The Last of Us 2: Major Disappointment

Hey Guys, it's been a week since the Last of Us 2 was released. I beat the game in one weekend because I was compelled to see it through to the end. This is because of how disappointed I was throughout my time with the game. I'm going to let you know ahead of time that I will be spoiling the game because I need to explain why I did not like The Last of Us 2 not because of the PC wokeness in the game but because the game fails as a sequel.

Expect to see this scene in the game, but heavily altered and very misleading....

SPOILERS AHEAD. READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION
Alright, now that the warning is out of the way let's get to the point. This game feels like an incoherent mess.

I hated how Joel's death was handled. I understand how brutal the world of The Last of Us is, but this is still a work of fiction and the death of a beloved protagonist must be taken as to not anger a fan base. By that, I mean that a death must be handled in a way that best suites the character in a dignified way. Sure, it can be argued that Joel was not much of a hero to begin with let alone that he possibly doomed mankind by the end of the first game. However, through the 15 hour journey that we spent with him in the first game it's impossible not to feel sympathy for the poor guy. We see him lose his first daughter and then here he is traveling with a young girl across the country progressively seeing her as his own daughter by the time the game is over.

Then, we probably seem him for a total of less than 30 minutes before he is brutally executed with a gold club. As if he wasn't all that important.

Look, if Joel was going to die I would have been fine with it. I'm never against killing a protagonist as long as it serves importance to the plot and it's handled properly, but there was no buildup nor "goodbye" for Joel. We don't get those buildups until after his death has occurred.

This leads up to my second point: the organization of the story.

I did not like playing 10 hours of Ellie and 10 hours of Abby. By the time you reach Ellie's conclusion before playing as Abby, you already will feel burned out. Then, having to play 10 hours as a hated character in order to reach the present time in the story is just unnecessary.

If they were going to do this, they could have easily swapped back and fourth between Ellie and Abby, so that there stories would coincide in a much more fluid pace. Splitting up the story in two was just a terrible design choice.

I get why they did it. However, I see no reason why I should feel a sense of guilt over Abby's loss. She's no better than Joel. In the flashback with Abby and her father, Abby literally told her father that she WOULD NOT WANT her father to perform the surgery on her if she was in Ellie's position. How can you possibly want players to empathize with Abby if she literally had that same thought process as Joel!?

By the end, we see that revenge is such a forced theme here. Ellie loses everything, Abby got her revenge and is now off to live a life with Lev with the same relationship reminiscent of Joel and Ellie. I have a lot to complain about the ending because Ellie deserved so much better. You don't just go on a revenge quest for months and just let it go at the very last minute. Let alone she went on this revenge quest in order to stop her nightmares and alleviate her PTSD. This was just a dumb plot device.

It would have made a more potent ending if Ellie got her revenge then lost everything! It would have made for a more ambiguous ending if Ellie did the right thing to avenge Joel and what becomes of her as a result of her vengeance.

In conclusion, I don't believe The Last of Us 2 is a bad game. Its gameplay is a more refined version of the first game. If you liked the gameplay from the first game, you'll love this one. However, the story is just a mess that could have been told in a different manner and different choices could have been made.

The trailers have lied to us all. I'm expecting some overly angry fans to file lawsuits against Naughty Dog over the trailers vs the final game.
Till Next Time!!

Resident Evil 3 Remake: A Downgrade

Hey Guys! I bet you all thought I was dead. Since I was gone, I believe I only had two new posts. I apologize for my absence, and I'm back in the saddle again. I've missed so much in these two years and will have plenty of time to relish in those times, but I really want to talk about the Resident Evil 3 Remake. Strap in folks because I really need to vent about this game.

This is my copy I got from Best Buy. Notice RE3 and Resistance have to be downloaded separately.

Before I begin, I will not be spoiling the game and this is not a review. In addition, I'm not going to be tearing this game to pieces. I actually enjoyed my time with Resident Evil 3, but the glaring issues keep if from living up to the standard of what a remake should look like when compared to Resident Evil 2 Remake.

