Since we last spoke, or since I wrote the review for Uncharted 2, the New Year has rung in and I have been doing nothing else other than playing Borderlands.
I have devoted every free second that was not spent at work in the game and it has even cut into time with my wife. I am determined to finish this game. At the moment of this post I have logged roughly 30 hours of in game time; it has been spent bouncing back and forth between my game and Matt's (Jewnado).
I began this game in October - when it was released - but stopped promptly when I purchased myself a PS3 roughly a week later. After that Modern Warfare 2 came out and if you are like myself you know where the rest of that story goes. I had stopped playing at level 17, still in the Arid Badlands, and I knew not when I was going to return to Pandora because I honestly did not feel compelled to.
Flash forward to December 31st - New Years Eve - and Matt and I decided that it would be great fun to return to the game after we had both been away from it for a while. We logged several hours that day and have been chipping away at it ever since. I had become so enamoured with the game (more so than when it was initially released) that on a day off I played it solo four five hours straight. In the words of the tenth Doctor, "Fantastic!"
Last night Matt and I played for another three hours and we are finally on the last mission (with a few straggling side missions left over). Tonight should be the night to finish it off but that will not be the end; there is still DLC and at least one more playthrough.
Showing posts with label borderlands. Show all posts
Showing posts with label borderlands. Show all posts
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Monday, December 21, 2009
Adventures in Babeland - Weekly Gaming Girl Diary: December 21, 2009
Hi, my name is Kara. You might know me from a month or so ago. I write for this blog and have suddenly disappeared! But do not fret! I have returned from a blogging vacation caused by laziness to update you on my video game playing habits! REJOICE!
You missed me, right, RIGHT?!
It appears my last update to the blog was over a month ago..sheesh. I can't even remember what I've been playing in the last month. I'm sure there were good amounts of WoW, probably some Torchlight and definitely some Borderlands. Of course, there's always a constant stream of Farmville to top it all off, but those are all boring and mostly have been discussed before and due to my epically slow progression in games updating the blog on those activities could get boring and repetitive. Instead, I'll update on a new game I got to playing this past week, Left 4 Dead 2.
This past week I was on vacation for the holiday to my home state of Washington. Nate and his wife Cindy also came along and so did Nate's Xbox. We didn't get a whole lot of video game playing in while we were home just due to being extremely busy, but we did get to play some L4D2 a couple nights. I purchased L4D2 a few weeks ago when it was on sale on Amazon, but hadn't really gotten around to playing it. Nate and I sat down one night and started playing the Dark Carnival campaign. Nate really wanted to get the Guardin' Gnome achievement. We had attempted earlier to get the gnome, but failed miserably. This time around using an ample amount of assault rifles and moltovs we got it and were therefore determined to complete the campaign so he could get his oh so sweet pink Depeche Mode t-shirt. I have to say, completing this task was probably single handily the most frustrating, yet the most enjoyable moment I've ever had in video gaming. It wasn't carrying around the gnome that caused the issues, it was the fact that playing on Normal in L4D2 is HARD. I mean, I'm not talking die once, figure out a strategy kind of hard...I'm talking about dying multiple, multiple times and playing through the finale 5 times before completing it kind of hard. At the end of it, I was beyond frustrated, but looking back on it the next day it was so unbelievably fun. L4D2 is most definitely significantly more difficult then L4D. Normal in L4D2 feels like Advanced in L4D. When you suddenly have a spitter, a jockey, a tank and a boomer at one time, it becomes a bit overwhelming. Valve has most definitely achieved the goal of removing any and all strategy from the game that players might develop. While I look back on it now and relive the moment, the excitement and the frustration and feel a sudden rush of how much fun it is, I certainly hope that Valve releases a patch in the future to tone it down just a tad bit. I'm not asking for a cake walk, but trying to get rid of two tanks while a spitter is puking corrosive acid all over you sort of makes your blood boil. I could not even imagine playing that game on Expert.
You missed me, right, RIGHT?!
It appears my last update to the blog was over a month ago..sheesh. I can't even remember what I've been playing in the last month. I'm sure there were good amounts of WoW, probably some Torchlight and definitely some Borderlands. Of course, there's always a constant stream of Farmville to top it all off, but those are all boring and mostly have been discussed before and due to my epically slow progression in games updating the blog on those activities could get boring and repetitive. Instead, I'll update on a new game I got to playing this past week, Left 4 Dead 2.
