Breweries and Games!

I have been waiting to talk about this game since I started this blog. Though it came out at the end of 2016 I didn't play it until around New Years 2017 so it seemed approiate to wait until it had been a year. The sequel to one of the launch titles on the Xbox One most famous for being an online only game. The campaign in the first Titanfall was simply a rotation of certain maps in a certain order. Dialogue that was impossible to follow was spurred out as you were busy fighting in a fast paced and chaotic game. Hopes were high for the sequel as the game promised a single player campaign. The story of this campaign is nothing to write home about. You go from grunt to pilot, forming a bond with your Titan as you go.  The plot twists a bit and a super weapon is involved but the story is not the big appeal of the campaign. What the Tianfall 2 campaign does do is have creative, innovative levels. There are multiple sections which introduce a mechanic then push you to test th...

A brewery in an airport!?  What a scandal. Or at least it would have been once. Breweries are everywhere else these days, and some airlines offer craft brews in-flight. So why not have one at an airport, even if it's in a limited capacity. This week we went through the Salt Lake International Airport and saw an old friend. Flagship: multiple Kids: yes Dogs: airport rules Do they brew there: no Food: full menu Has guest taps: yes Events: no Outside seating: no Wifi: yes We've talked about Gorden Biersch before so I'm going to highlight what this place does different. The place is spacious, for an airport at least, and has the usual seating.  Booths and tables encircle a sizable bar.  Being in a busy airport GB was crowded both times I visited.  The whole place sits raised above the security checkpoint with a great view of the nearby mountains the other way.  Now for this next part we need to do a little background. Salt Lake City is in Utah, ...

Well it should surprise no one that we're tackling this game now. After looking at Ground Zeroes a few weeks back it wouldn't due to go and play anything else next. This game takes off from where Ground Zeroes left off and continues in the same style. That means plenty of stealth, cutscenes, and well, more stealth.  So spoilers if you haven't played Ground Zeroes. These games only work together. I already told you to play the other one.  After the attack on Mother Base Big Boss has been in a coma for nine years. When he awakes in 1984 in a hospital he's lost his left arm and is being hunted by more than just conventional enemies. Ocelot brings him to Afghanistan, currently in the middle of its war with the Soviet Union, where Miller is rebuilding the Dimond Dogs.  What follows is a combination of stealth, action, and base building. As Big Boss your primary objective is to rebuild Mother Base and take revenge on whoever attacked you. To this end you ta...

It's a shiny new year!  Here at Breweries and Games!  We thought we'd start off the new year with something special. To that end we went up Pike street in Seattle to one of the newest and most unique breweries in the Emerald City, Red Hook Brewlab Flagship: this place is about experimenting Kids: yes Do they brew there: yes Food: Bar snacks and pizza Has guest taps: no Events: yes Outside seating: yes Wifi: yes The lab in Brewlab is the key word here. This place is all about coming up with new kinds of beers. There are none of the big name Red Hook beers here. Instead room has been made for new creations. All small batch, all experimental.  I'm hesitant at first, but once I learn that Bicoastal IPA came from here and try the Real American Hero IPA I'm sold. American breweries being all about trying new things this is a natural conclusion for a brewery with a history as long as Red Hook. And speaking of natural conclusions, the building itself is that. Ta...

"Kept you waiting huh?" Happy New Years. I'm going to start off 2018 with a statement, or opinion rather, that I know is unpopular: Video games are not art. Now hold on a bit don't leave. Let me explain. Video games are not art, they are video games. A video game is an interactive experience in a way no other medium can be. The speed and visuals of a film combine with the time of a novel to tell a story in an exciting way. You don't identify with the characters, you ARE the characters. You take on their struggles, trials, choices, and successes. I say all this because I played through Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and rather than be disappointed by the game being a single tutorial mission I was impressed with what a single mission prologue game for another game could do for the story. It seems almost unfair to say Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain are separate games but GameStop has them separate so we will too.  MGSV Ground Zeroes then is exactly...