The fifth installment in Bethesda's Elder Scrolls franchise is set in the eponymous province of Skyrim, where the ancient threat of dragons, led by the sinister Alduin, is rising again to threaten all mortal races. Only the player, as the prophesied hero the Dovahkiin, can save the world from destruction.
It's the annual E3 press conference review show! Zac and Rob face the challenge without Dan to give a chronological sequence of all that happened on the stage of games. In this ridiculously long episode we cover all the major press events: EA, Microsoft, Bethesda, Ubisoft, SONY and Nintendo, potentially in that order.
Continuing on with our coverage of the future of the games industry as described in a glossy form by the games industry we have Ubisoft getting eagles, SONY effervescing, Nintendo ebbing and other news existing.
Everything is ready. The stage is set. Let the summer of barbecues commence! Burgers? Yes! Sausages? Of course! Steak? Fo' sho’! Salad? We’re grillin’ it!
This week we talk about a ton of stuff including Titanfall, GameSpy’s demise, XBOX One changes, Space Engineers, New Super Mario Bros. U, Hover: Revolt of Gamers, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Spacechem, Star Wars canon, Unreal Tournament, Mario Kart 8, LEGO City Undercover... and what 2014 episode of the Saladcast would be complete without mentioning Bravely Default?
Have you ever abstained from a good thing for a long period of time to make it better when you finally do succumb? It's kinda awesome. So maybe now is the time rekindle your appreciation for three random blokes talking rubbish about games? It’s the SaladCast!
This week, Bravely Default (still), LEGO City Undercover, New Super Mario Bros. U, Skyrim, Destiny, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Mario Kart 8, Minesweeper and Garden Warfare.
I missed you proper take away pizza. Let’s never fight again.
It was exhausting, but we have recovered ourselves a Dan to bring back the structure we crave. Admittedly our structure is a bit like a paper tower in the rain, yet still we crave its moist sanctuary.
After a brief recap of the recent Vita reviews Dan continues bashing his way through Skyrim, Rob gets his finishing rants on Uncharted 3 and L.A. Noire out while Zac keeps us up to date on the essential Dwarf Fortress update.
This week, instead of cancelling the 50th episode of the SaladCast due to the snow stopping Dan from being present, we replaced him. Welcome to the fray DJ Kippling (a.k.a. Richard) from the MagicTheGatheringUK YouTube channel. Cross promotion y'all.
We talk the Vita this week and all the "shoulda woulda coulda" stuff after Kippers got some hands-on time, Zac investigates the Skyrim competitor in Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and Rob plays LEGO Harry Potter (no really).
The weight of the backlog is firmly upon us now. Fortunately it's one of those points in the year where there’s a lull in the release schedule allowing us to begin the catchup. Although Zac seems to have gone a bit far with the idea.
Aside from starting a proper argument about DiRT 3 being potentially worse than DiRT 2 (somehow), Zac catches up with games he’s already played to death in the form of Rollercoaster Tycoon and the "relevant again" UFO: Enemy Unkown (the first X-COM, don-cha-know). Rob finishes Outland and gets a but further with Sonic Generations while Dan continues to lose himself in Skyrim.
Bringing in the new year in the best way possible, like any other week, it's time to start tackling that backlog. It's like plumbing that you never fixed properly and gurgles to you in the night, tormenting you into submission with the stench of guilt. I hope that's guilt...
For a game we're still a tiny bit 'meh' over we don't half talk about it a bit. Skyrim is indeed mysterious in its ways. Dan gets in on the discussion this time as Zac tries to figure out how you play the game sensibly. Rob finishes up on Timeshift, gushes about Sonic Generations and questions the direction of L.A. Noire. Dan wraps things up with some cardcasting in Magic: The Gathering and goes in circles with F1 2011.
As festive season grows ever closer do we start to show a more generous side to game banter? Heck no!
Listen to Zac tear Skyrim a new one. Rob covers some tennis titles (thanks to friend of the show Eddie), a bit of Uncharted 3 and a couple of Arcade gems leaving Dan scurry around in the third portion of DiRT some more.
Filthy.
I was highly tempted just to leave it at that. It does aptly describe the content of Codemasters' seminal racing series, and your mind.
On top of all that glorious filth, we talk about Magicka, Battlefield 3 and some finishing notes on Deus Ex. And Rob forgets his own rules and talks about those goddamn assassins some more.
Filthy.
It is indeed Sonic time! Like there was any way we were going to pass on the biggest release of the year. Oh what's that? You want a Skyrim or CoD review? Shove it! For now those games spark a debate on games reviewing in general. Lament.
Also covered is Battlefield 3, Mortal Kombat and... well that’s about it.
Weird that we didn’t talk about the unoffcial SaladCast firework event of last week. You’ll just have to ponder the meaning of "cubes of dissapointment".