This past week I was on vacation for the holiday to my home state of Washington. Nate and his wife Cindy also came along and so did Nate's Xbox. We didn't get a whole lot of video game playing in while we were home just due to being extremely busy, but we did get to play some L4D2 a couple nights. I purchased L4D2 a few weeks ago when it was on sale on Amazon, but hadn't really gotten around to playing it. Nate and I sat down one night and started playing the Dark Carnival campaign. Nate really wanted to get the Guardin' Gnome achievement. We had attempted earlier to get the gnome, but failed miserably. This time around using an ample amount of assault rifles and moltovs we got it and were therefore determined to complete the campaign so he could get his oh so sweet pink Depeche Mode t-shirt. I have to say, completing this task was probably single handily the most frustrating, yet the most enjoyable moment I've ever had in video gaming. It wasn't carrying around the gnome that caused the issues, it was the fact that playing on Normal in L4D2 is HARD. I mean, I'm not talking die once, figure out a strategy kind of hard...I'm talking about dying multiple, multiple times and playing through the finale 5 times before completing it kind of hard. At the end of it, I was beyond frustrated, but looking back on it the next day it was so unbelievably fun. L4D2 is most definitely significantly more difficult then L4D. Normal in L4D2 feels like Advanced in L4D. When you suddenly have a spitter, a jockey, a tank and a boomer at one time, it becomes a bit overwhelming. Valve has most definitely achieved the goal of removing any and all strategy from the game that players might develop. While I look back on it now and relive the moment, the excitement and the frustration and feel a sudden rush of how much fun it is, I certainly hope that Valve releases a patch in the future to tone it down just a tad bit. I'm not asking for a cake walk, but trying to get rid of two tanks while a spitter is puking corrosive acid all over you sort of makes your blood boil. I could not even imagine playing that game on Expert.
Monday, November 2, 2009
WAIP: November 2, 2009: A Little Bit From Column 'A' Edition
This past week I ran the gamut on what I have been playing. I think that I successfully paid attention to my Xbox and my PS3 equally while the later may have eked out a little more of my attention - what with its newness and all.
I started the week off right with Borderlands. Gearbox made the game that I have been asking for - a Role-playing Shooter. It is like a first person, open world, Diablo but I have to be honest, the story is severely lacking. I am searching for something mythical called the Vault and all I can decipher from that is that it is corny. Everything else about the game is fantastic. From the art style to all of the stats, the upgrades and let us not forget the infinite guns, this game is packed to the brim with new things to explore and great times with friends. I have not had much of a chance to experience a lot of co-op experiences but the ones that I have were fun and challenging.
I managed to jump into a game last night, with a few people from my friends list, and while we were all around the same level, the enemies were all equal or greater to our levels and we spent the whole time reviving each other and acquiring some decent loot.
On the Xbox side of things I also managed to check out Halo Waypoint and the only useful thing it told me is that I am a level 35 (out of 40) Halo player based on Gamerscore. It would be nice if Waypoint actually pulled some of your stats from ODST and H3 but the avatar awards that I have will suffice right now.
I spent a lot of time with the PS3 in the latter half of the week particularly paying a lot of attention to LittleBigPlanet and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. LBP is becoming quite the challenge as I progress through the levels but I still find myself branching off and playing user created levels and the bonus Metal Gear Solid levels that came with the GOTY edition of the game. The Paintinator is a fun little addition to the game and I also managed to pick up the free Pumpkinhead costume that was out for Halloween. I cannot wait to see where this game takes me in the future.
When I started with Uncharted I was not sure how to feel. The game was beautiful but the controls took me longer than usual to get used to (but it probably had something to do with having to invert the Y-axis for both looking and shooting) so I was torn for a moment. That moment quickly past as I spent the next two and half hours tearing through the game's first four and a half chapters. The game is in one word: RIVETING. You do not believe that you should be able to do half the things that you do but in the end you still pull every single thing off. The game makes you feel like Nathan Drake and further than that it makes you feel empowered while still having a lot of control over the game. The best way I can describe it (better) is that it makes you feel as powerful and cool as you did in Assassins Creed but you feel like your button presses are actually controlling Nate Drake not vice versa.
