I got this:
And this:
(new).jpg)
YAY CONSUMERISM!!!
Saturday, January 15, 2011
December Recap part 3
I got the duluxe package which came with a very nice art book, a CD with the game's soundtrack, and a free download of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for XBLA. I had some things to say about C:LoS but cares? I got Castlevania: Symphony of the Night! It's all I've played. I've come to the conclusion that there is no reason to make more Castlevania games. This is it. I have no problem putting it in the top ten best games ever made. EVER. How much do I like this game? I've played through it three times on the original PS1 version. This is my fourth playthrough. I spent eighty bucks on the collector's edition of this game. Every dollar worth it just to play SotN.
OK Enough gushing, it's pretty good but.... grklhrk... cruun!!...hruklemurrkk!! I WOULD HAVE THIS GAME'S BABY!!!! I WOULD GET DOWN IN FRONT OF IT ON MY KNEES AND SERVICE.... No! Focus! Control! Get a hold of yourself! You swore to leave that life behind you and you're not going to mess it up now!
So yeah Lords of Shadow is a game that I have, the end. Actually funny story, my wife had intended to buy it for me for my birthday. I had not asked for it nor even mentioned its existence to her. She was annoyed that I bought it but I was very impressed that she's learned my tastes to that extent.
December Recap part 2
I'm not going to write a full review of Black Ops. It's sold a bajillion copies and it's a great game. This you already know. I do want to talk about it though because a bajillion-selling game needs to be spoken of, the way an exploding gas main or nude co-worker needs to be spoken of. The situation demands commentary.
First I'd like to praise the campaign's story. It's not often I want to keep playing a game to find out what happens, and it's certainly rare for an FPS. It's not that Black Ops wasn't predictable. I had an inkling of the outcome and I wasn't far off. I think I wanted to keep playing to find out if my theory was right. The campaign itself had some bumpy spots where fun gave way to frustration but for the most part I enjoyed it.
I was disappointed to hear that titles and emblems would not be unlocked in multiplayer via the completion of challenges. One of the things I liked most about MW2 was that not only could you customize your title but you got those titles by feats of awesomeness. In this way your title/emblem was both an expression of your personality and a way to show off what you'd accomplished. My title/emblem combined the following:
"Kill every member of the enemy team without dying (at least 4 enemies)."
with
"Kill an enemy, Pick up his weapon, then kill him again with his own weapon."
I felt that was a combination that both spoke of who I was and what I was capable of. While I was disappointed that you would be able to have whatever you wanted I was excited that emblems would be custom creations using a layer system similar to Forza's. Once I unlocked the emblem feature I went strait to work to create my dream emblem... only to find out how limited it was. You only have 12 layers, the color pallet is shallow, you have to buy layers AND shapes, and shapes cannot be skewed or warped, only turned and resized. Even as limited as it is it's fun to create emblems, and there is a prestige element in that you have to pay for everything, and shapes are unlocked by level a little bit at a time. So you can't have a bitch'n emblem without spending some time in the game. I've seen some pretty impressive emblems, and I'm going to try to take some pictures and post them here.
Gun Game. The wager match thing is a cool idea but it's overshadowed by the best of its 4 gametypes, gun game. Holy crap this game is fun. It's got the raw feel of bare bones deathmatch but you get to use 20 different guns in one match (assuming you do well)! There is no thrill greater than scoring that final tricky kill with the ballistic knife. There is no agony like the sting of someone's backstab sending you back to the crossbow at the last second. The first time it happened to me I howled like a grieving mother over the corpse of her child. It was... bone chilling, unreal, amazing.
Also, glitchy networking. Fix it.
Finally, how cool is it that you can play with the old DOS-esq computer? It has ZORK!
cd C:FUN
First I'd like to praise the campaign's story. It's not often I want to keep playing a game to find out what happens, and it's certainly rare for an FPS. It's not that Black Ops wasn't predictable. I had an inkling of the outcome and I wasn't far off. I think I wanted to keep playing to find out if my theory was right. The campaign itself had some bumpy spots where fun gave way to frustration but for the most part I enjoyed it.
I was disappointed to hear that titles and emblems would not be unlocked in multiplayer via the completion of challenges. One of the things I liked most about MW2 was that not only could you customize your title but you got those titles by feats of awesomeness. In this way your title/emblem was both an expression of your personality and a way to show off what you'd accomplished. My title/emblem combined the following:
"Kill every member of the enemy team without dying (at least 4 enemies)."
with
"Kill an enemy, Pick up his weapon, then kill him again with his own weapon."
