I know that the cool thing to do right now is to hate on Uncharted 3, but I just can’t. The game is just too much fun and it’s too easy to be swept away in the cinematic nature of well, EVERYTHING. I have to keep reminding myself that certain sequences may seem like cut scenes, but they aren’t and I have to keep Drake moving or I’ll get the little black-and-white screen of death.

It also helps that I’m ten times more at ease with Uncharted 3 than I was with Uncharted 2. Before Uncharted 2, the last shooter-styled game I played was Doom II when I was in college. Playing inFamous before UC2 helped, but having super-destructive lightning powers is much easier to manage than effectively aiming and shooting a gun. I was way out of my element and I nearly rage quit at least twice–still mad at two specific helicopters. I didn’t go near a shooter game again until Mass Effect, and well, I think we all know what happened since then.

I’m not nearly as stressed about shooting this time, so I have considered going back to UC2 and giving it another go, now that I think I can handle shooting at a helicopter from a train accurately. But hell, that’s kind of a laughable thought. I’m worried about finishing UC3 before Skyrim releases. And it looks like I may be reviewing MW3 for GA.

Seriously, this November may kill me.

I was really looking forward to playing Battlefield 3 last week. I couldn’t wait for my first real FPS game that was NOT a Call of Duty game. I knew that the campaign would be short as it’s mostly a multiplayer game, but you know, a short campaign doesn’t have to be bad. Gears of War 3 and Uncharted 2 have both proven that. Unfortunately, Battlefield 3‘s campaign was nowhere close to either.

The biggest problem with the campaign was the balance. It would go from being so easy it was almost boring to being so frustrating I was ready to rage quit in a nanosecond. Some of the sequences, such as the fighter pilot portion, seemed to be completely pointless. To make matters worse, the story was just as unbalanced. It would intrigue me one portion and then completely deflate me the next. Even in the end, just as a little twist was presented into the overall story, it was quickly let down by the ending sequences. Once I finished, I started to rethink the entire story and made notes of all of the plot holes I found. I spent a bit of this morning going over all of this with another friend, who confirmed my feelings.

He and several others have urged me to give the multiplayer an open chance, as that is where the game shines. I know that’s the main purpose of a game like BF3, but why does a single-player campaign have to be sacrificed and so botched? Why can’t both sides of the coin be fantastic? It irks me.

I’m holding off on writing my official reviews for here and Gaming Angels until after I spend some time with the multiplayer, but I have to say that if this game was only the single-player campaign, it would get a 2/5.

Again, so disappointing.

I have recently discovered that cross-stitching is fun.

I have never been into sewing anything before, or really done anything artsy and craftsy. I admire my friends who are into it and good at it, but it’s definitely not my cup of darjeeling. A few weeks ago, however, a friend sent me an Etsy link to a cross-stitch of Cave Johnson’s (of Portal 2 fame) rant about making life take the lemons back. I thought it was hilarious and bought it, thinking it was the completed stitchery. I was emailed the pattern instead–see what happens when you don’t read?–and instantly had an “Oh, fuck” moment. I showed it to my husband, told him I wasn’t sure what to do, and he promptly hauled me to Michael’s to buy everything I would need to do it myself. He ensured me it was easy and that I would like it. I think he’s secretly hoping I get into cross-stitching and give up gaming forever since it’s so much cheaper.

I did have to look up how to start the process, since the only real stitching I had ever done before was with needlepoint with stamped patterns, but once I discovered how easy it was, I’ve had a great time with it so far.

I’ve actually already bought another pattern from Etsy, a Mass Effect one, so it looks like this artsy craftsy phase will continue a little while longer. I may need to try to make a Crimson Omen one as well.

And speaking of Crimson Omens, I was tapped into another round of Gears of War 3 last night. A couple of friends were playing and asked me to join in, and it wasn’t until after I played one chapter with them that I found out we were playing on Insanity. I have just now started to play around with Hardcore mode, so I kind of panicked at playing Insanity at all, much less with other people. I was not prepared for really how hard it was, and even though it took us 2 hours to get through a couple of chapters, I had an absolute blast. Once we got a rhythm going and developed effective ways of communicating what we were doing, we rocked it. I can’t wait to play with at least that many people again, on Hardcore or Insanity. I wonder how many times I will beat Gears 3 in the end…and I kind of don’t care. It’s just that much fun.

I heart Delta.