To Fret, or Not To Fret

I didn’t mean to do it, I really didn’t. All I wanted to do was buy myself a blu-ray movie or two and dash home again.
You see, since about two weeks, I have finally entered modern times! Before, I was living in a cave and played my games using a combination of sticks, pebbles and manure. You know, the sticks were used for the graphics, while tossing the pebbles against the cave wall provided the sounds.
I only used manure for PS3 games. They had to look extra pretty, right?
But no more! Now, I am in possession of a 40 inch full HD 1080p beast of a telly, as well as a 5.1 surround sound system… thing. All very, very nice indeed, I can tell you! That is, I am very pleased with all of it. Of course there’s better stuff still, but compared to how it was before…

And so, what with me having a PlayStation 3 that can play blu-ray movies wot look and sound extra spiffy on a good set, I went out to get me some more of those. And get them, I did. Which ones again? Umm… Well, there was 2001: A Space Odyssey. I know this, because I watched that just last night. And then… Cop Out! Right, the latest Kevin Smith flick. Which I liked. And finally there was… Solomon Kane! Yay me, I remembered them all. Oh, and I liked Solomon Kane as well. I am a bit of a special effects whore, mind you. I like Batman and Robin too. Just saying…
As for 2001: A space Odyssey? I must have only seen the beginning and the middle part before, because I recognised that. The ending however? It was totally alien to me! (See what I did there?) Very deep and indeed confusing stuff though. I mean, there are so many ways in which you could explain the movie, I think! Most impressive.

As I always do when checking out movies, I also took a quick look at the games section of the store. You know, just to see if there’s anything new, anything I don’t know about. To keep up to date, as it were. I didn’t think there’d be anything worth getting anyway, but a quick look can’t hurt, right? You need to know what’s available, right? How else can you know about stuff you don’t want, right? Like every single Move game out there so far, for example.
As I was browsing, I noticed there was a new Guitar Hero game for PS3. Right, I sort of knew about that. Good to know though, for later. I mean, what with all the games I still need to play? Halo Reach, to name one? I’d get it, sure, just not today.
On I went, to browse some more, this time in the Xbox360 section. More games I might get, someday. And there it was again, the new Guitar Hero. This one was with a guitar only; I hadn’t noticed that in the PS3 section where I’d only seen the full band thing. You know, with a bass, drum kit and mic. Hmm… I could see the new guitar through the plastic of the box… That, um, looks good, I thought to myself. Still… nah, I shouldn’t. Would they have that guitar only version for PS3 as well though? I did only have one guitar for that, after all… It turns out they did. Of course they did. And where’s the harm in picking up the box for a moment, just to have a look at the set list. Impressive set list, I had to admit. Turn the box around, for another look at that guitar. Hmm, shiny bits on it… Nice body, too!

Sigh…
So yes! Yes, dammit, I now own Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock! Or indeed, GHWOR. And I must say, it’s actually pretty damned good! To my surprise, that is. I mean, I kind of, sort of knew what it was about, but I thought it would be just another Guitar Hero, you know? Officially, this is the sixth game already, not counting the band-specific spin offs. Of which there are what, four or five, I think. And of those, I only have the Aerosmith one. Which I still like a lot, if only for the set list and the fact that it’s Aerosmith. Apart form that, I remember it just being Guitar Hero 3 with Aerosmith stuff. Or indeed, a straight copy-paste cash-in, which is what Activision is well known for.
This time however, they actually improved upon the well worn formula! I mean, at its core, of course, it’s still Guitar Hero. You know, in the end, you’re still pushing the coloured buttons Simon Says-style, just like with the very first game.
But like I said, it really is better, this time around. Before, the main part of the game was always the Career mode, where you picked a character and played all songs, earning money and unlocking new stuff along the way. Now, this is known as the Quest mode. In which you um, play all songs, earning stars and unlocking new stuff along the way. Yes. But no! It really is different! Really! Let’s take this step by step then.

See, this time, there’s a story. As far as I understand it –which isn’t saying much, I know- there’s this rock god who gets er, smitten by some giant, mechanical golem-type, thing. Creature. Demon. Yeah. Maybe that will be explained later on in the game. Anyway, this is obviously a bad thing, so it falls on a number of rockers to set things straight again. These rockers being the people we all know from the previous games. You know, Lars Umlaut, Judy Nails, those people. And some new ones as well, by the way. You start off however, with Johnny Napalm. See, there’s a difference already: each set list is linked to a specific character and you’re forced to play as him or her. Which links in to the story: each character must transform into a better version of themselves, so they can help restore order to the world. Of rock. I think.
In that respect, I feel they’ve taken more than just one look at Brütal Legend, but never mind that.
To change and get better, of course, they need to play songs. Now, each song you play earns you stars, and these are then used to level up your character, with each one requiring different amounts, based on the difficulty of the set list. At least, that’s what I think it’s based on. It could be totally random as well, I don’t know. Anyway, once you’re transformed, you get to join the main band, and at the end all rockers play the grand finale together, combining all of their abilities. Abilities?
Ah yes, another new thing! Each character now has a special ability that helps them to increase their scores. For example, there’s one that gives you free Star Power every time you hit a certain number of notes. In all previous games, you only got Star Power for hitting all Star Notes. Which is still in this version, only now you have that special ability that adds even more Star Power, allowing you to use it more frequently. Another example would be the ability that gives you a higher score multiplier once Star Power is activated. Which, for those not in the know, is all SP does, really. It multiplies your score by 2 for a short time. Or indeed, by 3 or even 4, with the special ability.

