Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary

Date played: December 30th
Platform: Xbox One
Session fun rating: 9/10

I finished Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary!

The classic game was better than ever thanks to the much improved graphics. The last 2 levels, Keyes and The Maw, are both challenging and fun. Keyes is a direct assault on a Flood-infested Covenant ship in an attempt to rescue Keyes. There were many instances of combat between Covenant and Flood forces here, so weapon choice was more important than ever. While a plasma rifle works wonders against all Covenant, it's near useless versus the Flood... At the end of the level, it is revealed that Keyes has been absorbed by the Flood, so Master Chief puts him out of his misery. I escaped the ship with a stolen Banshee.

Halo is no more

The Maw is the final level of the game where Master Chief must destroy Halo. To do this, Chief and Cortana head back to the wreck of the Pillar of Autumn where they plan on destroying it's engines, causing a big enough explosion to destroy Halo itself. Most of the level is spent working my way through the hordes of Flood and Covenant aboard the ship, though there are also Sentinels here. Near the end, there is a large room with 4 reactors that must be opened by using terminals, then destroyed with either rockets or grenades. This was actually pretty difficult because there are Flood and Sentinels all over the place and the terminals are kind of hard to reach. After the explosion, there is a great sequence where Master Chief must escape to a shuttle in a Warthog. The road is riddled with explosions, enemies, chasms and dangerous terrain. After a few failed attempts, I made it to the end and left Halo just before it's destruction.

Bring on Halo 2!

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

Date played: December 30th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 8/10

Man, this game is filled with stuff to do! Fusing Kinstones reveals so many different things to explore and find, it's kind of insane. I spent most of my time flipping over pots with my cane to shrink down in town, digging through dirt doors to reach new areas and completing a library quest to get the swimming gear.

In town, shrinking down opened up a lot of new activities and people to talk to. I found the construction crew and made them build a house for one of the ladies from the inn. I bought a bunch of hint books at the post office. I found Minish hiding pretty much everywhere in town. I even found a weird scientist!

The Minish are all over the place!

Outside the city, I used the digging mitts to open a new type of door, basically a dirt door. These digging sections often lead to treasure and new areas. In the process, I managed to gain two new hearts from heart pieces.

The only story related thing I did was to complete a quest to return 3 books to the library. These books actually serve as a structure for the Minish living in the library and when found, would let me talk with the elder of the building. I had to do a bunch of weird stuff to get the books back though. I used some water in a bottle to put out a fire in a fireplace, so that I could reach the roof of a house when shrunk. I found a power bracelet that lets me move shit around when shrunk, which let me get into the scientist's house and grab the book there. I even went to Lake Hylia to the mayor's cabin to recover the book he had.

After all that, I met the elder in the library who dropped me into an underground area where I found the flippers! I can now swim, both in normal and shrunken forms. This opened up many exploration options, so I ended up spending a lot of time finding little nooks and crannies only available by swimming.

I finally reached the next dungeon, the Temple of Droplets in the middle of Lake Hylia, but haven't started it yet. 

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker

Date played: December 29th
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 10/10

I played through a good portion of the second book with my daughter. The puzzles are definitely getting more complicated in most levels. There were some pretty clever ones. My favorite was a super small level featuring moving platforms, a bunch of small doors and tunnels and a green, log-throwing dinosaur. It was a pleasure to navigate through it.

Another had me navigate a dark and spooky ghost-filled mansion full of hidden paths and treasure. There was a great little level in a forest with trees that could be used as platforms. Another level had me navigate a garden labyrinth where "P" switches would raise and lower platforms. There was a fun puzzle with a double cherry item that creates a second Toadette, both of which are controlled at the same time. Some of the more difficult levels had me navigate some clear pipes to gather diamonds and avoid enemies.

Lava dragon!

I had a chance to fight the lava dragon boss again. It's kind of disappointing that there wasn't a new boss there, but at least the level design was different. There was a nice surprise after that where I got to ride the dragon and breathe fire on enemies and coin blocks for a bit! I also played two bonus levels straight out of Super Mario 3D World. I feel like these levels aren't much fun as Toad, but it's still a nice distraction.

I absolutely LOVE Captain Toad, finding every little secret is just pure fun.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

It's funny because it's true!

Date played: December 29th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 8/10

I spent a lot of time just exploring and finding the new secrets I had unlocked with the dozens of kinstone fusions I had done the last time I played. This meant I traveled a lot using the ocarina. I went back to the mountain, the forest, the two Hyrule fields and tons of other spots. I found rupees, heart pieces, other kinstones and completed a few small side quests.

I discovered that I could reveal shrinking stumps by running into them with the Pegasus boots, which opened up a few new paths. Along the way, I found Tingle and two of his brothers. These cute fairies promised me treasure if I fused kinstones with all of them. There's a 4th one I haven't found yet though. I also found out that I could flip over shrinking pots with the rod, but I haven't had a chance to play with that yet. This opens up tons of options for exploration in Hyrule town... I haven't even sniffed around the next dungeon yet.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS demo

Meh.

Date played: December 29th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 5/10

I have such a weird history with the Smash Bros. series... Unlike most Nintendo fans, I don't really like this series. I played the original a couple of times at friend's houses and enjoyed it, but wasn't amazed. I played quite of bit of Melee when I first had a Gamecube, and while I liked it, I never really got hooked. I have never played Brawl at all on Wii.

I decided to try the demo for the 3DS one and see if I like it, but honestly, it's still fucking Smash. To me, that's not really that exciting. The demo features 5 characters and one level. I played with each character available against a few AI enemies.

Mario feels a bit weak and is the only time I lost a match to the AI. MegaMan is a lot of fun and has some really cool moves. Link is amazing as always. Pikachu was all right, but nothing crazy. Finally, the Villager from Animal Crossing was absolutely fantastic. His unique moves and funny movements made him the most fun to play.

I don't know, I guess I just don't like Smash that much.

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary

Date played: December 27th
Platform: Xbox One
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played a single level in Halo, Two Betrayals. This was definitely one of the toughest levels yet. Master Chief had to go reactivate three devices deep inside Covenant territory and filled with Flood. More than once, I struggled with ammo and often didn't have the right weapon type for the battles. For example, in one room, I had an empty rocket launcher and a plasma rifle to take on a huge swarm of Flood. I had to kill enough of them with the plasma rifle and grenades until I was able to grab a shotgun or assault rifle from their corpses. To add insult to injury, I had a single point of health left. When I activated the device in the room, my shield went down and left me with that single point to hold off a huge rush of melee focused Flood... It took me many tries, probably around 5 or so, but I did it!

