Silent Hill, while not quite as phenomenal as the second, has taken up most of my gaming time for the past few days. I'm going to post thoughts as I work through it, but I don't think I'm going to write a full-blown review as everyone should already know Silent Hill is cemented as a horror masterpiece.

The game is praised for many aspects, but perhaps the most prominent for me is the atmosphere. I've only ever completed Silent Hill 2 prior to this game, but already the parallels between the two games are evident. Wander a foggy town, complete with disturbing monsters and strangely distant NPCs, in order to uncover a mystery. In the case of Silent Hill, the main character (Harry Mason) must find his daughter, who went missing after a car crash. Sure, the way the fog restricts sight of anything other than a few feet in front of the player is effective at creating tension, but the indoor environments are even more interesting. Without spoiling too much, lets just say that each indoor segment of the game changes tone dramatically at some point. A normally standard elementary school will turn nightmarish, complete with hanging bodies and grotesque child-like enemies. These aspects add to the overlying theme of insanity, which pops up multiple times over the course of both Silent Hill 1 and 2. Perhaps it is to the game's disadvantage that I played the sequel beforehand, but I don't think the scares were made any less effective. Bodies fall out of closets and strange sounds echo from the walls, startling me on a regular basis. Not only do the stellar sound and visual design work wonders to build atmosphere, the tone of the game creates a feeling of helplessness that never lets up. While wandering through the various environments I always felt on edge, even if a lack of health packs and ammo was never a significant concern. In this respect, Silent Hill is fairly generous, as a keen eye for objects in the environment will almost always keep the player alive. But nevertheless, in many situations the best solution is to simply run away, and this lack of combat makes the encounters that much more exciting.

As stated before, the sound design is absolutely stellar, and here's why. Many sounds that occur don't make much contextual sense, but this only reinforces the "insanity" themes. Sometimes all it takes to unsettle a player is a strategically placed child's cry, or perhaps the iconic and brilliant radio, which crackles and screeches when enemies are nearby. By creating this association between noise and danger, the "always on edge" feeling is further reinforced. Of course, the music of the game is also worth noting, as Akira Yamaoka's distrubing soundscapes contribute to the atmosphere considerably. After all, who can deny the genius of the instantly recognizable title theme? Moving on to the visual design, here is another area where Silent Hill excells (although it shows its age at every corner). The school, hospital, and other buildings that populate Silent Hill look fairly standard, but once they've switched to their "nightmare" versions they truly shine. Rusty metal grating makes up the floors of some of these horrific rooms, with blood splatters distributed liberally. While the characters indeed look awful, the player will get used to the game's age after a small amount of playtime. The FMV cutscenes also look dated, but since I have a weakness for this style of CGI, they only made me like the game more. Don't ask me why, I just like the look of them (especially the scene where Harry wakes up in the diner).

Of course everyone is aware of the "tank controls" which are utilized in older survival horror games. Silent Hill controls clumsily, but it's entirely intentional. If the player was given standard 3D movement, escaping would be much easier and a large amount of tension would be lost. It seems strange to compliment what are essentially "bad controls", but in Silent Hill's case, they completely work. Resident Evil 2, a game which I personally hate, is much more heavy on combat so I feel that the controls are a detriment to the experience. But in Silent Hill, since the player is encouraged to avoid combat in many situations, the controls feel entirely at place.

That's all I have to say for now, and since I went so far in depth I may not have any more to say once I've finished the game. I'm also working on Planescape: Torment, so thoughts on that will be put up shortly. If you haven't played Silent Hill, there's no better time after the recent teaser for Silent Hills, PT. If you have a PS4, play that too, it's free.

As October approaches the desire to play horror games gets stronger and stronger. I've already got a few lined up which I may start as early as September, but any suggestions from the community would be good. I personally love Silent Hill 2, but I've never beaten any of the others in the series. Most likely I'll replay SH2, but I'm also going to try and beat 1 and 3, to see if I like either of them as much as 2. No game I've ever played creates the same atmosphere that Silent Hill 2 does, be it the areas shrouded in fog or the fantastic sound design. Also, with Silent Hills over the horizon (hopefully we'll get a release date soon), I thought it would be a good time to go back and attempt the other entries in the series (the most acclaimed that is). I've always been interested in Shattered Memories as well, but I've never found it at a store so I may have to order it online. It got mixed reviews but from what I've read it seems like it may be slightly underrated, I'll have to decide for myself.

