This is another game I got during the summer Steam sale. As you can see, I take my time on these things. I’ve never played other Fallout games and the closest I’ve come to an FPS RPG are those simple “you can upgrade your weapons” mechanics. Little customization beyond abilities. I’ve only been playing in short spurts because, to be honest, the game is kinda boring. It takes a long time to get past the world-building, then the main character’s backstory, then the character customization which goes on and on. And I have no idea what character I want to be, so I just end up being myself. The simple…
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Late to the Game: Dishonored
I’ve been playing a game that’s very different from my usual MO — a stealth game. My usual style is a run-and-gun, but I’ve had enough of that lately. Especially after playing Doom 3. Agh, those endless corridors. All the same. So many Imps. Off the bat, Dishonored reminded me of Bioshock. The graphics are gritty and realistic. The story is shown through audio and text diaries (but punctuated by the occasional first-person cutscene a la Half-Life). There’s health and magic, and they’re both replenished through vials of “elixir”. You’ve got magic powers in one hand and regular weapons in the other. There are safes with combinations, caches behind locked…
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Late to the Game: World of Warcraft
I mentioned WoW here, and got it before the Steam sale (where I bought a ton of new games). And I did create that blog I talked about, although it’s hard not just regurgitating events. Turns out WoW is not as social a game as I thought. At least not at the low levels. I’m at level nine and I really haven’t had to interact with anybody. But I’ve put in about five hours or so and feel I can deliver a verdict on the game that’s become a worldwide phenomenon, multiple award winner, created an entire conference, media tie-ins, an Emmy-winning episode of South Park, and billions of dollars…
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Late to the Game: Luigi’s Mansion
My wife picked up Luigi’s Mansion a few years ago from a garage sale because it had “Player’s Choice” on it, and was only a few bucks. Seemed like fair dinkum. We planned to play it together, but never got around to it. I eventually had the inkling to play it myself, but never got around to it, because the Wii was on the main TV where I feel bad about playing anything by myself. Then we hooked the GC downstairs and finally got a decent TV down there. Anyway, fuck this game. The gameplay was more fun than I anticipated. I was choosing to play Luigi’s Mansion over than…
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Late to the Game: Bioshock: Infinite — The Wrap-Up
It’s not been too long since I wrote my “Initial Impressions” but I had some vacation, and this was a much shorter game than I thought. I’ve had some time to think about it, and I don’t think I’ll be saying anything new, but here’s my two Silver Eagles anyway. Why do I keep playing games like this? Here’s the thing. Bioshock games are well-put-together. You can tell someone thought about them. A lot. You can tell there’s a singular vision behind them, an author’s voice. You are promised a story that’s more complex than “Save the Girl, Kill the Big Bad”, and it is delivered. But that’s all content…
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Late to the Game: Bioshock: Infinite
Hey, I’m not that late. Am I? Am I? I haven’t accidentally read any spoilers yet, so I must be okay. After 10 minutes of benchmarking (gotta get that frame rate just right), I was able to dive in. The first thing that happens is you’re on a boat. No, not that kind of boat. Yes, that kind. Someone is rowing you out somewhere, and you appear to be in the middle of the ocean. I sure hope we launched from ashore, because these guys are going to have some tired arms. Given that we’re going to a lighthouse, that appears to be the case. And immediately images of Bioshock…
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Late to the Game: Limbo (or: What the Hell Did I Just Play?)
After I finished Bastion for the second time, I bought Limbo because it’s one of those games everyone’s still talking about and it’s cheap. I really didn’t know what it was about, except that it was Indie and a duely with Braid. Plus it’s three years old, and I’ve got to keep my fine tradition of never playing games anywhere close to when they’re actually released. Verdict? I paid $10 for it, and I feel like I paid a leetle too much for what I got. It feels like an experimental Flash game. For one thing, the presentation is like a German art house film. There’s no color anywhere. It…
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Late to the Game: An Old Man Plays Halo for the First Time
And that old man is me. I played Halo for a little while when my friend rented it and brought over his Xbox. We played co-op, and liked it, then never played it again for some reason. This was back when Halo was about the only game for the Xbox (like Super Mario 64 for the N64) and no one knew just how much it would blow up. I largely ignored it since I was a Nintendo/PSX man. Until now, when I bought it for $20 (too high in my opinion), grabbed a Mountain Dew margarita, and sat down to figure out what everyone was talking about. The most satisfying…
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Late to the Game: Skyward Sword: The Wrap-Up
After 53 hours and about a year of playing with my wife, trading back and forth, we finally finished The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword this Friday. And as I promised, I will give you my opinion on the full experience. Now remember, I am a big Zelda fan. I’ve played just about every game multiple times. The only ones I’ve missed are some of the portable ones (Spirit Tracks, Phantom Hourglass, and Four Swords w/ Link’s Awakening DX), and the CD-I games (which no one counts anyway). That’s a total of twelve Zelda games. Not to mention some of the best fan fiction I’ve written has been from Zelda.…
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Late to the Game: Batman: Arkham City — First Impressions by a Fallen Gamer
The summer Steam sale (where a whole ton of games are super-duper-discounted) is big times in the video game world. I somehow managed to control myself, maybe because I’ve got two daughters and I know time to myself is more precious than gold. So I got two games–Quantum Conundrum, from the creator of Portal, and Batman: Arkham City. I decided to start Batman: Arkham City first. Not sure why. Maybe because I’d played Portal 2 for the second time a while ago and wasn’t feeling especially puzzle-y. Maybe because of “Dark Knight Rises” fever. I should note that I really haven’t played a real mainstream game for a long, long…
