Hohokum

Date played: August 31st
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 10/10

I saved three snake friends by beating three levels of the game. I think I'm really close to the end now, but can't be quite sure. I learned from the Giant Bombcast that the creature I control is referred to as the Long Mover... This kind of says a lot about this game... Anyway.

My daughter fucking loves this game. She likes to look for eyes to open and has dozens of suggestions as to what I should do to unlock the secrets to beating each level. She has some damn good ideas sometimes too... The first level we beat had me gathering stardust to build constellations (???) to free my long mover friend.

The mere fact that this game exists is joyful

The next had us break dozens of clay pots made by a lone citizen. I actually had to do this three times before completing the level. Every time I broke all of the man's pots, he gave a sad sigh and went back to work. I had to exit the level and come back to see his new set of bigger, harder to break pots. But like any good bully, I went back in there and smashed everything with no regard for the poor potter's fragile emotions. In the end, we smashed a giant pot and freed our friend.

Finally, we played through a more elaborate level, a sort of factory I guess. There were many steps here... I first had to gather some creatures to ride the long mover. These guys had elephant-like trunks and vats on the backs to store liquid. Then I had to free bee-like creatures from various contraptions by crashing into them and such. These bees went to a large hive and picked up...spots. These spots were strewn around the level for me to gather with my little vat-men. I brought the liquid spots back to a large container. After a few trips, the container was full and I was able to swim through connecting pipes, which eventually led to the factory producing it's...products. I am not sure what they produce, but it looks like colorful shit in a box. Either way, this unlocked my long mover friend. 

OlliOlli

Date played: August 31st
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 6/10

I've had a great time playing OlliOlli on Vita, but haven't really gone back to it. It just released on PS4 and since I already bought it on the portable, I get to play it for free on console now. The wonderful pixel art translates perfectly to the big screen, and the Dualshock 4 is up to the task of handling this fast paced game.

The first levels are pretty easy...

I only played a short amount, getting 5 stars on the first 5 levels. The biggest difference with this version is actually the vibration on the controller. It's amazing what a little thing like that can do to make a game better. In fact, it makes it a bit easier because you get direct feedback on the quality of your tricks and landings. Sloppy landings rumble the controller strongly, while perfect landings don't vibrate at all. It's hard to explain, but it helps me learn how to improve. 

Tomb Raider

Date played: August 30th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 8/10

I reached the tomb Lara was looking for. After inspecting a samurai's corpse, she found clues that made it clear she had to destroy the queen's body to lift the curse on the island. I went back to camp and met my friends. They fixed the small barge and agreed to help Lara find the body instead of trying to leave the island right away. Unfortunately, Sam was captured again, this time with one Whitman's help. He's the lead archaeologist. He decided the safest way to find fame and fortune was to help the cultists... dumb ass.

Lara finds out how to lift the curse on the island

After a brief ride in the barge upriver, we found our spot. I completed a little puzzle involving an elevator and lots of jumping around, then found Sam and her captors. I sneaked around the samurai guards. Mathias tricked Whitman into distracting the guards to the queen's temple. Unfortunately for Whitman, it cost him his life. Lara found a different way into the temple, so I imagine this will lead to the final moments of the game. 

Tomb Raider

Date played: August 29th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 10/10

I played through another large portion of Tomb Raider. I can smell the ending!

Lara made her way down to the waterfront. To get there, she hopped onto a gondola system built to carry gear and supplies. Half way down, the thing jammed up and I had to find a way through. There were tons of old structures around, but they were filled with enemies. After fighting them all, I was able to slide down the cables to the beach.

The beach was one of the coolest areas in the game. It's grandiose view is incredibly beautiful. It was tons of fun to explore as well as it was one of the largest areas yet. After the regular exploring and collectible gathering, I met most of my crew trying to start a small boat. Alex, the crew's technician, went back to the Endurance, our wrecked ship, to gather some tools that will help us fix the boat.

When it became clear that he wasn't coming back on his own, Lara went out to find him. This meant another trek across perilous terrain. Before leaving, One of my buddies gave me a new, high tech bow he found. I explored a new area and eventually found a way to the Endurance. On it's deck, I was met with an enormous man clad in armor. It was one of the few "boss" fights in the game. Thankfully, he didn't have any guns, so I just dodged around and shot him in the face until he was weak enough. Then I stuck my ax in his skull and called it a day.

This area was incredibly fun

Inside the ship, I found my friend Alex, but he was stuck beneath some debris. I had to solve a small puzzle to reach him, but when I did, I wasn't able to free him. Enemies came and I just had to grab the tools and make a run for it. Alex died a hero... It's just really fucking stupid that the tools were nothing but a wrench and screwdriver...

I made my way back to the beach to bring the tools and announce Alex's death. During the trek, I upgraded my bow with a gadget that allows me to pull down stronger walls and go across rope bridges quickly. I also fully upgraded my assault rifle and pistol. I now have to make my way up to the cult's temple to put an end to their reign and get out of the island. 

Tomb Raider

Date played: August 28th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 9/10

Lara Croft is a fucking badass! I continued exploring the shanty town and found a way to the tower where my ship mate was held, but before I moved on, I gathered all collectibles and explored the local tomb. The tombs are little puzzle rooms with no combat, so it's a nice change of pace. After fighting tons of thugs, I found my friend being held hostage. Lara was about to give in to demands when the old dude decided to fight! He killed all three men, but fell to his death in the process.