I had all but given up on finding games that actually scared me before I played PT. Now that I've tried it and found it genuinely terrifying, it reignited my love for horror games. Other games I'm thinking of trying are any of the Siren games (probably Blood Curse), and any of the Fatal Frame games. Since these are all on PSN (I think) it won't be hard to get my hands on them. Just for the record, I'm NOT going to play the Silent Hill HD Collection, because from what I can tell it's complete garbage. It'll have to be Amazon and my dusty PS2 for Silent Hill 2 and 3. Fatal Frame's concept seems really interesting to me (your only means of defense is a camera, if I recall correctly), so hopefully those will freak me out a bit. Siren: Blood Curse is a bit of a wild card, as I'm not sure how fondly it's regarded, but who knows, maybe it's been overlooked. I'll probably start in the next week or so because I need to leave myself a long time frame. Because I'll be starting school, and still be playing WoW, it will be difficult to make much progress in other games. My hope is that once I start a Silent Hill game, I won't be able to put it down and won't even think about WoW, but we'll see if that's actually the case. Now that I think about it, I may try and marathon Silent Hill today, but no promises there. If I do manage to complete it though, I'll post thoughts this evening, or maybe tomorrow morning.

So my question for everyone is, what horror games do you recommend, and which Fatal Frame or Siren game is the best, in your opinion?

After coming back from vacation I had one goal in mind, get in some more WoW time. Over the past 4 days I've been questing, doing dungeons, and generally progressing on the road to 90. When I started my Orc Rogue, I found the game extremely bland, not helped by the fact that the Orc starting zone is a large desert. But as I leveled up and gradually garnered more rewards from the experience, I grew to love the game. No other game in recent memory has gotten me as invested as WoW has, and while I'm still making sure I only play in the evenings I consider myself fairly hooked. There are no other games I'm interested in playing right now, and until Far Cry 4 releases, I doubt anything will change that fact.

So, a quick recap of what I've been doing. After getting my mount at level 20 I dipped my toes in a few dungeons and was delighted at the relative amount of great loot in comparison to simple questing. Also, fighting with other people who have specialized roles is much more rewarding than playing alone, as everyone's unique strengths and weaknesses need to be balanced. The biggest problem that's arisen has been if say, a healer doesn't heal, or a tank keeps getting killed. This is a problem with randomly matching in the Dungeon Finder, but I haven't found that it has detracted from the experience in any significant way. Some dungeon's I've enjoyed more than others, with Deadmines being one of my favorites so far (probably because it was the first one I did). Really the biggest complaint I can level against WoW is that getting around can be a chore at times. Simply learning how to access areas and what pre-requisites are needed is a hefty task, but one that can be eased into over the course of leveling. I think I've been fairly efficient with leveling, seeing as it's my first try at the game, so even if I am stuck trekking from one area to another, I never particularly feel like I'm wasting time. Even if there is a lot of traveling, I really enjoy the scope of the world, with multiple continents that I haven't even stepped foot on yet. There's The Outlands, which excite me because they exist entirely outside of Aezeroth. Northrend looks cool because I LOVE winter themed video game levels. Pandaria doesn't interest me currently, but maybe that's because it seems so far off. It is a bit frustrating that I didn't experience the impact of Cataclysm, because I never played before it, but there's nothing I can do about that.

The combat also gets considerably more enjoyable as the game progresses. As a rogue, I do a lot of sneaking up behind enemies, but the combo system is also interesting. It adds another layer of depth to what makes up most of the game: fighting monsters. If it didn't work as well as it does, I'm not sure that I would have kept playing, so good thing it's as amazing as it is. I'm excited to see how the other classes play, and I hope to try out a tank next, but that will have to wait until I get sick of my current character. I don't see any indication of that happening, as I'm currently almost able to purchase a faster mount, and after that I'm going to give pet battles a try. I haven't even tried PVP Battlegrounds yet, or any of the professions. At the end of the day, the two things that make WoW amazing, to me, are it's scope and polish. As I stated before, the fact that most of the world is not available until later levels makes the allure that much more strong. 10 years is a long time to iterate and improve on a game, and Blizzard may be the very best there is at improving their games post-launch. I'm so happy WoW exists because it's unlike any other game I've played, and it allows the player to truly get lost in it's world. Hopefully I'll have another update in the coming days!

