Uncategorized – Game Checkpoint

Rage 2 Is Worth Your Time and Money

Rage 2’s open world is a lot of fun to explore and you’ll get to where you’re going in style. By that, I mean you’ll come across vehicles in the game which are both fast and decked out with weapons.

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If you’re a big fan of the 2016 Doom  reboot then you’re going to be on this game like a hobo on a corndog. One of my favorite things about the game is how the enemies move rapidly and adjusting your aim is critical if you’re ever going to have a chance of hitting them. Bouncing off the walls and getting in your personal space seems to be their main mission in life, and they’re good at it.

Rage 2  has a sense of humor and reminds me a lot of Fallout 4 in ways and frankly, that’s a good thing. All of this adds up to a game that offers a ton of fun if you enjoy it for what it is, and what it was meant to be… a fast-paced shooter that is open-world with 60fps and a sequel that works.

And you’re going to need firepower to stop ‘The Authority,’ an army of mechanical mutants marauding across the sun-scorched wastelands of this bleak, asteroid-battered Earth. Defeating these guys and their leader, General Cross, is your primary motivation in Rage 2—not to mention fighting off gangs of raiders, bandits, and other goons.

Honestly, the story isn’t a show stopper, but the game is a lot of fun if you like the FPS playstyle. This is all about clearing out the bad guys and moving to the next place, to clear out more bad guys, I think you see where I’m going with this.

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Buy the game and try it for yourself and don’t worry about what you’ve read or heard. I think a lot of fans of the original Rage will be happy with it… unlike me when my Mom would make her Shephard Pie for dinner when I was a kid… I mean, who puts ketchup on mashed potatoes?… Who??

Don’t Violate Your Video Game NDA’s

In the age of Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, many people are breaking their word and their signature by violating the very NDA agreement they signed.

Non Disclosure Agreement

The non-disclosure agreement, commonly known as the NDA, is a document that many Video Game companies both rely on for secrecy, trust, and tempered information release. The company has put a lot of work into their project and they deserve the right to keep it under wraps until they decide to release it at a time of their choosing.

Non Disclosure Agreements are built on your word and personal seal, and some people seem to only to be looking for that one big leak that’ll give them a ton of likes and the fame they think they deserve.

I think most people are good at heart and will do what they say they’ll do. But, there is a small portion of people who have no intention of honoring the NDA before they sign those pages.

I’ve been on both sides of an NDA and never leaked anything I wasn’t allowed to say. That’s because the companies I signed those with allowed me to do whatever it was they wanted me to do, and not talk about it.

If you don’t think you can honor the NDA then you shouldn’t sign it. Just walk away. You make that choice before you put that pen to the paper and sign a legal contract that you are expected to uphold. It’s literally in the contract itself.

A leak, even if it turns out to be correct, is told solely from one opinion and can do a lot of unfair damage to the project before it’s released. It may not even be included in the final project.

Just keep that in mind the next time you’re asked to sign a document. I know it’s hard to know something that you’re excited about and not talk about it. Like when I used all the hot water and didn’t tell my wife until after she jumped in. Yeah, that was pretty easy actually and a lot funnier than I thought it would be at 5:45 am. It’s the little things.

My Gaming Inventory Is Already Full

Every gamer knows their character’s inventory is an important part of…well, some of it is stuff you will never use and worthless…but, we all still grab it anyway.

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It’s a curse that cannot be broken. Who keeps ragged clothes worth zero money? But, I hang on to it until I start running out of space, which for me, is always faster than a hoarder on Christmas.

In games like Skyrim, you must be careful. You’ll start grabbing things at lightning-fast speed and then they slip one item in the middle marked, ‘steal.’ Steal? I raise out of my chair and scream, “NOOOOOOO!” But it’s too late, it’s been added to your inventory and you have now become public enemy number one, Skyrim’s Most Wanted.

So, I wondered to myself, “Self? What would happen if you did that in real life?” Let me just say, I’ll be writing about the results when I make bail. Not really…they let me off with just a warning. Ok, so I haven’t tried it…but what if you did?

The next time we go to someone’s house, I’m taking a large sack with me. I think at some point, I’ll just start adding small things to the sack until they stop me. I’ll explain that I’m just trying to make a health potion and just needed a few items…yeah…they’ll love us coming over.

If I know one thing games have taught us, it’s that you can go into almost any random house once you saved their lost goat, or found the family spear that was stolen, and then just, take pretty much anything you want. Do you ever feel bad that you did something for these people who are usually worse off money-wise, and then took their life savings and everything they had worth anything for your inventory?

I struggle to do that because I always play the ‘good guy.’ I just saved your town from a huge fire-breathing dragon, and now you all owe me half of everything you have…hello, you have just now become “Negan.”

I’m not suggesting that anyone go out and try this. I will do it as a ‘controlled experiment’ and write an article on the results. I mean, you can do it in games, why can’t you at least try it in real life? That’s the legal argument I’ll plead out anyway.

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Everyone knows that games are just an extension of real life. Ok, my wife is now telling me that it’s not a true statement. I disagree, like when she tells me that the graphics outside are better than our 4K TV. Ha, can you imagine that? Outside is better than 4K? She’s behind me now, isn’t she?

