Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3

I hate playing against good teams. *Flips table*

Date played: August 16th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 8/10

More Ground War. In one of the matches, I was put against a very organized team and we got absolutely slaughtered. I ended up with a score of something like 8-24, one of my worst games yet. One of the new modes is Kill Confirmed which is like Team Deathmatch but to score, we have to pick up our victim's dog tags which drop after a kill. It's interesting because you can't just camp and win, you have to go out of your way to pick up the damn thing, I kind of like it. I'm still sticking with the MG36 and it's working well for me. My current class setup is MG36 with grip and red dot sight, stun grenades, frag grenades, scavenger pro, quick draw pro, stalker pro and a Stinger missile. It works well but I have to be very careful because I reload slowly and have no secondary weapon for emergencies, I can't go rushing in like the guys using AR's and SMG's.

Darksiders 2

Date played: August 14th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 9/10

I've been pretty hyped for this game for a while. I LOVED the first Darksiders and this one looked to be much improved. I stayed away from media coverage though and when I started playing, I was very surprised and pleased with the changes that were made.

The game starts with Death trying to find a way to bring humanity back to life from the apocalypse to absolve War from the accusations against him. This takes him to the land of the Makers, the race of giants that made the ... universe I guess? Either way it's all a little convoluted but Death has to get to the Tree of Life but tons of stuff stands in his way. So far, I've repaired the cauldron of fire that the makers use to make weapons and such. Now I have to go repair another piece of the giant forge. It's all very dumb but the important part is that the game plays well.

Darksiders 2 looks great, even if some textures are a little muddy

There are a few things that stick out right away that are quite different from the first game. There is now loot, and I'm talking Borderlands/Diablo type loot. Death has a lot of equipment slots and weapon slots to customize. Loot drops randomly from enemies, bosses and chests. Also, damage numbers are now displayed on screen, again, similar to Borderlands which is very helpful in gauging which attacks are best. There is also a real overworld now, kind of like Zelda games which adds a real sense of scale. They have also added fast travel which makes things a lot easier to navigate.

The biggest improvement is combat though. First, the block is gone, replaced with a more aggressive offense and a very effective evade. It feels a lot better because it's faster and easier to chain combos together. I'm playing on PC with 5.1 and my HDTV but I had to drop the resolution down to 720p. The frame rate was fine in 1080p but there were vsync issues, even with vsync enabled. It still looks great though and it's smooth as butter for the most part, a huge improvement over the PS3 version of the first game. I can't wait to play some more.

Tales of the Abyss

Date played: August 13th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played quite a bit of Tales of the Abyss. Luke was accused of stealing food in the small village of Engeve and after investigating a little bit, he found out that Cheagles were responsible for the theft. To prove his innocence (after being forgiven...) he heads out to Cheagle woods, home of the furry little monsters, to find evidence of theft. This was my first real dungeon and it was pretty typical including a fun boss battle against a giant liger. A small Cheagle named Mieu has joined the party. The little fucker is really annoying but aside from that, he's pretty useful as he can breathe fire to unlock new areas.

My first dungeon!

Then, the story went crazy. There's a Fon Master, a bad ass military dude named Jade and the Fon Master's preteen body guard. Basically, they knew Luke was from the other empire and took him and Tear prisoner on a giant land ship. While having a conversation, the ship was attacked by gryphons and ligers so we fought our way to the bridge of the ship to retake control.

There's a lot I don't understand from a story perspective yet but at least I'm starting to get the combat system a bit better. Oh yeah and Guy joined the party, he was looking for Luke. I now have four people in the group which makes combat a lot more interesting.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3

The Stealth Bomber is deadly!

Date played: August 13th and 14th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 8/10

I started playing Ground War at my brother's suggestion and I did a lot better in there. I also took my time a bit more and managed my first 10 kill streak. I've also started using the stealth bomber as one of my support kill streaks. It works wonders in a large lobby like Ground War. I'm back to the MG36 as I wasn't performing as well with the PKP. It felt good, having positive scores consistently as opposed to barely hitting 1.0. I've also started using Scavenger because I've been staying alive longer and running out of ammo (I have shitty accuracy).

Team Fortress 2

This guy was missing

Date played: August 11th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 5/10

I played a bit of TF2 with my friend but I wasn't feeling it. I only played on 2Fort and the server limit was set to more than an hour so I didn't even finish the match. I had a few good runs as a Medic with my buddy as a Heavy but most of my time was spent trying to learn the Soldier a bit better. While he's very powerful, his reload time is a really a killer. He also has kind of low ammo so it's hard to take a base without running out of rockets. I think I would have had more fun if more than one person on the whole damn server was willing to play Medic.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3

PKP

Date played: August 11th and 12th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 8/10

All right, I'm starting to get a better feel for the maps and starting to do better overall. I switched guns and am now using the PKP, a slower LMG. I seem to do better with large, slow machine guns. It was rough for a while but once I unlocked the grip, it felt a lot better. I had my first really good game of Team Deathmatch at something like 19-8. It felt good! I also played a whole bunch of Domination which seems to give my playstyle more flexibility. I'm also loving the Stinger that I recently unlocked and am providing anti-air support for my team. I am now level 40 or so, this is a double exp weekend so I got a big boost out of it.

