F-Zero

Date played: December 30th
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 8/10

F-Zero looks great for a 23 year old game

I played through the first series of races in F-Zero on the Wii U's virtual console. F-Zero is a good game, but I remember it getting pretty difficult. The first series wasn't too bad though. My daughter picked the pink ship for me, which turned out pretty well for me. Without using the suspend feature, I was able to win all races and only lost one continue on one of the later courses. I think the music is one of the best parts of this game.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Date played: December 28th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 8/10

Another day, another Reales. I cleared a large portion of the map of activities, chests, animus fragments and even took out another fort. This fort was tougher to take down because I had run out of mortar ammo, so I had to rely on my cannons to do most of the work. I received a mission after clearing the place where I had to take out three Spanish gunboats, a much easier task than the previous escort mission.

Another fort bites the dust!

I had a good time just sailing the seas, gathering treasure and loot. I upgraded a few parts of my ship, but nothing major. I also hunted some tiger sharks, much bigger creatures than the bull sharks I had been hunting previously. 

Call of Duty Ghosts

Date played: December 26th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10

I was a fucking beast once again. I think it might be because of the yearly onslaught of Christmas noobs, but either way, I had a very good performance in Team Deathmatch. My best game was an astonishing 30-4, slaughtering the other team without remorse. I tried the trinity rocket kill streak, but I found the sentry gun to be a more reliable reward, so I'll stick to that.

Snow, moonlight, good friends and a sniper rifle, quite a romantic night.

I also played two single player missions. The first was set in a snowy area where the Ghosts were equipped with silenced sniper rifles. After taking out guards in an outpost, we stole a truck and pretended to be the enemy to infiltrate a nearby missile launch facility. Once inside, we took out the power to the place, donned some night vision goggles and went crazy. Eventually, there was a portion of the mission where we had to defend an area while downloading data from a computer. I was granted a little turret that I placed strategically and some mines that I scattered around the area while I mowed down enemies with an LMG. To finish the mission, we sped away in a truck on the icy river, where I could shoot out some portions of the ice behind us to set a trap for chasing enemy jeeps and snowmobiles.

The other mission was an assault on an oil rig. This was easily one of the most impressive missions visually, where rain, fire and beautiful lighting created some great atmosphere. The mission was rather short though as I simply ran in with the Ghosts, killed all the guys in the way and blew up the fucking place. 

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Date played: December 26th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 10/10

Holy shit, this game is huge, engaging and fun. I played the plantation mission, where I had to trail a ship without being seen... It's kind of like those GTA missions where you have to tail a dude in a car without getting too close, but with giant ships that can be seen miles away. Once I reached my destination, I infiltrated the plantation, gathered intel by eavesdropping, stole a key, killed a bunch of dudes that were in the way and stole supplies from a warehouse.

The open sea calls!

I then explored the ocean a little bit and found my first fort. These are heavily fortified outposts that sport long range mortars. In my ship, I had to destroy it's defenses by shooting them, then had to land, kill dozens of guards and take over the area, turning it over to my pirate crew. It was visually stunning to see the fort blow up and quite fun to explore as shit was burning all over.

Finally, I completed my first vessel escort mission which wasn't too tedious, except that I failed because I went too far away from the ship I was protecting. I had to take out three waves of enemy ships increasing in difficulty each time. My naval battle skills aren't too bad so I took them down and saved my escort. 

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

Date played: December 25th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 10/10

Link is back in action, better than ever. While I've loved the Zelda series in the past, I haven't really enjoyed them since Wind Waker. A Link To The Past, Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker are the only ones I really love. Twilight Princess bored me on the Wii, though some of it's dungeons were really clever. I skipped Skyward Sword completely because 480p didn't cut it anymore, though it looked interesting. I even tried Spirit Tracks but it didn't hold my attention. However, as soon as I saw the first trailer for A Link Between Worlds, I was enamoured again.

The game does not disappoint. It's set in the same world as A Link To The Past, but after the events of the first game. Things have changed, but the general layout is largely the same. The graphics engine is very impressive, it has a great cartoon look, yet still manages to show minute details clearly. The 3D effect is the best I've seen since Super Mario 3D Land. The music is also very good and the first time the theme song plays, I got chills.

A Link Between Worlds

The game starts with Link going to work at a Blacksmith's, where a customer forgot his sword. I was tasked with getting it to it's rightful owner in a nearby Sanctuary. That's where the bad guy showed up, a nasty dude with the power to seal people into paintings. Link got beat up and one of the seven sages descendants was kidnapped. I eventually met Princess Zelda where I was entrusted with one of three pendants.

I'm now off on my quest to get the Master Sword to defeat evil once again. I made my way through two dungeons, the first focused on the bow and the second on a twirling leaf device that lifts link up in the air in amazing 3D. Both dungeons were really fun and well designed including some pretty cool boss battles. The big new ability in the game is to have Link blend into walls to become a 2D figure, where he can then navigate dungeons differently for a limited time. It's a really cool addition and opens up tons of possibilities for traversal and puzzle solving. So far, the game is absolutely awesome.

Lego Marvel Superheroes demo

Date played: December 25th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played this demo with my girlfriend. She played as Iron-Man and I played as Hulk and Spider-Man. I was very impressed with the game. It looks fucking great on PS4, with full 1080p and no framerate issues whatsoever. The most impressive thing about it is how well the hero abilities are implemented. For example, Iron-Man can fly and can activate metallic objects, Hulk can clobber fools of course, but he can also throw very large things at enemies and can even pick up portions of the ground to throw, while Spider-Man has his spidey sense to find hidden things and can swing from place to place.