Moving forward, Lara found her friend Sam. Sam was captured by Mathias, the cult leader, and was tied to an altar as they prepared to light her on fire. If she is the "chosen", the Sun Queen would save her life. Crazy shit! Anyway, Lara made a move to save her but was captured herself. Her weapons were taken away. When the cult men tried lighting the fire, a huge wind blew from outside to extinguish it. It seems like the Sun Queen is real!

They took Sam away and led Lara to some cells, but she managed to escape her captors by jumping into a river of blood, guts and limbs below... Lara managed to grab her bow, but none of her guns. She ended up in some geothermal caverns filled with explosive gas and weird psycho prisoners. Thankfully, none of them were armed, so I made my way through using the bow and melee combat.

Eventually, I made it out and found my other friends who were being held in an old plane carcass. I helped them escape and tried to find Sam again, as well as my weapons. I found her, freed her and got my guns back. In the escape, Lara and Sam got separated again, but at least she wasn't with the bad guys anymore. When I made it out, the whole city was on fire and shit was blowing up EVERYWHERE!

Lara prepares to leap into the rescue helicopter!

In an exciting sequence, Lara jumped and tumbled through the city around the fires and explosions. A rescue helicopter was on the way, so she tried to find it. After a crazy jump to reach the chopper, the damn thing crashed to the ground of course. Lara and the leader of her expedition were injured, but were ready to move on when some enemies showed up! In a manly display of bravery, the leader killed most of them but was killed in the process.

Lara met up with the rest of the crew and buried the body. Along the way, I picked up a lot of new toys. In fact, Lara is now a fully armed commando of death! I upgraded my assault rifle and stuck a grenade launcher to it. I have a new automatic shotgun that fires incendiary slugs. Finally, my pistol is equipped with a silencer. 

NHL 15 demo

Date played: August 28th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10

Wow! The last NHL game I played often was NHL 13, but I've been playing these games on and off since NHL '94. On PS3, these games were great, but the announcers and presentation had never changed much. It became so ridiculous that I could predict what the announcers would say after plays, including their tone, pitch and pace. This is the first time in years that they have new announcers and it feels incredible.

The whole presentation is revamped too with new cameras, score screens, etc. The demo has the Kings and the Rangers available, so I started with the Rangers at home but tried the Kings later on as well. The arenas looks spectacular and are filled with interesting and unique spectators. The graphics are definitely a big step up, mostly in the faces and the clothing. The shirts have real physics now and it shows. It makes everything look more natural.

Rangers win!

The game itself plays pretty much the same, but the collision physics and puck physics are much improved. In fact, I managed to score a few goals that would have never got in before due to the new physics. The collisions are more natural too and momentum plays a much bigger role. I like how it feels so far.

I played three games against the AI. I won the first game 4-2, lost the second 1-0 and the lost the last 2-1. A lot of it was just goofing around to get a feel for the new game, but I don't like playing against AI in the first place. I'm an online VS player really. Anyway, the game feels fair and handles well, I think I will buy it when it comes out.

The Walking Dead: Season 2 Episode 5

Date played: August 26th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 10/10

I finished Season 2 of The Walking Dead! Fair warning, there are MAJOR SPOILERS in this post.

This was a good one, but a rough one. It starts in the aftermath of the shootout with the group of Russians. Luke is shot in the leg, Clementine saves the baby and Jane comes back at the last second to stick a machete in one of the Russians that was about to kill Kenny... Rough fucking day.

The Russian kid was still alive, crying because his sister was now dead. Kenny forced him to show us the way to their refuge. After a long walk in the snowy woods and a great little scene at a campsite, we found the house. We had to cross an icy lake to reach it though. In one of the most tense moments in the game, we tip-toed across the lake. The Russian kid took off and Kenny chased after him. During that time, Luke was stuck on a part of the ice that cracked heavily under his weight. Sure enough, walkers showed up to put some pressure on us...

I was given the choice to either shoot the walkers or try to go get Luke. I chose to shoot the walkers, but it wasn't enough, Luke still fell down the ice and with his injured leg, he wasn't able to save himself. Bonnie was pissed off because she thought I could have saved him... Clementine still jumped into the water to try and save Luke, but he was too deep.

Back in the new house, we built a fire and found a bit of food. Kenny beat the shit out of the Russian kid...pissing off everyone else. Clem had some good conversations with Jane, then went outside to help Kenny. He found a truck and after multiple attempts,  he managed to get it going!

The group had different ideas about what to do. Kenny wanted to keep going north to find the rumored town. Jane wanted to go back to Carver's base, since it still had supplies and the walkers were most likely gone. Mike and Bonnie wanted to go south to get warm, but they didn't seem to have much of a plan. I convinced everyone to wait until morning to make a decision.

During the night, all hell broke loose... Clementine was woken up by a sound and when she investigated, she found Bonnie, Mike and the Russian kid stealing all our supplies and getting into the truck! Those fuckers! I pulled up my gun and called for Jane and Kenny to come help, but the Russian kid shot Clementine in the shoulder... There was a nice flashback scene with a younger Clementine and Lee. I liked that a lot.

