Extra Life 2022 is "next" weekend!

It's that time of year again! Extra Life is right around the corner and I'm once again participating. Instead of running solo this year I've partnered up with Louis, aka Esefine, for some more variety instead of just having my face on the screen for a total of 24 hours.

Here is a link to our team page of Fast Good to Go!

Note that... friends, whether or not you're around the Dungeons & Dragons table... never let you forget the dumb things you have said when tired. That was my epic naming for a Star Destroyer... like I said, I was tired!

So what is Extra Life?

Extra Life is a fundraising program of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals®. The Extra Life community fundraises year-round to Change Kids’ Health to Change the Future. Donations go to member children’s hospitals to fund critical life-saving treatments and healthcare services, along with innovative research, vital pediatric medical equipment, and child life services.

Since its inception in 2008, Extra Life has raised over $100 million USD to Change Kids' Health to Change the Future. Right now, children's hospitals need YOUR support.

Why am I doing Extra Life?

I do Extra Life because I've had friends and family that have needed the services that the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals provide. So if I can help raise even a little bit in order to help these services to continue to help friends, family and their friends and families? Being that we spend our time gaming? It's a small ask.

What are we playing?

This took a while to figure out. What game could we play and not get bored of... That was the question. Our opening for the year was Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, and we had a blast. Finally, a Soulslike that had multiplayer that didn't boot out either player if they died and even allowed you to bring them back if they lost all their health!

Also happy to see that feature was brought over to the upcoming Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty also from Team Ninja.

Following that, I went and played a good twelve hours as a follow up event with Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes. Asking people to donate right before the holidays can be a tough ask, so with that in mind, I try to have a few streams over the course of the year to help with that! I also make a donation with every stream. I will not ask people to do what I myself won't.

This brings us to next weekend where Louis and I are going to try for the actual 24 hours in one go. I normally split it in half or try to go as long as possible and then finish up the next day. With that in mind, we are going to go for gold. This year we are playing:

●     Gears of War

●     Gears of War 2

●     Gears of War 3

●     and maybe, if we haven't met the 24 hour mark by that point, Gears of War Judgement!

So what is this post really about?

This post is about supporting your Extra Life players! Support isn't just about donating, it's also about stopping by their streams to say hello, sending them an encouraging message that they've got this, or bringing them a cauldron of coffee because they are going to need it.

And finally? It's about thanking both Louis who's gaming with me this year, Robert who's always there for me as my moderator, and the rest of the team that stops by to say hi. It's all really appreciated.

That's it, T-Minus 1 week to go until game day!

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Gears of War 3 - Xbox 360 Review

I've been posting about Gears quite a bit this week, and it has been a really pleasant trip down memory lane for me. The Gears of War titles were both excellent, though the first holds a slightly more nostalgic place for me since it really did usher in this generation of game consoles for me, introducing me to the high definition graphics, excellent use of surround sounds, fun gameplay and also experiencing what online gaming could be like on consoles now.

I am not going to lie - I have been spending a lot of time on this game. I already have two friends asking to borrow it. My son and I logged quite a bit of time one weekend doing the campaign mode together. I'm going to come out and say that this was my favorite Gears game yet, and if you have been following along with my other reviews over the last week, you'll see I looked at the first two pretty favorably as well. Here's the details:

Graphics - 9:

There is this really oppressive atmosphere that just bleeds into the entire game. The colors are still varied (unlike the reports that Resistance 3 for the PS3 was very brown and muddied at times), but the world of Sera is a dark, gritty place. Buildings are falling into decay. The Stranded (survivors) are a ragtag group of people with tattered clothing and scars. There's virtually no slowdown in any of my gameplay, and that goes for online and offline. The engine does not show pop in, tearing, things like that. Is it perfect? No. But it's still really impressive.

Sound & Music - 10:

The voice acting is really solid, and it's everywhere. Obviously some is better than others, but the principle actors do a good job though, and some of the banter and dialog is not only believable but just add a sense of 'life' to the entire game, which is impressive given the dismal surroundings of the storyline. Beyond that though, this is a game where the gunfire and explosions just sound great from top to bottom. I cranked this game up in my living room with the surround sound, and it felt like my system was getting a great workout from it, where the bass would cause my floor and sofa to shake with explosions and gunfire could be heard coming accurately from different directions.

