About a week ago I saw that Terminator: Resistance, a relatively new game released towards the end of 2019 was on sale for less than £20. I was looking for a new game and as a big fan of the film ‘The Terminator‘ I couldn’t help but buy it and give it a try. What followed is about 20 hours of some of the best gaming I have had in years. The game is a linear first person shooter set in post apocalyptic California which is being overrun with terminators. You play as a member of the resistance called Jacob Rivers and go on a variety of different missions with optional side objectives. As you perform certain actions and complete objectives you gain experience and levels which give you skill points to spend unlocking different abilities.

At face value Terminator: Resistance is probably a mediocre game. There are many first person shooter games which offer the same game play, you can go in all guns blazing, sneak around avoiding encounters, pick locks, craft using collected crafting materials, are given options when interacting with NPCs (non-player characters), all very standard stuff. Where Terminator: Resistance separates itself from other games is just how well the developers, Teyon, managed to capture James Cameron’s vision of the future in the Terminator franchise. Everything from the atmosphere, the look of the terminators, the weapons, the resistance uniforms, vehicles, everything is exactly how it is portrayed in the first two terminator films. The developers must be big fans of these films and must have studied them in detail before capturing its essence in their game. It’s quite frankly amazing and I got a lot of nerd chills from it.

Spoiler alert: Below is a video of me playing through the final mission ‘No Fate’.

As well as capturing the essence of the terminator films, the game features countless film references and an excellent soundtrack. Unlike some of the later films in the franchise, Terminator: Resistance actually fits in really well as part of the story. I always wanted a terminator film set in the future, to show how John Connor defeated Skynet, which I kind of got with Terminator: Salvation in 2009, but I was left disappointed. Terminator: Resistance should have been that film.

Having completed the game on ‘normal’ difficulty, I am happy to add Terminator: Resistance to my list of completed games. I actually feel a little sad that I have completed the game, I just didn’t want the game to end. If there is any real criticism I have for Terminator: Resistance is that it’s a little short and a bit of an easy game. I completed the game in about 20 hours play time and that’s with taking my time exploring and completing all of the optional side missions. There is a new ‘infiltrator mode’ where I assume you play as a Skynet infiltrator, but I am not sure that will interest me. As it happens just before I bought the game a new campaign became available, Terminator: Resistance Annihilation Line which currently costs around £13. Considering how much I enjoyed the main campaign I will most certainly be buying this DLC, but I want to savour the opportunity for a while rather than rush into it.

Snooker Nation December 2021 marks the end of Season 5 with me as the victor, winning 12 matches to 9. I also have the highest break for the season of 144 but is a bit of a sore point because on no less than 3 occasions I was close to scoring a maximum break of 147 but failed to get position on the final red. Although I won 21 more frames than Jason this season, Jason scored 3 more centuries than I did which makes it quite clear that he is much more likely to score a century than I am. This is also highlighted in the lifetime statistics of seasons 1 – 5.

03/12/2021 – Match 153

For a change it has been a bad start to the month of Snooker Nation for me with Jason beating me 6 frames to 3, ending my 5 match win streak and keeping him in with a chance to win the season. What’s worse is that once again I have failed to score any century breaks. Jason on the other hand scored 5 century breaks which I believe is a first, I do not recall either Jason or I scoring 5 century breaks in a single match before. He scored 117 in frame 1, 135 in frame 2, 124 in frame 4, another 135 in frame 5 and a massive 140 in frame 8. It would have been 6 century breaks but he missed a shot on the final red while on a break of 92 in the final frame. I felt quite unlucky because on at least 3 occasions I somehow managed to pot the wrong colour ball as well as the object ball in the early stages of 3 frames, effectively handing them over to Jason to win. It would be wrong of me to suggest my loss was all due to bad luck alone, Jason played very well and fully deserved the win.

10/12/2021 – Match 154

Jason continues to hang on this season by winning 6 frames to 2. Thankfully I managed to scored 2 century breaks, 115 in frame 2 and 112 in frame 6, this is after 3 weeks without scoring a single century. Jason on the hand scored 107 in frame 3, 117 in frame 5 and 116 in frame 8. Jason could have scored 145 in frame 8, which would have made a new season highest break but he managed to snooker himself on the final green. For the most part we played well, on this occasion however my safety play was somewhat lacking.