Two Betrayals is a challenging, but fun mission

Another section of the level was a huge snowy field where two Covenant tanks and many troops were fighting Flood. I had to get to a Banshee in the back so that I could fly to the last device. The challenge here is that some of the battle is very long range, but there are also enemies that rush in. I ended up using the rocket launcher to take care of the tanks, the hunters and a couple of elites, while using the assault rifle, a needler and a plasma rifle to finish off the rest. It was very challenging to me and took me a solid 3 or 4 tries before I got through. With the devices activated, Cortana suggested Master Chief assault a Covenant ship to rescue Keyes and destroy the vessel to prevent the Flood from leaving Halo.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker

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

This little game keeps me smiling and I'm afraid it will be over too quickly! It turns out I was really close to the end of the first "book". One of the cooler levels was set on a spooky train filled with little nooks and crannies to explore.

I then had to battle the second boss, the giant bird who had stolen the star and Toadette at the beginning of the game. This was one of the most involved and fun levels in the game. I had to climb a four sided tower using various ramps and devices to get to higher ground. All the while, the bird was flapping it's wings strongly enough that it would push objects and our Captain. It moved around the level in a clockwise fashion, so I had to time my movements around the position of the bird. When I reached the top, I was able to battle the beast directly. It threw giant turnips at me that I could throw back at him if I evaded them successfully. After hitting him 3 times, he dropped Toadette and the star...then the credits rolled...

This boss was a fun challenge!

Thankfully, that's not the end of the game just yet. I now have an entire new "book" but now, Toadette must rescue Captain Toad! Toadette plays exactly the same as Captain Toad, except she is pink and has pigtails. I played a few levels with her including a fun level with sliding platforms, a little jungle filled with piranha plants, a challenging mine cart level, a place with invisible floors and the cutest little water park in the world, complete with Goombas splashing around in the water. 

Sunset Overdrive

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

I didn't have much time to play, but I still managed to complete 3 side quests. I met up with the weird gang that holes up in the old Japanese history museum. The leader seems fucking insane, but he agreed to help me find Brylcreem, the dude who is supposed to help me get out of the city somehow...I think.

Whatever, after a brief discussion with crazy Troopmaster Norton, a new quest hub area became available. I bought a new weapon, the Roman Candle. It has replaced the vinyl disc launcher in my weapon wheel as my go-to automatic weapon. That thing is very powerful and easy to use. It basically uses fireworks as ammo, causing small explosions all over the place. Coupled with the the Burn Baby! amp, it makes for some impressive firepower against all enemy types.

The Roman Candle is an amazing weapon

In the first side quest, I had to gather 5 porcelain cats for a girl that were being held by scabs. The next 2 missions had me gather some comic books for an weird nerd by killing OD. While the quests themselves and the objectives are not that great on their own, the sheer joy of playing Sunset Overdrive is enough to make every second of it tons of fun! I'm also more comfortable than ever with the crazy traversal to get where I want quickly, while still killing enemies by the dozen. I love grinding, bouncing, wall-running, pole vaulting and jumping around the beautiful city...

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker

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

Captain Toad was one of my Christmas gifts from my daughter. She loves sitting with me while I play games. She gets involved and gives me tips and suggestions. My girlfriend thought this would be a great choice for playing with my daughter and she was absolutely right.

Captain Toad takes the small, bite-sized levels from Super Mario 3D World and expands them into a full sized game. The eponymous captain cannot jump and has very limited fighting abilities, so he must cleverly navigate the very small and very dense levels to succeed. The objective is to grab the star at the end of the level, but there are also three crystals to collect in each level. There is also a bonus objective for all levels which varies to include things like finding a well hidden gold mushroom,defeating all enemies or gathering a certain number of coins.

The visual style is just fucking fantastic all around. Everything is super cute, well designed and the attention to small details is awesome. The game also looks really good considering it's on Wii U, a system known for it's graphical weakness. Treasure Tracker wouldn't look out of place on a PS4 or Xbox One.

I played the first 17 levels. The level variety is great. I went to beautiful tropical beaches, a hedge labyrinth, a haunted house, a desert, a falling block level and everything in between. The challenge here is that without the ability to jump, the path needed to victory is a lot more complicated than it seems at first. I had to use clever navigation of levels by constantly tilting and rotating the camera. I used touch screen activated blocks to move the environment around. I twisted little valves to rotate bridges and paths. I blew on the microphone to lift and move platforms and much much more.

There are a few weird levels too, like a mine cart level where I had to aim at enemies and other items by using the gamepad's screen to see in first person, while seeing the action from a wider view on the TV. I used a turnip cannon to battle enemies and blow up blocks. I used a little mine pick to break blocks and kill enemies. I even climbed to the top of a lava filled chamber as the gigantic fire dragon boss was spewing dangerous fireballs at me!

I really love Treasure Tracker and can't wait to play more of it!

Work, work, work

Date played: December 24th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 10/10

December 24th is a weird day to be working. People are all thinking about their Christmas plans and many people are off work. To give some context, in my work place there is a room with a very large screen used for presentations. I brought my PS3 and hooked it up to play with a few co-workers.

We first played Scott Pilgrim vs the World with 3 players. One of the players is far from being a regular gamer, but this is the kind of game that anyone can pick up and play a few minutes. Together, we battled the enemies on the first level and managed to beat the boss. Scott Pilgrim is a very approachable game, so I was glad that everyone had a good time. There were some great comments about the bouncing boobs too...

I then played a bit of Soul Calibur IV with my friend. She is VERY competitive, but has no experience with that game. She learned quickly and started giving me a real challenge after only a few rounds. Of course, being new to the game, she seemed to enjoy spamming the same few moves, most of which I could block and counter-attack fairly well, but I had to stay concentrated to win. She won a few rounds though, so I have to give credit where it's due. Good work friend. Good work.

We then played a bit of Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition, but she didn't like that as much since it's a bit more technical. She was still pulling out some hadoken's and giving it her best though, she even managed an ultra combo by accident! 

Metroid: Other M

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

Exploration of sector 1 is going pretty well. After killing a swarm of geemers and other minor enemies in an area filled with vegetation, I explored further, looking for clues as to what happened in the space station. Exploration is real nice in this game so far. There are a lot of nooks and crannies to find and a surprisingly large number of spots to use the morph ball.

At one point, I found a sort of containment area, or cage, where a creature had been held, but had since killed nearby staff and escaped, but that's all I really know so far. I picked up many missile expansion upgrades along the way, as well as a an item that reduces charge time for my cannon. When I went back to the vegetation area, I found a small white furry creature. That thing is creepy as fuck, but I think it's either going to be an ally or a very dangerous enemy. Time will tell...

I moved forward and found an area that looked like it was completely outdoors, but being on a space station, that's impossible. It turns out that the ecosystems on the station are built with holograms to give the impression of an horizon. I fought a new enemy type here, a sort of predator that disguises itself as a large herbivore.

