So Sunday morning, (I think) J3nn was being lazy and not getting out of bed and the kids were at there grandmothers. This presented me with an excellent opportunity for some solo gaming, which isn't something I can do a lot. I looked at some of the titles I am currently trying to finish (Fallout 3, Blue Dragon, Far Cry 2.. I know, I pick the longest three games to play concurrently) but decided to take J3nns advice and try out Mercs 2.
First impressions: It's chaotic, but I think I like it. There are little nitpicky things I don't care for, but the controls are pretty smooth, and the setting seems like it could be neat. It definitely has elements of Army of Two in it, which is a good thing for me. I'm eager to get into it, but I think that I'm gonna wait until I have someone to play co-op with. J3nn and I are still keen on Saints Row 2, and we have Gears of War to go back to. TaoTzuthe3fold and I are still friends, so we'll keep going with RB6:V2. Mercs 2 isn't a good enough game for me to play by myself, so I'll get to it when I can.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Mercs and Demos
So.. J3nn got a copy of Mercenaries 2 from the book repository. I vaguely remember enjoying Mercenaries for the Xbox, but I also remember hitting a spot in the game where the difficulty ramped up to an unpleasant level.
Mercs 2 has got poor reviews based on bugginess, but I have faith in developers and patches. That being said, I've seen it as cheap as $35, so whether or not they're going to bother putting in the time remains to be seen. I don't have much knowledge of Mercs 2, other than the fact that it has 2 player, online co-op, which is my favourite game feature ever!!
I did play a demo briefly when it first came out, but for me, it suffered the same problem that the Crackdown Demo suffered. In an effort (I assume) to illustrate the level of action present in the title, the developers opted to throw you right into a hellastic, insane gun battle, without giving you a chance to find your feet. Very few games, especially shooters, first or third, do this. There is usually an adjustment period in which they show you the controls, let you learn the environment, etc. I understand that in a demo they want to utilize their limited space and grab you while they have your attention, but it backfires for me. I don't want to play a game where I'm constantly being shot at from all places, at all times. Saints Row 2 is a good example of what a sand box game should be. When things get hectic in SR2, they get real fucking hectic, but for the most part, that hecticity gets brought on by your own actions. If you want to, you could just mosey about town on a shopping spree without fear of having your body and vehicle bullet holed.
I'm hoping Mercenaries 2 is similar in actual retail game play. I don't mind being in the middle of a heated war zone, especially considering the setting and theme of the game, but I would like a few moments of downtime in between. I think thats why I was able to get into Fallout 3 quicker and easier than I was Bioshock. They both have a similar, faux 50's, creepy as fuck vibe, but in Fallout, if I'm feeling like the wasteland is getting too unpleasant, I can mosey on back to big town or Megaton and visit civilized people. With Bioshock, I was constantly being accosted by creepy dna junkies, giant lumbering robots, and scary as fuck little girls. There was no reprieve, no breathing room. Maybe I'm getting soft in my old age, but I can't stomach a high tension, creepy environment constantly, for hours at a time.
In other news, we're planning a saw marathon soon. YAY JIGSAW!
J3nn has never seen any of them, and I'm really excited about Saw V.
I'm out.
Also, J3nn is talking about marriage.
(Pretend I made a scared face emoticon here. I don't know what one looks like)
Mercs 2 has got poor reviews based on bugginess, but I have faith in developers and patches. That being said, I've seen it as cheap as $35, so whether or not they're going to bother putting in the time remains to be seen. I don't have much knowledge of Mercs 2, other than the fact that it has 2 player, online co-op, which is my favourite game feature ever!!
I did play a demo briefly when it first came out, but for me, it suffered the same problem that the Crackdown Demo suffered. In an effort (I assume) to illustrate the level of action present in the title, the developers opted to throw you right into a hellastic, insane gun battle, without giving you a chance to find your feet. Very few games, especially shooters, first or third, do this. There is usually an adjustment period in which they show you the controls, let you learn the environment, etc. I understand that in a demo they want to utilize their limited space and grab you while they have your attention, but it backfires for me. I don't want to play a game where I'm constantly being shot at from all places, at all times. Saints Row 2 is a good example of what a sand box game should be. When things get hectic in SR2, they get real fucking hectic, but for the most part, that hecticity gets brought on by your own actions. If you want to, you could just mosey about town on a shopping spree without fear of having your body and vehicle bullet holed.