Before I had even begun playing PT, the recently released "playable teaser" for the new Silent Hill game, I knew I was in for a treat. To find the game, it took a bit of digging through the recently released section, and even then it isn't obvious what the game is exactly. Of course, this is the intention, the description of the game is cryptic and the fun comes from discovering just what the game is. I never expected that the first game I would play on my PS4 that truly felt "next-gen", wouldn't even be a full game. As soon as the game begins some truly exceptional technical feats are put on display. Walls and objects are intricately detailed, perhaps more so than any other game I've played. The teaser runs on Hideo Kojima's FOX Engine, and because I didn't play Ground Zeroes I didn't know what the engine is capable of in terms of visual fidelity. I won't give any details on what takes place during the teaser, but rest assured this is one of the most terrifying games I've ever played, and it is quite unlike anything I've played before. When you buy a next-gen console, not only are you looking for the best in graphical technology, you also want experiences unlike anything you've ever seen. Games like Super Mario 64 and Wolfenstein 3D pushed boundaries to create something wholly new, but not since Bioshock in 2007 have I played a game as truly mind-blowing as PT. Sure, this may seem like an excessive word to use for what isn't even a "demo" and may not be representative of the final product, but damn is it impressive. All of the tiniest details in the environment, sound effects, and exceptional lighting and shadows, PT is unique and brilliantly immersive.

Be warned however, the game is quite obtuse at times, with little indication of where to go or what to do. Even though there are very few options of where to progress the game, getting stuck is a vital part of the experience. When the scares do come, they are all the more effective because of the long, confusion riddled buildup. I haven't actually beaten the game yet, after having banged my head against it for a few hours last night I retired and will hopefully finish it up today. I'm guessing most people will have trouble beating the game on their first try, or maybe I'm just stupid. In any case, PT is hands-down the best PS4 game I've played yet, and it leaves me extremely excited for whatever the finished version of "Silent Hills" will be. I have faith that Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro will craft the best horror game in years, and maybe even revitalize the genre.

The list has shortnened a bit, as I've recognized there are some games I like more than others. Persona 4 Golden is a difficult one, because I'm currently stuck on a boss that's wiped my team from full health twice, just before I beat the damn thing. It was frustrating, to say the least, and when something like that happens it usually takes a week or so for me to give it another try. Since I only have one more day of vacation, I doubt, I'm going to pick up Persona again. Kirby: Triple Deluxe, but the simplicity is beginning to wear on me. I can rarely play more than one level in a sitting because the game simply gets boring. This isn't to say it's a bad game in any way, and I completely understand that the target age group is younger than me. I do think it's fair to hope however, that the game could appeal to a wider age range. Sure, I could go back to the levels to get collectibles, but right now the levels seem so simple that it would be twice as boring to go back for additional completion. Kirby: Triple Deluxe is a well designed game that is too easy for me to get invested in it, but that's fine because I have plenty of other games to play. Dragon's Crown is still enjoyable, with a loop similar to Diablo of gathering loot, leveling up and conquering bosses. The game does have a fair amount of grinding, with levels having to be repeated to complete sidequests with large experience bonuses. I enjoy grinding, so this wasn't much of a problem, but it is obvious that some bosses are made to be beaten with friends. I don't know anyone who owns the game, so I'll have to grind through it solo. It gets a little frustrating to play the game for long stretches of time, because this almost always requires playing each stage 2 or 3 times over, for experience and to complete sidequests. But as a portable game played in short bursts, it certainly gets the job done. Proteus is a cool little experience, which is based around exploration, and observing your surroundings. I like picking up the game for 10 minutes to take in the beautfiful art-style, but it won't hold the average player's attention for very long. It's fine, because this is how the game is designed, but don't go into it expecting a "game" in the most literal sense of the word. Finally, I've been leveling in Pokemon Y, which has been taking up most of my time. The battles are fast, and the next objective is always clear, it's just a matter of making my Pokemon strong enough to overcome the next challenge. Because Game Freak has been perfecting their formula for decades, grinding in Pokemon Y is ore fun than it's ever been. With the added usefullness of the EXP Share, leveling all Pokemon in your party is simple. My only complaint is that the game is initially much easier than previous entries, but I've begun to attempt the massive task for which the series is known (hint: it's the tagline). As a portable game, Pokemon Y is brilliant because it can be played in very small bursts, or marathoned just as easily. I suspect the game will end up consuming the rest of my free-time while on vacation.

