Edward's May 2015 Mix

Old man winter has been put out to pasture, at least for a spell, anyway, and summer’s eve looms on the horizon. It’s the time all of us Hoosiers live for, driving by evening people sitting on their porches, the buzzing drone of distant lawn mowers, song birds adorning the power lines. I’ve gotten to go kayaking, and I’ve had the pleasure of sitting out at my neighbor’s firepit already this spring. I’m still coming to terms with working an off shift. I like my job, but I just don’t get anything done through the week. It seems I’ve become a vampire. I do most of my stuff late at night when I get home when the real world is asleep. I suppose I’ve always been a night owl at heart, and my computer has been my window out to the whole wide world.

 

1.      Train Simulator 2015 on PC: I spend too much time in this . . . game? Actually, it really is a simulator. I may not actually comandeer a freight train pulling seventy cars, but the feeling of doing it in a simulation like this has to replicate what it’s like to actually do it. I’ve been rolling a lot of stock on a Northern Ohio scenario pack I picked up a while back. Having lived so much of my life in the Midwest I’m impressed by the attention to detail in this pack. I almost feel if I look hard enough I can see boys pushing their bicycles along while carrying a bottle of pop down the town sidewalks or some old man in bib overalls leaving a barber shop. I pass by warehouses and see forklifts in action and it makes me feel as if I’m in a living breathing world that exists even after I exit the game.  

2.      The Witcher 2 on PC: I got to the first boss, and damn the bad luck (or am I just that bad of a gamer?) I died twenty times in a row. I can’t lie. I was tempted to ragequit/uninstall,but I looked over at my specially packaged extended edition boxset and just didn’t have the heart to do it. So I took the coward’s way out and simply started over again on a lower difficulty setting. There just comes a point where one has to kiss the chance to get 100% completion achievements and just enjoy the game. I really honestly, truly wish I wasn’t such a Steam achievement-holic. For the love of OCD!  Anyway, I’ve not progressed all that far, but at least I’ll have more fun this time around. I’ve talked to guys at work who are in love with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt but they never played the first two games. How is this even possible? How can these guys live with themselves?!!

 

3.      Toto IV on CD: I owned this on cassette when I lived in Yokosuka, Japan. It was a sort of departure from their previously recorded stuff, but it had a few radio hits and I liked it. I recently found this original CD pressing (made in 1982). I didn’t realize CDs were even out in 1982. But being this is original, there is no dynamic audio compression. It’s too bad CDs today aren’t made like this anymore. I’ve always thought Toto was an underrated band in spite of their fantastic musical range. I’m glad I can add this to my collection.

4.      Outlaws on PC: A recent score from the most wonderful, www.gog.com. I first played this back in 2001, but I never finished it. It just got too difficult, but as far as western FPSs go, it’s hailed as one of the best. So I had to go back and revisit this amazing game. The comedic element is “LOL” funny, and the cartoon graphics have definitely aged well. Unfortunately, I forgot how difficult shooters were back in the old days and this game is a real eye opener. I hope I can stay the course before I get ticked and uninstall it.  

5.      The Magnificent Seven on Blu Ray: I had never seen this movie, but as a fan of great westerns my life wouldn’t be complete without having done so. I watched it with my stepfather who introduced me to some of my favorite westerns of all time. This was cliffhanging, exciting and action packed. It had a great cast, and importantly, it helped to put Steve McQueen on the map. Yul Brynner was the star, but McQueen made it a point to draw the viewer’s eye to him in every scene they were in together (by adjusting his hat or his gun or his belt) and it worked. McQueen went on to become the 1960’s “King of Cool.” 

6.      Star Trek: The Next Generation Season One on Blu Ray: I’m still working my way through it, and yes, I’m taking my time, but the thing is, I’m just not wanting it to end. These episodes are so beautiful on Blu Ray. Since I have the first few seasons on DVD as well, I played a scene out of one episode on Blu Ray and DVD and I was appalled at how badly the DVD version looked. It made me think of a VHS tape that was recorded in extended play, and then watched a million times. Okay, it wasn’t THAT bad, but if you get a chance to add the Blu Ray version to your library I suggest you do so. Like I’ve said before, it’s like going to the movies to watch Star Trek: The Next Generation.

