Gumballs Plays Games

Why I’m reluctant to check out Destiny’s expansions

Posted on August 11, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

Ever since its release I’ve had mixed feelings about Destiny. I played the beta, enjoyed it and couldn’t wait for the game to release. Once release day came I was incredibly disappointed in the way the ‘story’ of Destiny was handled. There seemed to be no plot, or no overarching reason why I was going on any of the missions at all. There were blurbs of dialogue delivered with so little effort I didn’t even bother listening to them. Every mission seemed isolated from the one before and playing Destiny felt like playing a sort of random mission generator.

Despite the lack of story, I still immensely enjoyed the shooter aspect of Destiny. The shooting was rock solid and all of the weapons were exciting to use, at least for awhile. Before long most of the weapons ended up feeling the same, and I was never blown away by any of the loot drops. In games like Diablo there’s a constant drive to keep hacking away at enemies because some of the rare weapons that drop are significantly different than everything else and wielding those weapons makes you feel more powerful. Destiny never allows you to experience that feeling.

Destiny

Again, despite another negative aspect of the game, I’ve still been occasionally drawn to Destiny. There’s something enjoyable about jumping into a strike with two other people and working together to run through hordes of enemies before facing a bullet sponge boss. Unfortunately, like the story missions, there is very little variety in the strike missions. You’ll fight through easy to kill enemies until you face off against a predictable boss that will soak up thousands of bullets for anywhere between five and 15 minutes until it inevitably falls.

Even realizing all of Destiny’s negatives (and I’ve only scratched the surface), I’m still tempted to purchase the first two expansions: The Dark Below and House of Wolves ($19.99 each, or $34.99 with the expansion pass). I’d like to see the additional content (I’m only level 24 currently), but there’s one thing keeping me from investing the time and money: achievements. There are no achievements in either The Dark Below or House of Wolves. $40 worth of content offers up zero achievements. This might sound silly, but if I pay for additional content I expect to be able to earn some additional achievements. I can’t think of any downloadable content in the modern era of video games that hasn’t offered an additional set of achievements for the player to earn.

The forthcoming major Destiny expansion, The Taken King ($39.99, or $79.99 via a complicated pricing structure) will feature achievements. The question is, do I really want to play through hours and hours of content that is likely to be very similar to what I’ve already played just to get to a point where I can start earning achievements again? I’m not so sure that I do. Sure the first two expansions may be worth playing for the experience alone, but more often than not I hear Destiny spoken of negatively, even from the mouths of seasoned players.

Have you played the Destiny expansions? Were they worth it? Do you think they’re worth playing as a casual Destiny player?

PNY SD cards and USB sticks 50% off on Amazon today

Posted on August 10, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

I was browsing Facebook and came across a deal too good not to share. For the next 14 hours or so you can save 50% on select PNY memory (micro SD, SD and USB sticks) on Amazon. I’m really tempted to pick up a 128GB thumb drive for $29.99.

Rockstar Boom! Whipped Strawberry

Posted on August 10, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

Does lightly carbonated strawberry milk sound appetizing to you? If so, you may want to check out Rockstar Boom! Whipped Strawberry, a new type of Rockstar energy drink (also available in Whipped Orange).

I saw these in the store the other day and decided to give one a try. The drink is less carbonated than other Rockstar energy drinks which makes it go down smoothly. The strawberry flavor is incredibly potent, and tastes like a mix of strawberry milk or a Jolly Rancher. The drink is incredibly sweet, almost in a bad way, and features 66 grams of sugar in a single can. It has less caffeine than a Rockstar Punched, with 160mg per can while also containing 2000mg of taurine.

I can’t say that I enjoy the flavor at all, so I’ll be sticking with the Sugar Free Rockstar Punched for my drug of choice.

Amy Schumer’s ‘Trainwreck’ is anything but

Posted on August 9, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

“Trainwreck” is Amy Schumer’s debut film as a writer, with the directorial role filled by comedy powerhouse Judd Apatow. The two have worked together to create a superb comedy that has brought in around $80 million in the three weeks since its release.

Amy Schumer and Bill Hader have great chemistry throughout “Trainwreck” as their unlikely love story unfolds. In a nutshell, the story in the film centers on Amy’s (Schumer plays an Amy in the film) seemingly love of promiscuity and rejection of the traditional relationship (a reaction to her parent’s failed marriage). Much of the early comedy comes from Amy’s promiscuous encounters and her aversion to sports despite being tasked to write a sports article.

As Amy is introduced to the subject of her article, Dr. Aaron Conners (Bill Hader), her lifestyle begins to upend. During this character transition she’s also forced to confront her father’s failing health and its strain on her family. This is where the film transitions from a raunchy comedy to a romantic comedy with bite. Amy’s vulgar sense of humor still shines, but the film starts to settle down and deal with some serious issues from here until the wonderful conclusion.

