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!

What does a scanner see?

Whatever it is that's watching, it's not human. It doesn't ever blink. What does a scanner see? Into the head? Down into the heart? Does it see into me, into us? Clearly or darkly? I hope it sees clearly, because I can't any longer see into myself. I see only murk. I hope for everyone's sake the scanners do better. Because if the scanner sees only darkly, the way I do, then we're cursed and cursed again like we have been continually, and we’ll wind up dead this way, knowing very little and getting that little fragment wrong too.

- Paraphrased from A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick

Holiday 2010

I'm getting Black Ops for Christmas. That has been prearranged with my wife. For adults most of the magic is lost from the Christmas experience. If I were a child I would "ask Santa" and then spend December with my fingers crossed. You can drop "subtle" hints as an adult, but I don't have the patients for that. If by some chance she doesn't get it for me I'll just go buy it myself, so either way I'll be playing it before the new year. Yay Christmas.

Until then I'm trying to prestige a second time in MW2. I seem to be leveling up crazy fast as compared to my first time though. less than two months and I'm lvl38. It took me 11 months to Prestige the first time.

How Do You Spell Awesome?

With an M and an E.

I beat it. I beat Mile High Club on veteran. I feel great. I am great. I am the man.

Sure I'm not the only one who's ever done it, but if you want a challenge in gaming this is it man. This is the one. And I did it in about 40 min today. I spent probably around 3 hours on it yesterday with no luck. That's always the way it is though isn't it? You have to step back from a problem, come back at it refreshed the next day, with newly grown brain cells specifically designed for the task. Neuropathways mapped out for your eventual success.

This feels like the kind of rush I used to get after a really great race. It feels like setting a new PR in the 800m. It makes me want to go for a run.

So now I have my first 100% complete game.



Technically Borderlands was my first with 1000 GS and 100% of the main game's cheevos (Fallout 3 was my first with 1000). But Xbox doesn't recognize 1000 as 100% if there is any DCL achievements (weather you have the DLC or not!), so it doesn't show up. So I will have to buy two more expansions for Borderlands if I want an official 100%. Which of course is bullshit. Same thing with Fallout 3, but I'm not going to bother playing through with a third character just to get the neutral-alignment achievements anyway so oh-well.

I'm going for a run.



Also, Happy Birthday to my love!

Buck Futter

I have been playing this level for about 2 hours. Or more. Time sort of slips away with this kind of thing. I know that when I started it was light out, but no longer. Fuck this level. Fuck This level too. I'v been trying to beat that one for a while now. Some say it's the hardest COD level ever. But maybe they don't know about Mile High Club because they havn't beaten the game? The video I put in the last post makes it look easy, but I guarantee you the person who made that spent a significant segment of their life force to create that. Not life TIME, life FORCE.

I've come soooo close to beating this level. I know it's possible and that only makes it worse . I'm going to have to quit for the night. I want to soldier on (like I did through War Room) but I've been playing this shit for about 5 hours strait now and I can feel my brain swelling. This is the kind of psychological "treatments" they give prisoners in Abu Ghraib.

Just one goddamn achievement to go...


OH and did I mention the worst part? MY OWN FUCKING TEAMMATES KEEP SHOOTING ME IN THE BACK!!! LIKE 50% OF THE GODDAMN TIME! I walk down the first hallway and there is no one to shoot me from the front, it HAS to be them. AAARRRGGG!!!

Fuck.

FFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKK.



Fuck.

The Prestige

Last week I finally reached Prestige in MW2. It felt good to finally get there. My rise through the ranks since then seems to be going much faster than it did the first time. I'd like to think I'm better at the game than I was 11 months ago, but I'm pretty sure the enlisted levels require a lot less XP. We'll see haw fast I can get to Prestige 2.

My wife asked me if I wanted a game for Christmas and I told her I wanted CoD Black Ops. I don't usually think of myself as a primarily FPS player by it's the only new game I'm genuinely excited about. Fallout New Vegas should be a great game, but I still have 2 expansions for Fallout 3 to get through so I won't be playing F:NV anytime soon. I'm going to try really hard not to buy any new games for the rest of the year, partially to save money but mostly because I have a ton of great games I haven't given enough attention to.

Next up: Even more Borderlands. I'm lvl 38 and just started playthrough two. The new DLC bumps the level cap to 70... time to roll up my sleeves.