It's amazing that the Fallout TV series has brought so many new and returning players to the series. Whether you're playing the older strategy titles like Fallout, Fallout 2, or Fallout Tactics, or Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 4, or Fallout 76 there is no wrong answer of which game to play first. I know we all have our favorites to recommend but let's welcome people to the franchise as a whole and let them enjoy all the games or whichever game they choose as we were allowed to do.

Fallout 4 the most popular game in the UK, sales and player counts are high. What an awesome chance to share our passion and love for this series.

Stellar Blade is incredible! The combat in this game takes me back to my playthrough Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice! Perfect parries and dodges, satisfying deflections, stylish action, quick time events, with a little sex appeal. Okay, maybe a lot of sex appeal. There is Interesting lore, gorgeous cutscenes, solid dialogue, all of that has me immediately invested in this world. Excited to level up and unlock skills and craft my build of armor and weapons to take down enemies the way I want to. This is gonna be in the Game of the Year conversations. I don't think I've replayed a demo this much in a LONG time. This is some satisfying gameplay! Check the video below to see my impressions.

Is it fun to unlock the Joker in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League? The grind is rough. Having to get to level 35 and unlock Joker can easily hours of grinding the same missions in the endgame based on your playstyle and the missions you choose. (I got to level 12 in 3 hours, but keep in mind I'm livestreaming, keeping up conversation, answering questions, taking breaks, looking at gear, etc.) You could potentially unlock Joker faster or pay the $10. I like the game, but the grind is NOT THAT fun. So far there hasn't been anything engaging happening story wise, hopefully that changes when the Joker is unlocked and we battle Brainiac again. I was a fan of this game, the main story was solid although it ended in a way that left a lot of questions that are not being answered. The endgame isn't fun, this first Season is not looking like it's gonna get any better. Sad to see. I'll keep playing. More details soon. Check my livestream below for more.

Amid rumors that Microsoft Xbox exclusive titles Starfield, Hi-Fi Rush, and Indiana Jones: The Great Circle will come to other platforms like the PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch gamers and all of Twitter/X are rightfully confused as to what this means for Xbox, the industry, and exclusivity to platforms.

I don’t think we’re asking the right question here.

The Last of Us Part II Remastered arrived on the PlayStation 5 on 1/19/24 and a lot of gamers are curious as to whether the visual upgrade from the PlayStation 4 version of the game that launched 6/19/20 has the value for the price. While we can have a conversation on whether three years is too soon to be remastering games and if this is some sort of cash grab, I’d rather focus on the details and let you decide if this is a purchase you would like to make.

Merry Christmas Gamers! From my family to yours, I hope you’re having a safe and happy holiday with the people that matter in your life. Thank you for being a part of this journey and I’m wishing you all the best in the coming year. Let us take a moment to remember those who are no longer with us as we celebrate with all those around us and smile for all the good times. Merry Christmas Everyone!Aaron Shack

Assassin’s Creed Mirage is meant to be a back to formula and a homage to the first game; with the classic social stealth assassinations and parkour the series was built on. Ubisoft Bordeaux’s first game developed is Assassin’s Creed Mirage, which follows the story of Basim Ibn Ishaq, a thief from the streets tortured by haunted dreams and visions of a djinn. Djinn/jinn are often alluded to in the Qur'an and stories like One Thousand and One Nights as sentient beings that occupy the space between the spiritual and the physical world. The story takes place during the Ninth Century Golden Age of Islam in Baghdad. Basim meets Roshan and is mentored by the Hidden Ones to become a Master Assassin. He will journey to Alamut, much like Altair traveled to Masyaf to train to become an Assassin among his peers in the order.

Upon his return to Baghdad and the surrounding desert and towns, Basim will utilize his parkour skills to seamlessly traverse through the four districts of Baghdad. To the southeast, the trade region of Karkh, to the north the industrial Harbiyah district, and to the west the scientific district of Abbasiyah which contained the House of Wisdom, in the center the gardens of the Round City or Madinat As-Salam. Basim will seek out side contracts, tools, and assassination targets at the Assassin’s bureaus. The menu in the game will allow Basim to chart out his investigation by collecting vital clues and assembling them in a chart that makes investigations and missions easy to track based on district and targets. It is through this research that Basim is able to stalk and identify his targets before going in for the kill. Mirage also presents the return of social stealth, Basim will have many skills and tools that will allow him to stealthily take down targets using both new and familiar abilities from the series’ past.

From Publisher 11 Bit Studios and Developer Starward Industries comes an all new narrative exploration experience, The Invincible. It is a science fiction, Astropunk styled, space exploration game that has the player assume the role of Yasna, a biologist on a research vessel sent to Regis III to search for signs of life. Things go wrong and Yasna wakes up with no memory of the expedition. The game unfolds with mystery after mystery as you explore the planet and attempt to find your crewmates, rescue them, and remember what happened. While the game is mostly a walking simulator, much like Firewatch, you will make lots of narrative conversational choices throughout the game as you chat over the radio with the Astrogator.