Alice Madness Returns

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

Wonderland is back to normal, at least, as normal as it can be.

I finished Alice Madness Returns. The last level, The Dollhouse, was pretty awful compared to some of the other levels. The only really fun part was a sort of Super Monkey Ball level, just replace the monkey with a hairless doll head. The ending was pretty cool though, it turns out that Alice's psychiatrist was a child abusing son of a bitch who also killed her family. The fucker was acting as a pimp for child prostitutes. Disturbing stuff. In the end, she fought him in a typical boss battle that wasn't easy or frustrating, just challenging enough. I'm glad I played this game, it's rare these days that a good, adult platforming game comes out. 

Sound Shapes

Cities is the best track in the game so far

Date played: August 10th, 11th and 12th
Platform: Vita and PS3
Session fun rating: 10/10

This game is amazing. I showed it to my brother who was visiting on Friday, playing some of the earlier songs. We also played what I think is the best song so far, Cities by Beck. The level is based in a city where a nuclear bomb is about to blow. It's really hard to describe but there are platforms that appear and disappear based on when Beck is singing. Some of these platforms change depending on the words in the song, etc. It's really unique refreshing. I also played all of the second album that was set in a corporate building. I've also been just replaying levels because...well, it's fun. The only thing that is pissing me off right now is that I can't seem to always stay connected to PSN which means I haven't been able to try other people's levels.

Alice Madness Returns

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

All right, the Queen's castle is easily the best part of the game. While it still had the great platforming and the fast paced combat, the level was actually quite varied and interesting this time. There was a nice little mini-game on a chess board where I had to get two pieces on a specific spot while avoiding enemies. It's a nice little distraction. The only thing I was disappointed in is that there was an option to skip the event...lame.

Then there was the twist. A giant card guard freak. Taking cues from Nemesis in Resident Evil, he chases Alice around the level at different intervals and she has no choice but to run. Eventually, I reached an area with magic cake (it wasn't a lie) that made Alice into a giant. This was one of the better sequences in the game because the levels are still the same but scaled to the new castle sized Alice. I stomped and swatted hundreds of card guards and destroyed large portions of the castle. Then I met the Red Queen. She was freaky but also surprisingly human in many ways. It seems the Queen was defeated in the first game and is now replaced with the flaming train from earlier in the game. She wants her spot back. Badly.

The asylum is really depressing and a big contrast to the look of Wonderland. Parts of it felt like Dead Space!

Anyway, that was the end of that chapter. I should also mention that all my weapons are fully upgraded and the Tea Pot is really one of the best weapons now that it's at full power. It can take out normal enemies in one shot but is slow and doesn't recharge quickly. The next portion was back in London but now, Alice is now completely fucking insane and is in an asylum, straight jacket and all. After walking through it for a bit, she fell back into Wonderland and the Doll House, the last chapter of the game.

The Doll House is kind of boring compared to the Red Queen's castle. It's a little corny and there isn't much new in here except the visuals. The platforming is getting more difficult in every level though and that keeps me interested. I should finish this game the next time I play.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3

Date played: August 9th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 8/10

Well, I'm getting the hang of this. I still suck of course but I've been learning the maps slowly and getting used to the guns. I unlocked the PKP, another LMG and tried it out for a bit but I didn't like it too much, I seem to have more success with the MG46. A major difference between this game and the previous ones is that the maps are all fairly small, at least so far. It's cool but it's an adjustment for sure. I've also been a bit smarter, slowing things down for myself. It's always a temptation to run right into the fray but that just doesn't work with my machine gun heavy play style. I got lot level 15 or so and am starting to have a solid class setup.so I'm still settling in. 

Sound Shapes

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

Holy shit. Jonathan Mak is a genius. His first console game, Everyday Shooter, has been one of my favorite arcade type games on PS3 and Sound Shapes is his latest game. Sound Shapes is a 2D platformer with a musical twist. Everything in the game makes sound to the beat of the music. It's really hard to describe in text but every jump, slide, enemy and platform is part of the music. This turns a pretty basic platformer into a musical experience!

The thing that holds it all together is the quality of the music though. There's music from Jim Guthie, Deadmau5, Beck and a couple of others. It's also really cool that buying the game once gets you both the PS3 and Vita versions. More people need to do that, seriously, it's great. I've played through the first album (world) and started a bit of the second one, all of which was excellent. The campaign mode is great but I think that playing other people's levels will be the meat of the game. Oh yeah, did I mention? You can make your own levels/music and share it! It's like Little Big Planet. I can't wait to play more of this game, bobbing my head to the beat of the music penetrating my eardrums.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3

CODHeads Anonymous

Date played: August 8th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 8/10

*Transcript from CODHeads Anonymous meeting of August 9th 2012*

Seb: Hi my name is Seb and I'm a Call of Duty user.

Group: Hi Seb!

Seb: I have been clean for over a year but yesterday..... *sobs*, I cracked. I bought Modern Warfare 3 and jumped online. I don't know what it was, maybe it was that amazing multiplayer trailer for Black Ops 2 that got me going, maybe I just haven't played a competitive shooter in so long but here I was, sitting in my living room putting the dirty disc in my PS3.

