Video Game Review: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Before the pandemic started, I had my buddy that used to work at Electronic Arts (EA) purchase me a copy of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order for the PlayStation 4. I then payed him back the $20 for the game and brought it home. My youngest son found the unopened copy of the game and asked if he could borrow it. I was finishing up another game at the time and so I loaned it to him. Naturally he redeemed the code inside for the extra goodies and ended up paying me for the game while he kept it for about a year. He then loaned it to my older son who played it for quite awhile.

With not being able to go to the office to get another copy for myself, I was feeling a bit left out. Then my oldest son let me know the game was on sale at the PlayStation store for about the same price as my friend could get it for me. Naturally I jumped on the store and picked up an electronic copy to download. I just finished playing it and am glad I finally got the chance to run through the game.

Jedi Fallen Order is an open-world adventure game which is a genre I really like to play. It is not nearly as complex as Horizon Zero Dawn or any of the recent Far Cry games. While there are some puzzles to solve and plenty of combat, it doesn't have all of the complex gathering and crafting. You have some echos and collectibles to find but they are minor parts of the story, unlike in other games.

If you are a fan of the Star Wars movies, you will love this game. It takes place just before the original Star Wars movie and has a pretty interesting story line that adds insight into saga. You also get to explore some of the planets in the Star Wars universe. It took me about 70 hours to complete the game and I played it on my PlayStation 5 even though it was created for the PS4.

The game has an ESRB rating of T for Teen due to some mild language and violence. After all, you do run around with a light sabre slicing droids, storm troopers, and creatures in half. I would have no problem letting my grand kids watch while I play this game. The fact that you don't have a complex crafting system also makes it easier for younger audiences should they wish to play.

I found the game to be very enjoyable and recommend it to anyone that is a fan of the Star Wars movies. Towards the end, it did get to be a bit redundant but less so than many other games I have played. There is still a lot I can do should I wish to platinum the game (get every single trophy or achievement) but I also have a lot of other games that I am interested in playing. I paid about $20 for the game and feel you get a lot of entertainment for that price.

Video Game Review: Battlefield V

Recently I finished playing Battlefield V from Electronic Arts or EA on my PS4. I enjoyed playing both Battlefield 3 on the PS3 and Battlefield I on the PS4. Interestingly enough, you cannot rely on the ending number to figure out which game comes before others as the number one in Battlefield I refers to the World War I experience and came out after Battlefield 4.

I started playing Battlefield V several times for various research projects at work. When PlayStation Plus released Call of Duty: WWII, I became interested in the history of World War II. After completing the game, I headed back and restarted Battlefield V. While both games are fiction, they do have ties to actual events in the war and I enjoyed the historical aspects of both games.

While earlier versions of EA's Battlefield games focused on a single-player campaign, Battlefield I and Battlefield V have a relatively short campaign with an emphasis on online play. I didn't mind as I don't have as much time at home to play video games and didn't want to spend months on the same game. Battlefield V is only a 9-hour game to complete all of the campaign missions. There are 5 of them and the last one you play as a German tank commander towards the end of the war. All of the campaign battles take place in the European theater and so if you are looking for anything in the Pacific, you will have to try one of the online experiences.

I used to be a huge online player but had too many negative experiences where I would go online and get continually annihilated before I could fire my first shot. Since then I haven't really bothered except in the rare case where I want to get the platinum trophy for a particular game that requires an online trophy or two. The online experience for Battlefield V looks pretty good and so you will want to look at another review to get a complete picture of the game.

I have a work associate that used to work at EA who picked me up the game for only $20. Best Buy has the game for only $18 right now and I think it is well worth the price even if you only play the single-player campaign part of the game. If you are looking for a WWII-genre game and have not yet played Battlefield V, I recommend giving it a try. 

The game has an ESRB rating of M for Mature because of violence and language. War is never pretty and one thing playing war-related video games has taught me is that I never want to fight in a real war.

Video Game Review: Battlefield 1

Last night I finished playing EA's Battlefield 1 on my PlayStation 4. I started playing the game as I wanted a well-done title that didn't take a lot of time. Battlefield 1 definitely fit that criteria and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. I only completed the campaign for the base game and didn't try any of the online play nor did I download any of the extra content. If I didn't have such a backlog of games to play I would give both a try.