So yeah, they spiced things up a lot! They being Neversoft, by the way. I said Activision before, but all they do is pay for everything, right? It’s not like they’re creative people or anything. The people at Neversoft are the ones who actually made the game and a fine job they did.
But still! While all of this is very well and nice, in the end, like I already said, you’re still doing the same thing as ever, right? Yes, you are, there’s no denying that. The whole package however, gives it a little extra. Specifically for me, I think, it’s the very light RPG element it has. You know, I’m playing, and I see that I only need 12 more stars to level up my character. I actually want to stop playing, because I’m tired or whatever, but I also know that if I just play two more songs, I’ll get those stars! Ding! And so I play on. And after that, a quick peek at the first song on the next list… Yeah, I’ll play that one as well then. And then you have those abilities… It just works, you know?
And why wouldn’t it? I mean, if you look at things at a really basic level, the same can be said for FPS games. Or racing games, an even better example. At its core, racing is racing and indeed, shooting is shooting. It’s the way in which it is done, in which it is presented that matters, and that can make all the difference. Of course, after all is said and done, gameplay is still king. However, imagine Burnout Paradise, with the core mechanics fully intact, only the actual cars are modelled like stone bricks and the roads are empty tracks in an empty space. No scenery whatsoever, just plain, textureless tracks. Would it still be as awesome as it is? I don’t think so, I really don’t.
What it comes down to for me I suppose, with GHWOR, is that instead of mindlessly working down the set list, I now feel like I have a purpose you know? And more than before, I can see that I’m making progress. When it comes to the stats, that is. As for actually getting better at the game, well… I guess I’m a little rusty. I need to get those fingers working again, make them nimble again. Because seriously, some of those songs… Ouch! I mean, really, ouch! As in they actually make my hand hurt, while I screw up whole sections. And that’s while playing on the medium difficulty, mind you. I really feel like I used to be better at this game. Well, as they say, practice makes perfect, right? Yeah, right. We’ll see. We’ll see whether I can switch to the hard difficulty again, in time. I’m not too sure about that though, as I feel this game is more difficult that the previous ones. And since my mind still short-circuits the moment that extra button needs to be used… It does, you know? On medium, you use four fret buttons, on hard you use all five. This means you need to move your hand. Unless I suppose, you have a really long and flexible pinky. Which I don’t. And as soon as I move my hand, something goes wrong in my head and I completely forget which button is which. Game over…
Is that a bad thing? Not at all! I just play the game on medium and I love doing it, which is all that matters. And if that makes me a sad noobish wanker, so be it. As long as I’m having fun! And trust me, I still am, every time. Even though I do sometimes miss my manure…
Oh well, stay safe, and game on!

The Dead Sloth

As probably anyone that plays games regularly knows, the big companies want us to get physical. Microsoft has Kinect and Sony has Move. To be brutally honest though, so far, I have no interest in either one of them. Yet. And, before I go on, I must also say that I've had no experience with either one of them. Yet. With Kinect in particular, this appears to be an important point. I've read lots of stories saying you have to actually play that to know what it's about and to be able to fully appreciate it for what it is. Which makes sense, I suppose. Still, uninformed and inexperienced as I am, I look at Kinect as a fancy version of the PlayStation's Eyetoy. I'm not biased though, because in the same line I see Sony's Move as a fancy version of Nintendo's Wii. To me, at this point, both systems suffer from a high level of 'Me-Too'. You know, both companies looked at the ginormous wads of cash Nintendo was and still is raking in, and they wanted a piece of the pie. And hey, who can blame them, eh? I certainly won't.

Now, a couple of days ago, it came to my attention that there will be another Steel Battalion, and it is to be a Kinect game. At this point in time, I think this is a very bad idea. And I'll even go one further, too! Obviously, with Kinect, Microsoft is aiming squarely at the casual gamer. At the same time though, they don't want to alienate the hardcore segment of their market. And so, they take popular franchises and shoehorn the Kinect-functionality in. Which is nothing new at all, since a lot of third-party developers have been doing exactly that with many of their Wii games. And I'm pretty sure the same thing will happen with Move. Get that moving about crap in there, whether its fitting or not. And still people wonder why the Wii isn't doing well with the hardcore gamers.

The first Steel Battalion was a bit of a special game, for one particular reason. And because of that very reason, I feel like there aren't too many people who know what kind of game it is, exactly. Which I will now explain, of course.
Simply put, SB was a mech game. The twist though, and at the same time its main selling point, was the huge-ass controller that came with it. And yes, I still have that lying around at my place. It was expensive as hell, (there's that particular reason right there) but one look at the whole setup sold me. I HAD to have it! The idea behind the whole thing of course, was to make you feel like you were actually piloting a mech, or indeed, a Vertical Tank, as I believe they were called. And guess what? It worked! The controller was your dashboard, and like a car, the very first thing you had to do was start your VT. No! Sorry, actually that was the second thing! First, you had to close the canopy! The mech couldn't be started, otherwise. Safety first, eh? And yes, there was a separate button for that.

Such a shame then, that the actual game was a bit of a disappointment in more ways than one. I remember that it wasn't too spectacular in the graphics department, for example. But that wasn't the main problem. The main problem was, and I'm sort of ashamed to admit it, but for me, it was too hard. And continuing from that, it was also very, very unforgiving. I guess they wanted to make it as realistic as possible or something, I don't know. You see, when you died, you were dead. No continues, no extra lives, no nothing. Too bad, you died, start over. And here's the kicker: you had to start over from the very beginning, because when you died, your savegame was deleted. Make it all the way to level nine and then die? Too bad, start over. Unless of course, you managed to hit the Eject Button right before your VT was about to explode! An eject button, with a plastic cover on it you had to flip back. So cool...
But what then, I was never quick enough? Quick enough, yes. Rich enough, no. Sure you ejected, and so you lived, but your VT got wasted, remember? Yeah, so go buy a new one, and continue your mission! That might have worked, but because the game was so hard and unforgiving, I never made it past level 2, which meant I had nowhere near enough cash to be able to afford a new VT. Such a shame indeed. Because despite all of this, I think, deep down, it was a good game, you know? Just too hard, for me. Oh well. The controller still rocks!

Anyway! Back to the issue at hand! Steel Battalion for Kinect. Well, actually, my point is simple: I don't see how moving your body around in thin air can make you feel like you're actually piloting a mech! Again, I haven't played any Kinect games yet; I'm basing this opinion (prejudice?) on what I think playing SB would be like with an Eyetoy. And I'm doing that, because I'm thinking, well, sure Kinect has this technology that apparently scans your whole body, and it knows exactly what your position is and everything, but really, how much different from an Eyetoy can it be? I mean, basically, the concept is the same, right? Play games by moving your body, arms and legs. A great concept, that works great with sports games, maybe even fighting games if done well. But Steel Battalion? Sorry, I just don't see that working. I mean, it'll probably work, sure, but it won't feel right, I think. And again, I'm not biased, I don't think it would feel right with Move either. Some games just need to be played with a controller. You know, just like RTS games are best played on the pc. Sure, they work on consoles, but they don't feel right.
I'm wondering though, suddenly. Would SB actually work? I mean, assuming it has an FPS kind of control scheme? Use your left hand for moving, your right for aiming... shoot by nodding your head? Or maybe use your foot for moving, applying the throttle, like in the original. Your right hand for aiming and your left for shooting? And shooting how, by constantly waving your shooting hand around? Hmm... I don't know, I just don't see it happening for me.