Clem woke up in the truck with Kenny driving and Jane holding the baby. Those two were arguing like crazy, but somehow, they had managed to take care of Mike, Bonnie and the kid. On the road, we were stopped by some cars blocking the way. Kenny got out and tried to find a solution. While he was absent, Jane suggested that they leave Kenny and go back south in the truck, but I refused.

Clementine and Jane are the only ones that made it out in my game...

Walkers came out and Clem had to take the wheel to escape them, but she crashed the truck into a ditch. In the scramble, Jane and Clem were separated, but I rejoined Kenny in a nearby rest stop. Then it happened... Jane came back without the baby in her arms. Kenny went into a blind rage and attacked her. Despite my best efforts, they fought and wounded each other quite a bit. Finally, I was given the choice to either help Kenny win or Jane win. I chose to shoot Kenny because I felt that he was becoming completely unstable and dangerous, while Jane had been an excellent friend throughout.

It turns out the baby wasn't dead... Jane had just hidden him in a car to show Clementine how Kenny would react. While it's kind of a dick move, I understand and forgave Jane. We decided to walk back to Carver's hideout with the baby. We made it there safely (unbelievable!) and of course, there was food and shelter for us. A family of three knocked at the door and begged to be sheltered with us. I think of Clementine as someone with a very strong personality, but she is also a person with a big heart, so I let them in. I hope it was a good choice! Bring on season 3.

Titanfall

Date played: August 25th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 10/10

I'm starting to really like this game... I had some very intense and fun matches. I'm learning the nuances of combat and have been doing better and better. Titans really are very powerful machines and should be kept alive for as long as possible. I've learned to back away from a fight when in trouble and have managed to stay alive a lot longer.

I like Titanfall a lot...

I unlocked the ability to customize my titan as well, so I've been using the all around Atlas titan with the 40mm cannon. I've also equipped some homing rockets that work very well at long range and changed a few of my perks. My pilot is now equipped with arc grenades which are very handy against titans. They scramble their vision, allowing me to escape. I think I just might buy this game...

Tomb Raider

Date played: August 24th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 9/10

I'm making good progress in Tomb Raider. I went back to previous areas to gather collectibles that I missed to gain more XP and salvage. After I got 100% everywhere, I explored some more to find the co-pilot from the plane who set a distress flare near the mountain village. I have a new tool to help me explore, the rope arrow. It can be used to pull certain objects and create improvised rope bridges in specific spots. It's very versatile and fun to use.

I found the co-pilot, but was quickly captured by some of the weird men living on the island. Much is revealed about their reasons for being so hostile through diaries and other collectibles. As far as I can tell, they are essentially muscle for some sort of cult. Either way, I found myself in a weird cell filled with human remains. In a disgusting sequence, Lara freed herself from her bonds and narrowly escaped through a hidden passage. There are some mysterious armored warriors around too, but I barely had a glimpse of them so far.

Lara Croft with her trusty shotgun

During her escape, Lara found herself tumbling through another waterfall, but this time, she was able to grab a parachute from a nearby plane wreckage and glided down the mountain into a large shanty town. This place feels straight out of Resident Evil 5... Wounded, she made her way to a helicopter where she hoped to find medical supplies. Instead, she found a lighter and sealed her wound with a red hot arrow. Of course, this now means I have fire arrows!

I explored the shanty town quite a bit and fought countless men. I'm enjoying the shotgun quite a bit... I found a friend from the ship stranded on top of a tower, so I am now making my way to him through a complicated series of levers, pulleys and other mechanical contraptions, all while fighting occasional soldiers. 

Titanfall

Date played: August 24th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 8/10

I finally tried out Titanfall! EA is offering a 48 hour trial of the full game so I downloaded it right away. I've always had an interest in the game... I mean, this is essentially Call of Duty with mechs...

I played the tutorial and about 5 or 6 matches against real players. The first thing that struck me is that the controls are extremely smooth and precise, something that is critical to FPS games. I'm playing with a controller and I feel like I'm not at a disadvantage. I've done well in most of the matches I've played, I even got first place in one of them!

The game moves fast and is really cool to play. The titans are particularly fun to play as they wield incredible weapons and are more mobile than you would expect. The only thing I don't really like so far is that there are a ton of non human characters in the field that act as cannon fodder. It helps your team to kill them, but it's kind of annoying. So far, I've been mostly using the normal automatic rifle, a heavy anti-titan rocket and some grenades. On the titan side, I prefer the model that is more defensive, the Ogre. It's mainly because I really like it's main weapon, a sort of single shot rifle. I still have a lot to learn, but I'm liking what I played quite a bit.

Tomb Raider

Date played: August 23rd
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 9/10

Lara explored the mountain area to find the medical supplies stolen by the wolf pack. This was a big area with tons of collectibles hidden in various nooks and crannies. There were a lot of things that were not accessible because I am missing equipment. I found a small tomb along the way where I had to solve a simple puzzle to get some treasure. Eventually, I found the medical supplies hidden in a wolf den. Of course, I was attacked by a wolf on my way out and had to stab it in the chest multiple times to survive.

I got my friend back into decent shape with the supplies and he gave me his climbing ax as a reward. I can now climb some rock faces. The next logical thing to do was to send an SOS signal. There was a very tall radio tower nearby, so Lara set out to activate it. This was a section that could have been pulled straight out of Uncharted. Clearly, the enemy group has settled in this area. I shot dozens of men as I went through the complex, including some heavily shielded guys that I had to dodge before I could shoot them. I also picked up an SMG, which was useful in some of the more hectic encounters.