 

Edward's April 2015 Mix

High spring is in the air, and the weather is lovely. My oldest daughter is here with us for two weeks. And I’m still enjoying the job. Hillary Clinton is announcing her run for US Presidency. Ah, the liberal media is going to love her despite all of the shenanigans she’s been involved in. Personally, I think she’s wasting her time and millions of dollars. But shoot, I didn’t think Obama would win a second term, and he did.

1.      Grand Theft Auto V on PC: I’m not a fan of Rockstar. Despite that GTA debuted on the PC I think Rockstar treats the PC crowd as chickens on a factory farm. I have to admit, however, they went all out on this title for the PC. The graphics, the interface, the storyline. Stupendous! It’s as if someone at Rockstar said, “Okay, just wait until they see this!” I’ve only played it for a week, but I’m in love. I find it hard to play a bad guy, even in a game that makes it a virtue to be wicked. Yet, if feels so good being bad. Truly, entering this game is stepping into another world.

2.      World of Tanks on PC: My friend Dillon Gard, once suggested this game to me. I looked at the YouTube gameplay trailers of it and was not impressed. It just looked like a close combat melee game played with tanks. I eventually downloaded, dabbled in it and found it to be okay. It gathered dust in my gaming library. Recently I’ve revisited it and now I’m hooked. I probably shouldn’t play this with my addictive personality. I swear they must have a team of psychologists on retainer because the pay wall mechanic in this game is so wrong, but it works. Play for free and you get a standard account that proffers minimal XP for battles fought. Upgrade to a premium account and suddenly you’re earning real XP, but at what price? I paid ten bucks for 4 days premium. And I paid twenty dollars for a tank that was a definite game changer, but how long can I keep this up? Not to mention the fact that I’m not playing anything else now, it’s only World of Tanks. I’ll eventually come to my senses like I did with Blizzard’s Hearthstone, and get pissed off and uninstall it.

3.      Tapestry of the Second Born by Matthew A. Dickerson: This was shamelessly stolen from my review on www.shelfari.com, but it pretty much says it like it is. “I was quite captivated by this first novel written by a local author I know personally. It had all of the intrigue of a Dan Brown novel and the pacing of a Michael Crichton book. Dickerson has a gift for capturing human interaction so vividly through dialogue and diction , mannerisms, and body language. I was slightly confused at first because of so much going on, but as the plot pulled me in and the characters' lives became intertwined I held on for dear life. I look forward to Matthew Dickerson's next work.”
 

4.      Killing Floor by Lee Child: I really enjoyed the recent Tom Cruise movie, Jack Reacher. It was interesting to find out Jack Reacher is a concurrent character in a 14 or so book series. I discovered this first novel in which he’s introduced, and started reading it. And I’m finding it damn hard to put down.  

5.      Vespa LX 50: I took my first long road trip on my baby blue Vespa scooter. It was about a 100 mile round trip. The manual claims a top speed of 39 mph. I hit 51 a few times. Not too shabby for a 50cc scooter. As of January, Indiana introduced new legislation pertaining to motor scooters, which I think is total bullcrap. You can’t exceed a speed of 35 mph, and you can’t take a passenger, despite that my Vespa has passenger bars and a footrest for a passenger. When does it stop? When does enough become enough?

Edward's March 2015 Mix

I’m enjoying the new job. I get to read read my Kindle and my ancient issues of PC Gamer Magazine.  I still get to violate my 5^th amendment U.S. Constitutional right and provide evidence that could potentially convict me in a court of law by figuring my own taxes and then signing them, thereby sealing my own affidavit. I brought home well under what is considered poverty level and had to pay the Affordable Healthcare Act fine because I couldn’t afford health insurance. I’m really glad the Dems are out in November.  I’ve had a few wonderful days on the Vespa, but as of this writing it’s still winter.

1.      Oz, The Great and Powerful on Blu Ray: This is my second viewing of probably the best movie I watched in 2013. Helmed by Sam Raimi, of course you know who he is, the movie was panned by critics. What the hell do they know? It was a great movie. It had an all star cast, and the art direction was fielded by Todd Cherniawsky who did War of the Worlds and Beowolf, Armageddon and Oblivion. The movie came with highly recommended credits. I’m actually reading the Oz books on Kindle, and this canon doesn’t necessarily relate to what I’m reading, but it’s still fun to watch and required if you’re a fan of the old MGM Wizard of Oz.  