But! I don't want this entry to be all negative! Like I already said in the opening paragraph, I have no interest in either one of them yet. Indeed, yet! As in, that might change! Also, right now, I think I'll get Move first because of two games: Time Crisis and Dead Space 2. The first is obvious I'd say, the second maybe less so. Indeed, I do think I'll play the actual Dead Space 2 using my trusty controller. I don't know, maybe it won't even work with Move. However, I've read that it will come with a beefed up version of Dead Space Extraction as a bonus! You know, the one that came out on the Wii, and is supposedly pretty damn good? Better graphics, trophies... I'm there! Ooh, I'm such a trophy-slut as well as an achievement-whore! I mean, if Extraction is so good, why didn't I get it on my Wii? Why didn't I get Super Mario Galaxy 2 yet? Or Metroid Other M? Or Deadly Creatures? (Ooh, Deadly Creatures HD for Move?) Shame on me, I know. How dare I call myself a gamer, eh? I try to hide behind the excuse of all the games I still need to play and still am playing on my 360 and my PS3. But if I'm honest with myself, I know that won't fly; had any of these games been on either one of these systems, I probably would have finished them already.
So far though, I'm sort of sad to say, I haven't seen anything interesting for Kinect yet. Again, I'm not saying I'll never get it. Because I do consider myself a gamer and hey, if they come up with something that does interest me, sure, I'll buy it right away, no problem. It will have to be something pretty fucking good though! Because, um... well, in the end, I'm still a lazy bastard and about as physically fit as a dead sloth. Sitting on my couch waving my arms around is about as far as I'm willing and able to go, is all I'm saying. Of course I'm exaggerating a bit here, but if Kinect games really are as physical as they seem to me, I don't know, it just really might be too much for me. I mean, when I play a game, I don't just play for an hour or something. Five or six hours is more likely and really, standing up and jumping about for five hours? I don't think so. But, who knows, maybe I really am prejudiced, and maybe Kinect really is fun and different and new. At any rate, I'll definitely keep my eye on both systems.
I'm not bashing, merely being very critical.
And yes, as you might have guessed, that's where this entry ends! Until the next one, stay safe and game on!

For teh Haloez!

I have a confession to make. Yes, yes I do. You see, I haven't been completely honest with you. In my previous entry I said: "It's a challenge that I like, so yes, I might just try and go the distance on this one". Indeed... The thing is, I wrote that sentence knowing full well that I wasn't going to play any more Spider-Man any time soon because... well, can't you guess?
Halo: Reach! That's why! It was waiting in my bag, as I was writing!
Ah, but you see, the entry was written in two evenings. And on the first evening, I didn't know I was going to have Halo yet. At least, not this soon. Usually, I'm completely up to speed when it comes to the release dates of big games, but somehow, this wasn't the case with Reach. I hadn't even pre-ordered it or anything. But then, through Twitter, it came to my attention that it would be available the next day! So yeah, that next day I gave my local toystore a call, asking whether they still had a copy left. I was fully expecting the answer to be 'no', what with the immense popularity of this particular title. But no, they still had a few! Better yet, they still had a Limited Edition! So I bought that, went to work, and finished the blog I started the evening before. I decided to simply finish it as I would have, and have my next entry be about Reach. So there, now you know.

So! Halo Reach! Well, well, well... It's been a while, since the last real Halo game. Of course there was ODST, but guess what, I totally missed that. I mean, I knew it was around, but somehow I wasn't interested in it, at all. I'm not sure why actually. From what I read about it, it was a pretty decent game. And well, let's just forget about that RTS thing, shall we? I forgot what it's called, and I'm not going to Google it either. Not, interested, at all.
So yeah, the last one for me was Halo 3, and the last time I actually played that was, ooh, I don't know, two years ago? Something like that. And now there's Reach which, story-wise, is a prequel to the very first Halo. Effectively, this means, no Master Chief. Instead, your character is just a soldier working in a squad. No one special, at any rate. Having said that, you do wear the same type of armour making you look quite similar to the Master Chief. But you're not. Apparently. Honestly though, had I not known anything at all about Reach, I would have totally believed anyone saying that guy was the Master Chief. Which I suppose says it all, when it comes to my knowledge of the Halo universe. Or indeed, when it comes to the quality of this game! Or... no, not the quality. There's nothing wrong with that, so far. The originality then? Yes, I think that's where the problem lies. There's nothing wrong so far, but I feel they haven't changed all that much either.
But, I think I'm being too harsh here. Of course they changed stuff, and I'll get to that in a moment, but my first impression was simply: well, it's Halo, innit?

Again though, I must be honest; a first impression really is all I have, at this moment. I played the first two missions in the singleplayer campaign, and then I checked out the multiplayer for about three hours. I actually wanted to dive straight into the multiplayer, but... uhm, I was stupid. That is to say, I couldn't find it in the game's menu system. And then somehow, I reasoned that I maybe had to first play the singleplayer to unlock the multiplayer. Yeah... I don't know either. I'm weird like that, sometimes. As I discovered later, all I had to do was choose the Main Menu option, instead of the Singleplayer Campaign one. Yeah...
So anyway, besides the fact that I think the game is very similar to Halo 3, what are my first impressions? Well, first off, I like it, I really do. And then... hmm... Indeed, and then what? I'm thinking about what else I can say about it here. I mean, like I said, I only played the first two campaign missions, so I'm not sure what it's actually about yet.
All I really know is that this squad of soldiers are dropped on the planet Reach because something is wrong, and then they discover that the trouble is caused by the series' main baddies, the Covenant. Something they didn't expect to be the case, as I understand it. Which, I'll admit, isn't saying all that much.

Okay! The time is now half past eight in the morning, which means that my night shift is almost over. What it also means, is that I need to stop writing now. Furthermore, it means that I'll continue this entry tomorrow night. And finally, it means that since I will have played more Reach by then, I'll have more to say about it than I do now. And that is a good thing, I think...

