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GAMES
WHAT’S INSIDE?
BYTE SIZED NEWS
08
NEW RELEASES
12
HTC Vive - First Impressions!
Jeff has a quick look into Valve's Oculus killer! 16
Paragon - Early Access Look
It's a MOBA! Or is it? No it is. Sort of. 28
Overwatch Review
Ben White fights for humanity's survival in Overwatch 38
Total War: Warhammer Review Part 1: Battle Report
It's time to take over the world, the Old World! 54
Local Multiplayer - 1.7 - The renegade option
Real fictitious tales of gaming. 65
About Games Magazine
70
Marcus Rockstrom Duran Mojcec Boskovic Jeff Wong Kassie Whitehair Duran Mojcec Boskovic
CONTRIBUTORS:
COVER IMAGE:
Creative Assembly, SEGA
By Grimnir’s Axe, tremble mortals, for
Total War: Warhammer
is here! Feel blessed as well, for it’s incredibly difficult to drag oneself away from the game to do any of the human things like eating, sleeping or writing things. It’s about that time for one of my brief thoughts on gaming in the Editor’s Note though, and as brief as they normally are I feel this one will lack even their base level of concentration. I have a mind full of marching armies and campaign maps and plans for world domination. It does lead neatly into my thought of the day however.
Editor’s Note
Continue to page 6...
Total War: Warhammer
. I still have the game in my head and when I’m playing the campaign I feel like I have a personal investment in the characters and nation I’m playing with. When allies turn on me or my enemies commit heinous crimes against me I remember it and take it personally, feeling immense satisfaction when I wreak vengeance upon them. The campaigns are full of twists and turns that make each person’s play through their own individual story, and the battles of charging armies and clashing warriors have even more personality. Epic duels and hilarious mistakes make the whole experience amazing, and I’m enjoying the campaign and the battles in equal measure. I’m having a great time talking about and playing the game with other people, and I know they’re just as immersed in the world created for them and what they’ve remoulded it into. I’ve also spoken to people who enjoy the experience but still not find it truly immersive. I’ve spoken to someone who simply enjoys taking over the world and letting the AI resolve all the battles for them. Creative Assembly have created something that allows me to dive in and embrace something that I love. Yet, no matter how many years they’ve invested into creating a specific experience, the players will always create something for themselves with what the developers have given them. I immerse myself to the extreme, sinking my teeth into the created world, and others simply like clicking on the boxes and taking over the map. Are the other people immersed? Maybe they are, but in a different sort of way than me. Do I simply have the right sort of personality to feel the immersion that this game can provide, and it has nothing to do with the developers? It’s something to think about when looking at the creation of a game. Where do the efforts of the developers and the reactions of the players take more effect in creating the amorphous element of “immersion”? If you have any thoughts, let us know, TAT has a comment function so go nuts! Speaking of, enjoy the rest of the Games magazine!
MARCUS ROCKSTROM
TAT Games Editor
I
t’s finally here. The age of virtual reality, the truly visceral virtual real reality is here. I can honestly say that we’re on the brink of a new age in technological entertainment. The world of digital media is about to be flipped on its head, and a new yarn of epic proportions is about to be spun. The door has been opened to a thousand new ways for technology to make us laugh, cry, excited and adventurous and afraid, horrified and furious, but most of all - entertained.
Is what I would say if I were trying to sound professional, and provide some sort of introductory paragraph for an online publication - Which is also what I’m trying to do. But with that out of the way, let me talk to you about the HTC Vive from the perspective I want to talk about it from - that of the consumer. The really, really excited consumer. And oh, how I was excited - and still am, really. But first, let me tell you about my experience with VR. I tried the Oculus a few years ago, way back when at EB Expo, and was practically floored by the presentation shown to me. Looking back at it, it was an extremely rudimentary demonstration - you drove around a barebones city in a convertible with the hood down, admiring the sights and looking into the empty seats to your side and behind you. The buildings were little more than coloured, single- shape polygons, and the headset couldn’t fit my glasses at the time either. It was a blurry, gaudy mess, but it was mind-blowing.
I throw this word around a lot, probably to the point that it’s lost all real meaning, but it truly is about immersion; the way there’s minimal lag when you move around in the world, the way you can rotate it in any direction humanly possible, and the way it just gives you that sense of control. There were two obstacles that were always going to plague virtual reality from the beginning. It wasn’t going to be the games, because those are plentiful these days. It wasn’t
"It was a blurry, gaudy mess, but it was mind-blowing."
even the technology - it existed in one form or another; motion tracking, gyroscopes, and motion controls were already established technologies. Sure, someone had to put it all together, and
the foundation for the software needed to be built, but there were bigger matters holding it back. That sense of control, that 1-to-1 feedback was integral, partially to capture that sense of immersion, but also to keep people from getting motion sickness. That is not to say the hardware isn’t impressive - it truly is. But what good is it if people can’t play your game for 20 minutes without wanting to barf? The biggest test for me was getting my mother to try it - a woman who cannot watch me
play a first person shooter for a few minutes without getting dizzy, was not only seamlessly utilizing the Vive with no problems of dizziness or sickness, but that she was also using it extremely intuitively. The ease of access has to be attributed in no small part to the designs of the controllers. The
"What good is it if people can’t play your game without wanting to barf?"
Photo Credit: Valve
even the technology - it existed in one form or another; motion tracking, gyroscopes, and motion controls were already established technologies. Sure, someone had to put it all together, and
the foundation for the software needed to be built, but there were bigger matters holding it back. That sense of control, that 1-to-1 feedback was integral, partially to capture that sense of immersion, but also to keep people from getting motion sickness. That is not to say the hardware isn’t impressive - it truly is. But what good is it if people can’t play your game for 20 minutes without wanting to barf? The biggest test for me was getting my mother to try it - a woman who cannot watch me
play a first person shooter for a few minutes without getting dizzy, was not only seamlessly utilizing the Vive with no problems of dizziness or sickness, but that she was also using it extremely intuitively. The ease of access has to be attributed in no small part to the designs of the controllers. The
"What good is it if people can’t play your game without wanting to barf?"
Photo Credit: Valve
a unique form of player-interaction never before seen. I love
Hot Dogs
,
Horseshoes and & Hand-grenades
. It’s a shooting range simulator where you need to manually load your weapons, and has a range of both weapons and ranges, unsurprisingly. It’s really quite impressive, and with regular updates, the game feels well worth your dollar.
