Since Call of Duty: WWII was released last week, I have spent majority of my gaming time playing it. In September I wrote a piece outlining my thoughts on the beta and how they could improve. After playing some online matches, it became clear that Sledgehammer was not messing around when they said they were “returning COD to its roots .” However, it has not escaped being infected by contemporary gaming trends that have left WWII suffering from an identity crisis.     The campaign certainly feels like a throw back to the heyday of WWII shooters. They even ditched automatic health regeneration that has become a staple for the series and replaced it with heal packs as the only way to heal, something I have not experienced since the Xbox and PS2 days. The story is mediocre, but I was not expecting something new and exciting from a WWII time period that has been sucked dry of any new narrative. The campaign feels like an afterthought, almost like they included it because it was expe

In April, Activision announced that Call of Duty would be returning their WWII roots. I wrote a brief piece on the announcement and outlined my hopes and fears that I have for their new game. After spending some time in the beta, I have found that some of them have come true. In my first multiplayer match, it quickly became obvious that Sledgehammer Games had brought back the classic Call of Duty experience. No gimmicky jet boosting or wall running in this game, just good old-fashioned boots on the ground shooting. This was the most important change I wanted and I am happy they delivered. Since boosting and wall running was introduced in the games, getting kills and being killed became increasingly more annoying. I had to continuously be alert to my surroundings from all sides, leaving little time to look at my map or figure out how to connect with my teammates. Sure, it was fast paced but I never felt that I had time to plan movements or work together with my team. It was ju

I started playing BioShock when it first came out in 2007. I just finished it last week and it took me 10 years to do it. I have previously written about why I think it takes me so long to finish a game so I won’t discuss that here. My only regret is that it took me this long to finally beat it. The story of BioShock is both interesting and terrifying. The city of Rapture was designed to be a utopia for the elites, free from the constraints of human government and society. Its creator, Andrew Ryan is a bit of a megalomaniac and this becomes more apparent as the game goes on.       BioShock has one of the most dramatic opening sequences I have experienced in a game. Without giving too much away, you end up in the middle of the ocean, staring at a large tower protruding out of the waves beckoning you to approach. After entering, you start your mysterious journey into the underwater city of Rapture. Upon entry you quickly discover that something has gone very wrong. The whole

BioWare’s Mass Effect: Andromeda was hit with controversy before its release and even harder after it. A lot was expected from the game and critics were quick to jump on it. MEA took a lot of heat for bugs and bad facial animations and even I jumped on the  band wagon . I have been thinking a lot since it happened and I keep coming back to this question, “Why do we attack some games while we let others get a free pass?” Most games have bugs and glitches when they are first released. Developers usually always deliver new games with a day one patch to address issues that may arise. So what causes us to see the problems of some games and not others? Part of the reason is because we have high expectations for triple A titles. We expect games like Call of Duty , Madden , Mario and Zelda to never have bugs. Their long history of success with sequels should mean that by now the game should be perfected. We tend to give new games with bugs the benefit of the doubt but little to no l

Yesterday Activision announced that Call of Duty will be returning to its World War II roots. The uninspired title of the game, Call of Duty: WWII will have a worldwide trailer reveal on April 26 th at 10AM PDT. Fans of the series have criticized the game for taking the game too far into the future. Wall running, jet boosting and exo suits were fun for a while but quickly players realized it was taking away from the fundamental FPS principals that originally made it a success. Games like Counter-Strike have remained grounded in fundamental FPS design without the need for including wall running, boosting or any other gimmick. It has maintained and grown its fan base since its original release in 1999. The people developing the new Call of Duty have a lot to prove.      Another game series adding competition for Call of Duty is Battlefield . The series broke away from the future/modern theme last year with the critically acclaimed release of Battlefield 1 .  Fans praised it fo

Last week, Nintendo announced that they would be discontinuing the NES Classic. If you didn’t know, the NES Classic is a miniaturized version of the original NES that comes complete with 30 games. The system was so popular that stores have been unable to keep their shelves stocked. Nintendo may be unable to keep up with production, which might indicate why they are discontinuing it. However, I believe there are other reasons at play.  Theories abound as to why Nintendo discontinued the NES Classic. I wrote a piece outlining my belief that Nintendo increased market demand to maximize profits when shortages were first reported last year. While I cannot prove this, the news of the discontinuation seems to provide additional evidence. Another idea is that Nintendo realized they could make much more money selling the old NES games individually through the Switch and Nintendo Store, rather than 30 at once in the Classic. This is possible, but I think they will be missing out on a

Of all the games that were released in the first quarter of the year, the one I was the most excited about was Night in the Woods . For some reason the game called to me even though I knew next to nothing about it. I found out I enjoyed the art direction and game concept from a few screen shots, one preview video, and an abstract from the studio’s website. It looked like it contained everything I love about a game: story, deep themes, and action, but I had no idea how personal the story would be to me. NITW is a side scrolling adventure game that takes place in a crumbling blue collar town called Possum Springs. The town is based off the real world rustbelt cities in the U.S. that have seen jobs move overseas, crime rise, and infrastructure decay. Interestingly, the citizens of Possum Springs are not human, but instead animals. You play the game as Mae Borowski, a cat punk rocker, bass playing, college dropout who moved back home. Your friends, Gregg, Bea, and Angus catch you up

BioWare has put out some great games over the years. I played through the original Dragon Age and fell in love with Dragon Age: Inquisition . I also really enjoyed playing the Mass Effect games so when Mass Effect Andromeda (MEA) was announced I immediately jumped on the hype train. But before the official release the internet blew up with criticism of the facial animations in game. Not only were people complaining, they also harassed a woman who was thought to have worked as lead animator. It got so bad that BioWare had to respond denying her involvement with the title. Crazy internet trolling aside the complaints got me thinking, as a consumer how do I justify spending $60 on a product with clear faults? When you make a purchase of anything you expect the best quality money can buy. If you buy a toaster that does not work, you send it back. If you buy a shirt that is ripped you send it back. But when you buy a game that is graphically broken you keep it?  The old ada

My reaction when I first saw the Nintendo Switch was something like this: “Here we go again. Nintendo trying to push innovation and continuing to abandon the standard console model.” Since the release of the Wii, Nintendo has placed more value in designing innovative systems instead of adhering to the standard box top set that Sony and Microsoft have. The Wii utilized motion sensor controllers instead of the generic double stick gamepad, the Wii U upped the ante by giving the controller a screen to second the one on the television set. Because of their desire to be the black sheep of the console family they have trouble attracting third party support and instead, rely on their own household names like Mario, Zelda and Pokemon to fill their library. Their constant efforts to push ingenuity and be different has resulted in Sony and Microsoft being the first choice of consoles for developers to build their games. Despite all of this Nintendo has remained competitive in t

I was going to take this post to discuss a few of my favorite games from this past year but instead I thought it might be a better idea to look forward instead of looking back so I am going to write about two new games I am looking forward to playing in 2017. For Honor is a new game in development by Ubisoft that utilizes melee weapon combat and puts you in the role of either Vikings, Knights or Samurai. The three factions are in perpetual warfare with each other and it is the player’s responsibility to bring victory to your chosen faction.     The most interesting aspect of the game is its unique combat system. Instead of using basic inputs such as hitting one button to slash and another to do a power attack, the system utilizes the control sticks to mimic something close to real sword duels. It allows for one on one combat to be a guessing game of what your opponent will do next. Move the stick slightly to the write and you will parry an incoming blow, but move it to the wr