I always knew that the time would come when I would finally take them for a spin. At $10 apiece, I felt that it was the right time to do so. Both games are highly regarded and were influential in the PS4’s domination over the Xbox One. I’m looking forward to seeing for myself what these two award-winning titles have to offer.

If you grew up in the 1990s and were familiar with video games, then you probably heard of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. I remember how popular it was, even among people who had never picked up a skateboard in real life. Activision had a winner with this series and many gamers have fond memories of its early days on the original Playstation and PS2. I’ll admit that skateboarding isn’t my scene in real life, but the video games for the most part have been really well done. Before the Tony Hawk series was even conceived, there was 720° in the arcades and Skate or Die! on the Nintendo Entertainment System. Following several Tony Hawk Pro Skater titles, Electronic Arts introduced the excellent skating sim series, Skate, on the Xbox 360 and the PS3. Skate wound up with three games, with Skate 3 being my personal favorite and a game I own on the 360. Newer entries such as Skater XL and Session have fared well in public opinion.

My older brother asked me two months ago if I was going to get the Tony Hawk game. Initially, I planned to pass on it. But when I was shopping online on the GameStop website, I changed my mind. Maybe it was wanting to experience some nostalgia but with upgraded graphics. Perhaps I wanted to pay homage to the skating game franchise that took a person (like me) who had little interest in the sport and made me appreciate it more. Either way, I’m glad to have it in my collection. But I did forget the game has a bit of a learning curve. Let’s not talk about how many times I’ve eaten pavement in the tutorial.

I’ve played a bit of the first Trine, but have never dabbled into any of the other three games. Since the Ultimate Collection was released, I’ve had my eye on it. My gut instinct was to wait because I had a strong inkling that the price would drop very low after a while. At $4.99 for the four game collection around Christmas, that was too good of a deal to pass up. I enjoy the action, platform, and puzzle mechanics, as well as utilizing the unique skills of the three characters to complete the levels. You won’t hear a lot of people talk about the series but I’m a fan of the games.

Tom’s Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint has been a wonderful surprise and I’m glad I ignored the negative reviews on the game. As someone who enjoyed Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands, I can appreciate some of the added gameplay mechanics that are new to Breakpoint. I’ve played long enough to explore the game world a little bit and unlock A.I. teammates. One of its most endearing features is being able to customize your character and your A.I. teammates at any time. Perhaps the negative reviews were based on earlier versions of the game. What I recently played is a game I know I’m going to have a blast with.

Strange Brigade reminds me of a type of game that I could envision Indiana Jones or Brendan Fraser’s character from The Mummy films being a part of. That is part of the reason why I wanted to try it. I’ve played a lot of third-person shooters throughout my gaming journey but I can’t remember one based in the 1930s with this type of adventure feel. I’m curious as to how well it will play. Lastly, Homefront Revolution is a shooter that I wanted to check out for myself. This game also has had a mixed reception over the years with many of the complaints being technically focused on bugs. But the game and premise itself seems like something up my alley. Sometimes, you just have to know for yourself.

What are some games you bought, played or received during the holidays?

-TVGA
admin@videogamersadvocate.com