Finished Gears of War 3 tonight. Not a huge fan of the lambent enemies, but otherwise I really enjoyed it. Has a nice variety of environments and weather effects, and there are a few things that mix up the standard cover-based combat.

Tried out the Marathon server-slam today. I really like the art style and the sound is wonderful. Gameplay wise I’m not sure if it’s something I actually enjoy. The gunplay is great, and fighting the AI enemies is challenging and has a really nice feel to it.

But sneaking around the map, finding some stuff, only to lose it by someone that’s cloaked and hiding in a corner isn’t my cup of tea. That said, I did find myself saying “just one more game” for about an hour.

Started playing Gears of War 2, and much preferring it to the original. There’s a lot more variety in the environments, and there’s been some fun set-pieces so far. Reminds me a lot of the transition from Halo 1 to Halo 2 (especially the opening fight which involves waiting for enemies to burst through a door, similar to Cario Station from Halo 2).

Playing Halo: Infinite on Heroic and am about 60% of the way through the main campaign.

Story-wise it’s a mixed bag. The opening is really strong and there are some references to the books and original trilogy. I’m not totally against leaving a big gap between the end of Halo 5 and Infinite, although 5 really ended on an interesting note (Arbiter, Chief, and Dr Halsey all together) which then got ignored by the game. I’m sure the books will fill that in, but it’s a little disappointing.

There are logs scattered around that (kind of) fill in the gaps. I’m not sure I really like “there’s an even badder baddie” angle that they’re going with. The more personal moments with The Pilot help showcase a little of Chief’s human side.

Visually I really, really like the direction they took. The first brutes look like updated versions from Halo 2, and later versions blend into their Halo 3 appearance. Forerunner archicture looks closer to Halo 1 & 2, and there are times you feel like you’re exploring something from Halo 1.

The Xbox One struggles with LOD when outside - zooming in to a distant object usually ends up looking lumpy - but close-range and cutscenes look good.

Music hasn’t really grabbed me yet. It’s good when it plays, but there hasn’t been any standout tracks. It feels more like background music. Maybe I’ll feel different on a second playthrough.

Was a bit disappointed that the first view of the ring is after going up an elevator. Didn’t feel quite as epic as I’d hoped. That said, it’s still a great view. I really like all the little animals running around, and it sounds alive with all the background animal calls.

Boss fights are an interesting addition. Some feel a litle unfair (there’s a boss in a very enclosed space that appears out of nowhere - I wasn’t prepared and it took a lot of tries to finally beat them).

Enemies react to where they’re shot and will stumble when shot in the legs. AI feels good to fight; there have been times where I’ve been flanked without even knowing it. There are still the odd bits of weird behaviour, but overall the engagements are pretty solid. Combat dialog from the grunts is amusing.

Weapon sandbox is varied, and I haven’t felt like any weapon is completly useless. So far the mangler feels a little too good, but the battle rifle is probably the most versatile. Plasma carbine is actually pretty powerful and even the ravager is useful (unlike in multiplayer).

Vehicles feel a bit heavier than normal, and the Warthog isn’t anywhere near as floaty as Halo 1. Loading a vehicle with a bunch of heavily armed marines is fun and they will tear through low-level enemies pretty quickly. This is particiulary useful when taking on the mini-bosses scattered around the map.

Grapple feels like a natural addition to Halo and it is really, really fun to use. Grappling an explosive coil and then hurling it into a crowd of enemies never gets old. The Threat Detector isn’t really useful outside of a few boss fights, and I do miss thrusters being a built-in ability. Deployable barriers are useful for buying time if you run into snipers or a big group of enemies.

The map itself feels small compared to other open world games, but it doesn’t feel too full with checklist items. Liberating an FOB is easy, whereas some of the Banished outposts take more work. There are hidden logs scattered around, as well as “Spartan Cores” that let you upgrade your abilities. There’s no skill tree so it’s really just “enhance the skills you like” which I appreciate.

That’s a lot of words for a note.

Got Cyberpunk 2077 for the Xbox One. Frame rate is a little choppy at times, but it’s still very playable and looks good. The city feels huge and there are lots of sidequests to do.

Sidequests feel like they have a bit more story around them. For example, one sidequest was to talk to a depressed neighbour. The games says “wait for a few hours”, but I left it for a day in game time. When I came back they had comitted suicide. That’s pretty damn brutal.