Dead Space: Ignition

As part of the release of Dead Space 2 last year, Visceral Games released this cheap, little mini-game collection as an interqual for download on Xbox 360 and PS3.  As someone who must play every game in a series to feel like I've accomplished something in my life, I downloaded it myself before playing Dead Space 2.  I'm only a year behind in game playing.  Woohoo!

Unlike the Dead Space game, there is almost no action to be found here, just some mini-games that, once figured out, are pretty darn easy.  The game follows a pair of space police, constantly on the run from the necromorph invasion (corpse monster-zombies to you), with only your ability to complete hacking puzzles standing between certain death and escape into the next comic-book style cutscene.  The games include a cute little hex-based real-time strategy game, a decent light-bending puzzle, and a freaking obnoxious and stupid "racing" game.

This hacking game sucks.

You can follow four pathways so, if you're a completionist like me, you can replay the game a few times with a couple of different puzzles scattered throughout.  I really like how the story utterly changed when following each pathway, basic choices to go one of two ways, casting you as a cold-blooded zealot in one and as a forlorn lover in the next, all dependent on the arbitrary decision of whether you go in the vents or take the long way around.  Kinda weird, but, it works fine if you're into Dead Space fiction.  The mini-games start a little confusing, get really fun when you master them, and then kind of boring when you've got to go through them yet again for achievement hunting which, if you don't do, leave you with a 40-minute game.  While Dead Space: Ignition really runs the gamut, I'll fall in the middle of my opinions and give it an OK.

Revolution

From the creator of Supernatural and executive producer J.J. Abrams (who has no other shows since Alcatraz was cancelled), comes Revolution, the story of a world without electricity.  Speaking of which, my refrigerator broke.

Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin

For my mom's birthday, my wife, the original pumpkin beer lover, picked up a six-pack of Blue Moon's pumpkin offering.  As a relatively wussy beer drinker, I found this entry to be a bit too rich for my blood with a pretty bitter aftertaste.  The bigger problem: only a slight hint of pumpkin.  Why are so many beers claiming pumpkin taste then burying the lead with other bold flavors? If I wanted Mega-Hoppy Dark beer, that's what I'd be buying.  I left this one on the table for a while and, when I returned to sip my warm beer, I found that some of the intensity had vanished and the overall taste markedly improved.  So, an overall OK experience.

IHOP in Northborough, MA

I love breakfast food so very very much.  I also love lots of food for low prices.  If you could somehow combine these two loves, I'd be looking at one hour of bliss.  

As part of my day off, my son and I decided to start at the newly opened IHOP in Northborough, MA.  Our current closest IHOP is a bit older and run down with an open kitchen taking up most of the space.  Thus when I can convince my wife to join me for a Sunday breakfast there (or a breakfast for dinner) the place is completely crowded.  Fine when its just us, disaster with two small children.  So given an early morning on a Monday in a new location, I figured that there would be no way we'd have to wait for a table.

The End of Summer: Porto Pizza

When our ferry back broke down, we were left with unenviable task of needing to find lunch.  We found it at nearby Porto Pizza, a pizza-by-the-slice pizzeria directly across from the ferry.  Everyone ordered something different.  I enjoyed the deep dish tomato and bacon, my wife, the pesto, and my oldest a pepperoni.  We topped it all off with a cup of Del's frozen lemonade.

It's hard to really screw up pizza and this was no exception.  I enjoyed the pizza for the most part, though when I get a deep dish pizza I want  it to be deep.  My slice felt more like a regular depth than anything else. The toppings felt fresh enough and the crust was a good mix of crunchy and doughy, but nothing too exceptional.  An altogether OK way to end the trip.

The pepperoni was rated "Good"

Shock Top Pumpkin Wheat beer

As part of any fall celebration comes seasonal foods. And what's more seasonal now than pumpkin? And what's more fun to review than beer?

Pumpkin beer tasting dates back to more than 6 years ago when, on a trip to Salem, my future wife and I ordered a pumpkin beer. She was blown away by the flavor and, since then, doesn't miss a chance to order one. In honor of her preference and the onrushing Fall-ellujah tour, I figured why not document the currently available pumpkin brews?

Shock Top Pumpkin Wheat was actually our third such purchase, though the first that I've written up for the site. I've been a big fan of Shock Top beer for some time and was very excited to give this a try...and then I wasn't.

Though the beer itself is fine, it contains a very weak pumpkin flavor, more an afterthought than a main ingredient. Kind of like when someone offers you a refreshing lime seltzer and you get excited that you're about to imbibe something akin to Sprite, but, no, it's just seltzer and, oh yeah, a whiff of lime.

The beer itself has a nice, clean taste though is a bit darker than some of the other Shock Top wheats I've had. It wasn't bad but failed to capture a fall memory, i.e., OK.