This past week a demo (something that ALL PSN games need) was released for a little game called Fat Princess and I played the shit out of it. It took me a short while to get used to the game but after I had I had a ball. It is just so cute and bloody. I cannot wait to play more.
I started the week off right with Borderlands. Gearbox made the game that I have been asking for - a Role-playing Shooter. It is like a first person, open world, Diablo but I have to be honest, the story is severely lacking. I am searching for something mythical called the Vault and all I can decipher from that is that it is corny. Everything else about the game is fantastic. From the art style to all of the stats, the upgrades and let us not forget the infinite guns, this game is packed to the brim with new things to explore and great times with friends. I have not had much of a chance to experience a lot of co-op experiences but the ones that I have were fun and challenging.
I managed to jump into a game last night, with a few people from my friends list, and while we were all around the same level, the enemies were all equal or greater to our levels and we spent the whole time reviving each other and acquiring some decent loot.
On the Xbox side of things I also managed to check out Halo Waypoint and the only useful thing it told me is that I am a level 35 (out of 40) Halo player based on Gamerscore. It would be nice if Waypoint actually pulled some of your stats from ODST and H3 but the avatar awards that I have will suffice right now.
I spent a lot of time with the PS3 in the latter half of the week particularly paying a lot of attention to LittleBigPlanet and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. LBP is becoming quite the challenge as I progress through the levels but I still find myself branching off and playing user created levels and the bonus Metal Gear Solid levels that came with the GOTY edition of the game. The Paintinator is a fun little addition to the game and I also managed to pick up the free Pumpkinhead costume that was out for Halloween. I cannot wait to see where this game takes me in the future.
When I started with Uncharted I was not sure how to feel. The game was beautiful but the controls took me longer than usual to get used to (but it probably had something to do with having to invert the Y-axis for both looking and shooting) so I was torn for a moment. That moment quickly past as I spent the next two and half hours tearing through the game's first four and a half chapters. The game is in one word: RIVETING. You do not believe that you should be able to do half the things that you do but in the end you still pull every single thing off. The game makes you feel like Nathan Drake and further than that it makes you feel empowered while still having a lot of control over the game. The best way I can describe it (better) is that it makes you feel as powerful and cool as you did in Assassins Creed but you feel like your button presses are actually controlling Nate Drake not vice versa.
This past week a demo (something that ALL PSN games need) was released for a little game called Fat Princess and I played the shit out of it. It took me a short while to get used to the game but after I had I had a ball. It is just so cute and bloody. I cannot wait to play more.
Adventures in Babeland - Weekly Gaming Girl Diary: November 2, 2009
First and foremost, let it be known, there will be NO discussion of WoW in this blog update as I have not played WoW for the last week. Those who are tired of reading about WoW each and every week, REJOICE!
What did consume my gaming life this past week was Borderlands. I purchased the game on release day and have been slowly making my way through the game. I've done a bit of co-op play, but have decided my slow and steady pace doesn't necessarily keep me at the same pace as all my friends, so I've fallen a bit behind. But that's okay! I'm actually really enjoying the SP elements of the game. I'm the type of gamer that goes in and out of phases of gaming where I'm totally obsess to no care ever, so SP is nice because it allows me to move at my own pace without worry. I'm up to level 17 with my hunter and still thoroughly loving the game. You've probably heard a lot about Borderlands since it's release, so I'll move onto something else a bit more interesting.
I have found a new addiction and that addiction goes by the name of Torchlight. I first heard about the game on The Instance (A WoW podcast I listen to). I had seen some information on it a while ago in my gaming blogs, but wasn't that intrigued at that point. Once I heard Scott Johnson of The Instance rant and rave about it and inform me that it was created by two of the designers of Diablo and Diablo II and played very much like the games, I knew I had to check it out. On Sunday I downloaded the demo off Steam and got to playing...before I knew it I was done with the demo, but instantly felt the urge for more. I immediately purchased it. After that I played for at least 2 to 3 hours straight. I was in love.