Let me start with the elephant in the room, Nemesis has been hyped up by Capcom since they showed the reveal trailer of him with the flamethrower. Don't worry! No false advertising here! Well, sorta.

I'm going to be as nice as possible when I say this: Nemesis is a glorified cameo in this game. His appearances either have you running from him or fighting him as a boss fight. However, his boss fights are entertaining, but they are far and few between. I can argue that his boss fights are probably the only challenging aspects of the game.

To those of you who absolutely hated Mr. X in Resident Evil 2 Remake, you'll be thanking the heavens that there won't be some giant, unkillable monster following you around. For those of you who actually enjoyed Mr. X in RE2 because he added tension to the game, you will be disappointed.

And this is my main issue with Resident Evil 3 Remake, there doesn't feel to be nearly as much tension as RE2 Remake. RE2 was a true survival horror experience while RE3 does feel a lot more action oriented. Not saying there isn't survival horror elements within the game, but there just isn't enough of it. Sure, you can argue that the original RE3 was also a lot more action orientated as well, but this is supposed to be a re-imagining. Capcom didn't have to stick close to the source material.

I know what some of you may be thinking, "But it's just a personal preference! Some of us like the action that RE4 introduced into the series to begin with!". Alright, I can agree with this statement. Resident Evil 4 was my first game in the series that I've played, so even I can admit that I didn't really get my taste of the true survival horror experience until I played Code Veronica for the first time, but it doesn't excuse the difficulty.

What I mean by this is that Resident Evil 3 Remake is a lot easier compared to RE2. Nemesis doesn't follow you around until you hit a set piece and add in the fact that you can dodge attacks make this game a breeze to complete. I literally bought this game on Sunday and beat it the same day on Hardcore. Don't believe me?

Sure I got a C, but I still finished the game in under 6 hours.

As I mentioned earlier, the only challenging aspect of the game is Nemesis's boss fights. I would say more than half of my total deaths came from those boss fights.

Once you get used to using the dodge mechanic, you will pretty much be unstoppable. I've seen clips of people literally just rolling through zombies without a scratch. It's no wonder Capcom removed sub-weapons and made the knife unbreakable because it would be virtually impossible to die unless you mess up. However, it is skill based. You have to have a good sense of timing in order to execute the dodge correctly, so I wouldn't call it overpowered.

Regardless, this makes this game a speedrunner's wet dream. This game is incredibly short. While you can take your time by searching for unlockable, it doesn't add too much time to the total completion. Resident Evil 2's length was also short, but it had replayability.

Resident Evil 3 really struggles in the replayability department. Sure, you unlock harder difficulties once you finish Hardcore and can unlock an even harder mode after beating Nightmare, but not everyone is up for that kind of challenge. In addition, you unlock the shop which you can use points you gathered throughout your playthrough to get things like infinite ammo. This makes the game even easier to get through.

To summarize, Resident Evil 3 feels like it could have been added as DLC to Resident Evil 2. They are using the same engine anyway and you even get to visit some familiar places from RE2, so why shouldn't it have been DLC? Although the game itself is very much enjoyable, I can't be pressed to recommend it at its current price point.

By the way, I only played maybe an hour of Resident Evil Resistance. It's fun, but I don't see much lasting appeal to it in the long run.
Till Next Time!!

Soulcalibur VI: An Underrated Fighting Game

Hey Guys, it's been a while since my last post. I've been playing some more games that I've been wanting to talk about and I want to cover some more news in the gaming industry. I've actually missed out on a lot of big news. However, E3 is right around the corner, so it's time to get back into action. Today, I want to talk about a game that I've been playing almost everyday.

Image Provided by GameSpot

I'll admit that I've never played the first Soulcalibur. My first game I played in the series was the second game, and I have not played any of the sequels since. It's not because of my lack of interest in the series, but I never was a big fan of fighting game. Games like Tekken, Mortal Kombat, and Street Fighter never interested me because I was not willing to put in the time to learn how to play them. Super Smash Bros. is the exception, but that's another story.

