Halloween decorating is done!

  As promised I'm posting photos of my Halloween decorations.  They're not quite done but everything that's left can't go out until Halloween night.  So I'll post final pictures but for now it's complete.  If you want to see them a bit bigger I've posted them to Facebook as well.  https://www.facebook.com/gamersoracle/

Mafia 3 review in progress

   Mafia 3 starts off with a bang.  I don't want to ruin the story, so I'll just say so far it's the best part of the game.  The game is set in 1968 New Orleans.  Not one of my favorite decades but I think the 80's might be used a little too often nowadays.  The story is handled well and doesn't gloss over the racial issues of the era.  I know a lot of people are going to compare it to Grand Theft Auto, so do yourself a favor.  Don't compare them.  Try not to even think about Grand Theft Auto while you're playing.  This game isn't GTA and won't magically turn into it, no matter how hard you might wish it so.  It's not a bad game, but in comparing the two, it will fall short.  So just don't.
   So far I've played about 10 hours and I've not unlocked that much yet.  There's not a whole lot of side stuff to do; I'm hoping that changes further into the game.  The map is a decent size, but so far it's kind of empty, except for collectibles that serve no purpose.  (That I can see).  You can rob stores but it doesn't net you a lot of cash; I usually haul in $20 to $50 dollars.
   The missions are pretty straightforward: kill the goons and take out the boss.  Hopefully there will be a little variety down the road.  They do take place in memorable places at least.  So far the best one  has taken place at an abandoned carnival.  It killed my love of carnivals, I can tell you that.  Actually that's a lie, the only reason I go to carnivals is because they're slightly creepy.  Even when they're brightly lit and full of people.  Carnivals are like miniature Halloween Horror nights, except a lot cheaper and not as scary.  But I digress.
   Speaking of scary, the AI leaves a lot to be desired.  You can usually get away with killing goons right in front of each other and they don't react.  Witnesses will usually call the police when you commit a crime but it's easy to knock them down.  Pedestrians don't react when they're crossing the road and you honk at them.  Nor do they run in fear when you almost run them over.  They just keep walking sedately along.  Out of all the stores I've robbed, not one has reported me to the police, despite being full of people.  Maybe I've gotten lucky.  I'll continue to test this theory as I go.
           
 

It's that time of year

 

 



   Time to start hauling out Halloween decorations!  My favorite time of year, actually.  I'll have to get a little more creative this year, as someone hacked down the two trees in my front yard.  (They were diseased, unfortunately.)  Which leaves me with a palm tree to work with.  Not very spooky, I must say.  But we'll make it work.  This time next year I'll be living in another state, so this is my last Halloween in Florida.  Some things I will miss, but the heat and lack of trick or treaters I can do without.  I have heard Halloween is a much bigger affair up north, so I've got my fingers crossed that's true!  I'll post pictures as soon as I'm done decorating!
   On an unrelated note, I went to pick up a copy of American Werewolf in London, one of my all-time favorite movies.  Apparently there's been a rush on this movie, as  I couldn't find it in any store I went to.  So I figured I'd just order a copy from Amazon.  Amazon has everything!  But no, they're out of stock as well.  Then I tried BestBuy.  No luck there either!  My last effort was Walmart.  Walmart, like a polar opposite of Amazon, has nothing.  Not even a listing for the blu-ray copy.  So if anyone wants a copy, might want to get your order in now.  No telling when they'll be back in stock.

For Honor Alpha preview

   Thanks to a friend I scored an invite to the closed alpha.  I'll be honest For Honor hasn't held a lot of interest for me.  The story seems thin and nothing more than an excuse for Vikings and Samurai to beat the crap out of each other.  With knights thrown in the mix to make things somewhat more boring.  Seriously, why didn't they skip the knights and go with pirates?  Would've made things much more interesting.  Especially if you could hurl piratey insults at your foes.  I would pay money to see that.
   But anyways, I picked Vikings to start out with.  After learning the basics of combat I went on to try a PVP battle.  It's actually a lot of fun.  The combat isn't complicated but it gives you a simplified taste of what a real sword battle might be like.  Emphasis on simplified.  The controls could be a little more responsive; hopefully they'll be more polished in the beta.  I ended up playing all three factions just to see if the combat differed a lot between them.  Historically speaking their fighting styles are not at all similar but apparently Ubisoft decided to ignore that.  The combat animations are pretty much the same, at least for the characters that are unlocked in the alpha.  We'll have to wait for the Beta to really judge this, as each faction has a few different warriors to choose from.  
   Of course a lot of the game was locked, but apparently there is a campaign for each of the three factions, for those who don't like PVP.  Although let's be honest, PVP is undoubtedly the main focus of the game.  It's a little early to say whether it's worth buying, but I'll definitely be keeping an eye on it.  I've already signed up for the beta; hopefully a little more of the game will be accessible then.  