The game itself plays very much like the Diablo franchise. It's your basic hack n slash dungeon based game with loads and loads of loot. I particularly enjoy the art style of the game. It goes for a more "cartoony" art style compared to Diablo's bit more realistic style. I like it and it just adds to the overall delightful feel of the game. One of my favorite features of the game is your pet. Every hero class gets a pet. My initial thoughts were "hmm, pets are cool, I guess" until I learned of the most essential role of the pet...it's ability to sell your loot. One of the biggest frustrations for any Diablo fan was that there was so much loot and only so much space in your bag. If you're like me and have issues leaving loot behind simply because free loot = money in your pocket you felt compelled to pick up every single item you ever came across and this lead to many, many trips back to town to sell the loot. In Torchlight, all you do is transfer your unwanted loot from your inventory to your pet's inventory and with the press of one simple button, the pet runs back to town, sells the loot and returns to you. You go a few moments without your helpful companion, but all in all it does not take that long for the pet to turn and just makes the game that much more enjoyable. If a feature like this is not available in Diablo III, well, I really don't know what I'm going to do.
It was quite the easy decision to purchase Torchlight because the game only costs $20 and is EASILY worth that low, low price. If you're a fan of the Diablo franchise, you will easily enjoy this game and for $20, it's almost criminal to pass it up.
What did consume my gaming life this past week was Borderlands. I purchased the game on release day and have been slowly making my way through the game. I've done a bit of co-op play, but have decided my slow and steady pace doesn't necessarily keep me at the same pace as all my friends, so I've fallen a bit behind. But that's okay! I'm actually really enjoying the SP elements of the game. I'm the type of gamer that goes in and out of phases of gaming where I'm totally obsess to no care ever, so SP is nice because it allows me to move at my own pace without worry. I'm up to level 17 with my hunter and still thoroughly loving the game. You've probably heard a lot about Borderlands since it's release, so I'll move onto something else a bit more interesting.
I have found a new addiction and that addiction goes by the name of Torchlight. I first heard about the game on The Instance (A WoW podcast I listen to). I had seen some information on it a while ago in my gaming blogs, but wasn't that intrigued at that point. Once I heard Scott Johnson of The Instance rant and rave about it and inform me that it was created by two of the designers of Diablo and Diablo II and played very much like the games, I knew I had to check it out. On Sunday I downloaded the demo off Steam and got to playing...before I knew it I was done with the demo, but instantly felt the urge for more. I immediately purchased it. After that I played for at least 2 to 3 hours straight. I was in love.
The game itself plays very much like the Diablo franchise. It's your basic hack n slash dungeon based game with loads and loads of loot. I particularly enjoy the art style of the game. It goes for a more "cartoony" art style compared to Diablo's bit more realistic style. I like it and it just adds to the overall delightful feel of the game. One of my favorite features of the game is your pet. Every hero class gets a pet. My initial thoughts were "hmm, pets are cool, I guess" until I learned of the most essential role of the pet...it's ability to sell your loot. One of the biggest frustrations for any Diablo fan was that there was so much loot and only so much space in your bag. If you're like me and have issues leaving loot behind simply because free loot = money in your pocket you felt compelled to pick up every single item you ever came across and this lead to many, many trips back to town to sell the loot. In Torchlight, all you do is transfer your unwanted loot from your inventory to your pet's inventory and with the press of one simple button, the pet runs back to town, sells the loot and returns to you. You go a few moments without your helpful companion, but all in all it does not take that long for the pet to turn and just makes the game that much more enjoyable. If a feature like this is not available in Diablo III, well, I really don't know what I'm going to do.
It was quite the easy decision to purchase Torchlight because the game only costs $20 and is EASILY worth that low, low price. If you're a fan of the Diablo franchise, you will easily enjoy this game and for $20, it's almost criminal to pass it up.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Adventures in Babeland - Weekly Gaming Girl Diary: October 26, 2009
There were two games that dominated my playing time this past week. The first is Borderlands. As I stated in a previous post, I picked this game up last Tuesday on release day. I had the opportunity to get in some SP time as well as some co-op time over the rest of the week. Thus far I am truly loving this game. I've played more SP than co-op, but I find the SP to be just as fun as the co-op. I finally unlocked a 3rd weapons slot and feel as though I have the appropriate weapons I need for the time being. I discovered that my purple sniper rifle (don't remember the gun's specific name) has the ability to completely blow the heads of skaggs in the lower level areas. This made me squee with joy.