Soulcalibur, on the other hand, has a special place in my heart. What makes Soulcalibur different compared to other fighting games is that it is weapon based combat. You have characters that fight with swords, axes, finger blades, chain swords, and even staffs. Personally, I'm more of a fan of weapon based combat compared to hand-to-hand combat in video games because there are no games that come to mind that have a weapon-based system in terms of swords quite as refined as Soulcalibur.

Much like any game in this genre, do not expect any kind of realistic swordplay. As a matter of fact, expect some over-the-top, fluid Japanese action. Everything from the animations to the art style screams Japanese culture. However, Soulcalibur is known for having these different types of Western and Eastern cultures mashing together as if they are all one culture. You have characters that are equipped with classic Japanese weaponry and others that are equipped with complete anime style weaponry. It may come off as somebody just throwing together different time periods, but it just works here because of the presentation.

By presentation, I mean that the game makes it clear that there are fighters from various types of cultures coming together. However, how exactly does this relate to the gameplay itself?

Since different types of cultures come into play, the types of weapons being used differ and different weapons mean different playstyles. You have characters that are best suited for close-quarters combat, long-range, medium-range, or a mix. Sure, this can be said for a lot of fighting games, but for Soulcalibur you don't really need to have a whole lot of skill to get used to character's playstyles and movement patterns. You can jump on any characters and quickly learn how they function after a match or two. However, if you really want to get good with any character then you do have to put in the time to learn.

If you've played any Soulcalibur game in the past, then the gameplay hasn't changed much for better or worse. However, the introduction of the reversal edge mechanic has made things a lot more interesting to say the least. In case you don't know what reversal edge is, think of it as "rock, paper, scissors".

Before I talk about the multiplayer portion of the game, I want to talk about the single player aspect of Soulcalibur 6. It's not exactly great. There are two different story modes: Soul Chronicle and Libra of Souls. Soul Chronicle lets you play as most of the characters in the game and experience their own stories based around their quest for Soul Edge. Libra of Souls is more of an RPG where the story centers around your created character.

To be honest, neither of these modes are game sellers. Although I appreciate the effort that has been put into the story modes, both of them feel like a chore to play. Personally, I played Soul Chronicle to experience the story of Geralt of Rivia. I think that his story should be experienced especially by Witcher fans.

Okay, now let's talk about the multiplayer.

The multiplayer is so much fun. This is going to be the mode that you are going to spend the most time on. I know that put in over 9 days of gameplay into Soulcalibur 6. Updates are given regularly in order to make tweaks to the characters available in the game in order to spice the game up. Although I can't speak for the PC or PS4 playerbase, there are enough people to play against in the Xbox One version of the game.

However, the community can be toxic. Considering the fact that this is a fighting game we're talking about, toxicity should be expected. I can't go a day without somebody telling me to go kill myself or even teabagging me. Personally, it doesn't bother me that much, but I want to tell people who are jumping into this game as beginners to not get discourged from these scumbags. This is such a fun game that shouldn't be ruined by the small amount of players that want to ruin the experience to other people.

This is a game that should be played by both casual and hardcore fighting game fans. If it ever goes on sale, I highly recommend picking this game up.
Till Next Time!!

Spider-Man: The Best Superhero Game?

Hey Guys, this is the longest I've been away in a while. I've been busy with life stuff, but I've still been gaming. I recently got an Xbox One X and bought Spider-Man on release day. This isn't going to really be a review since I already said it was awesome, but it's an explanation as to why I feel that Spider-Man is the best superhero game to ever grace the face of the Earth.

Image Provided by Ars Technica

Let me get the elephant out of the room, the combat can be reminiscent of the Batman Arkham games. However, this game still manages to expand on the combat by adding in the web mechanics as well as Spider-Man's more acrobatic combat style. You can even upgrade Spider-Man's gadgets to make combat a lot more dynamic than it already is.

