Demos demos demos.

Afro Samurai - Quickly wore out its welcome.  Adequate sword fighting but little else.

Age of Booty - Cute, simple, entertaining strategy game.  Didn't get to see much of it at a high level.

Batman: Arkham Asylum - Demo showed a cool mix of stealth and combat while everyone in the world's gone apeshit over it.  I'm generally averse to licensed games, but I might try this one.

Battlefield 1943 - I forgot to play this before the servers for the demo were shut down or abandoned, so I could only screw around in the tutorial.  Still, pretty cool recreation of a good older game with newer game conventions.

The Bigs 2 - Goofy take on baseball, was perplexing at first but I think I got a handle on it by the end of the demo.  Still, I don't see the point of a game that's so counter to what's good about the sport.

Brutal Legend - Let's mosh it up.  Like Tim Schafer's last game, seems like a competent if unexceptional entry in its genre elevated by the humor and presentation.  I wonder how all the different elements will fit together in the final product.

The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Athena - Interesting but difficult first person game, less about shooting in the demo area than sneaking around.  Somewhat intriguing.

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin - Like the original, seems fun and a little spooky in alternation, but maybe less essential.

F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn - I don't think I've ever seen a demo for DLC for a disc game before.  More FEAR, though the change in perspective to the other side is interesting.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game - Seemed like a unique third person shooter with a cool take on the conventions and the added bonus of the enjoyable characters and world of the series.

inFAMOUS - Much more of a shooter than I expected, just with a different sort of weapon.  Lightning powers are cool, difficulty seems uneven though.

Killzone 2 - Pretty incredible looking game, and like the original it's fun to play but won't light a fire under your pants.

Lost Planet 2 - After failing to connect to a game after several tries for no discernible reason, I played on my own, which made it a bit of a chore.  So many little things about it and the original just make the overall experience a lot worse than the sum of its parts.

MLB 09: The Show - Didn't convince me I needed to spend money on the series two years in a row, but still a high quality baseball sim.

Motorstorm: Pacific Rift - The second demo for the game.  Still seemed like a frantic, interesting racing game.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 - I had some fun playing this, but somehow it did the opposite of convince me to go back and finish the first Sigma.  Will I ever?  Analysts are skeptical.

Overlord II - I don't know if it's the demo or me, but I didn't really get much out of this.  I'm not convinced the light strategy elements ever amount to anything truly interesting.

Red Faction: Guerrilla - Could be a ton of fun just running around destroying crap in this world.  Demo is more directed, but gives you a taste of the meh shooting and awesome destruction.

Resident Evil 5 - Basically Resident Evil 4 with a partner, no pausing in the inventory, and better graphics. Tough but enjoyable.

Wanted: Weapons of Fate - Take the annoying snark of the movie and replace the dumb action sequences with standard third person cover-based shooting with a couple new tricks.  Not bad.

Watchmen: The End Is Nigh - Stupid comic-style cut scenes, boring gameplay.  Some of the combos and finishers look pretty brutal but that's about it.

Watchmen: The End Is Nigh Part 2  - Stupid comic-style cut scenes, boring gameplay.  Some of the combos and finishers look pretty brutal but that's about it.

WET - Eliza Dushku stars in a game that is all style, no substance.  Some of the tricks to the shooting weren't terrible but every aspect of the design is boring and contrived.

Wheelman - Over the top, somewhat like the Grand Theft Auto style of gaming but more focused on its lackluster driving. Vin Diesel is starring in video games now.

Wipeout HD - For some reason this seems to have vanished from the store, but it's a nice-looking, fun racer.

Wolfenstein - What is it it about first person shooters this generation that makes wet rocks look so weird?  Game seemed non-terrible otherwise, special powers might elevate it past totally mediocre.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine - Hilariously violent, game is a pretty heavy rip-off of a certain other deadly action series.  Not sure how well it would hold up, though.

Zuma - Simple puzzle games yay!

Ridiculously Ambitious Attempt to Experience the Heart of Two-Dimensional Video Gaming, Part 3

I hope to start getting these out quicker, although it's going to be a challenge considering how much stuff there is I can and should be doing these days.

Maniac Mansion (PC)

Maniac Mansion was the first game released using LucasArts' SCUMM engine, which actually stands for Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion. It came out originally way back in 1987, and you can definitely tell. The graphics are extremely primitive and the sound is made from barbaric bleeps and bloops, with the game unable to play more than one at once. Whereas modern games have streamlined the interface down to a very simple point and click system, the lower half of the screen here is flooded with different commands you can use, and there are frequent situations where it's just too specific for its own good. An early example is the door to the basement that doesn't have a handle. Even if your magic deduction skills are good enough to realize you need the gargoyle on the nearby staircase to open the door, "using" it doesn't work. You have to "pull" the gargoyle for anything to happen. I'll make no secret of the fact that I used a FAQ pretty heavily to make it through to the end after getting stuck on my own multiple times, as I'm fairly certain I never would have otherwise. My simple modern brain is just too used to properly telegraphed and hinted puzzle solutions to go this far outside its own safety zone.