2.      Cities Skylines on PC: It’s a ripoff of Maxis’ SimCity. Don’t let the haters tell you any different. It is. But it’s certainly not a bad ripoff at all. It seems like these German designers took all that was bad in Maxis’s SimCity and made it good. It’s funny because I was a fan of SimCity and as of today there still hasn’t been a patch made on Maxis’ site since December of last year. Cities Skylines is easier to play because it’s simply easier to accomplish things in-game. But what makes it night/day better than SimCity is its welcoming attitude to player mods. This puts it in a class above and beyond the ancient and once respected SimCity franchise.

3.      Alien Isolation on PC: I beat it on the hardest setting, and can safely say, yeah, it’s pretty much a heart attack simulator. Of course there are the generation millinial out there who are going to say, “I’m still waiting for the scare.” Fine. If you were born in the 1900s this game is going to scare you. The art direction is brilliant, and is prompting me to actually buy The Art of Alien Isolation to set on my coffe table (since when has a game prompted me to do that? Umm . .how about never?) I beat the game, and the next day began it again. I’ve not done that in years. 

4.      Fury on Blu Ray: I love tanks. I put together tank models as a kid. I went through high school knowing I was going to graduate and become a tanker in the US Army. Alas, plans changed and I enlisted in the US Navy instead (just like David Ayer, the director of this movie.) But this movie lacked something. Brad Pitt as “Wardaddy,” was basically a real life representation of the old comic book character, Sgt. Rock. This was an attempt to surpass Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan. It was a noble attempt, and well worth watching (and owning) if you’re a fan of tank warfare, but it was a fail. Overacting.

 

5.      World of Tanks For a free to play game, this is a pretty good one. It’s definitely a go to game if you want to play twenty minutes at a time. The only downside I’ve found is the price to pay for the premium content. It's just really expensive. You can grind it, but it's going to take you a really long time.

 

6.   Lost Season  2 on Blu Ray: Watching this. It’s compelling, entertaining and definitely anticipatority. I’ve just been introduced to Desmond (in the second episode.) It shall be interesting to watch. Once again, a great testament to the wonders of Blu Ray over the traditional DVD!  

Edward's February 2015 Mix

 

We’re in the deep throes of winter. Ah, time to stay in, pop open a favorite beverage, don the Mike Brady pajamas and while away the hours gaming until dawn’s early light. Oddly this year, this isn’t happening for me. I’ve started a new job. Of course I mentioned this in last month’s mix, but now it’s really set in. I’m experiencing the rush of really enjoying a single day off per week, and considering myself really lucky if I get two! I’m not complaining though, my checking account has never been fatter, and in truth, the job really is oodles better than my old security job. It’s a bit more physical but every day is truly an adventure.

 

1. You Need a Budget on PC: Despite the recent lackluster Steam Winter Sale I luckily scored this $60 software for a paltry $14.95. It has become my new religion, and no, I’m not kidding. This software has not only changed the way I think about money, but even the way I look at it. It’s under my skin bad. I preach about it to everybody I meet. It’s as if I’ve suddenly started selling Amway or got involved in the pyramidal Primerica firm . The concept is quite simple. You give each and every dollar on your paycheck a job. Instead of paying a $120 car license tag in one angry swoop, you simply budget $10 a month quietly in the background, and then that one time of the year when the tag fee is due you simply write a check for the $120 that’s accrued over the past twelve months. The goal plan is to eventually establish a buffer through wise budgeting in which you are paying this month’s bills with last month’s paycheck. So, you in effect stop living paycheck to paycheck. Imagine having your paycheck in hand waiting for the bills to come in so you can pay them instead of the bills sitting there and you’re waiting for your paycheck to be able to pay them. It’s a concept I never imagined possible, but watching it happen is a thing of beauty.

 

2. The Essential Journey  on CD:  I remember hearing Steve Perry’s remarkable soprano voice in 1981 right before I left for the Navy. My best friend at the time, Clint Vogt, turned me onto Perry’s band, Journey. The first time I heard them I just couldn’t get over the unique powerful sound of Perry’s voice. And then I got my first Sony Walkman, and I remember lying awake lonely in a Navy barracks and hearing, “Don’t Stop Believing,” with Neil Schon’s haunting guitar work emanating through the song and feeling so homesick I could cry. I continued to grow with Journey. Their album, Raised on Radio which came out in the mid 80’s reflected the music of that time. Perhaps that was the band’s last attempt to roll with the punches, because they went quiet in the 90’s. They turned out some wonderful hits, fortunately all inclusive in this double album CD I picked up. To this day, when someone mentions, “power ballad,” I always think of Journey.  