My experience with co-op was fun, although I felt I was totally lacking and holding everyone I was playing with back. The ability to power level with friends is actually pretty awesome as you jump levels much quicker then you ever would in SP. It's a nice feature to have, especially since I didn't get the opportunity to play this weekend at all and feel like I've fallen behind others as far as leveling goes. The co-op plays much like if you were to group with someone in WoW. If you have the same quests, they show up and you get the same objectives. I don't have too much to report on the co-op front as the only time I played I was a bit confused and hadn't fully fallen into the ebb and flow of the game, so my personal experience wasn't all that great just due to my lack of knowledge. Definitely looking forward to getting in more hours on this game throughout the week.
Even though I was up visiting the girlfriend at college this week, I still had the opportunity to play some WoW. I finally got to level 70 (HOORAY!) which is quite the accomplishment for me. I've been enjoying the Northrend content, although I'm looking forward to getting out of the Borean Tundra zone and moving onto something new. Being a mere 10 levels away from "the end" is a nice feeling though. I think I might start leveling my old warrior main after I'm done with my current. Maybe I'll try out some different zones I didn't get to on my current to mix it up a bit.
My experience with co-op was fun, although I felt I was totally lacking and holding everyone I was playing with back. The ability to power level with friends is actually pretty awesome as you jump levels much quicker then you ever would in SP. It's a nice feature to have, especially since I didn't get the opportunity to play this weekend at all and feel like I've fallen behind others as far as leveling goes. The co-op plays much like if you were to group with someone in WoW. If you have the same quests, they show up and you get the same objectives. I don't have too much to report on the co-op front as the only time I played I was a bit confused and hadn't fully fallen into the ebb and flow of the game, so my personal experience wasn't all that great just due to my lack of knowledge. Definitely looking forward to getting in more hours on this game throughout the week.
Even though I was up visiting the girlfriend at college this week, I still had the opportunity to play some WoW. I finally got to level 70 (HOORAY!) which is quite the accomplishment for me. I've been enjoying the Northrend content, although I'm looking forward to getting out of the Borean Tundra zone and moving onto something new. Being a mere 10 levels away from "the end" is a nice feeling though. I think I might start leveling my old warrior main after I'm done with my current. Maybe I'll try out some different zones I didn't get to on my current to mix it up a bit.
WAIP: October 26, 2009: Playstation 3 Acquired Edition (The First Experiences)
So I went through all the set-up procedures (pretty standard issue here) but it took me a few minutes to really learn the way the on screen keyboard works. The standard issue QWERTY keyboard works just fine and it is actually a bit quicker than the 360 on screen keyboard (good thing too considering their version of the 360 chat pad is said to be not that great). What I cannot figure out is why some of the time they have this cell phone like keyboard that forces you to type in some T9-like formula that really does not make sense in the realm of the console but in the grand scheme of everything this is a low priority issue.
The real annoying issues came out of having to update the console. Before I could sign into the Playstation Network I had to update the console to 3.02 and folks, people are not kidding when they say that the console takes forever to update. I would measure the time in time it takes to make a sandwich (slowly) and then eat that sandwich (slowly). It was painstaking considering all that I wanted to do was play my new console.
After that I signed into PSN and began to browse their very pretty and well organized store front. The first thing that I noticed, other than the aesthetics, was the lack of content compared to the Xbox Live Marketplace (not really disconcerting but an easy observation to make). So I queued up the demos of inFamous and MLB: The Show 09 and went on my merry way (meaning I left the Playstation Store).
I then popped in LittleBigPlanet (which needed an update that was long enough but not nearly as long as the system update) and proceeded to be melted by that games charm and attention to detail. I managed to accidentally get myself online in one of the levels I was playing and while it was more funny than anything that one experience was a smidgen laggy and I immediately noticed that lack of people talking (which I think that this game benefits from when it is there).
I later installed the demos for inFamous and The Show. Yes you heard correctly, you have to install your demos and I think this might go the same for PSN titles but do not hold me to that seeing as I have not purchased one yet. It does not make sense to me and it is just one thing getting in your way of playing your games sooner.
