Weekend Review: Oct 20th & 21st

Every weekend there are new sights, sounds, and taste to consume. There are other sensory inputs that tickle my brain too, but saying there is stuff to feel sounds creepy. This is a weekly journal of my weekend endeavors. Enjoy!

XCOM: Enemy Unknown
After Dishonored wowed me last weekend I needed another game to play in my off hours. XCOM is that game. It is a tactical and turned based, top down strategy game. Rooted in it's predecessors mechanics from the mid nineties, but modernized for today. The story is simple. Earth is being invaded and it is on you to build a team to stop it. You do so in two parts. Putting troops on the ground and flanking and maneuvering your way across the battlefield. This part is the best. I can see the tabletop game gears spinning underneath it. Dice rolls for hits and all and I love it. The other part is the macro game. Returning to your base with the spoils of victory and spending those resources to upgrade your team and their capabilities. It is all pretty fantastic.

Moneyball
I have been pushing off on this film for months now. Mainly because it was something I thought Crystal would have no interest in. The premise was right up my alley though. Winning with data, not assumptions and gut feel. A subject I have been working on in my career for three years now. Thankfully it was more than just a good premise. The acting was great and it was shot beautifully. Baseball is not my deal, but love a good sports movie. It would have been nice if Billy Beane won a world series, but that is not how it played out. Now everyone is into sabermetrics. I was correct in assuming Crystal would not dig this by the way, just sayin'.

Hawkeye
On a recommendation from Ethan I picked up this book after the second issue was released. I picked up #3 this weekend based on the strength of one and two and was not disappointed. It is more about Clint Barton the man and less about his persona of Hawkeye. There are still loads of bow and arrow bits, but it is really a character piece that is really well written. In one issue Fraction developed a character I care about and want to read more about. From going up against the Russian mafia because his land lord is a jerk to rescuing and falling for a dog he has not interest in keeping. The art is rad too.