3. Peter Gabriel UP on CD: Peter Gabriel’s album “Us,” is one of my all time favorite works. “Up” is part of a trilogy Gabriel created in the 80’s through the early oughts. To be honest, when I first heard it I listened to it once, and then added it to my list to trade on www.swapaCD.com. But I recently gave it another listen, and it’s growing on me. It’s certainly not like “Us” which will always be on auto repeat in my CD tray or my queue on Google Play, but I’ve definitely become a fan.  The album runs Gabriel’s usual ensemble of synth-keyboard play and chorus singers in the background. The steady bass synthesizer he uses along with his raspy voice that makes him uniquely his own act stays true to form. I can now see this album as being part of a trilogy. Now I need to track down Gabriel’s most successful album, “So,” the beginning of the trilogy.  

4. Revolution by Deborah Wiles: Speaking of trilogies, this book is the second of one. Wiles’ first novel Countdown was about a young girl entering the world of teen angst despite the Cuban Missile Crisis happening around her. The book is a wonderful snapshot of the world at that time and place. And it’s one of the few books I’ve read more than once. This, her second novel, is about a girl witnessing the Civil Rights Act in action in 1964. Her town is about to become “invaded” by the now famous Freedom Schools for the Summer project. I’ve only started the book, but it already exudes Wiles’ wonderfully innocent observations through a school girl’s eyes of important world changing events that made indelible impressions on everybody who lived through them.    

5. Train Simulator 2015 on PC: I have  been binge playing this again. I can’t describe it any better than a calm inducing drug. I’ve been playing Amtrak New York to New Haven scenarios, and I’ve finally scored all of the Steam achievements for completing it. This is a beautiful bit of DLC, I might add. One scenario has you trying to keep to a passenger timetable at dusk. It’s wintry, everything snow covered with rain falling, and it’s simply spectacular looking. I’ve said it before, I’ll never be a train engineer despite my fascination with trains as a kid. But now I don’t have to be, nor would I really want to be I don’t suppose. This simulation gives me a taste for the real thing, and it’s all the immersion I really need. It's where I get to see my life as a grown up in a path taken in a parallel universe. 

6. Card Hunter on PC: Awarded PC Gamer Magazine’s “Most Original Game of the Year 2013” this great little gem which is free to play and played entirely in a browser is something everybody should check out. It’s a streamlined version of the old style D&D games you used to play with friends who used graph paper and multi sided dice. The game is depicted in loving detail including, grease stained pizza boxes, carbonated drinks and worn down pencils. Even the modules are lifelike two tone ink jobs done on paper. The element of newness in this version is the use of collectible cards. It sounds complicated, but it’s not, it’s actually downright addicting. You’ve been warned.

 

Edward's January 2015 Mix

A new year upon us, and so many changes, in this, only the first month. I’ve traded up in employment. No more reading 30 books a year and no more three day weekends. I knew I had to get a real job sooner or later anyway. It was a good run: 6 years with the company. But never getting a raise (or feasible health insurance benefits) turned into stagnation. I had to make a leap. Now I work for the company I was the security site supervisor for. It’s sometimes funny how things work out . I will surely miss those 3 day weekends though; it was a PC gamer’s paradise. I often have to work Saturdays now, but what I’ve discovered is that I really value my time off. I’ve finished 3 games so far this year, and if that’s not proof I don’t know what is. Oh, the three games? Sir, You are Being Hunted (a darkly humorous stealth survivor game. I bought it while it was early access, and the gamble paid off. It was a good game. I probably won’t replay it, but it was fun for a single play through.) Red Faction (an old style FPS (2000) in the same vein as Half Life. Made in Champaign-Urbana, a city after my own heart. The game had all of the irks that used to plague all old first person shooters, surviving levels with less than a quarter inch of life on your health bar, finding the big top dog gun in the game and only having one bullet for it, boss fights ramping the difficulty level to near impossibility. But I want to play the rest of the series. I had to play through it.) Air Conflicts - Secret Wars (I talked about this at length in last month’s mix, but this was a fun arcade flight combat sim set during World War II. The fun factor was torn in half on one mission, however, in which I had to make a bombing run and destroy several vehicles trying to escape Berlin towards the end of the game. The tall buildings they were driving between made it extremely difficult. There weren’t even online walkthroughs for this section. It seemed nobody had an easy answer. I got it. It took me over 50 tries, but I did get it at last and beat the game.) 

