What We’re Playing This Week

By the Last Token Gaming staff

Welcome to the first edition of What We’re Playing This Week, a fun weekly feature where various members of the LTG staff share our thoughts on what particular games we’re occupied with at the moment. Whether we love them, hate them, are in the process of reviewing them, or just playing them for fun, here’s what’s spinning at the homes and offices of the Last Token Gaming crew. Enjoy!

Marshall Garvey: My gaming world belongs pretty much entirely to Red Dead Redemption as of late, and justifiably so. I picked up a used Game of the Year copy of this back in July, with the full intention of reviewing it for the Hall of Fame, and by the time I was finished with the tutorials I already knew it had justified my selection. I’m saving the lion’s share of my lavish praises for this game for said HOF Review, but I can at least say it’s as satisfying an experience as watching any of my favorite Western films. The Morricone-esque soundtrack, the blazing gun battles, the spotless design of the rugged terrain, a title character Clint Eastwood would wish he created…this is a very replete, masterfully crafted piece of gaming. A must experience for all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RITULtGxTjw

Jake Rushing: As of right now, I’m playing two games this week. I’m playing Super Mario 3D World and I’m about at least 3/4ths done with it. I love the charm that this game brings and I can’t get the saxaphone part of the game’s theme out of my head! So awesome! As of this past Friday (Oct. 17th), I picked up Hyrule Warriors and I tried it out. It’s an enjoyable experience so far with demolishing hundreds of enemies that Zelda fans are familiar with.

Michael Mygind: Last night, I made a trade with a collector buddy for Ridge Racer on the PSP and fired it up when I got home. I’ve always been a big fan of this series with its drift-focused arcade-style gameplay. This one is no exception and plays/looks great on the small screen. This morning, I woke up and popped in King of Fighters: Maximum Impact for the PS2. Being an SNK fanboy, I’ll buy anything that bears the name. After 10 years of amazing games in this 2D fighting series, Maximum Impact changed it up by incorporating 3D graphics while retaining the mechanics of a 2D fighter. Believe it or not, it’s not terrible if you can look past the bad voice acting and see that it plays just like its predecessors. If anything, it’s an interesting moment in the history of an innovative series.

Terry Randolph: This weekend, I’ll be playing one of my favorite gaming experiences of 2014, Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor. All I can say is this game is amazing; with swift, fluid combat, consistent stealth mechanics, and amazing open-world design, it’s been a surprisingly immersive experience. This game hadn’t been on my radar of games to play this year, but I’m glad I bought it. Now, if I want to take a break from that, I’ll be playing either Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance or NBA 2k15.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ps7puWAz1E

Brett D’Agostini: This week I’ve been playing a few mobile games and quite a bit of League of Legends. I’ve been immersed in Two Dots, an addictive puzzle game where you connect dots and make squares mostly. On League, I’ve been playing a lot of Akali, Tryndamere and Master Yi. I actually acquired 3 Pentakills in this week alone.  I’ve also been playing a little Team Fortress 2, outside Marshall’s streaming session as well. As of the last few nights I played another moba for mobile called Fates Forever, you should check it out if you like that genre. Another moba, Strife, has been getting some play time, it’s the first 2nd gen moba to be released and it’s pretty solid! I downloaded the new Counter-Strike: Nexon Zombies but have yet to play it, but it’s free and looks awesome! I’ve also been playing The Game a lot lately, logged many hours, such loss.

Patrick-James Reyes: Thanks to the release of the new movie Fury, I’m pretty much stoked to get back into the tight confines of tank. So this week I foresee a lot of World of Tanks in my immediate future. It’s been a long while since I’ve last played this free to play arcade-y tank battle game, but it’s always fun to drop in for a few rounds every now and then assuming you don’t get addicted into playing long into the night. Besides that I’ll be playing a lot of Call of Duty 2 on the side as well trying to relive all the nostalgia and scrutinize every little detail the game did right and wrong for my eventual write-up of next week’s Call of Duty Introspective.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XwVw2_STHs

Cameron Hall: I just picked up Super Smash Bros 4 for the 3ds this week, so that’s what I’ve been playing a lot as of late. I’m mainly just unlocking things currently and getting used to the controls on a 3ds vs a Gamecube controller. Besides that, I’m been getting back into MMORPG’s again and playing DC Universe Online for PS3. Currently raiding a lot and trying to raise my combat rating. Otherwise you can find me either playing League of Legends with fellow staff members Brett D’Agostini and Amanda Elisa or playing Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch for PS3. I’ve also been playing a good amount of Strife on the side for a change of pace when I don’t feel like playing League. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWcu5b__wzE