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!!

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!!

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!!

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!!

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!!

Update: My Recent Game Pickups #4- Black Friday Edition

Hey Guys, I know it's a day after Black Friday, but I had to work last night, so I didn't have the time to write. I did my shopping on both GameStop and Amazon and kind of went over my budget. I'm still waiting on one more game to arrive and it's one that I didn't originally plan to buy. Anyways, I'll post a pic of my pickups below.

I didn't include the games that I purchased before Black Friday that includes Battlefield 1 and Titanfall 2

I want to add that I have a lot of these games digitally, but I prefer to have physical copies of video games, so excuse me if some of these games are pretty old. I would say that I did a decent job this year on Black Friday.

I wasn't planning on getting Battlefront, The Division, or Battleborn, but each costed me $10, so how on Earth was I going to let it pass it up? As of writing this, I haven't even installed Battlefront or Battleborn and have yet to play The Division. I probably made the mistake of buying multiplayer games since I really don't have the time to invest in all of them.

I already own Tomb Raider, Battlefield 4, Gears of War, and Assassin's Creed IV digitally, so I just picked them up. I totally forgot to include Titanfall, but I also purchased that as well on disc.

I also purchased Mad Max, but I guess I got the only new copy that didn't include the case. I know GameStop sucks, so I'm a bit upset about that, so I'm going to have to get another copy of the game in order to get a case for it.

Recore was cheap, so why shouldn't I get it? I heard mixed opinions on the game, but I really don't have much to lose based on the price I got the game for.

Currently, I am playing Call of Duty 4 and Dying Light. Literally, the Call of Duty 4 Remaster is so addicting based on its simplicity. However, the spawn system is total ass in multiplayer. Dying Light is pretty fun right now. I prefer this game over Dead Island, but it take me a while to get used to the controls as I always think the "A" button would let me jump.

Overall, I'm happy with what I got from Black Friday. I am disappointed that I didn't pick up that $99 3DS, but I always had a preference on the design of the 2DS. Additionally, I want to get the Nintendo Switch, so I really have no need for a 3DS. I wanted to get Mafia III as well, but I would be going way over budget.

Before I end this off, I want to add that the game I'm waiting to arrive is Life is Strange. I heard good things about the game and am totally pumped to play it.
Till Next Time!!

Xbox Live: Free Games of December 2016- Faith in Humanity Restored

Hey Guys, I just made a recent purchase as part of a deal on Amazon and I will reveal what I bought on Black Friday. I'm on a strict budget right now, so I won't be having a massive haul that I was hoping for. I'm still debating if I should get the $99 Nintendo 3DS, but I don't want to go over budget right now.

Anyways, the free games for the Games with Gold program were announced yesterday and personally I was a bit disappointed. It may seem contradictory to the title, but the title will be referring to other people rather than myself. Allow me to explain...

Image Provided by Major Nelson's blog

Sleeping Dogs and Outlast are two great games. If you have never played either of these games before, then please do yourself a favor and download them as soon as they are available to be downloaded. If you've ever played True Crime, then Sleeping Dogs is the closest you're going to get in terms of a sequel since that franchise is now dead.

What disappoints me is the fact that Xbox is going into an Assassin's Creed IV route. What I mean by this is that they made Assassin's Creed IV free on Xbox 360 over a year ago and made the Xbox One version free a few months later. What kind of bullshit is that!? You can probably get Assassin's Creed IV for about $5 or $10 now for Xbox 360. I would have wanted the Xbox One version of the game to be free, but I already own the game, so it's not like my opinion really matters.

Talking about owning games, I literally bought Outlast along with its DLC back in the Shocktober sale for about $6 and now almost a month later it's free. FML. I know that $6 is dirt cheap, but it's still bullshit that I already played the game, so there really is nothing new for me in terms of Xbox One games.

I don't really like racing games, so I'm not interested in Burnout. I've never even heard of Outlander, so I'm not even sure if it's any good. Maybe I'll get into it if I have the time for it considering the fact that I have a lot of games to be beating right now.

That's it for me, guys. I'm going to relaz until my next class starts. I hope that my American readers have a Happy Thanksgiving and a safe Black Friday shopping spree.
Till Next Time!!

