I have not updated in awhile, and I know how much you fine Giant Bombers have missed me (at least act you did). Either way,I have continued my quest of actually beating the games I have. I do not plan to write much about any of these, but I did want to give some quick thoughts on each.
A game about horses, shooting, and revenge. Very rarely do I complete an open world game; my attention span tends to wain after twenty or more hours of doing side quests and driving (or in Red Dead’s case, riding) around aimlessly. However, Red Dead Redemption managed to hold my attention through the end of the story line. The great characters and compelling story line kept me around. John Marston is a wonderfully developed character that manages to avoid the characterization downfalls of Rockstar’s last protagonist, Niko Bellic. All in all, I loved the game despite its varied bugs I ran across (some of which made the experience that much more amusing).
Alright, I know. I know. I can not really "beat" World of Warcraft, but I did get my first character to level 80. It was a Orc Shaman. I played WoW when it first came out but stopped before Blizzard raised the level-cap from 60. At the time, I played a rogue character and loved it. I think after playing the shaman until max-level I still prefer the rogue, but they are both a blast. However, I did start to get bored after 80 because I am not part of a large guild that runs end game content, so I did not have a lot to do. Before I stopped playing, I took part in the Cataclysm beta. That expansion is going to be fantastic, and I know I will go back to the game as soon as it releases.
I have always been a fan of reading, writing, and writers, so Alan Wake was of particular interest to me. I also enjoy survival horror games, which I think this could classify as. Like Remedy's other titles, I really enjoyed the writing in this game. I found myself quickly carried away on the journey I took with Alan to find out what happen to his wife and the town of Bright Falls. Using the flashlight as an aiming tool and weapon worked wonderfully, and the dark environments lit only by a small amount of moonlight and the aforementioned flashlight made for some very intense moments. The episodic structure of the game worked very well; this set-up also made it easier for my wife to watch me playing because if she missed something, she could watch the "previously on." I have not played the DLC taking place after the game, but I look forward to finding out what occurs after the rather ambiguous ending of the game.
This is the first Wii game I have played in a long while, and I enjoyed the hell out of it. It is also one of the first games I played that I felt the motion controls were needed. Shattered Memories is also the first game to prompt me to write a Giant Bomb user review. I will not say much here, but I will link to said review and quote myself. "If you enjoy a good story, creepy atmosphere, a fantastic score, and unique gameplay, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is worth a look." And here is the review!
Ok. I don't have a lot to say about this game besides it is good, old-fashion fun. The idea behind it is that the player is trying to get the princess back from the monster that (probably) stole her. In each of the levels (there are only five or six) you jump up a series of platforms (using jumps, double jumps, and wall jumps) in the attempt to hit the monster three times before he reaches the top of the level. You get a multiplier bonus if you never jump on the same platform twice. This is a video game ass video game. Very short, tons of fun, and the ending is humorous. Give it a try!
Well, it looks like that is about it. Have any thoughts on the games I played? Let me know! I am currently making my way through Darksiders (which is not going so well), Singularity, Scott Pilgrim, Saints Row II, and Torchlight, so I will have updates on those as I go.
Love, luck, and lollipops. (I am trying that sign off out, how does it work for you?)
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So World of Warcraft remains a monkey on my back, but I finally managed to solve the Bioshock 2 gametape. Like many others, I am certainly a member of the Cult of Rapture; Bioshock maintains its place as one of my top five favorite games. With that in mind, I was very excited (with a proper amount of reservations) for the release of Bioshock 2. I know it was not the original creators, but it was the idea of going back to that world I enjoyed so much that interested me. The setting of the game did not disappoint. Design wise, Bioshock 2 kept the look and feel of Rapture from the first game without feeling repetitive but actually added to it, which is one of the most important aspects of a the sequel to me. Sure, I loved the improvements in plasmid and gun play, but I just wanted to live in that world a little bit more. Initially, the story of the game was not doing much for me, but about three or four areas in, things were starting to get more interesting. I don't really want to talk much about the story here, but I do think it is worthwhile playing for anyone who like the first game.