Arm cannon headshot!

Then I found an elevator shaft filled with geemers and handholds on the sides. After climbing to the top, it was clear that I wasn't going through because of an elevator that was stuck at the top. After shooting it with missiles, it only held above my head by a thread...then a strong enemy appeared. The trick to this was to hide in one of the little nooks in the shaft then shoot the remaining support to make the elevator fall on the enemy and open the way... However, I was stupid didn't notice that until the 4th try. I was attempting to kill the creature and got squished by the elevator every time.

Further into sector 1, I found a room where two Ghalmanians were waiting for me. The purple lizard-like creatures can become invisible and attack with poison projectiles and their amazing tail. I locked on to them with my missiles, stunned them and blew their fucking heads off with my arm cannon. Satisfying.

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

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

My girlfriend had read an article about this game a while back and had shown an interest. She likes murder stories, detectives and ghosts, so this was a perfect fit. I played the first hour or so as she watched.

The first thing I noticed about this game is how absolutely fucking beautiful it is. It truly is an impressive piece of software. Leaves ruffle in the wind, the sun shines brightly on the forest, the vistas in the distance are breathtaking and everything is highly detailed.

I play as a detective that was hired to investigate the vanishing of Ethan Carter, a young boy that lived with his family in a small rural house. The interaction is limited to movement, running, zooming and a single interaction button. As I walked in the woods on a railroad track, I came across the body of a dead man, but couldn't do much else.

Soon enough, I reached an area with two houses on a hill near a large dam. As I explored the first , deserted house, I started to see some weird shit. In fact, there were portals in some of the doorways that led to other rooms in the house and perhaps another house, it wasn't too clear. After a while, the portals disappeared...

On the left, the mysterious house with portals, on the right, the Carter house

The next house was Ethan's. There were clues about what happened to him. As far as I can make out right now, the child had wakened something the family calls "the sleeper" in the deserted house. It seemed like there was some tension about that between the family members, but much is still unclear.

Later, I explored the woods a bit more and found a small tent that seemed to have been used by Ethan. As I was getting there though, there was some weird paranormal shit going on. My vision was distorted and a woman spoke to me, asking questions. Maybe a ghost? I read a few notes left by Ethan and continued my exploration.

I found a church and it's graveyard. Clearly, some occult stuff was happening here. Crows being drained of their blood, strange blood markings on graves, etc. In one of the tombs, I found one of the family members dead...

There were a few puzzles. I had to put some objects back in their place for example. I also had to pinpoint the location of an event by aiming the camera at the right spot. The detective has his own mysteries too. For example, it seems he can see into the past at certain times by opening a weird portal of sorts. I like the game so far. It doesn't hold my hand and has an interesting story.

Sunset Overdrive

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

I played a lot of Sunset Overdrive yesterday. I'm surprised at how much I enjoy playing the little challenge missions that pop up after most main missions. There are usually two new challenges per main mission and so far, I've been able to get the top score on all of them except 2. There's crate smashing, traversal, bomb setting, point gathering, combat arenas, weapon challenges, fort defense and even some flight challenges!

As for the main missions, It started with an amazing climb between two skyscrapers to find one of the kid's missing parents. I used stationary harpoon guns to build makeshift bridges between the buildings and fought many human enemies. It was a fun mission focused on platforming.

One of the rich kids in the safe house isn't willing to help build the propeller I need because she misses her dog. Of course, I then had to go find the pooch. When I got the park where it was hanging out, I discovered that it was a robotic attack dog, but he wasn't willing to follow me. I had go to a toy store and get a stuffed cat to lure the dog. I attached the kitty to one of my guns and could command the dog's movements with it. I then had to bring him back to the safe house. Along the way, I fought dozens and dozens of OD...but not in the same way as usual. While wielding the kitty, I was unable to use any other guns, I only had melee and the robot dog. Thankfully, that little mutt is a fucking monster against OD, hell, he took down half a dozen Herkers in less than 30 seconds! All I had to do was direct him to the right spot and not get killed.

After delivering that, the kids were able to build a 3D printer that would build my propeller, but they still needed a better processor to make it work. I went out to see a redneck who lives in a radio tower converted into a treehouse of sorts. The man had computer parts, but before giving them to me, he wanted to record me fighting OD for his new reality TV show... I fought OD while fulfilling the man's requests, such as killing while bouncing, grinding, etc.

Processor in hand, I went back to the kids and they started building the propeller. In the meantime, I went back to my base to build some new amps. Of course, this meant another round of night defense at the fort. I set some traps and got ready to go crazy. These missions are so much fun! There is an stream of OD swarming the base as I scramble to kill as many of them as possible. It ends up being extremely frantic, full of explosions and OD juice and it gives me a chance to play with all my weapons.

Speaking of weapons, I got a few new ones. There's the Captain Ahab, a harpoon that creates a pool of overcharge on the ground which attracts OD. It's useful to group enemies together, then shoot the shit out of them. Then there's the Dude, a gun that shoots rocket bowling balls in a straight line. It's very powerful against groups of enemies running towards me. Finally, there's the Freeze Bomb which freezes a enemies in a large radius. It's great when overwhelmed as it gives me a few seconds to recover.

After getting the processor, the kids were able to build the propeller and launch the small aircraft. Before launch, I was faced with a new enemy type, Fizzco robots. These things are very strong and have powerful rifles. Most of my weapons were ineffective against them, so I had to whittle away their health from a distance.

Fizzco robots suck...

After the battle, I got to pilot the glider and had to fly over steam to keep it airborne. It was equipped with rockets too, which I used to destroy mines. The goal was to get out of the city, I had to follow a Fizzco blimp until the kids could hack away it's shields. I destroyed the blimp and made my way to the edges of the city. Unfortunately, there was an invisible wall built by Fizzco that destroyed the glider and killed my partner...

Brother n.4, Christmas edition

Me and my bro looked like this a lot tonight

Date played: December 20th
Platform: PS4, Xbox One
Session fun rating: 9/10

My brother from New Brunswick is visiting for the holidays, so of course, we ended up gaming together a bit. We started with some Baribariball to warm up. He had never played it, so it took him a few rounds to get comfortable. Unfortunately, he never really got to a level where I could play at my best and have a good match, it just wasn't his type of game I guess.

Then he wanted to see Advanced Warfare, so I played two multiplayer matches and did really damn well. I had some amazing firefights against a few players. In one incredible moment, I got a few hits on a dude, double jumped and dashed out of the way, threw a smoke grenade to confuse him, then finished him off as he was scrambling to locate me. My bro was impressed with the mobility options, the cool equipment and kill streaks and the dynamic maps. He also played the first mission of the game and was very impressed with the graphics and general feel of the game.