I felt that was a combination that both spoke of who I was and what I was capable of. While I was disappointed that you would be able to have whatever you wanted I was excited that emblems would be custom creations using a layer system similar to Forza's. Once I unlocked the emblem feature I went strait to work to create my dream emblem... only to find out how limited it was. You only have 12 layers, the color pallet is shallow, you have to buy layers AND shapes, and shapes cannot be skewed or warped, only turned and resized. Even as limited as it is it's fun to create emblems, and there is a prestige element in that you have to pay for everything, and shapes are unlocked by level a little bit at a time. So you can't have a bitch'n emblem without spending some time in the game. I've seen some pretty impressive emblems, and I'm going to try to take some pictures and post them here.
Gun Game. The wager match thing is a cool idea but it's overshadowed by the best of its 4 gametypes, gun game. Holy crap this game is fun. It's got the raw feel of bare bones deathmatch but you get to use 20 different guns in one match (assuming you do well)! There is no thrill greater than scoring that final tricky kill with the ballistic knife. There is no agony like the sting of someone's backstab sending you back to the crossbow at the last second. The first time it happened to me I howled like a grieving mother over the corpse of her child. It was... bone chilling, unreal, amazing.
Also, glitchy networking. Fix it.
Finally, how cool is it that you can play with the old DOS-esq computer? It has ZORK!
cd C:FUN
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Deep Thoughts
I started this post a month ago and then forgot about it, but I felt like it would be good to finish it today.
I am sometimes afraid to tell people that I play video games, or any game for that matter. In my mind the public still views video games as childish and if I reveal my activities to them I will be diminished in their eyes. Some times even I see myself as a child, sitting cross legged on the floor gripping a controller. But the truth is I am a child. Foolish and naive, I am brand new over and over again. I am deaf to the hidden language of the adult world. I am helpless, dependent, always grasping to suckle from any and all passing source of nourishment. And I am blind, floating in utero, unborn, waiting for the promise of life.
Wow, that got heavy.
When I find myself questioning the value of games and my never ending obsession with them and whether or not I should be wasting my time on them, I have to also ask why not? Is there some better way to waste time? If my brain cells are occupied what does it matter the focus of their attention? Why do we have hobbies if not to pass the time between the necessary tasks of our life?
What I worry about is that I spend too much time on this one thing, rather than some other avocation. I could be reading the classics or cultivating wild honey bees. I could be spending more time balancing my checkbook or cleaning my home. I could be on Conney Island bird-dog'n chicks. I give myself a lot of grief for not having achieved more in my life, and I know that my dedication (or addiction) to gaming has taken thousands of hours away from other pursuits.
On the other hand if I abandoned gaming would that not be like abandoning part of myself? And shouldn't everyone have that one thing that they are "all about"? People are always saying how the world needs specialists more than it needs generalists. But does the world need a guy with a collection of old consoles, an in-depth knowledge of the Castlevania timeline, and a really strong thumbs? No one throws awards banquets for people with big gamerscores.
I'm 29 years old today... who am I and what the hell am I doing here? What are ANY of us doing here? Has anyone else noticed that this shit is crazy?
I am sometimes afraid to tell people that I play video games, or any game for that matter. In my mind the public still views video games as childish and if I reveal my activities to them I will be diminished in their eyes. Some times even I see myself as a child, sitting cross legged on the floor gripping a controller. But the truth is I am a child. Foolish and naive, I am brand new over and over again. I am deaf to the hidden language of the adult world. I am helpless, dependent, always grasping to suckle from any and all passing source of nourishment. And I am blind, floating in utero, unborn, waiting for the promise of life.
Wow, that got heavy.
When I find myself questioning the value of games and my never ending obsession with them and whether or not I should be wasting my time on them, I have to also ask why not? Is there some better way to waste time? If my brain cells are occupied what does it matter the focus of their attention? Why do we have hobbies if not to pass the time between the necessary tasks of our life?
What I worry about is that I spend too much time on this one thing, rather than some other avocation. I could be reading the classics or cultivating wild honey bees. I could be spending more time balancing my checkbook or cleaning my home. I could be on Conney Island bird-dog'n chicks. I give myself a lot of grief for not having achieved more in my life, and I know that my dedication (or addiction) to gaming has taken thousands of hours away from other pursuits.
On the other hand if I abandoned gaming would that not be like abandoning part of myself? And shouldn't everyone have that one thing that they are "all about"? People are always saying how the world needs specialists more than it needs generalists. But does the world need a guy with a collection of old consoles, an in-depth knowledge of the Castlevania timeline, and a really strong thumbs? No one throws awards banquets for people with big gamerscores.
I'm 29 years old today... who am I and what the hell am I doing here? What are ANY of us doing here? Has anyone else noticed that this shit is crazy?
Saturday, January 1, 2011
December Recap Part 1
Lots of new games acquired and played last month.
Lets start with Halo 3 ODST and Forza 3. About every year Microsoft makes a double pack of games to put in with their new systems. I got Lego Indiana Jones/Kung Fu Panda with my system. Those seem like an odd choice when you look at the other options but they're decent so whatever. I also got the Froza 2/Marvel Ultimate Alliance bundle which is way better. The funny thing about these packs is that they usually go for less (used) than buying the games individually (also used). I got the Forza/Marvel pack for $9.99. Can't beat that.