 

1. The Witcher 2 on PC: The original which came out in 2007 was the first hugely epic RPG I ever finished. It was a great learning experience for me because Geralt of Rivia, the character you played, didn’t start out as some level 1/1 pansy who had to be leveled to start wreaking havoc. Nope. In this game Geralt starts out as a fully equipped medieval Jedi Knight badass. I enjoyed the story so much I read all of Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels of the Witcher universe. And the interesting part is the game is based on the novel series, unbeknownst to me until I had beat the game. This, the sequel is graphically superior, and I’ve only gotten past the prologue. I don’t like saying this, but so far it’s mostly been an interactive movie with several QTEs thrown in. I’m playing on Dark difficulty mode (for the Steam Achievement). The fighting is horrendously hard, but still very much fun. I look forward to advancing in the story and finding out if the game returns to its more exploratory roots that made the first game so good.  

2. Alien: Isolation on PC:  Who would have guessed that Creative Assembly, famous for the games in their Total War series would create arguably, the best Alien game made thus far? I read Twentieth Century Fox was so taken in by the passion and level of commitment CA was bringing to the table in the production of this game that Fox handed over three terabytes of data, sketches, costume drawings, ship plans, etc. they used and didn’t use in Fox’s original 1979 movie directed by Ridley Scott. And my oh my how CA has brought the look and feel of the Scott movie back to life and put it in a game. (The sound, too. Perhaps this game really is best played in the dark with a good set of headphones, but hearing this on my Logitech 5.1 surround sound speakers is an incredible experience all on its own.)  It’s rare that I gasp at the visuals of a game, but sheesh, this is already a hallmark experience. It reminds me of how I was affected in the outdoor environments of Ghost Recon back in 2002, or stepping into Rapture in 2007’s Bioshock for the first time, and that odd feeling akin to homesickness when I would close out of the game. I just didn’t think it could get any better than Bioshock: Infinite which I recently played through, but I believe this game has done it.  ID, you’re going to have to work very hard to raise the bar with Doom 4. I’m only 90 minutes and 4 achievements into the game, but so far this is the ultimate monster in the haunted house experience I’ve had to date. PC Gamer Magazine’s Game of the Year. I am in no way surprised.  

3. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season One on Blu Ray: I already own this on DVD. Was the switch to Blu Ray worth it? Hell yes. The amount of man hours that went into this complete overhaul is astonishing and it shows in every frame of every episode I’ve watched so far. The colors are so vibrant they make the DVD versions look like VHS, and the sound upgrade is truly magnificent. Oddly, the transfer is almost too good. I’ve spotted carpentry spackling on a set that was erstwhile unnoticeable. Still, watching each episode now is like going to the movies.  

4. The Birthday Massacre: Hide and Seek on CD:  I fell in love with this band back in 2006 in a dance club in the virtual environment, Second Life. I remember at the time thinking, Wow! Where has this band been all of my life? They’ve produced several albums since, and they’ve managed to maintain the very same wonderful thread that runs through all of their work. Like I’ve said before,  if you were to go to a haunted house on a hillside on the outskirts of town on a Halloween night, full moon shining yellow as vibrant as the sun in the background, and there was a band playing inside, it would probably be The Birthday Massacre. I wish I could say the band has evolved from their grass roots, but in this 2012 release they have not. But you know what? They don’t need to. They can keep this same sound for all eternity and I will always love them.  

5. A Gracious Plenty by Sheri Reynolds: Finch Nobles takes care of the local cemetery. A victim of a terrible burn when she was four years old, she is destined to live a lonely existence away from the people she frightens with her appearance. And then she discovers as she works at the cemetery that she can hear the dead talk. And she finds out that until the dead can share their secrets and their stories they can’t really move on. I’m finding this to be a beautiful book about redemption and what makes it soar is Reynolds' wonderful way with words.