You’ll interact with classic Astropunk retro technology that seems heavily inspired by the 1950’s-1960’s technology in science fiction of the time as you seek to understand the mysteries of the planet and the factions that occupy it. While the game is narrated by an excellent cast, the pacing stays relatively flat. Even the most exciting moments are derived of tension when narrative choices ultimately lead to little confrontation, little risk, low stakes, before you’re back to exploring. The game is very immersive but if you’re not interested in biology and engineering talk, you might find some of the dialogue boring. I however enjoyed the immersion of researching the planet, theorizing what is happening, and seeing if the scientific method proves correct.

Alright, let's talk comic books. Remember when Tony Stark realized the weapons of his company were bombing innocent people and ironically one lands near him? Remember what he did? We all praised him for that. Wow, he stood against war, against genocide, war profiteering, all of it.

He took his money and did something good with it. He realizes he can't be the sleazy playboy billionaire and ride off the success of his parents arms company. He builds the first suit. He became Iron Man. He stood against the very evils his company was built on. Sometimes he fights alongside America's interests, other times he doesn't want to be their puppet and admits he fights for what HE KNOWS is right.

Therefore, in sort of a fictional way, he's incorruptible.

He makes mistakes sure, he battles his ego, but he learns from every experience and grows from it.

All Livestreams and videos moving forward, I will have a link to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund. I've wanted to raise funds to help the innocent Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank and one of the biggest issues is the orphaned children from these bombings and genocide of Palestinians. They are sick, injured, with no power, food, water, telecommunications, etc. Hospitals, Schools, Churches, and Refugee Camps are being bombed and Gaza is essentially a concentration camp full of refugees and descendants of refugees from the 1948 Nakba. These are people unable to escape the reality of the Zionist Genocide of Palestinians.

I have milestones for certain amounts of donations where I will do fun things on videos and livestreams. I am also open to suggestions of things you would like to see done on stream as a way to bolster fundraising for this charity. Feel free to donate anonymously or publicly. Either way, your support is very much appreciated. If you've been looking for a way to help but are confused as to how you can best do so, THIS IS IT.

Use this link to donate here: Palestinian Children's Relief Fund

I am also including a video from People Make Games. This video includes several prominent voices of Game Developers and Palestinians speaking out about what is happening to Palestinians so you can have further context on this issue. Please note that the video is age-restricted and may show scenes of graphic violence. You will be opted to watch the video on YouTube.

I will also be making my own videos on Palestine and I have one older video from 2021 of my thoughts on the Palestinian Humanitarian Crisis here.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Campaign complete in about 8 hours. Very powerful in terms of story and narrative. The Campaign maintains the usual set piece action packed missions with Weapons Free missions throughout. The Weapons Free missions alter the pacing of the game and place the player in a boots on the ground situation where the choices of how to complete the objectives are left up to them.

To those familiar with the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Trilogy of the early 2000’s these newer entries are often branded as remakes, when they are actually more a reimagining, with modern graphics, controls, etc. The story took some twists and turns away from what people may expect, it is not a note for note take of the original trilogy.

The events of the game keep you on the edge of your seat, wanting to know what is going to happen next. Whether it is stopping a terrorist attack, chasing a global fugitive, infiltrating a secret base or defending a location from an onslaught of enemies. The pacing is brilliant and I never wanted to stop as each mission had a reason to be part of the story and wasn’t merely just a chance to have a shootout in a different locale.

The cutscenes could easily be a Call of Duty movie. It's well acted, voiced, and beautifully rendered with cutting edge graphics. There were several times where I thought I was watching a movie, from the photorealistic graphics, to the camera angles, and the well written dialogue. I would very much enjoy deeper narrative journeys in the Call of Duty universe.

This Halloween I managed to create a Ghostbusters II uniform. If the trap and PKE Meter get backed from Hasbro Pulse, I'll have that. I just need a proton pack and/or maybe a Slime Blower? I gave out candy to some kids tonight and they loved it. #Ghostbusters #GhostbustersII

@Ghostbusters

@GhostbustersSU

At the Xbox Partner Preview, a showcase of Third Party Games on the Xbox Platform the first in-engine look of pre-alpha footage of Metal Gear Solid: Delta Snake Eater was shown to gamers. This remake of the classic PlayStation 2 game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is running in Unreal Engine 5 and appearing to use some of the movement and technology of later games like Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.

The crouch walking and cover system are reminiscent of MGSV.

What do you think of the new footage of Metal Gear Solid: Delta Snake Eater? Let me know in the comments below.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder is so fun! The animations feel inspired from The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) the game is full of WONDER and joy. You can't help but smile and laugh. Nintendo definitely has a lock on the nostalgia but also leaves room for new ideas and constantly evolves these beloved characters.

It's amazing how fast a 2D game like this shot up to the top of my Game of the Year list for 2023.

Let me know what you think in the comments down below.

My first Impressions and gameplay of Hellboy: Web of Wyrd. Not a game I'd recommend. Clunky controls, actions on screen to my button presses were delayed or not registered. The low frame rate/animation of Hellboy himself is jarring to look at when the rest of the game world runs at a smooth 60fps. It's probably a creative choice, but it makes for quite the eyesore.

