New Home, New Jobs, Death of Dark Link

Recently, some friends have mine have asked why my blog lies dead in the sand. The answer is the usual: I haven't had time! The last few months have seen the start of not one but two new paying writing jobs, a huge move from Missouri to Colorado, and of course access to the best internet I've ever had. The latter item of that list means that I've been playing a lot of Halo and Destiny in my free time instead of typing my madness here.

But I should keep this thing going, shouldn't I? I still get daily hits on the content I've already posted. So, my break is officially over.

To answer some more questions that I've been asked recently:

• Yes, I will do more Captain America Spotlight posts. 
• Yes, I can record some Destiny videos to put on here. But I don't have any fancy recording software, just the Xbox One's Upload feature. Still, I'll be posting stuff with my Warlock here and on my Youtube channel. 
• No, I probably won't be posting any snippets of any prose any time soon. 
• Yes! The move to Denver has been awesome so far! My family is doing great!

More News!

Okay, so one of those new jobs I mentioned above is - and get ready for this - as the new writer of the Blade Bunny web comic!

Okay, so it doesn't pay as awesome as my current position as a contracted story writer for 3D Brothers but Blade Bunny is a fun, exciting, and amazing opportunity to work with comedy and a strong female lead character. As a huge Joss Whedon fan, this is something I simply couldn't pass up.

Speaking of that 3D Brothers gig, I obviously can't reveal a whole hell of a lot considering how creative work is necessarily in the dark at the onset, but when I can you should expect to see links-a-plenty here and on my twitter and facebook accounts. The game we are making is a survival/horror that you aren't going to want to miss. I promise.

Death of Dark Link; Anime game is a-Go-Go

Work also continues with Bio's Remnant Gaming. Though, sadly, not with Dark Link. A partner of mine seemed to have lost faith in the project or perhaps even in me and was unable to continue working on the project. We had an investor with money on the table waiting for a demo, but that is the catch 22 of this business isn't it? We needed money to pay our artist for that demo but our investor needed to see the demo before he'd drop the cash.

Without the original artist, Dark Link can't be done the same way. I'm still sorting out how to proceed with the project, but there are details about this recent let down that make it hard for me to return to the same situation as before. Likely, if this project were to respawn from its untimely demise, it would be under a new moniker and a new artist.

Now, the Anime Game - which shall still remain nameless - is fully underway as I finally have my team put together and working toward a demo. We have an artist, a sound guy, a programmer/writer, the license, and an awesome premise. This is also more of a comedy than anything else which is always fun! I'll let you know when there is any new information or a website available!

Gaming! MCC Woes, Destiny Rocks, Halo 4 Clan

Right, so if you are my friend on Xbox Live, you've seen me doing just about nothing except for Netflix, Destiny, and Halo 4.

I have played some Halo: Master Chief Colllection, but suffice it to say, all the people blogging about the mess that is Halo: MCC's matchmaking are completely correct. I won't do an entire post on it, but here is an example of an hour of playing time:

I'd played before some with my brother but the experience wasn't awesome. But hey, that is all matchmaking games sometimes. So I booted up the MCC again and went straight for the Halo 2 Anniversary ranked playlist. This time, I clocked the matchmaking process to see how long it took me to get into a match. Unsurprisingly (but still frustrating) is that it took six minutes from the time I entered the playlist to the time the map finally loaded and it was kill time.

A few minutes later, the brief match of Legendary Slayer BR on Lockout (5:05) was done and I was sent back to the multiplayer playlist selection menu. That's right, the playlist selection menu. Instead of taking you and some of the players you've been matchmade with into the next game in the playlist, you go back to the menu. I may be stupid, but how is that a "playlist"?

