SpawnStaff’s April Playlist

April may not have had as many high-profile releases as March, but that doesn’t mean the SpawnFirst staff took a break from gaming. Check out what they played below!

Elle Garza, Staff Writer

What Were You Playing in April?

“I was gifted all of the DLC for the entire Mass Effect trilogy, so I thought it would be a great idea to do a completion run through all three games. It’s my favorite series, so I don’t regret it, but it’s definitely taken up most of my gaming time. The Citadel DLC has been a blast.  I decided to go back and get a 1000 for the first Darksiders, too.  One of these days, my achievement completion percentage will be the death of me.  I picked up Injustice, which I’ve been thoroughly enjoying. I just wish I wasn’t notoriously bad at fighting games. After a long hiatus from MMOs, I’m finally back on World of Warcraft and Guild Wars 2 as well, and I’m in love with my Asura engineer!  She’s little, adorable, but still kicks the ass of everything in her way.”

What’s Up for May?

“I have some downtime before the summer releases I’m looking forward to. Mostly, it’s just working on my backlog! I have about thirty games for my systems alone that I haven’t touched yet. As a game store employee, I compulsively buy when price drops happen, which is a terrible habit! With next gen systems on the way, I’m anticipating some price drops for current gen games, so I’ll start amassing even more for my backlog soon, too. Aside from that, with the semester being over, I’m looking forward to really grinding out my MMO characters and starting end-game content with them.”

Alex Layton, Staff Writer

What Were You Playing in April?

“Oh man, what am I currently playing? If only there was an easy answer to this. Well, I’ll start with the most relevant game, Dragon’s Dogma. While trying to get my heart back from that wretched dragon, I’m taking time to smell the flowers, cook nice meals for my pawns, and slaughter goblins with my longbow. Capcom really knows how to make a good action-RPG. Dragons Dogma 2, please?

And now for the “dated” game I’ve been playing lately, Tales of Symphonia. Quite possibly one of the best action-RPGs ever made, it’s one of the longer ones too. After 75 hours, just when you think the story is over, something is in the way. Something to be discovered still, which can be frustrating, but mostly great. And to finish it off: Terraria. That’s right folks, Terraria. Gotta love it! Currently building my never-ending fortress and gearing up to fight a giant demonic Wall of Flesh in Hell. That’s all that’s in my gaming roster at the moment, so keep playin’ folks! Dwarven Vow #10: ‘Play Hard, Play Often’ “

What’s Up for May?

“Next month I’ll still be playing Dragon’s Dogma, A man’s got to cook! I’ll be making my way over to Bitterblack Island in the new DLC “Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen”, facing its many new enemies while reminiscing about Dark Souls. Terraria will still be on my list too, with no ground to expand my fortress on to, it looks like I’ll be moving up to the sky. Maybe I’ll recreate Bioshock Infinite’s Columbia. Who knows, as for new games I’ll probably pick up a couple 3DS games. Fire Emblem? Sure.”

Mark Hanratty, News Writer

What Were You Playing in April?

“Recently, I purchased GTA: Vice City, my personal favorite of the series and plowed through it in under a week. With any Grand Theft Auto game, I can find myself playing hours on end, even after completing it to 100%. I also completed GTA IV, in preparation for V.

Along with these, I’ve been leveling up on Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, slowly edging my way to 10^th prestige. I love playing online with friends, but by yourself can be irritating and cause many ‘rage quits’. Leveling up your weapons and completing hard challenges may be annoying but is quite rewarding after the three hours of pain and suffering you have to endure.”

What’s Up for May?

“I plan on revisiting the Crash Bandicoot series; especially the original Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped and my favorite game of all time, Crash Team Racing. With these games I can have hours of enjoyment, with no added rage. I also plan to continue grinding levels on Black Ops 2. Along with these, I hope to buy either Far Cry 3, Bioshock Infinite, or Trials Evolution. All these have been on the waiting list for a long time and I think it’s about time to cash in on one of them.”

Nolan Alber, Staff Writer/Creative Director

What Were You Playing in April?

“With the life slowly draining out of the current-gen consoles, most of the high profile releases for the year have already come and gone.  That being said, I’ve begun to work my way through the back catalog of PlayStation 3 titles that I was too cheap to buy at full price.

The Resistance Collection has been on my plate for a few weeks, and I’m lovin’ it.  The weaponry Insomniac Games has in stock for you is always fun and versatile.  Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 has been making me break several controllers as well.  Why is it so impossible for me to get a damn 10-hit combo?”

What’s Up for May?

“The second and third installments of Resistance are still on my list to finish, and my obsession with trophy hunting will be taking me back into BioShock Infinite to collect audio logs and squeak out a platinum.  I impulse-bought BulletStorm on the cheap and Demon’s Souls is still sitting on my PlayStation with a Plus membership, so don’t expect to see me out in public any time soon.”

Karam Elahi, Writer/Editor-in-Chief

What Were You Playing in April?

“Oh jeez, where do I start. Outside of slogging through Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel for review purposes, I have been playing Injustice: Gods Among Us on the PS3. Now this is no Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe, with castrated versions of MK’s characters and bland and lifeless DC icons. No sir, this game is amped up. It satisfyingly conveys all the DC Universe characters’ powers, and the impact of their presence onscreen. Injustice includes 24 of the most powerful, iconic, and enthralling characters from that universe. The best part of the game is all the classic fights that you can recreate from the comic books: Superman vs. Doomsday, Green Arrow vs. Green Lantern, Shazam vs. Black Adam, and so on. And once you fill up your character’s power meter and unleash a special attack…oh baby. Sit back, grab some popcorn, and relish the absolutely over-the-top onslaught.

When I’m not punching the absolute bejesus out of Solomon Grundy, I like to hit up Battlefield 3 (Deathmatch) and Halo 4 (Big Team Battle) in my already very limited downtime. Both of these games have that “instant-fun” aspect to them. I can just play 4 or 5 matches of Halo 4 (virtually equivalent in length to one match in Battlefield 3) and just enjoy the games for what they are, with my brain turned off all the while. I call these kinds of games “zombie-mode” games (yup, my mind just works like that :/  ), just because I can play them without thinking too much. Outside of that: Minigolf on my iPhone. It’s like crack. In fact, I’m playing it right now with my feet. Please don’t download it. Promise me.”

What’s Up for May?

“May’s going to be a tough one. With Metro: Last Light, Resident Evil Revelations, Fuse, and Grid 2 coming out, I’m going to have a helluva time partitioning the month out. It’ll be even harder to do, since I want to catch up on a few older games sitting in my backlog, like XCOM Enemy Unknown, Devil May Cry, the Hitman Trilogy, and God of War: Ascension. Um yeah…when writing it down, it all really looks intimidating. Okay, scratch the backlog; the new games take precedence and the others ones can sit it out for another month *sigh*”

The SpawnFirst staff have been playing busy, but what have you been playing?  Make sure to tell us what title you’ve been grinding through, or what you have in store for May in the comments below!