Merry Christmas - A Special Blog Edition

Let me begin by firstly saying Merry Christmas to everyone that reads my blog (which is mainly my friends, and thats just fine). I hope everyone is enjoying their celebration and having a good time. Its a good time to be with family.

So now on to my special blog edition of my personal Christmas. I was called heartless, stupid, mean, rude, and probably several other things I forgot to mention. Why? Well let me just go back to where the heartless one happened, its really all that matters.

We were out visiting my only living grandparent left, who is unstable as it goes and thus lives in an old folks home. While looking for his glasses in his apartment room (at the old folks home, where old people who don't understand personal possessions will literally walk into rooms and take shiny things and walk out) my Dad found a card of my now passed-away Grandmother. For reference, she died a few months back. Anyway, my Dad finds the card and asks if I have seen it. I say no, so he tells me to read it. I say no again. I get called heartless.

But let me explain myself - I have never had a great relationship with my Grandmother. My whole life I was actually and literally treated like the bad child, the worst grandson, the other one so to speak. Literally, she believed in my older and young brothers more than she ever did me and she always gave them a different and bigger amount of respect. So as time went on and my head caught up to that idea, I kind of came around to hating my Grandmother. That is to say at least until the last time I saw her. The last words she said to me, the last ones she spoke to her grandsons for that matter, was "I'm so very proud of you." I know it doesn't sound like much, but image a woman who's having trouble staying awake, trouble speaking, and literally on death's row saying that. More importantly, she didn't say anything of that sort to my brothers.

Now maybe its because they were still trying to impress her with all the things they had learned and done that she didn't feel the need to tell them, maybe it was just the fact that of all her grandsons we spoke the least to each other, or maybe something just clicked for her in those last minutes we were there. It doesn't really matter, it completely changed everything for me into the complicated mess that is the relationship I have with my now deceased Grandma. And its cause of that sort of screwed-up relationship that I don't want to read what someone else wrote about her anymore, I don't need it. I cry enough for her already, which is something I thought I never would. It hurts to be called heartless when the truth is the exact opposite.

Now to explain the rest of what was said, well... my Dad is a master of saying all the wrong things. Literally he's like a man that just stabbed a knife through your chest and knows how to twist and turn it without killing you. Its agonizing to be around him, so when he starts twisting that knife I fight back.

So that's what holidays are like for me, they are pretty torturous and painful but I live through them anyway. At any rate, I'd rather spend the holidays with my family then with a friends family, a guest in a house I don't understand. That's not to say I don't love my friends, just I don't want to be there for their awkward Christmas where everything goes disastrously wrong for their family. (I have a feeling I have a whole life of spouse-family Christmas disasters ahead of me anyway).

Well, hope that made sense cause it felt good to try and just write it out. Happy Holidays everyone :)

Modern Warfare 3 Singleplayer - A Reivew

So I finally finished the Modern Warfare 3 single player, to which I bet everyone that knows me is wondering why it took so long. Well, I'm not really addicted to the single player campaign, so it has been getting way less play time than the multiplayer. Secondly, I haven't been enjoying it since the first game where everything felt fresh and original.

How do I feel about the new single player? Terrible.

I'm just going to start off this review by saying that besides the fact that the entire plot is a little beyond ridiculous, it also fails at everything. Let me show you how. First off, they say welcome to World War 3, but then the war is over like 3 missions later. Its drives me nuts when games want to declare world war 3 and then end things before anything can really happen on a global scale. Here's what I would have prefered:

1. Scale the whole damn thing back to one country per act. So act 1 is the attack on American soil and we get these epic fights throughout the east coast. Not 2 mission and then "Oh they're retreating" but instead a full on epic war where we are trying to take things back and at every push they push harder. Yea, and lets NOT retake america. I'd rather leave it open, maybe expand on it in a future title with the characters made.
2. Then make the battle in Europe for Act 2. This also remains open at the end, but will be very carefully cued to whats going on there. Most importantly, lets make the battles big, epic, and very drawn out. What I'd love to see is just levels where maybe you spend the whole time trying to push forward, multiple paths and multiple options, and when you get there you have to turn back. That would be great. 
3. Last act should focus back on Price and Roach and them killing Makarov. To be honest, the final act in the game was by far the worst since it was one ridiculous idea after another and the last mission ruined the game for me. Don't end with this epic battle between Makarov and the player or some shit, but leave it open. WW3 isn't going to end in a day and 2 people will not win an assault on an army.