“Trainwreck” is daring, vulgar, hilarious, serious and heartwarming all at once. The film features strong female characters who know what they want in life and who aren’t afraid to reach for it. The women in the film have strong careers and don’t need to be taken care of by men. In the film Amy plays men with a confidence not unlike that of Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Jon in “Don Jon”. She’s not looking to settle down, and isn’t afraid of how she’s perceived because of her actions.

Although Schumer and Hader are great on their own, the list of supporting characters and cameos really help to round out the film. Of the supporting cast, I think Vanessa Bayer delivers a standout performance. Her character’s lack of self awareness makes for some hilarious awkward moments during slower moments of the film. “Trainwreck” features some of the best use of cameos I’ve seen, and every one fits into the film perfectly. None of it ever feels forced or out of place.

Amy Schumer’s “Trainwreck” has been a box office hit as well as a hit with critics. Having finally watched it I can see what all the fuss was about. If you have yet to see “Trainwreck”, what are you waiting for? The film is three weeks old, yet the theater was still nearly full when we saw it last night. I highly recommend it.

Dr. Dre’s ‘Compton’ released today

Posted on August 7, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

Hip Hop fans have been waiting for the third Dr. Dre album for well over a decade. His second album, 2001, was released in 1999 and his third album has been talked about and teased since the year 2001. The album, then referred to as Detox, was expected to be released in 2005, 2008 and 2010 but it never materialized. A lot of fans started to doubt if there would ever be another Dr. Dre record, myself one of them.

Dr. Dre finally gave fans what they’ve wanted for years when he announced last week that his third album, now titled Compton, would finally release via Apple Music and iTunes on August 7th. He also revealed that he would be donating his royalties from the album to create a performing arts center in Compton.

Compton can be listened to by Apple Music subscribers or can be purchased on iTunes for $13.99.

I haven’t purchased very many albums in recent years, however the second I heard that Dr. Dre was finally releasing an album (for real this time) I purchased it. I’ve been listening to Compton all day and it’s an incredible album. The beats, most of which produced by Dre, are superb (“Darkside/Gone” and “Issues” are two standouts). The list of collaborators on the album is also impressive. Compton features verses from those who have worked with Dre before (Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Xzibit) alongside newer and lesser known artists (Kendrick Lamar, King Mez, Justus and many more).

Compton is a strong album from beginning to end. I’ve enjoyed listening to it at the gym this morning and with the windows down in the car all throughout the day. I just can’t stop listening to it.

The album has well received by critics so far, with a score of 85 on Metacritic so far. The New York Times review offers Dre high praise, as Jon Caramanica writes “His true peers aren’t other hip-hop producers, not even tenured greats like Kanye West or Pharrell Williams of the Neptunes or even DJ Premier […] Ever since “The Chronic,” it’s been clear that Dr. Dre’s real peers are film-score composers — say, John Williams or James Horner — who communicate emotional direction with broad, legible strokes that set the tone for the details to be sprinkled atop them.”

How to play with more than one controller in Scrabble on Xbox One

Posted on August 5, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

Scrabble was recently released on the Xbox One (part of the Hasbro Game Channel collection of games) and the game doesn’t exactly make it easy to figure out how to use more than one controller locally. When you’re setting up a game you can select whether you want AI or human players (up to four total), but by default it’s set to ‘share controller’ and there’s no way to change it.

In order for each player to use their own controller they first have to sign into an Xbox account. Once the player signs into a profile it’ll change from ‘share controller’ to ‘individual controllers’ and each player will be able to play the game using their own controller.

Hope this helps!

A quick look at Magic Duels on the Xbox One

Posted on August 5, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

Magic Duels is a free to play, yet fully featured Magic The Gathering game which made its way to the Xbox One last week. The game features a single player campaign as well as a battle mode in which you can challenge AI or human opponents with your custom built decks in order to earn coins. The coins you earn can be used to purchase booster packs, or other upgrades such as converting cards to foil cards.

I’ve been casually interested in the Magic games in the past. I’ve played the 2014 and 2015 games (both of which required a purchase) but could never quite get hooked. Magic Duels certainly has a very slick presentation, however the gameplay feels sluggish and dated, especially when compared to Hearthstone. I’m sure comparing Magic to Hearthstone will offend Magic players, but Hearthstone is much easier to play and its card battles run smoother than Magic’s. There are way too many button prompts in the magic games. When your opponent plays a card the game expects you to look at it and press ‘A’. When your opponent attacks you’re expected to hit ‘A’ after every card attacks. The battles should just be able to play out smoothly, without all of the prompts slowing the game to an annoying crawl at times.