I do recommend playing this game on the highest difficulty to take full advantage of the crafting system as well as upgrading Spider-Man's abilities. You probably will want to upgrade his abilities anyway especially when it comes to web-swinging. How about the suits? Well, each of them comes with a unique ability, but you don't necessarily get an advantage by choosing particular suits to wear as you can mix each suit ability with each other. My only complaint is that there is no Spider-Cop costume, yet.

Speaking of web-swinging, this is easily the best web-swinging mechanic ever seen in a Spider-Man game. I never thought that I would say that there would be a web-swinging mechanic that would surpass Spider-Man 2. It makes you feel like Spider-Man! That sounds stupid to say, but traveling in this game just makes you feel so pumped up. Additionally, this is one of those games where you will rarely use fast travel. I know for certain that I used fast travel only twice before completing the main story. It's incredibly detailed too because there has to be surfaces where Spider-Man can use his webs; otherwise, you will just continue to be in free fall. I also should mention that every time you web-swing a little music track will play and it's very reminiscent to those of you who watched Spidey on the big screen.

What about the story? Don't expect anything that is fresh, but this is a solid story for a Spider-Man game. The main characters are interesting and stay true to their comic book roots. There were a few side characters that could have been fleshed out more, but it wasn't a deal breaker for me. In true Marvel fashion, you are tossed right into the action and the cutscenes for the game makes you feel like you are watching a Saturday morning cartoon. Sometimes, you don't really need a deep story to make a good story. Just make the characters interesting as well as the plot and you're good to go.

I'm not a graphics whore, but this is easily one of the best looking games of 2018 and arguably of this console generation. I played Spider-Man on the PS4 Pro version of the game and it looks phenomenal. I've heard reviewers say that Spider-Man doesn't have the best uses of HDR, but I would disagree with that statement. New York City looks absolutely gorgeous with HDR and the colors stand out so much more in Times Square at night. If you don't have a 4K HDR TV, then this may be one of those games that may entice you to get one alongside God of War and Horizon: Zero Dawn.

This game isn't perfect, but what game is? My main criticism of the game is with the open world design. It borderline has "Ubisoft Open World Syndrome". What I mean by that is that there is collectibles that feel like filler and repetitive activities. However, it's a Superhero game, so what other types of activities do you expect?

Some of the side missions were okay while some just got tedious. The only collectibles in this game that are worthwhile are the backpacks as they have a background story for the items you will find in them. In addition, you get a(relatively) nice suit for it. If you're big into scenery, then the landmark collectibles will be a treat too. I'm not from New York, so I can't say if they are true to their real life counterparts in terms of location.

I also feel like there are way too many load times in this game, but it's not so much to ruin your experience with the game. Just try not to die too much and you'll be fine.

Regardless, I feel like Spider-Man is a strong contender for Game of the Year. This is yet another great exclusive on Sony's console and Insomniac really surpassed my expectations. Am I the only one who feels that they should be trusted with another superhero game?
Till Next Time!!

My Best Game of 2017- Persona 5

Hey Guys, this may be hard to believe, but I have never played a JRPG before in my life. I knew about the Persona series because I have a friend who is big into JRPGs. Although I'm a big fan of RPGs, I've never really understood the appeal of JRPGs. Anyways, I decided to give Persona 5 a go because I heard such good things about it and boy was I in for a ride.

I will go so far to call this one of the best RPGs I've ever played and easily the best RPG of 2017. It's not Witcher 3 levels of good, but it's a serious contender despite being way different in tone and themes.

Allow me to go into detail as to just what makes this game so great, but still not quite perfect.

Image Provided by Medium

Let's address the elephant of the room. Persona 5 is an extremely long game. When I completed the main story, I clocked in about 102 hours. However, I wasn't necessarily done with everything in the game. I didn't rank up all of my confidants or social stats. Additionally, there were still "side missions" that I never got to because I was so engrossed with other activities you could do in the game.