Lara climbs the radio tower

To activate the SOS signal, Lara had to climb the tower to it's very top, She managed to contact someone that sent an airplane to save us! Yay! I started making my way back to my camp site when the plane was struck by lightning and crashed straight onto Lara... In an exhilarating sequence, she slid down a slope while avoiding debris from the plane. This could have been Nathan Drake and I wouldn't have batted an eye.

After the crash, I was stuck in an abandoned village built on a cliff face. The pilot of the plane had jumped out and parachuted down, only to be executed by bad guys before my eyes. There is definitely some paranormal shit going with the weather here too...

Tomb Raider

Date played: August 20th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 9/10

Lara gets really roughed up in this game... I continued to explore and found one of my friends and a strange man named Mathias that seemed to know us. Lara fell asleep at their camp site and when she woke up, her friend and Mathias were gone. She then got caught in an animal trap and attacked by wolves! I shot them with the bow as they rushed me. Lara's other friends showed up and saved her from the trap.

The team started working on a plan to get everyone together and continue the expedition which led to me and the leader of the group going to find some ruin of some sort. Along the way, I hunted animals, looted salvage boxes and found lost documents and relics. I stumbled upon a DLC area, the Tomb of the Lost Adventurer. A large wrecked airplane is the focus of the area and Lara must find a way to reach a treasure chest that lies in a shrine above the plane. I had to use lanterns, torches and other contraptions to burn away the cloth holding the plane in place, then climb it to reach the treasure.

I continued the story after that. I can now upgrade my gear and weapons, so I boosted my bow's firing rate and ease of use. I also improved an ax so that it can now turn heavy cranks and open tougher chests. We were then ambushed by some men with heavy accents and they managed to capture us.

Lara improvises a plan

In a wild scramble, Lara managed to get a gun by shooting a man in the face with his own weapon. This was completely gruesome and disturbing and Lara was clearly shaken by the episode. She escaped by sneaking around and killing guards. The bow offers silent kills, which don't alert other enemies.

I reached another member of our party who was bit in the leg by some wolves. He passed out shortly after I reached him. He told me the wolves had taken his pack that contained food, medication and other supplies. I must now recover the pack from the wolves.

Tomb Raider is a quality game that often feels like Uncharted, without the humor. The large map and character upgrades are a welcome addition to the game as well. 

Hohokum

Date played: August 20th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 10/10

I played three levels of Hohokum with my daughter after dinner. The first was a really cool pool party area. Tons of little men, women and other creatures splashed around the big water park, having fun. There were a bunch of items to interact with including a hot tub, some water slides, a change room, lounging chairs, dive boards, fountains and balloons! In the depths of the level, there was a special area that allowed me to change to an alternate version of that level where everything is deserted, muddy and cloudy. After some fucking around, I figured out I had to gather some clouds and bring them to the center of the area, which woke up a friendly elephant-like creature. I brought the creature to the pool party and went back to the muddy area where I found others like him, including my snake friend.

The next level was a spooky excursion through some treasure filled caves. I picked up a person wielding a lantern. This was the only way for me to see anything in the level as everything was pitch black. I had to make my way through the place by hitting some rocks and lighting them up. I also had to avoid colorful bats that extinguish my lantern while destroying treasure, the last of which was home to another snake friend.

I saved Constance from being a hat for the rest of her life

Finally, I explored a jungle populated by birds, llamas, monkeys, parrots and some sort of royal person riding a giant yellow quadruped. I had to free a monkey whose cage was tied to the quadruped's cage. To do that, I found a weird tree that didn't have fruit. I picked up some seeds from nearby flowers and brought them to the tree to make the fruit grow. Then I carried some monkeys to the tree. They picked up some fruit, which I used to throw at the large creature until it got really angry and broke the prisoner monkey's cage, revealing Constance, my snake friend.

The music and wonderful graphics make this a more enjoyable game than it should be, but that's a good thing.

Tomb Raider

Date played: August 17th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 9/10

I finally started playing Tomb Raider! I've had this game in my Steam library forever and I even had it on PS3 as part of PS+. Honestly, I've been wanting to play it since it came out, but was waiting to have a powerful gaming PC.

I didn't play for very long, barely enough time to go through the intro and find my first real save point. This is a complete reboot of the franchise. I've played a few of the previous games and enjoyed Legend, Underworld and Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. In this game, Lara is on her first adventure. While searching for ruins, the team's ship was hit by harsh weather and sank. Lara escaped and wound up on a beach when she was punched in the face and knocked out by an unknown person.

Lara is stranded

She wakes up as she is being dragged on the floor. She gets hung to the ceiling and is left dangling there. I swung her around until her bonds caught fire from a nearby torch, where she feel a dozen feet, only to have her stomach impaled by some rebar... In agony, she walked away and navigated the caverns. I solved a short puzzle where I had to move items around which eventually led to an explosion. I went down the new path created by the explosion. Lara fell down a hole and slid down a little waterfall. When I got out, I was wet, tired, hungry and lost.