That is all for my initial thoughts on the Playstation 3 and though it may sound like I do not like the thing, that is not the case. I quite enjoy the Playstation experience I had so far and I am looking forward to playing Uncharted 1 this coming week. I thought I would not like the controller at all but I really do not mind it. I still prefer the 360 controller but I can (and still need too) get used to the Playstation controller (I need to stop pressing the 'SQUARE' button instead of the 'X' button when it says to press the 'X' button. I need to train myself on the PS controller).
But for now I PS3'ed out and I just want to play some Borderlands on my 360 (mental hug).
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Quick Borderlands Preview
Yesterday I picked up the game I've been more excited for then any this year, Borderlands. I first got wind of the game when PC Gamer had it featured on the cover of one of their issues. I hadn't heard anything about this game up until the point, but what I read got me excited. An FPS/RPG hyrbid? That sounds like a match made in heaven, especially for me. Two of my favorite gaming genres in one? I was sold.
As soon as I got home I got an hour or so to play the game and got a little bit more time after a haircut I had later that night. Thus far, I'm in the middle of level 6. I'm not too far into the game, but I'm loving it already. I opening credits alone made me fall in love.
It plays like a movie. I'm typically one to press start, B, X, whatever as many times as possibly to get through any sort of cut scene or cinematic because I just want to play, but this...I just sat and watched, enjoyed and got even more excited to play. Once I got into playing, the art style and music alone makes me love the game. Some of the music and the general atmosphere and setting of the game reminds me a bit of Firefly and I loved the music from Firefly.
The game play thus far is great. I'm still adjusting to playing an FPS on a gamepad and part of me wishes I would have purchased this for PC, but that would have meant I wouldn't be able to play co-op with friends. I decided when I started to play through the SP a bit just to get a hang of it. Six levels in and I've already found a few green and blue items (hello, WoW!). I haven't even tried co-op at this point, so I don't really have anything to report on in that end. I hope to get a decent play through on SP as well as get some co-op experience and then write out a full review.
I'm barely into the game and I can already tell that this just might be my game of the year.
As soon as I got home I got an hour or so to play the game and got a little bit more time after a haircut I had later that night. Thus far, I'm in the middle of level 6. I'm not too far into the game, but I'm loving it already. I opening credits alone made me fall in love.
It plays like a movie. I'm typically one to press start, B, X, whatever as many times as possibly to get through any sort of cut scene or cinematic because I just want to play, but this...I just sat and watched, enjoyed and got even more excited to play. Once I got into playing, the art style and music alone makes me love the game. Some of the music and the general atmosphere and setting of the game reminds me a bit of Firefly and I loved the music from Firefly.
The game play thus far is great. I'm still adjusting to playing an FPS on a gamepad and part of me wishes I would have purchased this for PC, but that would have meant I wouldn't be able to play co-op with friends. I decided when I started to play through the SP a bit just to get a hang of it. Six levels in and I've already found a few green and blue items (hello, WoW!). I haven't even tried co-op at this point, so I don't really have anything to report on in that end. I hope to get a decent play through on SP as well as get some co-op experience and then write out a full review.
I'm barely into the game and I can already tell that this just might be my game of the year.
Monday, October 19, 2009
WAIP: October 19, 2009 - So Metal Edition
This past week was not exactly full of game playing but the stuff that I got in was quality gaming time. I finally popped the Tour of Duty II achievement in Battlefield 1943 and as a result I had really become quite good at the game. I had all but 8 of the 48 awards that you can get in the game so I really feel quite accomplished. I may play the game again closer to the BF: Bad Company 2 release but for now I feel like I can move on.
I was able to pick up Brütal Legend on Friday so I have been dipping my toes into the warm feeling of metal and rock and it feels great. The story, characters, gameplay, and humor are all amazing and I am having a lot of fun. I am determined to beat it throughout the week but that may or may not happen based on my work schedule.
I want to beat the game so that I can play Borderlands co-op with all of my friends. I am basically on board with this game because everyone around me wants to play it. I still have not really looked into the game and I am looking forward to being taken aback by Gearbox's most recent work.