Group: It's ok, we understand.

Seb: I didn't even do any preliminaries, I just played Team Deathmatch right away. It felt good at first. I got the rush I used to get when I got my first kill. I played more. Then it hit me. I've done this shit before, why am I doing it again?

Group: Good job!

Seb: But you know what? I still love it. Is that wrong? I reached level 8, created a class with an MG46 and while I wasn't even close to my skill level from a year ago, I knew I could be good again. I'm hoping that distractions like Sound Shapes, Alice Madness Returns, Darksiders 2 and Wipeout 2048 can show me the loving ways of playing more than one game at a time and keep my CoD addiction in check. Thank you for listening.

Group: Thanks Seb!

Alice Madness Returns

Date played: August 7th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 5/10

Urgh. This game doesn't know when to stop. While the platforming is really top notch and the combat is surprisingly good, the levels are just a little too long and repetitive. I completed the third chapter and I'm sitting at something like 9 hours played. That's a lot for a game like this. There were two more 2D levels and two block puzzles but this time, no fetch quests. I just had to reach the top of the mountain where the Caterpillar lives. It was a bit of a bland ending to the chapter compared to the first two. All that happened was a conversation with the guy who told me I should go after the Queen next.

Porcelain bitches and knives. Fuck yeah.

There was then a brief scene in the real world where Alice had been imprisoned by the guards because of her rambling and such. As soon as she was released, she fell back into Wonderland, this time in the Queen's playing card world. I played through the first little platforming section which was set in the sky with floating playing cards as the platforms. I reached a castle (of cards of course) then I stopped playing. This section was definitely ramping up the platorming difficulty. I wonder how far from the end I am?

Wipeout 2048

Date played: August 6th
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played a few events in Wipeout 2048 and ended the first season. I am now about to start the 2049 season. One of the main things that is very different in this game from the others in the series is that there are now two item pad types, one for offensive weapons like missiles and quake and another for defensive weapons like shields and auto-pilot. This adds a bit more strategy to weapon pick ups as you can chose to be either more offensive or defensive, something that would work great in a game like Mario Kart.

Every single game should have a photo mode.

I unlocked a few new ships including two from AG-Systems, now my favorite team. I also played four or five combat events which are basically a big demolition derby in anti-gravity. The objective is to gather lots of points by damaging and destroying other ships while avoiding your own ship's destruction. It's a really fun mode but it was a bit too easy so far, I managed the Elite pass and more on the first try. On to 2049!

Tales of the Abyss

Date played: August 6th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 6/10

I've never played a Tales game before but I've been wanting to play a simple and relaxing RPG for a while now and this series seems to fit the bill. I wouldn't play this on my console though, it's the kind of thing I will play in the bed or something so I got Tales of the Abyss on 3DS, a port from the PS2. I only played about an hour of it but it seems pretty good so far.

This is like a giant JRPG stereotype

The game starts off kind of slow, with the hero, Luke, chilling in his huge royal mansion. I think he's a prince or something. The story is kind of non-sense but I know there's a war between two empires and that Luke is confined to the mansion for his protection. I completed some basic tutorials but was interrupted by some chick and we got teleported (What?) to a field in the other empire.

I don't get it but now Luke and the lady are trying to go back home. The combat is interesting because it's real time and in 2D. There's blocking, sword attacks and special attacks known as Artes. It's also pretty cool that different moves can be used by pressing a different direction on the analog stick. Anyway, this is a typical JRPG that should be simple enough to just relax and play without really paying too much attention.

Little Big Planet 2

We decided to continue

Date played: August 6th
Platform: PS3
Session fun rating: 8/10

My girlfriend and I wanted to play something together so we decided to play a bit of LBP 2. I soon realized that I had never played it on this PS3 since my old one broke so I had 15 fucking patches to download. After that, it was soon apparent that my save game had not been transferred so we had to start over from the beginning. It didn't matter much though since this game is always fun to play multiplayer.

We played through the first world and a few levels from the second. It went pretty quickly since we didn't bother with the mini games this time around and we already had a good idea of how to use the different items like the cake gun and the grapple gun. The cake gun level is one of the cutest things I've ever played and didn't mind playing it again for a second. 

Alice Madness Returns

I loved the 2D level

Date played: August 5th
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 7/10

I started playing the Caterpillar's level which is set in an oriental setting and it's been interesting so far. The enemies are getting a little bit tougher, requiring guard blocks with the hobby horse before I could even damage them. So far though, it's manageable. There was also a really cool 2D platforming section where Alice warps into a painting. It's a refreshing change of pace and the level has an amazing art style.

Unit 13 demo

The graphics are adequate but not amazing

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

Well, this game was pretty damn impressive. I played a short demo of Unit 13, a third person shooter. The demo only had the tutorial and one mission, both of which were very generic and unoriginal. The cool thing about it though is that it controls extremely well. When I played Uncharted, the shooting was ok but it wasn't super precise. In Unit 13 though, the controls feel just like a console game. This basically shows that when Call of Duty comes out on Vita, it has the potential to be amazing.