I'm headed to a mountain resort for the next 5 days or so, and along came my Vita and 3DS, naturally. I'm going to try and focus on 5 games or less so that I can hopefully make some progress, or even finish a few of them. Some of the games on the list I had started prior to my vacation (Shovel Knight, Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Persona 4 Golden), while some I'm starting fresh (Proteus, Dragon's Crown). Of course I don't expect to finish Persona 4, but I have high hopes that I can make it through Proteus (if I'm not mistaken it's only a couple of hours long), Shovel Knight (I'm almost finished), Kirby: Triple Deluxe (about halfway through) and Dragon's Crown (I've played a little bit and it seems like it's going to hook me). I'm not going to be able to play games until about 5 or 6 PM each day, because I'll be out doing other stuff, but even as a side activity at the end of a day, I could probably make some progress. Below I will include thoughts on Dragon's Crown, which I started recently.

Dragon's Crown:

This one is freshest in my mind as I played the first half an hour this morning. I had previously only played one other Vanillaware game: Muramasa, which I found extremely dull due to very repetitive level design. Luckily, within the first 15 minutes of Dragon's Crown I found that the same was not true. Dragon's Crown, like Vanillaware's previous games, is a side-scrolling action RPG. In comparison to Muramasa, Dragon's Crown seems less focused on combo-based combat and more built around finding better loot and outfitting your character. This is a big plus for me, as I find looting to be much more enjoyable than pulling of intricate combos, but that's just personal preference. The game's art-style is simultaneously over-the-top, and beautiful, with detailed environments and some great animations on the characters. The combat, as simple as it is, wouldn't feel half as good if it wasn't for the fluidity of the combat animations, which go a long way to make the experience more appealing to the eyes. The game utilizes a hub world, complete with quest givers and item shops. The player can leave this hub to complete quests and gain experience, although I don't have much experience with the game yet so I can't offer opinions on quest variety. As soon as I acquired the spoils of my first quest however, the feeling matched that found in Borderlands or Diablo. I'm really enjoying Dragon's Crown so far, and hope to post more thoughts soon.

Here was my thought process two days ago:

Well, there aren't many games coming out right now, and I enjoyed watching the feature that Dan Ryckert's been doing on GB with World of Warcraft, why not try the game myself?

You see, I'd only ever tried the Starter Edition of WoW prior to a few days ago, and the game had never really interested me. Sure the world always seemed fascinatingly large in scope, and I liked the idea of getting a character to a high level and going on 3 hour long raids, but no one I know in real life plays the game. I always thought it would be insufferably boring without at least a partner to play with. Also, since I never even had to patience to get to level 20 (the cap for the Starter Edition of WoW), I didn't see the point in ever investing a lot of time into the game. But since it was relatively cheap to get the game up to Cataclysm for a month, I thought I'd try it. The way I looked at it, I couldn't recall ever playing a game consistently for an entire month, so if I got bored before the month was up, I'd never have to put any more money into the game. As it turns out, I hadn't even begun to scratch the surface of this gargantuan, genius, and diabolically designed game.

