Dude’s Chronicles 8-8-2019: Are You Ready…

Image via wired.com

… for some football, of course. It’s hard to believe training camps are in full swing and pre-season games will be on. I’m still at that point where I am more excited about college than professional.

Entertainment

• Nothing other than Giant Bomb stuff.

Games

• Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus – Finished the game and people weren’t kidding about that game goes places. Overall I enjoyed it and would recommend it with the caveat of immediately turning down the difficulty.

News

• Stadia at Gamescon – Goolge is taking to the convention to talk about the upcoming Stadia. I’m somewhat concerned at the reception that the last news event got and even more so how little to nothing has been seen since. I’m not sold on this technology but it will be interesting to see what else they have to say and show at this point.
• Anthem Cataclysm – When I first saw the headline I though it was going to be about how badly the game is doing. Apparently there is still content coming… but who’s playing this game at this point?
• Loot boxes – Rocket League is getting rid of them in favor of a direct pay system later this year. Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo are requiring the odds to disclosed in games by the end of 2020.  Small steps but progress nonetheless.

Closing Arguments

So my pepper grinder broke after many years of use. I’m okay about it breaking but I’m worried about where the screw went that fell out of it.

Thanks for stopping by, please come again.

Paul Novak

Owner, Proprietor, Typer of Words, Gamer, Jester

A self described Polish ninja toiling away as an IT professional but more into gaming and writing. Physically existing on the western side of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania yet existentially flowing with the ether of the Internet.

Dude’s Chronicles 8-1-2019: Hot In The Kitchen

It wasn’t the prettiest damn thing you’ll ever see but it came out pretty damn good.

Entertainment

• Another Life: Season 1 – I’ve only watched three episodes but I want too see more. That doesn’t say that it is great or I’m enthralled by it. Maybe I’ll get a for more episodes in and have more to say.

Games

• Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus – After continuing to be frustrated with the gameplay I’ve dumbed the game down to it’s lowest level. I should feel ashamed for enjoying the story more than the shooting action but I don’t

News

• Ninja breaks it off with Twitch – He just announced that he will stream exclusively on Mixer. The details as to why are uncertain but many are implicating that Microsoft paid him to do so. Regardless of why, even with Ninja Mixer has a long way to go until it gets the amount of streamers and people watching that Twitch has.
• The Outer Worlds announced for Switch – Why is it still a big deal when a big game gets announced for Switch? Is it just because none of them game to the Wii or Wii U?

Closing Arguments

Maybe last weekend wasn’t the best time to be doing a bunch of work in the kitchen. On top of it being very hot and muggy outside I was running my range and oven for several hours in the midst of it. It was worth it though.

There still isn’t much going on the news front nor are there many new games coming out soon that I’m interested in. On top of that I’ve been rather been busy and haven’t been able to much time into a lot of things. As always, I’ll hope that I get some down time but I won’t count on it.

Thanks for stopping by, please come again.

Paul Novak

Owner, Proprietor, Typer of Words, Gamer, Jester

A self described Polish ninja toiling away as an IT professional but more into gaming and writing. Physically existing on the western side of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania yet existentially flowing with the ether of the Internet.

Dude’s Chronicles 7-25-2019: Cooking Time

Image via simplyrecipes.com

I have no plans for the weekend.  Maybe I’ll make lasagna.

Entertainment

• Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee: New 2019: Freshly Brewed – There were a few guests that I wasn’t familiar with but the show is funny enough regardless.
• Death at  Funeral –  A morbid comedy that despite the talent level of the cast it just wasn’t very good.

Games

• Wolfenstein: The New Order – Completed it and immediately moved on to the sequel.
• Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus – I’m enjoying this game with one exception. I don’t like the weapon system in that I can’t seem to equip the weapons that I want. when I try to set guns that I want to switch between I end up dual wielding and it is not my intent to do so.

News

• Sorry, still no news. There isn’t much going on in the gaming world and even less that I take much interest in. There was that Nintendo thing about fixing joy cons that are drifting.

Closing Arguments

Outside of a few chores and such that I need to do I really do have no plans and it feels phenomenal.

Chuck and I did record a podcast this week but, sadly, he has not posted it yet.

Thanks for stopping by, please come again.

Paul Novak

Owner, Proprietor, Typer of Words, Gamer, Jester

A self described Polish ninja toiling away as an IT professional but more into gaming and writing. Physically existing on the western side of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania yet existentially flowing with the ether of the Internet.

Wolfenstein: The New Order – Review

Image via wikipedia.org

I might be five years late to this game but damn was this good.

B.J. Blazkowicz is back and he’s at his old game of killing Nazis. In an alternate time line type of narrative, Blazkowicz is fighting for the Allies against the Nazis but things are not going well. He is part of a final assault to stop the Nazi war machine but things go poorly and Blazkowicz is gravely injured. Over the course of fourteen years, he has had time to heal but the Nazis have continued their campaign to take over the world. When Blazkowicz is ready to take action the world if very different from what he remembers but one thing remains the same… killing Nazis.

Things I Liked…

Playing on the Xbox One may not have been the ideal experience but I felt that overall the game ran well. I experienced zero technical issues but the game only looked okay, not great. The story was really what kept me playing. Seeing where they took the Blazkowicz character was interesting and made me invest my time in the game willingly. There are light puzzle elements that were a nice sidebar to the first-person bloodbath of the shooter side of the game.

Things I Disliked…

The biggest issue I had with the game was the combat and to say that for an FPS game is bad. It felt sloppy and over the top at times. The aiming was “not great” even after adjusting some of the controls. Some encounters in the game were more grueling than I was interested in dealing with. Scores of enemies come at you with a vengeance and ammo seemed more scare that it should have been. At times I was finding tons of health pack but I had no ammo to shoot with which was frustrating. At about 60% through the game I dumbed it down to easy just so I could get through it and finish the story.

When It’s All Said and Done…

The score I would give to this game is probably a three and a half out of five. The story was fun but the gameplay drug down the overall enjoyment of the game. Technically it was ok but it just didn’t do anything that stood out. The game’s story really “swung for the fence” at moments and I felt like it hit them well.

For me, the moment of the game came at the very end. When the credits started to roll and the music started I was floored. I picked up on the song about two lines into it and it felt like a perfect fit. How they turned a Chris Isaak song into a melancholy, downtrodden tune from a up-tempo  sad song was wonderful.

From the game – Melissa Hollick

From the album Forever Blue – Chris Isaak

 

Paul Novak

Owner, Proprietor, Typer of Words, Gamer, Jester

A self described Polish ninja toiling away as an IT professional but more into gaming and writing. Physically existing on the western side of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania yet existentially flowing with the ether of the Internet.