Titanfall 2: An Underrated Gem

Hey Guys, finally I'm back from the dead. This morning I just bought both Witcher 3 DLCs and am totally hyped to try them as soon as I get home from work. If you are at all wanting to get games on the cheap, then it's time to do it since today marks the first day of Black Friday sales through the Xbox Store.

If you plan on buying some games through the Xbox Store, I highly recommend. buying Witcher 3, Titanfall 2, Overwatch, and even Battlefield 1. You can view the full list of games on sale in the Xbox Store on Major Nelson's blog. However, I really want people to start giving Titanfall 2 the attention it deserves since I personally see it as one of the most underrated games of 2016 and easily the biggest surprise of 2016.

Image provided by Reddit user Xzreal

I bought Titanfall 2 around November 3rd for about $37 when it was on sale on Amazon. Because of  my experience with the first game, I was a bit skeptical of how this game was going to hold my attention, but it turns out I was being paranoid for no reason.

I've been spending most of my time on the multiplayer portion of the game rather than the single-player campaign because I am just addicted to the multiplayer for Titanfall 2. I have no idea how Respawn made the multiplayer even better than the first Titanfall. Unlike Call of Duty, this game is balanced for the most part and is rather easy to pick and play. However, it's kind of like chess in the sense that it's easy to learn but takes time to master.

I believe I only got to the third mission in the campaign, but it's a decent story. It's not great by any means, but it's a lot better than what we got in the first game. However, it's way too short in my book and I could probably beat this is about 4 hours if I sat down and played it.

What disappoints me the most about the game is its sales. Yesterday, The NPD Group released the list of the top-selling games for October 2016 and by no surprise Battlefield 1 was the best-selling game for October. Titanfall 2 sat at the 9th best-selling game.

I was shocked to see that even the Skyrim Remaster outsold Titanfall 2. That game is about 5 years old and people still paid full price for it? Don't get me wrong, I loved Skyrim, but I have no intention of getting an upgraded version of a game I've already played and don't have the time to go through it again. Come on guys, at least try to get a game that you've never played before!

Originally, I wasn't planning on getting Titanfall 2 since I did buy Battlefield 1. Yes, I'm a part of the problem why Titanfall 2 didn't sell well in the first week of its release. Personally, I do feel like the release of the game was poorly timed since it literally was going to get overshadowed by Battlefield 1 let alone Mafia III and Gears of War 4. It should have been pushed back to either November or December, so people can actually have the time or money to play the game.

It really is a shame that this game is not getting attention. Please, go out and get a copy of the game. It's worth the $60, but if you want a deal then wait until Black Friday or get it digitally for about half the price as well. I should also add that free DLC will be released for the game, so don't expect to see any season pass.
Till Next Time!!

The NES Classic Craze: My Thoughts

Hey Guys, it's been about two weeks since I made my last post, so where the hell was I? Well, I'm not dead if some of you are wondering. School and work have been getting a lot busier as the holiday approaches. Hell, I'm starting to study for finals since I know my time will be extremely limited in the next couple of weeks. While I'm excited for Black Friday, I know that I have to be responsible with what I buy.

However, there are other people who are not responsible for what they buy. Now, what does this have to do with the NES Classic? Let me explain...

I wish I could tell you that the the price was edited...

As  soon the NES Classic was available for purchase on Amazon, it literally sold out within minutes. It even crashed Amazon. Who would have thought that a $60 retro console would sell so quickly especially one that comes with pre-installed games rather than being able to play all NES titles.

Even thought this NES Classic will be nearly impossible to find in stores, it doesn't warrant to exploit this $60 console to their advantage.

I feel ashamed to have to live on the same planet with people who are reselling this console for hundreds and even thousands of dollars! $18,000 for a console? I better be getting fondled by six different people while getting fed Caviar on Bill Gates's lap.

Seriously, $18,000 is almost my college tuition and this greedy scumbag thinks he could actually sell this thing for that much money!? How in the world are you supposed to argue why the NES Classic Edition is worth $18,000 and have the balls to charge an extra $50 for shipping!? Do you have any idea what people could be doing with that amount of money?

For those of you who are thinking about buying this, please just wait it out until there are more available to purchase. I'd rather pay $60 than $18,000 for this retro console. However, if you really want to play these games then you could always play them through an emulator.

You can even get one of those Retron 5 consoles that play more than just NES games! While it may require you to buy your games, at least you can play any NES game you want and have an extra four available consoles to play on for around the same price as the NES classic.

