Monday Impressions: Battlefield 3 campaign

I've heard good things about Battlefield 3. Even though I'm not the biggest FPS fan, I can see why people like it. I also see how different of a game it is compared to the recent Call of Duty games. However, all these good things are in the multiplayer aspect. The campaign... not so much.

Ok, so after I got BF3 as a birthday gift from my friends (you guys are awesome), a bit of time passed before I even tried out the game. I blame having zero hype. Before BF3 was released, I thought it looked fantastic running the Frostbite 2 engine and I did enjoy the older Battlefield games. Having heard from multiple sources that BF3's campaign mode was (for lack of a better word) 'shit', I would still blindly, but staunchly defend it, giving the game my benefit of the doubt. I like to believe that if you want to shit on franchise or series, one has to properly experience said franchise/series for at least a significant amount of time before calling it shite.

So after God knows how long, I finally sat down and played the damn game. After hours of updates, the game finally runs. I go into the campaign mode. Here's my experience.

Sad to say, I never booted up BF3's campaign mode since. The multiplayer seems really good (again, I'm not a huge FPS buff so bare with me) plus the graphics and sound are fantastic. I did hear the story that DICE (responsible for the Frostbite and Frostbite 2 engine, plus the Bad Company games which I like) handled the multiplayer aspect while the campaign was outsourced to Not-DICE. Such a missed opportunity for EA. Activision may be the devil in the realm of videogame publishers but they can make a damn good campaign mode in their shooters.

Is it worth a try?

Hell yeah, it is. If multiplayer shooters are your thing then that may be enough to tickle your trigger happy fancy. BF3 has gotten a butt load of updates for the multiplayer mode. All that and the heavy following that it still has should be more than enough for the average FPS fan. But if online is not your thing and you're thinking of getting this for the "story".. don't.

PSP Multi-Functional Bag

As I said in my most latest Recent Buys post, I got me a PSP bag.

It was on sale at ToyKingdom for 250php and having only a dinky PSP foam case from Japan Home Center, I thought to myself "what the heck".

The bag sports a removable padded flap with 2 bands to hold your PSP. The flap has some Velcro on the side and the bag has 2 layers where you can stick the flap to. One being on the very bottom and the other being in the middle of the bag space. The top cover has a zippered mesh pocket and a Velcro sealed pocket on the inside of the bag by the back end. Included with the bag is a shoulder strap that you can clip on the outside rings on the bag so you can tote your PSP bag hands free.

The box says that the bag is for the PSP 2000 and 3000 models but if you got one of them fat PSP 1000s, you're good. I found it funny that the box shows a Region 2 mark on it's side. I doubt bags are region locked so no worries there.

Recent Buys: Episode 17 - PSP Bag and Dual Shocks

The Christmas season has just passed and I got my hands on a bit of Christmas cash. Though not exactly the best haul, these items serve their purpose.

I finally man-ed up and bought a pair of brand new PS2 controllers. The CD-RKing controllers still work fine but nothing beats the real thing. Instead of going for the generic black or solid colored controllers, plus my fetish for clear plastic, I chose to get them in clear colored plastic under the names "Emerald" and "Lemon Yellow".

While I was lugging my PS2 controllers around the store, I also saw that they had a PSP bag on sale. Having some extra cash on hand and with the bag not going for much, I just grabbed it's box and went to the cashier. I got the bag and both controllers in ToyKingdom, Vmall.

Before my little ToyKingdom escapade, I got another item while I was in Tacloban, Leyte for the holidays. A funny little gaming shirt I saw in the mall. I posted it on our Facebook page not too long ago but here it is again in case you missed it.

In this video, I'm testing out my new PS2 controllers as well as doing a test recording of my PS2 using my AverMedia HD PVR.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncGiV4IWU4o[/youtube]

Weekend! What are you playing?

It's the weekend again! Everybody loves Fridays, some go out and have a great night out, while some like to kick back pop in a game and relax. I'm sure most of you are still trying to knock off a few titles to lessen your backlog pile. Me? I'll keep my backlog big for now, because I again see myself revisiting a game that came out in 2011. The arrow in the knee pic above pretty much sums up what I'm playing this weekend. What are you playing?

