What I Think Of... PvZ: Garden Warfare 2

When Plants vs. Zombies first started popping up on our mobile devices and consoles, it was an innovative spin on the tower defense genre, and a ridiculous concept of the reanimated dead vs. horticultural hombres (I don't have many chances to use the word "horticultural" so just go with it). The series caught on and took off immediately, similar to the way something like Angry Birds or Candy Crush did. Thankfully, PvZ didn't get shoved down our throats the way those other franchises did (and continue to).

2 years ago (to the day, in fact...nice little coincidence there), the first Garden Warfare game was released and hoped to do to the shooter scene what the original game did for the tower defense scene. What we got was a nice, fun, cute shooter that we could pass some time with. Generally well received, with myself being one of those fans. Sure, it had some issues and felt more like a "let's see if people would actually care about this" game, but it ended up selling well enough to warrant a sequel.

How does the said sequel fare? Did EA deliver or go too far? Here is what I think of Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2.

The first big change is the fully immersive menu system. In the previous game, you would boot up into a menu to do all of your character customization, sticker buying, and mode selecting. Now you are dropped into the "Backyard Battleground". You are free to roam around this map, going from station to station to do the things you would normally do in a basic menu. You can walk to a dressing room to customize characters, go to a vending machine to buy sticker packs, check out your stats on a big board in the back of the base, walk up to the multiplayer portal to adjust settings and jump into a match, board a ship for the Garden/Graveyard Ops Mode, and so on. The map is divided into three parts, the Plant base, the Zombie base, and the center. The center is sort of a "no-man's land" and will always have A.I. Plants and Zombies fighting and endless fight. You could roam out there and get some practice in, or you can raise the flag in the center and begin a wave survival mode, which is fine, but a little long.

This map is also where you get your single-player quests. Yes, a single-player component that was absent from the first game. Both Plants and Zombies have quests to complete. You talk to an NPC on your side and they will send you off on your quest. Sometimes they can be abridged versions of the wave-based survival mode, other times they can be as unique as giving air support to a comrade, protecting them from oncoming enemies. Completing these quests will reward you with XP and Coins to use on sticker packs. The single-player is a welcome addition, even if it's not where you're going to be spending the majority of your time.

The meat of the game comes with the multiplayer options and Garden Warfare 2 added some impressive features. When you boot up the Multiplayer Portal, not only do you get a great "retro" interface, but you get plenty of options. You have your choice of Public, Private, or Solo matches. Solo is pretty noteworthy since you can jump into any multiplayer mode against A.I. bots and earn the same XP and Coins that you would in an online setting. I personally love the idea of bots since it naturally extends the life of a game, with the added bonus that you still earn the same rewards, so you aren't being punished by going this route. Also, you can add mutators that can change the gravity on the map, give you low health, and more. You also can change the team composition, so if you just want a certain type of Zombie vs. a certain type of Plant, you can totally do that.

The online multiplayer is just as fun as it was in the first game. The modes range from simple Team Vanquish (Deathmatch), to Vanquish Confirmed (Kill Confirmed), to Suburbination (Domination), and more. Worth noting, I played the game before the retail launch, then at retail launch, and added around 10 - 12 more hours, and I have experienced VERY little online issues. Matches in GW2 can go by fast, which helps the frantic feel of the game as well. The maps are all unique, look great, and are fun, especially "Lunar Landing" which incorporates lower gravity, making your jumps float more than they would elsewhere. Gardens and Graveyards returns from the previous game, but only has two maps, though I am sure there will be more maps in future updates.

New characters have been introduced, 3 per side, and they all have their fun additions. The Plants have the Rose, which has the power to turn Zombies into Goats, which is hilarious and effective. The Citron is a powerhouse that can deploy a personal shield, and the Corn (my favorite, and not just because I live in Iowa) has machine guns and can deploy butter air strikes. The Zombies add the Pirate, who has a precision pistol and can deploy a cannon do deal massive damage, the Imp which has low health but can call down a mech to jump in and wreck house, and the Superhero who is melee focused but can throw fireballs as well. These new characters, along with the original roster, means that players will find more than one character to gravitate towards. On top of that, each character has different "hero versions" which take the base character and gives them a cool twist, usually elemental. The Pea Shooter, or instance, has a Toxic version which deals poison damage over time, an Electric version, an Ice version, and more. So even if you don't like the base character, perhaps these other versions may entice you.