Unit 13 seems to have a mission structure that lends itself well to mobile play with short missions that son't seem to be connected to each other very much. In a lot of ways, it reminds me of the side missions in Final Fantasy Crisis Core on PSP. That's really cool and if I feel like playing a shooter on Vita, Unit 13 seems like a good buy. I'll wait until it hits the bargain bin though.

Jurassic Park The Game: Episode 1

Mr. T at his best.

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

I recently bought the Blu-Ray Jurassic Park box set and to my surprise, it came with a free code for the first episode of Telltale's Jurassic Park adventure game. It's set both during and after the events of the first movie. There is a latino woman that was hired as a "plan B" should Dennis Nedry fail to bring back the stolen embryo's. As any self respecting fan of the movie knows, Nedry fails and is eaten by a dilophosaurus, leaving behind the valuable can of shaving cream.

The game is kind of like The Walking Dead but buggier and without the cool decision making. This leaves the game as a giant quick time event that is actually pretty boring to play. I was interested by the story but it wasn't enough to get me to spend more money for the remaining three episodes. There are some cool scenes in there though, like a fight between a T-Rex and a Triceratops and a game of hide and seek with the big carnivore. 

Alice Madness Returns

Date played: August 3rd
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 6/10

I love the pepper grinder!

I completed the second world, the Carpenter's, and it was pretty cool throughout. The last little bit had me fighting monsters in an arena which wasn't super fun because it became a bit too repetitive but the last scene was so gory and disturbing that it made it all worth it. Basically, the Carpenter, who is a giant sea lion, eats a bunch of cute dancing clams in a bloody mess. I have to say, this game is kind of... haunting in a way. It's weird, the music is creepy and the whole thing is just disturbing, in a good way.

I started the next world which is the Caterpillar's and it looks promising so far although it took a bit too long to get started. It has a nice look to it. I also picked up a new weapon which I'm not sure I like yet. It's a tea kettle that acts as a cannon of sorts. The problem is that it's a little bit slow to charge up and has to be selected over the pepper grinder, something I'm not too happy about, I LOVE my pepper grinder! Speaking of which, the weapons can be upgraded. I upgraded the Vorpal blade first and am now working on the pepper grinder. 

Alice Madness Returns

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

Here's another piece of loot from the plunder that is the Steam summer sale. This is a 3rd person platforming game with combat set in the mind of Alice, from Alice in Wonderland. The game starts in Victorian London where Alice lives in an orphanage. She's fucked in the head though. She gets hallucinations and is just...insane I guess. When she meets a weird looking lady in the streets, the game starts in her mind in the world of the Mad Hatter.

I played through the whole level which was quite large. It's set in a foundry or some kind of factory and my job was to get pieces of the Hatter back to him so he could help me stop some train or something. The story is kind of useless and hard to follow but the game itself is quite fun. It actually reminds me of stuff like Banjo Kazooie or Super Mario 64 in a lot of ways. In addition, the combat is pretty deep with a nice dodging mechanic and some cool combos. I also played a large portion of the second level, this time set in an underwater type world in which Alice has to gather parts for a play. There was also a nice little side scrolling shooter level kind of like those in Rayman Origins which was a nice change of pace.

The art in Madness Returns is amazing

The first thing that stands out about this game is the amazing art direction and cool looking environments. It really has a unique look that you don't see in games too often. It's whimsical, it's crazy and it's kind of old school in a lot of ways. The mechanics are fine for the most part, full of invisible platforms, a shrinking mechanic (Alice drinks a potion as in the books) and some pretty devious platforming. The combat is quick and fun, complete with different weapons like bombs, a gun, a blade and.... a wooden horse head. The only problem I really have with the game so far is that the levels are a bit long and it gets a bit tedious. Oh yeah and the camera sucks in close quarters which fucks up the fighting sometimes. Otherwise, this is a great little summer game. It looks great on PC also so that's great.

Gravity Rush demo

You're welcome.

Date played: August 2nd
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 6/10

I had this demo sitting on my home screen for a while and never got around to play it until today. It turns out, Gravity Rush seems like a good game with some really cool gravity shifting mechanics. Essentially, the heroine, Kat, can float in the air and set any axis as the "floor". There is also combat which is pretty simple with the exception that Kat can do a flying gravity kick, launching herself at an enemy from any position. The controls are tight but there is forced motion sensing aiming which could get troublesome. The story is mostly presented in motion comic format with a cool twist. The panels can be moved using the motion sensors, it looked so cool it made me wish the Vita had a 3D display, it would have looked amazing. The demo was really short but I like this game and will consider buying it next time I need a new game.

Uncharted Golden Abyss

Date played: August 1st
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 9/10

I finished Uncharted Golden Abyss today. Wow, what a game! I was a bit lukewarm to it at first but it really picks up in the second half of the game. Enemies are stronger, weapons are bigger and the story starts to get more interesting. The last third of the game is all about Drake, Sully and Chase exploring some South American ruins to find the city of gold, AKA, The Golden Abyss.