There’s also Valve’s
The Lab
, which is a title designed by Valve to showcase the technology of the Vive. It’s free, and has a bunch of mini-games and scenes which make for a fantastic set-piece, but with limited replayability. Still, it’s a nice concept bucket. Then there’s games like
Vanishing Realms
, which is a rudimentary hack-and-slash RPG fantasy game. Swing your sword, collect coins, kill baddies - you’re familiar with the formula. But what do all these games have in common? Well, it’s the second obstacle of course - the way in which you move around their worlds. Yes, the Vive does have room-scale capability, which means that with the two sensors set up in your room, you can physically move around a maximum of a 5x5 metre space freely, as long as you don’t get tangled up in your cables. While this works really well within the scope and context of games that have you moving around a small
area, it becomes a really big limiting factor for games that want you to explore further.
"If the technology can’t adapt to the context, then the context must adapt to the technology."
Vanishing Realms is an at- tempt to bring VR to RPG Photo Credit: Indimo Labs LLC
To combat the inability to physically walk wherever you want, most games allow you to teleport, by pointing and clicking using the controllers. While this method works, it doesn’t exactly lend itself to the sense of immersion if you’re blinking from place to place, especially in games like
Vanishing Realms
which have you playing swords with skeletal enemies. It just removes you from the world, and feels a bit cheaty as well. I know what you're thinking; “Jeff, you paragon of the people, how would you solve this issue?” To be honest, short of something like the treadmill the Virtuix guys are working on, I don’t think there’s going to be a comfortable way of moving freely on foot, without sacrificing the brilliance of using two hand-held controllers.
Photo Credit: Valve
To combat the inability to physically walk wherever you want, most games allow you to teleport, by pointing and clicking using the controllers. While this method works, it doesn’t exactly lend itself to the sense of immersion if you’re blinking from place to place, especially in games like
Vanishing Realms
which have you playing swords with skeletal enemies. It just removes you from the world, and feels a bit cheaty as well. I know what you're thinking; “Jeff, you paragon of the people, how would you solve this issue?” To be honest, short of something like the treadmill the Virtuix guys are working on, I don’t think there’s going to be a comfortable way of moving freely on foot, without sacrificing the brilliance of using two hand-held controllers.
Photo Credit: Valve
However, if the technology can’t adapt to the context, then the context must adapt to the technology. Imagine a game where you’re riding a horse, as a knight or a commander in an army. You don’t need to move your legs for that - all you need is one or two hands on the reins, and one hand free to pull a sword or give signals. You wouldn’t become disorientated because you’re on a horse and under the impression that control is secondary. Or perhaps you’re one of a team piloting a mech, and instead of having to run from location to location, you’re standing on a hovering platform that has a panel to fly between areas needed. I’m sure developers and other people way above my pay-grade are having the exact same conversation too, and while they might not come to the same ideas that I have, all they need to do is remember that the Vive is all about breaking down those barriers that separate our experience from the game. So, I know I mentioned the Oculus a few times, and undoubtedly there will be people who want a comparison between the two. That's fair enough, considering that these headpieces for the time being are going to cost a hefty bit of green, so I’ll keep it short and simple and say that having tried both the Oculus and the Vive, the latter is my choice. The technology is roughly the same, and while Oculus hasn’t got room-scale capability (that I know of), it’s been around longer and had a bit more development time. On the other hand, Vive has the support of Valve, while Oculus is owned by Facebook. Make of that what you will.
Before I wrap up, I want to talk briefly about headset-specific games. At the end of the day, and though I’ve said much to contradict this exact point, the Vive and the Oculus aren’t platforms - they’re peripherals. The console is still the PC, and it just so happens that there are games which need a particular piece of hardware, the VR headsets, for its intended playstyle. In that sense, they’re somewhat like those driving wheels people made for racing games. Could you imagine a company making a game specifically to be played on one brand of steering wheel, and incompatible with any other? It’s ludicrous for any company to want to be designing for one headset and not the other (except for hardware limiting factors like
Photo Credit: Valve
Before I wrap up, I want to talk briefly about headset-specific games. At the end of the day, and though I’ve said much to contradict this exact point, the Vive and the Oculus aren’t platforms - they’re peripherals. The console is still the PC, and it just so happens that there are games which need a particular piece of hardware, the VR headsets, for its intended playstyle. In that sense, they’re somewhat like those driving wheels people made for racing games. Could you imagine a company making a game specifically to be played on one brand of steering wheel, and incompatible with any other? It’s ludicrous for any company to want to be designing for one headset and not the other (except for hardware limiting factors like
Photo Credit: Valve
The only map currently available is the above-mentioned vista- filled Agora. A three-lane map with two tiers of towers to destroy and the tougher inhibitor towers beyond that. Destroying these will strengthen your minions in that lane and respawn once 6 minutes have passed. They in turn protect a base, which if you destroy, wins you the game. There is a collection of different heroes to play as, each with their own flavour and unique abilities. Ten players play against each other in teams of five. There is a mix of damage types (in
Paragon
, energy and physical damage) and respective defences. There are waves of minions and jungle camps to kill for experience and as you play your character increases in level and power.
