Gumballs Plays Games

Destiny: The Taken King is a blast so far!

Posted on September 15, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

Destiny’s third expansion The Taken King released today, a week after the 2.0 patch introduced a significant amount of changes to Destiny’s gameplay. I ordered the expansion and the $20 Collector’s Edition upgrade, and so far it seems like the purchase has been worth it.

I didn’t really play any Destiny after the 2.0 patch launched, so I was still level 32 when I jumped into the game earlier today. With the level cap raised to 40, I decided to it would be worth checking out the House of Wolves quests I had never finished in order to get some experience. Even though much of my time spent in Destiny since the Taken King release has been spent with older content, I still feel the impact the newest expansion has made. Earning experience instead of hoping to get the right loot to increase light level feels great. I also thoroughly enjoyed the House of Wolves quests as I finished the quest line and gained a handful of levels in the process. Not only was I leveling, but I also came across a ton of Taken King gear along the way (mostly greens and blues). It felt great to see so many engrams flying all over the place as I blasted my way through enemies.

Sorry for the quality of the screenshots, I was streaming to Windows 10 and couldn’t take any in game screenshots while doing so.

Once I did get to the Taken King content, it blew me away. The cut scenes, music and voice acting are all phenomenal. I had never experienced something so well produced during my time with Destiny previously, and I was literally in awe. I had also never been as excited while completing story content in Destiny.

The new locations are visually pleasing and the new enemies are a blast to fight. They introduce new mechanics that are exciting to encounter. I’ve only completed the first story quest and the Sunbreaker quest but both were an absolute blast. In fact, the Sunbreaker quest is my favorite Destiny story mission by far. Unleashing the power of the new subclass was incredibly thrilling alongside the epic music and relentless onslaught of enemies. I can’t wait to see what else the new subclass has to offer.

So far I’m loving The Taken King, and can’t wait to spend more time with it!

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (on the Vita)

Posted on September 13, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

Shortly before the release of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, I decided I wanted to try to catch up on Metal Gear. I purchased Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater on the Vita, and figured it would be a good of place as any to start.

Snake Eater was released on the Playstation 2 in 2004 and the HD Collection came to the Vita in 2012. My last experience with Metal Gear was with Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance on the Xbox, however I remember very little about the game other than the underwater section being frustratingly difficult.

I had hoped that Snake Eater would shed some light on what is happening in The Phantom Pain, but so far I’m more confused than ever. The story so far (in both games) comes across as comically absurd, and I’m not sure whether to laugh or shake my head most of the time.

What I can say for sure is that the game looks great on the Vita. The game also controls well and makes good use of the Vita’s touch screen (it’s especially easy to change weapons), however I’ve run into quite a few camera issues. While sneaking in the grass the camera switches to first person and I can’t seem to find any way to see what’s going on around me. I just have to wing it and hope no enemies are looking when I emerge from the grass. I’ve changed the camera settings in the options but it doesn’t seem to change anything at all. Maybe I’m just doing something wrong, but so far this is making the stealth aspect of the game extremely frustrating.

I haven’t gotten too far into the game yet (I’ve only just started Operation Snake Eater) but its absurdity so far has me wanting to see just how crazy it gets as the story advances. The hard part is decided whether I want to focus my time on Snake Eater or The Phantom Pain primarily. MGSV is much more enjoyable to play, so that’s probably where I’ll spend most of my time for now.

My first rifle: Ruger AR-556

Posted on September 13, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

Last weekend I bought my first gun. I had been pondering purchasing a rifle for awhile, but had never come close to making the plunge. Once I decided during the holiday weekend that I was actually going to buy a rifle, the process was surprisingly easy and painless, at least here in Idaho.

We went to Impact Guns in Boise and were greeted by the friendly and attentive staff almost immediately (whereas Cabela’s has a ‘take a number’ system at their gun counter and never acknowledged me at all while I was there browsing). I was at first thinking of starting small with the Mossberg Tactical .22 rifle, but the salesman recommended checking out the ‘full blown’ AR’s first. I was shown the Ruger AR-556 rifle which I really liked, so I decided I would purchase it.