Being an Uncharted game, you just know they are going to find it, blow it up and run away while evading crumbling...things. That's just what happens here and it's really well done. The only gripe I have is that the two boss fights feel just like the ending of the first game, full of quick time events. The difference is that this time, it's all touch screen based and a bit too lengthy for it's own good. Dante is a double crossing motherfucker who gets what was coming to him and Guerro, the general, goes down by Drake's hand, literally from a punch! Oh yeah and of course, Drake gets the girl. He's like James Bond for that.

GRRRRRR! You're going down Guerro, let me just touch you repeatedly.

Either way, this was an amazing game that I feel was even better than Uncharted 3. Uncharted 2 still reigns as king of the franchise of course but Golden Abyss was truly a great game. I didn't use many of the features that they used to pimp the Vita, stuff like touch climbing and back touch rope groping so it felt a lot more like a normal game to me and that's great. Even the tilt aiming was actually pretty useful for fine tuning my shots at times. I'm glad I played it and hope more Uncharted comes to the powerful handheld.

Uncharted Golden Abyss

Date played: July 31st
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 9/10

Sully's here! I never thought he would show up but now he's riding shotgun with Drake, bringing with him a shitty canoe and losing his supplies and Drake's GPS. On the flip side, he also brought a grenade launcher!

Hey, the Vita takes screenshots! Hold PS button and Start at the same time.

The story progressed quite a bit with Chase now being the bad guy's hostage and Drake teaming up with Dante again. My favorite sections are when you have to navigate some platforms and shoot enemies at the same time. There was also a really cool chase sequence with Drake and Dante running from crumbling bridges and ledges, rigged with explosives by the enemy. I also enjoyed the slower paces canoe ride with Sully, it builds atmosphere. The game is getting better and better, it still makes me wonder how come the reviews were so negative... 

Dirt Showdown

Dirt Showdown is flashy!

Date played: July 31st
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 10/10

One of my brothers and I spent a good part of the afternoon playing split screen Dirt Showdown. We spent a lot of time playing Knock Out events which turns out is one of the cooler modes in the game. It's just good old fashioned fun, ramming into cars left and right to get some points. The double points in the last thirty seconds is a game changer and adds lots of tension at the end of a round.

We also tried a team 8 ball event which was really cool. We helped each other out to beat the AI. We also had a lot of fun with Domination though there is definitely a point where having the best car makes all the difference. This game isn't Dirt, but it sure is a lot of fun and doesn't get the credit it deserves. 

Driver San Francisco

Date played: July 28th, 29th and 30th
Platform: PC
Time played: Too many hours!
Session fun rating: 8/10

Well, I finished Driver San Francisco. I played a TON of this game in the last three days and I'm not really sure how long I've played. Steam says 27 hours in the past two weeks with a total of over 40 hours total. That's a shit load for a game like this.

Driver even has some cool looking credits!

There's really a ton of variety in this game, I played a lot of races, checkpoint events, smash events, cop chases, deliveries, tail missions, movie challenges and even a fire extinguishing mission. The whole game was surprisingly frustration free while still being challenging. The only mission that pissed me off had me driving a school bus to a destination. The twist is that it was similar to the movie "Speed" because the bus would explode if it went under a certain speed. Collisions also increase the chance of explosion. Combine that with the awful handling of the bus, it's slow speed and a fucking awful route full of tight turns and off road sections and it makes for an awful mission.

Towards the end of the game, the mechanics get a bit wilder as Tanner realizes that he's in a coma and starts to mess with the world. For example, there were a few missions where Jericho, the bad guy, is using the shift mechanic against Tanner. Another mission had Tanner drive his own car while in the body of a trailing car (the perspective shift was really cool). The last mission even had Tanner and Jericho tossing each other lighting charged cars at each other in a superhero movie kind of way.

In the end, I really enjoyed this game. It's surprisingly well made, fun to play and long to boot. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys driving cars in video games!

Dirt Showdown

I like this van, it has flowers on it!

Date played: July 27th
Platform: PC
Time played: 80 minutes
Session fun rating: 10/10

I played lots of Dirt Showdown with my brother last night. Split screen gaming on PC is a thing apparently, thanks Codies. Anyway, we played a ton of races, 8 ball, demolition and knock out events. I was better at the races but he was better at the knock out and demolition stuff. The game runs very well in 1080p. 5.1 and high detail even in split screen. I had two 360 controllers plugged in and it was as if I was playing the next generation of consoles really. 

Driver San Francisco

Date played: July 26th
Platform: PC
Time played: 180 minutes
Session fun rating: 9/10

I am loving this game. It's like a mini game collection based on cars. While there's a story, it really doesn't matter much. I am still completing dozens of dares, activities and missions. They are still varied enough and fun to play. I have a bunch of upgrades now too like a money multiplier, bigger boost bar and faster recharge time. The challenges are still some of the most fun I've had in the game. This is a great game to simply kill time.

Uncharted Golden Abyss

Date played: July 23rd and 24th
Platform: Vita
Time played: 120 minutes
Session fun rating: 9/10

I'm not really sure why a lot of reviewers felt that this game wasn't excellent... It's easily the best third person game I've played on a handheld except Super Mario 3D Land which isn't even really third person. I mean, this is a true Uncharted game. Lots of exploration, puzzle solving, platforming and shooting. It performs well mechanically, visually, aurally and has an interesting story! Even the touch mini-games are fun...