The side activities you could in the game include hanging out with your friends, working out, doing some eating challenges, part-time jobs, etc. All of these side activities do have an impact on the gameplay. What exactly do I mean? The relationship between you and your teammates.

Persona 5 is a character-driven game. I can say that there is no character in the game that I would consider genuinely bad. Every character in the game is interesting. Some of the them may have flaws due to how they were written, but it's great interacting with them. Remember how I mentioned the side activities affect the gameplay? Well, all of the characters do require you to have your social stats at certain levels as well as maxing out your relationship stats with them to unlock their combat abilities.

Believe me, this game can get damn right bullshit difficult. If you're not taking the time to improve the relationships with any of your teammates, then you're going to be in some serious trouble especially if you're playing on anything higher than Normal difficulty. Not much of a spoiler, but the game gets much harder towards the end.

Besides giving you an edge in combat, you start getting to learn more about your teammates. Each of your teammates is going through something and it's up to you to help see them through their own side stories. Some of them have some rather "rushed" side stories, but you still get to learn more about their true personality.

In case you're curious, you can romance every female confidant in the game besides one. Although there are unique cutscenes that occur with your romance partner, there really isn't that much of an impact on the story. The other characters don't acknowledge your relationship, nor is there any special perks you get for reaching a romantic relationship besides getting an item for your SP or HP.

Let's talk about the Palace levels. As a member of the Phantom Thieves, you're going to be in the metaverse. A lot.

Allow me to explain what a palace is in a way that stupid people like me can understand: a palace is created as a result of someone's distorted desires.

I don't know how I should say this, but I feel like the Palace levels can get really grindy at times. As a first time Persona player, I don't know if it has always been like this. Sure, they can be beaten in a single day, but do you have any idea how long that takes?

The game is not too hard if you know how to manage your items and SP. However, there are enemies that can one-shot you. It's your standard turned-bases combat system. What makes it special is the fact of how stylish the game is. Have you seen the all-out attack animation? You can argue that it may get old after a while, but it still makes Persona 5 stand out from other turn-based combat systems.

The main boss fights of the game are incredibly entertaining. If you've been following my material for a while, you will know that I'm a sucker for boss fights with multiple phases. I do recommend that you do play on the harder difficulties to really get an adrenaline rush when fighting a boss in the game. Because of how the save system works, that adrenaline rush is going to hit you hard.

Let me talk about the save system while we're on that. It can be downright bullshit at times. Save your game as often as you can and be mindful when saving. If you die at any point in a palace level, you're going to start over to your last save. I'm sure many of you can relate to how manual saving can really screw you over if you forget to save and lose hours of progress. It's more fair for boss fights, but if you didn't prepare properly for the fight then you might have to find yourself starting from a different save.

Don't even get me started on Mementos levels. Unless you're a trophy hunter, there really is no point in spending time in Mementos. However, it does become a requirement towards the end of the game. If you're jumping into Persona 5, don't take this as a spoiler, but I do strongly recommend that maybe halfway towards the game start developing a plan on how to progress through Mementos. As soon as you're able, just grind it out to save time later. You'll thank me for this.

One last compliment, the soundtrack. Consider that your last surprise. Okay, I'll stop. The soundtrack is just so funky and makes you want to get up and start dancing. There are a number of songs that stand out, but I don't want to spoil them. You need to play the game in order to get pumped when first hearing them.

Persona 5 is easily the best JRPG of 2017 in my opinion and easily one of the greatest JRPGs to ever grace the face of planet Earth. The story is just great, the characters are well-written, the soundtrack is superb, the animations are amazing, and the combat is so stylish.

The only negative I can think of is just how grindy the palaces can be. A majority of the gameplay stems from these palace levels. I think about more than half the story can be told without the palace level or at least abridged enough for us to understand what's going on.