So that's how I would have done it if WW3 is what was wanted. Not this "its over in 1 game" crap that doesn't make it feel epic or hard at all. Now let me give you a list of what I thought took the game and killed it beyond the story.

• Linearity - Every mission felt like a "Go Here, Do This" mission with a single hallway or a single place to get the objective done. I would have LOVED optional gameplay, like go this way and see if it pans out or try this route. This game was by far the most linear of the bunch and it was painful to say the least.
• Obviousness - I hate it when movies and video games make things so stupidly obvious. Like for instance the part where the Eiffel Tower falls, it was so lined up that I didn't even have to guess when it would happen. What would have been better is they are walking the streets of paris and suddenly BAM, right on the doorstep. Then we get to make a comment like "Isn't that the Eiffle Tower" and it gets its pay day. Even beyond that, there were other moments that were just so damn obvious I couldn't believe they were even trying.
• Unbelievable - A lot of shit happens in this game that is just plain unbelievable. Not joking. Here are some examples. One, a train goes off track and smashes through not 2 or 3, but like 10 or 15 columns. No, stop it and make that thing hit maybe 2 and end it or make the tunnel break behind him. It was just unbelievable. Two, the final stand, where it just goes on and on and on in this final battle, then the guy pulls out a lighter and smokes? What the hell, he's bleeding from every hole shot in his damn body!
• Not able to Stay Focused - The game switches so damn much between different types of gameplay, which you would think would make it interesting. Actually its annoying. If I'm doing a sneaking around level then I want the whole damn level to be about sneaking around. If I'm doing a level in a plane then I want the whole damn thing in a plane. The most I want to switch between the two is once. Trust me, they break this rule a lot.

I think another thing that just started to get to me the more and more I played was that they also would make these epic moments or scenes, and then ruin them 5 seconds later. Anyway, I'm off to do something else now.

How to Make Black Ops 2 the Best CoD Multiplayer

So I've had a lot of time to think about the mistakes made in MW3, the things that should have been in the game and the things that shouldn't have made the cut. However, even though that game is out there is always another one being made for the future. So here's my journal on how Black Ops 2 could be made to improve on the last one and take hints from MW3 (Multiplayer Edition):

Section 1: Equipment
So the first thing I would change (though not completely) is how equipment is done in the game. First of all the lethal and tactical should be done like they are in MW3, where lethal can also contain things such as Claymores, Bouncing Bettys, etc while the tactical can take things like Motion Sensors and Jammers. This gives the player a good option between a grenade and a defence mechanism, which really challenges them to know how they are going to play.

However, I'm not saying the equipment section from BO1 should be taken off. Instead, it should be transformed into the following options:

1. Cannot Use (Currently equiping an underbarrel or a launcher as a secondary)
2. Extra Lethal Grenade
3. Extra Tactical Grenade (Minus Smoke/Nova Gas)
4. SitRep (Yes, SitRep is no longer a perk, but a replacement for the grenade. Also sounds better than Hacker, which is why I chose that name.)
5. Extra Specialty Equipment (IE anything from Claymores to Jammers)

 The extra grenade will balance out people with launchers whom, up until now, have not felt any repercussions for carrying in a very powerful weapon. Now they have to make a choice, do I want a launcher or do I want another piece of equipment/grenade/sitrep. This should help balance out the "Noob Tube" as well.