I actually think the "Mad World" song fits better in this video than the last one.
Besides being entertained by this video, I wish I could get excited for this game. I really enjoyed Gears of War (it is the game that I bought my 360 for), but GoW2 kinda let the air out of the franchise's tires, at least for me. I am mildly interested in finishing the story, so I will most likely rent this, but I doubt it is a buy for me.
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I have written two in a series of, what I hoped would be regular, posts tracking games that I have completed in 2010. I have run into a problem though. I started playing World of Warcraft again. Why would I do such a thing? I blame Star Trek Online. I played STO during the beta and used a friend's ten day pass, and during that time, I found myself constantly comparing it to WoW. Inevitably, this non-stop comparison made me (and three of my friends) reactivate my account. The game got its hooks in me so good that I have payed to bring characters from other servers over to the new one that we choose, which was originally chosen because it would force us to start new characters. While I am having tons of fun, especially getting the bonus XP from inviting a buddy, I keep feeling guilt for ignoring other games I have. I am having fun, but I feel bad that I am not having fun with Bioshock 2-the current game in my queue. It seems odd that I feel bad for having fun, but I do. I think this guilt comes from the knowledge that WoW will ultimately never be completed; when I actually finish a game, I feel a sense of accomplishment, and while not a life confirming accomplishment, it is a sense of one none the less.
This all comes down to game management, which i have expressed as a problem for me on this blog before. Do any of you ever run into gaming problems like this?
PS. You can find me on Eredar, rolling around Azeroth with my orc shaman named Imashaman!
Amazing. A month has passed since I beat my last game. My original plan for this year was to only play one game at a time, but I broke that rule fairly quickly. I am currently playing Indigo Prophecy, Mass Effect 2, Torchlight, and WoW. Despite already playing those games, I picked up Heavy Rain the day it came out and started playing that night. I have been looking forward to this game for a long while, and I was very excited to get my hands on it. My wife was also very excited about watching me play it. The game took me around eight hours to beat, and we spent most of that time playing in one sitting yesterday. I do not normally play for long stretches of time, and my wife does not normally sit and watch me play for long stretches at a time, so that says a lot for this game.
Initially, I was a little put off by the voice actors in the game because it was noticeable that many of them were foreign voice talent doing American accents. If they would have used their native accents, this would not have been the case. However, I quickly became accustomed to all of the different characters and the way they sounded, so this was in no way a deal breaker. I found myself very attached to all of the characters in the game, but my favorite was Scott Shelby,
which only makes it that much harder when you discover he is the killer.
I approached this game with the idea that what ever happened I would let happen. I only replayed a scene once because my controller stopped responding, which caused a character to die because the actions I was inputting were not being recognized. The attachment I felt for the characters made every action I performed in the game that much more intense, especially for the trials Ethan is put through. I love that you can skip back to previous chapters and play them without saving, so you can see what could have happened. This is also a nice feature because you can gain trophies that you did not receive the first time you played that scene. Overall, the story I got out of the game was wonderful; there were moments of great happiness and sadness.
The only lasting issues I have with the game are the sound and graphical skipping that seems to threaten a game freeze, but I never did lock up; I heard this was happening to some people, so I am glad I was not seriously affected. I also felt the movement of the characters was awkward a majority of the time, especially when navigating smaller spaces like apartment rooms or around corners of objects.
Heavy Rain is a great game, and I highly recommend it to anyone with a PS3. I also think it will be a great game to help get non-gamers interested because of the movie like nature of the game, and it is fairly low impact game play most of the time. I am now off to go finish Mass Effect 2!