I'm hoping Mercenaries 2 is similar in actual retail game play. I don't mind being in the middle of a heated war zone, especially considering the setting and theme of the game, but I would like a few moments of downtime in between. I think thats why I was able to get into Fallout 3 quicker and easier than I was Bioshock. They both have a similar, faux 50's, creepy as fuck vibe, but in Fallout, if I'm feeling like the wasteland is getting too unpleasant, I can mosey on back to big town or Megaton and visit civilized people. With Bioshock, I was constantly being accosted by creepy dna junkies, giant lumbering robots, and scary as fuck little girls. There was no reprieve, no breathing room. Maybe I'm getting soft in my old age, but I can't stomach a high tension, creepy environment constantly, for hours at a time.
In other news, we're planning a saw marathon soon. YAY JIGSAW!
J3nn has never seen any of them, and I'm really excited about Saw V.
I'm out.
Also, J3nn is talking about marriage.
(Pretend I made a scared face emoticon here. I don't know what one looks like)
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
One other thing
I bought Fallout 3 when it first came out. I played it non-stop for about 25 hours. Well, not non-stop, but that was pretty much the only game I was playing. I had a bitching idea to write a blog from the POV of my Fallout character, as a sort of journal thing. I would play the game all in real time (No fast travel. Walk everywhere) and put some effort in watching the in-game time, sleeping on a regular schedule (in game) and eating at a regular schedule.
None of these things have any real in game consequence for ignoring, andI think it would be really interesting and fun to do, even though nobody reads this, but it would take a long ass time, and I'm lazy.
None of these things have any real in game consequence for ignoring, andI think it would be really interesting and fun to do, even though nobody reads this, but it would take a long ass time, and I'm lazy.
Oh... Yeah...
I've been playing the shit of Saints Row 2 with J3nn. It fucking rocks. I really enjoyed Saints Row, but didn't have the patience for 27 levels of all the activities to get the acheivements and unlockables. Plus the co-op fucking sucked.
SR2 has fixed both of those things, and given me a buffet of delicious fun.
The only 2 complaints I have about it is that they took away the ability to import custom mp3's via the in game cd store, and that the stores don't close at night anymore, making it possible to do B&E's.
SR2 has fixed both of those things, and given me a buffet of delicious fun.
The only 2 complaints I have about it is that they took away the ability to import custom mp3's via the in game cd store, and that the stores don't close at night anymore, making it possible to do B&E's.
Le sigh
So I finally turned into a sheep and bought into the hype of the band games.
It was completely unintentional of course. I was coerced into trying a kiosk demo of Guitar band, or some such nonesense while partaking in a Sunday Funday with the Klondike Kid. Maybe I was still high on the pleasurable racism of Clint Eastwood and Grand Turino, but for some reason I agreed.
It took some time before I realized that the gameplay consisted of more than just pushing the proper colored keys at the right time. Once the Kid informed me that I had to use the strum bar as well, things started coming together. Of course we couldn't hear the actual music very well, since we were in a busy game store, at a kiosk located right at the entrance leading out to an even busier mall, but the gameplay mechanic was simple, yet addictive. We waited in vain for about 25 minutes to ask questions to a completely uninformed staff member (FUCK YOU GAMESTOP!) about the main differences between Rock Band and Guitar Hero, as well as which system he would reccomend (Since I have all of them. Ha.). Unsatisfied with the lack of information we went upstairs to the other game store, unfortunately that was EB, but they were a bit more forthcoming in information. The only two problems I had with this visit was the wait (FUCK YOU EB GAMES!) and the fact that the clerk pretty much looked down his nose at me to my informing him that most of my gaming was done on my 360, as opposed to my PS3.
At this point J3nn and I were commited to the purchase, and the K-Kid was ready to be taken home. We promptly escaped the hellish retail nightmare and made haste to my personal sanctuary, Future Shop. It was here we were able to sit donw with the full on Rock Band set, and with some coaxing, I even got J3nn in on the act. Of course it didn't take long for a crowd to form behind us, because we rock so hard. Or something. This cemented the decision and so we fished the second to last copy of RB2 they had haphazardly piled in the middle of the store. We paid and left.