Anyway, it took just over 4 minutes to get into another match but this one was almost over. I was in that game for just over a minute. For the mathematician's out there, of my first 16 minutes or so of time, 10 were spent waiting. That is a 5/3 ratio that never felt like it improved for the rest of the hour. Actually, it was probably worse because TWICE the game crashed after matchmaking was done but before the map was loaded. GAH

Morale of this already too lengthy tale is to avoid the MCC unless all you want to do is have a blast playing the awesome Halo campaigns. Halo 2 has always been my favorite of the Halo campaigns and seeing it remastered made me as giddy as I was when I first played the game so many years ago. The campaigns all play extremely well after the sizable patches I've downloaded and I had a ton of fun revisiting Chief's story.

Okay, Destiny! I am looking for people to play with so add Lord Hexias to your Xbox Live friends list and let's do some strikes! I play Destiny on the Xbox One.

Halo 4 I am also looking for friends! Same name will do. I play this on the 360! I am part of a clan now called SKG or Sleeping Knights Gaming. We are chill but we are also pretty good at Halo as a squad. Send me a message and I'll see about adding you to the team. We play for a little most days but tend to overdo a little on the weekends. Haha.

Well, that is it for now! I'll post more soon!

Drop a comment and let's start a conversation! I love meeting new people so don't worry if I've never met you. See ya'll!

Links!

https://www.patreon.com/drowemos

Go to the above link to become a Patron of the Blade Bunny pages I'll be doing! Just message Drowemos/Eric Kimball (the owner of the Patreon) and tell him that you would like to support my specific pages(Matt)!

To get caught up in Blade Bunny, start here:

http://www.bladebunny.com/comic/bunny-blade-cover-final/

And follow me on Twitter!

@MAWeeden

Dark Link Trailer & Character Information!

We've done it!

And by it, I am of course referring to the Official Teaser for our new IP called Dark Link. After the video, I'll explain in this blog post what you are seeing and why you are seeing it. Enjoy this first look at an exciting new title from Bio's Remnant Gaming.

The Art and Animation of Larc Muckenmuller

The bit of gameplay footage you see in this brief teaser is the proverbial star of the show. Our Art Lead - the aforementioned Larc - did an amazing job of creating this Mephistopolian backdrop and bit of character work. You can clearly see Kaela moving to hide behind what we call a "Boo Box" before she is suddenly transformed into a rather ghastly monster named Rendark. He proceeds to launch himself at a second "Boo Box", destroying it and releasing the soul of some unfortunate creature from its prison.

And that is all you get for now. I know, the pixel art is better than anything many of you have ever seen (certainly surprised the hell out of me) and the world is definitely interesting, but I have to admit that we are still VERY early in the process of making this game. This footage wasn't even done in an engine. We have a long way to go.

This teaser was born out of the necessity of having something for us to take to Web Summit 2014 in Dublin, Ireland. We can show off our ideas and where our creative headspace is at while also displaying some of the work of our remarkably talented staff. This should go a long way in helping us secure some capital moving forward.

This month is already shaping up to be an exciting one, and not just because my birthday is tomorrow. We will find out over the next few weeks what exactly Bio's Remnant Gaming is and what we are going to have the resources to do as a company. I am excited by what is happening and can't wait to start proper development on this amazing game (as well as others!). Be on the lookout for some pretty meaty updates over the next few weeks.

And, as always, good luck!

~Matt

Middle of the Month October (Dark Link Update!)

Wow is the word to describe my current schedule. It has been difficult to even find time to catch my breath, let alone maintain the most interesting blog ever written. A lot of family matters have come to a head here these last two weeks coinciding with the Bio's Remnant Gaming work that is also coming to a sharp point as well.

Everything happens at once, right?

Not everything that is happening is bad either. A lot of good things are taking place in regards to Dark Link, as evidenced by this picture.

Major ultra-epic kudos to Larc Muckenmuller who is currently breathing color and life into Mephistopolis and the characters of Dark Link. This might just be a simple idle animation but it represents the culmination of planning and hard work of us over at Bio's Remnant Gaming.