However, it doesn't change the fact that Persona 5 is one damn good game.
Till Next Time!!

Friday the 13th the Game is Dead

Hey Guys, before I say anything do not hate on Gun Media or IIIFonic. This is a decision that is out of their control and I couldn't imagine what they are all going through at the moment. If you didn't know already, a courtroom case is currently going on between the developers and the creators of Friday the 13th. Although there is no final decision on the matter, it's caused Gun Media to cancel ALL future Friday the 13th DLC.

Yes, we will still be getting updates and patches. Additionally, we'll be getting dedicated serves. However, understand that the game is still not exactly in the best state in terms of quantity.

What I mean by that is that there is still so much content that this game deserves. Remember Paranoia? Yeah, that's probably never going to be released now. This game needed more game modes and this was the game mode that would have seriously changed the game up. How cool would it be to essentially play mind tricks with other people especially if you were the killer? That would have been awesome! It would totally require awareness and communication.

I'm already tearing up on the inside. I bought this game on release date. Yes, the day that the game wouldn't even function. I have over 200 hours put into the game and still play it on occasion because of how much fun I had with it.

I am grateful that the game itself will still be playable, but the thought that nothing new will come to the game is incredibly disappointing to say the least.

I'm also grateful with the post-release content that we got one year later. The number of Jason models we got is amazing and allows for different playing styles. The choice between playing on big and small maps allows very different experiences. The single-player challenges were actually fun to play. Too bad we will not be getting new additions to it.

Don't go after Victor Miller or Sean S. Cunningham. Despite how pissed off I am at them I wouldn't wish death upon them or create a witch hunt. If there is anything I can do to help support Friday the 13th the Game, I will do it in a calm and civil manner.

Gun Media, thank you for giving us this game. Yes, it's not perfect. Yes, it did need more content. Yes, the gameplay may seem repetitive. However, it was such a fun game and I will continue to support it.
Till Next Time.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4- Addressing the Hate Bandwagon

Hey Guys, now that Black Ops 4 was officially announced and most of the rumors about the game have been confirmed it's time for me to finally talk about it. There are a couple of elements of the game that I want to talk about and of course all the bandwagon haters that clearly played the game before.

Image Provided by SlashGear

It's been almost eight years since the original Black Ops released. Let me tell you, I didn't originally play the game for its multiplayer as I didn't have Xbox Live at the time, but I played the campaign and the zombies mode.

Let me tell you, other than the Modern Warfare trilogy, Black Ops had an amazing campaign. The story itself was interesting enough to keep you playing it and even gave us a few memorable characters that modern Call of Duty games no longer give us. Plus, the game had some meme worthy moments in it as well. Black Ops 2 also had a good campaign as well.

If you didn't already guess, I am disappointed that Black Ops 4 will not include a campaign. The whole "nobody plays the campaign" argument is bullshit because there are plenty of people who love to play their games with a story.

To some degree, I understand why Black Ops 4 doesn't have a campaign and that has to do with Black Ops 2. If you didn't know this already, Black Ops 2 introduced a non-linear campaign which is pretty goddamn innovative for a Call of Duty campaign. Of course, this already creates a mess in the timeline for the yearly shooter, so they had to go in a different direction for the Black Ops 3 campaign.

Personally, I didn't really enjoy the Black Ops 3 campaign. It was just too much of a jumbled mess to me. It's essentially a poor man's attempt at Halo: Reach.

However, I'd rather have some kind of story than no story at all. Sure, I may not have liked the story for Black Ops 3, but it did provide some pretty enjoyable levels. It also introduced a player-created character. Regardless, at least something new was being attempted.

Okay, now that I got my thoughts out on the lack of a campaign, let me talk about the zombies.

I'm not a huge zombies fan. I did play a lot of the zombies mode from Black Ops and Black Ops 2. After they started incorporating a story, I just lost interest as most people I played with were more into the lore than the actual gameplay itself. I have nothing wrong with it, but if I'm playing a horde mode I just want there to be elements that put emphasis on the gameplay itself rather than on the hidden lore.