This concept existed in the first game, and a really neat feature here is the ability to import your hero characters that you've unlocked from the first game for use here. You get rewarded for unlocking heroes, abilities, and leveling up in the first game and will continue to up until February, 2017.

Garden Ops, the wave-based "horde" mode, returns, but now, if you are playing solo, you actually stand a chance since you can add A.I. partners to help you. This is great, just know the enemies will be harder the more you add, and you can add up to three partners. Also, the Zombies have this mode with Graveyard Ops.

The leveling up system got a much needed change here. In the first game, you had to complete certain tasks with each character to earn stars to level up, which ended up changing how people played the game, since they would focus on those tasks as opposed to playing for the good of the team. Here, you earn XP the more traditional way; getting kills, assists, capturing points, reviving teammates, etc. You earn XP whether you are playing online or Solo. You also get XP and Coins from completing daily quests. Yes, the feature that is sweeping the nation has found its way in here and I love it. These quests can range from "Kill 'X' amount of Citrons as a Zombie" to "Win 15 Suburbination matches" and so on. Completing these quests will also boost your XP multiplayer, so you can start getting double XP after you complete enough daily quests. This resets every day or so, so "play a lot and play often" is the mantra here.

Worth noting, every character levels up individually, that includes hero variations. So, for instance, you level up the basic Pea Shooter and Toxic Pea Shooter separately. Each character can get to level 10 before you have the option to "Promote" (Prestige) to reset back to level 1, get a new title, and go again. It looks like characters can do this 5 times.

Sticker packs are back and buying them will unlock consumables for Garden/Graveyard Ops, tons of customization options for the characters, and new hero characters. There already seems to be a TON of customization options and likely TONS more through future updates, so chances are really high that your character will be quite unique. Also worth noting is the concept of "Hero Showcase", which is basically like a "Free Rotation" character from various MOBAs, allowing you to play as a certain hero character for a short period.

If it sounds like there's a lot going on in PvZ: Garden Warfare 2, it's because there is. It can seem a little overwhelming for GW newcomers and some of the single player quests feel like they go on for way too long, but the multiplayer meat is still there and just as fun as ever. I haven't even mentioned the fact that the art style is still fantastic and the sound design is superb. This game looks amazing, plays silky smooth, and has a great, bubbly personality about it that you'll probably be grinning throughout and not even know it.

The original Garden Warfare laid the groundwork for the franchise to reach past the tower defense roots, and Garden Warfare 2 takes the formula, makes smart and fun additions, and becomes a fully realized experience that you should definitely sink hours into. If you enjoyed the first game, this seems like more of that, so it will be familiar to veterans, while having a host of options for the new players to get in and see what the talk is about. I am having a great time with Garden Warfare 2 and will be sinking even more hours into this for sure.

What I Think Of... Street Fighter V

Capcom's premier fighting game has reached "V Status". We are finally being treated to the fifth core Street Fighter game after 7 years (!) of Street Fighter IV and all its iterations. While I thought SF4 was amazing, I was ready for the series to move forward and show me something new.

So, how does the next entry for the world warriors hold up? Here is what I think of Street Fighter V.

(Worth noting: I'm playing this game on PC with my Street Fighter IV Xbox 360 Fight Stick, I have also put roughly 8 - 10 hours into the game, which is enough to see what this game has to offer, though not nearly enough time to be, you know, good at it. I also FINALLY was able to get online and throw down against live opponents.)


The first thing you will notice about Street Fighter V when you launch the game is that it relies heavily on you being connected to the servers. This is because you can have the game look for an opponent in the background the entire time you are playing, so whether you are going through the Training Mode, Story Mode, or just looking through menus, the game can be searching for others to fight online, which is pretty slick. Though this is dependent on actually being connected to the server. At launch, the servers were, let's say, not adequate, and this will come up later in the review.

