Never actually released but nearly finished, Half-Life almost got a chance to shine on the Sega Dreamcast. It was cancelled mere weeks before it was supposed to release. Well thanks to the internet we can now look at what it would have been like back in 2001 had this game actually came out.
STMP: F.E.A.R. 3
It’s time for another Sequel that Missed the Point!
F.E.A.R. The very mention of this game makes me happy. It’s so good. The first one still holds up very well today. Maybe the graphics are dated but the AI and gameplay is still as good or better than many modern shooters. F.E.A.R. 2 is still my all-time favorite FPS and the reason I got back into them.
F.E.A.R. 3 came out and I was first in line. Pre-ordered and all. I played it and thought it looked great. The new gameplay mechanics were decent and I liked the point system for earning upgrades. I was having fun with it. However I got to a point where I stopped and realized that Warner Brothers had just taken a piss all over Monolith’s brilliant series. This was not a F.E.A.R. game. While it had the right characters and the famous slow-mo mechanic it was just masquerading at best. Let me explain. Better yet let me strongly urge you to stop reading this and go play the first two games if you haven’t yet. You really should anyway.
The time is right to buy a Vita.
From the moment I first learned of the Vita back in 2011 I wanted one. So why did I wait nearly four years to buy one? I’d like to think because I also waited four years to buy a PSP and felt the need to be consistent. But in truth I never really could justify the price until the Borderlands 2 bundle came out. Even then I was hesitant to spend the cash.
I felt I wouldn’t play it as often as I thought I would and didn’t want to waste $200 on a whim even though my PSP still gets a lot of attention. Also I was unsure about the library of games available for the system especially since big triple-A support has seemed to fall off.
Games I stopped playing. Volume 1
We all do it. We start a game with the intent of seeing it through and for some reason you just don’t finish it. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad game, it just wasn’t for you. Today I’m taking a look at four current gen titles that I just gave up on even though initially I really liked some of them.
Uncharted: Golden Abyss
I wanted an excuse to buy a Vita and Uncharted was nearly reason enough I thought. So I waited a bit and with all the bugs of Remote Play squashed I figured those two things together was enough reason and I bought one. Little did I know that Uncharted was worth the price of admission alone. I’m a huge Uncharted fan, it’s probably my favorite game series of all time if not tied with Resident Evil. Uncharted: Golden Abyss tries very hard to continue the magic of the PS3 trilogy and in many ways succeeds.
I bought the Borderlands bundle since it came with a memory card already. It was the cheapest way to get what I needed. I already have Borderlands 2 on PC, 360 and PS3 so I figure what’s one more system. Luckily I had Uncharted free, I downloaded it onto my PS3 months ago when it was a PS Plus free game because I knew one day I’d get a Vita. I will end up getting a physical copy soon since that’s how I roll.
Here’s a Question: Are video games ruining movies for me?
This is not really an opinion piece, more a personal reflection. I was thinking about this the other day. I was talking with a co-worker and they asked me about a few movies and if I had seen them. I had not. In fact I hadn’t seen a lot of the movies that he was talking about including any movie in the recent Avengers series. No Iron Man, no Thor, nothing.
I really want to see those movies for obvious reasons. However when I fire up Netflix to catch up on the older ones I just exit out and do something else. I have no real drive to see them. And that goes for a lot of movies. Even moves I know are good and I know I would probably really enjoy. It’s a mind think. I’m probably getting too cynical for my own good and it’s costing me. I will touch on why I think this is in a bit.
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Batman Arkham Knight First Day Impressions
The long wait is over. A game I pre-ordered a year ago has finally made it’s way into my PS4. I have put a solid few hours into it and it has definitely made an impression on me both good and bad. Here are my thoughts.
This game just screams Triple-A title. It oozes with polish in a way few titles do. There is no doubt a lot of work went into the game and the little details seem to all be taken care of. The opening scene sets the tone for a dark game and the first cinematic continues that theme. It feels like the opening to a new Batman movie. It’s done incredibly well.
