While logging into the WiFi at Starbucks yesterday I saw something wonderful. An ad for early access to the coveted Pumpkin Spice Latte.
To get your PSL fan pass, head over to this link and type in the password (‘Pumpkin’). You’ll then be asked to type in your phone number and you’ll receive your very own PSL fanpass which when shown to a barista should allow you to order the Pumpkin Spice Latte before its official release.
I’m looking forward to trying this out later today. Fall is on its way, and the best part of Fall is the return of the Pumpkin Spice Latte!
In the past month I’ve gone from having completely forgotten about Destiny, to at times being borderline addicted and obsessed. Last week I ordered this cool looking Destiny shirt that finally arrived yesterday:
I also got a window sticker for my car:
How did I get here? Well what finally hooked me was doing the raids for the first time. As I’ve already said, completing Vault of Glass was an absolute blast, and last week I finally did Crota’s End for the first time as well.
The Crota raid was much easier than Vault of Glass, however the two times I did Vault of Glass were on Hard, so I’m not sure if that was a factor. Either way, the mechanics of Crota were much easier to get the hang of, and it was awesome to finally down Crota. It was even more exciting, because I looted my very first exotic from the raid (the rest came from Xur): Ice Breaker!
Continuing with my obsession, I’ve tried redeeming the Red Bull codes for the XP boost (hoping to level up my weapons), however have yet to have success. All of my codes redeemed without issue, yet nothing ever showed up at the postmaster. I’ve tried three codes so far and haven’t received anything. Lame.
Next on the Destiny Agenda I plan to do my first Nightfall and Prison of Elders if I can find groups to do them with. We’ll see how it goes.
I’ve never really gotten into the Metal Gear series, however everything I saw about MGSV looked intriguing. I liked the idea of trying to sneak into bases and take out a target or rescue a hostage. I also liked that MGSV would provide players with plenty of firepower and the option to go in guns blazing if they so choose. This sounded appealing, because I’m terribly impatient and am horrible at stealth missions in games. I decided I’d purchase Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
I should note that my only experience with the Metal Gear series comes from watching someone play the first Metal Gear Solid back in 1998. I remember trying to play it, however my eleven year old self couldn’t handle the sneaking and I would always get angry when I got spotted and panic. I also played Metal Gear Solid 2 on the Xbox, but remember very little from it besides getting so frustrated with the underwater section that I nearly quit. I played around with Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, but never really got too far in it.
Because of my lack of knowledge of the Metal Gear series, the opening of MGSV left me dumbfounded. Not only did I not know what was going on with the characters (or who any of them really were), but the incredibly strange nature of everything that was happening caught me off guard. I expected Metal Gear to be something of a serious game, not quite as sci-fi and nonsensical. I’m still uncertain if the opening sequence was some sort of dream or hallucination. Everything seemed so normal at the start and before I knew it I was being chased from characters out of a comic book movie. This all put me off, and I thought for awhile I may have made a mistake by trying to jump in with the fifth game.
The opening sequence is long, and the player has very little agency. I almost would have preferred to have it all be one long cutscene, because every time the game gives control to the player there’s quite literally nothing to do but look around or press forward. In fact, the opening bored me so much that by the end of it I had fallen asleep (I was playing after work) and I awoke to a mission complete screen. I’m not sure what I missed but it probably doesn’t matter.
Once I got into the game proper, I finally started to enjoy myself. The game looks great and controls very well. Everything Snake does feels just right. The sneaking isn’t too difficult, but I still always find myself getting spotted. Luckily once you’re spotted the game provides you with a reaction moment where you can save yourself by either pulling off a headshot with a tranquilizer round or by knocking the enemy out with a close quarters combat maneuver. I haven’t failed a mission yet, however I have been downed by a flurry of enemy fire, but was able to heal myself and get out of the situation. I’m not sure if there’s a limitation on healing, but when you’re badly injured you can hold ‘Y’ to get yourself back in the action. In this case I switched to a rifle and just blasted everyone dead before sprinting out of the complex and to the helicopter without ever turning back.
Shooting myself out of bad situations hasn’t always been helpful, however. I was on a side ops mission and ended up shooting the person I was supposed to extract, thus failing the mission. Luckily the game doesn’t greet you with a fail screen, but rather leaves you in the open world with a ‘side ops cancelled’ message.
I’m not quite certain how I should be managing the Mother Base, but I’ve been having a blast fultoning any knocked out enemy back to my base to be one of my new “employees”.
I’ve only completed two missions in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, but I’m certainly looking forward to diving deeper into the game. I’m not sure if I’ll ever understand the game, but at least the gameplay is a blast!
Gumballs Plays Games 