Batman: Arkham Knight

Date played: August 30th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10

Arkham Knight has really grabbed my attention... I played a bunch again, progressing the story a little bit and spending a lot of time with the side missions. For the main missions, I discovered that Scarecrow is working with Penguin to move weapons around. There was a pretty cool segment where I had to analyze a scene in detective mode. As I found clues, I could observe a virtual recreation of the scene and had to spot clues to add detail. Batman got some help from Nightwing, formerly Robin, to find some info on the Penguin's supply chain. He joined me for an assault on one of the Penguin's storehouses where we fought a bunch of thugs. The Penguin got away though... We then blew up the weapons cache.

Most of my time was spent with side missions. I met with Azrael, a super hero that wants to learn from Batman and protect the city from crime if ever the dark knight retires or dies... I got to play a little battle as Azrael and liked his combat style. I also chased down some APC's with the Batmobile and deactivated some big mines all over the city. I found more clues relating to the dead bodies I've been finding hung up, crucified. I also met a large creature that ended up being a man who had been transformed into a real, giant bat because of his own scientific research. I destroyed a few enemy towers and drones too.

Wayne Tower is where I get new gadgets

The coolest set of side missions featured the Riddler and Catwoman. Catwoman was captured by the Riddler. The enigmatic villain had put an explosive collar on the woman. Batman has to solve a series of riddles and puzzles to get keys to the collar and save his "known associate". The missions themselves were all very varied and interesting. I raced around a dangerous track in the Batmobile. I fought some robots with Catwoman, even getting to play as her a few times. I solved an elaborate puzzle where I had to control the Batmobile remotely as Batman pressed switches to make a path for it. I glided through a dangerous sewer. Catwoman is still captive, but I'm making steady progress towards saving her.

I unlocked a few new skills and gadgets too, making combat even more fun and varied. Finally, I followed some clues I got from the Penguin and ended up on a large airship that was attacked by Scarecrow. This game is filled with so much stuff to do, and most of it is a lot of fun... Everything is very polished and smooth too, making Arkham Knight a very high quality game overall. I can't wait to play more!

Rocket League

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

I played a few matches at the end of the night. I actually lost quite a bit, but I feel like I played pretty well. Since I played 2 vs 2 this weekend, I realized that I was getting good with high speed side shots. The car ends up feeling a bit like a torpedo and most people don't really expect that stuff. I can even get more air than people who attempt aerials when they don't have much speed.

I score with a high speed side shot

Batman: Arkham Knight

Date played: August 29th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 10/10

I love the Batman games! I never played the last one, Arkham Origins, but I definitely loved playing Arkham City back in 2012. Arkham Knight begins a few years after the Joker's death. Gotham City's crime rate is better than it ever was, with Gordon in charge of the police department. The shit hits the fan real quick as Scarecrow releases a toxin in a restaurant that turns people crazy and makes them fight each other, due to hardcore hallucinations. Batman must hunt down Scarecrow and prevent him from releasing a large bomb of that same toxin over Gotham City.

The city is now mostly evacuated and bandits rule the place. It is quickly revealed that all the super villains decided to team up to take out Batman and take control of Gotham. So far, I've seen Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Two-Face and Penguin. There is also the titular Arkham Knight who seems to know a whole lot about Batman's methods. He wears similar armor and is kind of a "evil Batman". I also have help from Oracle, formerly Batgirl and also Gordon's daughter. Robin is there too, though I haven't seen him in person yet. As usual, Alfred and Lucius Fox provide some support for Batman.

The Batmobile, next to the wreckage of a helicopter

Arkham Knight is a very pretty game and it shows it was made for this new generation of consoles. The neon lights of Gotham gloriously pepper the landscape as constant rain and darkness makes everything look sad and dangerous. It handles like a dream, as Batman games do. A few minutes in, I was already grappling, gliding, punching, kicking and jumping through the city at high speeds. Make no mistake, this is a real open world game, similar to Infamous or something. There are many side missions, challenges and other tasks available at all times.

One of the biggest changes since the last game is the addition of the Batmobile. It has a pursuit mode, made for chasing down enemies that use fast cars and getting around the city. Then it has a battle mode, made for fighting. It acts pretty much like a tank, with a turret and a cannon. It can also strafe left and right, making is a very powerful weapon. The best part about the Batmobile is that I can eject out of it into a huge glide, then call it instantly when on a road. It's really smooth and fun to use. On top of that, it has a power winch that has been used in many puzzles. Finally, there is a remote controlled option, so I can control it from anywhere in the city. So far, it's been a great addition to the game.

With Oracle's help, Batman tracked down the facility that was used to create the toxin. I managed to disarm the bomb, but not before being infected with the toxin itself. In a surprising twist, Batman now has a new imaginary companion that makes a tong of snarky, sarcastic and cruel comments. Yes, the Joker is back, even if he's just a figment of Bruce Wayne's imagination. To make things even worse, someone kidnapped Oracle... Gordon is pissed as fuck and won't work with Batman anymore and his daughter is still being held prisoner.

I really like what I've played of Arkham Knight so far. It's been a little while since I played an open world game and it feels good to play something with such fantastic combat. 

Rocket League

Date played: August 29th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 10/10

One of my brothers hosted a little party at his house. After some tasty BBQ and lots of friendly discussion, it became apparent that Rocket League is the hottest game of the summer. Of all the folks at the party, only two people had never played it and most play it almost daily. Rocket League the hit of the summer!