For the first 20 levels, all that occupied my mind was "I need a mount". Above all else the biggest frustration of the early stages of WoW is having to travel by foot everywhere (except when a travel point is accessible, but these aren't frequent enough to solve the problem). Performing the boring tasks that make up the early stages of an MMO is tedious indeed, but once you embrace the fact that these are simply there to get you to the good part quickly, it really isn't that bad. Perhaps the thing that has made WoW occupy my every waking thought so far is the fact that features are made accessible to the player at a fairly slow pace. Want to search for dungeons? You'll have to wait until level 15. Looking to access your classes specializations (extra skill trees), that isn't accessible immediately either. By offering the player these further choices at a slower pace, there is always something to look forward to in WoW. It was around five minutes before writing this that I truly began to worry about what I was getting into with this game. So far every quest I've completed has been with the goal of getting to level 20 to get a mount, which has already added up to close to 11 hours. This was over two days of playing the game, and I honestly don't know where that time went. With such a specific task in mind it's easy to get caught up in the process of grinding out quest after quest. I haven't joined a guild yet, I haven't played with anyone else (a close friend is also getting into the game though so that may change), yet I've already spent as much time in the game as is needed to complete many story-driven games. But enough of that, because getting caught up on time spent in game is a useless thing to worry about (luckily I have a job which prevents me from playing 24/7.

Once I get my mount though, I won't have as much of a goal. Perhaps I'll give a dungeon a try, matching up with randoms and perhaps making friends along the way. I'm looking forward to getting a response from my guild membership requests, which will offer more opportunities to play with other people. I got a Baneling pet in the mail a little while ago because I had bought the collectors edition of Heart of the Swarm when it came out, which made me a lot more happy than it probably should have. My hope is that I meet people to play with, as that is what the game is meant for. I think the biggest mistake I made while playing the game before however, was expecting to meet up with randoms from the get go and embarking on huge quests which dropped loot with the excess of Diablo 3 (a game which I love, for the record). But WoW, at least at the beginning, is a very slow-paced game, one which requires you to set your sights low at first (getting a horse to ride on!) and then working your way up slowly. This offers a refreshing change of pace from many other games where the sole purpose is to offer constant excitement. I realize I'm being manipulated with a constant "carrot on a stick" mentality with this game, but I really don't care. I'm having too much fun immersing myself in this gigantic world.

So the moral of the story is, I'm already lost in WoW, before I've entered a dungeon, met a friend, or gotten a mount. I couldn't be more excited to venture forth and see just how far this game goes (hint: it goes on forever). My questions for you are as follows: if you play WoW, why do you? What makes it fun for you, and what are some of the goals after getting your first mount? Thanks for any feedback!

I've never truly got into the Kirby games, so what better time than mid-summer to undertake the lengthy task of completing all of them (the platformers that is). It will be easier than say, completing all of the Metroid games because, from the very beginning of the series, Kirby games have been intended for all ages. The fact of the matter is, these are not difficult games, but that doesn't mean they aren't fun enough to warrant getting way into. Because of where I live, the most difficult part of this task will be to actually obtain all of the main Kirby games (of which there are around 15 if I'm not mistaken). Amazon will be very helpful in this respect, but will make the endeavor a fairly lengthy process. I have every intention of finishing the task, but I don't expect to complete it in 2014 (although I very well might). More than anything I decided to do this because I wanted to fully immerse myself in the only Nintendo series which I haven't given a good shot (although Metroid does fall into that category as well, but that's for next summer). Just to lay some ground rules, Star Stacker, Air Ride, and other spin-offs will not be included, but Canvas Curse will because I still consider it to be a platformer (although a fairly unique one). In fact, I might as well make a list of which games I am going to play (if you have any problems with my list, please let me know in a comment, but don't expect me to take everyone's suggestions).

[In no particular order]

• Kirby: Triple Deluxe
• Kirby: Dream Collection (Includes Dream Land 1, 2 and 3, Kirby's Adventure, Kirby Super Star and Kirby 64)
• Kirby: Canvas Curse
• Kirby Super Star Ultra (will probably switch this with the SNES one on Dream Collection)
• Kirby's Epic Yarn
• Kirby: Squeak Squad
• Kirby and the Amazing Mirror (this is one of the two I can't play because I don't own a system it's on, might have to use an emulator)
• Kirby Mass Attack
• Kirby's Return to Dream Land
• Kirby and the Rainbow Curse (hasn't even come out yet but I don't have a Wii U so this might have to be left out)