Finally, we booted up Forza Horizon 2. Having played only the demo, we were happy to see the opening of the game. We were both very much impressed with the game in general. I picked the Camaro SS as my first car and enjoyed it's beautiful design, roaring engine and raw power. I played two races, including one that partially took place in rainy weather. The weather effects really look wonderful and adds some excitement to the racing. While I didn't play too much, I really look forward to digging deep into this game.

Metroid: Other M

Date played: December 20th
Platform: Wii
Session fun rating: 7/10

My daughter saw my Samus shirt this morning and asked about who she is and why she has a gun for an arm. After explaining a few things about her and the Metroid video games, she wanted me to play one of her games. I've had Other M on my shelves for a long time, but only played it once or twice a long time ago. I decided to give the game another chance and started a new game.

I played through the intro and the first few segments and am now exploring Sector 1. The game looks surprisingly good for a Wii game, though the low resolution is hard to swallow. The cinematics are very well done too. There's a lot of story cut scenes, some of which makes Samus look like a bit of a spoiled little bitch, but overall, it's pretty interesting.

The game takes place directly after Super Metroid. Having played it recently, it was fun to see what happened after the events of the classic game. Other M starts with Samus receiving a distress signal that seems to be coming from a metroid... When she gets to the space station, she meets up with Galactic Federation folks, including her old commanding officer, Adam.

The third person action game plays pretty well. Using a single Wii remote for all controls, it manages to include first person shooting, albeit without being able to move Samus. I shot and killed various creatures, including an easy boss that required that I shoot it's weak spots with my missiles. I'm excited to play more of this weird installment in the great series.

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary

Date played: December 19th
Platform: Xbox One
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played through 2 levels of the first Halo as part of the Master Chief Collection. The levels were 343 Guilty Spark and The Library. 343 Guilty Spark starts with the Chief walking through a swamp where the Covenant were clearly being hunted by a unknown force. After a while, I found a structure and as I explored it, the silence and lack of activity became more and more suspicious. I picked up a dead soldier's video feed and discovered that they had been attacked by a disgusting organic race. This was my first encounter with the Flood, the race that can eats all sentient life and appropriates their bodies for combat.

There are two main types of enemies, small critters that swarm the Chief, and other, larger types that have taken over Covenant and human bodies, some even wielding weapons like needlers, plasma pistols and assault rifles. As I escaped the facility, I met 343 Guilty Spark, a weird little floating robot AI thing. He teleported me to the Library where I was asked to activate Halo's weapon defense systems to destroy the Flood.

The Library, one of the most hated levels in gaming history

The Library is one of the most despised levels in gaming, and for good reason. Flood swarm from all sorts of openings and attack the chief relentlessly as Guilty Spark leads the way. It's a long level too, making it a bit tedious. Thankfully, there are 2 things that makes this ordeal more digestible. First is the shotgun. That thing destroys any rushing Flood in a single shot! The second thing is the amazing graphics of this updated version. One of the reasons I hated the Library when I first played it was that it was a drab and boring area. In the remake, it definitely looks a lot better with more colors, interesting lighting and more detailed structures.

At the end of the level, it is revealed that Cortana had been imprisoned by 343 Guilty Spark and that the Halo weapon's system was designed to wipe out all sentient life in a 25 000 light year radius. This would have removed any food source for the flood, including the Covenant and humans. Of course, Master Chief refuses to activate Halo and must now escape the weapons released by 343 Guilty Spark.

Call of Duty Advanced Warfare

Date played: December 17th and 18th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10

I finished Call of Duty Advanced Warfare's campaign!

The last few levels of the game were filled with action and crazy weaponry. Mitchell and team were sent out to destroy Atlas battleships using large turrets on another ship in San Francisco. We assaulted the harbor and fought our way through to the ship, manned the turrets and destroyed the battleship.

In the next mission, I piloted a jet to reach Baghdad and assault Atlas headquarters directly. I had full control of the jet as it flew through a canyon, shooting missiles at enemy jets, tanks and various other enemies. When we got close to the city, the awesome jet separated the cockpit from the rest of the aircraft and I dropped from the sky right into the target zone. I then had to take out 3 large turrets. I was equipped with a grapple hook, so I zipped around the area to take out enemies. I faced off against a few assault exosuits and discovered a new technique. When I am behind these guys, I was able to use the grapple to pull the pilot straight out of the suit, then smash it's skull on the ground. At the end of the mission, I was asked to grab a stinger rocket to take out a nearby tank, but as I did, drones appeared. These small drones released the infamous biological weapon. Being former Atlas members, Mitchell, Gideon and Ilona are all immune, but everyone else died a painful death.

We were captured by Atlas and brought to Irons by prison truck. There was a little standoff between all the characters. Irons shot the Sentinel captain and left him to bleed out, and he damaged my bionic arm so that it is no longer functional. Shortly after, we managed to escape again with Gideon and Ilona's amazing skills. We got separated by a door shortly after, so I was with Gideon for the rest of the level. Having only one arm, I was forced to use small pistols and SMG's and was not able to reload. I picked up new weapons from enemies as I went along. In our escape, we ended up using a hatch that led to a crematorium conveyor belt... We got out of there just in time, hopped on a VTOL, but got shot down. In the crash, we found an assault exosuit on an enemy and I was able to put it on.

Those fucking things are AMAZING! I had rockets, a crazy minigun and lots of armor. I mowed down dozens of enemies and escaped the facility. It was a real thrill to ride this thing and be completely overpowered for a bit. The last level was an assault on Irons facility to stop the launch of the biological weapon on most of the civilized world. Using the exosuits again, we fucking destroyed everything in sight, then destroyed the rocket that was to launch the payload.

This was a great moment

The very end of the game has a cool moment where Irons paralyzes Mitchell and Gideon by using a secret hack to jam their exosuits, all manufactured by Atlas of course. In a great little sequence, Mitchell manages to exit his suit, then sprints after Irons. The entire building is on fire due to the damage we did to the rocket. I grabbed Irons then in a cliche, but great moment, Irons holds on to Mitchell to prevent himself from falling into the burning remains of the skyscraper. Mitchell was stuck in the railing, so to get free and get rid of irons, he mercilessly chops his own bionic arm off with his knife, letting Irons plummet to his death. I think this is one of the best campaigns in the Call of Duty series and I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected.

I also played a few multiplayer matches and did well enough, though nothing amazing and nothing horrible.

Call of Duty Advanced Warfare

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

I played Advanced Warfare multiplayer with my brother last night and had a great time! We started with a few domination matches, but we struggled like crazy... I was happy if I could just reach 1.0 K/D, and we lost badly.