17/12/2021 – Match 155

This match marks the end of Snooker Nation season 5 between Jason and I. In part because I won 6 frames to 3, making it impossible for Jason to win the season and in part because we have agreed not to play the next two matches on account of them falling on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. It was a good match to end on, with a total of 5 century breaks between us. I scored 109 in frame 3, another 109 in frame 5 and 131 in frame 8 leaving Jason with 139 in frame 2 and 123 in frame 7. In frame 6 there was some last minute safety play with just 2 red on the table which is pretty unusual, however the only arguably bad frame was 9th and final frame of the season, which saw both of us miss some fairly simple shots.

Season 5 (July – December 2021) statistics

Seasons 1 – 5 (June 2019 – December 2021) lifetime statistics

Since my previous blog post, I have been playing Command & Conquer Red Alert Remastered, part of the Command & Conquer (C&C) Remastered collection which I bought on sale for less than £10.00. C&C Red Alert is a game I never owned on the PlayStation, yet I still have some fond memories playing my first ever LAN (Local Area Network) game with it by bringing my PlayStation to a friends house. Since then I haven’t played many LAN games, but that was certainly the first. The remastered version of C&C Red Alert has a number of new features which includes support for online play, replays / observer mode, a ‘bonus gallery’ which contains footage from the making of the cut scenes and a remastered version of the iconic game soundtrack with bonus soundtracks which were never part of the original game.

As with the original C&C game players are given two factions to choose from, in this case either the Allies or the Soviets. The setting of the game is quite interesting in that physicist Albert Einstein invents a ‘chronosphere’ which sends him back in time to prevent Adolf Hitler from starting a world war. What happens instead is that there is a world war between the Allies (which includes Germany) and the Soviets. In this case I could not help but choose the Allies and completed the 14 missions necessary to win the war on the ‘normal’ difficulty setting which I think is just enough to add C&C Red Alert to my list of completed games since I started blogging.

While there is a lot more I could do with C&C Red Alert, including a Soviet playthrough, skirmishes vs the AI, online games and a healthy modding community, I just can’t get over how ‘clunky’ and awkward the game can be. I will however keep an eye out for other games in the series which I haven’t played, even if I do not think they can be ever as good as my favourite RTS (Real Time Strategy) game, StarCraft.

Last week I noticed that the relatively new Command & Conquer Remastered collection was on sale. While I do own the PlayStation version of Command & Conquer (C&C), which I could play using my PlayStation 2, I couldn’t resist trying the remastered version.

At the start of the game you choose whether or not you want to play as GDI (Global Defense Initiative) or Brotherhood of Nod. There are similarities between the two factions but the units they deploy for the most part are quite different, giving a different game play experience and storyline. I decided to play GDI and today managed to successfully complete the 15 mission campaign on normal difficulty. I think I have done just enough to add C&C to my list of completed games, even though there is the Brotherhood of Nod campaign and additional bonus covert ops missions.

As well as improved graphics there are a number of new features, one such feature is a ‘bonus gallery’ which shows the cut scene actors performing their parts in the making of the game. Other features include a map editor, support for online skirmishes and the ability to watch replays of online games, including those of other players.

As far as I know C&C is one of the first RTS (real time strategy) games ever made and was released back in 1995. As I have mentioned I have the PlayStation version of the game, which was given to me sometime in the late 1990’s when the game was part of the ‘platinum’ range. What’s pretty unique about C&C on the PlayStation is that it didn’t support saving your progress on a memory card. Instead after completing a mission you were given a code and by using the code you would resume where you left off. I seem to remember it worked pretty well and I neatly wrote down each code in the notes section of the player guide.

Being an early RTS game, it’s really ‘clunky’ and difficult to control the units compared to more modern games of the genre, such as StarCraft 2. After playing C&C remastered for around 20 hours, I honestly don’t know how I ever played it on the PlayStation. The units are so difficult to control and quite often have a mind of their own. Some people might even think the game is riddled with bugs when in actual fact it’s real game play. I found some of the missions pretty challenging and needed to restart some of them several times, purely because of how difficult it is to control the units.