We ended up spending most of our evening playing it in 2 vs 2 local, the losing team giving their controllers to two other people. I played extremely well in most matches. I am a long range, high speed striker. Sometimes, when I miss, it's really hard to get back into the action quickly enough, but I found that most people don't really use the entire arena to their advantage. I was riding up walls to gain momentum, boosting to the items that recover all the boost to maximize my speed and using my momentum to strike at the ball hard and fast. Most of the others would typically stay too close to the ball, making for weak shots and slow players.

We had dozens of awesome, tense, fierce matches, each more exciting than the last. We changed the teams up every match, so I got to play with, and against everyone. I think Rocket League might just be my favorite video game this year.

Rocket League

Date played: August 27th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10

So I managed to cobble together a pretty good deal on Kijiji. I traded The Order: 1886 and Lego: The Hobbit for Batman Arkham Knight. I put my new disc in to play a little bit, but was surprised to see the game needed a huge 4 GB patch... So as it downloaded, I played Rocket League instead.

I played pretty damn well, though I didn't score as much as usual. I ended up making plays instead, relying on my teammates to complete what I started. It worked well for the most part and I won most of my matches. I made myself a real rival, some guy named Kyle or something.

I win this sprint for the ball and score!

He played a lot like me, watching the play from behind and coming in strong when needed. He could read the field a lot like I do, instead of just barging in to hit the ball like some idiots do. On many, many occasions, we cancelled out each other's plays, mostly by anticipating what the other would do. It was really exciting and reminded me of individual player rivalries in hockey during the playoffs. We would even knock each other around a little bit when the ball was far away, just to say "Hey, I'm still here and I'm watching your ass."

Atari 7800 Video Cable Disaster!

Now this is good box art!

Date played: August 26th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 3/10

I recently bought a few Atari 2600 games to play on my 7800. At 5$ each, I snagged Ms. Pac-Man, Asteroids, Space Invaders and Berzerk. My daughter really liked the box art for both Ms. Pac-Man and Berzerk, so she really wanted to see them in action. I plugged in my 7800 and was soon very disappointed to see that my video cable was completely broken. I don't think it can be repaired either, as the copper pin simply broke in half.

My daughter was now very sad that she couldn't see the games, so I found a website that runs 2600 games in a browser and played the 4 games, as well as a few others. Ms. Pac-Man, even though it's a weird looking version of the game, still plays great and was a lot of fun for me, but bored my 5 year old rather quickly. She didn't like Space Invaders and Asteroids at all, though both hold up quite nicely.

Berzerk is a very special game to me. I think it may have been the first video game I've ever played. Back in the first half of the eighties, I must have 3 or 4 years old, I clearly remember playing this game with my grandma in her living room. Just like my daughter, the box art had caught my attention and I imagined the action to look just like the amazing art. Today, Berzerk still plays rather well. It's actually pretty complex for a game of that era, featuring multiple rooms, vertical, horizontal and diagonal shooting and different enemy types. My daughter liked it too, picking up on the details rather quickly. This isn't the first time I get nostalgic for this game...

We also tried a few other games quickly, like Frogger, Tapper, Moon Patrol and a fucking creepy Snow White game. I will have to take a closer look at my video port to see if it's salvageable, I hope I don't have to shop for another 7800...

The Order: 1886

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

I finished The Order: 1886!

It was a very short game... but it was a quality game. While I thought the story was really good and the presentation was amazing, I just wish there had been a bit more shooting sequences. It doesn't help that a lot of the shooting that's in the game typically features a whole bunch of dudes running into the same room. It would have been nice if instead, it was the same amount of enemies, but in different rooms with different fighting opportunities.

The last few chapters of the game begin with Galahad being sentenced by his peers for his "treason". Of course, Lucan, the half-breed masquerading as a Knight, had his word to say. Lord Hastings also made an appearance and voiced his opinion. I was sad to see that Lady Igraine found Galahad guilty... The only person that I felt was on my side was Marquis de Lafayette, even though he was forced to call me guilty. Galahad was sentenced to death and sent to the catacombs...

The opening of the game was a "flash forward" to this part of the story, as Galahad manages to escape the depths of the catacombs, then jumping off a bridge into a river as he was being held at gunpoint by the head of the Order. In a weird twist, it turns out that Nikola Tesla had some relation to the Rebels and Lakshmi. He found Galahad in the river somehow and brought him to a safe place for him to heal and recuperate. Galahad was in and out of consciousness for more than a month. Tesla had informed Lakshmi, so she's the one that helped Galahad get back on his feet.

Galahad was now hellbent on killing Lucan now. He got some gear and headed straight into the catacombs again, this time armed to the teeth. He was going to kill Lucan or get killed doing it. There was a lot of combat here, but it was only in a few rooms... I just wish there was more variety to it. Eventually, I reached Lucan in Tesla's lab and confronted him head on.

Galahad gets his revenge

This was the final boss battle and it was basically a series of quick time events and a few knife slashes. I mean, don't get me wrong, it was exciting and looked stunning, but it was still a quick time event... In the end, it was revealed that Lucan's father, the head of the Order, knew that he was a half-breed his whole life. He had adopted him as a young child after slaying Lucan's real father. After a brief conversation, Galahad shot the wounded Lucan in the head and killed him.

In the credits, there was a short scene showing that Galahad was still fighting against the lycans and vampires and was working with Tesla, but he was a knight no more. I'm really glad I played The Order for it's great story and impeccable presentation, I just wish there was more "game" to it. 