On top of all of that, the musical score was quite good, helping to set and maintain the tone of the game throughout many of its major scenes. A footnote on the music front was when I was playing online and "Mad World" began to play as a piano instrumental. Kind of a cool nod to those of us who have been fans of the game since the beginning. Why? Because of this trailer for the original Gears of War that was very well-received, featuring this song playing over it in the background.

Gameplay - 9:

This is a third-person shooter, where taking cover is a major part of how you advance. It is a very different mechanic than those found in most first-person shooters like Call of Duty. I have one co-worker who is a huge fan of Call of Duty and Battlefield and has played through all of the Gears of War games, and did not enjoy them nearly as much. He could not really give a reason beyond saying that he just did not care for the style as much. I actually enjoy it quite a bit more, so there is definitely some preference at play here.

There are not a ton of innovations here, to be honest. If you played either of the first two Gears of War games, you know what to expect here. But there are some cool new weapons, the close-range combat feels a bit tighter than prior versions (maybe I'm just doing something different, but it seems like 'in close' my gun play handled a lot better in this version than the prior ones) and the way you to run in and 'stick' to cover is a bit smoother as well.

I still prefer the firefights to some of the mounted or vehicle sessions, but they did not annoy me nearly as much as in Gears of War 2. A couple of the sections were definitely tough, sometimes a bit unfairly so where you had an object that maybe was not 100% clear and you had to dodge some unkillable creature, for example, but these were far and few between and using the Left Button on the shoulder does a nice job of showing you your objective and teammate locations on the fly.

Intangibles - 9:

There's replay value to be had here. It is not a long game - you can beat it in a weekend but I think it takes longer to navigate than the Call of Duty games. There are several difficulty levels you can choose from. The campaign mode supports up to 4 player co-op, and you can have local or online players. My son and I did 2-player co-op and had an absolute blast with it. There are plenty of medals, achievements, online modes and campaign-mode collectibles to find as well, giving you reasons to go back in and play again.

The game modes range from story (including an 'arcade' variant), horde mode (a somewhat tactical you-versus waves of bad guys mode you can do solo or with friends), a beast mode (where you are on the other side of the coin - you are the monsters trying to infiltrate the human forts and kill them working against a timer - I liked this one, but it feels like a mode that requires multiple people - the timer is pretty harsh for just 1 or 2 players to get through), a fair number of unlockable skins for use when you play and it all works against a 'level' system that reminds me a bit more of Halo: Reach than Call of Duty in that it unlocks cosmetic things and not actual gear (that I've noticed yet anyway).

So close to a 10, maybe it is. I would have liked a slightly longer story mode, or even maybe some choices along the way that have cosmetic effects on the world around you, but I realize that this is not an RPG game. Just the same, you are part of this epic battle with tremendous stakes throughout, and the storyline is excellent

Overall - 9.25:

This is a game that is not meant for kids, but there are options to turn off the swearing and decrease the blood - but in honesty you're shooting people in the head and tearing them apart with chainsaws. It's not little-kid friendly, but I did find the options useful for playing with my son. With lots of modes and a well-made game all of the way around, it is hard for me not to recommend this title - especially if you liked the first two. That said? It is a different kind of animal than most of the 'shooters' out there, and as in the case of my one co-worker, it does not appeal to everyone. Also, the story could be a bit longer, but the key here was I simply had a lot of fun, and had a lot of fun with my son, and given the various game modes offered, I suspect we will keep having fun with it for the foreseeable future.

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Gears of War 2 - Xbox 360 Review

I recently touched on Gears of War, which was an excellent early game for the Xbox 360. It was probably one of the most defining titles for this current gaming generation, at least if you owned an Xbox 360. I felt like Halo and Gears were counterpoints to some of the shooters specific to the PS3 like Warzone and Resistance.

The first Gears was one of the driving forces behind my leap into the Xbox 360 - almost all of my friends had it, and we made great use of the co-op modes and online play. To say Gears 2 was anxiously awaited would be a ridiculous understatement. With the recent Gears 3 release, this seemed like a great time to visit this title.