If you are looking for single-player modes, there is not much to choose from. You will end up spending most of your time in the Survival Mode, since this is how you unlock the different costume colors for the fighters. There are 4 different difficulties; Easy, Normal, Hard, and Hell, where you survive 10, 30, 50, and 100 fights respectively. These are all 1-round fights, so if you lose once, you're done. In between fights, you are given an option as to which "supplement" you want to take (don't worry, no drug testing here), these can range from a boost in attack power, to defense, to a full special meter, to a health refill. This mode is fine and all and I have played this the most just so I can get different colors, but it can get a little mind-numbing.

You can also take park in the Story Mode. Each of the 16 characters has a unique, and very brief, story. These serve as some nice backstories for the fighters, told through nice looking comic panels. These stories also put the fighters in unique costumes that don't appear elsewhere in the game. For instance, in Nash's story, you fight as him before he was "killed" and before he was disfigured. I can only assume these costumes will show up in some sort of DLC later on, which would be cool since some of them are really nice, especially Zangief's wrestling attire. I know I said the word "brief" earlier, and that actually might be underselling it. Each fighter's story can range from 3 to 4 fights, all one round. You could, theoretically, blow through all story modes (combined) in about an hour. No colors to be had here, you only gain XP, Fight Money, and Steam Achievements / PS4 Trophies.

There is also a training mode, so you can, you know, train. Pretty standard training mode. That's it right now for single player modes. You'll notice I didn't mention a Versus Mode. It is local Versus ONLY. As of this writing, you can not play 1P vs A.I. I'm a little baffled by this decision. You can not just play a normal Street Fighter match against the CPU in Street Fighter V.

Upon completing Survival and Story Mode, you are rewarded with Fight Money and XP for the fighter you were using. The Fight Money is the in-game currency that, right now, does nothing, and the XP for the fighter is how you unlock Titles for your fighter profile...I think, it's not really made clear what that does. The Fight Money will have some use when the Shop is added as a free update in March, and the XP is only given the first time you complete a mode, and earned through playing online. A note, if you are not logged in to the server, you do NOT get these rewards. Though it seems they may be added after the fact whenever you do manage to log on. Was tough to tell with the servers being the way they were.

Another thing, let's say you are connected to the server, and are deep into a round of Survival Mode, and the connection drops, you get booted out to the main menu and lose all progress. Sound frustrating? I had just beat the final match of Survival, win animation and all, screen went black to load my rewards, "Disconnected from game server", lost all progress, no rewards, no nothing. Let's say I was a little bummed.

On the bright side, the cast of characters and the redesigns are, for the most part, pretty damn cool. I love seeing Nash as he is one of my favorite characters in the franchise. The redesigns of Ken and Dhalsim respectively are pretty badass, and I think Rashid is the coolest new character the franchise has seen in a while. Some I am not so bully on. I think Laura and Karin are a little annoying, F.A.N.G. is pretty lame but does introduce the idea of poison fighting which is kind of cool, and Necalli is a cool character design but really has nothing flashy. Overall, a good roster that will only get better with subsequent DLC characters.

The fighting mechanics have mostly been left untouched, though Street Fighter V has done away with many "Charge Characters" (i.e. hold back 2 seconds, then forward + punch for a Sonic Boom), and instead making them traditional "Quarter-Circle Forward Punch" style characters. This is nice to help pick up new characters and have them feel a little familiar to one another, but you still may want to do some training to get even more familiar. Also, the big inclusion this year is the "V-Trigger" system. When it is filled, hitting both heavy buttons will cause different things for different fighters, Nash will teleport, Chun-Li will do double punch damage, Dhalsim will lay down a strip of fire and do damage over time, etc. There is still the EX/Critical Arts meter that IV had, but this new "V-Trigger" adds a new element of strategy that has some pretty cool looking effects.

Speaking of looking cool, this game sure does look damn good. The characters look terrific and the expressions when hits land are very pronounced. Also, on a beefy PC like my rig, I have everything up to "Max" settings and it all looks great and runs super smooth. Though I can't say the same thing about the backgrounds. When the action in the forefront looks so good and runs as great as it does, you notice that the background animates at what seems to be a lower framerate and the people in the back generally look muddy.