The Order: 1886

Date played: August 24th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 8/10

The story is pretty damn cool in this game...

Galahad, the hero, begrudgingly teamed up with the Rebel leader, an Indian lady named Lakshmi. She offered proof that the United India Company is the real enemy here, not the rebels. She became my partner for much of the three chapters I played. We first went through some tunnels to reach the Company's headquarters, then sneaked through some warehouses and the shipyard until we reached the main cargo area. We had a few firefights along the way and I got to use a fun grenade launcher for a bit.

In the cargo area, it was quickly revealed that the Company was shipping vampires in crates to North America! Galahad and Lakshmi burned the whole place down, vampires included, and fought their way out of the inferno. Galahad tried to convince the head of the Order to act against the Company, but he was ridiculed and left with few options. Thankfully, Lucan, the son of the Order's leader and brother of Lady Igraine, the woman from the first half of the game, agreed to help investigate further.

This screenshot was taken during gameplay... it looks that fucking beautiful.

The Company is led by a friend of the Order, Lord Hastings, who lives in a great mansion. Galahad and Lucan decided to infiltrate the house during a rainy night to find evidence of the conspiracy. This was a pretty cool stealth sequence where I had to move about the mansion's garden without being seen, killing guards as they patrolled nearby. The stealth works pretty well for the most part, but I'm glad there wasn't too much of it. We soon met up with Lakshmi and her daughter and entered the mansion. There were lots of great firefights here, featuring a ton of action.

I have to say it again, The Order: 1886 is a visual masterpiece. It really has no equal in terms of pure graphical beauty. The art style is wonderful, the textures are super detailed, the characters' faces are very well animated and everything just looks amazing. The mansion was no exception, with elaborate designs, furniture and even a few hunting trophies laying about. We did find evidence of the conspiracy eventually, but that's when shit hit the fan for real.

It turns out that Lord Hastings is a fucking vampire... As Galahad and Lakshmi were confronting him, Lucan betrayed us and revealed that he is also a vampire! It couldn't have gone worse. I wounded Lord Hastings and had a brief fistfight with Lucan, allowing Lakshmi to escape. As we fought, Igraine and Lafayette arrived and promptly arrested me for treason, as Lord Hastings watched, Lucan having escaped. My colleagues from the Order were clearly disappointed and felt betrayed...

Call of Duty Black Ops 3 Beta

Date played: August 23rd
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10

Every year, I forget how much I love to play Call of Duty.

Every. Fucking. Year.

The beta for Black Ops 3 just went public for a few days, so I played a few matches of it. Aside from some pretty serious lag issues, probably due to the fact that this is a beta, I had a really good time with the newest game in the series. The game is set in the near future and features a few tricks from Advanced Warfare, including the double jump jet pack and wall running. It takes out ground dashing though, so it still feels quite different.

First place, bitches!

Every thing feels right when playing Black Ops 3 online. It's easy to forget how well that series handles... There are now specialist classes that feature one special ability that charges through the match as the player scores points. I picked the Prophet and the Glitch ability. This lets me teleport back to my previous steps, making for some interesting mobility options. It's actually hard to use well, but can be very powerful.

I played well, picking the only LMG available and rocking it from the beginning of game one. My kill/death ratio was great throughout, hovering around the 1.40 mark in most matches. The maps are really cool too. I love Black Ops 3 so far, if only they can sort out the lag issues.

Skylanders Swap Force

Date played: August 23rd
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 6/10

This little lady is badass, but she needed the Skylanders' help to get her wagon across her village

My daughter and played through a level of Swap Force where we had to escort a little wagon in an ice village. We sometimes had to get fuel for it and a few sequences had some turret shooting. I ended up playing with Cynder a lot, a deadly purple little dragon. I love playing as him since he has a lot of mobility options, including a great ability that lets him sink below ground and spawn little death skulls in his wake. I also played as a combination of Jade Fire Kraken and Wash Buckler. It worked out ok, but it's not the best combo. 

The Order: 1886

Date played: August 22nd
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 8/10

When The Order: 1886 first came out at the beginning of the year, I was really interested in it. It's a third person shooter set in an alternate history Victorian era London. King Arthur's Knights of the Round are still active and are pitted against a race of half-human, half-beast creatures. Technology has progressed faster than in real life, with airships, radios and other high tech gadgetry being common. The only problem is that after reading some reviews, the game seemed way too short to pay full price. I found it for 20$ on sale this weekend, so at that price, I was happy to pick it up.

The Order is a visual masterpiece. I mean, there's literally no other game out there that looks as pretty as this does. The characters almost look real, the animation is top notch and the environments are absolutely spectacular to look at. Every little detail in this game is just splendid... The story is interesting too, and the characters are well developed and believable.

The Order: 1886 looks absolutely spectacular

It's too bad then that the game itself is just a normal, third person cover based shooter. There's kind of too much exposition and story, and not enough firefights. Some people complain that there's too much combat in games like Uncharted and Tomb Raider, but they forget that we're playing a video game here.

Either way, the combat is fun, I just wish there was a bit more of it. There's a heavy weapon, a light weapon and some grenades. The game is cover-based, so it feels like Gears of War a lot, except the enemies are mostly human. I did battle against a Lycan, the half-breed, in a quick-time event heavy knife fight, very reminiscent of the knife fight at the end of Resident Evil 4.