Photo Credit: paragon
So yes, the usual show for a MOBA. One of the major differences however, is that as you gain experience you also gain “card points” and these card points are used a system unlike anything I've seen in MOBA's before. That’s right we have a deck system and suddenly we’re playing cards too…sort of. Cards are basically items that you purchase to increase the stats of your hero. Things like how hard you hit, how large a mana or health pool you have, your critical strike chance, or your armour value can all be increased. Each card however can also be slotted with three ‘upgrade cards’ which can further increase the stat bonus the card gives. So for example: Adamant Edge is a basic card that gives the wearer physical power and health. I can fill all of the upgrade slots with power upgrades and hit much, much harder. Alternatively, I can fill
So yes, the usual show for a MOBA. One of the major differences however, is that as you gain experience you also gain “card points” and these card points are used a system unlike anything I've seen in MOBA's before. That’s right we have a deck system and suddenly we’re playing cards too…sort of. Cards are basically items that you purchase to increase the stats of your hero. Things like how hard you hit, how large a mana or health pool you have, your critical strike chance, or your armour value can all be increased. Each card however can also be slotted with three ‘upgrade cards’ which can further increase the stat bonus the card gives. So for example: Adamant Edge is a basic card that gives the wearer physical power and health. I can fill all of the upgrade slots with power upgrades and hit much, much harder. Alternatively, I can fill
them with health upgrades and have a large chunk of extra health or I can do a mix of both. Factor in that these upgrades range in cost from one card point for a small bonus to four or more for a much larger one and suddenly every ‘item’ in the game is extremely flexible and customisable. The second part to the system is the fact that you create your own decks of cards for each character. You take these decks into each match and in essence they are your personalised item shop for that character. In any game of
Paragon
the maximum number of card points a character can earn in a game is 60, giving you enough flexibility to make a certain build. You can also choose what order you feel like upgrading them in during battle, plus discard and replace along the way. This means you can equip a cheap item that you only want for the early game then replace it with something more expensive and powerful later on when you have gathered the necessary card points to do so. Speaking of cards, Epic has made
Paragon
feel even more like a collectable card game by making new cards only available through the opening of randomised card packs. They have also stated that the only way you will ever earn these packs is through playing the game. No cards for cash here. I'm torn here because while I love me some ccg
Photo Credit: paragon
it does feel like your progression through the game overall depends on what cards you get. Heroes have affinities and can only equip related cards or the universal cards and upgrades that are usable by all heroes. The fact that there is currently no card crafting system in game is also something that makes this more of a problem. In fact the way the crafting system is implemented into the game will be something that I will be watching with interest, as the card list is still small. Plus trying to find particular cards for particular heroes is part of the lure of the game. The experience system in the game is something MOBA players might find new and intriguing. As I mentioned before minions will give you card points and experience when they die. If another minion gets the killing blow on a minion this drops on the ground as “amber” which will sit on the ground for a short period. This allows you to leave your lane for a moment and return to pick up some of the experience and points you might have otherwise missed. If however a hero does a killing blow on the minion the amber will fly directly to them and they will earn five times the amount of xp. Not only that but any friendly heroes standing near them will also gain that amount of amber. It's an interesting mix of last hitting from
League of Legends
and shared experience from
Heroes of the Storm
. Kills on enemy players also drops the amber on the ground but share it with all friendly heroes nearby when one of them picks it up. This is good as there is no “kill stealing”, everyone who helps with the kill gets the reward however people can use this mechanic to ‘deathball, i.e. grouping as five and roaming the map getting everyone on their team the full reward for any players they catch unawares and kill, quickly out-leveling their opponents if they are not paying attention. Also added into the mix are shadow patches and harvester points. Shadow patches serve as ambush points or scouting locations allowing anyone who steps into them to become invisible to enemies who are not also in the ‘shadow realm’ while still being able to see the surrounding area. Harvester points can have harvesters placed on them by either team. Any hero can do this by standing on the point for 30 seconds however if you have purchased a key (a basic item all players start with in their collections) it will only take you 6 seconds. Other
it does feel like your progression through the game overall depends on what cards you get. Heroes have affinities and can only equip related cards or the universal cards and upgrades that are usable by all heroes. The fact that there is currently no card crafting system in game is also something that makes this more of a problem. In fact the way the crafting system is implemented into the game will be something that I will be watching with interest, as the card list is still small. Plus trying to find particular cards for particular heroes is part of the lure of the game. The experience system in the game is something MOBA players might find new and intriguing. As I mentioned before minions will give you card points and experience when they die. If another minion gets the killing blow on a minion this drops on the ground as “amber” which will sit on the ground for a short period. This allows you to leave your lane for a moment and return to pick up some of the experience and points you might have otherwise missed. If however a hero does a killing blow on the minion the amber will fly directly to them and they will earn five times the amount of xp. Not only that but any friendly heroes standing near them will also gain that amount of amber. It's an interesting mix of last hitting from
League of Legends
and shared experience from
Heroes of the Storm
. Kills on enemy players also drops the amber on the ground but share it with all friendly heroes nearby when one of them picks it up. This is good as there is no “kill stealing”, everyone who helps with the kill gets the reward however people can use this mechanic to ‘deathball, i.e. grouping as five and roaming the map getting everyone on their team the full reward for any players they catch unawares and kill, quickly out-leveling their opponents if they are not paying attention. Also added into the mix are shadow patches and harvester points. Shadow patches serve as ambush points or scouting locations allowing anyone who steps into them to become invisible to enemies who are not also in the ‘shadow realm’ while still being able to see the surrounding area. Harvester points can have harvesters placed on them by either team. Any hero can do this by standing on the point for 30 seconds however if you have purchased a key (a basic item all players start with in their collections) it will only take you 6 seconds. Other
keys can be found in packs that give you two charges of harvester placement and bring the time taken down to 3 seconds. Once built they passively gather card points and experience and when this is collected (again just but standing on the point) it is given to the whole team. The enemy can destroy a placed harvester however that point is then locked for short time before another harvester can be placed there. Much like
Smite’s
Fire Giant, there’s also a large neutral creature, which will require a number of heroes to defeat in the middle of the map. However on it's death rather than just giving the team that killed it a buff, it drops the ‘Orb Prime’. This must be carried by a teammate to a location on the map within a time limit with the whole team getting the Orb Prime Buff (or OP buff), pre-picked in their decks with a card, on delivery. The problem is that whomever is carrying the orb is shown on the enemy teams minimaps, and if they can catch and kill that person then they can pick up the orb and try to turn it in before the time runs out. The really interesting thing about this mini game is the way you can use the orb tactically. You can take the orb and move in a group to force a fight or if the enemy is all defending the turn in point you can send someone to push a lane or take an inhibitor while they have to decide which is the lesser of two evils. My main current complaint about the game this the terrible lack of clarity on tool tips. Cards, upgrades, even hero abilities sometimes lack basic information for you to be able to judge how useful they will be. “[Insert ability name here] applies a shield when used”: How much of a shield? Does the shield scale with anything like my level or hit points or damage? There are a lot of instances of this type of tool tip in the game currently and maybe Epic are trying to keep some things murky on purpose. It is early access and perhaps when they have numbers nailed down they will put them into the tooltips. I'm not sure I just hope that this is looked at before the game is actually released. That said I have to commend the developers and support team on the diligence they have shown so far. As I mentioned before Epic owns and has been working with their Unreal Engine a number of years and it shows. I had to contact support due to an error in game and they had responded
and fixed it within 24 hours. Most bugs or issues the community finds have so far been addressed, and usually within a day or so of them being reported. They have even gone forward with a wholesale movement speed increase that many players had requested even though they hadn't originally planned such a thing. Of course they let us know they will revert back to the original speed if they don't like what it does to the game but I think the fact that they are even willing to try out something like that speaks to how well they listen to their player base and I feel that it can only bode well for the future of the game. If you’re a fan of either MOBA's or third person shooters I highly recommend giving this title a try. There are Founders Packs available now for , or 0, which will get you into early access or you can try your luck snagging a code from a Twitch stream. It will be free to play when it is released so you can just wait while they iron out the last few kinks and polish the game up. The game is still in development so it shall be quite interesting to see how things pan out. At the moment however, I am enjoying it immensely and look forward to many more exhilarating battles on the fields of Agora.
