After the pit of despair that was my last journal, I decided to talk about some things that have been providing me with a welcome respite these last few days and weeks.

First up is Doctor Strange.

Now, I'm no master of knowledge as far as the original comics go, but I always found the Sorcerer Supreme to be a pretty fun, but really, really weird, dude. The movie played into that idea quite well. It knew that, even by Marvel Universe standards, it's lead was a goofy idea and was written to match. The film still managed to provide a looming threat while also being able to poke fun at itself. A welcome surprise for sure and I look forward to the inevitable sequel.

Next we've got Titanfall 2

First and foremost: The campaign is fun but has been very over-hyped. Don't buy the game only for the single-player. It's not long enough or entertaining enough to warrant it. As for the multiplayer, well, here we hit a problem. It's fun, no doubt, but the player base seems quite low (I'm playing on PS4, for the record). Sure, you'll find a game, but it seems to be more vacant than it should be for a newly released shooter. That being said, I've having fun with it and look forward to the free add-ons they have committed to providing.

And then came Battlefield 1

I wanted to like the game a lot more than I do. The campaign is well written and does try hard to mention how much of a terrible situation "The Great War" truly was. The multiplayer, well, I think I've just lost my patience for it these days. I am continually matched against people that are much higher level than me and being constantly worked over isn't exactly fun. I know that continually tossing myself into this foolish meat grinder would be fitting considering the dreadful setting it seeks to imitate, but I just find myself drifting further away each game.

What's That Over There? It's The Division!

From a disappointing end game to a new patch that makes it fun again, this game has surely been a ride. That new update though? Yeah, totally brought me back on board. There are still issues to be found, such as the matchmaking being oddly random in how often it can find other players, but the changes have been for the better. Loot shows up more frequently and there always seems to be a real goal to work toward. It could be selecting from lists of named enemies to hunt down or just knowing that the next level up (beyond the cap of 30) will give me a supply drop with even more sweet sweet loot inside. Whatever it may be, I went from having forgotten the game to playing it everyday for the challenges and random meet ups in the dark zone.

Somehow holding up the rear, here comes Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3

I know you're thinking "But Rez, what about Infinite Warfare?" Here's the scenario folks: I haven't been a fan of Infinity Ward (Infinite Warfare's developer) for some time. They used to talk a lot of trash about Treyarch (The World at War and Black Ops developers) but have now basically stolen all of Black Ops 3 ideas wholesale...up to and including the zombies mode. Now, how much of that is because of Activision telling them to do it and how much is related to their own choices remains to be seen, but it leaves a poor taste in my mouth. That goes double for just how similar the games are. To save this from being too long an entry, I'll leave it at this: Black Ops 3 is, in my eyes, definitely one of the best CoD games ever made. Infinite Warfare (The MP beta I played) felt like a knock off of it...and not a good one.

But this all seemed to end a little down so let's perk it back up, shall we? Lady's and gentlemen, I present to you the modern classic "Baby Goat On A Pig"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d84aBn72gEU

Later folks. Have a good one!