Magic Duels will certainly appeal to Magic and card battle enthusiasts, but those with a more casual interest in the genre will most likely be put off (especially for those who have played Hearthstone). Ultimately, Magic Duels has me hoping that Hearthstone someday makes its way to consoles. Sure the ideal way to play is on an iPad, but I wouldn’t mind playing a game or two on the Xbox One if it were an option.

Rare Replay is out today: 30 games for $30!

Posted on August 4, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

Are you looking to beef up your game collection for the Xbox One? How does thirty games for thirty dollars sound? If you want some serious bang for your buck, be sure to pick up Rare Replay for the Xbox One today!

Rare Replay was announced during Microsoft’s E3 press conference this summer and surprised just about everyone. The reception to the announcement was incredibly positive, especially after the price was announced. Considering most HD remakes or re-releases tend to sell for $60 while only including two or three titles, very few expected a collection of thirty games to be priced at half that.

Notable titles in the Rare Replay collection include Battletoads, Banjo-Kazooie, Perfect Dark, Viva Piñata and Conker’s Bad Fur Day. The collection spans twenty five years featuring titles released between 1983 and 2008. Rare Replay also features over 10,000 achievement points, however it’s worth noting if you’ve previously earned achievements from the games released on the 360 you cannot double dip.

I’ve played very few of the titles featured in the Rare Replay collection so I’m excited to try out most of the games for the very first time. I’m currently downloading the games that aren’t bundled in the download of the collection itself and once they complete I’ll have to figure out which game to jump into first.

Are you going to check out the Rare Replay collection? Which of the games featured are your favorites? Which do you recommend I check out first?

Fallout Shelter: Why am I playing this?

Posted on August 3, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

Fallout Shelter has been frustrating me lately. I can’t quite figure out why I’m playing it and yet at the same time I can’t seem to walk away from it. Fallout Shelter is Bethesda’s free to play game in which you manage a Vault in the Fallout universe, launched alongside the Fallout 4 reveal during this year’s E3. It is currently only available on iOS devices, however it is set to release on Android platforms on August 13th.

Fallout Shelter is simple to play. In it you construct various rooms and assign vault dwellers to work in those rooms to produce resources. Each vault dweller has a unique set of stats and each room requires a certain stat in order to run efficiently. You need to produce electricity, food and water in order to keep your vault running smoothly and your dwellers healthy. You can also send your dwellers into the wasteland in order to earn experience while searching for caps (currency), weapons and outfits.

The game doesn’t pressure you to pay in any money, however you can purchase sets of card packs starting at $0.99 for one pack. These card packs will provide you with either more caps, resources, weapons, outfits or even special vault dwellers. Each pack will include at least one rare item (such as a vault dweller or outfit) and they make doing well in the game much easier.

fallout shelter card packs

Opening the packs is one of the most exciting parts of the game, so last week I bought my first card pack (a set of 5 for $3.99). I got some pretty cool weapons and a few special vault dwellers with high stats. It was pretty exciting and I felt like my vault was well on its way to prosperity. Not more than thirty minutes later a radroach outbreak occurred, and as I tried to fight the roaches off every single one of my vault dwellers was killed. At this point my vault was doomed. I didn’t have the caps to resurrect any of my dwellers, and I couldn’t see anyway to advance the game.

I should’ve quit the game then, but having just spent four dollars on the game I felt the need to try again. I started a new vault and was a little disheartened to find that my card pack purchase didn’t follow to the new game. I sped through the initial setup and found myself purchasing another $3.99 card pack to get a jumpstart on my vault. This time I determined not to rush any of my production (rushing carries the risk of causing accidents such as fires or radroach invasions). I also decided not to expand too quickly which left my resources spread too thin in the first game. Since then things have been going well, however I’m constantly asking myself why I’m playing this game, and why I’ve spent $10 on card packs in just one week.

Playing the game itself provides little reward, and it seems like the only fun comes in opening card packs. You can earn card packs for free by completing objectives, however you can only hold three objectives at any one time and most of them reward you with a measly 25 or 50 caps. There doesn’t seem to be much of a point to expand my vault further, yet having spend ten dollars on the game I can’t bring myself to delete it from my iPad.

Are you still playing Fallout Shelter? How has your experience with the game gone? Should I just quit before I spend any more money on it?

My ‘Vegas Vacation’ (of sorts)

Posted on July 30, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

My month in Las Vegas comes to a close this weekend, and I’m both incredibly excited to return to Boise and a bit sad to say goodbye to the wonderful city of Vegas. I jokingly call it a vacation, but in reality I’ve been down here for Red Flag.

