Wednesday, December 9, 2015

A Year In Review (2015)

Hey everyone! Been absent for a while (got to love the holidays am I right?), but needless to say, I'm back for a brief post regarding this year in gaming. I've gathered a collection of drafted blog posts I wanted to submit earlier this year, but was unable to do so due to time constraints.

E3 2015 Thoughts and Reactions
I started (and ended) my viewing session of E3's live coverage through IGN's app on the PlayStation 4. I was impressed with Bethesda's showcase and not only with the announcement of Fallout 4, but I was also impressed with the announcement of a sequel to Dishonored.

Overall, I'd give it an 8.5-9.0 out of 10.0 (somewhere in-between).




My Destiny: House of Wolves DLC Expansion Review -- (Release Date of HoW: May 19, 2015)


The game itself becomes extremely repetitive as players are forced to complete the same missions over and over again at varying difficulty levels in a rather futile attempt to gain better weaponry or armor. Yet, we don't bother asking "why?" or "to what end?". When players begin to question the elements of the plot, the whole game falls rather flat. For instance, Why does the moon have the same gravity as Earth? Shouldn't Guardians be falling slowly after leaping into the air to dodge oncoming fire?

Outside of the House of Wolves DLC, the voice acting lacks energy and charisma, in particular, that of Peter Dinklage, who voices your Ghost companion.

It's essentially the same as the Wii's Conduit 2 (I give that game a solid 7.0. It's better than the original, 6.5) in that it's a playable game, but with a forgettable storyline and while it may have stunning artistic visual rendering, it falls flat when it comes to providing proper immersion.

What Destiny needs right now:

  1. New Ghost Shells. There aren't any new ones available to players.
  2. Custom private lobbies where players can setup game modes and play without exp. gains and with level buffs enabled or disabled depending upon the host.
  3. Trading option for armor and guns.
  4. Possible racing mode for sparrows? They remind me of speeders from Star Wars so, it would be cool to race on those.

Final Verdict:

7.0/10.0 Par - C Rank Game




RTX 2015 Tragedy

In Hunt County, Texas on Friday August 7, 2015 at approximately 1:50 in the morning, three Virginia teenagers were killed and two were severely injured in a fiery crash on Interstate 30 on their way to RTX. RTX is an annual gaming and Internet convention created by Rooster Teeth Productions held in Austin, Texas, run by Gus Sorola and Barbara Dunkelman. Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Trooper Kyle Bradford reported that the teens' SUV was struck head-on by a wrong-way driver . An 18-wheeler driving behind the accident could not stop in time and unfortunately, slammed into both the SUV and the wrong-way driver's car. Both vehicles caught fire.


Kyle Mathers, 19 (DECEASED)
Dale Neibaur, 19 (DECEASED)
Holly Novak, 18 (DECEASED)
Kevin DiCicco, 19
Hannah Galbraith, 18

This particular incident was quite an impact for me as I had been in Austin during that time for the very same event. My friend Matthew and I had traveled from Ohio to attend the festivities via car (20 hour drive one way...) so, while I was there, I happened to pick up a newspaper (something you should do whenever you travel) and I learned of the heartbreaking tragedy.

Works Cited
Wise, Scott. (2015, August 7). Police identify Virginia teenagers killed in fiery crash on Texas interstate. Retrieved August 14, 2015, from http://wtvr.com/2015/08/07/virginia-teens-killed-in-crash/

A memorial podcast was setup by the RoosterTeeth staff in order to honor and mourn the loss of the teens as they were making their way to the event.

http://roosterteeth.com/post/51169175

http://roosterteeth.com/episode/rt-podcast-season-1-kevin-diccio