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I use the word beaten rather loosely when I am referring to Dragon Age. I finished one of the many different paths of the game, but I know I did not do everything. I put about 50 or so hours into the campaign. While playing, I purposly did not do every side quest that was available. When I started playing, I made the choice to play the game with my first instinct always leading the charge. If I did not feel like my character would do the quest, I did not. My choices were mainly good, fi you wanted to label them as such. I find it increasingly harder to play a "bad guy." I used to love them, but now I always lean toward the more just or moral character paths. I played an elf mage, and my party generally consisted of Alistair, Leliana, and Wynn. I had a blast with the game, and I am sure I will do another play through, but I need a break right now. If you are at all interested in looking up my BioWare social network name, it is (big surprise) zombienutz.
The next game I am moving to is Indigo Prophecy. I have always wanted to play this game, and the Christmas steam sale gave me a chance to pick it up on the cheap. I am really looking forward to Heavy Rain, so this should get me ready.
I play my fair share of games, like most people reading this now, but I rarely finish the games I play. In the past few years, I have finished many more then I used to, but I still leave a majority of games when the next shiny one catches my eye. This video game ADD is something I am going to work on in 2010. I do not stop playing them because I dislike them; I stop playing them because I love too much. Finishing every game I play will also be fiscally responsible. Not only overcoming my game ADD, my wife and I are also cracking down on our budget, which means fewer games for me, so I need to squeeze every drop out of the electronic fruit. The first game I am working on is Dragon Age (PC). Here is my list of games that I plan to start and finish (some of these I already started in 2009):
Dragon Age: Origins Red Faction Guerilla Indigo Prophecy Trine Torchlight Demon's Souls Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction DJ Hero Call of Duty 5 Co-Op
I think there are a few more, but these are the ones that I really want to finish. So, does anyone else have this problem?
Greetings people of the future! I am very happy you all made it. It was a long journey, but we stand here triumphant and unified as one amazing community! Thanks for being awesome and keep it up!
I am sure I am like many other gamers who played Duke Nukem 3D when it came out in 1996: I feel in love. I was thirteen, and, while I should most likely not have been playing it, Duke Nukem hit all the right buttons. Pig Cops! Strippers! Pool! Action Hero One Liners! Yea, I bet you want to go play it again right now after all of those words with exclamation marks after them. Go ahead; I'll wait. Back? Excellent.
Well, when 3D Realms announced Duke Nukem Forever (DNF), I was thrilled and could not wait to play it. In the end, I did wait. We all waited. Well, now we are done waiting! 3D Realms is closed (well, has been closed for a bit now), and rights to DNF are part of a court battle. We will most likely never see the game, but that's ok. It seems as if there never really was a game. The article that inspired this post, which can be read here, is a very interesting read, especially if you have gotten this far in my ramblings. What the article boils down to is that Duke Nukem 3D was a one hit wonder for George Broussard and Scott Miller. After the success of Duke Nukem, the two had piles of money to fill their swimming pools and float around on while DNF languished in a Sisyphus-esque development hell. The developers would work on a build of the game, and better technology would come out and wow Broussard; this lead to an obsession of being the best on the market, like when Duke Nukem 3D released. This obsession eventually lead to DNF and 3D Realms shutting down. It is an unfortunate story for everyone involved. I would love to actually hear Broussard and Miller's side of this story, but I seriously doubt we will get the straight poop out of either of them.
While reading the article, I was reminded of John Riccitiello saying that the major problem with game development was "Pre-production;" he elaborated: "I'd have teams work to get to far greater design clarity before they begin full-scale production. Lack of clarity up front is probably the #1 reason why games are late, over budget or, in some cases, not that good" (This quote is from " Ten Queastion with the Academy"). I am not saying that Riciitiello is the best game company CEO out there, but he is definitely on to something with this idea. The impression I am left with after reading Clive Thompson's article is that DNF's only direction was "Bigger and Better!" I do not think anything good could have come from that; sure, the world may have had a really good looking game, but would it have been fun? I can not say for sure, but I have my doubts. However, I may be speaking out of turn here; they could have had a wonderful, humorous, action-packed story that the world has been robbed of because of poor decisions made by the company leaders. Even though it is dead, Duke Nukem Forever will always live on as my favorite train wreck that I have had the liberty of standing around and watching.
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