2014: A Year in the Life of a PC Gamer

2014: A Year in the Life of a PC Gamer

 

      2014 was a record breaking year for me in that I finished 20 games. The closest I had ever come to that number was 18 games, set in 2013. I doubt that I will ever finish 20 games in a year again. I just started a new job, and it’s much more time consuming than my old job which afforded me wonderful three day weekends.  It was fun while it lasted, but I always knew I’d have to find a real job someday. Ha! I played numerous small indie games that took up all of a three or four hour afternoon, but I also managed to knock out some heavy hitters. The year proved once again, I’m much more of a solo gamer than a social gamer. I’m in the =sBs= clan, but almost in name only. I’ve tried to quit, the chief admin and founder won’t let me. Heh. I still play Battlefield 3; they have moved on to Battlefield 4.  

          Far Cry 3 was the big enchilada for me this year. The game not only swallowed me up into its environment, it also affected me in my daily waking life. I burned the soundtrack onto a CD and listened to it constantly during the summer months. And I’ve never been taken back to my youthful navy days in quite the same way as by anything else as this game did. The game clutched me so deeply that when I finally finished it, I found an odd catch in my throat, a sad reminder that all good things must come to an end.  I have no desire to start up FarCry 4, not for a very long time. I need to catch my breath.

Another epic AAA game I finished this year was Mass Effect 2. I remember the first Mass Effect dragging on and being somewhat “chorey.” ME2 was so much more streamlined, and it reminded me of how the Normandy has become my favorite home away from home when it comes to virtual environments. Let J.J. Abrams commandeer Star Wars AND Star Trek. As long as Bioware helms Mass Effect, the universe shall stay in order. Mass Effect 2 has the best cinematic ending of any game I’ve ever played.

 

While we’re on the subject of space, I did get a chance to revisit (and replay) Origin’s venerable and lauded Wing Commander. This was one of the first PC games I ever played. I actually upgraded my 286-12 mHz PC to a 386-25 mHz just so I could watch the animations run faster back in 1991. Living in Austin, Texas at the time, the home of Origin, I actually applied to work there after playing this game. See how I’ve always been affected! It was wonderfully refreshing to pick up WC on www.gog.com and play it through again in its entirety. It’s aged considerably, though not horribly. In its day, Wing Commander on the PC was miles ahead of anything out on console at the time. There simply was no comparison.

I played through Path of Exile, an action RPG in the same vein as Blizzard’s Diablo 3. PC Gamer Magazine swore up and down PoE was “more Diablo 3 than Diablo 3 was.” Perhaps it was; I’ve not played Diablo 3, I just know I got bored very quickly. And then I picked up The Incredible  Adventures of Van Helsing and had the time of my life. This game made me realize I could have a hella good time with an action RPG.  

     

As far as strategy games I took a chance and invested in Ultimate General: Gettysburg, an early access game from Game-Labs. I realize early access can be hit or miss, but I got lucky. I bought the game for a reduced “ea” price, and then a week later it came out complete at a higher price. The game is a great war strategy game that isn’t complex enough to be considered “grognard,” but still fun enough to be challenging for the likes of me. It didn’t take me long to beat it from both sides, Union and Confederates. I wrote a review on Steam that snowballed in popularity to the point of being the number one review for the game for several weeks. http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197995381979/recommended/306660 If you click the link please give me a thumbs up, I’d certainly appreciate it.

 

As far as driving simulations (which you all know I’m quite fond of) I eschewed Codemaster’s F1 2012 (because it was a broken game) for F1 2013. The game is a noticeable improvment over its predecessor no doubt, and with my Logitech G27 wheel/paddle set it’s the closest I will ever get to actually racing a 750 hp Formula One beast. F1 2014 is out and for sale, but after reading the reviews, I think I got lucky in getting F1 2013. I’ll stick with that one until (and if) Codemasters really improves the series.

 

I beat Borderlands 2 this year as well. I played the original back in 2010, and I liked it, although it got a bit tedious because of its repetition. Gearbox as a developer has been hit or miss over the years. I’ve always enjoyed their Brothers in Arms series, however, they took a royal beating over Aliens: Colonel Marines and even garnered a class action lawsuit over it. But I have to admit they did just fine with BL2. I enjoyed every moment I was in the game. I once spun off a heated letter to Computer Gaming World over something Randy Pitchford, the CEO of Gearbox said. It became their “Letter of the Month.” So, I can safely say Gearbox has always made me feel something.

