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Injustice 2 Drowns Players In Content!

With the success of Injustice: Gods Among Us it was only a matter of time before Warner Brothers and NetherRealm Studios released a sequel, and they really went for it this time.  Just about all of your favorite characters are available in this twisted take on the DC Universe, and you will not run out of things to do any time soon.  My only complaints are:

  • I am really bad at fighting games
  • They really push the micro-transactions

If you unfamiliar with the DC Injustice Universe let me fill you in: The Joker killed Lois Lane and that sent Superman down the path to the Darkseid, so Batman and a group of reformed villians needed to take down Superman and his Regime that wanted to murder all bad guys.  Injustice 2 starts some time after Clark’s defeat, but now Brainiac has shown up and the world may need Superman again.

If you are thinking that is a pretty involved story for a fighting game, you would be right.  The single-player story is excellent in Injustice 2.  I would almost call it a must play for any DC Comics fans out there.  Even if the Injustice Universe is a dark mirror to the actual DC Universe (though Batman v Superman did hint at it).  The story and cut-scenes are just great!

As I said, I am terrible at fighting games, so I am probably not the best person to extol a fighting system, but Injustice 2’s feels intuitive to the point where it is easy to understand, but I am still trying to get the hang of the finer points, so my combo game is not on point.  What I am saying is, it feels good even if I have to play the game on easy.

Besides single-player, just about every mode you can imagine is available.  Including a new Multiverse mode that changes up the game’s mechanics, but the real addition is the loot.  There is tons of loot to customize the characters with.  If is fun to open Mother-boxes and see what is inside to slap on to my fighters.  Even if most players online force you to turn off all the equipment’s bonuses.  Not to mention you will need to level your heroes and villains to just put on a lot of the stuff you get.  Meaning you will have to play Injustice 2 a lot to get the most out of the ‘Gear’ system.

The biggest flaw this game has is all the focus on micro-transactions.  There are like five types of currency in this game, and you can pay for four of them.  I just paid $60 for this game, I don’t want to be nicked and dimed for other crap.  New characters is one thing, but paying to trade in ‘Gear’ is another.

I have been loving this game, and I am trying to get better at it, so that I can enjoy it more.  The terrible micro-transaction system is not enough to keep me from playing it.  If you like fighting games or DC Comics, Injustice 2 is well worth checking out.  Maybe you will see me online, and you can destroy me.

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Kimmy Schmidt Is Still Unbreakable In Season 3!

Season 3 of Kimmy Schmidt is now on Netflix, and it is a return to form after the funny, yet slightly disappointing second season.  Now Kimmy is trying to move her life forward by going to college and continuing to do odd jobs, but her life in the bunker just won’t let her go.

Things like her bunker-mate’s cult threating to get violent to The Reverend needing to get a divorce so he can marry a very misguided woman just keep getting in the way, but it is all handled with Kimmy’s overly positive go-get-’em attitude.  That is not to say she still doesn’t have to deal with some issues, because she definitely does, but she and her show are moving forward quite well.

I was very happy to see Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt get back on track, and I hope it stays there.  The only problem is that now I have to wait another year for more Kimmy, and that doesn’t seem fair.  At least it is something to look forward too.

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So I Hear You Want Overwatch In Your Quake!

Are you old enough to remember Quake?  The game where memorizing the map and running a circuit to maximize weapon and armor spawns was vital to staying alive and climbing the leader board?  Well Quake Champions is still that, except now you have the titular “Champions” with special abilities.  So while you are running your circuit, every now and then you can pop your ability and go invisible, teleport or leave a stream of plasma in your wake.

There are a couple of new modes: Duel, where you pick your three favorite Champions and then go one on one with another player.  Kill the other player’s three Champions and you win!  But since I am terrible, this is not a mode for me.  However, Sacrifice, which is center flag but like LawBreakers you need to guard the “soul” in your area for a while before you get the point, is a lot of fun.

