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I played some really cool stuff last week and want to get into it quick, but first, I watched my first F1 race ever on Sunday after I had to DVR it at 3 AM and immediately then purchased F1 2014 from Steam. It was great and something that I had never given a shot before Alt F1 started here on Giant Bomb, so I have to say thanks to Danny and @drewbert for turning me on to something new.

1. Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number

THOUGHTS: It’s more of the same and I love it. I was ready to jump back into this crazy, drug infused romp through insanity after playing the original solely on my Vita a few years back. This time around I picked it up on Steam and started playing last Wednesday. I bashed and sliced my way through the first number of chapters and fell in love with the gameplay and lucid nature of the characters almost immediately.

VERDICT: It is amazing. I don’t really have a ton to say about it because I am more interested in playing it. So, if you haven’t played the sequel or the original then I recommend fixing that as soon as possible, they’re wonderful.

2. F1 2014

THOUGHTS: This is my second ever F1 game after playing a little Nigel Mansell's World Championship on the SNES back in the day and I bought it after I saw that it went on sale Sunday after the first race of the new season. I read some fairly negative reviews saying that it was essentially just Codemasters copy and pasting F1 2013; that didn’t affect me in the slightest because I didn’t play F1 2013 so it was a total win for me. I’m not a huge fan of racing games but I have dabbled with them in the past, mostly playing the Need for Speed and Burnout franchises with a little Gran Turismo thrown in, but I have to say that F1 2014 is pretty good.

I started a career and went through a ton of practices and maybe 2 races and I thoroughly enjoy the feel of the driving. It seems to be precise without leaning too heavily on the simulation aspect unless you jack up the difficulty which as a casual racer is something that I will never do.

VERDICT: It’s accessible for casual racing fans and if you like F1 racing then you should enjoy seeing all of your favorite drivers included.

3. Helldivers

THOUGHTS: I really wanted to like this game. I completed a number of missions and enjoyed the feel of the gameplay even though it did get extremely tough for someone who was playing solo.

Then… I lost a ton of progress. I was upset. Very upset. 3 hours were lost because of a bug that erases your progress if your controller dies while you’re playing. Mine did because I paused the game while I grabbed a snack and when I returned the controller was off. I placed the PS4 into rest mode and when I came back, I was back at square one. I played a little after that I just lost a lot of the motivation to keep going after losing my character. I'm not saying that I will never return to it at some point but it may be awhile.

VERDICT: It’s fun but not fun to lose a bunch of progress.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Well, I had some good times last week and I had a not very good time so this week let us hope that all of my (and your) gaming experiences are excellent. I’ve been eyeballing a couple of games in my backlog for a bit now and while there is nothing that I plan to spend too much time on this week, except for more Hotline Miami 2, I’m going to try to knock a couple of them off.

• Finish Far Cry 4
• Gods Will Be Watching
• Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
• Max Payne 3

OPINION TIME

I’m really excited for E3 this year because every year when we start to get close to the show I run through all of the games and reveals in my mind that I would love to see and this year there are a lot of things that I’m thinking may be great. I believe that Microsoft will show off some footage from a new Gears of War, a series that I never fell in love with completely but always enjoyed, I think it could be a graphical showpiece for an XBOX One system that hasn’t truly came into its own yet and needs something to set it apart from the super successful PS4.

Nintendo seems primed to unveil a new console this year and while I am hoping that it is some hybrid handheld and home console I am not sure that is what we will get. The recent release of the “New” 3DS XL and hype for the upcoming Zelda may be enough, in Nintendo’s mind, to hold fans over for another year and they just may be right. Everything that I have heard has said that they have a TON of money in reserve and can afford the commercial failure of the WiiU so we may have another year with that gamepad. I’m fine with that because I still play a ton of stuff on it but it would be cool for the big “N” to shock the world with some new and hopefully innovative hardware.

All I want from Sony right now is more of Uncharted 4. I know it has been pushed back into 2016 but I can't wait for what is sure to be an awesome adventure. Two and three were a couple of my favorite games from the last generation and I am super excited to see what Nathan Drake gets into when the next entry finally releases. I am a tad bit hopeful that they show up with something really surprising though like a new Crash Bandicoot, a rebooted Syphon Filter, or an inventive take on the PaRappa series.

COMMENT REQUEST OF THE WEEK

What are you hoping is unveiled at E3 this year?

GO PLAY SOME GAMES

Thanks for the views and support that all of you have given me since starting this series. I really appreciate the great discussions that I have had with everyone and look forward to having even more. Have an extremely Happy Monday Duders!!!!