The C&C remastered collection also included the second C&C game in the series, Red Alert. When I get around to playing it I hope to find that the unit AI (artificial intelligence) is a little better and less frustrating.

Ending November with me ahead 11 matches to 7 has put Jason in an almost impossible spot for winning season 5. There are a potential of 5 matches in December, all of which he will need to win. What’s worse is that it’s probable that we may not play 1 or 2 of those matches because they fall on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve where one or both of us will probably have plans to spend time with family. Jason can’t even hope for winning 4 matches and beating me by frames won difference because even if he somehow by a small miracle win every single frame in those 4 matches he would still lose the season by 1 frame.

05/11/2021 – Match 149

It’s become a bit of a mantra these last few months but this match marks another good start to this month of Snooker Nation for me. What’s a little different this time around however is that I managed to win 6 frames to 0. I am not particularly proud of winning this way, it is by no means a reflection of Jason’s ability to play Snooker Nation. Besides, Jason has beaten me in this way on at least 1 occasion, perhaps twice. It’s safe to say nothing was going his way this week, there was an element of bad luck but he also missed a few of his shots, mostly by not putting enough power into the shot leaving the object ball hanging over the pocket. I on the other hand played quite well, in frame 4 I scored a century of 112 points but ran out of position on the final red in 147 break potential. I also scored 102 in frame 3.

12/11/2021 – Match 150

Another good match for me, winning 6 frames to 4. Once again however I missed out on scoring a maximum break of 147, this time in frame 1. Just like last week I scored 112 and ran out of position on the final red which is disappointing to say the least. I would like at least one of us to score a maximum break this season. I scored another 2 centuries, 136 in frame 6 and 107 in frame 7. Jason secured one of his own in frame 8, scoring a massive 142, matching his highest break so far this season. Altogether each frame was fairly smooth apart from the 10th and final frame which was a little scrappy.

19/11/2021 – Match 151

For the most part this was a rather boring match of Snooker Nation, while I managed to win 6 frames to 2, extending my win lead and win streak, I did not manage to score single century break. Jason scored 114 in frame 2 but I think he has started to accept defeat this season and kind of gave up towards the end. With a potential of 6 more matches to play, which could easily end up only being 5, maybe even 4 over the Christmas break, he needs to start winning to have a chance.

26/11/2021 – Match 152

Winning 6 frames to 5 has given me a 5 match win streak and means that I have won every match this November. For the most part we both played reasonably well, other than frame 1 and 2 being slightly scrappy. What bothers me however is that for the second match in a row I have failed to score a century break. Jason on the other hand secured 135 in frame 8 and 110 in frame 9. It’s now safe to say Jason will in all likelihood lose season 5 of Snooker Nation but the statistics are showing that he is much more likely than me to get a century when he wins a frame.

Season 5 (July – December 2021) statistics

The first Playstation 1 game I wanted to play since turning on my Playstation 2 for the first time in years was Front Mission 3. Front Mission 3 is a turn based strategy JRPG (Japanese role-playing game) released in the EU August 2000 and is easily one of my favoruite Playstation games and perhaps one of my favourite games of all time.

I first learned about Front Mission 3 watching a kid play it while I was staying at an old school friends house, probably sometime in 2001. At first glance I thought the game looked interesting but had bad graphics, later I learned that the Front Mission series was developed by my then favourite video game company, Square. This got my full attention since I was already a big fan of other Square titles, namely the Final Fantasy series.

Front Mission 3 is set around 100 years in the future and feature mechanized vehicles called wanzers which you can buy, sell, upgrade and customize for each of your pilots. You start with two pilots, Kazuki Takemura and Ryogo Kusama and then gradually meet more as the story progresses. The battles use a RNG (Random Number Generator) turn based system in the same way the more modern XCOM series does. You start the game with Kazuki who is a test pilot working for Kirishima Heavy Industries testing a prototype wanzer for the JDP (Japanese Defense Force). After the test you’re asked whether to accompany Ryogo on a delivery, this choice determines which storyline you will play, either the Emir “Emma” Klamsky or Alisa Takemura (Kazuki’s sister) storyline. Each story plays out completely differently with different missions and objectives. You also meet different characters along the way and are given a different ending.