I explored the jungle area until I found some of my friend's gear, including a radio and some matches. I found a nice spot and made a fire. So far, the game seems to be about survival. After I slept, I went out to explore and find some food. I found a bow on a dead guy and some arrows. I then hunted for some deer. The game controls very well and runs flawlessly on my beastly PC. The aiming is pretty good too. When I went back to camp, I had enough EXP to level up one of my skills! This is a new feature for this series. I picked a thing that gave me more loot from killing animals.

I was also contacted by my friend over the radio and now have to go meet him. I'm really excited to see more of this game, it has a very promising intro.

Hohokum

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

After a small struggle to get this game to run on PS4 due to an error message (resetting PSN licenses resolved the issue), I played a ton of Hohokum.

This new game is very difficult to describe. Basically, it's a 2D puzzle game. I think? The player is a one eyed snake (!) that must explore the world to find his other one eyed snake friends. Each level has it's own amazing graphical style, outstanding music and unique mechanics.

Hohokum is wonderful

I saved maybe 5 of my snake friends by exploring the beautiful levels and solving their mysteries. It's really hard to explain, but there's a big element of "play" in this game. There are a lot of things in the levels that are just there to fuck around with, as toys, rather than gameplay objectives. It's refreshing and incredibly fun. The puzzles have been pretty simple, but still require a bit of skill and some thinking.

The best level so far had me rebuilding a roller-coaster in a really cool amusement park. There were little people that rode on my snake. I would bring them places so they could do fun stuff like ride teeter totters and a giant wheel. The icing on the cake was the way they moved their cute little bodies to the sound of the incredible music throughout the level. I'm excited to see the other cool things Hohokum has to offer.

Doki-Doki Universe

This robot must prove it's humanity

Date played: August 17th
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 7/10

Another day, another PS+ freebie.

Doki-Doki Universe is a weird fucking game. It's sort of an adventure game littered with a bunch of personality quizzes. The art is really cool and the characters are interesting, but the puzzles are pretty shitty so far. The quizzes are easily the best part of the game.

You play as a robot who was stranded on a little planet for years, when an alien comes to pick him up for reprogramming due to being obsolete. There are a ton of little planets to explore, mainly to talk to people and prove your "humanity" to the alien so that he doesn't deprogram you.

It's weird, most of the game is about giving stuff to people. They have little character sheets that show you their likes, dislikes and favorite greeting. There's some good use of the touch screen and back touch as well. The only problem is that the inventory is basically a bunch of stickers and it's hard to sort through. Not to mention that everything in this game moves at a snails pace. Text, menus, loading, everything. The framerate isn't great either, and it's all in 2D...

The personality quizzes are amazing though and it's what kept me playing honestly. They use very cute artwork, creative questions and have been pretty fucking spot on so far. It's really cool and I wish the game was more focused on the quizzes, as weird as that is to say about a video game. 

Road Not Taken

Date played: August 16th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 6/10

Road Not Taken is a weird little game I got for free from PS+. I only played the tutorial and the first level, but it was enough to pique my interest. The hero is a little hooded dude who must do some work in a village to make some cash and live. There is some mystery surrounding the town. Many villagers have gone missing when venturing in the woods.

I was tasked with saving some kids from the forest and getting them back to their parents. The game is played on a grid from an overhead view. The hero only has one ability so far, which is to pick up nearby objects and throw them. Some of the simpler puzzles required me to get two trees to touch each other by grabbing and throwing. The trick is that the hero can only throw objects in the same direction that he picked them up from, which makes for some pretty complex puzzles. Also, there is an energy meter that depletes with each step when burdened by a carried object. Now, I might be wrong, but I THINK that this is a roguelike and that death is permanent, but I don't intend to find out.

Road Not Taken is interesting, but I'll have to play more to see if I like it or not.

P.T.

Date played: August 14th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 10/10

P.T. scared me the living shit out of me and my brother.

It's a playable teaser (hence the acronym) for a horror game. It turns out it's for Silent Hills, a sort of reboot of the series by Hideo Kojima and Guillermo Del Toro. The teaser does a great job of being mysterious and scary, making it exciting to try out the final game.

The teaser is played from the first person perspective and takes place entirely in a single corridor and bathroom. The trick is that there is a door at the end of the corridor that loops you back to the beginning of it, where things are always slightly different than the last time. There are no weapons and your actions are limited to a zoom function and a single button press in a specific sequence.

Nope nope nope nope nope

What makes this brilliant is the incredible atmosphere. The audio design was particularly impressive. More than once, I stopped in my tracks because of a weird sound. The graphics are also very pretty and detailed. Of course, being a horror game means a lot of the visuals are dark, disgusting and chilling. There are small puzzles to solve, but this is mostly just a corridor where stuff "happens" to the player. Highlights include the bathroom door, a ghost that disappeared quickly, a broken window, a creepy radio broadcast, a man in the window, a bloodied fridge swung by....something, a wailing deformed baby dying in a sink and the scariest fucking jump scare in the history of video games. Oh yeah, also, a fucking clock. Fuck you clock. Fuck you.

I think this is a really cool way to announce a game and I hope more devs steal this idea. 

Micro Machines

Date played: August 15th
Platform: NES
Session fun rating: 10/10

FUCKING YEAH BABY!