After a quick and painless background check process I was able to purchase the rifle within minutes of decided I wanted it. What really impressed me was how awesome the salespeople were. They made the process enjoyable, and everyone in the store treated each other and their customers like family. As other customers came into the store the employees greeted them by name and asked how they liked their recent purchases. I had never been to a gun store before, but the environment at Impact was much more friendly than I expected.

As I was heading to the car with my purchase the salesman chased me down because he had forgotten to give me some promotional items. He gave me a couple of Ruger hats and a license plate holder and thanked me again for my purchase. I know it’s silly, but this action made the entire process feel like more than just a sale. Heck, I’ve never gotten any sort of gift, even when buying a car. It just reminded me of all of the trucker hats my dad used to have hanging up. There were ones from buying cars, tools, washers and dryers, it’s like they used to hand out hats with everything. Now almost anything you buy is just a sale that passes in the blink of an eye, nothing else.

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I don’t think I’d ever wear this outside

Shooting the rifle has been a blast. It’s crazy to me how you can just go almost anywhere and shoot in Idaho.

A huge area for safe shooting

Yesterday we discovered a wonderful free to use shooting range in Nampa, the George W. Nourse public shooting range. It was a bit of a drive, but was much easier to get set up and start shooting when compared to trying to scout out a safe area out in the desert. The range features several separate shooting areas, and you can just drive your car right up to one and get set up.

I love the view out in the distance

We got set up and started shooting and it was a blast!

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Mad Max is an enjoyable game so far

Posted on September 8, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

Avalanche Studios and Warner Bros.’ Mad Max game finally saw its release last week, and so far the general consensus seems to be that it’s rather mediocre (it currently has a 70/100 on Metacritic). I’ve played just over two hours of Mad Max and have had an enjoyable time with it so far.

The game takes place in a gritty wasteland atmosphere filled with fire, dirt and grungy cars driven by post-apocalyptic mad men, but otherwise has little to do with the Fury Road movie. That said, the game does have enough personality of its own to make it enjoyable whether or not you’ve seen the films.

Mad Max features plenty of open world activities to keep you occupied outside (or even during) the story missions. Invading strongholds is a blast, as you either ram down the base’s defenses or attempt to sneak in unnoticed in order to complete an objective. Most strongholds seem to feature an open area near the middle which acts as a fighting arena of sorts, complete with a war crier banging a drum in order to rally the fighters.

I’ve found myself detouring several times during missions in order to tear down scarecrows (towers of bloody bodies and fire that increase enemies’ influence in an area), take out compounds or to just chase down enemies in order to scrap their cars.

The combat is solid, but nothing new to anyone who has played a Batman game or Shadow of Mordor. Despite being recycled, it still feels awesome to pull off counters and explosive combos, especially when fueled by Max’s fury.

Car combat is also enjoyable, although so far I feel a little underpowered. It’s often best to try to harpoon the enemy out of their car instead of trying to engage in vehicular combat. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it’s incredibly satisfying to watch the enemy fly out of their car and into the wasteland.

The characters of the world are unique, but not exactly on par with those of the films. Chumbucket feels too much like Gollum to me, though he plays a vital role by constantly repairing Max’s ride, the Magnum Opus. This mechanic ensures you’re never left with an inoperable vehicle which is convenient, and adds an important reason for Max to carry Chum around wherever he goes.

The story so far isn’t anything special, but the world itself is the enjoyable part. There’s some sort of drive to constantly complete activities and collect scrap to improve Max’s abilities and that of the Magnum Opus.

Unfortunately, Mad Max ended up releasing the same day as the highly anticipated Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. The game has been largely overshadowed by MGSV, and that’s a shame. Had it released a few weeks earlier I’m sure many more people would be playing it. In fact, I’d like to play it more, but even I find myself wanting to return to Metal Gear, before I get left behind.

If Metal Gear isn’t up your alley, I definitely recommend Mad Max, especially if you’re into the Batman / Shadow of Mordor open world formula. There’s plenty to enjoy!

MGSV: Phantom Pain servers down again

Posted on September 6, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

I still haven’t been able to connect online since the game launched. I know the servers were up the other day, but I didn’t happen to play that day. Hopefully they’ll be running smoothly before long. Have you had any luck?