 

RPGs always swallow me up, sheesh, FarCry 3 took me 107 hours to beat. I want to play The Witcher 2 and Dragon Age 2, but pending the release of Dragon Age 3, I got to watching videos and trailers of the original Dragon Age, and alas, here I am playing through the original all over again! We’ll see how it goes, but so far, so good. I don’t feel like I’m involved in a chore simulator—not yet, anyway.

 

Looking ahead I think 2015 will be a good year for us PC gamers. Alien Isolation is out this year, and Rockstar will finally release GTAV as well. The Occulus Rift will find more new homes for PC this year (it’s just terrible Facebook purchased it . . .I guess the idea of Farmville in true 3D appeals to them. Yuck!) We will see Fallout 4 this year, and probably a World of Warcraft movie. (I doubt I will see it. I refuse to waste two hours of my life in such a manner.) Just Cause 3, Outlast 2 and of course, Evolve will “evolve” this year on PC. I’m going to predict Tom Clancy’s (God rest his soul) The Division will appear and blow away the console versions (expect a November ’15 release.) This year, as every year is, will be a good year for us PC gamers.

 

Edward's December 2014 Mix

December. The last month of the year. Christmas. Another year coming to an end and another year, ah, it never ends, well, until it does. And speaking of Christmas, for goodness sake, where did it go? Everybody works now, there are no more long Christmas breaks, and in the spirit of the season there used to be every other house on the block that was festooned with lights now you may have only two or three houses on the whole block. I’ve heard that it’s now politically incorrect to say Merry Christmas anymore, well, that is if you believe Facebook memes. Personally, I still say “Merry Christmas,” and in my neck of the woods so does everybody else. But one constant that remains is the Steam Winter Sale, but, ugh! Even it left something to be desired this year. There were no crazy sales to speak of. Car Mechanic Simulator 70% off for six hours? For real?

 

1. Air Conflicts - Secret Wars on PC: There are 118 reviews on Steam for this game, mostly mixed. That generally means a game is bad. And okay, despite the hammy voice acting and the storyline that is Indiana Jones adventuredom amped up to eleven, I fell in love with this game. It’s a take on WWII as told through the eyes of a smuggler pilot, an Amelia Earhart copycat who gets caught up in the war and flying missions based on personal scruples. The flight simulation aspect of it is wholly arcadish, equally as comfortable with an Xbox controller or a joystick. The graphics are typical 2003 fare, but the static cartoon cut scenes exude a certain charm. The icing on the cake is the bomb runs. Dropping a bomb on a ground target hearing the over the top death screams of the poor victims on the ground make this a must play.

 

2. Dragon Age: Origins on PC:  It was inevitable. All of the hype surrounding the release of Dragon Age: Inquisition (Dragon Age 3) got me perked. And then watching the trailer for Dragon Age: Origins coerced me into reinstalling and playing this fine game all over again. I was a human mage the first time I played it. This time I’m a City Elf rogue distraught and on the run for killing castle royalty up on the hill because the king’s son and his buddies stole my bride on my wedding day and took her to the castle for their own party where they raped her. I join the Grey Warden and am subsequently pardoned. This is the stuff of a Hollywood feature film. I try to be a bad boy pickpocket and cut throat, a doppelgangerous Peter Pan, but it’s not working out quite like that. It’s just too difficult for me to be evil in games. I just hit level 8 and it’s as fun as the first time I played it three years ago, despite the rather difficulty of the combat.  

3. Mission Impossible: Season Two on Netflix: Despite the technology that looks like it was created in the 1800s, this show is still a roller coaster ride hinging on near getaways, foiled deceptions, and cloak and dagger international espionage. Don’t forget, this show is the reason we keep seeing Tom Cruise Mission Impossible movies. The second season introduced Peter Graves as the new Impossible Missions Task Force leader. He’s as somber and effective as his first season counterpart. Greg Morris and Martin Landau are the underrated standouts. And if you want to see slices of Americana in the late 1960’s, the cars, the clothes, ubiquitous smokers, then watch this series.  