I had never visited Vegas before, so a lot of my preconceptions about the city were formed from TV and film. I expected the strip to be extravagant while also wild and lawless. The city ended up being much more tame than I imagined, which was surprising.

First of all I was incredibly surprised by the amount of children I saw on the strip, even late on Friday nights. There are kids everywhere, even in the casinos. I saw a ton of children in their early teens wandering around the casino floors on their own during all parts of the day which I didn’t expect at all. It almost made me feel a little awkward carrying around a 50 oz margarita in a souvenir cup shortly after noon. Almost.

It was a bit jarring to see children with their parents pass by the guys on the street corners and pedestrian bridges peddling escort cards. One evening we were walking back behind a family as two young boys trailed their parents gawking at the cards of naked women discarded all over the ground.

The city was not nearly as wild as I had imagined it would be. Sure you can carry drinks up and down the strip at any time of the day, however there were no crazy Hangover like moments to be witnessed. There were groups of scantily clad parading bachelorette parties, and as amusing as it was to watch them drunkenly stumble down the strip, the majority of the foot traffic consisted of families and tourists.

Ultimately, Las Vegas is just another tourist attraction, not unlike Times Square. In fact, the street performers, costumed characters taking ‘tips’ in exchange for pictures and all of the people trying to push their mixtapes on everyone passing by reminded me all too much of the annoying parts of every New York City trip.

It may sound like my Vegas experience was overly negative, but that’s not true at all. My impressions were way off, but I still had a great time!

I didn’t really fall in love with the city until Vanessa visited this past weekend. I’m staying on base for work, so only really experienced the city on the weekends, and this past weekend was the best yet! We stayed at the Luxor Friday and Saturday night and packed a ton of fun into the weekend before she had to fly back Sunday.

I had a great time enjoying drinks by (and in) the pool Friday afternoon. Standing in the water sipping an ice cold margarita in the blistering sun was pretty awesome (though we payed for it with some mild sunburn).

Gambling was fun, but luck certainly wasn’t with me. I played roulette for the first time and failed miserably. I had my mind set on a number (15) and the first table I walked up to it hit my number before I could place a bet. This was frustrating and put the dangerous “I could’ve won big” thought into my mind. After throwing a few $10 minimum bets at 15 on another table I decided to call it quits. Before we left my friend and I bet red and black, figuring one of us would win at least. It hit 0. I decided to try roulette again and Vanessa won money rather quickly at the table. I figured I’d stick to just betting colors, and kept betting red. It hit black six times in a row, which seemed absurd, and on my final bet the game decided to spit in my face by landing on 0. I don’t think I’ll ever play roulette again.

Slot machines were much more fun, and on some machines $20 could last almost an hour and bring in a few free Coronas. Earlier in the trip I made the mistake of buying my own beers in the casinos, while also gambling. Being impatient doesn’t really pay in Vegas.

Friday night we saw Blue Man Group which was a blast. I had seen them in Orlando before, and while much of the show was similar, there were a few new things. We were seated behind a family with something like four kids who kept screaming and talking loudly, which again was annoying (why so many kids in Vegas??) but the worst part was the mom kept taking pictures and posting them to Facebook every few minutes. Nothing ruins a show quite like a phone popping up in your view followed by the bright light emanating from Facebook. Not cool.

Saturday was just as exciting. We gambled a bit more and headed to New York, New York to check out the roller coaster. Vanessa had never ridden a roller coaster, and had always been deathly afraid. With a lot of convincing we got day passes and eventually made it onto the ride(with a lot of kicking and screaming from her!). As we were ascending we saw the thick smoke from the pool fire at The Cosmopolitan (well I did, her eyes were shut). The roller coaster was fun, although at times painful because of the sunburn. We rode again awhile later and intended to ride it once at night as well, but the line was absurdly long later that night and we were exhausted so we skipped it.

We met up with some of Vanessa’s friends for dinner at Hash House a go go which was delicious, and after the meal I was asked if I wanted a to go cup for my margarita. Only in Vegas! I ended up pouring it into my empty 50 oz souvenir cup and we headed to the High Roller observation wheel. The wheel was wonderful, and we spent an awesome thirty minutes taking in the view of the city after sunset. I highly recommend riding the wheel. We arrived shortly after 8PM and there wasn’t much of a line at all, but as we disembarked half an hour later the line was incredibly long. I definitely recommend heading there just as the sun sets, it’s wonderful.

This ended up being a little long-winded so I’ll simply wrap up by saying it’s been a great month in Vegas, but last weekend was one of the most incredible experiences I’ve had anywhere. I can’t wait to make a return trip to Vegas, but until next time, thanks for the memories!