Graphics - 9:

Amazing stuff, really. Even better than the first game, which at the time blew me away. I bought an HD tv for the first Gears (and technically, my 360). This game made me appreciate it even more. The animations were sweet, the angles were presented very well and the oppressive atmosphere of the world around you is unrelenting.

Sound & Music - 9:

I loved the music in the first Gears, and that holds true of Gears of War 2. Constant voice acting is generally good, though there were times it felt a bit more flat than in the original, at least to me. The sound effects were good and varied, making quality use of my surround sound system. Loud, reverberating explosions punctuated with gunfire and dialog - it is good stuff.

Gameplay - 8:

I have to mark the game down a tad here. The game plays a lot like the first Gears, and the firearms combat feels tightened up. That said, I really disliked some of the vehicle/on rails sections. This is not a game with much freedom. Sometimes you make a path choice but essentially you are on a linear path, and that's fine, but I preferred the ground combat to some of the mounted scenes. Some of these parts really, really annoyed me - they weren't necessarily poorly done, but they were my least favorite part of the game.

Intangibles - 8:

The game is a bit longer than the original Gears, but not by much. Again you can tweak difficulties, but yet again I beat the game in a single weekend. The online modes are much more robust though, giving you much better bang for your buck than the first Gears game.

Overall - 8.5:

A technical improvement on the original in pretty much every way, though certain parts of the single player mode did annoy/frustrate me more than the first. Still, Gears of War 2 proved to be an undeniably fun, if brutal (this one is no more for kids than the first game in my opinion - even my son didn't get to play this one when I first got it, and he was like 7 or 8 at the time) experience. It's definitely not reinventing the wheel here - Epic took what worked in the first title and polished it up. This game can be found somewhat inexpensively now as well, and it was definitely worth it for me.

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Gears of War - Xbox 360 Review

This is well-overdue.

I mean, this was probably THE first big game I got with my 360. It was actually the game that got me to buy a 360 - and eventually my first high def TV. One of my best friends got a 360 shortly before I did, and he bought FEAR and Gears of War. I've played FEAR - though it's been a long time, and just never really got into it, but Gears was a completely different matter. Still, as hard as it is for me to believe, this game is about five years old. Is it worth taking a look at if you have not already?

Graphics - 8:

At the time, these were among the best graphics I had ever seen. They still hold up pretty well five years later. This is one of those titles that made me think of it like a summer blockbuster movie - full of visual spectacle. There are almost no technical issues with the graphics to speak of, and they really do a great job of pulling you into the game.

Music & Sound - 9:

That said, as good as the graphics are, the sound and music are even better. Sound effects are great, voice acting is generally very good and the music was excellent in my opinion. It often set just the right tone. This aspect, when combined with the graphics really made for a very movie-like experience at times.

Gameplay - 8:

The cover system was maybe not completely original upon release, but it worked as well if not better than almost any other I could recall at the time. There were some cheap deaths waiting to be had, but checkpoints were frequent enough to keep it from getting too annoying. Also, some aspects of the combat held up better than others - it felt like the real long ranged weapons were never quite as awesome as I had hoped, and while chainsawing an opponent was a lot of fun, firefights at close range were sometimes clumsy affairs.

Intangibles - 7:

The game is quite short - I beat it the first weekend I owned it. Being able to do it in co-op though was fun as I had 3 different friends I played through the game with in this way. Different difficulty settings are there for people who like to make their games harder or easier. There are some 'collectibles' along the way to find for people who enjoy that sort of game-within-a-game. This was also my first game I played online, and while the maps and variety were fairly limited, they were cool at the time. They hold up a bit worse now though, considering how far we have come with online modes.

Overall - 8:

Considering how cheaply this game can be found (I've seen it for as little as 8 dollars), it really is a very good deal if you like third person shooters. Not a kid-friendly game between the swearing and bloody deaths (when you chainsaw an enemy, the screen itself splatters with blood). With the online not being as robust as newer titles and the fairly short campaign mode, it would not be worth a full price new buy now for most people, but a used or discounted game price makes this an excellent play.

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