Micro Machines is THE game that spawned my love of video game racing. It was a Christmas gift that me and my brothers received as young children. We played the fucking living shit out of this cartridge. Most of our time was spent in the 2 player head to head mode. Codemasters chose a very cool way to implement multiplayer without split screen. To win, a player must outpace the opponent by one "screen". Since the game uses an overhead view, it makes for some very frantic battles. It's amazing, 25 years later, I still remember the exact track layout, as did my brother. We raced like madmen around the sports car track, the dune buggy track and the tank track. I won 2 of the races and he won 1. Fuck yeah.

Star Tropics

Date played: August 14th
Platform: NES
Session fun rating: 8/10

My brother brought Star Tropics when he visited! This was one of the big games of my childhood. We played a lot of it as children, though we never got very far. We started the game, spoke to a few people, including the village pig. The pig shows us his anus when he's done talking! We entered the cave and completed the first dungeon.

This is really a classic. It feels like a weird Zelda game in a lot of ways. It controls well, has awesome music and cool dungeons. I fought some bats, snails and snakes with my yo-yo and fireballs. I also found secret passages all over the place. Finally, I fought the giant snake boss at the end which looks absolutely badass. The only problem is that my NES is kind of crappy. It takes a while to get a game running properly and it bugs out a lot. By the end of the dungeon, we had a ton of graphical glitches and had to stop playing.

Grid 2

Date played: August 14th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 7/10

My brother drives a Mustang

One of my brothers came over for a few hours. The ladies were out shopping for dresses and such, so us men hung out in my basement and played video games. He hadn't seen my PC in action yet, so we booted up Grid 2 for some racing action. He played a race on his own to get used to the controls, then we jumped into a split screen race. I had to lower the settings to medium to get a stable framerate. It was very difficult because we left damage on, and in multiplayer there is no flashback... we wrecked a few cars!

Grid 2

Date played: August 10th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 10/10

I finished Grid 2's single player mode!

I started with a nice, 3 round circuit racing event. As usual, the Audi R8 performed admirably. Then I completed some faceoff events which were pretty difficult, but as long as I held the racing line, the other racer wouldn't be too hard to beat, though I had to abuse the flashback feature.

For the checkpoint series, I decided to go with the McLaren F1 GT again since it has a bit more punch during acceleration. While it's harder to keep on the track, the checkpoint events are so tight on time that I felt I needed the extra nimbleness. I also completed a drift event in the Acura NSX which turned out to be an easy to drift car.

The Audi R8 led me to victory!

The final series was an epic, 5 round race event across the world. We raced in Chicago, Barcelona, Dubai, Paris and Hong Kong. It was tough, but not impossible. Bruno Silva, Harrison Carter and Callum Kirkwood have been my rivals since the beginning. Silva is a bitch because he plays rough in the corners and tends to have heavy cars. Callum Kirkwood is the nice guy. Finally, Harrison Carter is a speed whore who will destroy anyone, provided he can keep his car on track. I had a very satisfying moment in the last lap of one race where I was a little too far from first place to win. That's when I saw sparks and smoke up ahead, as Carter smashed into a guardrail, giving me enough time to pass him and win.

Grid 2 was an exhilarating game and I'm happy to have played through it and won the WSR championship.

Grid 2

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

I played through three main WSR events, some promo events and a couple of vehicle challenges. I quickly unlocked a couple of Mercedes cars, as well as the incredible Bugatti Veyron. I didn't like the Mercedes cars too much, but the Bugatti is really interesting. It's 4WD, grippy and incredibly fast. However, it's heavier than a fucking bus, so early braking is crucial. I much preferred the other car I won, the Audi R8.

The Audi R8 is my new favorite car

I played a time attack event, a touge event and an eliminator event. The time attack was done in the always wonderful Ariel Atom. The R8 did the work for the other events. It's maybe a bit slower off the line than some of the other cars, but it's much easier to drive than the McLaren F1 GT, which in itself wasn't that bad. I only have a few events left to complete season 5 and Grid 2.

Cookie Clicker

Date played: August 9th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 1/10

Urgh...I knew I shouldn't have checked out Cookie Clicker. It's a simple browser game where the objective is to make cookies. That's it. There are cookies to click, upgrades to buy, buildings to build and achievements to unlock, but that's about it. The thing that makes it interesting is that it still makes cookies while you're away, so I started my empire while watching Netflix. While I might check in on my cookies once in a while, this is the last you'll hear about it on this blog.

Cookie Clicker is evil

Skylanders Swap Force

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

This is a landmark moment in my daughter's gaming life. She wanted to play Skylanders, but there wasn't enough time to play a full level. I proposed that we use the arenas to fight each other. She was a bit reluctant to grab the controller at first, but she was soon enjoying herself quite a bit. She picked Drobot because "He's the strongest!". I picked Ninja Stealth Elf for no particular reason.  We played the three different arenas that were available to me. I took lots of time to explain to her how to move her character around and how to shoot Drobot's lasers at the same time. It wasn't long before she was able to aim at me and shoot me down in seconds. She also loved getting the food items.

We then went to the main game for a bit to play in the main hub. We messed around here for a while. She liked blowing up barrels and collecting coins. She also loved playing with the sheep in the training area and told me to follow her over a rainbow bridge to find some treasure.

My daughter was proud to build this shop!

Finally, we moved the story along by going to see a shop owner who needed help to rebuild his store. He asked us to find three items in the hub. My daughter proudly went to get the first item and brought it back to the owner. She then had to press a button repeatedly to put it in the right spot. It took some effort but she succeeded and went to get the other two pieces. When the shop was built, the look on her face was absolutely priceless! She was really proud, laughing and exclaiming her success. 