When people talk in cutscenes, their mouths don't move and the still angles make conversations boring. The enemy types are repetitive and boring which makes the game feel even more dated. The story doesn't really pull you in even after several hours of playing.

I saw people comparing the combat in this game to the Batman Arkham games and that couldn't be further from the truth, that's a comparison we shouldn't be making for any game, to be fair.

The comic inspired art is awesome, Lance Reddick voicing Hellboy is awesome. Getting perfect parries was gratifying. The fact that the game often wouldn't register my blocks/dodges in time made Hellboy and his already clunky combat, poor camera angles, and bad directional combat even worse. It's not a fun game to play, despite me being really curious, excited, and only wanting to play more out of desperation that maybe it will get better.

As I like to say, don't take my word for it. Make up your own mind by checking out my experience with the game as I highlight things I enjoy and things I found to be flawed. Some folks watched my video and found the game enjoyable. I'm happy for that too. Make your own choices. Thank you for checking this out.

Halo Infinite is adding some impressive tools to Forge, the map creator in the game. For the first time ever, players will be able to add Campaign AI to their creations using the AI Toolkit and some amazing new features putting immersive tools in the hands of players. This includes two new canvases (essentially map biomes), 200+ new objects, object collision toggle, lighting improvements, quality of life updates, and more. This update to Halo Infinite’s Forge mode is part of Season 5: Reckoning which launches on Tuesday, October 17. This new update and the AI Toolkit is incredibly detailed so check out the link here which also has a video and detailed blog post on the new features.

This will be a game changer essentially allowing players to create their own Campaign missions and AI game modes using these tools!

After two years of negotiations Xbox has acquired Activision Blizzard King. Activision are some of the publishers of some of the most played and most beloved franchises in gaming history across console, PC, and mobile. Games like Pitfall, Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Candy Crush Saga, Farm Heroes Saga, Diablo, Guitar Hero, Starcraft, Hearthstone, and more. You can read Phil Spencer’s statement here the CEO of Microsoft Gaming.

Why did this happen? If we go back several years Activision and Blizzard were fraught with sexual assault allegations across multiple studios from the developers of Call of Duty to World of Warcraft to Overwatch. Nothing was being done about it and Activision CEO Bobby Kotick was not going to do anything either. This purchase also includes a generous severance package for the Activision CEO and he will be out by the end of 2023. This will not be a magic pill for the allegations and charges against the company but this acquisition will place the company under Microsoft that will make sure that these bad practices come to an end, or it will be their name that becomes besmirched next.

Xbox did negotiate with PlayStation that Call of Duty would remain multi-platform for the next ten years as Sony was constantly trying to stop this acquisition from going through. At the end of that time, it will be up to Xbox to decide whether to continue to work with PlayStation but I personally think that has a lot to do with PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan’s sudden retirement, is the mishandling of this acquisition, false statements and lies before the board as well as in the court systems. Phil Spencer has commented that it is best to keep Call of Duty multiplatform as that is what gamers expect as well as because it is a mass selling first person shooter franchise that you wouldn’t want to cut it’s sales by a large portion down to only the Xbox, PC, Switch platforms.

So what does this mean for gaming as a whole? Well, when it comes to the average gamer not a lot will change. A lot of your favorite games will still be available where they are. It is reasonable to assume all Call of Duty games will be on Xbox Game Pass at some point. Xbox has done the great service of enabling servers on older Call of Duty titles to ensure gamers can experience those incredible games from years and years ago just as they were at launch, a huge win for gaming history. In order to remain competitive in the market Xbox has made large acquisitions over the years to bolster its first party studios beyond Halo, Gears of War, and Forza offering a wider variety of games coming from their studios. I think it will be very exciting to see what these studios can do with a budget from Microsoft and the chance to create more unique IP that Activision notably hasn’t done since the early 2000’s.

What does it mean if you’re a fan of PlayStation? Well if you’re part of the console wars and want to argue about your favorite plastic box, this may seem like the end of the world to you. I would argue that had PlayStation made this acquisition, history would show that all these games would be exclusive to their service and NOT one would ever be seen on Xbox and they would be praised for doing so. There’s a unique double standard against Xbox here and the onus is on them to do what they want with their new properties. While I wouldn’t expect all games from ABK to be multiplatform, you can assume some will not be. Much like Bethesda’s Starfield, some games will be designated in the best interest to be an Xbox Studios exclusive title. So perhaps it is time to simply embrace gaming as a whole rather than choose sides. There will be benefits for owning each console/PC and the person who can own all of them ultimately wins when it comes to player choice of what game to play.

Below you can see a handy chart of Xbox’s first party studios composed by Klobrille. What do you think of the Xbox acquisition of Activision, Blizzard, King? Let me know in the comments below.

Silent Hill: Ascension, the digital event where the audience decides the fate of the characters of the Silent Hill canon each episode premieres October 31, 2023. You can pre-install and find out more at this link. Please note there may be mature themes on the website. You’ll be prompted to pre-install on Apple’s App Store or Google Play. What do you think of Silent Hill: Ascension? Will you be joining in on this limited series? Let me know in the comments below!