4. Shine Down: The Sound of Madness on CD:  This quartet of rockers have compiled a great CD of ballads. I picked up this, their third album, because of the song “The Crow & The Butterfly.” To my surprise, their song, “Second Chance” is the song that propelled them into fame. Apparently it was a surprise to them as well because they stated they hated this song. The band reminds me somewhat of Theory of a Dead Man without the emo screaming. 

5. Rush on Blu-Ray: I have played car racing simulations since 1990, and I love them. I have never watched a Formula One race on television, but I’ve played all the simulated tracks enough over the years that I have a passing familiarity of F1 Racing. This movie, which profiles the heated rivalry of James Hunt and Niki Lauda during the 1976 F1 Season. The subject matter is an excellent vehicle (pun intended) for Ron Howard’s usually commendable directing abilities. This movie, however, left something to be desired. Claudia Puig, USA Today, said this movie was “Ron Howard’s best film ever.” The movie barely showed any racing footage at all. Most of it centered on the off track antics that occurred between the two racers. This was no Backdraft or Cinderella Man. The Blu-Ray picture quality was excellent, however, and offered up a documentary-ish grain to the film. I suggest the 1960’s film, Grand Prix starring James Garner or even Tom Cruise’s Days of Thunder for a much better racing flick fix.  

6. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen on Blu-Ray: Great concept. Imagine America’s finest Victorian Age literary characters coming to life in an action movie, bonded together, led by Allan Quartermain and attempting to save us all from a meglamaniac bent on destroying the world. The casting was over par, and the script was fun. But what killed it for me was the role Jules Verne’s Nautilus played in the movie. The vessel was depicted as being opulent, grandiose (the size of a small skyscraper turned on its side), and the epitome of Steampunk, but all of the interior shots betrayed any sense of maritime credibility. Each inside shot looked as if it was taken from some modern day metropolitan museum. Perhaps they should have borrowed (or stolen) from Disney’s epic Nautilus. The Blu-Ray transfer was okay, nothing to write home about. It wasn’t nearly as dazzling as Blade Runner or John Carpenter’s The Thing which I have recently watched.  

7. StarCraft on PC: Of course we all know Westwood Studios created the very first RTS (Dune II), but it was Blizzard who pioneered what I call the Q-RTS, the “quick real time strategy” genre. Warcraft was their first brainchild, but StarCraft was their second, and oh, what a sophomore effort. This is the stuff of history. It’s as much a strategy game as it is workout for your index finger. But this was RTS pure. There were no levels of difficulty. You either beat the game or you didn’t. I did not; I didn’t even finish the human campaign. I’ve got slowtime this week because of the holidays so I thought I’d give it another go after all of these years. (It was 1999) the last time I played it. I’ve got 9.75 hours into it and I’m on the final chapter of the Terran (humans.) This was the first RTS I ever played online as well. I’ll never forget getting my butt handed to me by my friend, Vic Berwick, over a dial up modem. Incidentally, I never defeated him in a single game. (I have since made up for that in Company of Heroes against my friend where I was able to reciprocate that scenario.) But it’s bringing back fond memories playing this. The music, Jim Raynor’s snark, the sound of the SCVs cutting the crystals with their torches. It’s all a nice journey down the corridors of my PC gaming history.

8. Dove Season by Johnny Shaw on Kindle:  Probably one of the most adventurous novels I’ve read this year. It’s fun to discover a first novel this good. With references to the PC game, Doom, and descriptions of the desert being a place where everything is thirsty, sunburned and pissed off. “Even a desert hare will take the finger off of a dumbass that tries to pet it. If the desert can make a bunny that angry, imagine what it does to people.”  I couldn’t help but like this book. The novel concerns a young man who returns home where his father is dying after being away for 12 years, and getting caught up in all kinds of trouble, all conjured up through his dying father.

 

9. Verdun on PC: The grittiest, most realistic, dirtiest modern combat simulator out there. This game is a time travel trip back to No Man's Land in the trenches of World War One. Kills are hard earned, and a game's winner is always revered and respected. If you really want to test your mettle, take on a bout of Death match. It's basically a free for all involving long range sniping. The game is difficult enough as an Early Access title. It will more than likely feel like a pushover once it goes gold, but if you want to play the game right now that makes Red Orchestra feel like a Youtube, "Let's Play," then you need to pick up Verdun, right now. Prepare to get bloody and dirty.