It's pretty interesting that they are including three different modes for zombies, but it's really something that I'm not looking forward to.

Moving on to the multiplayer and Battle Royal.

This is where I see the most criticism being drawn to. How many times to I have to keep hearing "Wow, they are just copying _____"? Seriously, if we're going to go with that argument you might as well say that for every video game ever. "Silent Hill? It's just copying Resident Evil!". "Resident Evil? It's just copying Alone in the Dark!". "The Evil Within? It's just copying Resident Evil 4!". Believe me, I can go on for hours about how flawed this argument is.

At least Treyarch is trying something new for the multiplayer. They are trying to make it more team-oriented. I don't understand how people work. They complain that Call of Duty has copy-paste multiplayer, but the moment something new is actually incorporated people start bitching.

I'm not big on Battle Royal, but who the hell cares that Black Ops 4 includes one? Fortnite is essentially PUBG, but it includes crafting making it a completely different game than PUBG. If Black Ops 4 can do something different than PUBG or Fortnite, than who the hell are you to complain about it?

Look, people need to realize that this game is going to sell millions. You can criticize the game all you want, but I hope all you bandwagon haters realize that none of you haven't played the game at the end of the day. You can't say a game is going to be horrible based on a trailer. Just shut the hell up and wait for the game to release and then you can give your opinion on the game.

Now that I got that out of my system, let's call it a day. I know I'm going to buy this game eventually. Especially, if it pisses off all the bandwagon haters.
Till Next Time!!

Rage 2: My Thoughts

Hey Guys, a few days ago Bethesda released the official announcement trailer for Rage 2. If you've been following the game, you would have known that the game has been teased for a while now. Regardless, its announcement came as a surprise. Out of all the franchises that id Software could have brought back, they decided to bring back Rage.

Image Provided by DFTG

Rage was released all the way back in 2011. I didn't play the game back when it first released, but I heard about the PC port being damn near unplayable. However, I did play the game a year after its release and have some relatively good things to say about it.

Rage is a good but flawed game. In retrospect, I understand why some people would call the game disappointing. The story wasn't great, the characters weren't interesting despite giving us a Borderlands-like tone, and the driving combat felt a little tact on. However, the combat itself was great. I also was impressed with the game's graphics despite being seven years old.

It's been a while since I've played the game, but I can say for certain that it's underrated. The game did sell moderately well for a new IP, so a sequel wasn't out of the question, but seven years later is unexpected.

Based on the two trailers that have been released on Rage 2, I can say that this game does look promising. I would love to see more gameplay on it, but I'm still getting that Mad Max and Borderlands like vibe to this game. Maybe this game will have more of a narrative than the original? I sure as shit hope so because this is a game that can benefit from a good story.

id Software has been killing it these past years especially with Doom and Wolfenstein II. I'm confidant that the same can happen for Rage 2. If they fix all the criticisms that I mentioned, I'm sure the sequel will be superior to the original Rage.

If you haven't played the original Rage, I would say give it a shot. Don't expect to be blown out of this world, but it's still a damn good time.
Till Next Time!!

The ElDewrito Situation: My Thoughts

Hey Guys, it's been a month since I've written my last post. Lots of things have gone down and a couple of games have been released. I currently have two posts in the works and one of them is my personal choice for the best game of 2017. Also, I plan to release my thoughts on Far Cry 5 a month after release. Anyways, back to the topic at hand.

Halo Online was a cancelled free-to-play game that was being developed for the Russian audience. Since it was cancelled, the assets for the game were essentially abandoned. ElDewrito stepped in and used the available assets to create a mod in order to play Halo Online. Of course, it was successful. Microsoft and 343 Industries took notice of it and threatened potential legal action towards ElDewrito since the mod is using Microsoft owned assets.