I've played Dream Land on the 3DS Virtual Console, but it was a while ago so I may replay it to refresh my memory. In terms of games I actually own currently, it's Triple Deluxe, Dream Land, and Canvas Curse. I plan to buy them all over the next few months, it's really just a matter of getting a good deal (as some of the DS games can be up to $70 used on Canadian Amazon. Luckily I'm really enjoying Triple Deluxe so far, because if I wasn't, there wouldn't be much point to continue on with the rest of the series. I'm most excited to see how each game holds up, seeing as I won't be going in chronological order. Without further ado, here are my thoughts so far for Kirby Triple Deluxe!

I've only played the first world of Kirby Triple Deluxe so far, but luckily it has met, and in some cases exceeded my expectations. The thing that separates Nintendo's first party platformers from others, is a certain indescribable special touch (which I think applies for other developers, like Valve, Blizzard, etc.). Kirby Triple Deluxe has this in spades, and while none of the levels have offered anything in terms of challenge so far, I was fully expecting that. DO NOT take "easy" to mean "boring", because this is most certainly not the case for Triple Deluxe. The levels still create a great sense of discovery and wonder, something which is present in all of the best Nintendo platformers, be it Super Mario Galaxy or Super Metroid. In Kirby's case however, everything is coated in an extra layer of cuteness (alright make that 10 extra layers). In all honesty, I'm hard pressed to think of any other game's I've played which are as adorable as Triple Deluxe (aside from Nintendogs, but that's just because it's occupied by puppies). From the way that Kirby expands and shrinks back to normal size when swallowing enemies, to sleeping furry creatures that occupy the game world, every sight and sound in the game is likely to be accompanied by an "aw" from the player. Luckily though, the game doesn't rely solely on it's cute-factor. Levels are varied, due largely in part to Kirby's signature ability to swallow enemies and copy their abilities. This opens up the gameplay in a variety of ways, meaning that Kirby could be spewing fire, slashing with a sword, or even turning into a boulder all over the course of one level. This isn't just used in combat either, as many abilities can be used to open up hidden passages as well. This leads into one of my favorite aspects of Triple Deluxe: the collectibles. I've always loved games which offer replay value through a wide assortment of items to be found and collected, but especially if finding them is a genuinely enjoyable task. In Kirby, it definitely is, and even if it never becomes much of a challenge, it certainly offers up a reason to replay levels and extends the playtime. These collectible come in the form of keychains (which can be zoomed in on and rotated in 3D) and sun-stones (essentially jewels). I've been able to find all of the sun-stones on my first run through so far, but the same hasn't been true for the keychains, which are more of a challenge to find. The game also uses the system's 3D brilliantly, with enemies attacking from the back and foreground, which Kirby can also travel to in some situations. The visuals are bright and colorful, as they should be, with a simplicity that compliments the art style very well. I look forward to continuing with the game and offering up more thoughts as I progress. As an entry point to the modern series, Kirby Triple Deluxe is shaping up to be a great choice.

While it is fun to switch between lots of different franchises, I find it even more rewarding to get really into a certain series or genre of game. That's why I've decided to try and get my hands on every Kirby game, a series which I have next to no familiarity with. I played Kirby's Dream Land to completion on the 3DS Virtual Console, which doesn't really count for much since that only takes about 3 hours. One of the things that interests me about the series is the amount of collectibles, which offer a lot of replay value. It also seems like many of the entries in the series have vastly different gameplay elements, while mostly sticking to the style of a 2D platformer. To start, I'm going to play all the games available to me without resorting to Amazon. I was quite surprised when I found out how many of the games simply aren't in stock at stores near me. I'm not going in order of release, and to start I'm only going to be playing the platformers, Star Stacker and Block Ball will have to wait a while (if I ever get to them at all). Sifting through various stores that have Kirby games in stock near me, the following are currently available (and on systems that I own):

Kirby's Epic Yarn, Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Kirby: Super Star Ultra, Kirby: Canvas Curse

Not a very long list considering how many games are actually in the series, but luckily I can order Kirby's Dream Collection online and knock off 6 games in the main series. If anyone has any suggestions on which to play first (although my heart's currently set on Epic Yarn) it would be appreciated. Hopefully I can pick up all of the games on the above list in the next few weeks, and get started on my quest to beat all the Kirby platformers!