Soon, we'll have the trailer put together for our company to take to the Web Summit in Dublin, Ireland. There are still some questions about who is going and what is going on there but hopefully some good things will happen with our indiegogo campaign and we can have our cake and eat it too. Please give it a look and let me know if you think I can improve it over the next couple of days.

If you can donate, that is epic too! You can even get a signed art print from the artist who did the above awesomeness. Cool right? What are you waiting for then?

And check back here. I'll have more updates!

~Penfighter

Shadow of Mordor: Not You Again!

Scratch one game off of this list of games I want to play. I picked up my copy of Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor yesterday for my Xbox One, and after spending about six and a half hours on it last night, I have a first impression for you!

Also, I've included a segment that details the death of Muzglob the Painted as a way of demonstrating how the lauded Nemesis system works with the rest of the game.

The First Few Minutes

I won't spoil the story of the beginning too much here in my blog, but I did enjoy how they worked the movement and combat tutorials into that story. By the time the cut scenes finished rolling and the music reached a crescendo I felt confident I would be able to handle the controls well enough. Though, to be honest, that confidence likely came from my extensive experience with the Arkham and Assassin's Creed games, respectively. If you have played both of these titles before then the controls will feel right at home.

The open-world portion of the game begins on a giant tower that isn't actually there (you'll see). You have a mission to assassinate someone as well as about a dozen or so icons scattered throughout the map around you. I got the sense from these first moments that there was a LOT to do here. Some open-world titles don't necessarily give you a lot to do between one point and another but that is definitely not the case here. I found myself distracted by a number of things as I made my way through the layered and texture rich environment.

One of those things was the beauty of the game. It is every bit as gorgeous as a new-gen title should be, particularly at night in the rain. I finally feel like a game of mine is getting the most out my new console visually.

Anyway, as I was saying, before reaching that first assassination target, I found myself distracted by opportunities to free slaves, a few collectibles, and of course the chance to fight dozens of enemies clad in various types of armor and wielding a variety of weapons. My skill with rhythm-based combat is such that I was able to survive these initial encounters, especially since I'd stealth kill a few before the real fighting began.

 The Combat & Movement

The fast-paced rhythm based combat is similar to what was done in the Arkham games but has notable differences thanks to the swordplay, wraith abilities, and ranged combat effectiveness of Talion, the protagonist of Shadow of Morder. Experienced players will enjoy being able to set how helpful the combat prompts are if wanting more of a challenge. I can say though, do not let the ease of the early fights dissuade you. As you fight your way up the Orc and Uruk ranks, you'll find yourself dying more than you might have thought based on this early encounters.

The movement is close to Assassin's Creed but the world itself is very different from anything seen in those varied titles. You might be pushing similar buttons as you would for AC: III or IV, but the logic is a bit different. Especially after a couple of hours when you begin to receive movement bonuses thanks to new abilities you've unlocked for your wraith.  

If you haven't played either of those games, then note that the combat in this one will transition seamlessly from stealth to combat based on how you choose to engage your targets. Taking the time to meticulously sneak your way through a stronghold assassinating the Uruks one at a time until they are gone is a good way to build up XP for upgrades but takes a while. Charging in sword drawn is possible if you have nimble fingers but can be ridiculously difficult if enough shielded and berserker enemies join the fray.

Killing Muzglob the Painted

Some hours into the game, I decided it was time to kill this Warchief by the name of Muzglob the Painted. After interrogating a lowly Captain of the first tier, I learned that he had a couple of weaknesses and who his bodyguard was. This was, to my dismay, Tumug the Bloody. You see, Tumug and I have a history going back about four hours (and several deaths) ago.

Tumug Must Die

I had been chasing after some minor captain by the name of Skurg or something like that early in the game when Tumug (just a random, nameless enemy at first) shows up with a shield and spear. The captain I was attempting to interrogate for information on his Warchief was an archer and was pelting me with arrows as I tried to kill the shielded uruk. Eventually, the pair got the best of me and Tumug finished me with a vicious spear thrust. He insulted me as any good Uruk might and I respawned.