I was thinking about getting Forza 3 for a while but since I never finished 2 to my satisfaction I held off. After speaking with my brother-in-law about hanging out over the Christmas weekend, I got the idea that I would buy 3 and bring it with me and we could have a Forza marathon. Those of you who are fans of racing games know the special joy that comes from starting with an empty garage and working your way up the ranks until you have millions of credits and a fleet of supercars. We didn't end up playing as much as I wanted, mostly because we had to leave early but we still got some racing done. Forza 3 is pretty phenomenal. BIL has Gran Tourismo 5 and was constantly saying how much better Forza is. There aren't much differences from 2, just more of some things and tweaks of others. The thing I like the most is how they organized the career mode. Instead of moving up a ladder of unlocking events you play though 6 "years" of a career. Each week you pick a race event with 3 or more races each. The events offered are somewhat random but are based on the car you are in, and what you have in your garage. Then on the weekends you do one race from a championship event. At the end of the season you will have completed the last championship race. The cool part is that you don't have to win to continue, just like in real life. If you do loose a race you can go to the event menu at any time and race any of the events you've unlocked at that point. Basically you could just play though the seasons to unlock all of the races and go back and play through in any order you want. There are a LOT of events, way more than Forza 2. This is one of the problems I've had in the past. I think it would be great to be able to make custom events to see what a showdown between cars X and Y would be like. Well you still can't do that in Forza 3 but with the number of events they have, most of your fantasy scenarios are covered.
I didn't play Forza until I got to my wife's parents' house, but I did dig into ODST right away. This is actually my first Halo game. I don't know how I've avoided the series until now. I guess I initially had some distaste for Halo early on, and since I've had an Xbox I've been more interested in military shooters like COD. Anyway ODST is a pretty good game. I played through the campaign in about three sessions and it felt a little short but the gameplay was solid and I liked the way they told the story. I heard that a lot of hardcore Halo fans didn't like it. Maybe it's good that this is my first one? I haven't played online yet, not that interested really.
In part two I'll talk at length about Black Ops and Castlevania and another big Christmas gift I got.
Happy New Year!
Lets start with Halo 3 ODST and Forza 3. About every year Microsoft makes a double pack of games to put in with their new systems. I got Lego Indiana Jones/Kung Fu Panda with my system. Those seem like an odd choice when you look at the other options but they're decent so whatever. I also got the Froza 2/Marvel Ultimate Alliance bundle which is way better. The funny thing about these packs is that they usually go for less (used) than buying the games individually (also used). I got the Forza/Marvel pack for $9.99. Can't beat that.
I was thinking about getting Forza 3 for a while but since I never finished 2 to my satisfaction I held off. After speaking with my brother-in-law about hanging out over the Christmas weekend, I got the idea that I would buy 3 and bring it with me and we could have a Forza marathon. Those of you who are fans of racing games know the special joy that comes from starting with an empty garage and working your way up the ranks until you have millions of credits and a fleet of supercars. We didn't end up playing as much as I wanted, mostly because we had to leave early but we still got some racing done. Forza 3 is pretty phenomenal. BIL has Gran Tourismo 5 and was constantly saying how much better Forza is. There aren't much differences from 2, just more of some things and tweaks of others. The thing I like the most is how they organized the career mode. Instead of moving up a ladder of unlocking events you play though 6 "years" of a career. Each week you pick a race event with 3 or more races each. The events offered are somewhat random but are based on the car you are in, and what you have in your garage. Then on the weekends you do one race from a championship event. At the end of the season you will have completed the last championship race. The cool part is that you don't have to win to continue, just like in real life. If you do loose a race you can go to the event menu at any time and race any of the events you've unlocked at that point. Basically you could just play though the seasons to unlock all of the races and go back and play through in any order you want. There are a LOT of events, way more than Forza 2. This is one of the problems I've had in the past. I think it would be great to be able to make custom events to see what a showdown between cars X and Y would be like. Well you still can't do that in Forza 3 but with the number of events they have, most of your fantasy scenarios are covered.
I didn't play Forza until I got to my wife's parents' house, but I did dig into ODST right away. This is actually my first Halo game. I don't know how I've avoided the series until now. I guess I initially had some distaste for Halo early on, and since I've had an Xbox I've been more interested in military shooters like COD. Anyway ODST is a pretty good game. I played through the campaign in about three sessions and it felt a little short but the gameplay was solid and I liked the way they told the story. I heard that a lot of hardcore Halo fans didn't like it. Maybe it's good that this is my first one? I haven't played online yet, not that interested really.
In part two I'll talk at length about Black Ops and Castlevania and another big Christmas gift I got.
Happy New Year!
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