You can get your Pumpkin Spice Latte fix early!

Posted on September 5, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

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!

Destiny has taken ahold of me

Posted on September 4, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

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.

My time so far with Metal Gear Solid V

Posted on September 4, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

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!

Working out Playstation Now’s connection issues on the Vita

Posted on August 30, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

The Playstation Now subscription service finally arrived on the Playstation Vita and Playstation TV earlier this month. The PS Now app was previously available on these platforms, but users couldn’t sign up for the subscription model unless they did so on a PS4 first. You could rent individual games at excessively expensive rates, but the real draw of the service is the subscription model.

For $19.99 a month PS Now subscribers get unlimited access to over 100 games, including hit titles such as The Last of Us, Batman Arkham City, Bioshock Infinite and God of War III.

This all sounds great, however I had been having connection problems that prevented me from enjoying the service. My Vita would pass the connection test and launch into a game and would work flawlessly for anywhere between ten and fifteen minutes. At around the fifteen mark I would almost always get connected from the PS Now service. My Vita wasn’t losing connection to my WiFi, but the PS Now service would seem to time out. This constant loss of connection (which boots you out of the game and back into the PS Now menu) made the service unusable.

The Playstation Vita can only use a 2.4GHz WiFi network, and my 2.4GHz network was much slower than my wired internet speed. Using the cable modem’s WiFi I would average around 12mbps whereas I get a solid 50gbps over ethernet. I tried another router (in the $40 price range) that offered dual band WiFi, and while the 5GHz network was much faster, I didn’t see any improvement on the 2.4GHz end, and PS Now was still unusable. I tried following any advice I could find online, such as deselecting the Vita’s WiFi power save mode but had no success.

Frustrated, I decided to go big or go home.

After being assured by the Best Buy salesman that the behemoth Linksys WRT 1900AC router would provide better speeds over 2.4GHz WiFi I took the plunge, and bought the most expensive router I’ve ever owned.

I unboxed the spaceship looking router yesterday evening and set it up hoping for the best. Once everything was set up I crossed my fingers and ran a speed test using the 2.4GHz network. To my delight, the speeds were double what I was getting using the Motorola modem. To further assure success I used the Media Prioritization feature to give my Vita bandwidth priority on my network. I then anxiously fired up PS Now on my Vita to see if it would finally work.

I fired up Super Mega Baseball and was able to play a game without getting disconnected. Success! I then booted up NBA 2K14 and let it sit on the menu and to my delight it also never dropped the connection.

The $200+ investment may be a little much just to play around with PS Now on the Vita, especially when a used PS3 can be found for $100, but the beastly router has many other benefits. The 5GHz WiFi network is just about as fast as an Ethernet connection and the range is much improved over any router I’ve used before. The router has plenty of features, most of which I don’t understand, but having more control over my network will be more beneficial in the long run.

Boise’s Stagecoach Theatre’s Complete, Abridged, Revised Shakespeare

Posted on August 30, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

“The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) [Revised]” is a hilarious play which succeeds at performing all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays in a mere 97 minutes. Of course, in order to do so the plays must be seriously abridged and the way in which this is accomplished is the cause of many laughs throughout.

The play began its run at the Stage Coach Theatre in Boise on Friday and will run until September 12. We saw Saturday night’s performance and absolutely loved it.

We started the evening off with some cocktails in the lobby while waiting for the play to begin. If Off-Broadway’s “Drunk Shakespeare” proved anything, it’s nothing goes together with Shakespeare quite like a few drinks. The Jack and Cokes were strong and as I sipped it I couldn’t help but take in the wonderful community that makes up the theatre’s audience. So many of those in the lobby seemed to know everyone else in attendance and lively greetings were exchanged between the frequent patrons. The atmosphere inside the theater was filled with a jolly air that increased as cocktails were consumed.

We took our seats in the small, cozy theater and waited for the show to begin. Once it did we never stopped laughing! All three actors were wonderful and played their parts well. They were enthusiastic, energetic and never missed a beat.

If you happen to find yourself in Boise at some point during the next few weeks I highly recommend attending the Stage Coach Theatre’s production of “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) [Revised].” It’s a blast!