I fought in the streets of London, inside dark tunnels, I visited a bordello (and saw some tits!), I fought in a decaying hospital and more. The coolest chapter so far had me fighting inside a giant dirigible. The art style and interesting characters kept me playing for a long time. I know this game is short, so I don't expect to play it more than 2 or 3 times before I complete it. I'm glad I'm playing this, but I'm also really happy I didn't pay a lot of money for it.
 

Rocket League

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

After watching the incredible final game of the recent MLG tournament, I simply had to play when I got home. I'm no where near the skill level of guys like Kronovi or Gambit, but I still play pretty damn well. I stick to the basics, but I do it at very high speeds now. More often than not, I find that teams have trouble defending against a solid banked centering pass on the boards. Of course, there are some very good goalies out there, but they can't be everywhere at the same time. Constant pressure seems to do the trick for me.

Yes, I score on this play and yes, it's fucking glorious

In most games, I was paired with competent teammates and opponents, which made it lots of fun... I'm typically the guy who hovers around the middle of the arena. I'm no good in goal, so I only go near my own net when I know it's absolutely necessary. I tend to set up plays from the middle, then coming in strong, away from the play, to score goals. I'm a bit of a sniper in this game really...

I love Rocket League a LOT. It might be my favorite game this year right now actually. In a lot of ways, I find that it's closer to hockey than it is to soccer. I mean, there are few players on the field, there are boards, there is contact and the action is lightning fast! 

Alien: Isolation

Date played: August 20th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10

The last time I was really scared by a video game is when I played P.T., the weird teaser for a Silent Hill game that was recently cancelled. Last night, Alien: Isolation made me scream out loud in terror...

I continued going through the medical bay, trying to find supplies for my crew, all while avoiding the alien and trying to find a way to escape the Sevastopol. I'm starting to get more comfortable with how the game really works. As far as I can tell, the alien is never really scripted, it behaves differently every time I die and replay the same areas. It can see me easily when I'm moving, but sometimes, if I crouch and don't move, it will walk right by me without seeing me. It loves to investigate loud noises, such as gunshots and explosions. It can hide in vents in the ceiling, but normally, a little drip of acid saliva can be seen and the creature's rasping breath can be heard. Hiding spots work really well, as long as the alien hasn't seen me enter them.

The birthplace of a baby alien

Still, with all these tools, I still get tense as hell, I sweat like a motherfucker and I take out my motion tracker way too often. In one, brightly-lit room, I walked in, expecting no funny business, when the alien suddenly burst out from the ceiling and stabbed me in the chest with it's limbs before eating my face. I couldn't help it, I fucking screamed when that happened...

Eventually, I found the medical supplies and found some clues about what happened. The scariest thing of all is that I think there is more than one alien on the station... I found multiple corpses with large holes in their chest, the typical indicator that a new alien was born. I love this game, but I really can't play it for long periods of time, it's just way too tense for me!

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages

Date played: August 19th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 8/10

I started playing Oracle of Ages, a Game Boy Color Zelda game from Capcom, oddly enough. It has a companion game, Oracle of Seasons, which my friend is currently playing, so it's fun to discuss the differences between the two games.

Oracle of Ages starts with Impa asking Link for help to find Nayru, the titular Oracle of Ages. This is soon revealed to be an elaborate deception, as the body of Impa is possessed by an evil sorceress, Veran. After Link removes a magical barrier for Veran, still thinking she was Impa, the sorceress leaves Impa's body and possesses the Oracle, then jumps through a time portal to the past.

That's when the game really starts. I explored Lynna City, nearby, and met the Maku Tree, an adorable female that helps Link understand what is happening. Shortly after, I went through my first time portal to the past. Lynna City is now Lynna Village. I soon learn that the Oracle is helping the land's Queen, Ambi, build a giant tower to survey the land for her lost husband. The problem is, ever since the possessed Nayru came to the past, time has stopped and night never comes.

The citizens are overworked, trying to build the tower. I explored the build site a little bit, enough to find a shovel that lets me explore more of the world. I went to the Maku Tree and saved her from some beasts. She professes her young love to Link, then gives him an item that can be used to burn small brushes and light lamps. I went back to the present to progress and bought my shield in the process.

The first dungeon was a very basic, very simple dungeon set in a graveyard. Halfway through, I fought a mini-boss and earned the Power Bracelet, which lets me lift pots and push things. The boss of the dungeon was a weird pumpkin-headed creature. After a few hits of the sword, I could lift his pumpkin off and hit him. It was all really simple,  but this is only the very beginning of the game. I received my first "essence", which will somehow help me defeat the evil sorceress.

I like the game so far. It feels like a sequel to Link's Awakening in a lot of ways. The graphics, the map, the way the items work, everything is really close to the classic Game Boy adventure.

Rocket League

Date played: August 18th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 10/10

I'm a Rocket League BEAST!

My teammate flies in the air to score a beautiful goal as my other teammate destroys the opposing team's goalie!

In fact, I've had my best match yet. I managed to score 6 goals in a single game, with 10 shots on goal! With every game, I learn the physics of the game a little better, making me a little bit better every day. In fact, out of the dozen matches I played last night, I only lost one. We had a little group going for a while, where I was paired with a very good goalie and a guy that was good at centering the ball. I'm a great scorer, so it was pretty much the perfect team...

Volgarr the Viking

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

After completing the remixed musical levels from Rayman Legends with my daughter, she wanted to play another game. It's pretty rare that I use my Xbox when she's around, so when I was browsing my game list, she saw a few new games that she had never seen before. She stopped me at Volgarr the Viking. I think the badass imagery is what got her interested...