Photo Credit: paragon
and fixed it within 24 hours. Most bugs or issues the community finds have so far been addressed, and usually within a day or so of them being reported. They have even gone forward with a wholesale movement speed increase that many players had requested even though they hadn't originally planned such a thing. Of course they let us know they will revert back to the original speed if they don't like what it does to the game but I think the fact that they are even willing to try out something like that speaks to how well they listen to their player base and I feel that it can only bode well for the future of the game. If you’re a fan of either MOBA's or third person shooters I highly recommend giving this title a try. There are Founders Packs available now for , or 0, which will get you into early access or you can try your luck snagging a code from a Twitch stream. It will be free to play when it is released so you can just wait while they iron out the last few kinks and polish the game up. The game is still in development so it shall be quite interesting to see how things pan out. At the moment however, I am enjoying it immensely and look forward to many more exhilarating battles on the fields of Agora.
Photo Credit: paragon
Overwatch
is set in a future earth, after the “Omnic Crisis” which was an uprising of Artificial Intelligence robots. Overwatch was formed to combat the omnic threat. Following the end of the crisis, Overwatch remained as a peacekeeping force, recruiting some of the world’s most brilliant scientists and soldiers. After several international incidents however, Overwatch’s headquarters was destroyed, the task force was disbanded by the U.N and all surviving agents went underground. But now the world is once again under threat and it’s time for Overwatch to reform as a team to save humanity once again. Blizzard has really taken the time to build the universe for
Overwatch
. It has a pretty in depth storyline dating back to Overwatch’s creation in the game world, and each character in the game has lengthy development, telling their origins and how they came to be a part of
Overwatch
. It’s interesting that Blizzard has
Photo Credit: Screenshot
chosen to put as much focus on the storyline and characters as they have as this is just a multiplayer shooter, there is no campaign. But that hasn’t stopped them, as prior to the game's release Blizzard took advantage of other mediums to tell their story. There was a short comic series, a graphic novel and four animated shorts all focusing on different heroes from the game. It’s smart they did it that way. As apart from an opening cinematic there is no story really told in game. This allows for the people who just want to get in and play the game to do just that and for people who wish to take in a story there is that option too. That said, with how rich the
Overwatch
lore is, and how diverse and interesting the characters are it seemed like a missed opportunity to not have some kind of campaign mode. Even if it was just short missions for each character with a few cut scenes with a plot, just to give
Photo Credit: Screenshot Photo Credit: Screenshot
chosen to put as much focus on the storyline and characters as they have as this is just a multiplayer shooter, there is no campaign. But that hasn’t stopped them, as prior to the game's release Blizzard took advantage of other mediums to tell their story. There was a short comic series, a graphic novel and four animated shorts all focusing on different heroes from the game. It’s smart they did it that way. As apart from an opening cinematic there is no story really told in game. This allows for the people who just want to get in and play the game to do just that and for people who wish to take in a story there is that option too. That said, with how rich the
Overwatch
lore is, and how diverse and interesting the characters are it seemed like a missed opportunity to not have some kind of campaign mode. Even if it was just short missions for each character with a few cut scenes with a plot, just to give
Photo Credit: Screenshot Photo Credit: Screenshot
players an idea of how each hero plays. A training campaign to prepare you for the multiplayer, similar to how
Rainbow Six Siege
had the single player missions. Alas, you are left to your own devices to figure out each hero and perhaps that works best for what this game is trying to do. Everything in
Overwatch
is character driven. The game has a cast of twenty one playable heroes, each with their own unique skill set and abilities. With the heroes being split up into four classes. Offence, Defence, Tanks and Support and all of these characters don’t even pretend
Photo Credit: Screenshot
to play the same. There is a lot of variety on offer here for many different play styles. Tracer is the face of the game, she has the ability to traverse through time. She can zip around the enemy team and is really effective at close range. She can also rewind three seconds into the past allowing her to reset her health and ammo to that point. Genji is a cyborg that can shoot throwing stars from his hands, bounce around the map and up walls, and can deflect almost any attack with his sword. If you prefer to be a sniper then Widowmaker is your girl. She is armed with a sniper rifle that can deal massive amounts of damage when charged. Her grapple hook allows her to reach vantage points on the map that most heroes can’t get to and when caught in close range combat her rifle can become rapid fire. If Sniping isn’t your thing, Bastion is a robot that can transform into a turret or tank and can also heal himself at the press of a button, although he is incredibly overpowered from what I've seen. Junkrat can fire explosive frags all around the place, lay traps for the enemy team; essentially he is annoying. Mei can freeze groups of enemies making them easy targets. D.va is tank hero with a large mech, similar to those in
Titanfall
. The mech is armed with assault shotguns which make her extremely effective close range, she has rocket boosters to traverse the map and can even self destruct to create a devastating explosion that can wipe out the entire enemy team. When out of the mech her rapid fire pistol can deal heaps of damage. Reinhardt is a very useful tank hero as he can create a massive forward shield to defend the team from attacks but can easily be killed from the side or behind. With a mixture of Reinhardt and Winston or D.va the tank class can truly dominate the game.
Photo Credit: Screenshot
to play the same. There is a lot of variety on offer here for many different play styles. Tracer is the face of the game, she has the ability to traverse through time. She can zip around the enemy team and is really effective at close range. She can also rewind three seconds into the past allowing her to reset her health and ammo to that point. Genji is a cyborg that can shoot throwing stars from his hands, bounce around the map and up walls, and can deflect almost any attack with his sword. If you prefer to be a sniper then Widowmaker is your girl. She is armed with a sniper rifle that can deal massive amounts of damage when charged. Her grapple hook allows her to reach vantage points on the map that most heroes can’t get to and when caught in close range combat her rifle can become rapid fire. If Sniping isn’t your thing, Bastion is a robot that can transform into a turret or tank and can also heal himself at the press of a button, although he is incredibly overpowered from what I've seen. Junkrat can fire explosive frags all around the place, lay traps for the enemy team; essentially he is annoying. Mei can freeze groups of enemies making them easy targets. D.va is tank hero with a large mech, similar to those in
Titanfall
. The mech is armed with assault shotguns which make her extremely effective close range, she has rocket boosters to traverse the map and can even self destruct to create a devastating explosion that can wipe out the entire enemy team. When out of the mech her rapid fire pistol can deal heaps of damage. Reinhardt is a very useful tank hero as he can create a massive forward shield to defend the team from attacks but can easily be killed from the side or behind. With a mixture of Reinhardt and Winston or D.va the tank class can truly dominate the game.