Back to the online part. The servers did end up toughing it out and I was about to play about 10 - 15 matches online (and getting worked, mostly). You have the options of "Casual" or "Ranked" matches as well as the "Battle Lounge" lobby system. You actually choose your character and color scheme before you even start searching for a match, which takes out the character select screen. In the Battle Lounge, you can set parameters such as Rounds to Win, Allow Character Select, and Enable Cross-Platform Play. In the matches I was sucking at playing, I was able to get a mix of PC and PS4 players. You can also use the Capcom Fighters Network to watch replays of your fights, and even search for other players to view their profile and watch their replays. Once the servers got their act together and I was playing online matches, the quality was mostly pretty good. A little lag here and there but once a match got going, it was pretty smooth.

All this being said, I really like playing Street Fighter V. The fighting feels great, the character roster is overall good, and the game looks great. This game feels like it is catering to the competitive scene though. The lack of a Versus A.I. mode is baffling but telling, the fact that you have to be connected at all times to be looking for online fights is also very telling. Street Fighter V, in its current state, is meant for those who know the series and want to be competitive against live opponents. This may turn away the casual fan, especially since the single player content is so limited.

The free update in March will add the Shop, the Challenge Mode, and, hopefully, more single player content. This leads me to think that in some regards, this game may have benefited from a March release that included these things already. Right now, it seems like Capcom sort of put out a game, though what IS there is pretty good and I really enjoy it. There is a lot to enjoy about Street Fighter V, though in the same breath I can say this game feels a little rushed. Though, if the updates to Street Fighter IV are any indication, Capcom will update the holy hell out of this and help it reach its true potential.

Awesome Video Game Music - At Doom's Gate (DOOM)

Yesterday, as I was uploading a video to YouTube and allowing my internet to melt, I hooked up my Playstation 1 and decided to mess around with a bunch of old games. After playing some Rampage: World Tour, Street Fighter Alpha 2, and NBA Jam T.E., I had this sudden urge to play DOOM. Of course, there's been some hype around the franchise with the release of a new trailer and a May 13th release date. Without going too much into detail, since I could talk a lot about DOOM, let's leave it at "I'm pretty damn excited".

So, I popped in my PS1 version of DOOM, which came in those kick-ass long boxes, and, though it's a serviceable version of the PC classic, it felt empty to me. So after a couple levels, I went back to my PC, booted up DOOM 3: BFG Edition, which comes with DOOM, and DOOM II (and way easier to launch since you don't have to deal with DOSBox). Launched the original game, and it all came flooding back to me. The PS1 version had a HUGE omission: the music. How am I expected to blast monsters in the face with a shotgun when I don't have the kick-ass music behind me? More specifically, THIS song...

The next entry into Awesome Video Game Music: At Doom's Gate - (DOOM, 1993)

You can't tell me you didn't headbang a little just now. It's an iconic theme and something I hope the new DOOM will take advantage of. We all know just how important DOOM was and is to the video game industry and this song started the game off on the right foot, shredding guitar, driving beat, the perfect song to start laying waste to the horrors laid before you. Also makes for my new ringtone. Just a few months from now, we will be able to enjoy it again, for the first time.

What is this Rampage That's Becoming a Movie?

So, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has had his name attached to this project for some time now, but in case you haven't heard, he is going to star in a live-action movie based on the video game Rampage. So I am here to tell you a little about what this game is and what it could mean for moviegoers.

What is Rampage?

Rampage was initially released in 1986 in arcades. You played as one of three monsters, George (The Gorilla), Lizzie (The Lizard) and Ralph (The Werewolf). These monsters were humans that were mutated via experiments at Scumlabs. The basic premise as these monsters is to wreck everything in your way, earning points by causing destruction, eating civilians, or eating power-ups that could be either helpful or harmful. Once you destroy one city, you move on to the next. All the while, the pesky military constantly bombards you, since they probably don't like you destroying everything.