It's tomorrow night! What? Yes. Time to see if I can complete this entry before my shift is once again over. It is already half past four in the morning, so...
So indeed! It seems I might have the same problem I had yesterday: what to write about a game like this? In the morning, I did play some more, but it was multiplayer only. And well, what can one say about that? You run around, and you shoot whatever weapon you're carrying at your opponents. Still, I think I can come up with a thing or two. Or three. Maybe even four.
One thing's for sure though: Halo is not Call of Duty! Well, obviously it isn't, but I think it's a valid point. Apart from the setting, you could argue that these two games are the same, as they basically share the same gameplay: run, shoot, kill. And yet, they are utterly, totally and completely different. It's the feel of it, you know? Halo is a lot more arcadey and a lot less tactical than CoD, for starters. I mean, I've played quite a bit of CoD, and I have never had a situation where I was standing face to face with my enemy, exchanging fire until one of us died. No cover or anything, just standing out in the open, blasting each other and basically hoping for the best. There are certain tactics involved, of course there are, but nothing too complicated. One tactic, or trick, is to use your gun to take out your opponent's shield, and then rush in for a melee kill. I've found that this actually works pretty well for me. And I guess that shield is one of the things that makes Halo so different from CoD; because of it, a headshot is not immediately lethal. Well, maybe with a sniper rifle it is, but with a regular assault rifle, definitely not.
Another noticeable difference is that there's much less opportunity for camping. Or at least, that's what it seems like to me. I haven't played too much yet, so maybe I just haven't discovered any good spots, I don't know. Still, I feel that the CoD maps have much more sneaky hiding spots in them. Of course this can be seen as a good thing, as camping is mostly frowned upon. On the other hand I say, what about the sniper rifles? I mean, when you're using one, wouldn't you like a good hiding spot to snipe from? As opposed to being completely exposed, hoping you're not going to get assraped from all directions? There are some game modes where all you get is a sniper rifle and most of the times I'm shooting it without zooming in, so go figure. Having said that, I must admit that I've never actually been any good at sniping anyway, but never mind that, for now.

Now, the reason why I'm maybe stating the obvious here, by comparing Halo to CoD, is that it really sort of hit me when I started playing. I was really like, wow, this game is so totally different from CoD! Like... like a splash of cold water to the face, is what it felt like. And so, I feel like you can't really say which game is better; they're just different. As such, I'm wondering about how many people like both games? I mean, I do, but seeing as they're so completely different, I can easily imagine there being two sides here, you know? Kind of like with The Rolling Stones and The Beatles; you either like one or the other, never both. Which is silly as well, but that's besides the point. I'm just saying that I think this might very well be the case here. And why not eh? Different people, different tastes, it's all good. If only this wouldn't lead to childish fanboyism, which it probably will. If I went back to CoD now and let the people I played with know I like Halo, I'm pretty sure some of them would freak out and call me a fag, at the very least.
Which, in some convoluted way, brings me to the last thing I want to say about Halo as far as this entry is concerned. People calling you a fag, or, sadly, the only way ninety percent of the gaming community that is Xbox Live seems to be able to communicate. Halo has a solution to this problem! You see, in the menus, there are some options that allow you to set your preferences when it comes to online gaming. One of these is about what kind of people you'd like to play with. Are you okay with all-out trash talking, or would you rather have an adult crowd, that actually wants to enjoy the game in a sporting way? And well, I must admit, so far this seems to be working. There's another option though, that I'm less positive about. It let's you choose between being silent or chatty. I chose the latter, and I'm amazed at how many games I get into where I'm the only one who actually has a headset. Oh well, I'll kill them, regardless.
Anyway! I do think I can safely say that I like Halo Reach. I was sort of worried that I had, I don't know, outgrown Halo or something. And yes, it does take some adjusting when you're used to playing CoD all the time, but in the end it's just a lot of fun. If only the matchmaking could work a bit faster than it does, but I'm sure that will be fixed through some patch. I hope it will be, anyways.
And with that, I'm calling it a day! I'll be sure to play more Reach when I get home in about two hours, I can tell you that much.
Until the next entry, stay safe and game on!

Spider-Man: Arkham Dimensions

I guess you could say that I am somewhat of a globetrotter. In real life, the farthest I've been is Marseille, France. In games however, I think I've been almost everywhere. I froze my butt off on Antarctica, I drove a car across the Great Wall of China, I've prowled the streets of Arnhem in my very own country and, of course, I had all kinds of adventures in Washington DC. And these are only a few examples, as you might have guessed. I mean, considering the amount of games I've played in my life?
So now what? More stories about the goings-on in post-apocalyptic DC? Maybe, maybe not. Because first, I'd like to talk about New York City for a bit.

You see, for two days now, I've been playing Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. You do get to visit other places in that game, but the majority of it plays out in NYC. I don't actually know what these other places are, now that I think about it. I mean, I'm assuming they're other places, unless I've missed a key plot element in the story that explains how the city has turned into some kind of forest. Indeed, the story... It's a bit, how should I put this? Simple? Yes, I think that accurately describes it.
Normally, this wouldn't bother me at all. I mean, a good story is nice, but in no way necessary, in my opinion. A game can even have a really bad story, and I wouldn't mind a bit if the actual gameplay is fun. I've read reviews of other games where the reviewer said the low quality of the story ruined the game. Again I say, as long as the actual gameplay is up to scratch, I don't give a shit. Just tell me who or what I need to shoot or destroy, and I'm happy. Take Earth Defense Force, for example! There are alien bugs trying to take over the world, so they need to be killed. Is there a deep story there, filled with intrigue and devious plot twists? No, there isn't, but who cares, right? Now, I'm not saying a good story can't make a game better, because it definitely can. Just look at Fallout 3; I couldn't have written so much about that if that game had EDF's story.

So why am I making this point here? Spider-Man's story is lame, but that shouldn't bother me then, right? Well, it doesn't, but at the same time it does because, well, this is Spider-Man we're talking about here! Aren't Spider-Man stories supposed to be entertaining, gripping, spectacular and what have you? As opposed to: There are a number of fragments of some kind of mystical tablet that have gotten into the hands of an equal number of super-villains which is bad so go get them back. Which, as far as I understand it, really is all there is to this game's story. Gameplay-wise it works, because it's as good an excuse as any to go beat up, for example, Sandman, but it doesn't make for an edge-of-your-seat-I-have-to-know-what-happens-next kind of tale, you know? Again though, do I really mind? Am I enjoying the game less because of this? No, I'm not. But I still wish the people behind this game had put a little more effort into it all. You know, like Batman Arkham Asylum, for example! In all honesty, I must admit that I don't remember too much about that game's story, but I do believe it was good. Or, at the very least, better than Spider-Man's.