Photo Credit: Screenshot
and no two games are the same, providing a large amount of variety from a simple base.. The game does has a deep learning curve, and learning hero combinations is everything. Each team has six players with twenty one heroes to choose from and this is where
Overwatch
suddenly changes from a simple game to a complex one. It’s about mastering each hero, figuring out which of them have synergy as a team. Each hero has natural weakness others can take advantage of. It’s about finding the right balance between all four classes while still being able to find combinations to counter the enemy team. Being able to change characters on the fly also means that it is a real cat and mouse game over who has the advantage. If a team is losing all they have to do is change their
Photo Credit: Screenshot
line up and before you know it they have could have the advantage and it’s all over. It works better if players avoid playing a small list of heroes, as it’s about taking the responsibility to fill a role in the team and not about how many kills you get. In fact the game actually tells you when there are too many of one character, no tank or support class, too many or few offence and defence heroes, no snipers etc. This allows players to see where they are needed, it’s about taking the initiative. If there is no support, then pick a support character. There is no such thing as a main hero in
Overwatch
. Of course when you first start the game, it’s only natural to play as the characters attractive to you. That’s fine as it gives you a starting point, but if you want to be any good at the game you really have to experience and be able to play the full roster. The stat system is really handy in this game as well. It tracks things like how long you play, how many eliminations or assists, how much healing done, time spent on the objective etc. It breaks each category down into each hero, allowing you to see which heroes you are good at and which ones need improvement. It’s actually kind of encouraging as it forced you to get outside your comfort zone and try to get better at other characters besides the one you regularly play as. This game is at its best when two teams understand the mechanics and hero combinations. It makes for really close games where it’s really tense, fast paced and competitive. That’s where I have the most fun with this game. That said, this system does bring some issues for teams who aren’t as cooperative with each other. The game loses it’s fun factor when teams start picking the same heroes or have no idea how to change heroes to counter the opposing team. For example when defending the team might pick a few Bastions and a couple of Torbjourn who can build turrets and a healer. They can create a choke point that is near impossible sometimes to get past causing the game to basically become a slaughterhouse simulator. It actually ruins the experience for me and while some may argue that is good defence. I completely disagree. It gives the team an unfair advantage in some cases making it impossible to get past
line up and before you know it they have could have the advantage and it’s all over. It works better if players avoid playing a small list of heroes, as it’s about taking the responsibility to fill a role in the team and not about how many kills you get. In fact the game actually tells you when there are too many of one character, no tank or support class, too many or few offence and defence heroes, no snipers etc. This allows players to see where they are needed, it’s about taking the initiative. If there is no support, then pick a support character. There is no such thing as a main hero in
Overwatch
. Of course when you first start the game, it’s only natural to play as the characters attractive to you. That’s fine as it gives you a starting point, but if you want to be any good at the game you really have to experience and be able to play the full roster. The stat system is really handy in this game as well. It tracks things like how long you play, how many eliminations or assists, how much healing done, time spent on the objective etc. It breaks each category down into each hero, allowing you to see which heroes you are good at and which ones need improvement. It’s actually kind of encouraging as it forced you to get outside your comfort zone and try to get better at other characters besides the one you regularly play as. This game is at its best when two teams understand the mechanics and hero combinations. It makes for really close games where it’s really tense, fast paced and competitive. That’s where I have the most fun with this game. That said, this system does bring some issues for teams who aren’t as cooperative with each other. The game loses it’s fun factor when teams start picking the same heroes or have no idea how to change heroes to counter the opposing team. For example when defending the team might pick a few Bastions and a couple of Torbjourn who can build turrets and a healer. They can create a choke point that is near impossible sometimes to get past causing the game to basically become a slaughterhouse simulator. It actually ruins the experience for me and while some may argue that is good defence. I completely disagree. It gives the team an unfair advantage in some cases making it impossible to get past
the blockade of auto locking turrets no matter which heroes you play as. That is not teamwork that is just a lazy strategy, a guaranteed victory nine times out of ten. That's currently my biggest gripe with the game and for the most part it is an enjoyable and new experience. The game has no Kill/ death ratio and acknowledges good teamwork. There's even a voting system at the end of each game so players can vote for who was most useful. The maps are really well designed as well, making room to utilise all the heroes. There are plenty of open areas, corridors and small rooms for close quarters combat. Each map has several choke points to allow for some challenge. Environment is key on all the maps and if taken
Photo Credit: Screenshot
advantage off, it can allow for some epic battles. Each map also has a unique look and feel to them, in a cartoony futuristic aesthetic. From movie lots to the wild west, there is a lot of variety to the maps and they all look so pretty. The game also has a reward system of sorts. Rewarding players with loot boxes allowing them to collect skins, sprays, voice lines and emotes for all their favourite heroes. The drops are random but the boxes sometimes contain in game currency to purchase all of these things. However, a loot box is only ever rewarded with level ups which means they don’t come by as often which makes unlock progression slow. The game does resort to micro transactions for more loot boxes however like with any game that uses that gambling gimmick it rarely ends up worth your hard earned dosh. Overall, there is something quite special about
Overwatch
. It is addictive, fun and may have possibly taken over my life. Whether it is a game that will last and compete against the FPS powerhouse franchises, I don’t know. It is too early to say how successful and how much longevity will come from this. I am sure Blizzard have something up their sleeve planned for this game and as long as there are people playing it, I will be too. Is it worth the asking price of ? Just like any multiplayer only game no it isn’t. But if you can pick it up at a sale price, I would highly recommend it. Plus it has a great soundtrack as well and some of the voice lines alone make the whole thing worth it.
advantage off, it can allow for some epic battles. Each map also has a unique look and feel to them, in a cartoony futuristic aesthetic. From movie lots to the wild west, there is a lot of variety to the maps and they all look so pretty. The game also has a reward system of sorts. Rewarding players with loot boxes allowing them to collect skins, sprays, voice lines and emotes for all their favourite heroes. The drops are random but the boxes sometimes contain in game currency to purchase all of these things. However, a loot box is only ever rewarded with level ups which means they don’t come by as often which makes unlock progression slow. The game does resort to micro transactions for more loot boxes however like with any game that uses that gambling gimmick it rarely ends up worth your hard earned dosh. Overall, there is something quite special about
Overwatch
. It is addictive, fun and may have possibly taken over my life. Whether it is a game that will last and compete against the FPS powerhouse franchises, I don’t know. It is too early to say how successful and how much longevity will come from this. I am sure Blizzard have something up their sleeve planned for this game and as long as there are people playing it, I will be too. Is it worth the asking price of ? Just like any multiplayer only game no it isn’t. But if you can pick it up at a sale price, I would highly recommend it. Plus it has a great soundtrack as well and some of the voice lines alone make the whole thing worth it.