Tony Stark and Bruce Banner taking down Flint Marko

The demo features a multi-stage battle against Sandman and Abomination. We had to use all our tools to succeed and it felt really good. This is easily the most fun I've had with a Lego game of this type. This could definitely be a hit with my girlfriend as well since she loves Iron-Man so much and it's not too hard to play.

Call of Duty Ghosts

Festive pack!

Date played: December 25th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played a couple of matches of team deathmatch, using the festive skins on my gun and reticle. A snowflake as reticle and a sweater-like gun decal make playing the game on Christmas day a bit less depressing...

I played pretty well, but only had about 3 matches. In the first, I managed to call in the guard dog, the sentry gun and the hind helicopter. I dominated the lobby with ease. My second game was pretty lame, at 5-8, but I got back into the groove in the last and scored well.

Pikmin 3

Date played: December 25th
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 9/10

I finished Pikmin 3!

This was one of the better games I've played this year. It's charming, deep, fun and pretty challenging. The last level was a real gauntlet, but I was close enough to the end that my time with the game was mostly about fighting the final boss. The golden gelatinous blob of death had all sorts of tricks up it's sleeves. In the end, we had to whittle down it's health by damaging it, then destroying the debris it spit out in pain. It would periodically send out cubes similar to what I fought in the level where I had to use the right type of Pikmin to continue.

Pikmin 3 was amazing!

While the concept was pretty simple, the battle was really hectic, so it made it quite challenging. I spent two whole days in battle, losing about 100 Pikmin altogether before it went down and let Olimar out. The little bugger was nice enough to give us the cosmic key as a reward for our efforts. My three heroes, along with Olimar and Louie, made their way to the spaceship and flew off into the depths of space, leaving the loyal Pikmin to their own devices.

My daughter was VERY sad at the idea that the Pikmin were abandoned and cried quite a bit. She was also pretty sad that the game was over, but I reassured her that I would be glad to play it again with her if she wanted. There's also the mission mode which sounds pretty cool, so I might try that next time she feels like seeing the little plant-men in action.

Gravity Rush

Date played: December 23rd
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 5/10

Fuck, I want to like this game, but the controls are just not tight enough. I reached what I believe is the last area of the city and repaired five things, which meant some new challenges. The first was a sliding race, which is pretty cool on it's own, but having to use tilt controls for it made it more frustrating than it should be. The second had me flying to checkpoints that were anchored on air ships. This one was a fucking bitch to get through because the damn ships move around so much. The third was a regular checkpoint race, which wasn't too bad. The fourth had me fighting a bunch of monsters, again, nothing crazy. The last, was a throwing contest where I had to use the gravity lift ability to throw things into a target area. I honestly feel like this game could have been so much better. I mean, it's good, but it could have been amazing if the controls had been more refined.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Date played: December 22nd
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 10/10

I'm a pirate! Edward Kenway is now the proud owner of the Jackdaw, his own pirate ship. I played a mission in Nassau, where I had to recruit crew members by saving them from battles against guards. Full crew on board, I then headed to a small pirate port nearby that had an upgrade merchant for my ship. The ship has tons of upgrades available including some cannons, mortars, higher quality ammo, storage for ammo, crew quarters to host more men, fire barrels that can be dropped behind our vessel and even cosmetic upgrades, though I won't spend hard earned money on them just yet.

Shark hunting is fun!

After upgrading the hull, adding mortars and upgrading my cannons and swivel gun, I headed out to the open sea and fought a few battles against random ships, which netted me a bunch of loot. I even went harpooning for shark, which helped me upgrade come of Edward's gear. I have to say, the game is really reeling me in and sinking it's hooks into me. The call of the open sea is stronger than I anticipated. Even just exploring little ports and towns is tons of fun. My next mission will have me raiding a plantation of sorts, so that should be pretty cool.

Pikmin 3

Date played: December 22nd
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 8/10

Again, my daughter simply loves Pikmin 3, so she asked me to play. Her favorite part is getting fruit, so we gathered all the remaining fruit from the last area. I have now gathered all the fruit in the game and am heading to the final boss.

The last area is absolutely beautiful

I played two days in the final level, which doesn't have fruit and doesn't let me spawn Pikmin. Olimar is captured by a mysterious golden blob and I must carry him back to the Onion. The way to the Onion is full of obstacles and dangers though. The worst part is, the golden blob chases us down the entire time throughout the level, which is set inside a large oak tree. If the blob catches Olimar, it turns around and tries to abduct him so I must chase it, fight it with Pikmin and use all my different types, depending on the state of the blob. For example, it can be encased in a bubble of water, so I must throw blue Pikmin.

I built a couple of bridges, destroyed a few walls and reconnected some electric circuits to progress and while I haven't made it to the end in two days, I feel like I'm getting pretty close. There is clearly going to be a boss battle at the end, as I saw a large open area near the Onion. I can smell the end!

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Date played: December 21st
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10

I made it to Nassau, the pirating capital of the world. It's a small town with one British fort still standing. There's a ton of swampy areas, woods and beaches here with a small village filled with flimsy housing, grog and wenches. I bought myself some really nice pistols as an upgrade to my crappy ones.

Nassau is an interesting town

I spent all my time getting collectibles, synchronizing view points and completing a few assassination missions. I also fought a couple of crocodiles, a few boars and even killed a rabbit. I got tons of new shanty's, songs for my crew. Some of these were pretty tough to catch as they fly away pretty damn quickly sometimes. Nassau is a beautiful town, even if it's full of criminals. I've completed all of it though, so now all I have left here are missions.

Super Mario 3D World

Date played: December 21st
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 8/10

Man, I don't think this game is best played with more than one player. My girlfriend and I played through three levels in the fourth world, and while we were successful, it was more difficult than it should have been. In some levels, we were too far away from each other and the game seems to randomly pick which player gets priority while the other gets bubbled. In one level, where we had to navigate dangerous piranha plants, it was sometimes difficult to judge distance properly because the screen was too crowded. There was also a level with a bunch of bouncing pads where we accidentally threw each other off the platforms more than once.