I played around with this insanely difficult game for a while, just enough to reach the first checkpoint. My daughter loved it when Volgarr got some upgrades, the helmet in particular. When I got hit, she speculated that the monsters took the piece of equipment away and hid it in another chest later in the level... I like her reasoning!

Rayman Legends

Date played: August 17th
Platform: Xbox One
Session fun rating: 6/10

Well, my daughter was quite disappointed that I had completed the last world of Rayman Legends without her... so I played the remixed musical levels again. I surprised myself when I ended up playing through the levels really quickly, most of them on the first try... I guess I learned really well when I banged my head against the levels last time. My daughter enjoyed the Gloo-Gloo song the most, based on the infamous song from Kill Bill Volume 1.

Rayman Legends

Date played: August 16th
Platform: Xbox One
Session fun rating: 10/10

I finished Rayman Legends!

Honestly, this was one of the best platformers I've ever played. It's right up there with Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze and Super Mario World in my books. The last few levels were devilishly difficult, requiring intense precision, good memorization and excellent timing. The final boss was a giant "dark" creature that I had to destroy with the ranged attack as I dodged it and navigated insane platforms.

The final boss

The game wasn't over after the boss though. There was a last world that was mysteriously locked behind a door requiring that I had saved 400 creatures. I wasn't quite there yet, so I completed a few more challenge levels and one of the Rayman Origins levels. Once I had the 400, I discovered that the final world was a compilation of musical levels. It had all of the previous levels, but with added 8-bit effects. There was also a new level with a bunch of rocking grannies that was lots of fun.

The 8-bit effects were absolutely wonderful visually, but they served another purpose. They added an extra difficulty layer on top of the already difficult levels... For example, in one level, the image was distorted, as if seen through a very curved CRT TV. In another, the image became "snowy". Then another had the image pixelated. The twist is that the effect gradually became more and more intense as the level went on. In some levels, this meant I didn't see the screen for long periods. In another, the image became so pixelated that I couldn't even tell what was happening on screen, having to rely on the musical cues to succeed. 

Finally, the remixed granny rock level was an absolute masterpiece... It combined all the previous effects, then added gradual split screening, flipped the screen and a bunch of other little tricks to make the entire level a real pleasure to play through. Rayman Legends is under-appreciated. More people need to play this charming, beautiful, funny, challenging game!

Trine 2

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

My daughter wanted to replay Costume Quest 2, but I really didn't want to play it again... I convinced her to play something else, so as we were browsing my PS4 collection, she stopped me at Trine 2, mainly because of the colorful art. It's been over a year since the last time I played this game, but it was easy to pick up and play quickly.

The witch

I used the wizard, the thief and the warrior to solve a few puzzles and progress to the next level. There was some pretty elaborate stuff where I had to move around pipes to stop fire streams. Some of these even heated up some cauldrons that spawned enemies when boiled. There was also some clever stuff with portals where I had to use the power of gravity to propel myself forward. We made our way through the witch's castle and met her. She congratulated us on making it through the traps she had set for the goblins and pointed us in the right direction for the next level.

Limbo

Date played: August 15th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 7/10

I finished Limbo!

While it's a very short game, it had some pretty cool puzzles and platforming challenges. A lot of the game is based on timing jumps at the right time while reacting to moving objects and such. I swung from ropes, climbed ladders, avoided giant saw blades, pushed boxes and solved dozens of puzzles.

Some of the later puzzles were really tough. The game adds large magnets to the gameplay, which makes moving large objects a complicated ordeal. There were also a few segments where I was able to reverse gravity with a button, making for some pretty spectacular sequences. I like Limbo a lot and I hope that team makes another game sometime.

Alien: Isolation

Date played: August 15th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10

The alien is here and it's fucking horrifying.

I got to the medical bay and while looking for supplies, I met a man, a doctor. He didn't have any supplies but he promised he would help me find some in another sector of the hospital if I helped him find a door code. I explored the medical bay and found the code, but then the alien showed up.

The alien is very scary...

This was the first time I felt like the game was "starting" for real. I had to use my motion tracker a lot to see where the alien was and where it was going. Surround sound helps a lot too, since I can hear the thunderous footsteps of the creature around me. I sneaked around as best I could, hiding from the alien when it got too close. It's impressive posture and predatory manners scared the shit out of me more than once. I got killed by it three times and each time, it was gruesome and quite disturbing.

When I made it back to the doctor with the code, he opened the elevator to the next sector for me, but before he could join me, the alien grabbed him from behind and snuffed out his life. 

Rocket League

Date played: August 15th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 7/10

Yes, I scored a few goals

Unfortunately, there was a lot of lag tonight on the Rocket League servers... This means I wasn't really able to get a good game going for a solid 20 minutes. I finally got two good matches in and I did pretty well, but nothing very spectacular happened. It's weird, when there's lag, the game is still playable, but nothing works quite as it should, making every play completely unpredictable. 

Limbo

Date played: August 14th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 8/10

Between bouts of Rocket League, my bro and I played a bit of Limbo. I played this on Xbox 360 back when it first released in 2010. It's been re-released on PS4 for free with PS+ this month and since I totally loved it back then, I was happy to play it again.

The spider is scary as fuck... 