Building a PC for the first time!

     So I've decided to dive into the world of PC gaming.  The only games I've ever played on the PC are Morrowind and World of Warcraft.  I love WOW and I really enjoyed modding the heck out of Morrowind.  My current PC wheezes it way through WOW but anything other than that kills it.  I bought Witcher 2 for it awhile back.  I figured I was safe, as my PC is fairly new and Witcher 2 is older.  My computer said thank you but no, and promptly croaked.
     Building it will take awhile, as I don't have the funds to order everything at once.  And I have a lot of research to do!  I really don't want it to explode when I turn it on for the first time.  I wanted it to be 4k compatible but unfortunately that is way over the budget.  A nice mid-range build will just have to do.  If anyone has any tips or advice they want to share that would be greatly appreciated!  I'll be posting photos and maybe videos as I get it built, but it'll probably be a few weeks yet before I get started.

No Man's Sky final thoughts-here be spoilers!

     I had high hopes for No Man's Sky, I really did.  It looked to be one of the best games of 2016.  Unfortunately, the reality fell far short.  For such an ambitious game, there's literally no point to playing it.  There's no storyline.  There is some lore, but to read it you have to learn the alien languages.  You WILL kill yourself, if you actually try to learn all the words--out of sheer boredom. Trust me, I know.  I tried.  I gave it up just before I did a swan dive off a cliff.
   The combat isn't too bad, once you get the hang of it.  It took me a few times but I got there.  The problem is the enemy ships fly circles around you while you try to track and shoot them.  Why can't the player do that?  I tried it once; it got me blown up.  I cannot swoop and shoot at the same time, the game makes it impossible.  So you kind of feel like a sitting duck.  It could use some improvement.
     There is at least a goal, to reach the center of the universe.  Everyone knows that.  It's been one of the biggest mysteries of the year.  What's at the center of the universe?  It's heartbreak, in case you're wondering.  Because the game resets and puts you right back at the beginning, with a broken ship and no supplies.  Unless you have 10 atlas stones.  In which case you can create a new universe, for a new traveler to explore.  No, you don't get to explore it.
     Which is a shame, maybe those new planets wouldn't all look alike.  Exploration could have been one of No Man's Sky saving graces.  People love to explore.  I love to explore; even in a video game.  But there has to be some variety besides three basic models; forest, rock and snow--that's it. Perhaps I got unlucky, and there's a desert planet I missed.  I don't know.  I can't be bothered to find out, it's too boring and that cliff will start to look inviting again.  Save yourself some trouble, and pick another game to play.  Rebel Galaxy is much better, and it's only $20.  (Plus it's influenced by Firefly).  

No Man's Sky first impressions

 

   

     I wasn't going to pick up No Man's Sky; I've gotten back into WOW and we all know what a time suck that is.  Between that and trying to finish Witcher 3 I haven't had a lot of free time, as you can tell by my lack of blog content.  But I decided to squeeze it in, as everything I've heard has been mostly positive.  Luckily No Man's Sky is a game that is best played in short spurts, at least for me.
     It definitely doesn't hold your hand.  Once you get your ship fixed you're free to leave the starting planet, never to return.  That's probably not the wisest course of action, but the game leaves it completely up to you how you want to play.  I decided to hop to a different planet, one that was prettier to look at it.  My goal was to discover all the species and waypoints, as that would give me 300,00 credits.  Two hours later I gave it up and moved on to a different planet.  I thought there was too much to see, to spend that much time on one planet.
     So far I've visited two galaxies, with 8 planets total.  There's not a lot of difference in how they look, which is a little disappointing.  Most of the planets were rock, two were forest planets and one was covered with glaciers.  The two forest planets were very similar, and the rocky ones are basically the same.  I actually took to naming them after the most abundant resource they had, in order to tell which one was which.  Even the plants and animals, while not identical, have a sameness to them from planet to planet.  I'm hoping once I get further into the game there will be more diversity.  The planets are so much alike that unless I need resources to craft I don't really bother exploring them.  That doesn't bode well for a game that is supposed to be all about space exploration.
     It's incredibly easy to make money in the game, or perhaps I just got lucky.  I've found that gold and Heridium are both plentiful, and they both sell for a good amount.  I found one planet that had so much gold I named it Midas so I could come back to it, as I got bored mining all the gold.  That's actually one of the biggest downfalls of the game; you will mine and mine and mine some more, which can get old.  I've heard that there will be updates later that will include building bases, so perhaps the developer will add some much needed depth to the game.  I'll put out an update in a week or two to let you know my final thoughts.  As of right now I'm on the fence with this one.