WAIM: September 14, 2009 - Everything Old Is New Again Edition

I have been away from the blog without announcement for a while now and I just wanted to clue everyone in on the reason. I have been working toward a promotion at the "in real life" job and I am happy to say that I have attained that promotion. The rest is all bells and whistles and I can once again dedicate myself to regular updates. Though I am sure no one has been dying without everything that I have to say, here is what I have been tinkering with over the past two weeks:

Since I have finished Batman I have not been back to the game. This is not to the game's discredit, I just wanted to return to the games that I felt that I did not have enough time with this past summer.

I started off by attaining 100% of items in Shadow Complex which to those who do not know where everything is (even when they tell you that an item is in a room (Level 20)) it is no small feat. It is quite fun and you can truly feel a sense of achievement when you have done it yourself.

I also picked up Gears of War 2 multiplayer again on Labor Day weekend. I miss playing this game and I managed to nab a few achievements because of the double EXP weekend that was taking place. I also managed to notice a few things about the game that I had not noticed before. One was that when you use the Cyclops Locust you can see the light shining from the eye as though the light were reflecting off the the dust in the air. It was a nice little nuance that made me smile. The second thing is something that I cannot remember for the life of me.

The last game that I have been playing a lot lately, once again, is Battlefield 1943. I cannot get enough and I also managed to nab a few more achievements in the game. It should be easy enough to collect the rest of them with regular playing of the game.

That is about it for now but you can be assured that you can count on more posts from me during the week. Thanks for hanging in there.

WAIM: September 2, 2009 - A Week Off

So it has been a week since we have last spoken and what a glorious week it has been. Today is my last day of seven days in a row of work so you can expect more out of this blog in the days to come.

This week I have been playing nothing but Batman: Arkham Asylum and you should expect the review for that tomorrow. You should also expect the review for Shadow Complex on Friday and one last thing that you can expect is a BGE original article.

You should be excited.

I think that I am going to go back through various games this week ranging from Shadow Complex, Batman, Gears of War 2, etc.

Gears of War 2: All Fronts Collection Coming to Retail in July

Epic Games and Microsoft Game Studios are going to be doing the right thing by me on July 28, 2009 by releasing the All Fronts Collection. Here's why:

The collection includes all of the Gears 2 DLC to date, along with Dark Fronts, a collection of seven new multiplayer maps...

In order to make the pack worthwhile to those who've already downloaded the majority of the Gears 2 DLC, the package also contains an introduction from Cliff Bleszinski for "Road to Ruin", a collectible poster, a strategy guide, and a custom Xbox Live theme.

As you may or may not know I have not yet made the leap into GOW2 DLC. It has come out too rapid fire for my tastes and I have not played in a while so I was just waiting until I was ready.

Like I said, I will be ready on July 28 when I can have all that is listed above for only 20 bucks. In my opinion that is a steal. Is anyone else excited by this?

[Via Kotaku]

Game Diary - Hoard the Horde

I finally attained the achievement for surviving all 50 waves in Horde (GOW2). It was really fun and I probably would have not completed it if I did not get to do it with friends.

I would like to try playing this mode on other levels because it was relatively easy playing through it on 'Day One'. The only thing hard about it is finding the time to play through an entire fifty rounds.

If you have not yet played Gears of War 2, really, what are you waiting for?


The only other thing that has really been on my mind as of late in relation to games is The Beatles Rock Band. I have been listening to The Beatles like crazy lately and it has really has my wanting to get back into playing Rock Band again. Call me crazy but I want the 250 dollar bundle. I'll sell off my other RB instruments just to have this come to fruition. Anyone else looking forward to this game?

Game Diary: Futile Attempts to Play EVERYTHING

Seeing as there has not been a glut of news to talk about I will talk about the glut of games that I still have to finish at least once. This “list” of games that I still have to play does not even include the games that I have consistently been playing which are Left 4 Dead and Gears of War 2.

I haven’t touched Gears’ multiplayer mainly because I just cannot get into a game. Horde has been enough to keep me playing. Left 4 Dead is keeping me from playing Fallout 3. I’ll cite a specific instance: The other day I had at least four hours to devote to get back into the Wasteland but I ended up playing versus mode in L4D with friends. It was the most fun I have had with the game so far and I personally think that is saying something for me.

I feel like I have about 40 hours left to go in Fallout but that is just a rough estimation. This is the biggest game that I need to complete and after that I might be “on track” for the new games coming out in 2009. I want to be able to go back to Fable 2 when the DLC comes out but I do not think I’ll have beaten Fallout. I am also interested in playing “The Lost and Damned” DLC because I honestly think I’ll enjoy the return to Liberty City.

I am on a ticking timeline until Halo Wars comes out which will undoubtedly take up a lot of my time and will because one of my go to multiplayer games of choice. I have until March 3rd to feel as if I have played all of the holiday games sufficiently.

The annoying part of this is that I haven’t touched three games that I would like to play to completion: Mirror’s Edge, Dead Space, and Prince of Persia. I feel like at least one of these games is going to be forgotten for a while and I will bet that it will be Dead Space. Perhaps I could borrow that game from my little brother next time I visit my parent’s house. I am sure that would include trading one of my games for a temporary period of time, an idea I am not too keen on.

Honestly I am hoping for a slow gaming summer so that I can catch up because I just do not see how it is feasible otherwise.

It might sound like I am complaining about all of the games that I have to play but that is not the case. I just wish the publishers would space their games out so a person could actually give their game a shot.

As a last note I have not even touched my DS since I have been playing games again. I think portable gaming does go through spurts.

Next: Perhaps a blog entry that is somewhat news related.

The Holiday Season

A good friend of mine probably had the better idea this holiday season; he played one or two games that he gave his full attention to while I have or will be trying to play five or six. The only game that I am not accepting less than the best from myself in is Fallout 3. I have to do every thing possible because it will be the title I go to last to play again (not because of the quality but because of the length and my related lack of time).

No other title makes you feel like you have to do so much in such a grand world (except for maybe Oblivion), but then again, in Oblivion, do you really feel like you are shaping the world around you? Naturally, Fallout 3 being the game that makes one feel like they are experiencing the most original concept would make it ultimate game of the year material. Possibly for some, but for myself, it is all about the raw fun, the laughs, and just the good times.

For me the game that brings the most fun is feeling like a tie. Between the dirty, dirty Horde mode (GOW2) and the overall re playable nature of Left 4 Dead I am left with a hard decision. I cannot tell you which one I'll play longer either. Only time is going to be able to tell on this one. But if there is one thing I can say about L4D that I cannot yet say about GOW, is that my wife is going to be playing L4D with myself and my good friends (that might be your decision there).

But it is not yet time for this decision because I haven't played Dead Space or Mirror's Edge yet. Hopefully I'll have squeezed them in there somehow by the end of this year otherwise I'll spend all of next year playing catch up once again (the likeliest of scenarios).

How about you? What are you playing/not playing? What are you playing now and what are you saving for later?