This week’s show gets a full five hobo bindles out of five! After ripping apart Cleveland sports mascots – SPORTS TALK! – the Pack is stunned by Tom’s new PS4 purchase. Who saw that coming?! Afterwards, Neil visits two hellscapes in Valiant Hearts and Fallout: New Vegas, Justin needs a Hiryu in this year’s Strider reboot, Kaz solves the last case in The Wolf Among Us and Mike drops a couple bucks on League of Legends.
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Got a summer reading list? What about a summer gaming list? This week, the guys tackle both, with lots of classic games and even some “Game of Thrones” talk sneaking in. Afterwards, Justin enters the trenches in Valiant Hearts, Kaz loves his Shovel Knight, and Mike chases the World Cup in FIFA 2014.
Has the Rumble Pack caught World Cup fever?! Almost! While Neil, Kaz, Tom and Justin aren’t about to become soccer fanatics, there’s a bit more enthusiasm on the podcast for the Beautiful Game than usual. And of course, there are plenty of video games to discuss, too! Kaz takes on the Moon Nazis in Wolfenstein: The New Order; Neil puts the Broken Age back together on his iPad; and Justin and Tom LOVE Shovel Knight. So much. Play it. Plus, our favorite games from the first half of 2014!
In one of the shaggier episodes in recent memory, Bumble Pack buddies Kaz and Justin spend the opening minutes of the show ranting about some of their biggest nerd culture gripes – endless nitpicking, empty nostalgia and even those pesky moon wizards come up. But there’s still time for some game talk; Justin explores Another World for the first time and finally checks out the forgotten Hotel Dusk sequel, Last Window, while Kaz remains on the case in the latest The Wolf Among Us episode.
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I don’t know if I ever particularly enjoyed my time with inFAMOUS: Second Son. But I don’t think I disliked it either. I’m left pretty neutral in the end, it’s almost like Sucker Punch  intentionally added one irritating idea every time they added something awesome.
Awesome voice acting and mocapping? Time for really annoying character flaws (seriously Reggie, pick a side!). Build a huge city? Let’s fill it with a handful of hipsters and nothing else!
I’m all about collecting small shiny objects to better my character, see: my Crackdown obsession, but there was no sense of exploration in inFAMOUS: Second Son with each opened area having every collectible listed on the map. I like Sucker Punch for trying to eliminate the frustration of mindless collect-a-thons, but making it a rote activity is the wrong direction.
I largely ignored all of this and pushed through the story one mission at a time, occasionally I was confused where to go next, but I ultimately found my way. The most satisfying portions of the game occurred when I was building up Delsin’s latest power with “Blast Cores”, which allowed access to the skill tree for each ability, a genuinely fun experience. The last power you receive in the game is particularly fun and it’s drastically different than all the other powers to boot. It’s frustrating that you receive it after the end of the game. But it’s cool nonetheless.
At the end of the day I’d recommend inFAMOUS: Second Son for people looking for something for their PS4 to do. If you’re already happily playing Transistor or the Destiny beta/alpha/demo there’s no reason to snag the game. Maybe check out the stand alone DLC coming later this summer instead.
The Big 3-0-0 is here at last! In this extra special, extra self-indulgent episode, Kaz, Justin, Neil and Tom reminisce about their favorite multiplayer memories, their ever-changing gaming tastes, first-time experiences and podcast milestones. But it’s not all Rumble trivia, as the guys also make time to discuss rolling around on the floor in Tomodachi Life, mutually assured entertainment in First Strike and good times with the Vita.
Don’t forget, our celebratory Mario Kart 8 Game Night is tomorrow, June 19th at 9 p.m. EDT. Tournament Code: 2963-1961-1959
After the [somewhat] disappointment of the latest Mario Golf entry I was admittedly a little worried about Mario Kart 8 despite all the good press it was receiving. Luckily all of that worry was laid to rest in grand fashion: Mario Kart 8 is the best entry in the series that I’ve played so far.
Yes, I like it even better than Mario Kart Double Dash.
Don’t be too surprised, I’m predisposed to a loud primarily to my fond memories of not the original, but the N64 entry. I spent so much time with that version that it doesn’t take much to lose myself again I another entry. That was what made Mario Kart Wii such a frustrating title, I wanted so much to fall in love with the game yet it wanted so much for me to not enjoy any of my time with it. The balance changes made in 8 fix so many of the frustrations of Wii, the rebalancing of rubber banding items, the ability to country blue shells as the first player, the inventive track design.
With the inclusion of online play that actually works (two-player simultaneous online on the same console to boot, a feature that is amazing for my exact situation) I can almost forgive the waste of a battle mode. The only fix I would love is the ability to at least choose what type of kart piece I unlock rather than the random system in place (so many tires and wings unlocked).
If you own a WiiU, buy this game, if you have been waiting to buy a WiiU, buy it with this game, if you’ve always had a soft spot for the Mario Kart franchise, consider getting a WiiU and this game.
Please, consider this game.
Keeping it short and simple this week. Too many E3 games to cover in a 90 minute podcast, but the Pack manages to run through a ton of them. No Man’s Sky, Yoshi’s Wooly World, the next Legend of Zelda, Ori and the Blind Forest, a whole mess of PlayStation indie titles – no wonder Kaz, Tom, Justin and Neil are so excited!
P.S. Next week is EPISODE 300!
There is no more frustrating experience than a game like Mario Golf World Tour, partly because there’s plenty of frustrating aspects to the presentation. Mostly the game is frustrating because I want so 
desperately to love it. As hard as I try I just couldn’t fall in love with this Mario Golf game. And I’ve had quite a history with the series. I believe I’ve owned every entry.
That’s why I was so excited when this version was announced. Unfortunately the mind bogglingly bad front end ruins the experience which, at its core, is excellent. The golfing mechanics are solid the courses are interesting and the items even freshen up the gameplay in a way that I enjoy (though, some disagree on this, it’s a “your mileage may vary” situation.) The menus between the quick play and club options are inscrutable. Weeks later I can’t even remember where everything is in the Castle Club.
Everything is slow and convoluted. Want to play a tournament with your friends? Do you have the tournament code? Are you ready to wait 30sec between every menu for the 3DS to slowly, laboriously contact Nintendo central command? If you’re like me you’re ready to fall asleep before you can get the tournament loaded. I was really excited to play all sorts of online tournaments and compete with friends.
A couple weeks out from release and I don’t remember the last time that I turned on the game. So sad.
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