Yesterday and today I have finally completed both storylines. When I first played Front Mission 3 years ago I had completed Emma’s story, but today for the first time I completed Alisa’s. After each successful mission, depending on how well you perform, you are awarded a medal and at the end of the game you are shown the resulting number of medals. This is what I got when completing Emma’s story.

The game is surprisingly replay able. Not only can you try to do better and get a better end result, but you can also experiment with different wanzer pilot combinations and delve into the ‘network’. The network is kind of like the internet in that as you progress through the game you unlock different ‘websites’ and can use passwords to find hidden pages and resources. It’s an entirely optional part of the game but hold many secrets and can unlock items you can use in battles. This is how I did completing Alisa’s story.

It feels so nice to spend around 60 hours completing this classic game. I am proud to add this title to my embarrassingly short list of completed games since I started blogging. I am a little sad it is over but hopefully this will inspire me to complete more games, perhaps  even another Square title. On a side note I find it incredible how this game which has given me 60 hours of entertainment fits on a single CD. I could be wrong but I believe CD storage is less than 1 gigabyte? Amazing.

The time has come for my Diablo II Resurrected journey to conclude, at least for now. Since the launch of Diablo II Resurrected I have had a lot of fun, even when my level 56 hardcore character died. The stability issues for Diablo II have improved considerably with the introduction of a queuing system and as such I have been able to create a level 57 hardcore amazon which has gone further than my deceased sorceress. I am not sure I will be able to get much further without considerable effort grinding levels and finding items, but having a hardcore character somehow makes me feel whole again.

I enjoyed playing the amazon so much that I also decided to create a ‘softcore’ one for the more casual way to play Diablo II and have reached level 80 having completed the game on both ‘normal’ and ‘nightmare’ difficulties. I have not yet completed the game on ‘hell’ difficulty which I believe will take a lot more time and effort. The increase of difficulty between normal and nightmare is slight but the increase of difficulty between nightmare and hell is huge, especially if you don’t play as part of a team.

This is by no means the end of Diablo II Resurrected for me. It’s the kind of game I think I will enjoy in small doses and there is the possibility of participating in ladder seasons when they become available. For now however, I do not think I will be playing Diablo II as much as I have been and will focus on something else for a while. There is of course Diablo IV on the horizon which I hope will be single player friendly and have decent end game content.

This month of Snooker Nation started and ended well for me, but the lions share of the matches were won by Jason. At one stage Jason even claimed the lead for the first time in quite a while. While I finish October still technically in the lead by frames won difference, there is still a lot to play for.

01/10/2021 – Match 144

Yet again another good start to the month of Snooker Nation for me, winning 6 frames to 3. While it would be unfair to suggest either Jason or I played poorly in this match, I would say it has been one of the more scrappy matches we have had this season. There were several mistakes made in frame 2 and frame 7, but frame 5 was pretty shocking with both of us missing shots and running out of position numerous times. Other than that however, we played relatively well and secured 4 centuries between us. I scored 112 in frame 1, 131 in frame 8 and 129 in the final frame. Jason scored 115 in frame 4 but sadly missed an opportunity to score 140.

08/10/2021 – Match 145

Once again I am unable to build up a win streak or a comfortable lead. Jason wins this match 6 frames to 4 but I did at least score more centuries and set a new season high score of 144 in frame 2 after Jason scored 133 in frame 1. I also scored 104 in frame 5. All in all we both played quite well. I must admit towards the end of the match I was feeling pretty tired and making some foolish decisions and errors. Twice I played a cannon into the pink and reds off of the blue and both times I accidentally pocketed a red. Playing this shot can be a good way to break up the pack of reds but there is always the risk of potting another ball. Both times I should have played it with a little bit of top spin and a lot less power to reduce the risk of fouling, but for whatever reason I decided to chance it and played it with near enough full power.

