Sunday, August 28, 2011

Having A Ball

I've been lucky today in that I've gotten to spend a good amount of time gaming. Just today I've gotten in some time with TF2, Titan Quest, and Section 8, and I'll probably sit down with Deus Ex later on, too!

Today is kind of emblematic of what and how I've been playing over the last couple of weeks. I've been popping in and out of several shooters--mostly TF2--but also Red Orchestra, and I even re-installed Borderlands the other day because all the DLC was 75% off on Steam again and I finally bit this time. I still have my character from when I finished the game, and I'm keeping him around, but I thought I'd try another class too, so I started playing as the Siren. I may try to play a little more of this later tonight, too.

Mostly I've been focusing on playing Deus Ex, though, and it's been a revelation. It's an excellent game, as its reputation would have you believe. I said this on Call Of Podcast, but had I played this back in the day, it really would have been another Metal Gear Solid moment, I think. It doesn't have a hell of a lot in common with that game, but it is similarly in a class all its own, head and shoulders above everything else in the genre (of the day). There is a brilliant flair for game design on display in both games, and like MGS, Deus Ex holds up remarkably well even all these years later. Deus Ex is $10 on Steam, and will run on probably anything capable of displaying this blog (and running Windows). If you haven't played it, consider this post yet another recommendation to do so.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Here's The Problem

As of right now, I have 2 game completions banked, meaning I can buy one new release this fall, unless I finish 2 more games pretty quickly. I can't speak to the likelihood of that, so for now I'm looking at choosing one of the following upon launch:

Deus Ex
Space Marine
Skyrim
Battlefield 3
Assassin's Creed Revelations

Diablo III is a wildcard for the list, too. So, I need to make a tough choice here, and get busy finishing some games!

Friday, August 5, 2011

Few And Far Between

That is how my gaming sessions feel these days. Even with with great expanses of time between these entries, I don't have a lot to write about having played.

I made some progress through Bioshock 2 a couple of weeks back. It's a pretty good game, like the first. It lacks the punch of the first, though, and so ended up being kind of maligned and overlooked upon its release. It's very much the sequel that no one asked for. I remember 2K making noises like they would be able to mine Bioshock well past 5 games; I'm not so sure that's the case, anymore. Perhaps they will, if they count Infinite and the series re-invention it looks to be.

I also played a short bit of Fallout 2, which is nominally the RPG I'm playing right now. I need to get back and finish this one up so that I can finally start Fallout 3 sometime in the next 12 months (maybe). I actually also have been playing a little bit of Dragon Quest IX, which I picked up out of boredom and curiosity. It's a Dragon Quest game, which is pretty much 'nuff said. I enjoyed those two and a half hours or so, so maybe I'll pick it up again soon. We'll see.

The game I've played the most of over the last couple of weeks is a multiplayer shooter called Section 8: Prejudice. I'm playing the PC version, though it is available on the PS3 and 360. I wouldn't advise playing those versions, though; there's barely anyone playing on PC--I shudder to think how empty the game would be on the consoles. It's very good, though. It plays kind of like a cross between Battlefield and Halo, and it looks a hell of a lot like the later. Sure, it's kind of generic in a lot of ways, but I really like it. Its one unique aspect is how you drop from orbit into battle, meaning that you can choose just about anywhere on the battlefield to spawn into, as long as there are no AA guns to kill you on your way down. It looks like you can even land on guys to kill them, but I haven't been able to pull that off, myself. Check the game out, if you don't mind playing in games where about half the players are bots. I got it for $6 on Direct2Drive (again, I can't say I'd recommend the $15 console price, as I'd imagine it's pretty dead over there).

Last, and probably also least, Warhammer 40K: Kill Team. I picked this up on PSN last night because it was only $10 and I like 40K stuff, and I'm excited for Space Marine. It should have been a $5 game, I think. It's pretty mediocre. I don't dislike it, especially, but it's pretty mediocre. I got stuck at a hard part in the first mission, too, and couldn't power through it before I got tired and wanted to go to bed. This is parenthood, I suppose.