Almost immediately after jumping down from one of the towers Talion re-spawns at, Tumug was there with a posse and was eager to do me in again. He succeeded much faster than I would like to admit and I could do nothing but watch as he gained power and dueled another Uruk in the Sauron's Army 'mini-game' or whatever it is. He beat that Uruk and climbed the ranks.

Over the next couple of hours, Tumug dueled, recruited, and challenged his way up the ranks until he was a high level captain of about 13 or 14.  I would kill a captain or stop a duel only to see Tumug gaining power and respect amongst his peers. I definitely wanted to kill this ugly, spear-wielding jerk but was also mildly concerned that at this point, he was beyond my capabilities.

However, I did discover before doing in that lowly first tier captain (as I stated in the first paragraph) that Tumug was Muzglob's bodyguard. Getting rid of him would make my life easier during my assassination attempt of Muzglob so I made the call and selected Tumug as my target. He was holed up in a crumbling stone structure with a group of about twelve shielded uruks and several more warriors and archers. I did the archers on the raised platforms in with stealth kills and my bow (which is fired much like the bow in the Tomb Raider remake) before doing my best to polish off as many of the shielded guys as possible before the real fighting began.

When it finally did, it was not simple. In order to get past an uruk defender's shield, you have to "vault" over him as part of your continuing "streak" and slash or pound at his back. This can take several tries per Uruk and when there is a pack of them things can get pretty desperate. I knew that Tumug had a weakness to monsters however so I started looking for a caged carragor (think Warg). I found one on my mini-map and bolted from the battle. I found a nice perch on a stone wall that gave me a good vantage point to fire at the lock from and released the beast.   

He tore through the ranks pretty effectively and it ended up being just Tumug and a couple of his guys trying to stay alive against the creature. I hopped down and brutally finished off one of Tumug's buddies. I actually helped Tumug dispatch the carragor before turning my attention on the now weakened and army-less captain. I managed to stun him with my wraith fist ability and managed to kill him after a series of flurry strikes. Or so I thought.

You Again!?  

I went after the supposed bodyguard-less Muzglob at that point in his stone stronghold. Again, I used stealth to climb and infiltrate the compound, killing everything I could find as I went. My information told me that ol' Muzglob only had two weaknesses and one of those was ranged attacks. So I settled in by a nice little stash of Elven arrows and proceeded to attack him once he made it out onto this stone span between two of the structures.

Lo and behold, Tumug pops out of hiding and gets between me and his master, blathering on about the scar I left him with. What worse, he's invulnerable to ranged so now my plan is ineffective. Still, I am hoping that I can use a stealth finisher on Muzglob (his other weakness) if I can cause some distractions and move around behind him. I end up failing to accomplish this task and get overwhelmed trying to escape the structure. The lucky Uruk who got this kill is called Kaka and he now becomes a Captain. 

To keep a long story from getting any longer, it would be several more tries before I could even get Tumug killed off again (he ends up being level 19...and another one Korosh who I thought was dead is now level 20 and nigh invincible) let alone make another attempt at killing Muzglob.

NEMESIS

Because of this system, I found myself relishing in the death of Tumug, even though it wasn't technically as important as Muzglob's demise. Tumug had insulted me, killed me, and escaped death too many times for me to let him live. It was a genuinely rewarding experience to do him in. I just hope he stays dead this time.

The other factor in all of this are the runes that you get from killing off captains. The one I received from offing Tumug this last time was quite good thanks to his now super-high power level. I got a level 21 Sword Rune that grants me 21% defense versus ranged attacks. Not too shabby. And every time I look at the rune I'm treated to the image of Tumug's ugly face contorted in pain as he leis dead on the ground.