I remember this game being some mindless fun. I'm always a fan of mass destruction in video games. Plus, for the mid-to-late 80's, this was graphically impressive, even on the home console ports. My time with the original game was spent mostly in arcades but a bit with the NES version, which I still enjoyed, even if it didn't do a great job of keeping my interest throughout.

The original Rampage made it to several home consoles and collections over the years, even coming to the Atari Lynx, which added a fourth character, Larry the Rat.

Though I will say, the most time I have spent with this franchise was in the arcades with Rampage: World Tour, the first sequel in the series. I remember when I was a child, being in a Saturday morning bowling league, and there being a World Tour machine back by the pool table. When I would finish my (respectable) 3 games of bowling, I would ask my folks for some quarters and spent quite some time destroying cities. I think I could even go back to that building today and remember exactly where that machine stood.

World Tour was basically just the original game with better graphics and more locations to destroy. Looking back, the controls were a mess and it wasn't nearly as fun as the original, but try telling that to a 10 - 12 year old Jeff who just wanted to watch the virtual world burn.

The theme of "these games really aren't that great" would continue throughout the series. After World Tour came: Rampage 2: Universal Tour, Rampage Through Time, Rampage Puzzle Attack, and Rampage Total Destruction which featured 30 monsters (40 for the Nintendo Wii). None of these games were particularly good as the games controls were rough and the action was pretty mind numbing.

Why Make A Movie On This?

That's actually a really good question.

Video game movies usually suck hard. If you need proof, just try watching movies like Super Mario Bros., BloodRayne, Street Fighter: The Movie, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Dead or Alive, Hitman, Double Dragon, In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, Wing Commander, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, Alone in the Dark, House of the Dead, Postal....do I need to go on?

There are some OK video game movies, to be fair. Prince of Persia was alright, I guess, and The Rock himself was in a somewhat entertaining at least video game movie with DOOM. Plus I think Karl Urban is an underrated actor. So, there is some hope this will be, at the very least, entertaining.

Part of me sees why they want to make a Rampage movie. There aren't many "Monster Movies" in America. The latest Godzilla was pretty alright, though the Godzilla movie that came before that was that one with Matthew Broderick and .......just.....ugh. So this could be a nice change of pace. Plus that video game nostalgia can bring in the gaming community.

Though, there is a list of games I would rather see a big screen release over a game like Rampage:

- Street Fighter (with today's innovations)
- Mortal Kombat (with today's innovations)
- Mass Effect (Call J.J. Abrams)
- Super Mario Bros. (Get Disney / Pixar on it)
- Legend of Zelda (Could you imagine if someone like Peter Jackson got his hands on this?)
- Starcraft (Which might happen WHEN Warcraft does well in theaters)
- Twisted Metal
- Metal Gear Solid (Kojima on the big screen? YES!)


I could go on, but you get the point.

Jeff, Are You Excited About A Rampage Movie?

I wouldn't say "excited", I would say "slightly interested". I think Dwayne Johnson is one of the coolest people alive and he is definitely on my bucket list of people to meet, and I'm glad he has some interest in the video game industry, but I can't sit here and say I am giddy with excitement. I guess we will see whenever we start seeing pictures and trailers. As of now, the Rampage movie is due out in 2017.

Character Spotlight: Charlie Nash (Street Fighter)

This feature will show off some of my favorite characters in video gaming. I will dive into their highlights, lowlights, origins, games they were featured in, and what makes them stand out as my favorite characters.

As we approach the release of Street Fighter V, I have been going back to older games in the series and getting myself ready to take on the competition once V hits PCs and PS4s in a few weeks. This has, inevitably, led me back to the fantastic Street Fighter Alpha series and to one of my favorite characters in the entire franchise who will be making his glorious (and a bit grotesque) return in Street Fighter V: Charlie Nash.

Bio:

First Appearance: Street Fighter Alpha (1995)

Most Recent Voice Actor: Jack Calabrisi (Street Fighter V, 2016)

Occupation: First Lieutenant in the United States Air Force

Claim to Fame: Guile's friend who ends up dying...a lot.

