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Gears of War Co-Op – Judgement

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It's been a quiet couple of years for local co-op gaming. Gears 3 last year & Halo 4 earlier this year is all that was on the platter. It's a shame that 99.9 % of all local co-op games are shooters, after a while they begin to become a bore.

Which probably explains the long gaps in between each co-op game played. 

Anyhow time for the fist pumping chest thumping macho men to return in Gears Judgement.

No Marcus or Dom in this story it's all about Baird & Cole Train, along with two new recruits in Sofia & Paduk. The game is a prequel to the Gears Trilogy.

It starts with a typical military court marshall & gives the player a chance to visit each characters flashback of events.Not much has changed on the gameplay front apart from a few tweaks to throwing a grenade & quick swap of weapons.

Each mission also gives you a declassified challenge to accomplish for experience & braggin points. So cue the action.. Shoot, reload, collect ammo, shoot, chainsaw melee attack, throw grenade, reload, revive, shoot and I think you get the picture by now.

The only advantage local co-op offers you is the quick communication to your partner. "I'm down, revive me" "Tickers incoming!!" & the obvious gloating opportunity at the end with mission stats to see who got the most kills.

Some of the missions take a cue straight out of horde mode & have you defending a location from waves of enemies. After completing Baird's flashback we had enough adrenaline injected action for the day. Sofia's story will have to wait for another evening. I've got a pretty good idea of what to expect. It starts with shoot...

Uncharted 3 – Shukran

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I have certainly enjoyed the third game in the Uncharted series compared to the previous two, possibly because I know what to expect with the scripted sequences, button press action (although there seems to be less in this game then the previous)

Naughty Dog seemed to have perfected the hollywoodesque (deep storyline with action sequences) style of gaming & it was definitely an enjoyable movie to watch, sorry game to play. Even though you did not have much to do in the destruction of the brass vessel but got to sit back and enjoy a cut scene.

If I go back to the first game I was very frustrated by the style of gameplay but was impressed by the animation, presentation & dialogue of the game which is why I persisted  with the series & Naughty Dog have been refining the experience with every game but I still feel they have a bit more to go to get rid of the cut scenes & give the control of the character fully to the player. It will certainly be interesting to play their next game The Last of Us to see what they have learn in the development process.

For now though it was an enjoyable experience playing the adventures of Nate & Sully. Shukran.

Uncharted 3 – Return of the Drake

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Initially I had planned to play the last two Fallout New Vegas dlc's but instead looking at the long list of PS+ titles I've downloaded I opted to play Uncharted 3.

It's Nate & Sully off on another whirlwind adventure. I'm currently up to chapter 8 & have already experienced a bar brawl fight, a trip down memory lane with young Nate, an abandon London Underground lair & visited a ruined chalet in France.

I can't quite put my finger on why but I'm enjoying this game more than the previous two adventures. I don't enjoy button press gaming but I can understand the reasoning behind the process.

Naughty Dog does not disappoint in its cinema style of gaming with some great set pieces so far. My favourite so far the swarm of spiders chasing you on your escape out of the chalet. I'm now off to Syria to find another half to an artifact & also to ensure that Cutter & Chloe are safe.

Red Dead Redemption – The Unexpected

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Aeris dying in Final Fantasy 7 was probably the greatest unexpected gaming event I've experienced. The sheer shock that a character you had developed over many hours was no more.

I thoroughly enjoyed playing John Marston but truth be told in could have been any character because it is the western setting that made the game. I'm a big fan of western movies and a chance to play that setting in a video game was an amazing experience. I only regret that it has taken me this long to finally getting round to play the game.

The scenery, the sunsets !! Oh my the sunsets, the duels, the swagger of cowboys with their no nonsense attitude. John Marston ticked all the western cowboy boxes. 

With the story events unfolding the way they were it should have come as no surprise when the law decided to attack the family ranch. Edgar Ross wanted to finish off the last surviving member of Duke's gang. Having used John to do his dirty work he arrived with an army of soldiers to kill one man.

Surely John must have known something like this was likely to happen? Why not uproot & move to Mexico under the watchful eye of Reyes. But John is a stubborn character & stayed put at the ranch.

Edgar & the army promptly attacked the ranch killing Uncle in the process. John fearing for his son & wife sent them off on horseback to safety.

In an alternative ending I now would have John riding out of the barn being chased by the law all the way to Mexico where Reyes men who are patrolling the crossing come to his rescue to kill the soldiers. Then with another set of missions John sets out to finish off the loose ends by killing Edgar, Archer & all who wanted him dead.

But alas that was not the story of John Marston. Instead he walks out of the barn shooting & taking out as many soldiers & lawmen before he is gunned down to his death. John Marston is dead.

This was always going to be the way he would die. The blaze of glory achieved in a gunfight except this time there was no crowning moment. Jack & Abigail return to the ranch to find John lying in a pool of blood. The story then moves on to Jack Marston looking over his parents grave & his thirst for revenge begins.

What follows is a disappointment, Jack should have been given a new set of missions which takes him all over the map meeting all of John's acquaintances & informing them of the death of John. The men involved in the attack on John should have been scattered all over & Jack follows clues before a showdown. 

Instead the game focuses on just Edgar Ross & you follow the clues to Mexico. Here you meet up with Edgar who is now retired & on a hunting holiday. You are then challenged to a duel & after Edgar is dead or in my case pumped full of lead that his body ends up floating down the river. The credits roll ...

No ending sequence or dialogue from Jack. Not even an epic monologue of John Marston to a wind rustling tune.

Maybe that is how it was in the Wild West the roar of a buffalo stampede followed by silence.

Red Dead Redemption – The Duke is DEAD

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Managed quite a bit of play time this weekend, completing all the misson's in Mexico. Both Escuella & Bill Williamson are dead & I helped Reyes start off the Mexcian revolution. Then you venture back up north to the town of Blackwater & help the Law enforcement officers take down the Duke.

There is a lovely sequence after you have killed the Duke & you are set free to return home a song plays on your journey called "Compass"

I was expecting a credits sequence to follow but luckily no I have more missions to do around my ranch :)