With a lot of things changing in my life recently, I've been playing games on and off and with a different approach, and I have some thoughts to share about my recent gaming.

Taking a break from the big games

"Big" games are exhausting. They are exhausting for the mind, the eyes, the fingers and the temper. Lately I've been feeling like I've had enough of hording loot, trying to keep up with quests, traveling for hours and surviving underground Draugr gangbangs in Skyrim, trying to absorb the massive world of Fallout: New Vegas, to understand what the hell is going on in Darksiders, to not piss off the guards in DXHR Missing Link by sneaking around with my heartbeat banging in my ears, to try and not forget the tons of shit I learned in Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines after 10 seconds of learning them because the game has to keep teaching me moar, trying to understand why I get raped in Company of Heroes and always seem to be out of man power and armor, to endure the terrible Metro 2033 gameplay and checkpoint system just because it's supposed to be atmospheric and groundbreaking (somehow), and to care about Phelps' shenanigans in L.A. Noire (giving it a second shot on PC this time).

Those are all great games whose torture and/or challenges I've enjoyed immensely and will continue to enjoy in the future, but for now, I'm just exhausted mentally and emotionally. Those games are too big, complex, time consuming and penalizing. They require too much concentration and dedication, it's insane. This includes multiplayer games, I'm taking a massive break from the competitiveness and stress of Battlefield 3 and Tribes Ascend.

So I've been mostly playing games that are simple and fun:

• NightSky, a game I got as part of a Humble Bundle gift from @evilrazer, is a faaaaantastically relaxing side scrolling puzzler that consists of moving an out-of-control crystal ball over gaps and up and down various slopes, with all kinds of tricky terrain that requires incredibly satisfying-to-pull-off tricks. The music and visual style are indeed very relaxing and enjoyable. (5/5)
• Renegade Ops..... What can I say about Renegade Ops? Avalanche Studios is the undisputed king of pure video game fun. The joy I felt playing that top down Just Cause 2 gem where I drove a killer car around blasting tanks and squashing fools with all kinds of awesome weapons and special attacks was just too much. The physics made the driving extremely satisfying, all those stunts and turns and jumps and brakes, I got that feeling you get when you're a young kid on Christmas day, it was great. Also, that JC2 engine... Eye candy, yo. (5/5)
• RAGE - Textures? Horrible. The attempt to have RPG aspects like Fallout 3? Horrible. The attempt to have seductive loot like Borderlands? Horrible. However, when I got used to my surroundings looking like smeared feces and the mission system trying to be an RPG quest system, I focused on what makes id Games amazing - the shooting. Just pure first person shooter goodness, the guns have that sexy heavy hard-hitting feel that ironically many shooters forget to add, the AI is rather unique with its behavior during combat and its endurance, and.... THAT'S IT! The shooting is just BAM BAM BAM so much fun, sounds great and feels great.

• Dungeons of Dredmor - I still have no idea what's going on in that game, but the ingame text is funny dammit! And I guess the gameplay is all around gay (no, the other meaning of gay) and fun to just sit back and whack mutant ducks on the head.
• Torchlight - Ya'll know that clickety clicking.
• Orcs Must Die - I've only played like 10 minutes but I can tell, this is the shit!
• Q.U.B.E - I was enjoying this cheap Portal game until a Steam update wiped my 5 level progress.... So I uninstalled it :(

Alpha Protocol

So during the last 6 months or so I've played 8 hours of AP. I refused to judge the game as shitty (because, let's face it, AP is shitty) because many people praise it and implore players to look past its flaws. So I decided to stick with it and keep playing.

Dude, AP is shitty. I love the universe and the theme. I looooooove the dialogue style. I love the voice acting. I love the RPG elements and greatly enjoy buying toys for Thorton and changing his clothes. I love the Intel stuff with the dossiers and all that.

But.... Dude. This is a video game. The things I mentioned above can do so much before the actual real-time gameplay of trying to infiltrate a base (for instance) feel absolutely morbid. Everything about this game screams "I come from the year 2002." Thorton's movement speed and animation are laughable, the AI was exported straight from Postal 2 because they have no brains and their limbs were replaced with robot parts, the visuals are horrific, the environment is very restrictive when it comes to climbing or jumping or vaulting, and the checkpoint system is just tormenting for a game that reaaaaaaally needs a quick save button.