That's it for me today, guys. I just got Titanfall 2 in the mail today and am currently playing it. I am having a blast with it and am not sure if I will be reviewing it since it came out a couple of weeks ago. However, I can say that's it a major improvement to the first game. I'm happy that I only got it for about $37 and it's a great value at even $60.

I'm not sure how often I will be posting this week since I really have to focus on school, but I will do my best to find the time to write since it's alleviating for me in a way.
Till Next Time!!

In Retrospect: Outlast

Hey Guys, Happy Halloween! Okay, originally I wasn't going to be writing about Outlast because I never played the game until a couple of days ago. I got the game on sale during the Xbox Live Shocktober sale. I was planning on going back to Alien: Isolation, but I decided why not Outlast?

This is something I want to add as a new segment on my blog where I look back on older games and see how they aged in either a good or bad way. I will include both games I have or have not played before since I wouldn't remember much about their stories anyway.

I will go into detail about the game's environment later...

Outlast is a survival horror video game that initially released on September 4th, 2013. Yes, it's been a full three years since the game released. It's also been two years since the console version of the game released. I will be looking at the Xbox One version of the game since my PC is a piece of shit that would probably kill itself trying to run it.

Most of you probably remember this game by watching your favorite YouTubers torture themselves playing the game. I know this is how I first heard of the game; otherwise, I probably would not know about this game since it originally came out on PC.

Anyways, does this game hold up today?

Okay, the gameplay is easily the saving grace of the game. There is a tense atmosphere that is caused when you get caught and have to run away from your enemy. Additionally, you just want to faint whenever you do get caught because you can't fight back.

It's kind of bullshit that you can't fight back, but I totally understand why it was implemented into the game. However, it can lead to some frustrating deaths if you do end up getting spotted or an enemy just comes out of nowhere. Yes, there were times where I accidentally ran into an enemy after turning a corner. This is rare, but it does happen.

If you have are a veteran of survival horror games, then you are probably going to breeze through this game on Normal Difficulty. If you want any kind of challenge, then play on Insane. However, the game in of itself is too easy once you pretty much understand how the game works. I can say the same about any other game, but Outlast just feels too easy for me.

The difficulty doesn't kill the experience, but if the game were just a tad bit harder then it would make the game a lot more appealing in terms of replay value.

Believe me, the game has plenty of replay value, but the game is way too short. You can probably complete the game's story on Normal in about 5 hours or less. After that, it's a matter of if you even want to go back on harder difficulties or just get collectibles. I'm not going to give the game shit for this since you could still come back to this game and experience something new.

There are only two major things that I believe hold the game back from being a masterpiece. You may or may not agree with me, but this is just how I feel.

The game over-relies on jumpscares. You do not need to have jumpscares to make something scary. PT is the epitome of a horror game that does not need to have jumpscares to make even a grown man cry. If the game went into a psychological horror genre, then it would be so much better.

That's also not to mention the cliche environment around you. Seriously? The only way a thousand dead corpes in a video game will scare someone is if they were like 7 years old. This is something that has been done so much that it doesn't even bother me or anyone who has seen a horror movie/game in their life. I get it. The asylum you are in is fucked up, but do I really need to see it in a way that is just unoriginal?

Nonetheless, Outlast is a blast to play and you can get it at a dirt cheap price now. Today is the last day you can get the Xbox One version of the game for about $6 and it comes with the DLC. I can't say much about the DLC as I have yet to even play it.

If you haven't played Outlast before and are looking for a scare, then this is a good option. If you do end up loving Outlast, then you're going to have a good time with Alien: Isolation. Just don't expect much of a challenge if you start on a lower difficulty or a great story. The story is interesting, but more should have been done with it to make it better. Like more likable characters?

That's it for me today, guys. Before I end this, I want to say that I am fully aware that Titanfall 2 released last week and Infinite Warfare is releasing this week. I want to get Titanfall 2, but I want to get Dishonored 2 first. Additionally, Black Friday is in a couple of weeks, so I'll wait until then to make any purchases on video games. Actually, I will be pre-ordering Dishonored 2 to get a review out for it due to Bethesda's new review policy. Many of you are going to want to wait to get Dishonored 2, so I'll bite the bullet once more. However, knowing Bethesda the game is probably going to be good.
Till Next Time!!