Because I spend way too much time placing importance on things utterly and compltely without it, I am a little bit alarmed that it is already September 2013, and I only have one half-hearted contender for my Game of the Year in mind. I'm not sure that that is even a reflection on the quality of the 2013 release slate; indeed several factors have come together to prevent me from digging into this year's crop of games. First, I have been, more than ever, playing games of yesteryear. Yesteryear always has the advantage, of course, by dint of the fact that it encompasses every year that is not the current one. Second, my game time has been pretty drastically reduced since taking a new job mid-July--and it was suffering anyway, due to being busy with a two-year-old. Finally, I seem to have found a voracious appetite for DLC in 2013. DLC modules for Fallout 3 and New Vegas, for Dishonored, and now for Mass Effect 2 have all been keeping me pretty busy. Even Bioshock Infinite will probably have some good stuff out this year--oh, and I have been meaning to play the GTA IV DLC, as well. Strange how these things happen, isn't it?
I mentioned Mass Effect 2 DLC--I finally broke down and picked up ME3 for $5 on Origin, and so I also figured it was time to bite the bullet and use the busted-ass POS Bioware site/DLC distribution system to download all of the ME2 stuff. I hadn't touched the game since it was released in 2010, continuing to hold out for some uber edition that would not require me to jump through EA's ridiculous hoops to finish preparations for Shepard's third outing. Alas, that never happened. EA's (lack of) support for this otherwise great game is extremely disappointing. I guess it is the nature of a stupid profit-hungry beast, though, to forget its past and always focus on the short-term. ME3 and it's DLC are available on Origin, incidentally.
Ranting done, I plowed through several ME2 DLC packs this past weekend--Kasumi, Firewalker, Overlord, and Lair of the Shadow Broker, leaving only the final piece, Arrival, left to finish off. They were all pretty fair quality, with Shadow Broker being the best, and Firewalker the least best. I would say its fair to consider them all as read in a complete playthrough of ME2, for future reference. Long time readers may recall Mass Effect 2 being my GOTY 2010. Maybe it's just DLC being DLC, but I can't help but feel that some of the shine has worn off in the intervening 3.5 years since I played it the first time. It is still a lot of good fun, though.
Otherwise, I have spent most of the last several weeks flitting from game to game with little attachment. I am sort of trying to clear a few things off my backlog, but mainly it has just been a case of not feeling like committing to any one thing. The closest I have come to doing so is playing several battles of Tactics Ogre all in a row. I may get back to that after finishing of ME2 for good.
Here is a short and briefly annotated list of things I've touched lately:
Tomb Raider - Still pretty fun, still not exactly hooked, but want to be.
The Binding of Isaac - The stuff of nightmares, really. Fun briefly.
Fate of the World - Nice idea, but too much data-diving. I do that at work.
Sir, You Are Being Hunted - Not sure it holds up for 30-ish fetch quests.
Halo 4 - Yup, it's Halo. Sold with 360.
Red Orchestra 2 - Played a bit, fun multiplayer times.
Civ V - Getting my Hun on. Still in progress.
Final Fantasy XIV beta - Surprisingly nice time for a couple of hours. Sub no thx.
AC3 Tyrrany of King Washington - Looney tunes. No real interest in finishing it.
Showing posts with label Red Orchestra. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Red Orchestra. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
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.
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.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Rolling Start 2011
It's been a good long while since I've had a chance to update my progress in a blog post. It's been really busy at work, and I tend to play games at home more than read or write about them. I've had a very eventful gaming time these past few weeks! I finished 3 whole games! Quickly:
Bayonetta - I pushed hard through the second half of this game to finish it off before the end of 2010, but I really enjoyed it. It's a must play for anyone who likes the action genre or Japanese gaming, or both! I'm not big on either, lately, but Bayonetta was a load of fun. This is probably one I would have played multiple times back when I was in school and had tons of time. The combat is fun, smooth, and has a lot of depth to it if you want that.
Halo: Reach - the first game I played for my Resolution feature, as voted on by Call Of Podcast listeners. It was good, but it doesn't stick out to me as much more than just another Halo game. It's surely the apex of Halo multiplayer, but that's not really why I play Halo, and indeed I am not even subscribed to XBL anymore. I thought the campaign was just kind of average, and definitely lacking in the wow factor that other missions in other series entries had. The action all being centered on one planet and not on crazy space installations with epic landscaping is to blame for that. I did appreciate the space flight and other vehicle sections new to the series, but those all together make up maybe 10% of the campaign. I kind of wonder about the future of this franchise...