Now, I have seen other gamers and reviewers commenting on how this system has no context. That killing someone as Tumug doesn't really change anything physical in the game. From where I am sitting, I don't know what they are talking about. Mordor is a sea of orcs and uruks so the death of one or a handful shouldn't upset the balance of Sauron's plans. Not in the slightest. The context for these deaths came solely from my own mind as I desired to end the lives of these villains. Not because the game told me to or the story dictated it, but because he was a bastard and I wanted him dead.

That is the first time I've ever had that particular type of motivation in a game. This story of Tumug is MINE and belongs to no one else. Go out and find your own stories in this game, that is the point!

~Penfighter

Why So Picky?

When did gamers become so picky?

I am not about to go on a baseless rant against gamer culture and attitudes and nothing in this blog will have anything to do with GamerGate. I am simply reaching out to my fellow gamers in an attempt to understand why we've become so damned picky about the games we play. To be clear, I'm not referring to personal preference. Hey, everyone has their own style. What I am referring to is the apparent and incessant need to color that entire opinion based on a few things in a game that you don't care for or are broken.

These thoughts are directly coming out of a recent conversation I had with a fellow gamer. This guy was bashing Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag because of its perpetuation of the so-simple-it-is-boring combat and the outdated "tailing" mechanics. He said things like, "I hate this game" and "this is a travesty". When I asked him if there were any redeeming qualities his reply startled me. "Yes, but they don't matter. This game sucks."

They don't matter.   

I remember being a kid and this same buddy told me that the odd controls and the difficulty of simply moving around in Neversoft's Apocalypse didn't matter because the game was still fun. He said, "I find stuff to like."

Which is why I'm asking the question when did we become so picky? When did "fun" become less important than a game's perfection?

I disliked several things about Black Flag but I enjoyed several mechanics as well. Building up a navy from the ships I boarded and took for myself was a great deal of fun. I'll remember sailing around the Caribbean, diving for collectibles, and those wonderful sea shanties for a long time. I understand the objective need to let people know that I didn't like many things about that game but to go all out and call it a "shitty" game is ludicrous.

Right now, Destiny players are all over the map. I'm hearing more complaints than I can even remember to mention here in this post. "The game is too short" or "its just Halo" are two of the common ones right now. You know what I haven't heard or seen one person say? 'I'm having fun playing Destiny'.

If we were kids, we'd be out of our minds right now! I mean, we get to  online in this world with our friends and kill aliens! Even as an adult I can't wait to get in there and play in that sandbox. I know there isn't enough content to satisfy me right now but I also know that Bungie intends on pumping that game full of new stuff all the time. So it doesn't matter. I'm actually excited by that because it means I can play it for a bit then put it down and go on to the Elder Scrolls Online on my Xbox One and the other titles I'm itching to play.

This paragraph is normally where there would be a call to action. I have none. I am honestly just trying to figure out why it doesn't seem like we are having fun anymore. I do have gamer friends who get all excited like I do about games and have a lot of fun. But that number of friends I have who have more complaints than praise for their games is increasing.

Why? Are games really worse than ever or are we just getting picky? I don't know.

Writing and Development Assistance Day

Friend,

You've probably seen me blasting twitter all day with hashtags about game development and writing. I want to lead this blog post off by saying that yes, my offer to provide feedback and to answer questions relative to those tags is as simple as it sounds. Just drop a comment here, e-mail me at the_last_penfighter@hotmail.com, find me on skype by looking for the name Hexias, or drop me a line via twitter @MAWeeden.

I am giving myself to the gaming community today in an effort to restore a little goodwill and companionship to a community that has seen a lot of toxicity lately. So if you know anyone who is aspiring to write or develop video games (or books, comics, etc) please give them the contact information I have listed here and tell them that I am eager to help.

I am looking for questions you might have that relate to the development of YOUR games and IPs. Not mine. This day is not for me. The only gain here for me is to fulfill my selfish desire to get to know everyone I possibly can in the industry. Ask away! No question is too small!