The End Times
, where Games Workshop hit the reset button and reshaped the entire world. Our game here,
TW:W
, is set in what is now the old model of
Warhammer Fantasy
, with the setting and lore that people are familiar with. Although there are about two- dozen races in the franchise, CA decided to limit this outing to five(ish): The human Empire, The Dwarfs, Orcs and Goblins, Vampire Counts and The Warriors of Chaos (the last race being a day one DLC pack). It’s a good spread and gives players a great deal of variance in how the game can be played with each race. Most
Total War
games have followed roughly the same patterns of gameplay with each of their titles.
Rome
had some variance with how one played Romans, Egyptians or more barbaric nations, but the rest of the franchise, with games like
Medieval, Shogun, Empires/ Napoleon
, each having a fairly rigid play style. Samurai, knights and 18th century armies all fight essentially the same way as each other. The races of
Warhammer
on the other hand have refreshingly unique tactics as to how one can use them. Representing the forces of Order: The Empire fights as a cross between a
Medieval
army, with knights and militia, and something more Napoleonic with various artillery and rifle units, not to mention the odd Mage for magical support and human artillery. Dwarfs on the other hand are short and slow but immensely tough, with even their weakest units being armoured melee experts, supported
Photo Credit: Creative Assembly, SEGA
by their own superior artillery and steampunk technology. Viking melee weaponry (and beards) crossed with Roman military efficiency makes them a formidable opponent. The forces of Destruction (essentially evil): The Orcs and Goblins are giant green skinned brutes that like hitting things, even each other! They have such a large range of creatures and units to field that their flexibility gives the lie to the idea that they’re simply a horde that washes over their enemies in a tide of green barbarians. The Warriors of Chaos are similar, with their own Viking raider aesthetic potentially causing one to underestimate just how wily the evil gits can be, and just how insanely strong their late game monsters and elite warriors are. The Vampire Counts are another thing altogether, being the first ever army in a
Total War
game to field no ranged capabilities whatsoever. They make up for this by having an army of fearless undead. Skeletons, ghosts, zombies and fell creatures of magic and myth have no need for fear and thus can weather a ranged storm of bolts and bullets to meet their foes. Each race has their standard tactics for battle, e.g. the Dwarfs make defensive lines or the Vampire Counts make huge numbered shambling hordes to wash over the enemy army, but it’s easily possible to try out different approaches and the game is most rewarding when you pull off interesting manoeuvres. Battle isn’t all there is to this game however. The world domination mode of the campaign is still just as enthralling as ever in the Old World of
Warhammer
, more so even.
Photo Credit: steampowered.com
by their own superior artillery and steampunk technology. Viking melee weaponry (and beards) crossed with Roman military efficiency makes them a formidable opponent. The forces of Destruction (essentially evil): The Orcs and Goblins are giant green skinned brutes that like hitting things, even each other! They have such a large range of creatures and units to field that their flexibility gives the lie to the idea that they’re simply a horde that washes over their enemies in a tide of green barbarians. The Warriors of Chaos are similar, with their own Viking raider aesthetic potentially causing one to underestimate just how wily the evil gits can be, and just how insanely strong their late game monsters and elite warriors are. The Vampire Counts are another thing altogether, being the first ever army in a
Total War
game to field no ranged capabilities whatsoever. They make up for this by having an army of fearless undead. Skeletons, ghosts, zombies and fell creatures of magic and myth have no need for fear and thus can weather a ranged storm of bolts and bullets to meet their foes. Each race has their standard tactics for battle, e.g. the Dwarfs make defensive lines or the Vampire Counts make huge numbered shambling hordes to wash over the enemy army, but it’s easily possible to try out different approaches and the game is most rewarding when you pull off interesting manoeuvres. Battle isn’t all there is to this game however. The world domination mode of the campaign is still just as enthralling as ever in the Old World of
Warhammer
, more so even.
Photo Credit: steampowered.com
other option for Legendary Lord is Thorgrim Grudgebearer, the High King of the Dwarfs who is always carried around on his golden throne along with his own big axe and the great Book of Grudges. Said book is a highly important element of the Dwarf campaign as the grumpy race takes their grudges and shames to heart and great extremes. Much like in
Rome
where you were beholden to the Senate’s whims, the Dwarfs find it very important to seek bloody vengeance for grievances other races (or even their own) have done to them, whether serious or petty. In fact you can’t win their campaign until you’ve paid your enemies back for each and every grudge in the book. This becomes a challenge over a 40+ hour campaign as the more you go to war with neighbours and rival factions, the more battles you fight and the more retaliations you suffer. Suddenly life becomes a little complicated. Beginning my campaign with Ungrim, everything seemed to be going relatively well. You start off at war with the traditional enemies of the Dwarfs, the Greenskin Orcs, and you have a merry time beating them off your ancestral
Photo Credit: Cr
lands and reclaiming the broken Dwarf civilisation. As you go along you build up your cities and provinces, hoping they earn enough upkeep to maintain your swish armies. What with Dwarfs being covered in armour and needing to drink their own weight in ale as part of their diet, they’re expensive bastards too. Luckily their territories have mines galore to find metals to trade with the young humans and other Dwarfs. Communicating with the humans and other Dwarfs is quite interesting as well. Diplomacy has always been wonky at best in the
Total War
series and there haven’t been any games since
Rome 1
that interested me with its diplomacy. For the most part the diplomacy has lacked a lot in character until now. With
TW:W
the other factions have racial grudges and likes or dislikes that can influence how your relationship grows or dies. As the Dwarfs I was more than happy to make friends with the humans wherever possible, the Empire and its offshoots were friendly enough but the Border Princes were fairly aggressive to everything that moves. The other Dwarf factions start off friendly enough but until you start beating up Orcs and writing off grudges they won’t be too keen on alliances or confederation. With that in mind I set to reclaiming the Dwarf Empire, marching my expensive armies out to kick the ruddy greenskins out, my Slayer King leading my armies to victories against ancient enemies. The beautiful thing about the
Total War