So far, the new Wolfenstein game has done nothing but go above and beyond my expectations, here's why.

Perhaps the most important question to ask of any FPS is: "How much fun are the parts where you shoot things?". In Wolfenstein's case, the moment to moment action of taking out Nazi soldiers is extremely enjoyable, for a number of reasons. First, weapons can be dual-wielded, a feature which I believe should be included in all shooters. It's always baffled me why exactly it was taken out of the Halo games, but that's a topic for another day. Taking out two submachine guns and mowing down enemies is pure bliss, and sets the stage for what you would think is a non-stop action experience. This can be the case if you want ti to be, or you could slow things down a bit and stealthily crawl from enemy to enemy, slicing throats and progressing through the encounters in a completely different fashion. This is not possible in all encounters, at least I don't think it is, but it works just as well as the gunplay (although it isn't quite as fun in my opinion). A problem that I sometimes run into in purely stealth-based games is that if you are seen by an enemy, it becomes more efficient to simply reload a save, breaking up the action and also detracting from immersion. Since Wolfenstein is primarily a shooter, if an enemy sees you the solution is as simple as whipping out an assault rifle and laying waste to the remaining enemies. The fluidity of combat is never broken and the game continues to move forward.

The environments are also surprisingly expansive, a far cry from the linearity of some recent shooters. It is in the player's best interest to explore the many paths to gather collectibles, ammo and armor/health pickups, as well as observe the care that has gone into all of these environments. The AI isn't anything to write home about, but all of the encounters so far have been very fun to engage with, largely due to a particularly ingenious cover system. This was the last thing I was expecting in a first person shooter, as the point of view normally lend itself very well to cover-based shooting. Many games have tried and either failed or marginally succeeded to implement this feature, but it isn't until now that it has worked almost perfectly. To duck behind cover, the player must hold down the L1 button and push the left stick down. Releasing the stick pops out of cover, and tilting the stick left or right will lean out from the cover in either direction. Now that I think about it, it really is more of a "leaning system" than a "cover system", but it really is only used for popping out of cover. It feels more immersive and useful than simply crouching behind a barrier, and I hope that it's copied by other developers in the future. I never really felt like I needed a good cover system in first person shooters, but now that I have it, it will be hard to go back. Of course cover is not used for a large chunk of the game because running and gunning is great fun as well (although not practical in some of the more difficult encounters). The enemies and environments are changing at a fast pace, and work wonders to keep the game always feeling fresh and exciting. Perhaps the most difficult part of my playthrough so far was putting the game down to write this!

One interesting aspect of Wolfenstein are it's holdovers from older shooter mechanics. You can pick up armor to make yourself more resilient, just like FPSs of the nineties. There are also breakable crates with ammo, health and armor pickups, which I haven't seen in any game in quite some time. It is perplexing that pressing the square button is required to pick up absolutely everything, which frustrated me at first. After a while however, I simply got used to mashing on the button in order to pick up items strewn across the ground, although it definitely didn't add anything to the experience. These and a few other elements give Wolfentstein a slightly retro feel, but don't detract from the experience in any way. Maybe it was the developer's way of honoring the series' past.

The gameplay of Wolfenstein would have been enough to carry the entire experience, without any story really needed at all. This however couldn't be further from how the game actually plays out. Cut scenes between action sequences develop the characters and world into surprisingly life-like entities. I was very surprised how many times my jaw dropped from a narrative thread, instead of the fast and brutal gameplay. So far, a healthy amount of the characters put a lot on the table to make the player feel for them, and a very difficult early game choice can change how the rest of the game plays out. The game takes place in an alternate timeline where the Nazi's won WWII, and subsequently took over the world. This premise isn't exactly the most original, but offers up some great story opportunities which the game has taken advantage of brilliantly so far.

I love the new Wolfenstein game so far, and I can't wait to play more and hopefully have a full review written in the next few weeks.