So yeah, the story sucks and so, any enjoyment there is to be had has to come from the gameplay. Which, although good, is not without its faults either, I'm sorry to say. The biggest problem I suppose, is that it's kind of buggy. Like last night, when I came across a potentially game-breaking bug! I say potentially, because returning to the main menu and reloading solved the problem. Still, it's bad enough that something like this happens these days.
So what happened then? Well, I was in this corridor with a closed door at the end that I needed to go through. This was in the Scorpion level, which had lots of eggs laying around. Green, Alien-like eggs that explode in a splash of burning acid when thrown. Which is exactly how I was supposed to open that door: melt it down with the acid from the eggs. I knew this, because I had done it before. Yeah, I'm a quick learner, sometimes...
In this case however, there were no eggs near the door! There were eggs further down the corridor though, just around a bend. And so, I tried to use those. I grabbed them with my web, quickly turned around and hurled them in the direction of the door. It didn't work. I tried and tried, and I know for certain that at least one of the eggs hit the door dead-on. Which didn't do anything. And the corridor I was in was actually pretty short, so there wasn't really any exploring or experimenting to be done. The corridor, the eggs, the door; these were the only elements of this puzzle available to me. In the end, I think I spent about thirty minutes exploring this corridor, hurling eggs, climbing the ceiling, trying everything I could think of. Nothing worked. Frustrated, I looked for a walkthrough on the internet and fortunately there was one already, in video form! Very nice, and useful as well.
There was the corridor, check. Fight a few dudes at the end of it, near the door, check. Have the acid eggs appear all around the door, ready to be grabbed and thrown, ch- Wait, what? Eggs around the door? Not in my game there weren't! What the hell? But, like I already said, all I had to do was exit to the main menu and reload the level. It started in the corridor right away, so that was good. And indeed, at the end, the eggs appeared like they were supposed to and all was well again.

Ah, but there are more things that aren't quite as they should be. I mean, this is the only real bug I came across so far, but there are also little things the makers of the game simply could have done better or, indeed, not at all. Like the first-person fighting you need to do in every boss fight. A nice idea, and it sort of works, but... I don't know, it feels kind of odd and out of place. And well, I suppose I could go on listing all the things that are bad about this game. Yes, there is more. I won't though, except for one more thing. One more big thing, actually. You know, this is a Spider-Man game. And what is it that Spider-Man is known best for? Exactly: the web-swinging. And it is exactly this part that I don't really like. That's not to say that it doesn't work, because it does. The problem is that it just doesn't feel as good as it did in the previous Spider-Man games, in my opinion. And I'm talking about the free roaming ones, by the way. You know, where you had the entire city of New York as your playground that you could swing around in. I loved those games, I really did.
Shattered Dimensions is completely different, when it comes to that. It's a linear game, with separate levels. Some of these have open spaces in them that do give you the chance to go your own way for a bit, but in the end there's always only one way to go.
Oh, and the worst part? Something that has no effect on the gameplay at all, but is still really, really bad? When swinging, Spider-Man shoots his webs straight up into the sky, presumably latching on to invisible clouds, or something. Something Treyarch fixed about three games ago. Oh well...

But then, there is one thing that has really managed to hook me. One thing that makes me go: just one more level. Each level has a number of challenges to complete. Basically, these are like mini-achievements. Or trophies, since I'm playing the PS3 version. For example, in one level I had to disarm 10 guys by pulling their guns out of their hands using my web. Another example would be that you need to kill a number of baddies in a certain time limit. You know, stuff like that. And... yeah, that really taps in to my anally retentive OCD nature in games. Items to find and collect, mini-missions to complete, more and more moves to be unlocked... All the good stuff, really. And it ties in directly to the upgrade system as well. The combat moves are divided into several sections, with a certain number of challenges needed to unlock each one. Which I think is really clever, actually. Yeah, maybe other games have done the same thing, but it works, right? It does with me, at any rate. Oh, and one more thing about these challenges! They actually change the way you play a level! Like the Noir levels, for example. Yeah, Spider-Man Noir. Like in Film Noir. And like... Hello, can you say Batman Arkham Asylum?? Seriously, why Eidos haven't sued the balls off of Activison for this...
Hide in the shadows, perch on a rooftop right above an enemy, pull him up using your web, cocoon him and hang him upside down. Oh, and be able to spot the enemies easier by using your spider-sense. Really? I mean, really Activision? Or rather, Beenox, the company that actually made the game. Still, it works, and it's still fun to do. So whatever, I guess.
Anyway, the challenges! Without them, I might just try to use the same tactic every time. You know, hide, perch, pull, cocoon and hang? Right. One challenge however, involves taking down six enemies in six different ways. Or indeed, you might be asked to perform ten takedowns in a row without raising the alarm. Which happens when you get seen, obviously. So again, like I said, these challenges can change the way you play a level, and I really like that, a lot.
So anyway, concluding, I guess you could say there's plenty of stuff wrong with this game. At the same time though, I'm still enjoying myself to bits, every time I play. And I only have two levels left to go before I finish it, too! After which I can go replay some levels to unlock the challenges I missed. I can also go on until I've unlocked all the combat moves, which would be trophy-worthy. And maybe I will, maybe I will. It's a challenge that I like, so yes, I might just try and go the distance on this one.
And with that in mind, I'm ending this entry. Meanwhile, stay safe, and game on!

Fallout, Again!

Okay then! Time to write another blog. I must warn you though: I'll be winging it more than usual, this time. Fallout 3 might be the obvious choice here, since that's pretty much all I've been doing, recently. But then, what can I say about that? I mean, what can I say that I haven't said already? Well, I'm sure I can think of a few things, if I really dig down deep into that hazy brain of mine. That's the one thing I sometimes hate about my flaky memory: I sometimes forget things I don't want to forget. You know, things I've seen and done in games? I mean, it's a shame, isn't it? You experience all these wonderful things, and then a few days later, it's all gone! What was the use of having that experience in the first place then, eh? Maybe the experience in itself is enough. That moment was good, and that's all that matters.
Still, with Fallout 3, I do remember a thing or two, so let's get cracking.

