Monday, December 26, 2016

Update: My Recent Game Pickups #5- Christmas Edition

Hey Guys, I know that I said I would be posting on either Friday or Saturday, but I had to make a couple of extra purchases as well as add in some gifts I got for Christmas. Yes, even though I am a grown man(legally anyways) with a job I still do get gifts.

In case you can't see the PlayStation 3 games, they are Resistance 3, L.A Noire, inFamous 2, Heavenly Sword, and Heavy Rain

I haven't completely switched over to PlayStation. Remember, I am only buying games that are exclusive to the PlayStation 4. Yes, I also got a sweet soundbar from my parents which I have yet to setup since I have no room for it at the moment.

I bought a couple of PlayStation 3 games over the course of two weeks, so I'm including those as well as part of the pickups I made. Have not played any of them besides Heavely Sword and Heavy Rain. I beat Heavy Rain and am glad that I got a chance to play through it. If you have either a PlayStation 3 or 4, please go get a copy of Heavy Rain. The game still holds up to this day.

In case you're curious, I bought all those PlayStation 4 games. I'm surprised that the PlayStation 4 Pro isn't bundled with at least one game or even a bigger hard drive. I know that I'm only getting PlayStation exclusives, but 1TB isn't going to cut it.

I wanted to get Deadrising 4, but maybe I'll pick it up on Friday or Saturday. For now, I didn't get anything new for my Xbox One.

2017 is almost upon us. If Resident Evil 7 turns out to be an excellent game, then 2017 is off to a great start. I'll be sure to pick it up as soon as a couple of my favorite YouTubers review the game to say if it's good or not. I'm looking forward to being exposed to the world of PlayStation.

I hope you all had a good Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate.
Till Next Time!!

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Xbox Live: Free Games of January 2017- Xbox Done

Hey Guys, the next batch of free games for Xbox Live users have been revealed. This month's games weren't all that bad and Outlast was easily the saving grace to that. However, next month's games are literally a mixed bag. Allow me to explain.














I don't know what Xbox Live has against Xbox One users. I'm not saying that the games selected for Xbox One are bad, but they are incredibly disappointing. Killer Instinct is a game that never really caught my attention. I'm not big on fighting games, so naturally I'm not going to enjoy the game

World of Van Helsing just looks like a generic over-the-top game, so easily this has to be the worst of the batch of games for January.

The Cave looks like an okay game. The platforming might be fun, but otherwise the game itself doesn't seem like anything special. After the whole Mighty Number 9 incident, I think 2D platforming really should be getting a revamp or something to stay relevant.

Rayman Origins was already made for free on Xbox One. Why on Earth make it free again? I really do hate it when Xbox decides to pull moves like this because it takes away from getting to play a different game.

I'm done for today. I'm thinking of making another game pickups post by Friday or Saturday. It depends how many games I'm willing to buy this Christmas weekend or early next week.
Till Next Time!!

Monday, December 19, 2016

This is why Call of Duty 4's Supply Drops Suck....

Hey Guys, I apologize for not posting frequently. I would be repeating myself by saying that I just don't have as much time to be writing and playing video games. Anyways, I got a chance to play some Overwatch and Call of Duty 4. Both of them had an update while I was gone. While I am enjoying Overwatch's and Call of Duty's update, I can't help but think that the implemented loot system in Call of Duty 4 is completely unnecessary.

There are only a handful of acceptable character models that you can unlock or purchase in the game; Otherwise, almost all of them suck in my opinion

I am totally aware that people were flipping their shit over this decision even before these supply drops were announced to be included in the Modern Warfare Remaster. As a matter of fact, I'm positive most people didn't even care for these supply drops to begin with. Even when they were introduced in Advanced Warfare, I really didn't give a shit about them.

Honestly I think the Black Ops saga had the best customization options in terms of weapons and emblems in the entire franchise. None of them with the exception of Black Ops III had to rely on supply drops to get the best customization items. Well, it is arguable that there is better character customization in Black Ops III than there are in the MWR, but even then there is very limited options for character customization in Black Ops III.

Imagine the potential that this remaster would have had if it had a deep character customization rather than just having to choose from these pre-made character models that really don't have much appeal to most people.

The current customization isn't really good. I never really minded these weapon cosmetics, but I do care about how the character I create looks in multiplayer. If you're into weapon skins and only weapon skins, then this isn't so bad, but for those of you who thought Call of Duty would improve their character customization will be utterly disappointed.

However, I'm not going to be giving this supply drop system that much shit because you can pretty much play MWR without ever having to open one of these drops.

What I want you guys to takeaway from this is that even though supply drops suck there really is no need to be freaking out over them. All you really can do is either ignore them or just move on to a much better game than MWR. Maybe play some Titanfall 2? Dishonored 2? Battlefield 1? Something else?
Till Next Time!!