Fallout - probably the most unorthodox RPG playthrough I've ever had. I kind of stumbled onto the endgame not really knowing that it was the endgame. The whole thing ended up being shorter than I had thought it would be, and by a good margin. The entire critical path of the game really only has two legs, though the second consists of two objectives. First you find a water chip (by hook or by crook), then you're tasked with destroying the leader of the super mutants, and separately destroying the source of the super mutants. This is really all the direction you're ever given in the game; the rest is up to you. You have to figure out how to use the resources present in the world, in the form of people you meet, the skills you gain, and the gear you're able to get your hands on, to accomplish your goals. I hunted around until I sniffed out a trail for the water chip, and I joined the Brotherhood of Steel to get my hands on some power armor and heavy weaponry for the latter objectives. There are other, equally valid ways of doing these things, all of which have an effect on the game's ending. My game had a kind of bitter ending for several factions, as I'd inadvertently allowed the super mutants lay waste to the ghoul town of Necropolis and scare away all the residents of The Hub, as well.
I finished Fallout, but hadn't had enough, so the next day I jumped right into Fallout 2! I'm just a few hours in, but so far so good. It's very similar to the first game, just with a few improvements having been made in the year between the two games' release dates. In Fallout 2 you play The Chosen One, a descendant of The Vault Dweller, the protagonist of the first game, and you are sent out into the world in search of a Garden of Eden Construction Kit, or GECK.
It was high time that I jump into Assassin's Creed II, as well, so jump I did. It's great so far! Ezio Auditore da Firenze is a much more likeable player character than Altair was in the first game, and the variety of mission objectives and other things to do in the game is a tremendous improvement upon AC1. I'll have more to talk about regarding this game at a later date.
That about wraps things up for now, aside from some light warfighting/manshooting I've been doing in Red Orchestra: Ostfront '41 -'45 and Battlefield 2, both excellent games, by the way. More on those later, too.
Bayonetta - I pushed hard through the second half of this game to finish it off before the end of 2010, but I really enjoyed it. It's a must play for anyone who likes the action genre or Japanese gaming, or both! I'm not big on either, lately, but Bayonetta was a load of fun. This is probably one I would have played multiple times back when I was in school and had tons of time. The combat is fun, smooth, and has a lot of depth to it if you want that.
Halo: Reach - the first game I played for my Resolution feature, as voted on by Call Of Podcast listeners. It was good, but it doesn't stick out to me as much more than just another Halo game. It's surely the apex of Halo multiplayer, but that's not really why I play Halo, and indeed I am not even subscribed to XBL anymore. I thought the campaign was just kind of average, and definitely lacking in the wow factor that other missions in other series entries had. The action all being centered on one planet and not on crazy space installations with epic landscaping is to blame for that. I did appreciate the space flight and other vehicle sections new to the series, but those all together make up maybe 10% of the campaign. I kind of wonder about the future of this franchise...
Fallout - probably the most unorthodox RPG playthrough I've ever had. I kind of stumbled onto the endgame not really knowing that it was the endgame. The whole thing ended up being shorter than I had thought it would be, and by a good margin. The entire critical path of the game really only has two legs, though the second consists of two objectives. First you find a water chip (by hook or by crook), then you're tasked with destroying the leader of the super mutants, and separately destroying the source of the super mutants. This is really all the direction you're ever given in the game; the rest is up to you. You have to figure out how to use the resources present in the world, in the form of people you meet, the skills you gain, and the gear you're able to get your hands on, to accomplish your goals. I hunted around until I sniffed out a trail for the water chip, and I joined the Brotherhood of Steel to get my hands on some power armor and heavy weaponry for the latter objectives. There are other, equally valid ways of doing these things, all of which have an effect on the game's ending. My game had a kind of bitter ending for several factions, as I'd inadvertently allowed the super mutants lay waste to the ghoul town of Necropolis and scare away all the residents of The Hub, as well.
I finished Fallout, but hadn't had enough, so the next day I jumped right into Fallout 2! I'm just a few hours in, but so far so good. It's very similar to the first game, just with a few improvements having been made in the year between the two games' release dates. In Fallout 2 you play The Chosen One, a descendant of The Vault Dweller, the protagonist of the first game, and you are sent out into the world in search of a Garden of Eden Construction Kit, or GECK.
It was high time that I jump into Assassin's Creed II, as well, so jump I did. It's great so far! Ezio Auditore da Firenze is a much more likeable player character than Altair was in the first game, and the variety of mission objectives and other things to do in the game is a tremendous improvement upon AC1. I'll have more to talk about regarding this game at a later date.
That about wraps things up for now, aside from some light warfighting/manshooting I've been doing in Red Orchestra: Ostfront '41 -'45 and Battlefield 2, both excellent games, by the way. More on those later, too.
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