Stranger Things 3 (The Game)

Mostly true to the show, but more grindy.

Dark times are upon the little town of Hawkins again but not only are there fiends from alternate dimensions, there are also ... RUSSIANS!? Mechanically this adventure game is pretty sound which follows the exact same story as the Netflix show of the same name. Your team roster will slowly expand to fill out with all the major characters and everything will be just swell!

Or not. For starters, the game characters are a bit different to the ones in the show. For example, Will is way more useful than Eleven... which is cool, but quite different. If you've seen Season 3 of the show you also don't have many surprises here other than the amount of monsters and people (mostly people) you will need to murder. Don't worry, they're "bad Russians" so it's ok.

I don't remember that happening in the show...

At around the half way point you'll be wondering if your party are the true monsters with the amount of blood on your hands. You'd be right. Unfortunately the designers decided to add "padding" to the game in the form of fetch quests and kill ten rats type stuff... and that bullshit gets old really quick. If that doesn't bother you and you are a fan of this series then sure, give it a try. For everyone else I give this two firecrackers out of five.

Insight: Max's healing ability makes her a good support team mate at all times. If you use Will as your main, equip 5x firestarters to really kick ass though you'll still want Nancy for most boss fights.

MGSV: Russian Rematch

[Part of the MGS Diary]

Going after Eli is delayed as there is another outbreak of Code Talker's virus in the base, this time a mutated strain that has no cure. I am forced to personally go in and execute all of my own infected staff before torching the quarantine platform for good measure.

Quiet also opts to go AWOL at this time, and Code Talker reveals it is because she too has the virus - the English strain - but doesn't spread it out of choice simply by staying silent. I go after her where we relive our initial duel, but this time she has no chance since I bring a tank which her sniper rifle cannot damage.

Can't shoot through tank armor.

She is defeated but falls into the hands of the very rapey Russians, and so I give chase to rescue her again from some ruins. While she doesn't really need help from her squad of captors, we are in for a hell of a fight when the Russians attack in full force. Both badly injured, we manage to exfiltrate during a sandstorm... and then I get bitten by a venomous snake. Shit.

Insight: Quiet can one hit kill you in the rematch, so you'll need to rocket her location to force her to move which will give you an opening to get into the tank. If you have D-Dog with you, you can then whistle from inside the tank which normally makes Quiet fire and reveal her location.

MGSV: Fortune and Glory

[Part of the MGS Diary]

Our previous victory has really brought the money pouring in, with jobs paying almost double from before and clients as high-profile as the CIA. Diamond Dog strike teams are now deploying and dying all across the globe for glory!

I continue to focus on Africa and Afghanistan though, mainly to clean up the numerous puppet soldiers the Skulls left behind. At the same time the Russians and the other private forces are upping their game in trying to kill me, setting traps and sending their heaviest armored men and machines after me.

With Quiet by my side and our newly developed wormhole fulton abduction device that can steal tanks, they still have no chance. Miller, who I am beginning to suspect is the worst base commander ever, then reports the child soldiers I previously brought onto the base have escaped - mainly thanks to Eli who also managed to steal Sahelanthropus!

You seriously left the keys for the giant robot just lying around?

Insight: For zombies, puppet soldiers are close to harmless. You can tranq or melee them down (a few times) or toss a sleep grenade to capture them.

MGSV: Skull Face

[Part of the MGS Diary]

A job involving the theft of a powerful Russian rocket launcher at some ruins goes sideways when the Skulls arrive to block off my escape, with their leader "Skull Face" having a grand introduction in the middle of a sandstorm. As expected from the melodramatic ass hat vanishes, leaving his enhanced soldiers to finish me off.

Doesn't even have the courtesy to talk in my direction.

They also seem to have made the remaining Russian troops into zombie puppets. This is good because they both the puppets and the Skulls don't know to take cover and are easily put down using the rocket launcher I was stealing. Pity we had to sell it afterwards.

As a result of this encounter, I now prioritize the development of grenade launchers and rocket launchers - both of which I carry onto the field as they are useful against all types of infantry and the ever increasing array of armored vehicles I'm finding in the field.