Besides the difficulty of the puzzles though, Maniac Mansion is a pretty interesting and actually fairly forward-thinking adventure game. Things like the use of multiple characters you can choose from and apparent flexibility in how you can go about finishing it are pretty impressive. Almost every game in this genre is stuck in the one problem, one solution system that being able to try different things that end up working is really nice. One thing that's unfortunately missing though is the wit and humor that the classic LucasArts adventures are generally known for as much as anything else. There are a few little skits with the various villains and protagonists here, and some moments that sort of skirt around the edge of being funny, but it's clear they were still figuring out what they were doing back then and by this point it looks like it was put together by ten year old kids. It's just quaint. Other SCUMM games I've seen have blown Maniac Mansion's writing out of the water in just their first few minutes. Still, you can see how important the game was to the legacy of LucasArts and the adventure genre in general.

Next: Samus' greatest adventure.

It's becoming an increasing trend in gaming, especially since the launch of the Xbox 360, to extend the life of games via downloadable content, which is cheaper than traditional expansions but also less substantial. Sometimes the DLC is really lame profiteering crap like paying for cheat codes or content that's already on the disc and just needs to be unlocked, but some developers do really interesting stuff with it. Here's a few of the updates and content packs I've played that are interesting enough to discuss but don't warrant full reviews.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine - A pretty satisfying and enjoyable new faction quest line for the game. It requires you to erase any infamy you have to get it going, which is annoying if you actually roleplay your character as a jerk, but once you get into the main quest there's a really nice story and progression going on. Some creative moments, decent fights with lots of allies, and the rewards are great - a full set of really good gear and an infinite supply of knights to fight by your side.

Mercenaries 2: Blow It Up Again - It's nice that this was available for free at first, because it's not really worth it otherwise. It comes with four new missions in new areas and two new skins based on Barack Obama and Sarah Palin, complete with goofy voice overs from crappy sound-alikes ( It was developed during the election frenzy). The problem is the skins don't lend themselves to the missions and the missions don't lend themselves to what makes Mercenaries 2 fun, since instead of having a chance to explore and mess around the new environments you're just plopped in a vehicle and told to do something, with not much chance to laugh at the fact that you look like a candidate for major national office. A few of the missions are pretty fun, but it just seems like a rushed job, and you can't even bring the presidential skins into the normal game.

Noby Noby Boy 1.1 - Not so much DLC as a pretty substantial addition of content through patching. The new music and sound selection system is nice, multiplayer is wacky as hell, and the players have also managed to reach Mars thanks to some big multipliers randomly given as various lengths were reported. I don't know how far in the solar system or even galaxy this game intends to eventually go, but new areas to run around in with new creatures and objects to eat and crap out is always fun.

Prince of Persia: Epilogue - I mostly enjoyed it while I was playing, but in the end it wasn't worth the time and money. It's a couple more hours of the game, with the difficulty on the platforming stepped up thanks to longer sequences in between solid platforms you can be brought back to after falling. They also took out any semblance of the free-roaming aspect, making it a straight shot from beginning to end. The new boss and power are pretty much rehashes, and any story development ends up to be not worth it, as it ends on pretty much the same note as the main game with little of consequence really happening. Not necessary for anyone looking for some closure and not just more of the game. Not not not not.

The Electronic Entertainment Expo has come and gone and once again, I spent way too much time watching video of unreleased games being played. Here are my shallow opinions in blurb-form.

Alan Wake - Much more of a shooter than I expected to see, but it's nice that the game actually exists and I'm sure there will still be some interesting story elements during the daytime.

Assassin's Creed 2 - They seem to have addressed all of the complaints with the original, leaving behind only an awesome open world historical assassination game.  Expanded combat looks nice.

Batman: Arkham Asylum - This looked really interesting at first until he kept fighting a gigantic mob over and over.  Something about the combat just drained my enthusiasm completely.

Battlefield 1943 - I'm a fan of the series, and some online play for my PS3 for cheap sounds like a nice proposition.

Brutal Legend - Hooray for Activision living up to the mantle of gigantic douche bag publisher in every way possible by suing to prevent this game's release. Assuming it comes out, it looks like a fun mix of metal, hack and slash, adventure stuff, Jack Black - well, a fun mix of everything.

Dark Void - A long time coming, but looks potentially very nice.  Jetpacking around and jacking UFOs is pretty sweet.

Fat Princess - This is a really fun looking RTS/deathmatch/hack and slash multiplayer game. I want to play it just to screw around with the different classes.

