Feeling stronger

Not much else to say except I've been playing a lot of Planescape Torment this week.

*demonic voice* UPDATED MY JOURNAL!!!!

And E makes 3

On last night's episode of Good Game, they did a feature on this years E3.

Thus some random thoughts:
 - Too many zombie games (ie more than zero)
 - I thought Spec Ops the Line would've sent all military shooters to go stand in a corner. Seems I was wrong
 - The new Call of Duty game offering control of a military dog? Well that's something different
 - Beyond Two Souls: Yes it's nice to see some cut scenes, footage of the mo-cap process and the talking up of games offering an emotional connection but can we see some actual GAMEPLAY please?
 - Titanfall looks promising. Stomping around in a huge mech? Hell yes
 - The new Saints Row promising control of the President of the U.S. and tearing up shit? That's sounds so absurd it just might work (oh wait its been banned in this country. Oh well....)

The name game

In the unlikely event that I feel the need to generate another WoW character there is one thing I know for certain: It won't be another Hunter. Its not that I have two already, with each of a completely different specialization. No, it's just that naming any pets have become a chore.
For some reason, it has become difficult to pick a name for one's pet. Not sure why this is so (a feature of a more recent patch perhaps?) but I've had a terrible time picking names for Kyuzo's pets. The names I want won't work - presumably because they're already taken - and as a result I've spent many attempts trying to geta name to stick.
As a result any awesome names won't work and I'm left with something lame:

Can you feel the love tonight?

It's where we are:

Fun with Mathematics

In a move related to my never-ending quest to overcome my Hall of Shame I actually sat down and took tally of my games.

Therefore....

According to Raptor I have 200 games.

67 are completed (33.5%)

31 are incomplete (15.5.%)

25 have no end and/or don't concern me if I don't complete them (12.5%)

21 have been started (10.5%)

10 have been abandoned (5%)

46 have yet to be played (23%)

Interesting figures to be sure - I thought the games I haven't completed (not played + started + incomplete) would yield a much bigger figure but as it so happens it's just under half of my collection. Which is reassuring I guess.

Still, what I can conclude from this is that the time spent working this out may have been better spent working on the games left unbeaten....

A duel at dawn

Does anyone remember an arcade game called Air Duel? No? I do. I remember seeing it in the arcades during the early nineties. Although the game itself was kinda rubbish, the intro itself made something of an impression:

Somehow the image of a giant machine - that looks like it was ripped out of Akira - was fascinating to me. What was it? What did it do? Did it cause the apocalypse that the game's setting is based around? And what was with the rolling doors at the start? Was this machine kept somewhere? Who activated it?
Of course the game itself is a vertically scrolling shooter - one that left little impression on me. But I don't care for a helicopter and a jet fighter battling side by side (?!). I want to know more about this machine! If anything what little is revealed of it in the intro is enough to justify it's own separate game!

And all that just from the title screen.

EDIT:
Since writing my original post I did some research into Air Duel and found out that the machine featured in the title screen is indeed the final boss of the game (to the surprise of absolutely no one).
Thus this revelation does answer some of the questions in my original post but in a way it does seem like a total waste. With such a provocative design presented in such a manner one would do a bit more with it. Therefore the remaining questions still stand.

As it still stands this title screen really needs it's own game

Little Green Men

Not much to say for today.
However I'm still trucking through Star Control 2. And by now I've made contact with the Arilou - and boy is it a relief to encounter an alien race who is actually helpful, doesn't speak in an annoying voice and doesn't make me feel like I want to punch their faces in.

Star trekking across the universe

Recently I got my claws on a brand new monitor for my computer - and to celebrate I decided to have crack at a game that I've been longing to have a go at and have been unable to play until now:

Star Control 2!!

And not just the original - the Ur-Quan Masters revamp! After all how can you improve a game twenty years old? By giving it HD graphics. And making it available for free.