This level was hard with two people and super easy alone

I then played a few of the earlier levels alone to get golden flags and it was infinitely easier to navigate...

The PS4 sibling experience

Date played: December 16th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 8/10

My brother came over to try out the PS4 so we kind of tried every game I have. It started with an epic Resogun run, where I beat my high score, gathered all the humans on the second level and made it all the way to the fourth level without a continue. He played it too and of course, died quickly on his first run, but his second was much better and he managed to beat the first boss.

We played a very small amount of Contrast, Sound Shapes and Flower just to get a feel for them. We tried Need For Speed Rivals for a bit too, but only completed one race event.

In Assassin's Creed Black Flag, I was at the point where the game opens up and can navigate anywhere with my ship. I took on a few rogue enemy ships then found a small island where I was asked to hunt ocelots and iguanas. When I did, I was able to craft a new pistol holster and upgrade my health. I then found another island where I found a treasure map, some collectibles and fought some dudes.

Finally, we played some Call of Duty Ghosts. My brother is no stranger to this series, though he hasn't played Ghosts yet. We started with a story mission where the ghosts are interrogating Rourke in the back of a plane. It goes fucking wrong real quick as we got assaulted in mid air by Rourke's men, Bane style. He was extracted and we fell towards the ground. We landed in enemy territory where we had to be stealthy through a jungle. It was a fairly boring mission honestly, but towards the end, we discovered that the Federation was launching missiles towards and unknown target. We also played a good amount of multiplayer in split screen, a very welcome feature. The only real problem is that I rely on sound so much that it was very disorienting to hear all the sounds mixed up between his screen and mine.

Killzone Mercenary

Date played: December 14th
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played through three missions of Killzone Mercenary. I'm really liking this game in general, but there are a few weird things that don't really work. For example, the game seems to really want me to use stealth, but as soon as one guy spots me, it's a guaranteed firefight with multiple waves. The first mission I played had me infiltrate a giant Helghast ship docked on ISA territory. I tried to be stealthy, but it just didn't work out so I just shot a bunch of dudes in the face. Melee is pretty good too since the enemies have a tendency to get really close to fight. I bought my first Van-Guard system, a small attack drone with light armor. It was helpful in thinning out the hordes before an assault as it's quick, quiet and efficient, though it goes down very quickly and has a long recharge time. After hacking important systems on the ship, I made my way out, though my bearded buddy didn't make it.

Two years pass.

I am now on Helghan as an infiltrator that must disable an orbital weapons system. The mission was pretty straight forward, including many hacking sequences. There was a lot of fighting going on here, so I went all out and bought ballistic armor and grenades, both of which helped quite a bit. There was a nice sequence at the end where I had to take down drones to clear the way for my extraction.

This Helghan bodyguard was an amazing partner

The last mission I played was the coolest so far. I was sent to rescue an important family from their home. Of course, I was sent alone and of course, the whole place was under assault. In fact, the parents had been killed by the time I got there and I was tasked with rescuing a young boy. Thankfully, I was joined by his Helghan bodyguard who made tons of funny comments about working with a merc. The bodyguard was a fucking badass, wearing incredible armor and wielding a deadly minigun. We cleared out the area, including some annoying flame-thrower enemies and powerful dudes with rockets. I made it out with the boy, while the bodyguard was taken down at the end./

Pikmin 3

Date played: December 14th
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 7/10

RIP

I am still wrapping up my fruit collecting, at my daughter's request. I grabbed all the fruit in the Tundra area, leaving me me with only one area to clean up. Two of the fruit were pretty difficult to grab. I didn't figure out how to get them and had to resort to Gamefaqs, sadly. It turns out there was a very small opening that allowed me to throw yellow Pikmin onto a mushroom, which then bounced them up where I needed them to be. Another fruit was a bit easier to get too but in my impatience, I accidentally threw a bomb in the middle of my group, killing all 100 Pikmin in my battalion... Good thing I had spares!

Call of Duty Ghosts

Date played: December 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10

BEAST MODE ACTIVATED!

After a disappointing session on the 11th, I am finally back in my groove. In fact, I managed an amazing 16 kill streak in one of my TDM games. At the end of it, I had scored 31 kills and granted a measly 6 deaths. The attack dog, sentry gun and attack helicopter all helped my cause of course. I was also successful in many other matches, never falling below 1.0. I scored a 10-0 and a 15-2 game as well and was consistent in my positive scores. Let's hope the trend continues!

Pikmin 3

Date played: December 13th
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 7/10

The Crushblat is an odd creature

My daughter simply loves Pikmin. She likes to spot things in the environment for me to pick up, fight, build or avoid. I only played a single exploration day, but I managed to grab three new fruit from one of the earlier maps. The blue and pink Pikmin were really all I needed as most of the fruit was hidden in waterways, which I had no access to earlier. I had to fight a very bizarre, chicken-legged organism, though it wasn't very difficult to beat. 

Flower

Date played: December 12th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 7/10

Flower is a true classic

Flower is one of those games that always feels good. It's rare that I replay games at all, but somehow, Flower's non-threatening structure makes it more appealing to replay for me. I played through two levels, one featuring windmills and one featuring a dark field of some sort. I know the next level is the darkest of them all, before the amazing finale so I'm excited to play those again.

Resogun

Date played: December 12th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 10/10

Yep, it's official, I fucking love Resogun. I also think I really like the Phobos ship. It has a powerful gun, is good in desperate situations and has a killer overdrive, though it moves a bit slower than the others. I finally managed to beat the second level where I had trouble beating the boss. This time, I took my time, kept my distance and was extremely patient and it paid off.