There was an explanation from 343 Industries on Halo Waypoint and they stated, " While we are humbled and inspired to see the amount of passion poured into this project, the fact remains that it’s built upon Microsoft-owned assets that were never lawfully released or authorized for this purpose. As this project reverberated across the community, our team took a step back to assess the materials and explore possible avenues, while Microsoft, like any company, has a responsibility to protect its IP, code and trademarks. It’s not optional in other words".

Okay, as of writing this you can still play this mod. According to ElDewrito's official blog, the mod isn't going anywhere as well. The only thing that will happen is that anything in the game with Microsoft owned content will be removed from the game.

It's important to know that this is a Microsoft decision and not 343 Industries's choice. Although I don't think it's cool that they're stepping in and removing some portions of the game, they are in the legal right and can do whatever they wanted with the Halo license. However, it doesn't mean we still can't criticize them for this decision.

Although I have not played the mod, I can see the amount of support and dedication that is being put in this project. This game has a pretty large player base and from the looks of it this mod is built upon the older Halo games. You know, the ones where there were no microtransactions.

We're fast approaching the three year mark since the release of Halo 5 and have only seen one new Halo game so far, but it's not part of the main series.

In my opinion, I didn't really like Halo 5. Not just because the story for the game was painfully disappointing, but the multiplayer was essentially Call of Duty with more microtransactions. If you're enjoying Halo 5's multiplayer, that's great! However, you can't deny that its multiplayer is far different from what past games used to be like.

I feel like this mod is an "escape" from Halo 5. Halo fans have memories of playing Halo 2, 3, and Reach online. While this mod is essentially Halo 3, it's still being supported to be even better than what Halo 3 was. I do respect Microsoft allowing the project to still be available for download, but they did ask to halt the development of the mod.

Anyways, I'm not even sure how the future of Halo is going to look like. It's just not the same as it was over 8 years ago when Halo Reach was released. I don't want to sound pessimistic, but maybe this mod is a good indicator of what the fans want.
Till Next Time!!

Microsoft's Terms of Service change: My Thoughts

Hey Guys, I know most of you who read my material don't play on Xbox One or probably don't use any Microsoft related products, but I find this new update for their ToS to be worthy of discussion because of the negative repercussions that can occur.


While browsing NeoGaf on this topic, I found a quote from Microsoft about this violation of "offensive language", "In the Code of Conduct section, we’ve clarified that use of offensive language and fraudulent activity is prohibited. We’ve also clarified that violation of the Code of Conduct through Xbox Services may result in suspensions or bans from participation in Xbox Services, including forfeiture of content licenses, Xbox Gold Membership time, and Microsoft account balances associated with the account".

Let me get this straight, can I get banned off of Xbox Live if I message someone that I'm going to fuck their mom or something?

I was already aware that you can get a temporary ban for already sending 'offensive' messages, but now it's going to lead to a full on ban? Personally, I don't send messages to people to talk shit to them. I just do that over the mic if the other person is really being a dick to other people.

However, I really don't understand what "offensive language" is suppose to even mean. I'm not allowed to swear over a message anymore? I can't call a game shit or something unrelated to the user themselves shit? I'm going to go off on a limb to say that a majority of Xbox Live accounts are owned by adults, so why on Earth should we be essentially censored to what we can say to each other?

Don't get me wrong.There are some serious assholes out their that will harass people over messages, but remember that there is a mute and block button, so why the hell should there be an update that down right can lead to a ban from the service?

We live in an age where digital games are becoming a norm, so losing your account means that you will lose access to all the games that you have purchased! This is where a legal loophole comes into play because all you have is the license to play these games.

Regardless, we still pay to use Microsoft's service. I get that we shouldn't be treating each other like shit over words. However, words are just words until they actually lead to action. You know how many times I've been told that someone is going to murder me over a video game? Well, I'm still alive to bitch about it, aren't I?

Sometimes I wish I wasn't a human. People can just be outright stupid at times.

Till Next Time!!