We jumped into the new moshpit playlist which mixes in many different game types. Right away, I started doing pretty good. My trusty Hasty Pytaek showed it's teeth in modes that have more defined choke points. Kill Confirmed, Team Deathmatch and Domination don't change much.

Riot is one of my favorite maps

However, Hardpoint is basically King of the Hill, which means people swarm towards the scoring area all at once. My stable, long range LMG has proven to be very powerful if I stand at a distance with line of sight on the scoring zone.

The most interesting mode we tried was Uplink, which is basically handball with guns. There is a ball and two goal "nets" on either end of the map. The objective is to grab the ball and throw it in the opposing team's net. When holding the ball, the player can't shoot, but has increased armor, faster run speed and can only use melee attacks. It sounds crazy, and it is. It's also incredibly fun! It creates little groups of people protecting the runner and huge firefights. The fact that the ball holder is visible to everyone adds to the tension. My brother and I both managed to score a goal in our match and we won 4-0. I'm surprised, but I really fucking liked this mode!

Injustice: Gods Among Us

Date played: December 15th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 6/10

Well, this is Mortal Kombat, except less bloody and with DC Comics characters. It was free on PS Plus, but I had already played the demo on PS3 last year and didn't really like it. I still don't like it that much on PS4. I mean, the game plays well enough, but I just don't really like it's style. I would much rather play something like Street Fighter, Dead or Alive or Mortal Kombat.

I played the tutorial that explains the systems, most of which are straight out of MK. Then I played a couple of fights using Wonder Woman, but lost interest pretty quick. I think I should play this again only when I have a friend to play with, as that seems like it would be more fun.

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary

Date played: December 14th
Platform: Xbox One
Session fun rating: 8/10

The first Halo game is a very important game for shooters. Before it, Goldeneye held the hearts of console gamers. The difference between these two games is mind blowing... We all have fond memories of playing Goldeneye. You know, stuff like peeking at your friend's corner of the screen, insulting anyone who picked oddjob, using proximity mines like they were candy, etc. What we don't usually remember is how badly that game handled. Think about it for a minute, the controller didn't even have two analog sticks!

That's where Halo comes in. It completely redefined what it meant to play a shooter. Dual analog control, rechargeable health, a button dedicated to grenades and melee, the warthog and the two weapon limit were things that changed console shooters forever. But that's not why I love this game.

I love this game because every single fight is utterly enjoyable. Killing a grunt with a single pistol headshot, riddling an elite with an entire rifle clip, punching a jackal in the back of the head, sticking a ghost with a plasma grenade, shooting a rocket at a hunter and sliding around in a warthog makes this game special.

Halo: Combat Evolved redefined shooters forever

I played 4 levels, Halo, Truth and Reconciliation, The Silent Cartographer and Assault on the Control Room. Halo is still an introductory mission. It's the first time the Chief is on the ground and also the first time I get to drive a warthog, the iconic all terrain vehicle. I had to rescue some marines from 3 different areas on Halo. Nothing too special here, this is kind of the Green Hill Zone level for this game...

Truth and Reconciliation is one of the best missions in the game. Chief and company must sneak around to reach a parked Covenant ship, then use it's tractor beam to get on board and finally rescue Keyes, an important officer. The first portion of the level gave me a sniper rifle and asked me to stealth through a mountainous area. Stealth doesn't work too well in Halo, but thankfully, if I alerted the enemy, I was able to simply kill them. I fought my first hunter at the tractor beam. These armored beasts are best taken down with plasma grenades in this level, though regular gunfire will eventually work too. Finally, we got on the ship, blasted through everything and saved Keyes, then escaped successfully in a stolen Covenant drop ship.

The Silent Cartographer is probably my favorite mission in the entire game. Master Chief has to find a map room to find more information on Halo. This mission is played on a relatively small island, filled with beaches and palm trees. Chief gets to the two main structures by riding around the warthog outside, then going on foot inside the Covenant installations. There are hunters to fight, cloaked elites and even a few super strong elites that require lots of firepower to kill.

Assault on the Control Room is interesting at first, but holy fuck, does it get boring. It's also way too fucking long for it's own good. After getting the map, Master Chief enters a large subterranean area. There were portions of the mission where I got to ride the ghost, a small hovering attack vehicle. There was also a large section where I drove a scorpion tank and blew up everything in sight. the boring part was the second half of the mission where I went through corridor after corridor of shit... It all looked the same and lasted way too long.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

Date played: December 13th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 10/10

I made very good progress in Minish Cap, completing the 3rd dungeon. I had lots of stuff on my plate before I even approached that place though. I discovered a secret sanctuary door in Hyrule Castle where I was able to merge the elements I gathered into my sword. It granted me a new ability that lets me create a clone of Link for a short period. This is used to solve many puzzles and open new paths.

To get to the Fortress of Winds, I had to go through Castor Wilds. This swampy area could not be navigated without the use of the Pegasus Boots. To get these magical running boots, I had to visit the town's shoe maker... but I had a problem. The guy was asleep and couldn't be woken up. I discovered some Minish were living in his shop and making shoes for him, but they weren't able to wake him either. I had to find a witch in the woods that sold me a mushroom that could be used to wake the dude.

Along the way, I met with the owners of the Lon Lon Ranch, Talon and Malon. They had lost the key to their house, so I shrunk down, got the key from inside and gave it to them. I also explored the areas I could reach with my new staff, finding heart pieces and Kinstone pieces everywhere. After all that, I finally scored my Pegasus Boots.

In the swamp, I got stuck for a little bit. There were some cyclops blocking some of the paths, but I couldn't figure out how to move them. It turns out, I had missed a small path where I could go down a vine and find the bow and arrow... With my new weapon, I was able to shoot the stone cyclops in the eye, wake them, and kill them. Again, after a lot of exploration, I reached a new area where sleeping warriors blocked the way. To activate them, I had to shrink down, climb into their bellies and turn on a switch! After all that, I finally reached the dungeon.

The Mole Mitts fun to use

This dungeon was quite complicated, having 5 different entrances and multiple levels. Using my new bow, I sometimes had to ride moving platforms, then shoot at targets to open doors. I fought many skeletons and was horrified at the return of the hands that drop from the ceiling, a classic enemy. Eventually, I found a new item, the Mole Mitts. These impressive gloves allow Link to dig through soft soil. The dungeon was full of it and removing it revealed many secrets and new passages. There were also many puzzles that required me to use the new cloning ability.

I then faced off with the boss, an impressive stone monster with two giant hands. By shooting his hands with the bow, I was able to weaken him, but not damage him. To actually hurt him, I had to use a nearby device to shrink down, enter the creature's abdomen, dig through the soil inside, then hit his weak spot!