games is that every time you do a campaign it’ll have it’s own little flavour and character. The AI will do different things each time and the campaign will twist and turn accordingly. Luckily for me, the Greenskins had so much infighting that it gave me enough time to set myself up and create a massive crusading army to send south and cleanse the world of my hated enemies. Everything was going well, my victories were often and crushingly successful. I had a minor setback after my Slayer King earned the epitaph of “Orc Friend” for some reason, making it harder for me to fight them but things were mostly on their way up. Until… I discovered that should you leave your homeland undefended, the AI certainly picks up on that. After my invincible armies had crusaded some distance into the badlands south, the Vampire Counts, rather out of nowhere, decided to officially declare war on me, march into my lands and razed several of my
lands and reclaiming the broken Dwarf civilisation. As you go along you build up your cities and provinces, hoping they earn enough upkeep to maintain your swish armies. What with Dwarfs being covered in armour and needing to drink their own weight in ale as part of their diet, they’re expensive bastards too. Luckily their territories have mines galore to find metals to trade with the young humans and other Dwarfs. Communicating with the humans and other Dwarfs is quite interesting as well. Diplomacy has always been wonky at best in the
Total War
series and there haven’t been any games since
Rome 1
that interested me with its diplomacy. For the most part the diplomacy has lacked a lot in character until now. With
TW:W
the other factions have racial grudges and likes or dislikes that can influence how your relationship grows or dies. As the Dwarfs I was more than happy to make friends with the humans wherever possible, the Empire and its offshoots were friendly enough but the Border Princes were fairly aggressive to everything that moves. The other Dwarf factions start off friendly enough but until you start beating up Orcs and writing off grudges they won’t be too keen on alliances or confederation. With that in mind I set to reclaiming the Dwarf Empire, marching my expensive armies out to kick the ruddy greenskins out, my Slayer King leading my armies to victories against ancient enemies. The beautiful thing about the
Total War
games is that every time you do a campaign it’ll have it’s own little flavour and character. The AI will do different things each time and the campaign will twist and turn accordingly. Luckily for me, the Greenskins had so much infighting that it gave me enough time to set myself up and create a massive crusading army to send south and cleanse the world of my hated enemies. Everything was going well, my victories were often and crushingly successful. I had a minor setback after my Slayer King earned the epitaph of “Orc Friend” for some reason, making it harder for me to fight them but things were mostly on their way up. Until… I discovered that should you leave your homeland undefended, the AI certainly picks up on that. After my invincible armies had crusaded some distance into the badlands south, the Vampire Counts, rather out of nowhere, decided to officially declare war on me, march into my lands and razed several of my
cities to the ground, salting the earth of my northern border. How rude! It rather derailed my plans and suddenly I was fighting a war on two fronts. Having done nothing to the Vampire Counts the entire time as well, it felt especially nasty that they suddenly ended their wars against the Empire to blind side me. As the Empire was already aggressive towards the undead bastards, I made a military alliance with them, hoping to crush the blood drinkers between us. That was the plan, but the Empire had their own ideas and instead ignored our mutual enemy entirely and dragged me into their own civil wars. Then, while I got so distracted by these complications, the Greenskins managed to confederate with most of the southern tribes and started several Waaagh’s against me (the Orcish word that all at once means attack/get them!/war/crusade/racial migration/Orcs are best!). Life was very complicated but this is what makes the campaign fun. It’s a living, breathing world and reacts to what you’re doing, or what you’re not. And this is just the single player campaign. Next issue we’ll have more on campaign battles, custom battles and some co-op campaign. In the meantime, the High King Thorgrim has now become available for me, meaning I have a mighty general, with a big book of grudges on his throne, and he can’t wait to cross of the names of some Vampires waiting to feel Dwarfen vengeance.
Photo Credit: Creative Assembly, SEGA
Real fictitious tales of gaming.
by Jeff Wong
Local Multiplayer - 1.7
THE RENEGADE OPTION
I
t’s about 7:15 in the evening, and I’m enjoying a nice home-cooked dinner and playing Mass Effect (the first one) in the living room. I’m trying to replay the games again, except this time I’m choosing all the renegade options. It's weird being a bad guy, because I don't think I'm a bad person in real life. There's this weird disconnect, but the story's interesting enough to keep me hooked.
"I almost snap my neck in an effort to resist the eye-roll I have stored up."
Photo Credit
Real fictitious tales of gaming.
by Jeff Wong
Local Multiplayer - 1.7
THE RENEGADE OPTION
I
t’s about 7:15 in the evening, and I’m enjoying a nice home-cooked dinner and playing Mass Effect (the first one) in the living room. I’m trying to replay the games again, except this time I’m choosing all the renegade options. It's weird being a bad guy, because I don't think I'm a bad person in real life. There's this weird disconnect, but the story's interesting enough to keep me hooked.
"I almost snap my neck in an effort to resist the eye-roll I have stored up."
Photo Credit
I get a few good minutes in, before when Leeroy comes home with company. “Hey!” He says jovially. “Have you met my new girlfriend? She’s
awesome
. Here, Susan, meet my house-mate. House-mate, meet Susan.” I quickly swallow the last bites of gravy and brisket to greet the woman standing beside Leeroy. “Hey, nice to meet you.” “You too.” Susan smiles. She’s fairly unassuming; brunette, a bit shorter than Leeroy, and dressed well. I start to think that Leeroy has finally settled down and found himself a nice girl that isn’t a bizarre eccentric or furry. Not that I have anything against furries, but that’s a story for another time. Susan takes a seat next to me, but Leeroy waves me into the kitchen. “Hey, do you mind if I have a quick word?” He says, before nodding to Susan. “Make yourself at home. Do you want anything to drink?” Susan shrugs, but smiles at Leeroy. “Anything’s fine.” I follow Leeroy into the kitchen, and place my empty plate in the sink to soak. “What’s up?” I say as I turn to Leeroy. Leeroy’s distracted, and glances out into the living room a few times before turning back to me. “Okay,” He takes a deep breath, and pauses. “So, I
really
like Susan.” “Okay.” I say. He doesn’t continue, so I try and fill the void. “She seems sweet. Nice find.” “Yeah.” Leeroy mutters. It’s only now that I see something that looks like hesitation in his eye. “Yeah. See, the thing is, she’s - well she’s, uh… She’s got this
thing
.” Uh oh. “Right. Like,” I’m somewhat scared to go on. “Like - what do you mean exactly?” Leeroy lowers his voice. “Well, see, she’s into a specific kind of guy.” I narrow my eyes. “I’m going to go out on a limb here, but is that kind of guy
you
? Because you did introduce her as your girlfriend.” “No, I mean” Leeroy shakes his head, glancing back into the living room. “She likes… Well she likes
bad
guys.” Really? “Okay.” I say slowly. I glance over Leeroy’s shoulder into the living room. Susan’s watching a cut scene, and seems to be fairly absorbed. She doesn’t seem like the kind, but hey, what do I know?