The game's incredible art style sets the mood very well, as does the sparse sound design. The kid wakes up and there are no instructions on screen. Everything is pitch black and the atmosphere is oppressing... I managed to make it past a giant spider that was blocking the way, sticking it`s ugly legs right through the kid's skull when I failed. Eventually, I snapped off it's legs by luring the insect into traps, then used it's inert body as a bridge over a spike pit. I also avoided traps set by other people, even using dead bodies to act as trap triggers...

Limbo is a very unique 2D puzzle platformer and I'm glad I can play it again.

Rocket League

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

My youngest brother came over and the night quickly turned into a big Rocket League night. Together, my bro and I decimated team after team while battling online. We lost a few matches when we faced some opponents that were clearly very skilled, but for the most part, our simple, smart plays paid off. Don't get me wrong, we had a couple of absolutely spectacular moves too, but the simple plays win matches.

I rocket boost into the ball to score, as my brother protects my side in his little truck

My brother was actually really good at scrambling in the corners, kicking the ball out to the center, offering me golden opportunities to smash the ball in the back of the net. I've really started to play the game from a lot further back, capitalizing on high speeds and momentum to boost into the ball at just the right time. Granted, sometimes I just fucking miss, Charlie Brown style, but when I hit it just right, no one can fucking stop me. 

Rocket League

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

Once again, I had an amazing time playing Rocket League. I played really well I think, getting multiple MVP's, a bunch of hat tricks and many victories. In one match, I rocket boosted towards the ball as it was heading in the direction of the other team's net, got a demolition on the guy who was going to kick it away, then slammed the ball into the net gloriously! In another, I rode the sides of the arena to reach the airborne ball, side-flipped to hit the ball and scored a very satisfying aerial goal!

BOOM, motherfucker!

There's a new pack of cosmetic upgrades, including new cars, paint and other fun stuff, but I'm not sure I will buy it. At the same time, there was a new arena that was added to the game, a very cool fantasy castle sort of place. It feels good to play in a different setting and I hope they add more arenas like this.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Date played: August 12th
Platform: Wii
Session fun rating: 8/10

My daughter and I played through the first real dungeon of Twilight Princess, the Forest Temple. The whole thing revolves around freeing a bunch of monkeys from cages. They then form "monkey rope" to help Link swing across chasms and pits. The mid-dungeon boss was a larger, much funnier monkey who attacked me with a boomerang while slapping his ass like a cheap hooker. When I defeated him, I was rewarded with the Gale Boomerang, a fancy weapon that sends a gust of wind towards it's target, can target up to five things at once, stuns enemies and can activate certain switches and bridges.

Diababa, the boss of the Forest Temple

I made my way through the rest of the dungeon, freeing monkeys and jumping from bridge to bridge until I had all the little primates. They then formed a giant monkey rope to the boss room! The boss was a pretty cool creature with two giant mouths and a large cyclops body. My ass-slapping friend made a triumphant return, furnishing me with bombs that I could send towards the boss with the boomerang. After a few hits, he went down and dropped a heart, as well as a Twilight item that Midna was looking for.

We went back to town only to discover that the kids had all been kidnapped by twilight monsters. The forest is out of twilight though, so that means I made it to Hyrule Field for the first time. I can't wait to explore the beautiful landscapes ahead. 

Skylanders Swap Force

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

Ninja Stealh Elf rocks

My daughter wanted to play with the Skylander toys, so we played through one level where we had to save a giant tentacle monster. The whole level was pretty cleverly designed with many of the platforms being tentacles. There was a giant flame dragon sent by the bad guy. He stalked me a couple of times, shooting fireballs on the ground, until I had to fight it head on by shooting it with giant plungers from catapults... Then I had to destroy large crystals on it's head. I ended up playing with Ninja Stealth Elf a lot. My daughter likes her a lot, plus she's pretty badass.

Rocket League

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

FUCK YEAH!

5 minute matches are absolutely perfect of a game like this. It took me a couple of matches to get warmed up, but I was on fucking fire after that. In one match, I managed to score 4 goals and had 7 shots on goal. I somehow had a knack for coming in at full speed from behind the play and smashing the ball into the net while the others were still on the sides. Goalies are always trouble, but I was fast enough to out-maneuver them often enough. In another match, the goalie was a lot better, but we still won 2-0. I had an amazing goal where I grabbed a rebound close to the goal and did a backwards bicycle kick to slam the ball into the net in a spectacular way! Rocket League is amazing.

Alien: Isolation

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

I continued a bit further into this scary, intense game. I had to make my way through the communications center of the Sevastopol ship to contact my ship and get the hell away from this hellhole. The place was littered with Working Joes, the creepy androids who have turned psycho. The game literally offers me no way of defending myself against them, I absolutely have to avoid detection. I mean, I have a gun and a melee weapon, but I wasn't able to kill anything with them except a weak, damaged and downed.

This revolver seems to be useless against Working Joe androids...

Most of the game ends up being about sneaking around in vents and hiding behind furniture, waiting for an opening to move forward. After sneaking around a bunch, I discovered that long range communications were broken, so I moved deeper into the communications center to find a short range radio or something.

I ended up finding a radio and managed to make contact with a man and a woman on my crew. They made it onto the Sevastopol, but the woman is gravely injured. Amanda Ripley decided to meet back with them, so I sneaked through the area back to the train. I heard the alien a few times, but I never saw him. I met up with my crew and will head out to the medical wing to find supplies to help the woman.

Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris

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

Back in 2011, I enjoyed playing through Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, a dual stick shooter/puzzle game. The Temple of Osiris, free on PS+ this month, is it's sequel. It's a perfect game to play with someone else, so my brother and I played the first three levels or so.