Nate and Chase make a great team

Either way, I've played through a good portion of the game. It turns out Dante is an asshole who doesn't deserve Drake's and Chase's help. The story turned into the new team going after Chase's grandfather's trail to find treasure! And the grandpa I guess... There was a chase sequence, a sniping sequence, lots of regular cover based shooting and even a section where I had to guide Drake down a waterfall using the tilt controls.

Honestly, this game rocks and doesn't get the praise it deserves.

Alan Wake American Nightmare

Date played: July 22nd
Platform: PC
Time played: 220 minutes
Session fun rating: 8/10

Well, I finished American Nightmare. Boy, this game sure takes some crazy twists... I first played through the drive-in theater level which features a hot an bothered slut who wants Alan's dick. She blames it on the darkness later but I don't believe her. :-)

Then, I set up the projection room to be just like the signal received at the observatory. Late at night, fire extinguisher lit up by a lamp and at the end of summer. I just interacted with a couple of objects to do that. To my surprise, after completing the task, I was sent back to the beginning of the game! I then had to play through the three levels two more times before finishing the game. Thankfully, it's a bit different each time and takes less time. The three lady characters seem to remember me and now take steps to help. For example, the scientist already fixed the telescope so I just had to restore cooling. The idea works well but it got a little long in the tooth by the end.

I encountered some pretty cool enemies too. Bird-men, firemen, giant hulking chainsaw wielding men and even fucking spiders. The difficulty ramped up but I was never overwhelmed. I was never killed either for that matter. I did pick up a magnum, a hunting rifle and an automatic shotgun. The magnum was easily my favorite weapon in the game. It's powerful, fires quickly and has lots of ammo. The hunting rifle was my backup. I even used a few flare gun rounds and flash grenades toward the end when a lot of enemies were attacking at once.

Mr. Scratch is an asshole.

The story has a cool conclusion and it was really fun confronting Mr. Scratch throughout. This game was definitely worth my time and I would recommend it to anyone who likes atmospheric games and shooting shit.

Alan Wake American Nightmare

Date played: July 20th
Platform: PC
Time played: 90 minutes
Session fun rating: 9/10

The Steam Summer Sale is full of gems this year. American Nightmare was at something like 4$ and I loved the first game so I figured this would be a good buy. I was not wrong. The game starts with Alan being sucked into the world of Night Springs, the creepy TV show that Alan wrote in his early career. There seems to be three different areas in the game, a motel/diner, an observatory and a movie drive-in. I completed the first two sections and am now starting the movie drive-in section.

The game looks amazing and plays great

The game is pure Alan Wake gameplay without as much story. The whole thing seems to be built around battling Alan's weird alter ego, Mr. Scratch. I met a chick with pointy nipples in a garage who helped me follow his trail. Most of the game is either fetching items or fighting Taken. It's simple, but it works. The manuscript pages are also back, but this time, they show up on the map and are used as currency to buy hidden weapons. I've been sticking with the shotgun and the revolver but tried the pistol and the nail gun and they were both pretty cool. Flares are still a ton of fun too.

This is a great little game. I think I'm liking these short games better than the epic 60$ games now. Something that's 4-6 hours but still of good quality and can be finished quickly. Don't get me wrong, Skyrim was my favorite game of last year but not every game needs to be like that.

Driver San Francisco

Date played: July 17th
Platform: PC
Time played: 60 minutes
Session fun rating: 8/10

Side quests, activities and dares made up all my time playing today. This game is really fun to just drive in. Lots of checkpoint events, chase, smash and crazy dares were all I did. One thing I really love about this game is all the great licensed music. I was surprised the great song choices they have in there and it really helps set the mood for the game. I also should mention that this game has real, licensed cars and I've realized that this makes the whole game more believable. It almost feels more real than GTA4 at times. I've opened up a large portion of the map now and going back to garages is a little annoying because it can be very far sometimes but it's not a huge problem.

Check out this amazing track list!

22-20s Devil In Me

Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir 10,000 Years

Alan Hawkshaw Beat Me Till I'm Blue

All Thieves Only Of You

Archie Bronson Outfit Cherry Lips

Aretha Franklin Rock Steady (alt mix)

Basement Freaks Gypsy Breaks Tal M Klein Remix

Beastie Boys Suco De Tangerina

Beck Black Tambourine

Big Joe Louis Go Go Train

Billy Boy on Poison On My Way

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Weapon Of Choice

Clarence Wheeler & The Enforcers Right On

ColdCut Everything Is Under Control

Death in Vegas Sons of Rother

Desert Sessions Subcutaneous Phat

DJ Shadow 100 Metre Dash

DJ Shadow Dark Days

Dr John Everybody Wanna Get Rich Rite Away

Dr Rubberfunk Northern Comfort feat. John Turrell

Edenheight Peaceboy

Editors In This Light And On This Evening

Elbow Grounds For Divorce

Fatal Tuned up

Fort Knox Five Kool It Man

Funkadelic As Good As I Can Feel (1969 Version)

