F-Zero

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

F-Zero looks great for a 23 year old game

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

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

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

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

Another fort bites the dust!

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

Call of Duty Ghosts

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

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

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

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

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

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

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

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

The open sea calls!

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

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

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

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

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

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

A Link Between Worlds

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

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

Lego Marvel Superheroes demo

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

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

Tony Stark and Bruce Banner taking down Flint Marko

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

Call of Duty Ghosts

Festive pack!

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

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

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

Pikmin 3

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

I finished Pikmin 3!

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

Pikmin 3 was amazing!

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

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

Gravity Rush

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

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

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

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

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

Shark hunting is fun!

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

Pikmin 3

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

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

The last area is absolutely beautiful

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

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

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

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

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

Nassau is an interesting town

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

Super Mario 3D World

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

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

This level was hard with two people and super easy alone

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

The PS4 sibling experience

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

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

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

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

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

Killzone Mercenary

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

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

Two years pass.

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

This Helghan bodyguard was an amazing partner

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

Pikmin 3

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

RIP

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

Call of Duty Ghosts

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

BEAST MODE ACTIVATED!

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

Pikmin 3

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

The Crushblat is an odd creature

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

Flower

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

Flower is a true classic

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

Resogun

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

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

The Phobos ship has an amazing overdrive

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