I have to say, playing this type of game with someone else is a LOT more fun than playing alone... The puzzles are more elaborate, communication has to be constant and combat is way cooler! He played as Lara and I played as Horus, an ancient Egyptian that had been sealed away with a spell or some shit. The whole story is absolute horseshit, and the writing is even worse, but boy, is it fun to play! The two characters have different abilities. For example, Lara can light torches and has a grapple line, while Horus has a shield that also acts as a platform for the other player and a special ability that activates platforms and other devices.

Giant crocodile-man!

We jumped, swung and fought our way through dangerous areas in search of the pieces of Osiris, an ancient God. Fighting is pretty cool overall. Both characters have a weapon with infinite ammo, but we also found a shotgun, an SMG, a rifle and even an automatic rifle. We also have bombs that can be set on the ground then detonated at will.

At one point, we ran away from a giant crocodile/human creature as platforms crumbled around us. It was pretty exciting... The part we enjoyed the most was a challenge room. Basically, it's a self contained puzzle that must be resolved. It was actually very elaborate and required careful planning, excellent communication and skill. It really focused on cooperative play between me and my brother. After multiple failed attempts, we were successful and cheered in joy as we collected our rewards.

Rocket League

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

My bro in the yellow car, just made a pass that I scored with

One of my brothers came over for a good part of the afternoon, so of course, we played some Rocket League together. We teamed up and went online where we did pretty damn well together. The first match we played was pretty interesting, as it was tied 2-2 at the end of the match, then went into a lengthy overtime. It was really tense, but when we finally scored, it was very satisfying to get the win. We played a couple more matches, winning some and losing some. 

Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions

Date played: August 6th
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 7/10

I was watching the Canadian national leader's debate, and it was as boring and predictable as you could expect, so I turned on my Vita and tried out Geometry Wars 3, a game I got for free on PS+. I absolutely loved Geometry Wars 2, so I was a bit disappointed that this game plays so differently, because the surface isn't flat anymore. It's more like a geometric shape, like Super Stardust or Nano Assault.

Fortunately, it plays pretty damn well and was a good time killing game for me tonight. There are now items that can equipped, similar to what is seen in Nano Assault, including drones and a powerful super move. The levels are varied, including things like time attacks and bosses. The bosses were both pretty cool and the varied levels kept me interested, even if it wasn't quite as fun as the pure score based challenge of the previous game. 

Alien: Isolation

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

I was in the mood for a scary game last night, so I played some Alien: Isolation, a game that's been sitting on my shelf for a while. The game is very atmospheric and honestly, it got pretty scary. I met a man who showed me the ropes around Sevastopol, in exchange for my help getting him back to my ship. We made our way to a transit station, a train, by sneaking around air vents. We even had to distract some bad men by turning off a nearby generator as we sneaked by. Just before reaching the train, he was killed by the alien, though I didn't get a clear view of the creature just yet.

I took the train and reached the next area, a residential sector. I ran into some people that were trying to use a hacking tool to open a door. The girl who was using it started shooting at me, then ran away when I hid. I picked up her hacking tool, only to find that she had returned with some friends. Armed with my new maintenance jack, I killed one of the dangerous men and carefully made my way out of the area. Along the way, I picked up a revolver as well.

The hacking tool I picked up was missing a data pad, so I searched for that in the tech support sector nearby. I discovered that some people had taken the flight recording device that was on my ship and had hacked it, only to find that it's data had been wiped clean. I found my data pad, but as I was making my way out, the alien came back and got dangerously close to me, but he went away.

Ridley is a very believable hero

The alien is terrifying... It slinks about like a snake, sounds like a monster and looks like something straight out of hell. It feels like it was pulled straight out of the movies... The hacking tool restored, I made my way to the elevator the woman was trying to hack. The alien killed her group, so I had no problem hacking into the next sector. The hacking mini-game is pretty cool, making me match symbols on a display before the timer expires.

In the next area, I must find my way into the communications center to talk to the people on my ship. I met some androids there known as Working Joes. These guys are fucking creepy and surprisingly, very deadly. They seem to be in charge of security, but are quick to kill anyone who disagrees. As I was trying to reach the comm center, one of them saw me and promptly smashed my skull into the walls, killing me rather quickly, so I decided to stop playing there. 

Rocket League

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

Rocket League just keeps pulling me back in. I look at my game discs, I look at my Steam library, I look at the downloaded games on PS4, Xbox One and Wii U, yet I end up playing match after match of senseless rocket-car soccer.

Scoring is as satisfying as it looks

I played a good dozen matches and did relatively well, though I ran into some very skilled goalies in a few games. In one match, I had like 6 registered shots on goal, yet no goals. That's never happened before... I unlocked all the cars now, including a cool looking Sweet Tooth truck. I tend to stick to the same car, the Backfire, because I think it looks cool and not many people use it, but yesterday, I played at least one match with every car, just for fun. 

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Date played: August 3rd
Platform: Wii
Session fun rating: 8/10

My daughter wanted to play "The Zelda game with the wolf", so I played a bit of Twilight Princess with her. I made it back to the village as a wolf. To progress, I had to find a sword and shield, but since I was a wolf, the villagers were scared and would run away. I also discovered that I can speak to animals, which was pretty hilarious... I sneaked around town and entered people's houses through windows or by digging holes, then got my sword and shield.