Hound Dog Taylor Sitting At Home Alone

Jamiroquai Whatever it is, I just can’t stop

Kram Ridin High

LCD Soundsystem No Love Lost (Joy Division cover)

Leaving the fold On You

Liars Plaster Casts Of Everything

Maps Let go of the fear

Marlena Shaw California Soul (Diplo Remix)

Narco Worth It

Northern Light Cocaine

OC Tolbert Along came a woman

Overseer Pump Action

Pedro Fear & Resilience (Cherrystones)

Presets Steamworks

Primal Scream Kowalski

Primal Scream If They Move, Kill 'Em

Queens of the Stone Age Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret

Recoil Backslider

Robert Palmer Sneakin' Sally Thru The Alley

Seasick Steve Big Green and Yeller

Southside Movement I've Been Watching You

Span Baby's Come Back (Radio Edit)

Stephen Yerkey Link Wray's Girlfriend

Sugarman Three Funky So-And-So

The Black Keys Black Door

The Black Keys Strange Times

The Black Keys Lies

The Black Keys Your Touch

The ChiLites Are You My Woman Tell Me So

The Cure Labyrinth

The Dirtbombs Chains of Love

The Eels Prizefighter

The Flaming Lips The Sparrow Looks Up At The Machine

The Heavy Big Bad Wolf

The Heavy How You Like Me Now

The Heavy The Sleeping Ignoramus instr

The Heavy Trash Good Man

The Herbaliser On Your Knees

The Hustlers Inertia

The Noisettes Dont Give Up

The Prodigy World's On Fire

The Stooges 1969 (Alternate Vocal)

These New Puritans We Want War

TV on the Radio Wolf Like Me

Two Fingers Two Fingers (Instrumental)

Two Lone Swordsman Born Bad _ Born Beautiful

UNKLE Eye For An Eye

UNKLE Unreal

Viva Voce Devotion - Viva Vode

zZz Soul

Mario Kart 7

Date played: July 17th
Platform: 3DS
Time played: 20 minutes
Session fun rating: 6/10

I just played a few outstanding street pass ghost races while bored at work. This game is always fun in short bursts and it's easy to just get in and out without any hassles.

Dirt Showdown

Date played: July 16th
Platform: PC
Time played: 90 minutes
Session fun rating: 10/10

Wow, this game is pretty unique. I loved the demo but the full game is a lot more fun than I expected. I mainly played online in a bunch of very varied events. It's actually more like a shooter than a racing game because it has games like capture the flag, races and some other weird modes. Capture the flag was by far the most exciting mode. The speed is what makes this mode crazy as fuck. People are driving around like crazy trying to steal flags and score them, it's really interesting. I actually won one of those matches and it was blood pumping to say the least.

Demolition events are lots of fun!

I also played some fun demolition modes and even a sort of king of the hill mode with bonus points for pushing people off some platforms. I did a few races but they seemed bland compared to the capture the flag mode. The game looks amazing on my pc and runs super smooth. Paired with a controller, a large TV and a home theater system, it feels like I'm playing next gen games. Stupid Steam sale, stealing my money.

Wipeout 2048

ZONE MODE SEIZURES!

Date played: July 15th
Platform: Vita
Time played: 30 minutes
Session fun rating: 7/10

I played a time trial event that I just couldn't manage to get Elite in so I settled for a pass. I also played a Zone event which now look cooler than ever and got an Elite pass there. I also tried out the Wipeout HD and Fury campaigns for the first time on Vita and they are amazing as usual. The best part is that all the skins are unlocked by default, most of which I had never seen on the PS3 versions due to the unlocking method. I had a good time but I was a little too tired to perform well.

Uncharted Golden Abyss

Date played: July 15th
Platform: Vita
Time played: 90 minutes
Session fun rating: 9/10


Well this game is turning out to be better than what I was expecting from reviews. Reviewers were bitching that the game was bland, not very spectacular and over run with Vita gimmicks. I find that it's a really fun third person action game with a few more Vita gimmicks than is healthy. 

This fire sequence was impressive

I played through about seven chapters and the story is starting to be more interesting. It turns out Dante, my little side kick man, is kind of a douche with his own agenda who practically sold me out to the bad guy. I also met Chase, a lady with some sort of deal with Dante who is also getting screwed. She's pretty much my new partner now. She's great too. She has a good voice actor, is funny and on top of that, she's really useful!


Nate also got captured by the bad guys at one point but Chase put my prison building on fire and I had to escape. The fire sequence was quite impressive on a small screen and it was actually fun and interesting to play. I'm kind of hooked on this game now.

Driver San Francisco

Date played: July 15th
Platform: PC
Time played: 120 minutes
Session fun rating: 9/10

I love this game because it's just mindless driving. I started skipping the story as it wasn't very interesting anyway. The driving is so good though that I just want to play missions. There are a LOT of side missions in this game and they are pretty varied. Many of them are checkpoint events but there are tons of different activities. I also played some challenges that are unlocked as I grab movie tokens around the city. These challenges are a bit more difficult but the real feature here is doing some old school missions and chases. They are sometimes set in the 70's like the original game and are a ton of fun.