I have to confess that my history of World War I is very shallow and that serves as the time period for the game. My understanding is that EA put a lot of effort into making the game historically accurate and that made the game very appealing. I always enjoy learning new things and doing so while playing a video game makes it more worthwhile. I especially appreciated knowing that the German tank in the recent Wonder Woman movie was actually British and I got that from this video game.

There are 5 different stories once you complete the opening section of the game. Each story can be played independently of the others and I took around 2 hours per story. I thought I would enjoy the flying one (Friends in High Places) the most and confess it is very well done. Several people in my office that have played the game would agree that it is the best one of the group. However last night I played the Arabian desert story (Nothing is Written) and enjoyed it even more. Part of my preference has to do with the character development as well as the environment. I have spent a bit of time in Southern Utah over the past week and the Arabian desert looks very similar in some regards. I felt very much at home. All 5 stories are very well done and enjoyable to play.

We have seen a lot of games set in World War II and I appreciated a new venue for this type of game. It helps put things in perspective and shows the importance of constantly improving technology.

Battlefield 1 has been available for a while and you can get an all access pass that includes new downloadable content as well as the original game for around $25. That is about what I paid for my copy of the game and is a good value for the price. It has an ESRB rating of M for Mature because of violence and strong language.

Back to the Normal Routine

For the past month or so, my normal routine temporarily changed. It all started when my company decided to redo the floors in our gym. That meant no exercising at work for 2 weeks. It also meant I got to refresh my memory of the marina showers. I prefer the ones at work a lot more.

Next I had my usual winter ski trip with my wife. Every winter, I like to take a few days to try and ski someplace new. We thought about visiting Telluride in Colorado but opted to stay closer to home because of snow conditions. Instead we skied at Deer Valley, Snowbird, and Alta. Due to our seasons passes, the price of lift tickets amounted to absolutely nothing. Throw in the lack of a need to find a hotel room and the trip came in at a bargain price.

Finally I had a business trip to London and took my youngest daughter who has never been out of the country. We had a great trip and I got a lot of good work done. It just meant a departure from the normal routine.

This week I am at in my office in the Bay Area with everything back to normal. Don't get me wrong, I love to mix things up every now and then. Not having to go to work because of a ski vacation is a good thing. However now I am glad to be back on a regular schedule with my normal exercise and shower facilities available. It also means I have time in the evenings to test more video games. There are a number of new ones that have come out. I have spent some time watching my son play Horizon Zero Dawn and today a friend from EA picked me up a copy of Mass Effect Andromeda. They both look to be spectacular games. When I am on my boat during the week, I can play without feeling any guilt at all. Now my only decision is which one to play first.

Video Game Review: Mass Effect Part I

It is the beginning of the Holiday season now and so I thought I would start my video game review a bit earlier than usual. A few weeks ago I was visiting a friend at Electronic Arts and was able to pick up a copy of the Mass Effect trilogy. I have wanted to play the series for a while and when I saw the bundle for $30, couldn't resist. This long weekend I was finally able to find some time crack open the case and start playing the game.

I have the game for my PS3 system and it is tough to going back to the PS3 after playing games on the PS4 for the past year. I only took a few minutes of play to get used to the older console. Mass Effect is one of those games where you make multiple choices throughout the game and each choice has far-reaching effects. There is also a first-person shooter element and I enjoy first person shooter games.

Mass Effect has been out for a number of years and so there wasn't any updates I needed to download when I started the game. However it did have to install the game on my PS3's hard drive. That seemed to take forever. I think it would have been faster to go to the store, buy a solid-state drive, and install it. I didn't do that, instead I went and had lunch. It was ready when I came back.

The game was a lot like a Uncharted in that it played like movie. I was surprised at how many glitches there were in the game, given its age. Once I had to quite the game and come back in because I had walked into a corner. The two people I was leading wouldn't get out of the way when I tried to back out and I was stuck.

I am only a couple of hours into the first of the three games. It is worth continuing to play as I find it very entertaining. I may have to take a break though as I have to head back to work in a few days. However I will pick it back up again during the Christmas break and will give an update as I get further along.