Carlos: SKYRIMMM! Yea... I decided to continue my ranger that I started last Tuesday. When I first played the game back when it was released, I took a risk and got the 360 version. I enjoyed my time in Skyrim  with a controller, regardless of the horrible loading times, graphic lags, and  mammoths falling from the sky. This time though, I want to play the game right, so I'm going  to be playing the PC version which is a first for me. I might also play a few League of Legends games if my friends bother me enough via Skype.

Migoy: Been busy with some stuff lately so I don't know if I'm gonna be able to play anything this weekend but I do need to get on that Anarchy Reigns playthrough. Aside from that I also want to play more Persona 4 Arena ranked matches just for kicks. I also just found out last night that you can play with up to 3 other people locally in Castlevania: Harmony of Despair. I always thought that the multiplayer aspect was online only. I won't do a video of it now but it does give me an idea of what I can do with it in the future.

Pick 5: Sleeper Hits of 2012

2012 was a great year for gaming. Triple A titles like Mass Effect 3, Max Payne 3, Assassin's Creed 3, Black Ops 2, Borderlands 2, Halo 4, Resident Evil 6, and many more flooded last year's lineup. But there were games that literally came out of no where and made a great impression, and there were games that were considered great games, but did not get the attention it deserved. Here are five sleeper hits from 2012.

The Walking Dead

I'm going to start with The Walking Dead. People might go "what? But that's well known". true, we all know The Walking Dead from either the crazy famous TV series, or from the graphic novel were it was originated, but we never thought that Telltale's The Walking Dead Game would come out as one of the best story driven title in this generation, or even be considered best game of 2012. People were aware by the game's creation at Telltale Games, but I believe many were blown away how they knocked this out of the park. From episode 1, all the way to the finale, the game just got better and better. Telltale's masterpiece. You can check out my full review here.

The Legend of Grimrock

Old school dungeon crawling for today's gamers. A game greatly inspired by Dungeon Master and Eye of the Beholder, this is one type of RPG has been absent for years it seems. It was released in April of 2012 but I only gave it a try months after. When I gave it a chance and soon realize that I was missing out. A game filled with smart puzzles and gameplay that's quite unique in my eyes since I wasn't exposed to the classic dungeon crawlers released back in the late 80s or early 90s.

Spec Ops: The Line

At first glance it did look like the typical shooter. Another game that would easily get consumed by the shadows of games such such as Halo 4, Black Ops 2, and Medal of Honor: Warfighter, all planned for release at the end of he year. But it turned out to be a good game worth mentioning. The biggest praise the game got was not because of its gameplay, nor its online component, but for it's narrative, which is rare for a games like this. A story that impressed players  and urged others to give the campaign a chance. Months after its release I did caught up with all the talk about its story and tried I myself quickly noticed that its indeed under appreciated.

Slender: The Eight Pages

I just had to include this. Where did this game come from? A free PC game, that's fairly simple by design, is considered one of the most scariest game of 2012, possibly of all time. When it was released last June, it quickly grew in popularity. It soon spread like wildfire with many streamers and Youtubers making videos of them playing the game. is it really that scary? Yes! I tried it myself and while it only takes half 10 minutes to play one session, I've never felt so isolated and freaked out in a game. It became a hit that spawned games similar to Slender. It's sequel, Slender: The Arrrival that was just announced recently.

Kingdoms of Alamur: Reckoning

This was one game I did not expect to be really good. An action RPG that had a combo-heavy gameplay that made me think of Devil May Cry, and quick time events seen in games like God of War. This game was also massive, which gave an Elder Scrolls impression in terms of how much content there is in this game. I never heard or did research on the game, but after trying demo, I just had to get it, and I did not regret the buy one bit. Sadly, the creators of Alamur, 38 Studios went bankrupt thanks to a fraud lawsuit and was closed down. My dreams of a sequel will never happen now.

Any other sleepers worth mentioning? Hit the comments below.