#Contingency Plan
The Last Jedi: I was wrong
I went to the theater to watch TLJ the day after it came out. I couldn’t wait to see what Rian did with the film. In my mind, I was really hoping for something big. Something new. Let’s make a statement after the relatively safe TFA.
And it was something big. And new. And different. And after my initial gushing, the film soured in my mind. I felt the initial glow begin to dim, similar to what happened to me with TFA.
Maybe I read too much online?
Maybe I let others teeth gnashing get to me?
Maybe I’m really jaded and just wanted the same old shit?
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Intel Processor design flaw will result in big system slowdowns
This is the kind of news that just tickles me. Not only is this a wonderful read, the topic is fascinating. Here we have the real Neos, Trinitys and Morpheus of the world that have figured out this security issue and now behind the scenes we have the mad scramble to patch all affected systems. Which appaears to be EVERY single device with an intel processor made in the last ten years.
Tone Deaf – Command Your Weather by Big Business
Greetings earthlings. Lower case e on earth because the universe doesn’t know or care about us filthy apes. I’m Contingency Plan, filthy ape among you. I previously did cool things like play in bands and record albums so like most pretentious musicians, I think my opinion matters. I’m here to bore you with buzzwords and catch phrases like ‘earworm’, ‘sick riff’, ‘synergry’ and other banality. Still, if someone buys an album that they truly enjoy that they hadn’t heard of before this column, that’s a win in my book.
[Review] Horizon Zero Dawn: A Mass Effect
I told myself I’d write this review after getting 10 hours of gameplay under my belt. Then 15. Then 25. Then I told myself I’d write this review after I beat the game. Well, here we are. Two days out from what was supposed to be the biggest release of the year, Mass Effect: Andromeda. Yet, I find the sound of HZD to be deafening. This game was a phenom. It was out of the blue. It was a comet that was caught in our gravity and slammed into our collective conscious from the great beyond.
Westworld: They say great beasts once roamed this world
“They say that great beasts once roamed this world. Big as mountains. Yet all that’s left of them is bone and amber. Time undoes even the mightiest creatures. Just look what it’s done to you. One day, you will perish. You will die like with the rest of your kind in the dirt. Your dreams forgotten, your horrors faced, your bones will turn to sand, and upon that sand a new God will walk, one that will never die”
Dishonored 2: I want to play a game with real consequences.
I’m currently coming down after finishing probably my two favorites things of 2016. The series Westworld and the game Dishonored 2. That sad feeling that you know the end is near. Like a good book you can’t put down but suddenly find yourself turning the pages more slowly because you know you’re almost out. Almost out of that new experience juice. That something that is intangible until its gone and you realize you won’t get it back. That first run.
I actually slowed my play of Dishonored because I really wanted to savor the end result. I played the whole game killing as few people as possible. In a lot of cases this meant a lot of reloads, as not only is easy to accidentally kill someone but the difficulty if much higher in approaching the various scenarios the game gives you. It’s easy to toss a grenade into a room and watch the fun from 3 stories up. It’s much harder to get up close and personal to each enemies and take them out one by one. I really wanted to not only play non-lethally but also be a total ghost to the NPC. (the last part didn’t work out so well) I did however complete the game with the ‘best’ ending, as in the most positive outlook for the kingdom and our characters.
‘Dishonored 2’ Impressions: Assassinations in Style
I’ve put a good 10 hours into Dishonored 2, so I finally feel like I can give a real first impression.
Let me say up front, I come into this franchise having not played the first game. (stealth kill me, I know!)
What immediately drew me to this game was a female protagonist. Play a female assassin in a Bioshockesque aesthetic while performing gorgeous murder death kills? YES PLZ. After watching the first gameplay trailer, I knew I had to give it a spin.
Wracked in the Wasteland Part 4: The Island
I had to take a break. So many deaths. It was becoming work to keep progressing in Survival. I’ve come to accept now that occasionally I will be behind the power curve and the enemies will stomp me into oblivion until I catch up. I know this now.
After I took a week off, I wanted to dive right in (pun intended) to the Far Harbor content. I died a few times making my way up to the North East corner of the Commonwealth, but that’s to be expected at this point.
Once I finished the introductory quest and boarded the boat to Far Harbor, I was blown away. You’d think after almost 200+ hours play on a game, there is no DLC that could impress you or hook you the way the game did when it was brand new. I was totally wrong. The aesthetic. The vibe. The fog. Far Harbor sucked me right in.
I don’t want to totally spoil it in this entry, but Far Harbor is about a conflict between the Children of Atom and the humans of Far Harbor. The synths of Acadia seem to be in the middle, at least when you first get to the island. There are a lot of twists and turns to the plot of the DLC and I really enjoyed it. This entry covers the first half of my adventures on this foggy island.
Wracked in the Wasteland Part 3: Cleansing the Commonwealth
It hit me after I died for the 4th time to Super Mutants during one quest. There is no way this character could align with anyone but the Brotherhood of Steel. It just didn’t make sense. Sure, they are xenophobes. Sure, they are warmongers. However, this wasteland is so brutal and so unforgiving on Survival mode. I realized that someone who really went through this much struggle and hardship to find their child, they would not accept the synths. USURPERS really.
The Railroad does nothing to address Super Mutants. The Institute is actively trying to replace the human race! The Minutemen are good natured, but they aren’t willing to go the extra mile to do what is necessary.
Wracked in the Wasteland Part 2: All aboard the Struggle Bus
I started this series doing some serious base building. I could feel I was getting behind the games power curve so I was looking for some quick XP. I did nothing but build up 4 settlements, set up supply lines and try to get a steady supply of food and water as the next few quests were pretty far south and I knew all that running meant I would need to have supplies.
After I left the safety of my settlements I proceeded to die. A lot. One shot by a radscorpion. Two shot by a ghoul I didn’t see. One shot by a mine. One shot by a stray grenade that was thrown while I was in VATS and immediately blew up when I exited. Beat to death by a baseball bat weilding raider. The list goes on. Between level 10 and 20 I was beatdown and humbled many times over. At one point, I really did want to quit.
