The Last of Us: First Impressions and a Choice

I started streaming The Last of Us on Friday night and found myself very moved by the cinematic quality of the story, voice acting, gameplay, and especially the graphics.  I also found myself impacted by the events that occurred in the first sequence.  Spoilers ahead for those that don’t want to see.

Rising Storm is Refreshing

So I picked up Rising Storm, the latest expansion to the Red Orchestra 2 franchise.  For those of you that don’t know that it’s a WW2 military sim/shooter.  The main draw is a beautiful blend of realism and action that feels refreshing.  From the ultra-fast and often easy shooters of the modern era there was something fun about failing but feeling like your small fails didn’t ruin the entire game.  That may sound weird but the learning curve is rather high, so when you finally figure something out and understand how you need to rearrange your tactics; things get interesting.

From my first run through I got too gun crazy and ran through fire without thinking about my team.  I popped my head out enough times to give some snipers easy pickings.  Once I did the training and thought about my first time in, I ended up being at the top of the list and really enjoyed being more cautious.  How strange in the era of modern twitch shooters, a game that favors your to take cover and work together doesn’t seem campy.  Rather it seems full of adrenaline and grit.

It’s only $20 on Steam and there seems to be a rather active community, so if you have some cash laying around and need a fun experience in the lull that is the Summer gaming calendar; go for Rising Storm.