God of War III - Really looking forward to some more evisceration of classical monsters and gigantic puzzle-filled temples. They keep upping the ante with the gore, and it seems almost too crazy this time, but I kind of like that.

Halo 3: ODST - A slightly different take on the standard Halo shooting gameplay, different enough to look worth checking out.  Also, Nathan Fillion as your commander is cool.

Heavy Rain - It seems to expand upon the interesting aspects of its spiritual predecessor, which people forget was really good for the first two thirds, and the dynamic story stuff sounds great.

Left 4 Dead 2 - Surprising move by Valve coming out with a sequel so soon, but it looks pretty different and it sounds like they're including enough new content to make it worth a separate release.

Lost Planet 2 - I'm playing the first right now, and I haven't seen anything as remotely cool as the boss fight they showed off with four players against a giant monster. As long as they focus on that and not fighting snow pirates, it could be good.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 - Based on the insipid Civil War storyline, it basically looks like what you'd expect from a sequel.  I'd play it with a group again.

Mass Effect 2 - I still haven't played the original, but this looks to continue what it did while improving a lot of aspects.  I need to make a computer I can trust to play this series.

Modern Warfare 2 - Really nice looking sequel.  The original was great, and this looks to have more of the unique and interesting missions that make the irritating slogs against giant respawning hordes tolerable.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii - Four player fun for the whole family!

PixelJunk Shooter - I haven't played any previous games in the series, but this one looks really interesting. I like the lava/water interaction.

Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time - It's another Ratchet game. That's all I really need to know.

Red Steel 2 - Lots of 2's this year.  The new style is neat, but either the guy playing the demo was really bad or the controls still aren't near where they need to be to make a good game.

The Saboteur - The black and white/color stuff is neat, and it could be a fun take on the open world action thing.

Singularity - Possibly a unique shooter with a fun time mechanic, possibly another one for the pile that had a gimmick that just didn't try hard enough.

Splinter Cell: Conviction - I haven't played much of the series, but this looked surprisingly awesome. The increased speed and brutality of Sam's actions make it look like a Bourne game, if licensed stuff wasn't crap.

Tales of Monkey Island - Yet another interesting project from Telltale Games, in their quest to take all of my money.  I want to play some earlier games in the series before jumping on these ones, though.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - Possibly the game of the show. They really stepped up the cinematic quality of the larger gun fights, and it's supposed to keep the more exploratory elements that really rounded out the experience in the first for me.

Wet - The red bonus levels or whatever hurt my eyes.

Ridiculously Ambitious Attempt to Experience the Heart of Two-Dimensional Video Gaming, Part 2

The long-delayed second entry. This took me longer than I expected because I ended up having far less free time for this sort of thing than I expected and I might be less of a Zelda fan than I thought originally. I can't guarantee I'll post these any more regularly, but I'm not giving up.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)

Before I go into why this game bugged me, I will mention that it's influence on and importance to one of my favorite game franchises is obvious. The classical heroic storyline, many of the items, a few introductory dungeons before the real adventure begins, so much of it is now the standard for at least all the "normal" sequels it's gotten since it's release. Obviously the first game started it all, but this is the template they use now. It bugs me when people say Twilight Princess is better than Ocarina of Time when I see it as the same thing with better graphics, but the same argument can be made for Ocarina with regards to this. It's really a milestone for action adventure game design.

The problem is that I just didn't enjoy playing it that much. I adore the modern console Zeldas, especially the N64-era ones, but I can't say the same for this particular precursor. It's not just the age, because I greatly prefer Link's Awakening, the handheld sequel I never actually finished. At least in that game you could block attacks up close. What's the point of carrying a shield everywhere if you can't deflect a sword or spear with it? This was one of many small frustrations that made it feel like the game was more concerned with pissing me off than really challenging me. All the enemies are perfectly designed to inhibit what actually makes exploring the dungeons and temples fun, exploring and figuring out how the mazes work and solving puzzles to get through them. When I'm constantly getting poked and prodded by irritating foes at every turn, it really saps my enjoyment.

The game also seemed less than forthcoming about what exactly what was required to get to certain areas, forcing me to turn to GameFAQs to realize things like "Oh, I need to go to this area I've never been to before to get flippers so I can swim in this dungeon". This sort of trial-by-error design might have worked back then but it doesn't fly now. It does cool things with the story and the various townsfolk you can help out as you go, but in general, I felt like I was just going trough the motions to get to the last boss. The very first dungeon was an interesting, plot-driven rescue mission, and after that I was essentially handed a list of pallete-swapped deathtraps to plunder before I could get to the finish. I probably could have gotten a lot more out of the game if I really tried, I just never felt like the game cared if I did or not. Interesting history lesson, but I didn't love it.

Next: SCUMM changes the adventure game landscape.