Wolfenstein Youngblood: Changing the Difficulty Setting

The new installment of Wolfenstein Youngblood is a great addition to the B.J Blazkowicz story. In this game, you’ll play as his teenage daughters in co-op style gameplay. It also features a new leveling system that puts you against enemies with increasing strength, and it can get tough, fast.

I’ve been asked by several people how to change the difficulty setting, so, here’s everything you need to help clear out those pesky Nazis.

The good news is that you can quickly change the difficulty no matter where you currently are. The bad news is… there isn’t any bad news, so that’s even more good news.

If you’re playing on PS4 then hit the Options button to pause the game (Menu or Xbox One and + on Switch). Then, select Options, then Gameplay, and then you’ll see the Difficulty options list. You can cycle right to increase it, or go left to lower it, with Normal being the default option.

The game has several settings to help you out when you need them (easy, casual, normal, hard, very hard). I recommend the ‘very hard’ setting… Ok, no I don’t because that mode should be called ‘insane’. I was playing with a friend and when he had to take a quick time-out, I changed it to the ‘very hard’ mode. I had to go when he got back so I’m curious how it went from there.

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Hopefully, that’ll help some people if they may have a friend like me, or, just need to adjust the difficulty at times. This game is very different from the previous two but just enough to make it feel fresh, and the humor is pretty hilarious.

I wonder if my friend will think it was funny?… The important thing is that I think it was funny… and isn’t that all that counts? I’m just going to assume you said, ‘yes’ to that, and enjoy Wolfenstein Youngblood, it’s an awesome game!

So, Who Gets First Controller?

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Here’s a question that still comes up at times when you’re playing with a friend on the same system…So, who takes the first controller?

Let’s start with the basics, whoever owns the system, gets the first controller…ALWAYS. Now, I know what you’re thinking, “But, they told me that I could be the first controller.” Short Answer: Stop being a Noob, they were just being nice.

One of my brothers used to come over and we’d play a lot of video games…I mean, a lot of video games. We never had this question come up because it’s just an unwritten rule…like if you pour a lot of milk in your Lucky Charms and then realize your wife doesn’t have enough to eat her healthy cereal, you just add water to the jug before she gets up…don’t judge me.

But, what about when you invite your friend over to play a split-screen game and while you’re setting things up and turn around, you see it…they have your precious…that part of you that knows every dark secret you have. It is one of your most coveted items in the house (sorry kids), the master of disaster, first-controller. I know half of you just passed out at the very thought of it…I’ll give you a second or two……and we’re back.

What do you say in that nightmare? I have the perfect phrase for those situations, “Hey, can I see that a second?” When they give it to you just casually reach down and get ‘the backup’ controller (you know the one, it’s like that crazy cousin you only see twice a year on the holidays) and hand it to them. If you’re like me, and everyone should be, then you reach into the Dorito bag and grab the first chip you come to, and thump him/her in the head with it, just because.

Wars have started over things like this. Who doesn’t understand controller-etiquette? It’s not hard like it’s that last slice of pizza in the box when four of you look down and notice it…that’s a free for all, and anything goes. This is the first controller man, respect.

We shouldn’t even have to think about something so traumatic on a Saturday. Life is too short to be the second controller on your own system, don’t be a victim. I have like a hundred other things I could say on this, and examples I could give, but just don’t be a Noob and pick up the first controller on a system you don’t own. And if you come to my house and do it, I always have a bag of Doritos handy…and man, those things are like ninja throwing stars.

Which Gaming Achievement Are You Most Proud Of?

That’s right, you’ve been working for days to get that special Xbox achievement, and now, someones going to have to see it.

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When I’m at home and playing (I mean working, I totally meant working) and finally hear that ‘pop’ of an achievement I’ve been trying to get for five days, yes, I get excited. I’ve been known to jump up and throw my hands in the air and sometimes, doing a dance that my wife has described as looking like a chicken having a seizure… which is a little harsh… but it is fair.

It’s a victory all of us know too well. But, you’re fixing to hear, the rest of the story. You just did your chicken-seizure dance and turn around to show that precious trophy or achievement off and… no one is there. When I’m at home my wife is awesome and always more than supporting, but she’s not a huge console fan. Her achievements are more hand-held and involve jumping over mushrooms and constantly trying to save a princess that, I swear, keeps teasing that blasted dragon, just saying.

There’s no print out of your accomplishment, just that brief window of proof when you see a flash on your screen. It all happens to me in slow-motion mode and I’m still fist-bumping myself (which yes, maybe a little sad) and then you see the notification start to fade, NOOOOO!

Yes, you can always look it up on your fancy phone or better yet, scroll through when you’re with your friends and pull the old, “Huh, I didn’t even realize I got this trophy,” bit. You innocently show them your accomplishment and secretly smile, because now, someone else has seen your world domination. Achievements and Trophies are meant to be shared with your friends and fellow gamers, that’s part of it, that’s what I tell myself anyway.

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I love gaming, it’s the best job/recreation I know. I’m not a big sports guy, my big week of the year is E3 and QuakeCon. Yes, Achievements and Trophies are awesome and when I go somewhere my Xbox One X goes with me. I even take it when I’m visiting with family out of town, I mean, you always have some downtime.

I will continue to take my chicken dance on the road with me and I did a lot of it when we visited QuakeCon this year, for our seventh year in a row. Life is always so serious, but when I’m playing all that stress goes away… and then new stress starts again when that huge oversized Boss destroys me in just a few swipes. Why is it so Dark…Souls?