I was able to pick up Brütal Legend on Friday so I have been dipping my toes into the warm feeling of metal and rock and it feels great. The story, characters, gameplay, and humor are all amazing and I am having a lot of fun. I am determined to beat it throughout the week but that may or may not happen based on my work schedule.
I want to beat the game so that I can play Borderlands co-op with all of my friends. I am basically on board with this game because everyone around me wants to play it. I still have not really looked into the game and I am looking forward to being taken aback by Gearbox's most recent work.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
PC Gaming Diary #4 - No PC Gaming This Weekend!
Ahhhh, three day weekends are so glorious. This weekend I took a bit of a break from the PC gaming world since I had friends in town (one of which was Nate). Instead, lots of time was spent playing Mario Kart on the Wii and Left 4 Dead on the 360. My roommate owns a Wii (which she never plays) and my friend Whitney was nice enough to bring her copy of Mario Kart as well as two extra controllers for the weekend and Nate was nice enough to bring his Xbox and Left 4 Dead with him. Lots and lots and lots of time was put into Mario Kart, mostly Nate and Martin playing solo and unlocking various levels we could play in multiplayer. After the weekend, I concluded that it might be fun to buy Mario Kart for my roommate's Wii even though if she moves, I won't have the console anymore. But it was really enjoyable and definitely a game worth having for any Wii owners if they have people over. I really do enjoy the Wii and the games that come with it. The only downside is that most of the time they are really only enjoyable games if you have a decent number of people over, which I don't typically have. I think if I ever came across $250+ and wanted to waste it on something, it would be a Wii, but I don't really know if it's worth saving up for or spending money I could spend on something else knowing I wouldn't be playing it all that often.
We also got in a few rounds of Left 4 Dead. I actually own the game for PC, but have never ventured into multiplayer on the PC because I have this inherent fear of playing against/with people I don't know. I recognize (and witnessed this weekend) that a lot of online gamers are epic douchebags, so I try and avoid that at all costs. It's hard being a PC gamer these days because we are somewhat of an endangered species...well, maybe not quite that extent, but most mainstream gamers prefer consoles and you're hard pressed to find too many people to multiplayer game with on the PC and unfortunately I know none (except for people that play WoW) so the biggest draw to a console for me is the multiplayer aspect and being able to play games with friends (especially since so many of mine do not live very close). So, with that being said...I am making the jump to becoming a console gamer. Okay, maybe I'm not entirely making the jump considering my PC will always be my gaming "console" of choice, but I will be purchasing a Xbox 360 today at lunch. I was lucky enough to find a month old pro system on Craig's List for $160 and I swooped that deal up. Hopefully the deal doesn't go sour and I get scammed in the process as it will most likely sway from making a 360 purchase on CL ever again. So hopefully in the future you will see more then just "PC Gaming" entries from me.
One last note, I have been planning a couple entries for the Bioshock 2 multiplayer as well as Borderlands, but I haven't gotten around to it. I'm going to make it a priority this week to post those entries as I feel as both of them are not getting enough attention as they deserve.
We also got in a few rounds of Left 4 Dead. I actually own the game for PC, but have never ventured into multiplayer on the PC because I have this inherent fear of playing against/with people I don't know. I recognize (and witnessed this weekend) that a lot of online gamers are epic douchebags, so I try and avoid that at all costs. It's hard being a PC gamer these days because we are somewhat of an endangered species...well, maybe not quite that extent, but most mainstream gamers prefer consoles and you're hard pressed to find too many people to multiplayer game with on the PC and unfortunately I know none (except for people that play WoW) so the biggest draw to a console for me is the multiplayer aspect and being able to play games with friends (especially since so many of mine do not live very close). So, with that being said...I am making the jump to becoming a console gamer. Okay, maybe I'm not entirely making the jump considering my PC will always be my gaming "console" of choice, but I will be purchasing a Xbox 360 today at lunch. I was lucky enough to find a month old pro system on Craig's List for $160 and I swooped that deal up. Hopefully the deal doesn't go sour and I get scammed in the process as it will most likely sway from making a 360 purchase on CL ever again. So hopefully in the future you will see more then just "PC Gaming" entries from me.