My only reservation about Quake Champions is the price.  It is “Free”, but that only gets you one Champion.  There is going to be a deal to unlock all the Champions from the start, but they haven’t said how much that will be yet.  In my mind it should be like $20, and then they can nickel and dime you for chests and backpacks which give you Champion customizations and whatnot.

Quake Champions is a fun game, and it feels like its namesake.  I just hope that the free2play aspects of the game don’t ruin it.  If you can get the base heroes for a reasonable price I can see this becoming a hit.  If Bethesda overcharges for the Champions, there are a lot of other games to play, and the draw for Quake Champions will just not be there.  Especially considering  I can get Quake 3 for just a few bucks.

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Phantom Dust Is Back! … And Well … Its Back!

Hey remember Phantom Dust from the original Xbox?  No?  Well you are not alone, but you should remember because it was an excellent game.  It is a third person action/RPG/Collectable Card Game!  Yes, it is all of those things.  Phantom Dust has had a troubled past, but now you can play it for free!  That is right, FREE!  And you should.

Phantom Dust was a Japanese game for the original Xbox, and as such it never really caught on, but those that did play it, loved it, and those diehards have been asking for a sequel/reboot for years.  It seemed in 2014 that those fans were getting their wish, but the reboot got canceled.  Then at E3 last year Microsoft revealed that they were rereleasing the title with achievements and Xbox Live play, but they didn’t really talk about it for a year until like a month ago when they did a gameplay video with Polygon.  Then two days ago they just released it … for free.

Since it is an old game it will run on anything with Windows 10, even with the high resolution turned on (though to go full screen you need to hit Alt-Enter, I had to go on Twitter to learn that), or of course you can play it on your Xbox One.  While the graphics are nothing fancy, they do hold up surprisingly well.  With the exception of the in-engine cut-scenes: they look terrible.  A word of warning, the single-player starts off slow.  I mean really slow.  The deck building component doesn’t come in for a few hours, and that is most of the fun.  Just getting random Skills and then spamming them at bots gets a little tedious, though it is a good reminder on how to play.

Oh yeah, how you play.  Pretty much you make an Arsenal (AKA Deck) then you hope the Skills (AKA Cards) that you selected show up in the order that you want them to in the form of orbs on the battlefield, so you design your Arsenal around Skills that compliment each other.  Then run around trying not to get hit with other player’s Skills while launching Skills of your own.  Though not all Skills are attacks.  Some are shields or let you fly, steal or wipe out other player’s Skills, that kind of thing.  Anyway, it is a great way to represent a card game in an action game.  The more matches or single-player you play, the more money you get, so the more Skills you can buy, or you can spend real cash on Skills as well.

Since Phantom Dust is a rerelease and not a reboot, don’t expect to be blown away, but the core gameplay holds up very well, and with the non-existent price of admission, you should give it a shot.  Though if you are going to grind through the single-player to get cash and Skills, remember to be patient.  It gets better, much better.

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Even Digital Games Have A Shelf Life

Just seven years after its release Alan Wake has been removed from digital store fronts.  For some this is rather shocking.  I mean the whole point of buying games digitally is that they will always be available, but apparently always available is not the same thing as always for sale.  It turns out Alan Wake’s awesome soundtrack is what did it in.  It got to the point that renewing the licensing on the music made selling the game no longer profitable.

Of course Alan Wake is not alone in its demise.  Racing games are always disappearing from store fronts because car companies ask a king’s ransom for their cars’ likenesses in games, and just like music, those licenses expire.  We just notice less with racing game because there is always a newer and better one on the Horizon.  With Alan Wake, there is not another one coming.

While all of this make sense, it is strange to think that in this modern era where storage is cheap that digital items will not always be for sale.  Even more ponderous is that a song from 1963 is that main culprit.  All of this to say, if you have been meaning to buy a game for a few years now, maybe you should pick it up when it is on sale because it may disappear forever.  Though for a chilling game like Alan Wake, disappearing without a trace is a fitting end.