My main skills are with content generation, gameplay design, character development, script writing, and story writing. But I might be able to help with other areas as well. Just ask!

I will be doing this until about 6:00pm Central Time (it is currently 11:21). That said, I will not close my inbox to anyone at any time in the future. I will just be ceasing my bombardment of twitter at that time.

See you around! And happy writing!

~Matt

You can also use the submission form to contact me found here (the submit button will send it to my e-mail): http://biosremnant.weebly.com/get-a-hold-of-us.html

List of Upcoming Games I Have to Try

Has anyone else noticed the massive list of games set to release this fall and winter? With the release of Destiny, we've officially started a cycle of releases that seems to guarantee we'll have something to play well into the spring and summer months of next year. This remains true even if some of them are duds!

Here is a quick hit-list of games that you probably shouldn't miss. I will attempt to do this without unnecessarily fueling any hype trains and without adhering to any of my usual biases. In this day and age I believe it is important for gamers such as myself to try and look at a game release objectively. With that in mind, here is my list in chronological order! (Be sure to bookmark so that you can keep track as well! Also, comment with any games you think I need to add to my list. Lastly, this information is up-to-date as of the publishing of this article. I will post notes or comments if I update it any further)

First up is Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor set to release September 30. This "nemesis" system they keep showing off has me intrigued. I've seen enough gameplay videos to see that this game will most likely play and feel like a fusion of Rocksteady's Arkham games and the Assassin's Creed franchise. Whether or not this is a good thing is up for debate but the system of creating, dispatching, and dominating your enemies based on how you - the gamer - wish to do so is tantalizing. Here's to hoping that the open-world aspects have plenty to offer as well or this might end up just being a quick novelty instead of a sturdy addition to my library.

Alien: Isolation, releasing on October 7, has me guessing at this point in regards to what the actual gameplay will be come launch, but as a massive fan of Ridley Scott's Alien I can't help myself but be a little biased. That said, at this point this game doesn't have a high spot on my list of priorities. I simply don't know enough about the style of play right now to make an informed decision about purchasing this game. Information might be out there, however, so I'll do some digging this weekend and see if I can't learn anything new.

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel releases on October 14 and might be one of the safest bets of the month. After watching the videos they've released and reading what is coming out of Gearbox, it seems evident that this is another Borderlands game. Some might say "just another Borderlands game" but I'd respond by saying, so what? Some of the most fun I've had on my Xbox 360 was spent on Pandora. This game looks like it adds a few new twists to a formula that has proven to be successful. I'm not saying it can't fail, but if you liked the other Borderlands games then you probably shouldn't miss this one either.

The next game on my list is Civilization: Beyond Earth which releases for the PC on October 24. Some are calling this the "next Alpha Centauri" but I'm not willing to heap a pile of baseless hype onto that topic. It does appear to be 'Civilization on new planets out in space' but I haven't seen anything that shows the same level of tech and unit customization as I saw with Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. Another item that made that the original so good was the personality of each nation. It is difficult to say if Civilization: BE will showcase leaders as personal and different as the likes of Daedra Skye and Colonel Santiago. More importantly, it is no secret that some recent Civ titles have had their share of bugs or mistakes on release. Perhaps it would be best to see what happens a few days after launch before purchasing this title. (Still, it is Civ so I will eventually own this game. Even if I end up waiting for the expansion to fix any bugs.)

Some of you are going to roll your eyes about some of the games on this list.  Heck, even as I write the title Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (November 4) I can almost hear those eyes rolling about. I invite you, Doubting Gamer, to at least give this one a chance before you dismiss it out of hand.  Especially if you are judging it because you don't like Activision or you don't like previous entries in the series. Being honest, I haven't enjoyed a Call of Duty game since World at War. Objectively however there is enough here for me to be interested in at least giving it the good ol' college try. It remains to be seen if Sledgehammer will finally provide us with a proper campaign to play through, but the multiplayer reveals that they've done this year are enough to at least plant the notion in my skull that I shouldn't pass this game by like I did Black Ops II.