But anyway. “Well, everyone’s got their thing.” “Yeah, so I was wondering if you could help me with that.” “What.” “Like,” Leeroy grins sheepishly. “Do you mind if I kind of, you know - act like a bad guy?” Why me. “Um,” There’s really no way out of this though. “Sure? I mean, as long as it’s nothing too bad. You owe me though.” Leeroy’s eyes light up. “Yeah, alright - yeah! Sure, no worries man, this’ll be awesome! Thanks so much!” We return to the living room a bit later carrying several cans of soft- drink, and Leeroy plops down next to Susan, where I was sitting shortly before. “Ooh,” Leeroy smarmily comments, with mock-machismo. “Looks like you’ll have to sit down somewhere else, mate.” I almost snap my neck in an effort to resist the eye-roll I have stored up, but to my surprise Susan turns to stare at Leeroy with what looks like the awe of a thousand suns. “Okay.” I say, as I grab my controller and move to an armchair. I crack open my orange soft-drink, and get back to the game. The room fills with a few more seconds of semi-comfortable silence, save for gameplay, before Susan glances at the drink Leeroy passed her. “Oh, babe.” She says apologetically. “Sorry, I don’t like Cola.” “Oh - no worries, babe, I can get you something else. What do you want?” “Orange soda.” She says, without even glancing at me. “Do have any?” I can see Leeroy’s eyes gaze past Susan’s face to fall on my soft-drink. I’m shaking my head, but Leeroy nods at her, and begins walking over to me. “No worries, babe, I got this.” He says with a smirk. As soon as Leeroy has his back to Susan, his smile drops and gives me a look of please play along. When Leeroy gets over to where I’m sitting, I shake my head slightly. “This is weird.” I whisper. “This is really weird.” Leeroy replies in the same, hushed whisper. Leeroy makes a scene of snatching up my soft-drink, and I just slump in my chair, equally confused, equally bewildered, equally disappointed. Leeroy returns to the couch, and
But anyway. “Well, everyone’s got their thing.” “Yeah, so I was wondering if you could help me with that.” “What.” “Like,” Leeroy grins sheepishly. “Do you mind if I kind of, you know - act like a bad guy?” Why me. “Um,” There’s really no way out of this though. “Sure? I mean, as long as it’s nothing too bad. You owe me though.” Leeroy’s eyes light up. “Yeah, alright - yeah! Sure, no worries man, this’ll be awesome! Thanks so much!” We return to the living room a bit later carrying several cans of soft- drink, and Leeroy plops down next to Susan, where I was sitting shortly before. “Ooh,” Leeroy smarmily comments, with mock-machismo. “Looks like you’ll have to sit down somewhere else, mate.” I almost snap my neck in an effort to resist the eye-roll I have stored up, but to my surprise Susan turns to stare at Leeroy with what looks like the awe of a thousand suns. “Okay.” I say, as I grab my controller and move to an armchair. I crack open my orange soft-drink, and get back to the game. The room fills with a few more seconds of semi-comfortable silence, save for gameplay, before Susan glances at the drink Leeroy passed her. “Oh, babe.” She says apologetically. “Sorry, I don’t like Cola.” “Oh - no worries, babe, I can get you something else. What do you want?” “Orange soda.” She says, without even glancing at me. “Do have any?” I can see Leeroy’s eyes gaze past Susan’s face to fall on my soft-drink. I’m shaking my head, but Leeroy nods at her, and begins walking over to me. “No worries, babe, I got this.” He says with a smirk. As soon as Leeroy has his back to Susan, his smile drops and gives me a look of please play along. When Leeroy gets over to where I’m sitting, I shake my head slightly. “This is weird.” I whisper. “This is really weird.” Leeroy replies in the same, hushed whisper. Leeroy makes a scene of snatching up my soft-drink, and I just slump in my chair, equally confused, equally bewildered, equally disappointed. Leeroy returns to the couch, and
hands over his freshly conquered orange soda. “Here you go, babe.” Again, Susan glows with incredulous respect. “Thanks so much, babe.” I’m really thirsty, and wonder if it would put a dent in Leeroy’s plan to woo this girl if I took her cola that she abandoned. I decide against it, and try to focus on the dialogue options. Really, I should have just left the room, but hell if I’m going to leave mid-way through an important scene because Leeroy’s doing something dumb. A few more minutes pass, and I’m almost at a point in which I’m starting to enjoy myself again, when I notice that Susan is quite visibly shivering. “Leeroy,” I hiss during another cut scene. He pulls his attention from the television, and glances over to me. I gaze pointedly at his partner, who despite being right next to him, has balled herself up in an effort to keep warm. I know we keep this apartment frosty, but I didn’t realize it was this bad. Perhaps partially due to the hoodie I’m always wearing. Comfy. “Are you cold, babe?” To his credit, Leeroy sounds genuinely concerned. “N-no, it’s okay, really-” Leeroy turns back to me. “Give her your hoodie, bro.” “What? No,” I rack my head for excuses, before coming up empty. “No. Why don’t you get her one of yours?” Leeroy scoffs, and rolls up his sleeves. “C’mon bro, don’t make this hard.” “Alright,
Christ
,” I shrug off my hoodie and throw it at Leeroy. Man, it actually is pretty cold. “Here you go, babe.” Leeroy says, as he wraps Susan up in my still- warm hoodie. “Thanks, babe.” She beams up at him as she snuggles into the cotton fabric. She turns her attention to me. “And thanks to you too - you guys are such sweet dad guys!” Leeroy freezes with a look of incredulity on his face. I speak in his mental absence. “What did you say, Susan?” “You know,” She waves through my hoodie. “Dad-guys. Like mom- friends, you know? People who take care of the group!” “Oh.” Leeroy mouths. “Right.” Susan goes on and on about dad- guys, while Leeroy looks at me, forlorn and apologetic. I roll my eyes, and choose paragon for the next dialogue choice.