I also unlocked a feature that lets me jump around two different cop cars to complete a mission, sort of a buddy system. It's really cool to ram a car with one police cruiser then shifting to another cruiser to finish the job. I've also started using shift in a more aggressive way, jumping ahead and making competing cars crash and stuff. 

Sonic Generations

Date played: July 14th
Platform: PC
Time played: 40 minutes
Session fun rating: 5/10

Well, fuck this game. I played through the last couple of regular levels and played a few challenges to unlock the last boss. Those were fine, lots of fun and pretty to look at. The last boss however, is another story. I don't know what the fuck is wrong with him but I tried to beat him for 20 minutes and after dozens of deaths, I just quit. It's the last boss anyway and I got the fun I wanted out of this game. This is by far the best Sonic game I've played in a very long time.

Driver San Francisco

Date played: July 12th
Platform: PC
Time played: 60 minutes
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played a bit more of Driver SF and it's a really fun, simple driving game that knows that it's a little ridiculous and embraces it. I mostly played side missions like dares and activities. I've played races, speed stunts, jump stunts and even a funny TV filming mission. I rode a TV truck to some nice spots and changed into other cars to make a show. It's actually super dumb but lots of fun. I also made my first little movie with the built in editor. I crashed a bus into a car at full speed... I also unlocked two new features, a boost and a ram mechanic. This makes events a lot more dynamic, feeling almost like a Burnout lite.

Driver San Francisco

Date played: July 11th
Platform: PC
Time played: 35 minutes
Session fun rating: 6/10

I got this game on sale for 7$ on Steam because I enjoyed the demo last year. The game looks great on PC and runs very well. I am playing on my HDTV with surround sound and controller. I'm on a next gen console already! I pretty much just saw story exposition and some tutorials. The story is fucking nuts. Tanner, the hero, is chasing some bad dude from the previous games. He gets in a major accident and ends up in a coma at the hospital. The thing is, he's still conscious and he thinks nothing has changed. The big hook here is that he can change bodies at will at the press of a button. That means I can change cars in the middle of a chase. That could help me force an enemy to crash and stuff.

It's a cool idea, even if the story justification is nuts. The intro had me chase some cars, drive an ambulance to the hospital, navigate a circuit and even test drive a Ford GT. The game handles well, the cars have a different feel and the missions seem varied and interesting. I can't wait to see more of the game, I've barely started it really.

Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention

Date played: July 9th
Platform: Vita
Time played: 90 minutes
Session fun rating: 8/10

Ohhhh man... I am going to fall in love with this game. While the music quickly grated my ears, everything else is starting to look like an amazing game. I played through the first few tutorials which showed me things like team attacks, positioning and character management. I learned how to use the class room to create clubs that boost attributes, I learned how to recruit new characters and how to buy and sell items. I also learned about evilities that serve as battle skills. There was even a fight where the floor had attributes that affect battles. It's all a little crazy but I moved some blocks around and killed some of my guys in the process. Not too sure how that stuff works. This game is DEEP! I now have a real rivalry with the school delinquent and I've met a hero that I want to learn from to become a hero myself. The story is super Japanese and kind of dumb. I can't wait to get deeper in the mechanics.

Batman Arkham City

CLAYFACE!

Date played: July 8th
Platform: PS3
Time played: 180 minutes
Session fun rating: 9/10

I finished Batman Arkham City! Whew, what a ride that was... There is too much going on in the ending to talk about all of it here but let's just say that the story takes a lot of twists and turns towards the end. I dethroned Strange, I caught the Joker and I fought a surprise enemy, Clayface! There was even a nice little moment with Talia and Catwoman. I didn't complete even half of the Riddler challenges and didn't complete a few of the side quests but I think it's better that way. The Riddler stuff can get pretty frustrating. Overall, I liked this game better than the first due to the better story, the fun city and the new gadgets. I hope they make another game in this series sometime.

Mortal Kombat

Date played: July 7th
Platform: Vita
Time played: 40 minutes
Session fun rating: 7/10

I couldn't pass up this deal at 20$ for Mortal Kombat. I've heard great things about the console version but never got around to playing it so this seemed like a great fit. The only problem is that there is no local multiplayer but that's normal I guess, this is a portable... I started by just playing a ladder with Scorpion to get a feel for the game. I have never been a great or even a good Mortal Kombat player but it's a simple game to learn, if impossible to master, like every good fighting game.

GET OVER HERE!

I picked up on the basic moves here, the signature "Get over here", a teleport, a takedown and a ranged fire attack. There is also the new X-ray set of moves which show bones and arteries being destroyed in slow motion. Needless to say, it looks fucking awesome. I also managed to pull off his fatality a few times, again, gruesome and awesome.

I then started the story mode which has gotten a lot of praise from reviewers and players. It is well produced and interesting. It's cool that it seems to reset the whole universe so the kombatants don't know each other yet. Johnny Cage is first up and he makes fun of Baraka's "makeup". He is also flirting with Sonya Blade... I learned how to play Cage pretty quickly, using his fast kick and projectiles to defend and his flying kick and nut shot for offence. He plays well and is fun to play, as is the whole game so far. I'm not usually a fan of single player in fighting games but this one seems interesting enough to kill a few minutes here and there.