15/10/2021 – Match 146

Jason has managed to equalize matches won by winning 6 frames to 4. While altogether it wasn’t a bad match, for me it is highlighted by some pretty bad misses. Also, in frame 8, after I had worked hard to level to score for a black ball re-spot, not only did I miss it I also pocketed the white, handing Jason back the frame. It was pretty funny at the time but at the same time I could not help but be disappointed. There were 4 century breaks in total, I scored 126 in frame 3 and 120 in frame 6 while Jason had 107 in frame 4 and 116 in frame 7. It could have easily been 6 centuries between us but both Jason and I narrowly missed century opportunities.

22/10/2021 – Match 147

For the first time in what seems a long time Jason has taken the lead, winning the match 6 frames to 4. There were a total of 4 century breaks, I scored 136 in frame 4 however Jason scored the other 3, 108 in frame 7, 131 in frame 8 and 100 in frame 10. Jason played really well, there could have easily been 3 more century breaks in frames 2, 3 and 6 making this a well deserved victory for him. I really must do better if I want to win this season.

29/10/2021 – Match 148

After losing 3 weeks in a row and Jason taking the lead, I am relieved to have won this week 6 frames to 3. Technically I finish October in the lead on frame difference, but as Jason reminded me, it doesn’t count for much with another 2 months to the season. All in all this match was a little bit sloppy with both of us missing some relatively easy shots. There was an element of bad fortune on both sides, Jason was particularly annoyed after potting the white off of potting the yellow towards the end of the match. There were 3 century breaks, I scored 122 in frame 5 after fluking a red and Jason scored 138 in frame 2 and 105 in frame 7.

Season 5 (July – December 2021) statistics

As the title of this blog post suggests, I have decided to quit playing Classic World of Warcraft. Before I go into the reasons why I am quitting, I want to briefly talk about my time in what has been the best gaming community I have ever been a part of. When I created my first two Classic WoW characters back in August 2019 I did not think that more than 2 years later I would still be playing the game. I thought that I might reach level 60, do a few dungeons and generally soak up the nostalgia for a few months. This changed when joining a guild called Inspire, now known as Inspired.

It all started in Tanaris, one of the zones in the Kalimdor region within World of Warcraft. I was sad and lonely so decided to put general chat on to see if anyone was interested in doing the Zul’Farrak dungeon which is situated in Tanaris. At that time I did not remember that I should join the looking for group channel, but regardless of this I did see a paladin was asking for help with an escort quest called ‘Rescue OOX-17/TN!‘. I had already completed the quest but decided to help anyway and found that this person was quite nice and verbally invited me to join their guild. I declined the invitation but the seed had been planted. A couple of weeks later, in December 2019 I decided to ask and join that persons guild (who turned out to be one of the guild rogues, Kathrynn) and messaged Dawn who invited me to the guild as a social member with the understanding that I may not be able to attend many raids.

Even though I never really expected to be invited to take part in any of the raids, I signed up for them thinking that I would be benched in favour of raiders, veterans and officers. I hoped that maybe I could join one now and then, perhaps even get lucky with a piece of loot or two that nobody wanted. As it turns out for whatever reasons I was actually invited to nearly all of the guild raids and quickly accumulated loot. I was given some advise from Dawn on how to be a better player, everything from using a better rotation to hotkey management and targeting all improved with his help. While I have never thought of myself being any good at playing World of Warcraft, he helped me become good enough to hold my own. Everyone was friendly, helpful and I noticed little to no drama, certainly none which involved me.

Since I joined, the leader of the guild has changed from Bacon to Dawn and Noparentsguy to Pallydude and now Bubbel. With their leadership the guild has conquered all of what Vanilla Classic WoW had to offer and the guild seems set to do the same with The Burning Crusade. To them and all of the officers past and present, including Kyra, Tsun, Simpleman, Ealenduil, Mexcoo and more recently Nessia, Lotimar and Bahamute. Thank you for everything you have done and continue to do to make Inspired a great community of WoW players, thank you for all of the fun times I have had for close to 2 years. As for everyone else, thank you for being part of the community and remember how lucky you are to have found Inspired on your World of Warcraft journey.