Section 2: Perks
Perks are probably the hardest thing to do, however I hope that Treyarch will continue to separate all 3 perks into distinct  background images (Like the shield or the Pentagon) which really helped distinguish them beyond just simple coloring. Here's my list of perks and why:

Blue Perks:

• Recon - Although maybe seemingly useless as a perk, the Recon perk was actually a great addition to the game. It balanced out the overpowered Assassin from MW3 and it actually could be equipped with other perks to make them more interesting (Such as Hardline). I think this should stay and with the same name (unchanged from MW3; same with pro). If I had to say anything about Recon Pro, it should also give increased range to "grenade sensing" and give "grenade sensing" to Hardcore players. This way its not completely worthless in Hardcore.
• Sleight of Hand - Probably my favorite perk in the series because I hate reload times. Also, needs to stay because it is 1/2 perks that has been in the series since the beginning. The pro also should remain untouched (switch weapons faster).
• Extreme Conditioning - Extreme conditioning should let the sprinter run for longer AND get over obstacles faster. As it stands right now, Extreme conditioning is extremely weak and needs a buff. For the pro, the perk should do no fall damage, making it even more valuable to the user. ALSO, Extreme Conditioning sounds much better than Marathon, which is why I took this name instead.
• Scavenger - Since MW2 this has been an invaluable perk. However, lets change it up a but. First off, the regular should give ammo for primary and secondary weapons and the Pro should give a chance of getting equipment restocked (like 1/20 chance). This way the pro actually does something but not overpowers the perk. Giving extra ammo at the start is agreeably the lamest thing that you could get for pro, which is why I asked for the switch.
• Ghost - Blind Eye sounds terrible in retrospect of Ghost. Ghost will make people undetectable by sentries and aircrafts, but with a catch - The aircrafts will still fire when you stand up in the open. I feel that Ghost underpowers killstreaks too much, which is why I think that if a person is standing they should still be shot at. Ghost pro should allow for faster lock-ons and increased bullet damage.

Red Perks

• Quickdraw - Probably one of the best/weirdest new adds in Quickdraw. I think this should stay the same as it is in MW3 since the bonus you get with it is perfectly powered and the pro is extremely useful without overpowering the perk.
• Flak Jacket - First off, Flak Jacket sounds cooler than Blast Shield. So that explains why I kept this name. Second off, the perk should decrease explosive damage (unless they are standing on the grenade, it should still kill then) AND give a 15% reduction to flash/stun. The pro gives a 55% reduction to flash/stun grenade recoveries (so greater reduction) and a 85% reduction to fire damage and you can't light on fire. I think that getting no fire damage will ruin killstreaks, but saying that it greatly reduces it and stops lighting on fire is fair.
• Hardline - The non-pro should reduce killstreaks by 1 except for far later one where it reduces by 2 (I think getting 1 kill reduction kinda kills it later) and the breaking point should be like 10 kills (so 10 kills becomes 8 while 8 kills becomes 7) which would balance out the end-streak hurt normally felt by equipping this perk. TO do so, there would need to be no 11 point killstreaks. The pro should allow for 2 assists to count as a kill again and deathstreaks require 1 less death. Changing care packages was too powerful and ruins the point of a care package.
• Cold Blooded - I felt that Assassin was a really stupid name for a perk. Why? Because then you can't use Ninja later (its confusing then) and Assassin didn't make sense for what it did. So instead, I give you Cold Blooded revived from MW2. Now unlike MW2, Cold Blooded will only make them undetectable by UAV and Thermal Scopes. The pro will stop Counter UAVs from working, REDUCED red crosshair and name when targeting (so it would be like 25% the range that they would normally appear). This is important, since the balance comes in a green perk.
• Overkill/Warlord (either name works) - This perk should give the user a secondary weapon and the pro should give that weapon up to 1 attachment. Its very much balanced already.

Green Perks

• Scout - I felt the name Marksman was stupid when Scout says it all and so much faster. As such, I renamed it back to Scout from BO1. Scout should originally allow for breath to be held longer and the pro should be that the enemies can be identified up to 4x the range. I switched the order because in all honesty it was made for snipers and thus should be the more interesting of the two. Also, the pro is a counter for Cold Blooded Pro, meaning that if one person wears Cold Blooded Pro and another person has Scout Pro, it should balance back to normal distances of red crosshairs and names. This downs the power of Cold Blooded Pro and makes getting this perk pro WAY more worth it.
• Stalker - By far the BEST addition to the CoD series, Stalker needs to return. Again, faster movement while ADS will be the original benefit of using this (SO useful!), but the pro actually will NOT be delayed explosions. The point of SitRep is undermined by delayed explosions, so instead I recommend that Stalker Pro be that it makes enemy footsteps louder (4x as loud). This actually makes sense with stalker too, since if you are hunting someone it would be better to hear them.
• Steady Aim - Same as BO1/MW3. Also, needs to stay the same name since it is 1/2 perks that have been around since the beginning.
• Ninja - Dead Silence from MW1 and MW3 was a terrible name, literally just god awful. Instead, it should be called Ninja which makes more sense. Ninja reduces the noise made by a person by x1/4 again (Which is already very useful/powerful) and Motion Sensors don't detect them. Ninja Pro then makes it that Jammers/Heartbeat Sensors (if that gets used) AND Decoy grenades don't work either. This balances out the problems that were found in BO1 and fixes what was wrong with it in MW3.