The Phobos ship has an amazing overdrive

The third level is interesting. It features tons of new enemies, this time with more erratic movement and less predictable patterns, though I managed to beat it and it's boss after only two attempts. The boss is a giant cube of death that hobbles around the level, spawning dangerous mini cubes as it's hit. Again, I kept my distance, was patient and used my overdrive to wither it's health down at the start of the fight. I haven't tried the next level yet, but I expect the difficulty to spike a bit. 

Skylanders Giants

The arena

Date played: December 12th
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 6/10

Today was daddy-daughter day and to wind down after tons of activities, we sat down and played a bit of Skylanders. I bought a new challenge mission, so I spent most of my time playing through it with every character I own to boost their speed. The mission had me go through three portals to open a gate, but the order required changed every time I played. This wasn't really a problem though since there was usually enough time to make it to the right portal in one attempt. The enemies were pretty easy to avoid as well.

I also played a few arena missions, completing 5 of the 7 challenges available in the first area. I used Ignitor for most of it, his strong attacks and high speed made him well suited to the events. He now has a bunch of cash which I will probably use to upgrade him.

Call of Duty Ghosts

Date played: December 11th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 5/10

Awful. I was just plain awful.

I performed worse than Nicolas Cage ever did. I was sub 1.0 for most of my matches, with the exception of a single, 10-0 miracle. I don't know what it was. I changed one thing in my loadout, I replaced the perk that hides kills from enemies for a smoke grenade, but I think that may have been a mistake. I just sucked though.

Skylanders Giants

Date played: December 10th
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 5/10

My daughter suggested we play Skylanders together and of course, I was happy to oblige. My girlfriend decided to join us too so we played through Chapter 4 together, my daughter being the toy handler. Unfortunately, she seems to have an affinity for some of our weaker Skylanders, including the stupid fuck known as Whirlwind. The little dragon has a weak bomb attack and a slow lighting cloud. He also has really weak armor.

Skystones is pretty cool

Either way, our ship gets damaged in a storm so we made an emergency landing in a carnival run by wolf pirates. Yep.

The level was more difficult than what we did before, but my girlfriend was simply not careful. She didn't keep an eye on her health and didn't bother to try to use her abilities in a smart way so she died all the fucking time. When a character dies, he's out of commission for a while and cannot be used. At the end of the level, she managed to kill 5 or our little toys...

The most interesting part of the level was the addition of the Skystones game, a tile based card game that sort of reminded me of a simplified Triple Triad from Final Fantasy VIII. I love these types of things so I had a good time playing the 3 or 4 matches required to complete the level.

Super Hang On

Date played: December 10th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 7/10

Sega is releasing some of it's classic games on 3DS in full 3D and filled with little enhancements. Super Hang On is among them, a game I've always liked when I played it in arcades of my youth, but never quite got into properly. I bought it because it seemed like the perfect game to play when I have only a few minutes of free time.

For a game made in 1987, it looks fucking fantastic. The added 3D also works really well and for a racing game like this, it fits perfectly. The music is also pretty damn epic. This is a simple game that is a perfect fit for the 3DS.

Call of Duty Ghosts

Date played: December 10th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 8/10

I finally played more of the campaign mode and made my way through 5 missions. While the combat isn't anything I haven't done before, the environments I went through and the scenarios were pretty great. We tried to rescue a ghost that was captured by going through a sports stadium and killing tons of dudes. We used tear gas too which was pretty useful. The coolest part of the level was using a remote sniper which we had setup earlier. I used it to clear out the outside areas before going in on foot.

We soon discovered that our dad was a ghost all along and that we've passed the tests and are now part of the ghosts! We learned that a former ghost named Rourke is hunting down our team members for the Federation. This is where I played a flashback mission, back when Rourke was a ghost. The mission itself was simply about killing a dangerous man, but the twist is that half way through, the city was flooded by an explosion somewhere and we were swept away by the current in a hectic sequence.

Caracas

We then went after Rourke himself in Caracas. In a spectacular sequence, we zip lined to the side of a giant building and rappelled down to the target area, stealthily shooting enemies along the way. Unfortunately, it was all a trap set by Rourke and we had to make an amazing escape as the building collapsed and we glided down to the city in parachutes.

Finally, we found more intel that led us to a weird off shore base where Rourke is hiding. The mission had me flying an attack helicopter, destroying enemy vehicles and infantry with missiles and machine guns. The controls didn't allow for vertical control, which made this feel mission feel more like filler than a fun time. The ground segments were a little better, but this mission was pretty mediocre. We did find Rourke though and managed to capture him.

I also played a bit of multiplayer but I didn't really have much time left and had a very average performance. 

Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons

Date played: December 8th and 9th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 10/10

I started and finished Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons.

It was easily one of the best games I've ever played. Two brothers, a teenager and a child, must travel through an amazing world to save their dying father by finding a magic potion of some sort. The hook to this game is that the player controls both characters at once. The older brother is controlled with the left stick and can perform actions using the left trigger while the younger brother is controlled with the right stick and performs actions with the right trigger.

Brothers left me breathless...

The mechanics stay interesting throughout, possibly because the game lasted only about three hours. There was tons of fun stuff to do. We evaded a dangerous guard dog (creature?) by taking turns distracting him. We navigated some amazing environments, each more stunning than the last. We helped a sad troll rescue his wounded wife. We rode some goats up some cliffs. We climbed dangerous cliffs and shimmied our way to safety. We stayed safe from menacing wolves by swinging torches at them. The big brother helped the little brother swim across countless rivers, including a deadly waterfall. We saved a weird bird from it's wounds which earned us a majestic flight to safety. We climb an epic castle, swinging each other from ropes tied to our waists. We rowed our way across icy waters, avoiding deadly whale-like creatures. We rode a weird glider device. We saved some cute ice turtles. We chopped off warrior giant's limbs to navigate an epic battlefield. We saved a lady from a blood ritual. Finally, we fought a killer giant spider.