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Should World Size Matter? Ghost Recon: Wildlands

Hey Guys, I just go through finals week and feel like a mess. Now, I have to put in long hours at work and get that overtime pay for the holidays. Seriously, I am way too busy even though I'm done with school for the next three weeks. However, I will do my best to write and play some games when I can.

Anyways, not much has happened since I made my last post other than The Last of Us 2 teaser, Death Stranding, Capcom bringing back old franchises, and the debut of the Nintendo Switch. Okay, I missed quite a lot and don't have a lot of time to cover them, so I guess I get to just have a little discussion about open-world games specifically with Ghost Recon: Wildlands.

Image Provided by Polygon














The last time I've played a Ghost Recon game was back with Advanced Warfighter. I have yet to play Ghost Recon: Future Solider. Maybe I'll pick that up on PlayStation 3 or on Xbox 360 if it becomes backwards-compatible.

The last Tom Clancy video game I bought was The Division. While I am having fun playing the game with a friend, I can admit that the game has problems. Believe me, it's far from a great game. Other than Destiny-like gameplay and a relatively "dead" world, the game is okay. Hell, I don't even call the game "The Division". I like to call it, "Tom Clancy's Pedestrian Simulator".

There is a reason why I call it Pedestrian Simulator is because you spend a large majority of the game just walking and running to places. Yeah, you can fast travel, but it's limited and is not available in all locations especially The Dark Zone, which I hardly touch due to scaling issues. Seriously, if I have to travel on foot to places at a slow pace then my experience isn't going to go great.

Even though Pedestrian Simulator is pretty large, there hardly is anything to do other than random events and missions, which get boring after a while. I think I spent so much time doing the same shit in the game that I forgot 90% of the "story".

This brings up the question of does world size matter?

To make a long answer short, no. Linear campaign video games have shown that either gameplay and/or story are the core elements of making a good game.

If a game does have a large open-world and pretty much treat it as a main element in the game, then there better be life in the game. The Witcher 3, Fallout 3, Skyrim, Grand Theft Auto, Metal Gear Solid V, Red Dead Redemption, and most likely Breath of the Wild are prime examples on how to treat an open-world. All of them(well besides Breath of the Wild since it hasn't came out) have a good balance of gameplay and/or story.

There is no guarantee that Ghost Recon: Wildlands will be a good game or just end up like Pedestrian Simulator. Just by seeing the map, it would be cool to see different ecosystems, but will they effect gameplay to force people to play differently based on location? We won't know until the beta.

If Wildlands is going to have a large world, then there better be a strong narrative, transportation system that includes vehicles rather than just fast travel, and just avoid the mistakes made by Pedestrian Simulator. Maybe make Wildlands similar to Pedestrian Simulator's Survival update or Day Z or at least give a game mode like it.

I'm done for today, guys. Just as an update, I'm thinking about getting a PS4, but I need to get holiday shopping done as well as paying my tuition for the next semester at school. Additionally, I'm still working on my PS3 game collection and just ordered a 500GB hard drive for the PS3.
Till Next Time!!

Monday, December 5, 2016

PSA: Don't Buy a PS3 12GB System for over $100

Hey Guys, you might be wondering where I have been. Well, long hours of studying and working have been holding me back from writing. Over the weekend, I was able to catch up on some video games and actually make a couple of pick ups. It's nothing too special, but I do have some announcements to make for those of you who are either collecting old video game consoles.

I ended up getting this baby from my local pawn shop for just $60.
She's a bit dusty, but she runs just fine...
If you never been to a pawn shop before, then all you need to know is that you get what you pay for.
Everything is not labeld with specifics and I bought this console not knowing that this was the 12GB model. While I only paid about $60 for it, I still feel like I was ripped off.

However, it's not too bad as I could always upgrade the hard drive at a dirt cheap price since the PS3 is not too high in demand nowadays. I literally found a 500GB hard drive for this specific model for around $37, so I pick that up at a later time since I won't have time to use it. If you're wondering what games I bought with the system, then here they are...

It really isn't anything special...
No, I didn't pick these up at the pawnshop. I got them from GameStop since I could use some more points to get some coupons. If I had the time and didn't have to do holiday shopping, then I would have bought a lot more games. I've always wanted to play The Last of Us and Uncharted series, so I just couldn't pass up buying a PS3 on the cheap.

My plan is to collect most of the PS3 exclusive games as well as games that I couldn't find for the Xbox 360 either because they are cheaper or obviously couldn't find them. Eventually, I'll get a PS4, but I literally have no spare room to put it.

I know I did a bit of clickbait, but seriously don't go to GameStop and get this 12GB model for over a $100. You can find it a lot cheaper pretty much anywhere online and just upgrade the hard drive.
Till Next Time!!