Is backwards compatibility necessary?
So I got into a Facebook war the other day for comments I made regarding Microsoft’s E3 showing, mainly the backwards compatibility (BC). I thought about it and wanted to talk about the need for this feature in current consoles.
A lot of people are looking forward to it and to be honest I would take BC over Sony’s streaming service anyday. They both address the same, or similar, need but with BC you still physically own a copy of the game. That’s huge for me. Another advantage of it on the XBone is the very well documented reliability of the early Xbox 360s. The later ones are fine but if someone has an early model that dies then this could be a viable option if they already have an XBone as well.
Elder Scrolls Online for PS4. The First Week.
I didn’t even know this was coming out a week ago. It wasn’t until a co-worker asked me if I was getting it that I looked into it. Being a fan of Skyrim and seeing that the quests were actually very single player friendly for a MMO, I went out on my lunch break and bought it. I had just finished Witcher 2 and was eager to start Witcher 3 but decided not to wear myself out on that franchise and pop in the new elder scrolls.
Cue the 15GB mandatory update. I got home at 7:30pm and was finally playing it by 10. And by playing I mean staring at the log in screen. But not to worry I was assured I was first in line with one second left. So obviously I was going to get right in there…ten minutes later. Longest. Second. Ever.
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
Well the Witcher 3 just came out and I really want to play it seeing as I’ve heard great things about this franchise. However, story is important to me so I wanted to start at the beginning. I bought the Witcher and Witcher 2 on Steam and excitedly fired up the Witcher. I then nearly immediately shut it off. I did not like the gameplay at all. Point and click adventuring works great in Diablo, but not so much in the Witcher, at least to me. I even set the camera to over the shoulder but still could not get passed the click-to-kill mechanic which makes sense as I hate the mouse in FPS games as well.
So I fired up the Witcher 2 and was happily thrown in to a 3rd person action RPG. I played a few minutes before having to go take care of something else. The game seemed like it was going to be complicated in terms of character and item management but if the gameplay is good then I can look past that easily.
I made a game once! Well, kind of…
The Order: 1886
A little late, especially as I finished the game a while ago, but I feel the game is worth talking about still. The game received a lot of press talk about how plain or boring it is. Personally I do not get it. I think the game is just plain fun.
The first thing to know is that this game is short. And while it has received criticism because of it I don’t think it matters, in fact I kind of prefer that. It’s a great weekend or long afternoon experience that is worth playing again I feel. The strength of the game is in its presentation. Video games are a form of entertainment and part of that entertainment factor comes in the story and how it’s told. The Order nails that part of the equation. A lot of games get a bit convoluted and overly deep with the story that by the end of it I’m lost and left wondering why exactly the main character was on this adventure anyway.
Mortal Kombat X
Fighting games used to be a staple in my gaming collection. They were the most, if not only, played genre for me in middle school. Mortal Kombat 1 and 2, Street Fighter 2 and Killer Instinct were all I needed for years.
But lately I have not played them as much. Street Fighter IV and Injustice got me back into them for a bit. But just fighting proved not to be enough for a while. Luckily MK9, Injustice and Mortal Kombat X have story modes that are more than just an afterthought, more an actual game mode. Mortal Kombat 9s story mode was decent but kind of pissed all over my childhood with how it “retold” the story of the old games, but Injustice’s story mode was fantastic. I’ve played it multiple times, it’s that good.
Dark Souls 2 New Game Plus. Why you so good?!
In anticipation for Bloodborne I fired up Dark Souls 2 and decided to jump into New Game Plus. I had no idea this game had Falconers in it. I immediately found out.
I also found out about the increased damage. While my build was still capable of dealing substantial damage my character was no longer capable of taking it. I would go down easy, much easier than I expected. But that is ok, it challenged me to take my build into a different route. I decided to focus more on defense this time around since offense was pretty well sorted at this point.
The Daily Goat Show 
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