While I don't want to spoil the story or the ending, I have to say that it was all very satisfying and incredibly sad. In fact, I'm kind of ashamed to say that I cried like a fucking baby throughout the last 10 minutes of the game. Even if no characters ever really speak, the game had real emotional impact and a gripping ending. This was truly one of the best experiences I've had as a gamer and I believe everyone should play this game.

Super Mario 3D World

Date played: December 8th
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 9/10

My girlfriend and I played through the third world. We had already completed the first level easily, but the second kicked our ass. It was an automatically scrolling level filled with dangerous pits, falling blocks, dangerous chain link fences and tons of enemies. While this could have been fairly easy as a single player, it was very difficult with two, as we often got in each other's way.

We were then thrust through a very fun ghost house level. The stars were well hidden and the level was full of little surprises and traps. The cherry on the cake was a fake goal post at the very end. I got a chance to try out Peach in the next level, a super dense area with time limit of 100 seconds. Peach was required to stomp a special switch. It turns out Peach is pretty cool as she can hover a little bit, making jumps a lot easier to complete. She also looks fucking balling in a flower suit.

The Toad levels are a refreshing distraction

I then played another Toad level where I was not allowed to jump. These are some of the most interesting levels, even if they're not very challenging yet. They are a bit more puzzle-like than action. There was also a water level, and as expected, it wasn't quite as fun as the others. It seems water levels are never great. Fortunately, I had a canon power up so I destroyed most of the enemies before they were even close to us. Next, we played one of the most exciting levels yet, a super fast, side scrolling Mario Kart themed level, complete with some classic racing music. It really was a joy to play.

The boss level was a hellish ride on Bowser's train, riddled with bullet bills. It was pretty, kind of challenging and again, automatically scrolling. The boss was none other than Wendy, the lone female in the Koopa team, equipped with ninja stars and clones. After we beat her, we thought we could head to the next world but were surprised to find a battle arena of sorts along the way where we fought Hisstocrat, a giant worm wearing fancy clothes, because, of course. On to the next world!

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Date played: December 8th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10

We are ready to sail!

The game is starting to get it's legs now. I infiltrated the Governor's grounds in a really cool stealth mission. It kind of reminded me of Tenchu, one of my favorite stealth games of the 32 bit era. At night, Edward stalked and stabbed countless guards by dragging them into tall grass or simply stabbing them in the back. Unfortunately, I was discovered as I was about to reach the sage. I was then thrown into a slave ship by the Governor and his mates.

On the slave ship, I was chained with a large African man and we managed to escape our restraints, retrieve our killing tools and murdering everyone aboard the ship and freeing a bunch of other slaves who promised to join our crew. There was some interesting platforming between the different ships in the fleet, including rope swinging. We managed to steal one of the smaller ships and escape our pursuers amidst a raging hurricane, complete with menacing waterspouts and killer waves. Even though she's mangled up, we have a ship and can now start pirating as we see fit.

Resogun

Date played: December 7th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 10/10

I obliterated my high score, more than doubling my previous best. I tried the other two ships too. The first one is agile, but it's fire power was lacking and I really don't think I'll use it again. The third ship is a lot better. It's a bit on the slow side, but it's weapons are really strong, though I was still more successful with the default ship.

Fucking shit up.

I'm proud to say that I managed to save all the humans in the first level, but unfortunately, I wasn't good enough to kill the boss yet. I'm thinking I might try to keep my distance a bit more and maybe even boost around the map to reach the other side of it instead of trying to go over or under. I'm getting better though, that's for sure.

Super Mario 3D World

Date played: December 6th
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 10/10

Well, this game is fucking great and that's a fact. It runs flawlessly and looks great, but the level design steals the show. I played through the second world with my girlfriend. One of the levels had us navigate using our character's shadows which was tons of fun. The highlight was the level that introduced a new power-up, the cherry. It creates a clone of the characters which are then controlled all at the same time. It stacks too, at one point, I had four little Toads running around. It created some interesting gameplay scenarios and I hope it shows up again later on. We also picked up a Tanooki that gives a small floating ability and an attack with the tail.

We saved another fairy!

The boss battle was a classic, Super Mario Bros 3 style fortress guardian, but now in a 3D space. I can start to see that two players will be a challenge in some levels. For example, in one level, my girlfriend had to tap on the Gamepad to pull some platforms from the wall so that we could climb them. With two characters on screen, it was a little crowded and we lost a few lives this way. We reached the third world, an ice and snow area. While we only played the first level, the slippery ice made for some really fun sections, including a few spots where we could steal an enemy's skate-boot and navigate the ice more efficiently.

Pikmin 3

Another productive day comes to an end

Date played: December 7th
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 9/10

My daughter is in love with Pikmin I think. She loves to watch the little guys work, fight and die for the cause. At first, she was sad when they died, but now, after several sessions of playing with me, she says she understands that they must die sometimes. Awkward.

Either way, I think I'm at the end of the game, but I'm holding out and gathering the fruit I missed in previous areas. I found a giant banana, a citrus lime and a cherry in the first area. I'm trying to get to a fruit that's too high to reach, in a branch, but I haven't found a way to reach it yet.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Date played: December 7th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 8/10

I completed most of the side stuff that was available in Havana, including all the assassinations. I still have a small portion of the city to explore properly, but it's blocked off for story reasons right now. The city is pretty cool, but the story is where it's at. Plus, with all the money I made, I was able to buy the best set of swords in the store before even doing a mission.