Unfortunately, it seems the Wind Element was lost and will have to be found elsewhere. I did score the Ocarina of Wind, which lets me fast travel between set points in the world though. Back in Hyrule town, I bought a larger bomb bag and went on my way. I then spent a LOT of time talking to citizens, mainly because I wanted to fuse Kinstones. These things reveal cool items, secrets, characters and even small quests. It's a really cool mechanic and it's a too bad it wasn't used again in a different game of the series. I must now go to Lake Hylia, but I think I'll fuck around with the Kinstone secrets a bit before I continue. 

LittleBigPlanet 3

Date played: December 13th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 8/10

I had a horrible experience the first time I played this game, but the problems have since been patched and corrected. I played through a few levels in multiplayer with my girlfriend where we discovered that the little dude we were helping was a complete idiot who wanted to revive the titans. With my help, he succeeded and became the game's main villain.

His mom told me I should be looking to reawaken the old guardians, Oddsock, Swoop and Toggle. The first on the list is Oddsock. To summon him, we were asked to find 3 magical jewels in different levels. Interestingly, the game has a small hub world with 3 other levels accessible from it. It's new to the series and adds some exploration to the gameplay.

Sackboy, in space!

The only level that really stood out to me in the ones we played had a 1950's vibe and some sections taking place in space! The best part were the sections with zero gravity. Our little sack people could float anywhere to navigate the levels. It was pretty awesome.

Call of Duty Advanced Warfare

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

I played some multiplayer last night. It started off a little rough... My first 2 or 3 matches were pretty bad, scoring around 7-12 and 11-18. I think I was a bit rusty, but soon enough, I was getting back into the positives, culminating in a few matches where I scored very well.

23-10 feels good man

I scored a new version of the Pytaek that has a better fire rate, but lower accuracy. This gun is already very accurate, but it's a bit slow, so I tried it out and was very happy with this hasty version. I will definitely keep using it for a while. I'm using the mobility options a lot more now to get around too. Using the double jump and dashes together is very powerful and fast. I've gotten out of situations that would have normally killed me by simply dashing out of harm's way, or double jumping to a roof to reduce the enemy's line of sight. Of course, it's not always successful, but it works often enough. The maps are getting more familiar to me too, a crucial part of being good in any Call of Duty game.

Driveclub

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

I gotta be honest here, I booted up Driveclub only to check out it's new photo mode. I was surprised to see that challenges were now working! Our club had been challenged on a time trial and a few others. When I saw the time posted by my clan mate, I thought I would give it a try to improve our position on the leaderboard. The event was in one of the slower Audi's. I gave it a solid go and improved our position from 23rd to 15th in a single attempt. I'm sure I could do a lot better, but I was here for photo mode, so I left it at that.

Whoa...

Photo mode is just as you expect it to be. I booted up a single race in a Ferrari to see how it works. I didn't even get past the first corner in the race, but I took my first pic and I think it looks fucking gorgeous. You be the judge. The mode has potential for much cooler pics too, but as a quick first attempt, I was satisfied. 

Costume Quest: Grubbins on Ice

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

I finished the Grubbins on Ice expansion for Costume Quest!

The last portion of the game had me and my little team try to find a yeti to convince the town's elder to open the gates for us. After some exploring and spelunking in caves, we found out that this whole time, the yeti was just a crow in costume. He put the costume in the dryer and it shrunk down too much. Thankfully, it was now kid-sized, so I put it on, made an appearance in the village and the gate opened!

This crow's world domination plan was foiled by three kids in costumes...

It's also a new fighting costume that is focused on defense. I didn't like it too much for normal fights, but it proved invaluable when I faced the final boss. It turns out, the bad guys were trying to revive the giant skeleton boss from the first game. I fought the boss of the bad guys and died... I adjusted my gear and team and easily took him out. The last cut-scene showed the kids rescuing their kidnapped friend, then going through the portal to head back home. We were dropped in a mysterious cavern filled with other portals, then the credits rolled... It's a pretty good setup for the sequel!

Hearthstone

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

I haven't played this wonderful game in a while, but I saw a lot of chatter on Twitter about the new Goblins vs Gnomes expansion cards so I jumped back in for a few matches. I got 3 packs of the new cards for free and was happy to see some cool new cards. Most of them involve mechs, goblins, gnomes and of course, explosives and gadgets.

Even the card packs are goblin and gnome themed!

I made a new deck for my Shaman, making sure to include a few of the new cards where they fit and had a lot of fun in casual play. I won most of my matches too! I then completed a quest I had by building a Hunter deck filled with low cost creatures. It didn't work too well, but I completed the quest and had enough gold to buy 2 more packs.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

Date played: December 9th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 9/10

I completed the second dungeon, the Caverns of Fire.

To get there, I had to climb up a large mountain. This required lots of exploration, bombs, parachuting, fighting and climbing. One of the best puzzles had me required me to find a bottle from a deku dude hidden in a cave, then fill this bottle with water, which I then fed to a plant that grew to become a makeshift ladder for Link. There was good use of the shrinking and growing mechanic along the way too.

During my journey to the top of the mountain, I encountered a fairy that gave me a bigger bomb bag and another deku that sold me a bracelet that lets me climb some rock faces. At the top of the mountain, I found a Minish mining expedition, led by their master sword smith. I gave him my broken Minish sword, then went on to find the next element in the nearby human mine, the Caverns of Fire.

The dungeon was really cool. I had to use a mine cart and track switching devices to get where I needed to go. After a while, I found the dungeon item, a rod that lets me flip things over. It can also be used to charge up little holes that launch Link into the air, letting him cross some large gaps. There was a whole section of the dungeon where I had to move along platforms moving on lava, sometimes having to flip the platforms with my new rod. I then had to use small tornadoes to lift Link up in the air then parachute around the lava and obstacles.

Gleerok put up a good fight!

Finally, I took on the boss, Gleerok. The large dragon swam in lava and spit fire at me as I ran around his fiery home. I used my new rod to flip it's shell which stunned him and opened him up to attack. I killed it, grabbed my heart and went back to see the sword smith. He made my sword stronger and gave me information on rescuing Zelda. I went back to town and bought the boomerang with all my money. With the new rod and climbing ability, I'm sure I will find dozens of new spots to explore. 

Kerbal Space Program

Date played: December 8th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 5/10

Holy shit this game is insane... In fact, I hesitate to call it a game, it seems a lot closer to a rocket science simulator. I played only the first two tutorials and messed around with the sandbox mode. Kerbal Space Program is about building spaceships from a variety of different parts. Then you get to launch your spaceship and pilot it directly.

At least the tutorial let me successfully launch a rocket...