Let me first say however, that I am actually quite close to finishing Fallout 3! There are only something like four or five quests left to do. There is one thing going on now though, that I find pretty annoying. Especially since a bug sort of made it happen. You see, for a while now, I have reached the level cap of 20! So everything I do now is useless, in a way. Of course it isn't really, but it does feel like that, sometimes. Like yesterday, I picked a really hard lock and the room behind the door held some pretty tasty loot. And yet, it kind of felt like a hollow victory, you know? I would have received a lot of experience points, I think! And well, since for me, leveling really is part of the fun I get from playing a game like this...
There is of course, a solution to this problem: get the DLC! If I understand correctly, this will raise the level cap by 10 levels, so... The only thing I still need to figure out about that is how to get it, however. There are two possibilities: either I simply download it from Xbox Live, or I buy the discs which are also available. The second option would be easiest, but has a possible problem: can I use my save with that? Yeah, I should find out about that.

About that bug though! What happened is I reached level 19, but I didn't actually notice it happening. Then, I went through a door that required the game to load. Once that was done, the upgrade screen popped up. You know, where you get to spend your points and everything? That one. For some reason, when I was done, I went through the same door again. I didn't actually want to, but I did anyway. Must've pressed the wrong button or something, I don't know. So yes, for the third time, I went through the door. And then, that upgrade screen popped up again! Oh well, probably some glitch I thought, and I proceeded to spend my points. Shortly after, I noticed I had suddenly reached level 20. Hmm...
It may actually have been a bit longer than shortly after, because when I did notice my sudden leap, I decided I had done too much for me to consider loading a game where I was still level 19. Playing the game now, I sort of regret that.
But, like I said, I can remedy this situation by getting the DLC. Still, I wonder how that would work, if I got the retail version. Of course I'm assuming I'd still be level 20, but I'm worried about something else. Do I still get the entire world to play in, or will it be restricted to the dlc levels? And if that's how it works, could I go back to the original game and still have a higher level cap? Questions, questions...

At this point, you might be wondering what the hell I'm moaning about; why don't I simply download the dlc, taking away all my worries? Well, because at the moment, I can't. I still have this little issue with my account that prevents me from doing so. Nothing serious, mind you! I mean, it's not like I got banned or whatever. I don't live in Fort Gay, after all.
No, the problem is because of something silly, actually. When I created my first Xbox Live account, I made it American. And to cut a long story short for a change, what this comes down to is that I can't use European scratchcards to get Microsoft points. So why don't you just create another account that is European? I did, and that worked fine, until recently. For some unknown reason, I can no longer add points to that account either. All very complicated stuff, that I don't understand much about, if anything. There is one other option left though, which involves the help of a friend. All I need to do really, is ask said friend at the right moment. Which I keep forgetting to do. Yeah...
(Mental note: do so tonight!)

Anyway, like I said, I'm pretty close to finishing Fallout 3. I actually picked up two more quests besides the main story yesterday, meaning I'm not quite done yet. One involves getting some old lady a Stradivarius violin, and I've sort of forgotten about the other one. Obviously.
For the main story, I need to get into another Vault, which is guarded by some kids. That I could have killed, but didn't, of course. It actually took a fair bit of questing and scheming to get the kids to let me in, by the way! But now I've done everything I had to, so I could go over to the Little Lamplight Caverns and enter that Vault. Yeah, I could do that, but I won't, of course. First I'm going to get that violin and... that other, thing. Yeah.

Things have certainly gotten easier though! You see, I finally managed to get my Power Armor Training, which allows me to, suprisingly, wear Power Armor! The thing is, I had a really nice set for ages already. The result of some fine exploring, that was. See, there was this quest where I had to get some keys for a ghoul. The mission was to kill the current holders, and bring the keys back to the ghoul. Of course, I didn't kill them. Instead, I talked and talked, until they voluntarily gave me what I wanted. I'm a good guy, after all.
Anyway, I went back to the ghoul, gave him the keys and, well, that was that, basically. The quest was done, and I received my experience as well as the achievement. The ghoul got up, thanked me again, and left the room.
Hmm, I thought to myself at that point. Hmm... Where is that guy going? What is he going to do with his keys? And so, I decided to follow him. And follow him I did... All over the bloody map! Seriously, I don't know, maybe he was trying to trick me or something, but he really walked for miles and miles. And not in a straight line, either! Along the way there were fights of course, so it really took quite a bit of time. But, it was time well spent, obviously. In the end, way up north, we arrived at a small group of buildings, where the guy suddenly turned on me! For the entire trip, he didn't mind me following him, and now he opened fire on me. Well, actually, Charon did. That's my ghoul slave. Have I told you about him already? Maybe I have, maybe I haven't. Suffice it to say that he's like a party member and helps me kill what needs to be made dead. Very useful guy. Much more so, in fact, than the dog I used to have. Stupid dog. Like the dog though, he too starts growling whenever enemies are near. He is a ghoul, after all.
Anyway, the key-ghoul was dead pretty soon after that, and... yes, he still had all three keys on him. A quick search of the immediate surroundings later, and I had found the building he had wanted to go into. A not-so-quick and very thorough search of the building finally made me end up in its basement. And yes, there, I found some very, very nice Power Armor, worth 50 points in damage resistance! I tried to equip it right away, only to, yes, discover I needed some training first. With no clue whatsoever as to how or where I was going to get that, I resorted to Googling it. And so I found out that I had to get into the Citadel, which is what the Brotherhood of Steel had called the ruins of the Pentagon. I then found out I would get there soon enough, since it was part of the main questline.
And so I am now wearing that fine armor, which actually isn't all that fine anymore. I am now down to about 39 points in damage resistance, I'm sorry to say. But, that's still more than any other piece of armor I have, so I'm not complaining. Not really, anyway. I am afraid that I'll have to go back to something less powerful sooner than I'd like. Apparently, this Power Armor is of a specific type that can't be repaired. Not unless I find another, identical set, anyways. Oh well.