I'm sorry, I love what Obsidiantried to do with this, if this was a movie I'd buy 5 copies, but this is an interactive abomination. I gave it a good shot. It's shitty!

Real Time Strategy

Alpha Protocol should have been an FMV game where the action bits were just cutscenes.

I love that thing to pieces, but it an abject failure as a game.

Anyhoo, really glad to hear you're doing better and expanding your life outside of games mate, I kind of did something similar about a year ago and it has made me a great deal happier overall.

Great blog!

I was going to buy Alpha Protocol but hearing it wasn't that great disappointed. Maybe I getting if it on steam or in a bargain bin.

I got Alpha Protocol for 2 dollars last year and yes, it is shitty as a game, but I still enjoyed going through it.

Good blog.

I only have these words to say:

Hell yea, Dungeons of Dredmor.

That is all.

Alpha Protocol made me realise that Obsidian is at its best when it's writing things and not designing games.

Good to hear that your 'life is good'; I look forward to a time when I can say the same D:

Also, RAGE was never meant to be similar to Fallout 3 or Borderlands; Carmack talked about this for a little bit during the QuakeCon key note speech. Just sayin'

If you like Blur give Split/Second a go.

Alpha Protocol isn't shitty, it is the shit! :P

I also liked Rage, its gameplay. For me it is good when you get past the small scope of the game.

I'm glad that your life is going great. You deserve it! Personally I'm jelous, as mine although it is good, it is in a tough spot right now.

How the hell have I not been following you?  And congrats on the whole life change thing!!  Thats a great album.  Hope you listened to the other Nas and Amy Whinehouse song too! 
  

@Tim_the_Corsair said:

Alpha Protocol should have been an FMV game where the action bits were just cutscenes.

Wise words! And thank you for the kind words, I'm glad you found the same happiness!

@BeachThunder said:

Also, RAGE was never meant to be similar to Fallout 3 or Borderlands; Carmack talked about this for a little bit during the QuakeCon key note speech. Just sayin'

I know, I watched that keynote and had a headache for the rest of that day. I didn't mean that id intended to copy those games, as much as Im saying that RAGE simply is a bad copy of both games, whether intended or not.

@Jeust said:

I'm glad that your life is going great. You deserve it! Personally I'm jelous, as mine although it is good, it is in a tough spot right now.

That sucks dude, what's wrong?

@Tim_the_Corsair said:

Alpha Protocol should have been an FMV game where the action bits were just cutscenes.

Wise words! And thank you for the kind words, I'm glad you found the same happiness!

@BeachThunder said:

Also, RAGE was never meant to be similar to Fallout 3 or Borderlands; Carmack talked about this for a little bit during the QuakeCon key note speech. Just sayin'

I know, I watched that keynote and had a headache for the rest of that day. I didn't mean that id intended to copy those games, as much as Im saying that RAGE simply is a bad copy of both games, whether intended or not.

@Jeust said:

I'm glad that your life is going great. You deserve it! Personally I'm jelous, as mine although it is good, it is in a tough spot right now.

That sucks dude, what's wrong?

@the_OFFICIAL_jAPanese_teaBAG: Yeah Loco-Motive is an instant classic. And thanks for that song it sounds great.

@Jeust: Ok man good luck with everything!

Wait, what's this blog about again?

On an unrelated note, I should play Renegade Ops since I got it for free.

RAGE is a really bizarre game to me. The recipe for a great shooter is all there but it just doesn't come together in any cohesive way. It has charming, well voice-acted, beautifully animated NPCs yet nothing they say is worth shit or relevant to anything. You can see that Id artists have spent countless hours bringing this wonderful post-apocalyptic world to life but why does it still feel like a static series of corridors disguised as an "open-world"? There's nothing to say about the story or the narrative except that it's kinda lifeless and somewhat shit. Like you said, RAGE's strongest asset is its shooting and my god does it feel and sound satisfying. I absolutely love the combat shotgun.

@csl316 said:

I should play Renegade Ops since I got it for free.

Yes you should.

@Packie: Yeah, totally bizarre game. I'm really interested in what id were thinking when they made it, what their goal was..

@AhmadMetallic said:

@csl316 said:

I should play Renegade Ops since I got it for free.

Yes you should.

Ok, this post convinced me to give it a shot. It was the right decision!!