MeekinOnMovies on: XCom: The Bureau

The Bureau: XCom Declassified started out as a game no one wanted made and is now a game we're surprised to see. 

In 2010, 2K games endeavored to turn one of the most atmospheric strategy games of all time into a first person shooter, which sat about as well with longtime gamers as a fat guy on an upside down bar stool. Eventually 2K came to their senses and drafted Firaxis to make a proper strategy game after a reasoned and well organized response from gamers across the globe. I’m kidding, gamers lost their shit as they always do. Firaxis released last year’s Xcom: Enemy Unknown to many accolades and positive reviews. It was a blast.

But what of all the work done on that XCom branded First Person Shooter everyone hated? Seemingly everyone thought it disappeared into the vaporware black hole that long ago engulfed StarCraft Ghost, Duke Nukem Forever, The Phantom, and countless other hardware and software titles that were never officially canceled but seemingly disappeared.

Welp, thanks to hard work, a bloated budget, and maybe even a hint of good will brought on by Enemy Unknown, it morphed into The Bureau: XCom Declassified, a strategic third person shooter, with a lot of style and a lot of problems.

MeekinOnMovies on...Ducktales: Remastered (multiplatform)

Ducktales for the NES was one of these ‘underrated’ classics you probably heard about once the internet and nostalgia gaming became a thing. Sure, many gamers probably had the same experience I did: expecting a game based on the “Ducktales” series to suck, then being pleasantly surprised by it being a competent platformer with a neat pogo-stick-y kinda gimmick. It was a good time. Of course, I was…7 years old when that game came out, and if there’s one thing retro gaming has taught me, it’s that pleasant surprises are worse the second time around.

MeekinOnMovies On.....Dark Souls II

Dark Souls II

Developer: From Software

Platform: Xbox 360 (reviewed)

Did I beat it: No

Did I pay for it: No

So I guess I owe the world a Dark Souls II review after developer From Software was gracious enough to bestow upon me a copy of the game, (and a hopefully ironically intentioned skull shaped stress-ball.)

But after dozens of deaths and giving over forty hours of my life to Dark Souls II, our relationship has yet to solidify. While I respect everything Dark Souls II is trying to be, and is - it's fairly apparent Dark Souls II wasn't made with the kind of gamer I am, in mind.

And what kind of gamer am I? An enthusiast. I'm excited to play anything I can get my hands on, and truly beefy experiences like Dark Souls II are often right in my wheel house. I like games that challenge and entertain and try to do new things. Dark Souls II, on paper, is this. 

While I fully expected to have my ass handed to me - it has a reputation for difficulty to live up too, after all - the real peril came from my war with everything else.