Edit: While inherently unrelated to video games, I decided that I want to start a holiday in honor of will.i.am beating up Perez Hilton. Even if it isn't true, I think it's worth celebrating. I've never been a fan of the Black Eyed Peas, but I think I might start listening to them now with this amazing event.
So, as anyone who read my last news post probably knows, Sam and Max came out this past week on XBOX Live! and I have been playing it like crazy. The thing is, I don't want to overly run through it, so I decided one episode a night is all I will allow myself to do. However, since there is so much to see and do in each little episode, I usually get to spend 2-3 hours playing, solving puzzles and laughing at all the little jokes. It is some of the best $20 I've ever spent.
If you are not convinced that Sam and Max is a worthwhile purchase, allow me to help: this game is frakking awesome. First off, it's Sam and Max. In my mind, that's enough to pick up any peice of shameless merchandise! Steve Purcell managed to create two of the greatest characters of all time, who have featured in previous games as well as comics and a TV show. But if you're not familiar with the characters and need a better reason, this game is actually challenging. I feel that with a lot of the games I and my friends have been playing as of late, the real challenge is just figuring out where to go and who to shoot. There might be some slight puzzles, but nothing on the scale of Sam and Max Save The World. With this game, I have found that you need to talk to everyone in your environment before starting your adventure, because otherwise you'll be lost. You also need to check repeated locales for possible things that you may have missed on your first go around because not every bit and piece of the puzzle is readily apparent. I have found myself absolutely stumped on many occasion while playing so far, to the point where I'll either need to go do something else for a bit so I can sit down with fresh and creative ideas in how to solve a puzzle, or I need to give up and look online for a clue of where to go. You don't find that in a lot of games these days.
The adventure genre is something I sorely miss. This is primarily what I played when I was a kid, games like Indana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Day of the Tentacle, Sam and Max Hit the Road, and The Secret of Monkey Island. The game not only serves as a great entertainment (considering how hilarious the two main characters are, let alone the plots) but also a tough brain teaser. I haven't spent this long trying to figure out a puzzle since last year's Braid. Granted, the Sam and Max games have been out for a little while now, but I don't have a PC so I can't enjoy in the same revelry most PC users can, what with their Star Craft II and their Diablo III. To be blessed with such a treat is a welcome vacation from all the shoot 'em ups and RPGs that I consistently play. This comes with the highest recommendation that I can possibly give, the "will.i.am Acknowledgement of Excellence" award.
Other than that, no other games have been getting the attention they may or may not deserve from yours truly. As much as I do need to do more play throughs of several games, I find that I'm too busy with other things to devote my attention to more than one game at a time, and the game that stole me is Sam and Max. I need to put more attention to my DS and play throughs of Mass Effect, Fallout 3, and Penny Arcade (because, since losing all my memory, I need to build up my character before episode 3 comes out). I also really need to get out and pre-order Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2. I was going to do it when an Assassin's Creed 2 pre-order was announced, but apparently only the Brits get it, not us lonely statesmen, so that's out of the picture. Either way, as I begin to chew out all my other responsibilities to nerd-dom, I hope to free up more time for gaming in the next few months. We'll see.
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