Ha! And then, suddenly, we have a blog! There I was, worrying about not knowing what to write about. Worrying that I might not get too much done. I should have known better. I should know myself better, and simply trust in my ability to ramble. Just start writing and let one thing lead to another, as it invariably does. And I could go on, as well! See, I'm thinking about Earth Defense Force 2017 right now, for some reason. Does that game have anything to do with Fallout 3? No, nothing at all. In fact, I think it's safe to say that these games have nothing in common, at all. Well, except maybe for the fact that you can shoot guns in both games. And that there's bugs in them, as well. Bugs as in insects, that is. Actually, it's not that strange at all, that I'm thinking about this game. You see, there's a sequel coming! And yes, that is very good news indeed. Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon, is what it'll be called.
So now, I should really talk about what EDF is, I suppose. On the other hand, I feel like this blog has gone on for long enough now, and there's actually a few other things I need to do. Fortunately, I can tell you almost exactly what EDF is in one, maybe two sentences. Here goes. Tokyo (I think) is being overrun by giant insects from space, and you're an EDF soldier that gets to kill them all. With lots and lots of different guns.
And that's it! No, really, basically, that's it. Really simple: shoot bugs. Lots and lots of bugs. Oh, if only all games were that simple, eh?
Who knows, maybe next blog will be all about ants and spiders. For now though, I have to go. So, as always, stay safe and game on!

One-Man Scouting Party, Part 2

Once again, not planning ahead when writing a blog bit me in the ass. One-Man Scouting Party was the title of yesterday's post. Why? I know why, but does someone who's not me as well? You could read it over and over again, but you probably wouldn't find anything in there explaining it, at all. Well, it's a good thing then, that I have decided to lift the Shroud of Confusion in today's riveting entry. At least, that's the idea. You never know, I might just veer off course completely again. We'll just have to see what happens, eh?

I'll be smart about it though, and take care of my little oversight first! One-Man Scouting Party is actually an achievement for Fallout 3 that you unlock when you've discovered 100 locations on the map. That's right, 100 locations, and, like I said yesterday, almost every one has one or more available quests. And there are even more out there! Locations, that is.
Actually, if I check my ingame stats now, it would say I've only discovered 98 locations. Yeah, I died right after finding number 100. Still, the achievement was already in the bag, so whatever, right? Wrong! Obviously I'll re-discover these places, and more. Tonight!
Now, why am I teling you all this? Because I feel it accurately represents how I play these games, that's why. People who know me can probably guess what's coming next...
That's right, it's my never-ending love for the free-roaming genre of games! Or is that one hyphen too many? Whatever.
My point is that I should probably be pounding the main story line, so that I can 'finish' the game before the sequel arrives. Instead, I walk around for hours, trying to discover each and every location on the map and indeed, picking up new quests along the way.

Will I ever learn?
I certainly hope not! What is it though, that I find so enjoyable about simply walking around, discovering a world? It certainly isn't limited to Fallout 3; take World of Warcraft, for example. As multifaceted a game as that is, there is one thing I particularly enjoyed about it, and I really hope they do this in Fallout New Vegas as well: a blacked out world map that gets revealed as you explore. Sacred 2 had this feature as well, now that I think about it. Just like WoW, that game had me walking the edges of every map, around an around, until everything was visible. Everything! A tiny speck of blackness in the middle of a forest, no bigger than a pixel? I will go there, no matter how hard or impossible it might be, and I will make that speck disappear! That in itself is a quest, for me. And, more often than not these days, you get rewarded for it too! Indeed, like with Fallout's achievement.
It is a bit of a shame then, that Fallout doesn't actually work like this. All you get when you've found a new place is a new icon on your map. But, that's good enough for me, I can tell you! What's especially problematic for me in this respect, is the compass. Tiny, green triangles point you in the direction of each location. So, you follow one and then, suddenly, a tiny, transparent triangle appears: an undiscovered location!!! Remember the movie Up? With the dogs and how they react when they think they see a squirrel? Exactly the same thing, for me. Another very good comparison would be the game Crackdown and its green orbs. I don't even know how many races, missions and other stuff were completely and instantly forgotten at the sight of one of those glowing beauties. Or indeed, one of those transparent triangles. Try as I might, I can't ignore them, I just can't. It gets even better (or worse?) when I'm on my way to discover something, and suddenly two more transparent triangles appear on my compass.
It's like Pokémon, only different; gotta discover 'em all!

And you know, discovering these locations is only half the fun for me. The simple act of traveling is the other half, as it were. And fighting, let's not forget about that! I come across plenty of enemies, and indeed, some of these encounters prove to be lethal. I've become especially weary of giant rad scorpions, these days. Nasty fuckers, those are. Especially when there's more than one. Add in an attack robot that hits you with lasers from a mile away, and things can get quite troublesome indeed. As they did, right after I found location #100. To say nothing about the nasty creatures up in the northwestern part of the map! Deathclaws they're called, if I remember correctly. And very aptly named they are! The trouble is, you can't actually run in Fallout 3. Or, at least, I can't. Maybe there's a perk somewhere that will allow me to run, but I don't have it. So all I can do, whenever I'm attacked, is walk backwards and shoot at whatever's chasing me until it dies. Which works just fine with almost all enemies, but the deathclaw is an exception. It jumps at you, lunges with its, er, deadly claws and well, soon after you're very dead. So far, each and every encounter with these nasty, nasty things ended in the last autosave reloading.
And there's still so much left to do! I need to find a way to get into the slaver's main camp to rescue some slaves for example, but they'll only let me in if I fetch them some new slaves! Like I said before, things are never simple in Fallout 3. Obviously I'm not going to give the slavers what they want, but I do need to find a way to make them think I did! Failing that, I suppose I could simply kill them all, but I don't like that. I don't swing that way, not in this game. I mean, I don't mind killing them, as they're obviously evil, but I'd rather come up with a more classy solution, you know? Anyone can point a gun and pull the trigger; where's the fun in that? I want to mess with their minds, making them think I'm on their side, while I destroy their operation from the inside out. Or something like that...

For now however, I must stop. And I suppose I could end this entry with the exact same sentence I started it with. You see, I really was planning to tell you another story like yesterday, I really was. But then... and... yeah...
Still, I can think of at least one person that won't mind at all!
Until the next one then, and until then, stay safe and game on!

One-Man Scouting Party

It's over. For two and a half years I've played the 'game', and now, it's over. Gladiatus is what I'm talking about, obviously. Anyway, I've written about this thing before in detail, so I'm not going to, anymore. Suffice it to say that I have finally stopped playing. About two weeks ago. Eh? So why haven't there been more blogs? Since I had all that free time? Since I stopped playing Gladiatus so I'd have more time to blog and draw? Yeah well, I've been going through a, um... transitional period, of sorts. You know, I needed some time to adjust. Or something. I've been reading lots of other blogs and stuff. Basically, I've just been mucking about. And somehow, it still felt like I was spending my time in a more useful way than when I was still being a gladiator. Go figure, eh?