Grid 2

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

I'm using real fucking race cars now baby! I started with an overtake event using a super touring car, which was very easy on the big open circuit it was set on. Besides, I was used to the Tier 3 cars. I then played a few vehicle challenges. The first was a non-eventful run with the BAC MONO, a lightweight car that handles pretty well. The second one is where I had the best challenge in the game so far.

The Pagani Huyara is a fucking monster. Driving that thing felt like I was trying to pull an American bodybuilder on steroids to a tea party by attaching a string to his nose ring. It was fucking insane! The car is extremely fast, very light and can spin out at the slightest error. On top of that, the track was very long, with a target time of 3:09. Three minutes may seem like a short time, but in a car as fast as the Huyara, it's an eternity. It took practice, many failed runs and determination, but I clocked in my winning run at 3:06. The trick was to tickle the throttle and brakes instead of hammering down. The difference in this car is that the slightest miscalculation will be fatal.

The McLaren F1 GT blazes through Dubai

I then had another vehicle challenge in a rather large and heavy Aston Martin One 77. I didn't like it at all, but it was easy to hit the target time. Finally, I completed one WSR event, a three race championship with race cars. I settled on the McLaren F1 GT. It's nimble, fast and doesn't slide out too much. It took a few tries on one of the courses to beat Harrison Carter, the favored racer, but I got first place.

Proteus

Date played: August 6th
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 5/10

I started and finished Proteus.

I.... I don't know what I just played. Proteus was free on PS+ for PS3 and Vita. I figured I would give the game a shot on Vita before bed. I knew it was short, but I didn't know it wasn't really a video game. It's honestly more of a virtual stroll or something.

The graphics are very... odd.

The game's terrain is generated randomly. I spawned in the water near the island's shore. This is played from the first person perspective. There are no additional controls...except you can press X to sit, which was not useful in any way. There is nothing to do except explore the island. There are interesting things moving around, like crude frogs, owls, bats and other wild life. There are musical cues depending on where and how you move. I completed it in less than an hour and I'm not quite sure what it was about. The biggest event in the game is that the sun goes down, then the moon comes up. After the night is over, you can go to a weird circle that moves the game forward to the next season. Spring and summer were full of life, fall was rainy and winter was dead as fuck. This was such a weird experience.

Call of Duty Ghosts

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

Well, after months of inactivity, I thought I would have been pretty horrible in my first few matches. It turns out, I still fucking destroy in this game. I had a bit of a frustrating day, so it was nice to tear some holes in some unsuspecting fellow players to let some of the steam out.

Yes, I am good at Call of Duty

I went back to my usual setup and completely dominated, including a superb 31-3 performance. It seems people are prone to either camping, which I can take care of easily with my LMG and a bit of excessive fire, or they run around with SMG's and don't pay close attention to their surroundings. I'm sure my large TV and good surround sound setup help a bit, but still. I was glad to see I've still got it.

Resogun

Date played: August 5th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 8/10

I fired up Resogun and gave the new ship creator a shot. While I am FAR from being an artist in way, I still had fun putting the little cubes in the grid to make a bad looking ship together. The editor is well fleshed out with multiple colors, an easy to use interface and even engine and weapon placement. There are tons of really cool ships available to download from other players too! X-Wing, R-Type, Super Mario, Flappy Bird and more are free to download and use. I prefer using my own though. After a lot of tinkering, I put my ship together and took it for a spin.

My little ship looks pretty cool

It looked nice enough in action and I was pretty satisfied, though I will try a new design next time. I immediately noticed some major changes to the game since I last played though, specifically how my favorite weapon handles. It works out though and I got used to it pretty quickly. 

Tekken Tag Tournament 2

Date played: August 5th
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 4/10

I've never really been a Tekken fan, but I got a good deal on this one and thought I would give it a try. My daughter saw the icon for it in the Wii U menu and asked to see what it was. She picked the characters for me and I played a few rounds of arcade mode, nothing substantial.

The game handles well and plays well and it looks pretty good too, though it's a kind of low resolution. I am not very good at this game and don't know how it's supposed to feel. I know the feel for games like Street Fighter, Soul Calibur, Mortal Kombat and Dead or Alive, but not for Tekken. From what I've played, it seems to be heavily focused on combos. I won the rounds I played and even tried a character that had a Princess Peach costume, to my daughter's delight. I'll have to give this game another shot when I have more time.

Grid 2

Date played: August 4th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 7/10

I completed season 4 of the WSR!

There is only one season left with very powerful cars. I chose the McLaren F1. Before adding this beautiful beast to my garage, I had to make it through the last few events of season 4. I had a blast racing the Volvo S60 grand touring car through some circuit tracks. It's a fantastic car, I wish there had been more events in this class.

The Volvo S60 performed admirably

There was a devilish checkpoint event with very tight time limits. I first used the McLaren MP4-12C and struggled to make it to first place. In fact, after a dozen attempts, I was at the end of my rope and decided to try a different car. The always wonderful Ariel Atom saved the day where I won the checkpoint event in the first try...