I played through a couple of missions that are setting the stage for the story. I first had to recover the artefact I lost to the brawl earlier. To do so, I was tasked with tailing a couple of guards without being seen until I could find a fort captain. I then tailed him as well and stole his key to the room they hid the stuff in. I was asked to recover the item stealthily, but since combat is pretty easy in this game, I kind of just killed everyone and got my thing.

Welcome to Havana!

I then met with the Governor, the assassin's destination. He lives in a giant manor of sorts which even sports a jail. He's a Cuban that was raised in Italy I think and seemed like a cool guy, but it turns out he's a Templar. Edward doesn't seem to give two fucks about anyone's motives right now, so he played it cool and tried to just get paid, which he did. There was a sort of tutorial mission where I received a pistol and my assassin blades. The pistol is interesting because it can now be free aimed. I then showed off my skills on straw men...

Finally, Edward and his new Templar friends went to meet a sage to try and coerce him into giving us info on how to use the artefact. The item is supposed to allow a sort of "global vision" to it's bearer or some bullshit. Either way, our hero was to be an escort to the convoy once the man was taken. We walked through the city until ambushed by a bunch of assassin's, which we killed. It was a pretty fun mission, and now Edward has the Governor's trust.

Call of Duty Ghosts

Date played: December 1st and 6th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 8/10

I think I'm about to nail down my permanent loadout. I'm thinking about taking Hardline out and replacing it with the perk that makes it easier to hear other players, but I'm still debating. I've seen the benefits of Dead Silence first hand this week. My team was weak, and the opposing team was pretty strong. I managed to silently run around a bunch of them and killed 5 in a row without getting caught, all while staying in a small building. The reason I was able to do this for so long is because I have a good surround sound setup and could hear the bastards all around me, while they couldn't hear a sound. I really think people underestimate the importance of positional sound in this game, it truly adds a new dimension to the fighting.

I think I almost nailed my loadout

Need For Speed Rivals

Date played: December 1st
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 7/10

The Corvette

I didn't really have time to play much, but I still managed to unlock the Corvette for the Racer campaign and ranked up. To do it, I had to win a head to head race, which I completed against a roaming racer AI. I also had to get silver in any event and side swipe three racers, which I did in a race event. While I only drove it around for a short period, the Corvette felt really fucking good. It slides around corners, but is easy to control with a light touch of the brakes. It's fast, powerful and simply a joy to drive. I think I found my new favorite car.

Super Mario 3D World

Date played: November 30th
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 10/10

Finally, there's a new 3D Mario game on a console! I fucking loved 3D Land on 3DS and the Galaxy games, so I was really excited to try 3D World. As far as I know, it's really the first 3D Mario game with co-op multiplayer and that's exciting too, seeing as my girlfriend is a big fan of the series.

Together, we played through the first world and one level from the second. The most game-changing element so far has been the much touted cat suit. It allows Mario and friends to attack at will, adds a jump attack and most importantly, grants wall climbing abilities. The levels are incredible. They are full of color, creativity and interesting mechanics. The new clear pipes allow fireballs to be thrown through them to attack enemies on the other side. There are three green stars to collect in each level, similar to the special coins in the New series. We also found one stamp in every level, which can be used in the Miiverse message board.

One of the levels had us ride a giant water lizard through a sort of water slide. Since both of us were riding it, it became an exercise in team work as we both had to accelerate, slow down, turn and jump at in tandem to be successful. It was tons of fun and had us talking to each other the whole time. Another level tasked us with guiding a Toad through a small level. The catch is that the little guy can't jump, so it felt like a completely different game.

At the end of the world, we faced off against Bowser, riding a pimped out purple car of death. We had to use our cat suit to throw his bombs back at him until he gave up. One of the stupidest, yet most fun features is that whoever gets the most points in a level gets to wear a crown in the next level! It's dumb, but it works. I am really excited to see the rest of this game, but I won't play it alone, I think it's a lot more fun with friends or family.

Resogun

Is Ferox good enough?

Date played: November 30th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 10/10

I think I fell in love with Resogun. While I still haven't made it past the second level, I'm starting to be a lot better at saving humans and keeping my multiplier up. I think to step up my game, I need to make smarter use of the overdrive, the boost and the bombs. That second boss is a bitch though. It shoots a lot of bullets and rotates on itself like a wheel. Contrary to the first boss though, it tried to hide it's weak spots from my guns. It doesn't help that it periodically shoots out giant fire beams. Maybe I should try a different ship?

Pokemon Y

Lysandre is a pretty cool villain

Date played: November 25th and 26th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 7/10

I played through a few different areas of Pokemon Y. I cleared the giant ice cave that hosted an yeti looking creature being held hostage by Team Flare. The area was pretty interesting, including some interesting ice sliding puzzles. I captured maybe 5 new beasts, mostly ice-based of course. My team is pretty much set at this point though, so I'm just catching them for the hell of it. I then rode an ice creature through thick snow to the next town, home to the 7th gym.

After talking to all the townsfolk, I beat the shit out of the gym residents, mostly using my Gardevoir's Moonbeam. All my Pokemon are above level 60 now, so I have no issues winning any battles. After I beat the gym, I was informed that I could try to stop Team Flare by finding their secret lair hidden in a cafe in Lumiose City. I flew there and found the entrance where I had a pretty cool battle against Lysandre, the leader of Team Flare. I started exploring the lair, where I fought many of the Team Flare leaders I already faced in previous areas. We'll see where that leads.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Date played: November 24th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 10/10

Even though I've played Assassin's Creed 3 and Liberation this year, I'm back on board for the pirate themed Black Flag. Sailing ships was the best part of AC3, so the latest entry in the series has me very excited. It stars Edward Kenway, a Welsh man who became a privateer, then a pirate in search for fame and fortune. He's kind of a dick, which makes him a pretty interesting character so far, definitely more interesting than Connor ever was.