Fun Fact: Character was known as "Nash" in Japan, and "Charlie" in the U.S. It wasn't until much later, in the comics, that the moniker of "Charlie Nash" was used, and didn't make it into the games until Street Fighter IV.

While we didn't get to play as Nash until the Alpha series, he is mentioned in the first iteration of Street Fighter II (1991) as Guile's close friend who was killed by M. Bison before the Street Fighter Tournament. This leads to Guile entering the tournament to avenge Charlie's death. This, of course, led a lot of us to wonder just who this Charlie guy was. Why was he so important to Guile? What kind of man was he? Did he also have ridiculous hair like Guile?

We found out in Street Fighter Alpha, when we could finally play as Charlie, since the Alpha series takes place before the events of Street Fighter II. We also got to find out just how ridiculous his hair was. It's pretty awesomely ridiculous.

Since Charlie was such close friends with Guile, it was a no-brainer to give him Guile's special moves, especially since Guile himself didn't appear in the Alpha series until Alpha 3. Charlie has the Sonic Boom and the Flash Kick, albeit with a little change in animation. Personally, I love the character design, the vest / short pants / combat boots is a striking look, but it's all about the glasses and the hair. He always acted like someone I would want to get a beer with and listen to him tell war stories, or at least show me how to throw a Sonic Boom.

Problem was, Nash always found trouble in his relentless pursuit of M. Bison. Charlie was assigned to track Bison down and uncover corruption in the U.S. Military, which led to him, in both Alpha and Alpha 2, ending up dead. Hell, he got gunned down by a helicopter and thrown off a cliff in one ending, pretty damn brutal all things considered. In Alpha 3, however, Charlie survived in his arcade ending, and it wasn't until Guile was added into the home console versions, where Nash was killed in Guile's ending. Charlie Nash is the Street Fighter equivalent to South Park's Kenny is what I'm getting at here.

Nash would appear outside of the core Street Fighter series as well, seeing time as a playable fighter in both X-Men vs. Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Capcom 2. He would also appear, alongside Cammy, in the action game Cannon Spike for the Dreamcast.

An alternate version of Charlie, named Shadow, would appear in Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter as a hidden character, and in Marvel vs Capcom as an assist character. It was basically just Charlie's character design but all blacked out, and when he lands a move, it hits with blue flames.

While Charlie Nash has been treated relatively well in the games (minus the whole death thing), he has NOT been treated well when it comes to the silver screen. Remember Street Fighter: The Movie with Jean-Claude Van Damme and Raúl Juliá in his final role? Well, Charlie appears in that movie, played by Robert Mammone, as Carlos "Charlie" Blanka. HA! Yeah, Dhalsim takes Charlie and transforms him into the beast known as Blanka. You know, I would love for Hollywood to take another pass at Street Fighter with today's technologies. I bet a new Street Fighter movie would be amazing. This franchise deserves better.

Though there was a Street Fighter based movie in 2009, and it featured Charlie Nash. Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. Man, if there is a character in the SF world that did NOT need a stand alone movie, it would be Chun-Li. Though, the actors/actresses they got should have made this really good. The late Michael Clarke Duncan as Balrog, Robin Shou (yeah, as in Liu Kang from Mortal Kombat) as Gen, Neal McDonough (Damien Darhk from Arrow and Dum-Dum Dugan from Captain America) as M. (MFin) Bison! Charlie Nash was played by Chris Klein (of American Pie fame) and was portrayed as a member of interpol. The movie is terrible, just don't bother. No attention paid to the source material and no ridiculous hair equals "NO THANK YOU!".

There may be a ray of hope though, as an upcoming miniseries, entitled Street Fighter: Resurrection, is focusing on Charlie Nash. Consider me cautiously optimistic.

All this brings us to the here and now that is Street Fighter V. Charlie has been revived and looks a little bit different. While we won't know specifics of what happened until V's release, the character model has appeared and you will see skin stapled on Charlie's face, chest, and arm, and his clothing is a little darker too. Something tells me he is a little pissed that he was gunned down and left for dead, and it will be very interesting to see just WHO he takes that anger out on. This clearly isn't the same Charlie from Alpha and it seems a dark turn is coming our way. Perhaps he will just have it out for everyone and go rogue. Either way, I am looking forward to finding out the answers when Street Fighter V gets released on PC and PS4 February 16th.

