Topic: Pure Xbox Game Club - Rise of the Tomb Raider (May)

@themightyant ahh get back on it if you liked fringe the first time around! It gets totally bonkers toward the end, if it wasn't already 😅. I rewatched it a few years ago and it still holds up!

@ralphdibny I watched Fringe this year and got to a point that on a sunday I watched a whole season! Absolutely fantastic.

@ralphdibny my votes for next month go to Mirror's Edge, perfect dark, kameo and Dante's Inferno

So as today was a bank holiday around here I have started quantum break and finished the first 3 chapters... So I am nearly done lol (not sure I will go back to check alternative timelines).
First impressions are good as the quality of the mocap is very good and the game compares with Control that is 3 years younger fantasticaly as this last one has some very uncanny faces (and is on top of my mind as I finished the game last week)
The story is interesting even though not groundbreaking (it is keeping me interested as again in Control I never cared to read the collectibles but in this one I do read almost every e-mail) and the combat in terms of guns is nothing to talk about but mixed with the powers is rather fun.
I am definitely enjoying my time with it (more than I was expecting)

@Balta666 haha yeah, fringe is very addictive and it's easy to get lost in it especially in the later shorter seasons!

Nice one on making a fair bit of progress on Quantum Break!!

Very very close to finish the story (I believe I am about to start the last act) and it is hard to put it down as the story is getting way more interesting ever step forward. Just having my fingers crossed that they manage to finish the story in a satisfactory way!

And credits rolled... I am conflicted on it. On one side the story is well told without loopholes and it makes total sense (as I like) however there are two things not explained which may be because they were thinking about a sequel but the story in my point of view works better as standalone. Regardless I really enjoyed my time with it.
Checked the achievements and it makes you play the whole game a second time on hard and that is not my cup of tea so it is it. Moving to the next one (probably outer worlds)

Started up Quantum Break as well now since I've finished up a couple of games and I wanted something new and interesting to play. I just finished the first act and so far the game is incredible. In terms of gameplay, it's a lot more exhilarating than Alan Wake's more slow-paced gameplay. The gameplay is still shooting but now you have a bunch of superpowers at your disposal due to the time mechanic. Dashing, creating shields, throwing time bubbles to slow down enemies, it's all just so much fun. It almost feels like I'm playing an inFAMOUS game in terms of the superpowers. The story is also so fascinating to me because I just played through Steins;Gate on Vita and that game was about time as well, which truly opened up my interest in that topic. I'm also impressed to see so many well-known actors, like that guy from Lost who played Charlie, Shawn Ashmore and of course who could forget Littlefinger from Game of Thrones. It's a great cast and I can't wait to experience more of the story.

@LtSarge Dominic Monaghan played Charlie I think and he was Merry or Pippin in Lord of the rings. Merry I think! He also played someone called Bradley Bolt or something in X Men Origins Wolverine

@ralphdibny Ah okay. It's definitely nice to see these actors show up in more media today. I also noticed that the actress who plays one of the Traci from Detroit: Become Human is also in this game. It's a seriously good cast!

On a side note, I genuinely love that Littlefinger is actually the main villain of a story now. I really liked him in GoT.

I know it's not this month's game but it's somewhat related. I'm finally playing Alan Wake's American Nightmare! I'm near the end of it I think, I'm on the third time loop in the observatory. I'll probably play up until just before the last story based achievement tonight and leave the finale for tomorrow.

I have to say that I much prefer the pacing of this game over the original Alan Wake. It's much quicker and less tedious in so many ways. I've heard that this one is "repetitive" but I don't really agree and it's certainly not the slog I've heard it made out to be. It's very quick, I've got most of the manuscript pages and I've barely searched for them. I'm not going to go for 100% though as I want to move on.

Graphics are a bit of a step down from the PC version of Alan Wake. I could have played my steam copy of American Nightmare but the convenience of the 360 copy on xbox game pass made it too hard to pass up as I don't have to hook the Mac up to the monitor and connect a controller etc.

Great soundtrack too!

I forgot to mention as well that Alan seems to move a lot faster in this game too which makes it less of a slog

Anyway, it's a good game and I look forward to finishing it and moving on to Quantum Break!

@ralphdibny Can I change my vote for next month to just Doom 3. I want to remove Marvel's Avengers. Been playing it and really can't recommend it. Beyond the occasional high point it's a real chore.

Outside of games on Game Club i'd love to recommend Unpacking to everyone. It's a tiny download at 0.6GB and a short game at 2 - 5 hours. I didn't think it would be my cup of tea but seeing rave reviews I gave it a go. It's genuinely one of my favourite gaming experiences of 2021. Short, simple & sweet, yet slightly profound. Very clever and unique 'storytelling'. Granted it won't be for all, but you have nothing to lose trying it on Game Pass.

Back on Topic I restarted Quantum Break last night. Immediately got back into the cinematic nature of it. You can see in the gameplay the beginning of ideas that only came to full fruition in Control. Looking forward to playing more.

Finished downloading all 159GB of the game yesterday. Absurd, but anyways, still looking forward to finally playing this once I'm done with Halo Wars 2 and Detroit: Become Human.

@KilloWertz in this is kind of understandable as it has a 85min movie in it

@themightyant yep that's no problem!!

@Balta666 wait, what? Lol. When does it play that movie? Just want to make sure I don't start playing one evening and it turns into a much longer session!

@KilloWertz Sheesh, is that the Series S/X version?? My install is only 83.7gb on One X

Also, just had a look at the store, what's this optional offline episode pack? Is that extra playable/watchable content for the game?

Also, I beat Alan Wake American Nightmare tonight. Decent, short and worth playing now it's on game pass!

@ralphdibny It's not a movie, it's just that after each act there's a 20 minute episode that gives background to what's going on with other characters that aren't in the actual game. It's definitely worth downloading even if it takes up almost 80 GB. The episodes are just so well done and the production value is like that of a regular TV show. Not to mention that you get to learn more about the characters. So yeah, definitely download the optional episode pack.

Congrats on beating American Nightmare! I enjoyed it a lot as well.

Forgot that I haven't voted for next month's game. I'll vote for Dante's Inferno, Mirror's Edge and Crysis.

@LtSarge oic, the episode pack and the 85 mins of video and the 159gb install size are all one and the same. Makes a lot more sense now! 😅

I'll keep those extra 20 min episodes in mind when I'm planning my game time

@Balta666 Well, yeah. Doesn't mean I have to like having to download that much though.

Yes, I know streaming is an option, but not really for me. In the end, I know I'm just whining since it seems to be well worth watching, but oh well.

@ralphdibny Mr. Blocked Me On Everything Because We Got Into an Argument on Here That I Would Apologize to if Private Messages Were Allowed on Here already took care of that for you I see.

I'm glad to know it's 20 minute episodes in between each act so I can plan accordingly as well. During the week, I have specific time I'm able to play most days before and after work, so that way I'll know if I should stop or not before starting to watch an episode.

@KilloWertz I uh, want to ask but uh, I know better than to stick my nose in. Which begs the question, why am I even replying? 😂 Anyway, I hope you are all good.

Yeah same here at the moment. I get a couple hours free each night if I haven't got a ton of admin that I procrastinate doing anyway. Tomorrow is an admin night unfortunately 😭 so may not start QB until next week now!