Insight: Other useful upgrades are the pistol, fulton, armor and grenades (especially sleep). The helicopter upgrades are handy too if you like calling for air support.

Today I Smiled: Kitten Unity!

I know I'm quite behind in my Assassin's Creed having only recently watched the full AC: Unity trailer. Then I was impressed by some of the crazy cosplaying parkour guys that made their own version, but what has me smiling the most is this: Assassin's Creed Kitten Unity!

The Russian(?) creator, Mr.TVCow has some other funny vids too and I encourage you to check them all out. My second favorite is the Egg Destroyer Achievement video.

Anywho that's it for me, hope you all have a great day! ^_^

Recover Miss Sing Person

Part of my XCOM: Defenders of the Earth series!

The hiss of the dropship doors ended with a thud as the four man team led by Mister Mustachio deployed out towards the park. Their objective: to rescue some woman named Anna Sing who had escaped alien captivity. Wasn't long before they ran into their first opponent, a "thin man" who opened fire from the otherside poisoning Emmet with his first shot. Mustachio replied by rocketing that guy in the face and led the squad forward on the left flank, the Russian and Emmet following down the middle and the Niggeress on the right startling three little aliens near a cop car. One managed to wound her with its pistol, and she responded by shotgunning two of them in the face.

The last one was gunned down by the Russian as he then reached the panicked VIP and began leading her back. A second thin man then appeared on top of a bus and instantly came under overwatch fire from the waiting Mustachio and finished off by Emmet from the park square. All was going well as the team made their way back when suddenly a third thin man, the boss no doubt, was there waiting for them.

Similar but different.

His first shot went right through Mustachio's jugular, dropping him to the ground. The rest of the highly trained team then all shat their pants and panicked, with Emmet hiding behind a fountain, the Russian (whom I shall now call Panicman) shooting AT THE VIP but missing (fortunately), and the Niggeress dropping her shotgun and bending over while weeping like a child. The thin boss took advantage of this and shoved his gun into her ass then pulled the trigger, killing the stupid bitch instantly.

The VIP decided to make a break for it, sprinting into the open but not quite reaching the drop ship. Panicman managed to fumble a grenade out at the thin boss but it survived the blast and took aim at the civilian. It fired but at the last moment Emmet did a true slow mo heroic move by eating all the bullets himself, his body exploding into a shower of blood. Panicman then panicked some more and with a loud scream unloaded all of his remaining ammo into the thin boss... miracoulously killing it.

Mission complete! Anna Sing, Panicman and the not yet dead Mister Mustachio returned to base.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Part of my XCOM: Defenders of the Earth series!

Having fallen asleep watching an alien themed movie, I suddenly awoke in some strange underground room and in front of me was a huge screen with a bald dude on it. Since his face was covered in shadow due to back-lighting and he didn't give his name I'll call him, "the Bald man". He represented the United Nations or something like that, and somehow they decided that I should lead their special task force in neutralizing an alien threat on the globe.

How the UN deals with aliens?

Before I could utter a "WTF" a panicked guy named Bradford busted in asking for my help with a mission already in progress on the otherside of the world, China. Just to verify where the heck I was he told me that I was in the XCOM North America base. How I got here from where I was remains a mystery (mainly because the game didn't let me pick a base closer to home).

Once I made it through the lengthy tunnels to the Situation Room I could see our four man squad on the field: a Russian whose name I can't pronounce, a nigerian girl I'll call Niggeress, Emmet the pale, and the squad leader and sole survivor of Delta squad who Bradford commanded poorly prior to my appointment here - Mister Mustachio. Bradford was concerned he'd get almost the whole team killed again so I took charge, progressing with a standard sweep and clear culminating in Mister Mustachio rocketing the bejeezus out of some poor little alien men.

They returned as heroes and came back with a lot of Yen to fund some of our research projects... like first aid kits. Seriously? We don't have first aid kits in this base!? I've got my work cut out for me.