Pictures!

Street Fighter Alpha (1995)

Street Fighter Alpha 2 (1996)

Street Fighter Alpha 3 (1998)

As "Shadow"

Street Fighter V (2016)

Video:

The first death. Street Fighter Alpha.

What's Coming Up in February, 2016?

As more and more New Year's Resolutions get broken, we now creep into the second month in the year of 2016. Sure, February has the worst holiday known to mankind with Valentine's Day, but remember this, St. Patrick's Day is next month, so there is hope!

Anywho, let's delve into what is coming out during the shortest month of the year, even with the extra day this year.

February 5th:

XCOM 2 - (PC, Mac, Linux)

Get ready to send countless soldiers to their demise with the next entry in the rebooted XCOM franchise. I was a huge fan of Enemy Unknown and the expansion Enemy Within, so I am definitely looking forward to this one.

February 9th:

Firewatch - (PC, Mac, Linux, PS4)

Gorgeous first-person adventure game from Campo Santo. Now we can finally answer the question, "What the f**k is Firewatch?"

February 16th:

Project X Zone 2 - (3DS)

The Capcom / SEGA/ Bandai Namco game that's part fighter, part RPG, and a lot insane and awesome.

Street Fighter V - (PC, PS4)

Speaking of Capcom and fighting games, Street Fighter finally counts to 5 with the newest addition to the storied franchise. The return of old favorites, some brand new characters, and cross-platform play all add up to something I have been looking forward to for a long time. We shall see just how many iterations of 5 we end up getting. Also, I will be doing a launch day LIVE STREAM on my Twitch channel (twitch.tv/jeff_mcfly) when the game is released. More info to come.



February 19th:

Fire Emblem Fates - (3DS)

The premier Nintendo tactical strategy game returns with Fates. This time, the game will come in two different forms with Birthright and Conquest. Kotaku put out a good article describing how this actually works, which you can check out HERE.

February 23rd:

Far Cry Primal - (Xbox One, PS4)

Seems like this game was just announced and here we are just weeks away from the game launching. I am actually way stoked for this game as I have loved this series, and prehistoric times seems like a bold and potentially amazing setting to put this series in.  

Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 - (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

I adored the first game and all I needed as a selling point for this was "Yo, we are making a second one". More classes, more modes, more mayhem. I am totally in! Expect a launch day stream of this one as well.

Other Notes:

- The Assassin's Creed Chronicles trilogy concludes with Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia due out February 9th for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. If you haven't been playing these games, you can also buy the Assassin's Creed Chronicles Trilogy Pack which includes all 3 games, also due out the 9th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

- Did you miss Dying Light? SHAME! (ding) SHAME! (ding). It just missed out on my top 10 games of the year for 2015 and you have another chance with Dying Light: The Following. It's a stand-alone expansion adding new characters and a new story, but the "enhanced version" is basically a Dying Light complete package, including the game and all DLC. Due out February 9th on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

- Unravel, the very adorable yarn based platformer comes out on PC, PS4, and Xbox One on (you guessed it) February 9th. Maybe have that day free for gaming.

- The insane cult-favorite Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc comes to PC on February 18th. I have heard a lot about this franchise and look forward to seeing why this game is so popular. I also expect to be thoroughly confused.

- Superhot was a super cool demo a while ago. A shooter based on movement and slo-mo mechanics which being visually striking. A full release is happening February 25th on PC, Mac and Linux.

- You all know how much I LOVE Rocket League, right? Well the best sports game of 2015 is now coming full circle and is listed as TBD for Xbox One in February.

- February 21st will mark the 2-year anniversary of the Jeff of All Games Blog! To celebrate, I will be running live streams most of the day of both new releases and old favorites. Stay tuned to the blog for future updates and exact times.

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Man, that's a lot of stuff so soon into the year. As always, these dates are scheduled to change and other games may sneak in and be amazing that aren't listed here. Just think, we are a few weeks away from Deadpool in theaters!!!! Happy February! :)