Section 3: Killstreaks
I actually think that MW3 had a great idea for killstreaks, but performed it wrong. First off, the transition from killstreak to pointstreak was a great idea, but there are some flaws to it. First off, taking down a pavelow is a lot harder than taking down a UAV, so why are they equal? Instead, I think pointstreaks should be redone to incorporate more important items with more points. UAV = 0.5 pts, Helicopter = 1 pt, Pave Low =2 pts (1 for flares and 1 for killing but only gives the points if it gets taken out and it gives them to the person who's rocket caused which). Now here are my recommendations for the actual things that can be earned (Notes only on things that are new/changed):

Assault - Package for kills/points obtained in a single life

• 3 pts - Spy Plane
• 4 pts - RC-XD: This was too powerful for 3 kills, so I moved it up by 1.
• 4 pts - Assault Care Package: Will give assault pointstreaks ONLY and has the chance to carry a perk/ammo as well
• 5 pts - Reaper Missile: I'd honestly prefer this over the valkyrie rockets... they were annoying that you had to call them in and then use them on the ground... Only 1 Missile though!
• 5 pts - Sentry Gun
• 6 pts - Napalm Strike: The strike itself should have a bombing value that will hurt/kill anything and then a fire value that hurts based on fire damage.
• 7 pts - Attack Helicopter
• 7 pts - Mortar Team
• 8 pts - Rolling Thunder
• 10 pts - Napalm Run: A team of 3 jets bombard 3 streaks of napalm across the map. This makes more fire and gives more use to some perks, but has an increased amount of points to balance it out.
• 10 pts - Armored Helicopter: Much like a Pave Low from MW2 and MW3
• 10 pts - Assault Drone: I likes this, it balanced out the Ghost perks ability in a strange way
• 11 pts - Attack Dogs
• 12 pts - Chopper Gunner

 Support - Package for points obtained over multiple lives (notice kills is taken off, I would prefer object based points instead of just points for everything Assault gets)

• 4 pts - Spy Plane
• 5 pts - Counter UAV
• 5 pts - Airdrop Trap: Like a care package but made to explode
• 6 pts - Support Care Packge: Will give support pointstreaks ONLY and has the chance to carry a perk/ammo as well
• 8 pts - SAM Turrent: This should come in a care-package!
• 8 pts - Advance Spy Plane: This one CAN be shot down, but shows ALL people (Cold Blooded people included) on the mini map as an arrow. This balances out the problems of the blackbird in BO and the Advance UAV in MW3. Takes 2 rockets to take down.
• 10 pts - Black Bird: This one CANNOT bet shot down, but shows only people without Cold Blooded on. Shows everyone as arrows who appears on the mini map
• 12 pts - Recon Drone: Same as MW3 but without the flash when it marks. Also, it only marks for 30 seconds and is easier to kill (NO FLARES WHEN LOCKED ON, IT GOES DOWN 1 HIT)
• 15 pts - Emergency Airdrop: Same as it was from MW2 but on this package to balance it out. No guns, its stupid to overpower it with that.

Specialist - I love the idea behind this, but it wasn't done right (sadly). Its close tho, so I gave my solution to how to fix it (which actually isn't too much done). Here's my personal fix to it:

• 3 pts - 1st Perk Added
• 5 pts - 2nd Perk Added
• 7 pts - 3rd perk Added
• 9 pts - 1 perk randomly added for every point earned at this point OR 10 pts - give all perks

Finally, at 25 pts (unaffected by hardline and strike package streaks) the MOAB should return (Still doesn't end the game and kills the enemy team 1 time along with all their equipment).