PixlBit

It is a fine overcast Monday morning here in what is usually sunny Southern California, how are you doing Pixlbit Nation? The week is starting off well and I am ready to enjoy it! This past weekend was a nice and lazy one where I enjoyed some games and a marathon of Netflix while leaving my window open to listen to the rain. It was too cozy to leave the house even though the thought of having a burrito for lunch was mighty tempting. During this period I knocked a newcomer of Mount Backlog, while still playing through a couple of other games.

 

The newcomer that had a short stay on Mount Backlog was one I received on Thursday and that was Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham for the PS Vita (when I typed in Vita I had Kevin Spacey’s Frank Underwood voice say it). Just like Lego Marvel this game was a port of the 3DS game, which uses the same storyline like its console counterparts but the missions, and setup is different. Its like watching a straight to video low budget sequel of a blockbuster that reuses the plot but has different characters.

 

Just like Cruel Intentions 2.

 

This isn’t a bad thing but if you are wanting to try out the Lego games I would always advise to play the console versions first because there is so much more to enjoy. Lego Batman 3 isn’t a bad game, its just not the console version.

 

The overall fun of running around as Lego minifigs taking on the bad guy, collecting Lego studs, and interacting with some parts of the environment is still there. You still have the DC lineup to pick and choose from when playing in free mode as well as collecting the “cheats” known as red bricks that can boost your Lego stud multiplier, to being invincible, and my new favorite, having the 60s Batman POW, KABLAM, and other pop up text happen when fighting other characters.

 

Gameplay is setup much like the consoles with three sections that make up a level.

 

On the consoles the appearance of Save Points mark these sections while in this game the sections are separate levels within the storyline. Within these three smaller levels, there are five tasks to be completed to earn a gold brick. They are usually to complete the level, collect the set amount of Lego studs, looking for character boxes to break (usually 3 or 4) a specialty slot, and finding the Joker card. These levels usually require multiple play throughs to collect all these items but the levels are short, and you can pick and choose which levels to tackle during Free Play mode.

 

A holdover from the previous Batman games is the scroll wheel for characters that have multiple suits like Batman, Robin Cyborg, and Lex Luthor

 

This has been mapped to the R Shoulder button, which is a little odd considering on the console I think its Triangle. The Triangle button in this game opens up your character wheel in Free Play.

 

The one flaw I did find with this game that is also in previous Lego games, are the glitches. There is a couple that I got caught up in and had to restart levels. Items like characters getting stuck in backgrounds, getting stuck in items after building them, and the one that was the most annoying was finishing a level and having the screen go blank while the music in the background still played. These things didn’t happen a lot but it is a common occurrence with the Lego franchise games.

 

Lego Batman 3 is a fun game, and could be a decent stand alone title with all the charm of previous Lego games, but what holds it back is having the console versions that have much more content. This is a decent game, but I would try the console version before tackling this game. I give Lego Batman 3 a C+

 

Other Games Chris Is Playing

 

Spider-Man Unlimited – iPad Air

In Spider-Man Unlimited on the iPad there have been daily tasks as an “I’m sorry” for some technical problems, like the one I had where I was receiving any of my rewards.

 

Some of them have been really simple like collecting X amount of vials which I unlocked

 

Legendary Spider-Woman. She gives a crazy multiplier to community events. Usually my lineup hovers around 16-17x score multiplier, but having her on the roster boosts that number up to 30x.

 

Battlefield 4 – PS4

Judging by the trophies I have three missions left in Story Mode. I don’t play any multiplayer so this is pretty much it for me when it comes to FPS games. The action is more fast paced than Ghosts, and there have been some “Oh S**t” moments.

 

NCAA Football 14 – PS3

I think I am in year six of leading Old Dominion, and currently in game five of the season and this is my current schedule

 

Seriously EA, it would be nice to have a realistic schedule than being sent on four conference road games to start the year. Usually a team stocks their first four games of the year with out of conference opponents, and with having the backend open for OOC teams, it was slim pickings because during this time everyone else is playing conference games. I moved ODU out of Conference USA, and move them into the American Athletic Conference while moving Cincinnati to the Big XII, and UConn to the ACC.

 

After this year I want to take six teams from the AAC, most likely ODU, USF, UCF, Navy, Houston, and SMU and merge them with five Mountain West Conference schools, SDSU, Fresno St., Boise St., Air Force, Colorado State, and Independent BYU to create a solid AAC conference.

 

So did any of you good people receive this e-mail from Bungie?

I guess I have to jump into Destiny, and pick up my small token of appreciation.

 

Alright Pixlbit, I am off to do something fun.

 

That’s all for now, more later!

-Chris