Now for the reasons why I am quitting World of Warcraft, unfortunately for me it’s because I am unable to continue to make the sacrifices that I have making to play the game the way I want to. I really don’t want to go in to specifics, this blog has always been about my gaming rather than my personal life, but suffice to say that I need more time to focus on health issues of my own and of a loved one. There are also other reasons, such as the need to buy and move in to a new, smaller home which is closer to my work place and arrange somewhat large maintenance projects for the home of my loved one. For me to finish work and to immediately spend 3 hours playing World of Warcraft 2, 3 even sometimes 4 times a week just isn’t possible for me anymore, not to mention the necessity of preparing before any given raid. I could simply not raid and become a social member of Inspired and log in as and when I want, but this isn’t how I want to play the game, nor is it how I wish to be seen and remembered by the community.

I am going to miss many people in Inspired, I am not going to try and name everyone because invariably I will miss somebody important. Not only has the Inspired community made me a better gamer, but the people of Inspired have given me memories I will cherish to the end of my gaming days and have helped me discover many things about myself, most importantly, that I do not need to play games alone anymore.

Moving forward, because I am still and always be an avid gamer, I will avoid MMO games in general. Instead I will try to play games which I feel as though I can pick up and put down at anytime, without it potentially infringing on more important real life issues.

Phase 2 of The Burning Crusade which included the release of Serpentshine Cavern and The Eye has been quite challenging. I have attended most of the raids my guild has hosted for these so far but I have been unable to attend them this past week. My personal progression in Serpentshrine Cavern is currently 3 out of 6 bosses defeated which include Hydross the Unstable, The Lurker Below and Leotheras the Blind. Last week however my guild successfully managed to defeat Fathom-Lord Karathress and Morogrim Tidewalker to bring the guilds progression to 5 out of 6. We have raided The Eye (Tempest Keep) much less, as such progression there is currently just 1 out of 5 bosses for me, having only defeated Void Reaver. My guild however has also defeated Al’ar. As I mentioned in my previous WoW update, there is now lot more loot available and I now have a new ‘wish-list’ which includes a couple of items I have been awarded already.

Deathmantle Helm
Deathmantle Shoulderpads
Bloodsea Brigand’s Vest
Vambraces of Ending
Deathmantle Handguards
Belt of One-Hundred Deaths
Deathmantle Legguards
Boots of Effortless Striking
Band of the Ranger-General
Ring of Lethality
Tsunami Talisman
Warp-Spring Coil
Arcanite Steam-Pistol
Talon of Azshara

With all of the progress raiding some tempers have been frayed and there has been a loss of focus. When spending pretty much 3 hours of your evening constantly dying, seeing no loot and consuming items which has taken time to acquire between raids is frustrating. But then when someone has perhaps lost focus and does something stupid and you end up dying to some trash it can be easy to lose your temper in the moment. In an effort to try and motive my guild mates and myself I have recorded and uploaded a couple of YouTube videos of the first time we defeated Void Reaver and The Lurker Below. It’s been a while since I have done any of these, I hope it helped.

There has been some progress for my ‘to-do’ list. I somehow reached exalted with Cenarion Expedition when helping out some members of my guild. I have also worked towards getting reputation with Kurenai and The Consortium but it’s a work in progress as they are both still quite far off exalted. Now we are in phase 2 I should also work towards getting attuned for the Hyjal Summit and Black Temple raids so have added these to the list.

Raise fishing to 375
Raise bows skill to 350
Raise guns skill to 350
Raise crossbow skill to 350
Get exalted with Keepers of Time
Get exalted with Cenarion Expedition
Get exalted with The Consortium
Get exalted with Kurenai
Get exalted with Sporeggar
Hyjal Summit attunement
Black Temple attunement

It seems a little crazy to me that this is my 3rd WoW: October update, the first featured a level 32 rogue in 2019, the second, last year, I was preparing for the arrival of Naxxramas. That’s one of the things I really like about my blog, the ability to look back, see how far I have come and remember the achievements and activities I have documented.

Moving forward I hope to progress further with The Burning Crusade phase 2 raids and also to raid phase 1 content with my warlock a little. Now that my guild mate and officer, Tsun, has completed his Atiesh staff quest, I don’t really want to attend any more Naxxramas raids which he continues to host over the weekend. I wanted to help Tsun, but beyond that I think it is important to have ‘rest’ days from WoW so as not to burn out.