One last note, I have been planning a couple entries for the Bioshock 2 multiplayer as well as Borderlands, but I haven't gotten around to it. I'm going to make it a priority this week to post those entries as I feel as both of them are not getting enough attention as they deserve.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Monday MUpdate: Uncaged Edition
In case the title is not indication enough, my game for this week is the X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie tie-in game. On May 1st, the game came out and a demo for it popped up on XBOX Live!, just in time for the release of the movie. I, being the comic book reading nerd that I am, downloaded it as soon as I could and sat down to play it with little to no expectations. We've had Wolverine games before (such as X2: Wolverine's Revenge), and they have never been much of anything to write home about. Right off the bat, however, Wolverine sets out to prove that it is nothing like the games of the past.
The game opens with an absolutely brutal cutscene in which Hughverine fights off several attackers with absolutely no detail spared. An initial fear of mine is that Wolverine's naturally blood lust would be toned down so that a younger demographic could find the game accessible, but as soon as Wolverine had a whole blown through him and I watched the wound heal, full view of his organs and all, I got excited. As the actual gameplay started, it thankfully turned out that it wasn't just the cutscene that had all the cool brutal features of being the best at what he does. You can pick people up and impale them on a stick or pipe jutting out of the wall. You can pounce on someone and punch their face in to a bloody pulp. You can do to these people stuff you've only dreamed of seeing in a Marvel MAX series. It's a great feeling.
So to say that I recommend the Wolverine game to Wolverine and gamer fans alike is to put it lightly. This is not the deep and moving storyline you've been craving. This is the bad ass kill 'em all game you've been looking for that isn't called God Of War. It's loads of fun and definitely worth at the very least a rental so you can run around slicing and dicing. At it's very basics, it's just a fun and gorey action game.
Aside from the Wolverine game, I'd recommend the Wolverine movie itself, and you can read my review for that in another blog I write for, Multiversity Comics. I've also been plugging away at Chrono Trigger still, but to a much lesser extent now that I have Wolverine. I do have a lot more free time now that most TV shows are over for this season, though, so I guess when I'm not filling that free time with TV show catch ups and movies, I can play more. I'd really like to give Final Fantasy IV a shot, and I just heard news about a steampunk DS game called Nostalgia that's coming out. There's also a game called Borderlands that Kara told me about, it looks to be the next post-apocalyptic/Final Fantasy epic. It'll never replace the Fallout series in my heart, but I am definitely looking forward to this game, especially with all the new screenshots that they have debuted.
That's it from my front.
The game opens with an absolutely brutal cutscene in which Hughverine fights off several attackers with absolutely no detail spared. An initial fear of mine is that Wolverine's naturally blood lust would be toned down so that a younger demographic could find the game accessible, but as soon as Wolverine had a whole blown through him and I watched the wound heal, full view of his organs and all, I got excited. As the actual gameplay started, it thankfully turned out that it wasn't just the cutscene that had all the cool brutal features of being the best at what he does. You can pick people up and impale them on a stick or pipe jutting out of the wall. You can pounce on someone and punch their face in to a bloody pulp. You can do to these people stuff you've only dreamed of seeing in a Marvel MAX series. It's a great feeling.
So to say that I recommend the Wolverine game to Wolverine and gamer fans alike is to put it lightly. This is not the deep and moving storyline you've been craving. This is the bad ass kill 'em all game you've been looking for that isn't called God Of War. It's loads of fun and definitely worth at the very least a rental so you can run around slicing and dicing. At it's very basics, it's just a fun and gorey action game.
Aside from the Wolverine game, I'd recommend the Wolverine movie itself, and you can read my review for that in another blog I write for, Multiversity Comics. I've also been plugging away at Chrono Trigger still, but to a much lesser extent now that I have Wolverine. I do have a lot more free time now that most TV shows are over for this season, though, so I guess when I'm not filling that free time with TV show catch ups and movies, I can play more. I'd really like to give Final Fantasy IV a shot, and I just heard news about a steampunk DS game called Nostalgia that's coming out. There's also a game called Borderlands that Kara told me about, it looks to be the next post-apocalyptic/Final Fantasy epic. It'll never replace the Fallout series in my heart, but I am definitely looking forward to this game, especially with all the new screenshots that they have debuted.
That's it from my front.
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