Ordona, the spirit of the Faron

I was now able to enter Faron Woods, which had fallen into twilight. I found a spirit that tasked me with finding some "spirit lights", scattered around the woods. The lights were sealed inside small insects that I had to kill. I also learned a new move that dispatches multiple twilight enemies at once, but takes time to charge. After collecting all the lights, I went back to the spirit who gave me the ability to turn back into human form. He asked that I find three of his kindred, starting with the nearby spirit lost in the forest temple. I entered the dungeon, but didn't really do much outside of a few early rooms. 

Rocket League

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

Rocket League is easily one of my favorite games of this year...

I score a GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAL!

Today though, I got to play against some insanely good players, including a wonderful team that specialized in aerial shots. It's extremely difficult to pull that shit off, so I was very impressed with these guys. I mean, they were aiming the ball into the net while rocket boosting high up in the air. I still did rather well overall, scoring quite a bit and getting lots of assists, centering moves, clearing moves and saves.

I love Rocket League so fucking much...

Hearthstone

Malfurion is a badass druid...

Date played: August 3rd
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 7/10

I haven't played Hearthstone in a long time, but my daughter saw the icon in my Steam library and asked me to play it. I ended up playing 5 unranked matches and won 4 of them. I played as the druid, Malfurion, with a new deck I built today. The deck wasn't very focused, but it was well balanced and it worked well. I didn't really see many new cards, so that was a bit surprising. Anyway, I had a good time.

Four Brother Melee Special

Date played: August 2nd
Platform: PS4/PC
Session fun rating: 10/10

Three of my brothers spent the evening at my house last night and it quickly turned into a big Rocket League and Nidhogg event. In Nidhogg, we tried out the tournament mode, which works pretty well. We had many intense battles, but I think we've reached a point where we master the Castle map a little too much. There are a couple of spots on the map that became real stalemates in many matches, including one absolutely epic 7 minute match.

I'm orange, my second bro is red, my third bro is teal and my fifth bro is blue

Rocket League is where it's at though. That game has four player split screen, so we took advantage of that with some intense 2 vs 2 battles. Having two fewer players on the field opens up the game a little, but it also makes it harder to defend. We really had lots of fun with this, screaming and yelling and cheering way too loudly.

When one of my bros had to leave, we turned to online multiplayer as a powerful 3 man team. Together, we completely dominated every single match we played with ease. I mean, we fucking crushed it. My youngest brother was a good scrambler, getting in close and knocking the ball out of the melee. My third brother was a good center, always in a good position to receive the ball in the middle and manning goal when needed. Finally, I was a good shooter, getting huge shots into goal from across the field. My play was risky, but also very high reward and spectacular. Rocket League is even better when playing with people in the same room, I fucking love it!

Journey

Date played: August 2nd
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 7/10

I finished Journey on PS4!

I was almost at the end of the game when I last played it, so it didn't take very long to complete. I met another player and we made our way through a vertical chamber, floating and jumping from platform to platform together. We reached the mountain and after battling with the high winds and the extreme cold, we died together near the summit. I played through the final sequence alone where I was able to fly through the air gracefully until I reached the summit.

I found a new partner to complete my Journey

My daughter was really interesting to talk to throughout. She built her own theories as to what would happen and what each character represents. She accurately predicted that we would die at the summit. She also speculated that the tall creatures in white robes were already dead. That they were the players who reached the summit before us and died a long time ago. She told me that the graves we had seen in the other parts of the game were because the other players had lost their scarves. We even ended up talking about death and what she thinks happens when we die. It was a very cool way to have a conversation with her. I loved playing Journey a second time. 

Super Mario 3D World

Date played: August 1st
Platform: Wii U
Session fun rating: 8/10

It's been a while since I played this game, but my girlfriend was in the mood to play a video game with me, so we booted up Super Mario 3D World. We completed the castle world, thinking it would be the final world in the game. We were proven wrong, but I'll get to that in a bit.

We explored some dark caves in Switchback Ruins. We sprinted through Red Hot Run. We battled some tough enemies in Boiling Blue Bully Belt. We fought two mini bosses. We climbed through Trick Trap Tower in our cat suits. We swam through the shark infested Rammerhead Reef. We avoided lava pits in Simmering Lava Lake and made out way to the final level of the world.

Bowser is at it again!

Bowser's Lava Lake Keep was relatively easy, but the fight against Bowser himself was rather difficult. He was riding an amazing looking car on a platform as we chased him. We had to avoid his lava attacks and some spikes until he threw a sort of soccer ball bomb. When he threw those, we had to hit them back at him until his car was heavily damaged. He fell off the bridge into lava and we thought we had completed the game... Bowser jumped out of the lava and captured all the fairies again! The spiny fucker ran away to a new world, a Bowser theme park!

We played one level there, Spiky Spike Bridge, which was filled with intense spike bridges. My girlfriend couldn't really keep up in that level and died a bunch as I made my way to the flagpole... I can't wait to see what else awaits in this world.

Stretchmo

Date played: July 30th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 2/10

I played a bit of Stretchmo while being taxied around JFK endlessly. When I downloaded it, it was tagged as being free to play, but it turns out this is nothing more than a short demo with a few tutorial levels and a single, easy level.

This was the best level in the short demo

Stretchmo is a puzzle game about reaching a flag on a structure. The little guy can jump and can stretch the platforms from side to side or forward towards the screen. It creates some pretty cool scenarios, but the tutorial was way too easy to be any fun.