The problem is, everything is extremely complex... The physics feel real, which means weight distribution, center of mass, propulsion power, fuel capacity, systems activation sequences and dozens of other factors play a role in the rocket's success. I'm excited to see what can be done in this game, but so far, it's really intimidating, regardless of the cute pilots. In sandbox mode, I managed to build a rocket that launched, though it exploded many times before I got it off the ground. I never managed to land it safely yet, though that might be because I forgot to put a parachute on the command module. 

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

Date played: December 7th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 9/10

I completed the first dungeon! Being the first one in the game, it was really simple, but had a few cool twists. There was a rotating barrel with a few doors in it. By entering it and walking up or down, I was able to change the location of doors and gain access to some areas. There were also some stretchy mushrooms that I could pull to boost myself over large gaps. It was involved in a few puzzles.

After a bit of exploring, I found the dungeon item, a sort of vacuum device. It can be used to remove spores, dust and spider webs to reveal secrets. It works well in combat too. There was a whole section in the dungeon where I had to use it as a propeller for a lily pad I used as a raft. Finally, I took on the boss. It was a simple enemy in the normal sized world, but when Link is shrunk down, it becomes monstrous! I used my new vacuum to suck off it's base so that the creature fell off balance where I could start attacking it.

First boss defeated!

After that, I was given bombs by a Minish and was able to start exploring the world a bit. I went back to Hyrule town and talked to everyone. There are clearly some areas that are meant to be explored when shrunk down, but I couldn't find a way to do it yet. I helped a lady find her cuccoos, bought a new wallet and I still have lots to explore before moving on to my search for the next crystal. 

Call of Duty Advanced Warfare

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

I played through 3 campaign missions and played a lot of Domination in multiplayer. After tracking the plane with the special cargo, we used special exo suits and mag strips to skydive onto the plane, cut off it's wings and make it crash land in a snowy area where our troops were waiting. This turned into a pretty cool mission where we were fighting Atlas in the ice-covered area. We even fought in ice caverns after some cave ins. It all looked very pretty too. In the end, we managed to recover the cargo and get out of there alive.

With the use of the cargo and Gideon, we infiltrated a bio lab where Atlas was building it's weapons of mass destruction. Irons is a really good villain... He made a speech at the UN where he basically called everyone useless and admitted to building weapons capable of genocide. He basically declared war on every government in the world... We were trying to get to the bio lab to minimize Atlas' destruction capabilities. The mission itself was awesome. The lab is built under the cover of a large camouflaged canopy. We got in there, shot the whole place up, including an epic fight against a minigun wielding maniac and destroyed the weapons. To escape, we stole a prototype hover tank. That thing was incredibly fun to drive! I shot dozens of enemy tanks, VTOL's and helicopters with it, and probably over 100 soldiers.

This hover tank was amazing!

The last mission I played took place entirely on a road, and the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco. Sentinel is basically trying to cripple Atlas, and their strongest amalgamation of troops was in the San Francisco bay. We first chased a suspicious truck using a powerful jeep equipped with an awesome gun, which led us to the Golden Gate bridge. We crashed and fought soldiers on the bridge to reach the target truck. When we got to it, it released a bunch of drones that blew up the entire bridge!

Finally, I played a bunch of multiplayer and for once, I was pretty hot. I've had a bit of trouble getting up to speed in Advanced Warfare, but it's kind of normal. Every year it's the same thing. I start off slow, and get very good after a bit of practice. I changed a few things to my setup that help me be a bit better. I now use the invisibility exo ability, which cloaks me for a short time. It's easy to spot a cloaked player, but it still gives me a few milliseconds. I also use a new red dot sight that makes it a lot easier to aim well for me.

I did pretty damn fucking good, getting my kill streaks a lot and being well over 1.0 K/D for the majority of my matches. I'm getting there!

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

Date played: December 5th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 8/10

I didn't get a chance to play too much of it yet, but I started playing Minish Cap, one of the free ambassador games I received from Nintendo. I always loved Zelda games, but I realized recently that I really haven't played that many of them. That's why I played Link's Awakening last month. I figured, since I already had it, I could try the Capcom developed Game Boy Advance game.

Minish Cap starts with Princess Zelda visiting a sword smith who turns out to be Link's grandpa. There's a festival in town to celebrate 100 years since a mysterious race of miniature people gave the world a magic sword to defeat the evils that infested the lands. The Minish are really just a legend at this point, with no solid proof of their existence.

Princess Zelda asked Link to bring a ceremonial sword made by his grandfather to Hyrule castle. I escorted her to the city where we talked to a few people at the festival. In the process, I scored a shield to protect the Princess. When we reached the throne room, we talked to the king a little bit. He was to present a special Minish chest to the victor of a sword fighting competition that was held earlier. It turns out, the winner is the evil villain, Vaati. He attached the guards and opened the chest which released monsters into the world. When he didn't find what he came looking for, he turned Zelda into a stone statue and ran off.

Apparently, only children can see the Minish. According to the king, finding them and getting their help is the only way to rescue the Princess, so Link is given a sword and the heavy burden of saving the lady in distress.

Link, his talkative cap and the Minish

I followed the hints to find a small forest to the south. Along the way, I rescued an odd creature that knows of the Minish. He hops onto Link's head to become... wait for it... his Minish Cap. His helpful advice led Link to an old tree stump where it was revealed that Link could shrink down in size to become insect sized. I entered the stump and followed the path to find the tiny Minish village hidden in the forest. I talked to the folks there and my adventure really started, as I was asked to gather 4 crystals as my first steps to saving Zelda. I headed to my first dungeon and stopped at the entrance.

I really like what I've played of this game so far. The amazing visuals, great animation and the cool shrinking mechanic have me intrigued to play more!

NHL 15

Date played: December 5th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10

I got a chance to play some 4 player NHL 15 with my brother and his friends. 2 vs 2 is really great in these games, but having everyone in the same room is so much more fun that playing online... The night was filled with high-fives, fist bumps, beers, victory and loss. I played pretty well, scored a few goals and set up some really nice plays. In one of the games, I got too many penalties, but overall, I played pretty well. We mixed up the player teams a lot to keep things interesting. We also selected random teams so that things were kept fair and interesting. When my team got Toronto in one of the games, the whole room was booing... 

flOw

Date played: December 4th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 8/10

I've played this game before, when I first had my PS3, but at 1,80$, it was hard to pass up this great deal on a very relaxing game with awesome visual design. flOw is a 2D game where you control a variety of sea creatures. They must eat other organisms to grow and evolve into larger creatures. The goal is to simply grow as big as possible and reach the bottom of the sea. On each 2D plane, there are two special organisms that can be eaten that allow your creature to move up or down a level.

My snake fish attacks a bigger snake fish!