The game starts with Edward, a crew member on a pirate ship, when they get attacked by another ship. There is an assassin who kills my captain when suddenly, I was thrown overboard by the storm. The ship is a wreck and I ended up stranded on the beach with the assassin in question. I chased him around the beautiful lush jungle and when I caught him and killed him, I found a mysterious letter that promises riches if I bring the letter back to Havana. While trying to find a way off the island, I rescued a sugar merchant named Stede Bonnet who rewarded Edward's ruthless killing of his captors with a ride to Havana on his ship.

Edward Kenway

I was then pulled out of the Animus, which revealed that I am playing a tester for Abstergo Entertainment, a division of Abstergo that makes video games, movies, novels and more. The location is super cool and feels like a high tech business office. I explored it a bit, now in first person view, and heard some interesting conversations before going back in the Animus to test some more.

That's when the game really started. I was able to explore Havana as I have in countless AC games, climbing view points, getting chests, doing a few assassination contracts and getting into trouble with local guards, you know, killing them in cold blood and stuff. There are two new things to collect so far, some Animus fragments that don't seem to have a purpose and songs, that seem to indicate my crew can eventually sing them...

The game plays really well, but honestly, it doesn't look all that much better than AC3 on Wii U did. I'm already falling in love with the setting and characters. I can't wait to play more of it.

Pikmin 3

Date played: November 24th
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 8/10

DIE giant plant crab thing!

My daughter begged me to play Pikmin 3 with her and of course, I just couldn't resist her pretty little smile. I only played one exploration day, but it was a big one. We finally took out the big crap-plant boss thing with a red Pikmin assault, powered by super juice. After looting a gigantic honeydew melon and dragging the dead boss back to the ship, I took the rest of the day to replenish my Pikmin by fighting some water enemies and bringing back some colored pills. I've found ALL the fruit in the area and found the little blue thief. The thief still had the juice on him, which we took back. When we got to the ship, we hogtied the little motherfucker so that he never steals again. We must now explore a new area to see if we can find Olimar there.

Need For Speed Rivals

Date played: November 23rd and 24th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10

I've been a long time Need For Speed player. It all started with the original on PC in 1995 when I started high school. NFS2 kept us busy a few years later. I fell in love with the series with NFS3: Hot Pursuit on Playstation though, where my friends, brothers and I had tons of fun chasing each other as cops. High Stakes was kind of boring... Then when Porsche Unleashed came out, a good friend of mine was completely obsessed with the brand, so I played a ton of that one. To this day, I still have the stupid theme song from Hot Pursuit 2 stuck in my head every once in a while, the best NFS game on PS2. I played and enjoyed Underground, the first in the series to offer an open world. I skipped Underground 2, but was back to the series with Most Wanted, one of my first games on 360. I then took a huge, multi-year break from the series, skipping Carbon, Pro Street, Undercover, Shift, Nitro and World. It took Criterion to get me back with the confusingly titled Hot Pursuit. Again, I took a break and skipped Shift 2 and The Run. Criterion got us confused again by releasing another game called Hot Pursuit, my favorite in years. This year, Need For Speed welcomes me into a new generation of consoles once again with Rivals.

Rivals is fast, fun and pretty

Rivals is pretty much Hot Pursuit with a new name. The big difference is that now, the game map is automatically populated with 5 other players that run their own events. There is a cop and racer campaign and I chose to go as a racer. The game generates playlists where you have to accomplish specific tasks to level up, for example, win a race, beat a time trial and side slam an opponent. Once complete, you level up and gain new cars, customization options and tuning.

There are weapons too, like EMP, jammers and other weird attacks that can used against cops and racers. I haven't played a lot, but I'm liking what I've played so far. Also, while the game looks pretty damn good, I'm disappointed that it doesn't run at 60 FPS and does not include any sort of split screen racing...

Resogun

Date played: November 23rd
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played through the first level and a bit of the second with my brother when he came over to check out Resogun. While I didn't do anything new from the last time I played, I was able to better appreciate the amazing graphics when I wasn't playing. There are voxels flying all over the fucking place in this game, it's insane! I feel like this is what Audiosurf should LOOK like, even if it doesn't play like Resogun at all. If only I could get this stuff to blow up to the beat of my own music, I would be in high tech heaven.

Call of Duty Ghosts

Octane is always exciting!

Date played: November 22nd and 23rd
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 10/10

I AM A MONSTER!

I'm starting to get my groove here and had some very strong matches, including an amazing 19-3 in Team Deathmatch and a 43-20 in Domination. Stalker has definitely helped my game since I can move a lot quicker than before and still have my sights up. I'm also starting to be a lot more comfortable with the maps. Octane stands out as one of the better maps and I've been enjoying Freight, Whiteout and Siege. I reached Level 16 or so, but I'm pretty much settled into my class now. I've added Dead Silence to my setup as I realize I am using enemy sounds to locate targets all the fucking time, so I figure a good portion of my opponents do the same. 

Call of Duty Ghosts

Date played: November 17th, 18th and 19th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10

I finally got to dig my teeth into Ghosts properly. I've played maybe two dozen online matches, reaching level 10 or so. I think I've found a groove for my class setup. I'm rocking the Ameli, a mid range, high damage, low fire rate LMG. I've added a red dot sight, a fore grip and a muzzle brake. The muzzle brake increases damage at long range, making the weapon fit my style very well. To do so, I've had to set one of my perks to allow three attachments.

To finish it off, I've picked up sleight of hand for faster reloads, though I'm not sure I'm going to keep it yet. The last and most important addition to my setup is predator. This allows for faster movement while aiming down sights, a critical perk for a my style. It allows me to cover corners well and maintain mobility that LMG's don't normally allow. As soon as I bought it, I saw a definite improvement in my performance. I've managed to top the leaderboards more than once.