After delivering the Klondike to his bodacious downtown pad (or dirty bachelor suite, depending on your personal tastes) we drove home, packed up the kids and sent them to their grandma's for a visit. 20 minutes later we were rocking out as our new Band, Jenny Mac and the band Guys. There was a bit of controversey over the name initially. J3nn's last name is Scottish, and so it starts with a Mac(deleted for privacy), so I figured a sweet stage name for her would be Jenny Mac. I love band names that are named (front man) and the (ridiculous title) so it was a good fit. In entering the name in the game, I initially typed 'Mack' which is how I instinctively type the name (FUCK YOU RONALD!). The reason that this caused controversey is that Mack is the last name of my ex-girlfriend. That aside, it was a really good time, and I can see why the franchise is so popular.
The rythym game is simple and fun, enough so that I even got my mom to try it and have fun with it. When you're playing bass or guitar and you're able to move you're fingers fast enough to pull off the trickier parts, you actually kind of almost feel like a real musician, and the music is actually really cool. I'm generally closed off about what type of music I listen to, so this kind of exposure is very new to me, but I'm digging it a lot. Lastly, they've got a tour mode that contains just a hint of rpg-ness in it, which is pleasant in almost any game (FUCK YOU MLB POWER PRO'S '08!).
Jenny Mac and the Band Guys is languishing right now, but you can look forward to many future performances by Fish your Wish, with David Plamondon on Bass, and Jenny Mac on guitar. We usually just grab people from the audience for vocals and drums.
It was completely unintentional of course. I was coerced into trying a kiosk demo of Guitar band, or some such nonesense while partaking in a Sunday Funday with the Klondike Kid. Maybe I was still high on the pleasurable racism of Clint Eastwood and Grand Turino, but for some reason I agreed.
It took some time before I realized that the gameplay consisted of more than just pushing the proper colored keys at the right time. Once the Kid informed me that I had to use the strum bar as well, things started coming together. Of course we couldn't hear the actual music very well, since we were in a busy game store, at a kiosk located right at the entrance leading out to an even busier mall, but the gameplay mechanic was simple, yet addictive. We waited in vain for about 25 minutes to ask questions to a completely uninformed staff member (FUCK YOU GAMESTOP!) about the main differences between Rock Band and Guitar Hero, as well as which system he would reccomend (Since I have all of them. Ha.). Unsatisfied with the lack of information we went upstairs to the other game store, unfortunately that was EB, but they were a bit more forthcoming in information. The only two problems I had with this visit was the wait (FUCK YOU EB GAMES!) and the fact that the clerk pretty much looked down his nose at me to my informing him that most of my gaming was done on my 360, as opposed to my PS3.
At this point J3nn and I were commited to the purchase, and the K-Kid was ready to be taken home. We promptly escaped the hellish retail nightmare and made haste to my personal sanctuary, Future Shop. It was here we were able to sit donw with the full on Rock Band set, and with some coaxing, I even got J3nn in on the act. Of course it didn't take long for a crowd to form behind us, because we rock so hard. Or something. This cemented the decision and so we fished the second to last copy of RB2 they had haphazardly piled in the middle of the store. We paid and left.
After delivering the Klondike to his bodacious downtown pad (or dirty bachelor suite, depending on your personal tastes) we drove home, packed up the kids and sent them to their grandma's for a visit. 20 minutes later we were rocking out as our new Band, Jenny Mac and the band Guys. There was a bit of controversey over the name initially. J3nn's last name is Scottish, and so it starts with a Mac(deleted for privacy), so I figured a sweet stage name for her would be Jenny Mac. I love band names that are named (front man) and the (ridiculous title) so it was a good fit. In entering the name in the game, I initially typed 'Mack' which is how I instinctively type the name (FUCK YOU RONALD!). The reason that this caused controversey is that Mack is the last name of my ex-girlfriend. That aside, it was a really good time, and I can see why the franchise is so popular.
The rythym game is simple and fun, enough so that I even got my mom to try it and have fun with it. When you're playing bass or guitar and you're able to move you're fingers fast enough to pull off the trickier parts, you actually kind of almost feel like a real musician, and the music is actually really cool. I'm generally closed off about what type of music I listen to, so this kind of exposure is very new to me, but I'm digging it a lot. Lastly, they've got a tour mode that contains just a hint of rpg-ness in it, which is pleasant in almost any game (FUCK YOU MLB POWER PRO'S '08!).
Jenny Mac and the Band Guys is languishing right now, but you can look forward to many future performances by Fish your Wish, with David Plamondon on Bass, and Jenny Mac on guitar. We usually just grab people from the audience for vocals and drums.
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