I reached the bottom of the sea with two of the available creatures. The first is a sort of snake with a large mouth. When evolving, it adds "wings" to it's body. I fought dangerous creatures in underwater combat. Thankfully, even when you fail in flOw, you really don't fail, you just get bumped up a level and try again.

The second creature is a round, jellyfish-like creature that eats from it's center. It was a bit more challenging to stay alive with this one because my edible parts were all exposed on the outer edges of the mouth.

What I like best about flOw is how you can see larger creatures deep below, hidden within a depth of field effect. The PS4 version is exactly the same as the PS3 version was, but it's still a fun experience. My daughter enjoyed watching out for large fish and loved seeing the creatures evolve.

Call of Duty Advanced Warfare

Date played: December 3rd
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played about 4 levels in the story mode and enjoyed it quite a bit. 4 years after the nuclear attacks by Hades, the big bad guy from the KVA, I'm with Atlas and we have a lead to find him. In Detroit, there is a doctor that is apparently tied closely with our target, so I went out there with Gideon to capture the doctor.

Using small hoverbikes, we went through the ravaged city of Detroit to find our man. We killed a bunch of enemies, as usual, and eventually found the target in a small office. We grabbed him and made a spectacular escape on our hover bikes. I had direct control of the thing and had to avoid debris, rockets, soldiers and helicopters as I sped through the rubble back to base. It was exciting!

Ilona is a sort of mercenary that was hired by Atlas to interrogate the doctor. She got some intel that led us to Greece, so I went with her to try and find Hades there. Advanced Warfare does something really nice that hasn't really been done in this series in a while. It allows itself to be calm and relaxed at times. This makes the huge, bombastic action scenes have more impact instead. When shit is blowing up all the time, it's easy to get numb to it real quick.

Anyway, we went to Greece together and sat at a cafe for a while. I got a little tablet out of my bag and started scouting using an attack drone. A large portion of this mission had me controlling this drone, protecting Gideon's team as they assaulted Hades's hideout. When we finally shot him, we discovered that we had been duped. Hades was still on the loose. All hell broke loose and we had to jump into the action. At one point, we had to avoid a sniper perched on top of a bell tower. He was equipped with a very powerful rifle, so the only way to take him out was to make the entire tower explode... Eventually, we found Hades in a truck and killed him. As he was dying, he gave Mitchell, my character, some data and muttered "Irons knows.".

While our team was getting ready for whatever was next in New Baghdad, Ilona discovered that Jonathan Irons, the head of Atlas, knew about the imminent nuclear attacks and did nothing to prevent them. In fact, it was to his advantage as Atlas became the most powerful entity in the world after the incident. Ilona, Gideon and Mitchell talked about it together but were quickly caught. Irons claimed that the data was faked, and Gideon seemed to buy it as myself and Ilona were held captive. I received a cryptic transmission from an unknown source that gave me a way out by blowing up some stuff in the base.

Jonathan Irons, betrayer extraordinaire

Ilona and I escaped the Atlas facility and went on a fast paced run from Atlas soldiers. We used a new device, the grapple hook, to climb through different areas quickly. In one part of the mission, we used small, one person submersible boats to race through the canals of the city. When there were obstacles and missiles, I was able to quickly dodge under water. Finally, we reached the spot indicated by the cryptic stranger. It turns out it was my superior officer, before I joined Atlas. He is part of a special task force called Sentinel that was assembled by the US government. At the very end of the mission, Gideon caught up with us, but pretended that he hadn't... I'm sure he will have a role to play later in the story.

They were interested in helping us take out Irons, so we went on a mission to raid Irons' house and gain some intel. This was a stealth mission. I had a little device that would tag enemy soldiers and drones and the grapple hook could be used to stealth kill enemies from bushes. It was a nice change of pace, but I failed a few times because I was seen. At the end of the mission, we got some intel and witnessed Irons hiding some mysterious items in a crate that was later put on a cargo plane. We grappled onto the plane, set a tracking device and jumped off. I am really liking the story and the missions in the single player mode, it's the best Call of Duty has been with that stuff in a long time.

I also played a few multiplayer rounds, but nothing special to report. I'm level 27 or so and have started using the Warbird killstreak. It's nice and powerful. I did relatively well, though I had a couple of bad games in Domination.

Call of Duty Advanced Warfare

Date played: November 30th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played a few rounds of TDM and Domination. I'm feel like I'm slowly getting better. I'm clearly not on the level I was for Ghosts, but I'm getting there. In Domination, I think I played really well. Having a strong LMG and concentrated target areas is a great combination. I would often guard our capture points from a distance and would be able to mow down lots of enemies at once.

I'm starting to play decently

I'm using the horizontal exo-suit dash more and more. It's incredible to get out of enemy fire and to ambush enemies when I know their approximate location. My best game was 25-14 with 9 captures,

Sunset Overdrive

Date played: November 30th
Platform: Xbox One
Session fun rating: 8/10

I just completed Shadow of Mordor, so I'm ready to jump back into Sunset Overdrive. I started with two challenge missions. The first one had me plant bombs in 4 spots before the timer ran out. I got gold on my second try, it was quite easy. The second was a points challenge that had me collect numbers while grinding on a construction structure. I had tried this the last time I played and couldn't manage the gold time, but this time I got it in three attempts.

I then went back to the story missions. I was asked to find a propeller from my friend at the fort, though I really didn't get why he was asking me this... I went to the propeller factory (!!) but quickly discovered that there were no propellers to be found, though I did find a young lad in dire need of rescuing from the O.D.. I basically had to escort the guy out of the general area and kill any of the monsters that got in the way.

Thankfully, I had two new weapons in my arsenal. The first is a little mascot dude that can be dropped on an area that spews toxic liquid. It acts a bit like an area of effect trap which is extremely useful when dealing with the constant onslaught of enemies in the game. The second is a cute little teddy bear gun, except the toys are stuffed with TNT. It's a very powerful weapon that can take care of large amounts of enemies at once, but ammo is somewhat limited.

After saving the dude, I helped him drive a train back to his hideout, a lounge filled with low-intelligence rich kids who got into college with their parents money. Apparently, one of them knows a lot about propellers, but he is bummed out because his favorite brand of bottled water is nowhere to be found...

I first took on a side quest that had me collect some backpacks that the kids lost. It was pretty simple, though there were some strong monsters guarding some of it. Then I went to find the kid's favorite water. I found an area filled with gunk that had to be cleared out. To do it, I had to break open some valves. Of course, I had to fight more monsters in the process, but after a while, the gunk was gone and I brought back a case of the water to the spoiled brat.

Finally, I played another side mission where a hobo required my help to drive a train all the way to the docks. Again, I had to defend the fucking thing from hundreds of monsters, though my remarkable arsenal showed it's usefulness once again.