The next game shares a release date with another title in the same franchise. Bonkers, right? Assassin's Creed Unity comes out November 11 and is at the top of my list. I share a lot of concern with other gamers that the AC franchise has grown a bit stale in regards to gameplay and difficulty. That concern has been obliterated by the mentality of this title's developers and the risks they've taken to give us a story and associated game-play that they truly believe in. I also like the idea of them going back to some of the fundamentals of the first game including a return to assassinations being the focus of the game. I believe in what Alex Pedneault and the rest of the dev team are doing with this game enough to do even pre-order the collector's edition. Some would say that the joke is on me if the game sucks and they might be right. However, forming opinions takes research and thought. I've done both and refuse to be swayed by those who don't want anything to do with this title because they disliked other entries in the franchise.

Assassin's Creed: Rogue also releases on the 11th but I am not as excited about this one yet. Mostly because I am not convinced it clearly separates itself from the boring, all-too-easy combat and horrid stalking missions of previous entries. The notion of playing as a Templar has my curiosity piqued enough to want to give this game a fair chance. 



Halo: Master Chief Collection comes to the Xbox One on November 11 as well. What a busy week this one will be for my console! Anyway there isn't much time I need to spend on this one. I am a massive fan of Halo so it makes sense that I'd want to play all four core games with updated graphics and framerates (I'm still playing them on my 360). The multiplayer has me excited as does the access to the Halo 5 Multiplayer Beta  (set to release on December 29) and the Ridley Scott produced Halo: Nightfall series that comes with the collection. The only thing I want more than this collection is Halo 5 itself. 


Dragon Age: Inquisition will come out seven days later on November 18 and will find its way to my game shelf soon thereafter simply because it is a fantasy RPG. Sounds pretty biased and I'll admit that I definitely am subjective when it comes to dealing with this genre.  I did not care for DA: II that much but the first one left me wanting more. Hopefully this one is a good RPG adventure more along the lines of what I'm used to getting from other franchises boasting the name BioWare. Its new engine and open theme leave me with hope that I'm not too far off the mark in adding this to my list.

The last one on my list for now is FarCry 4, which also releases on the 18th. I had a great deal of fun playing FarCry 3 and I hope I'm not let down by the next installment in th3 franchise. The new setting looks to be even better and the open-world design and gameplay I came to enjoy from the last FarCry game seems to be in full swing. I have seen some gameplay videos that left me feeling that there isn't as much innovation as some might be wanting from a next-gen title. However just as with Borderlands, more of the same is more than enough for me with certain franchises. I didn't tire of the last one in the series until I'd found every last nook and cranny there was to explore. I believe the next one will hold me in a similar grip.





And that about does it for my list. I do want to point out that for the time being, I am almost exclusively playing games on my Xbox One & 360. Aside from Civilization, there isn't much I intend to get and put on my laptop. You will also note the absence of any indie games. The honest reason here is that I have had enough bad experiences getting excited about an indie game only to realize it wasn't what I was expecting. I have become a bit more cautious about these over the last couple of years. I'll definitely write up a piece about the indies that look good in the coming days.

If you are excited about a game, please let me know below!

Far Too Long

Friends,

Apologies for the lengthy hiatus from posting here. I have received quite a few emails inquiring about the status of my blog and whether or not it is dead. I can confidently report that this blog is still, in fact, very alive.

My lack of posting here is not an isolated occurrence. I am not really posting anywhere! Work with Bio's Remnant Gaming has been keeping me incredibly busy and much of what I am doing with them is done behind closed doors for now. I am certain that when some of the projects we have been developing finally see some light you will here plenty about what I've been up to.

In the mean time, I will be following up this remarkably brief blog post with commentary on the gaming industry as well as indie game development. Heck, I might even toss in a review or two!

Check back often!

~Matt