This is one of my favorite maps so far

My best match so far has been on a beautiful outdoor map, set in and around a castle of sorts. I scored a solid 19-8. The highlight of the match for me was when I managed to get a guard dog and set up a sentry gun in a small building. I mowed down 4 or 5 guys with the turret and covered my back with my trusty weapon. The guard dog picked up any strays. I'm liking this game a lot so far, though I still have a lot to learn.

Resogun

Date played: November 17th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 10/10

Resogun is gaming at it's fucking purest. Like Geometry Wars, Super Stardust and Pac-Man Championship Edition DX, it just feels right and pushes the player to it's limits. It wasn't long until I managed to make it through the first level without losing a life, though I still haven't managed to save all the humans, missing at least 2 on each run.

This is Resogun

The second level is definitely a step up in difficulty, though I'm sure I'll make it through with a bit of practice. It starts off pretty intense and doesn't let up. The boss is similar to the first one, but since it was my first attempt, I couldn't quite pull it off and will have to learn it's patterns a bit better.

PS4 Launch Special!

Date played: November 15th and 16th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 10/10

I have a PS4!

I've been waiting for this bad boy for a while and so far, I am quite impressed. First, the box itself is really nice. It's small, slick, unobtrusive and quiet. The UI is a huge improvement over the PS3's. While it still uses parts of the XMB, it is a lot easier to use. I'm kind of bummed that I can't change the background image any more, nor can I sort the games at all, though this is the kind of stuff that will probably be added later. Oh yeah, and the fucking thing doesn't play 3D Blurays, really disappointing, though they say it will be added "soon". I checked out some live streams from other players and it's pretty cool, but sometimes the quality is really shitty, it seems to depend on the person. It's a good way to sell games though, it got me interested in Need for Speed and Lego Marvel.

Sexy

The games is where it's at though. I tried Resogun, Contrast, Call of Duty Ghosts, Flower and Warframe. Contrast has an interesting concept, but it plays like shit and doesn't look all that great. You control a little girl's imaginary friend (I think?). The girl's mother is a cabaret singer and her father is a deadbeat scammer. The game is set in the 20's or 30's and has a bit of a noire vibe to it.  The mechanics revolve around platforming through shadows, as the heroine can "shift" into the shadows. It's pretty cool, but I wish the controls would be tighter.

Flower is a straight port from the PS3 which I got for free as I already bought it for that console. The graphics are improved to 1080p and 60 FPS and I must say, it looks absolutely amazing.

Warframe is the game that surprised me the most. It's a third person, online co-op shooter, that is free to play. It's smooth, controls well and has good level design that keeps the group together. I played through the first level with three other people and feel like I've performed well. I revived some guys, shot tons of enemies and even used a sword a few times. I wasn't expecting much since few free to play games have before, but this seems like it could be interesting.

Resogun is one hell of a game. There are few games that have the potential for that elusive "zen" feeling. I've felt it in Super Stardust, Geometry Wars and Everyday Shooter, as well as a few racing games like PGR 3, but it's rare. Resogun has it. This is a horizontal shooter set on the outside of a cylinder. Think Super Stardust but horizontal only. The game is intense, difficult and very impressive visually. The voxel tech they are using clusters the screen with thousands of exploding particles, all running in 1080p at 60 FPS at all times.

Call of Duty Ghosts is my only full retail game for PS4. I'm sure Battlefield and Killzone are more impressive visually, but I know I love CoD, hell, I've been playing this series every year since Call of Duty 2. I jumped right into multiplayer and while it took me a few rounds to get adjusted to the new controller, it wasn't long before I managed to take first place on the scoreboards. I unlocked an LMG that fits my style, the Ameli. It has a low rate of fire, high damage and good range. I also had to purchase the red dot sight to compensate for it's awful default sights. There are new perks, kill streaks and weapons, but I haven't dug very deeply yet.

I then tried a new mode in split screen with a friend. It's basically zombies but with aliens instead. We played three rounds but were not very successful overall. I finally jumped into the campaign and while people have been bitching that it doesn't look that great visually, I have to admit I was really impressed with the quality of the textures and lighting. The USA are under attack from a federation composed of most South American countries. My guy sets off with his brother to join an enigmatic team of fighters known as Ghosts. It's all very standard, Call of Duty style fighting. The coolest segment was a short mission in space, complete with spacesuit and space station. It looked fucking amazing and was pretty fun. I also got to control Riley, a German Shepard that fights alongside the two brothers. It can sneak up on enemies and gnaw on their jaw to death. I look forward to playing more and am definitely impressed.

Finally, I tried out remote play with the Vita. It doesn't have any lag, controls great and feels completely natural, though the framerate definitely took a hit, probably to compensate for lag. I'm super happy with my purchase and can't wait to play more!

Pikmin 3

Date played: November 10th
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 10/10

I played two more exploration days with my daughter in tow. We managed to kill a few dangerous crabs, losing dozens of Pikmin along the way. The crabs were very deadly, but they were nothing compared to the enormous creature I faced at the end of the level. It's some sort of plant that took shelter in a weird shell. I knocked it awake with some rock Pikmin. It then rampaged around the area on it's three legs. I threw some blue Pikmin at it's legs to knock it down on it's chest. I had to use blue because the holes it made in the mud with it's feet were full of water.

Looting huge fruit before the big battle!

Once down, I was able to throw a few reds into the mix to damage it, but he decimated my army. He has a huge tongue that he uses to lick away attacking Pikmin, I think I have to avoid it a lot better to conserve my soldiers. After a full day of battling, he was only at half health, but the battle isn't over yet!