Well then, in my previous post I talked about having finished God of War III and which game I was going to get into next. I said I was considering Fallout 3, for various reasons. And wouldn't you know it, that's exactly what I did! And boy, did I get back into it! In fact, it's what I did last night, and what I'll probably be doing this night as well. And finally, it's the main ah, raison d'être for this here post, blog-entry, thing.
You see, as I also said in my previous post, Fallout 3 is a game you can tell stories about. Stories that are unique to your game. So, that's what I'm going to do, today.

Which stories to tell though? There are several that I think are worth telling, so... Before I do that however, something else. When I first started the game again, I had to make a decision: do I start up a whole new game, or do I continue where I left off, about, ooh, two years ago? You see, I was worried I'd have trouble getting back into it all. It had been such a long time since I last played it, so maybe I'd forgotten all about the story and I wouldn't know what to do at all? Sure, I could simply check the map and mosey on over to the first quest marker I could find, but wouldn't I miss out on too much that way? On the other hand, I had already done a lot and the idea of having to do all that stuff all over again didn't really appeal to me that much. Surprisingly, it turned out that there was nothing to worry about! I started playing, walked around a bit and well, the memories started flooding back, as it were. And yes, taking my wonky, drug-addled mind into account, that is surprising. It is also, I think, indicative of Fallout's quality. Or rather, of the impact it had on me. Apparently the game and its story have really made an impression on me. And they're still doing so, most successfully.
Now, let's have some stories then!

Killing Innocent People is Good Karma!
So, there I was, once again roaming the Capital Wasteland, enjoying myself to bits. The first thing I did, once I exited the L'Enfant South subway station that held my last save, was get my dog killed. Yeah... There were some super mutants walking about there, and Dogmeat (the dog's name) immediately started attacking them. Within seconds, the mutants had made dogmeat out of him! (See what I did there?)
Now, I remember taking very good care of the dog, when I first played the game way back when. I would leave him in a safe place if things looked too hairy, and I would immediately reload when he died. He was my dog, you know? The one and only real friend I had in this barren, post-apocalyptic world! How things change though... He died, and I thought, fuck that dog. He was a useless, cumbersome mutt anyways. Well, okay, that's a bit harsh. He was useful for alerting me to the presence of enemies. You know, he'd growl when enemies were near, allowing me to prepare. Which I suppose is better than walking 'round a corner, right into the waiting arms of three super mutants. Oh well, I would just have to be a bit more careful from now on then. No more checking whether the dog was still following me, no more having to take care of it... What a relief!

Anyway, once those mutants had been disposed of, or, once I had taken revenge for them mercilessly slaying my useless fleabag, it was decision-making time. As in, what to do next? Do I continue the main quest, trying to finish the game as fast as I can or...? Indeed, or! I looked around a bit and on the horizon I saw the tip of the Washington Monument's obelisk. Well, in all my travels I had never actually been there, so I decided to check it out. What? Oh right, the main quest... Yeah, right after I've seen the Monument! I'll just mosey on down there, maybe make a nice picture, and then back into the main quest, right away. Yeah, right... I guess that was one thing I had sort of forgotten about Fallout 3: almost every location has one or more quests to accept. Oh well...
On my way to the Monument, I passed by the Lincoln Memorial, where I was greeted by a member of a group of slavers that had made their base there. He wanted me to fetch some Lincoln-related stuff, so he could destroy it. Apparently, a group of slaves sort of worshipped Lincoln, and by destroying his stuff I would cause their end, or make them go away. Or something. Good news for the slavers, in any case.

And good news for me, as well! It turned out I still had a quest where I had to somehow get the Declaration of Independence. Now I could, as they say, kill to birds with one stone. Three, even; get the Lincoln stuff, get the declaration, and see the Monument.
But, there's another thing Fallout 3 does almost every time. If, for example, you get sent out to kill someone, that person will almost always offer you an alternative. Like, you could kill me, but you could also let me go and I will make it worth the effort. In this particular case, the robot that guarded the declaration told me he could make a perfect copy for me that I could give to the slavers, thereby preserving the original. All I needed was some special ink that could be found in the Arlington Library.
Now, I'm trying to be as noble as I can in this game. More often than not I want to be as evil as possible, and I could have wasted the robot then and there, but no, not in this case. Mr. Goody Two-Shoes, that's me! So, off I went, to look for some ink. And of course, Fallout made my quest even harder! In the Library, there was this woman who also wanted the declaration. If I would escort her back to the National Archives, she'd help me kill the robot and we'd both be happy. One thing I immediately noticed however, was the fact that this lady was carrying a very tasty-looking smg. She even told me about it, showing off, saying it was a very, very powerful weapon. Hmm... Well, I couldn't kill her, because that would be bad karma. I didn't want her to help me either though. I mean, I'm a good person, but I'm also greedy; I didn't want to share anything with her! What to do, what to do?

Then, I remembered something. When I arrived at the library, I noticed that the area was crawling with super mutants. They were doing their thing a bit further along, so they didn't bother me when I tried to get into the Library. Hmm, I thought, hmm... An evil, twisted plan began to take form.
I went back to the lady and told her I thought it was a very good idea to do business. She was pleased with my wise choice and followed me. Together we exited the Library, after which I made a bee-line for the mutants. There were quite a few around, actually! More than I thought, at any rate. Very good, very good indeed... I ran straight into the middle of the pack, the woman hot on my heels. Immediately after, I ran away to hide around the corner. Meanwhile, the woman was in serious trouble. About five or six super mutants were having their merry way with her, with me watching from a safe distance. Needless to say, she did not survive the fight. When the proverbial dust had settled, I moved back in and killed the remaining mutants, allowing me to thoroughly inspect the woman's desecrated corpse. And... yes! The nice, powerful smg was part of the loot! One very dead woman, and my reputation still completely intact. A certain quote from a certain Hannibal Smith comes to mind...
Anyway, after that, all that was left to do was to get the ink, copy the declaration and get paid. I let the robot live of course, and also let him keep the original. I am, after all, a good guy!

And, with that, I do believe I shall end this post! It seems I can still be quite wordy when it comes to things I really like. Good news, I say!
Like I also said however, there are many Fallout 3 stories, and this was only one. How about another one, tomorrow? I shall definitely do the best I can! Until then, stay safe, and game on!