I completed the WSR final with the Atom again. Some of the races were grueling, but I was able to win the 5 round tournament without much trouble.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Date played: August 4th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played quite a bit, but really didn't get all that much done... I kind of forget how this game goes sometimes. There's a lot of talking and item management that has to be done. I also did a lot of alchemy, some armor crafting and a bit of enchanting. I pretty much never left Whiterun as I explored every nook and cranny and spoke to almost everyone. I moved the story forward a bit too by meeting the Jarl of Whiterun. I informed him of the dragon attack I witnessed. He gave me a quest to gather a dragonstone from a dungeon...but I already had it thanks to a quest I completed in Riverwood!

Whiterun is fucking awesome

We soon discovered a dragon flying nearby so I went out with the guards and slayed it! I hid in a nearby tower to take pot shots at the dragon since he's way too strong for me at this point. I used the bow and arrow, a few poisons and even a couple of lightning bolts, one of my new spells. I earned my first shout, the now classic "Fus". Everyone now knows I am Dragonborn. The Jarl of Whiterun recommended that I go meet the old dudes at the top of the mountain.

Skylanders Swap Force

Date played: August 4th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played through one level of Swap Force at my daughter's request. There is a new mini-game to open some locks that is pretty cool to play. Two little electrified blobs must be moved on a grid so that they meet. It's simple, but fun. Aside from that, I played mainly as Jade Fire Kraken who is still fun. I even upgraded two of his moves, his basic attack now hits harder and he sends little sparks that damage enemies as he jumps. The rest of the level was nothing out of the ordinary.

Jade Fire Kraken is badass

The best part is when my daughter decided to try playing a bit. She's 4 years old and only plays iOS games, but she has always been interested in the games I play. She has a really hard time with the controller in general, but is starting to understand how to use the sticks and buttons. She's far from ready for combat or platforming, but she was able to wander through the level with me. It was one of the most amazing moments I've had playing a video game. It's the little things that matter...

Grid 2

Date played: August 3rd
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played another good chunk of season 4. Again, there were a lot of vehicle challenges and one promo event. I also played two WSR events. The cars are a lot faster now, which means any small mistake can be catastrophic. The Corvette Z06 has been my workhorse in this season. I just default to it whenever I have the choice. It was a bad decision in one of the tournaments as I was racing against slower, but much more nimble lightweight cars on a track with lots of corners. The Corvette was drifting around like a lumbering beast as the small cars gripped to the asphalt.

The McLaren MP4-12C barrels through the air

I won two Aston Martin's, including the beautiful but way too heavy Vanquish. I had a special promo event in an Audi. I chose the Ariel Atom  for any event that required a lightweight car, it's been really fun to drive. I got to try out a Volvo Super Touring car which was a delight to drive. Finally, I had an exhilarating time trial in a Mclaren MP4-12C. While it is very light and powerful, this also means it flies off at the slightest bump in the road and oversteers too much. It took me a few attempts to make it on time through the coast line track safely, but I eventually won the car. 

Grid 2

Date played: August 2nd
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 9/10

These lightweight race cars are a blast to drive

I didn't play that much, but managed to play through two special events and one vehicle challenge. The vehicle challenge had me driving an KTM X-Bow R, a fun little beast, around the Red Bull Ring. Then I had the pleasure of driving one of the coolest vehicles in the game yet, a Caterham SP300R. The endurance race through the streets of Paris was quite a challenge as the lightweight vehicle is a very flimsy thing that wrecks quickly. I had to restart a few times as these little cars flew into the air at the slightest touch, but eventually I learned how to use the car well and won. Finally, I played another event in a Dodge Viper which was pretty easy.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Date played: August 2nd
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 8/10

Whiterun awaits

I slowly made my way to Whiterun, the first big city in the game. I say slowly because I spent a lot of time just gathering flowers, ingredients and stealing stuff from houses during the voyage. I started putting points in different skills. I'm focusing on destruction spells, one handed weapons, light armor, blacksmithing and lockpicking. I think that will give me a pretty balanced character in the end, but we'll see.

After stealing shit from the houses and visiting the brewery, I finally entered Whiterun. Adventure awaits!

Pyjamas, alcohol and video games

Date played: August 1st
Platform: Wii U/PS3/PS4
Session fun rating: 10/10

I had an amazing video game party with my family and some friends! I set up two TV's in my basement, one with a Wii U and PS4, the other with a PS3. We wore pyjamas and drank way too much alcohol, it was great.

Couch multiplayer is the best way to play video games

Mario Kart 8 was very popular with everyone, but the women seemed to like it even more than most. It ran 4 player split screen all evening. I raced a few times with Bowser and won all races except one, where one of my brothers beat me by a few seconds.

The PS3 had a brief stint with Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition, but most of the night it was running Mortal Kombat. Mortal Kombat is actually really easy to get into and most of the moves are pretty straight forward. While no one was very good, everyone who played was able to win some matches. I went with my old favorite, Liu Kang. I quickly learned his flying kick, his fireballs and his bicycle kick which gave me a fighting chance. My sister in law rocked Scorpion and Kitana. One of my brothers was using Johnny Cage while the other was using Stryker. One of my friends was very good with Kratos and Baraka. We ended up playing in tag mode a lot, which allows 4 players at once. At one point, we have 8 people playing games simultaneously on two TV's, it was fucking awesome!

There was a bit of Resogun, Mercenary Kings, Grid 2, Dead Nation and even a few minutes of Skyrim. We ended the night with some Cards Against Humanity and tons of drunken
laughs.