As this blog has indicated, I've played a lot of games form the early nineties but whereas I've both revisited games I've played before or played games I've had a vague idea of what it was about, Star Control 2 is a rare exception. It's one of those games I've gone into completely in the dark as to what to expect.
And so far I've been completely surprised: It is a space exploration game that offers an incredible amount of freedom. I like traveling from one of the galaxy to the other in a sandbox fashion. I like upgrading my flagship and building up a fleet of space ships. I like utilizing diplomacy and forging alliances with the alien races. And I even enjoy finding minerals to sell off. If anything, Star Control  2 seems to do the Star Trek schtick better than any Star Trek game I can think of. And, dare I say it, it's mechanics are done so well that they even outclass similar mechanics utilized in Mass Effect 2.

Of course this is just first impressions - it is only matter of time before any problems show their faces. And so far one has: I do not like the aliens in this game.
My beef? They're ANNOYING! They have annoying voices and they jabber on in such a nonsensical fashion. Maybe that is the case to convey that the only races that can assist the PC aren't really the warrior types - and thereby raising the stakes - but did they have to come across as so deplorable?!
I've seen various scifi alien species done well (ie Klingons, Borg, Cardassians, Salarians, Turians, Quarian, Krogan, Daleks, Sontarians, Go'Auld, Narn, Centuari, Minbari and Vorlons) but never have I seen such an alien species handled so badly! If anything they come across as so infuriating one would be tempted to let the Ur-Quan's destroy them - or better still join the Ur-Quans just so to wipe the annoying aliens out of existence.

Still this is only but the beginning: what happens next will indeed be something to see...

Rise Against

Recently, according to my Raptr account, I ticked over into the Elite category in World of Warcraft

I have no idea whether or not that is totally awesome or totally pathetic....

Who are you and what have you done with Lunar?!

Whilst browsing through Steam I came across this:

What's this? Lunar pack? Does this mean Silver Star and Eternal Blue are now on Steam?! Did Sega cut a deal with Valve/Sony/Working Designs/whoever to have these forgotten classics from the Sega CD appear on Steam!? Does this mean I can finally complete these games without suffering any failures/crashing whatsoever?!?

Oh wait its something different.
Oh well never mind then....

Hasta la Vista baby!

Another game has been given the boot from my Hall of Shame: Grim Fandango!

As mentioned earlier, I was one of the lucky ones who managed to get this game through purchasing it from a store shelf. And once again this was one of those games that carried with it a huge amount of expectation: Best adventure game EVAH, the last great Adventure game LucasArts made, a flop that didn’t sell enough due to everyone else playing FPS shooters at the time. And once again this was a game that possessed enough mythical qualities that it threatened to overshadow the game itself.

So what did I think of it?
If anything it was a surprise.

It’s been established before that I’ve never latched onto the fifth generation/late nineties period of gaming. Having grown up with the previous generations, I found a lot to dislike about the then current generation: I thought the graphics looked hideous, the 3d worlds looked boring and restrictive and was puzzled as to how the actual gameplay would work. Of course in the years since, my view has softened and I’ve found much to enjoy from that period of gaming history – yet the issues I had at the time still resonate.
And it’s those issues that may have influenced my experience with Grim Fandango. And having spent last summer playing a lot of LucasArts adventures, the first impressions with Grim Fandango weren’t pretty. Some of the character models looked weird, the mouse interface was sorely missed, the use of the keyboard was problematic and the transitions from cutscene to gameplay were painfully obvious.

Nevertheless I pressed ahead and, as I went on, I found a lot to admire about Grim Fandango. True I may have issues with the gameplay but there was indeed strength within the story that the game wanted to tell. It’s kinda funny how people these days grumble about games being too much story and not enough game but this is one case where the story is more than enough to save whatever failings the gameplay may have (To the Moon anyone?).
One thing I really got out of the story is how it really feels like conveys the sense of time and how it really looks like it’s playing out across four years of a character’s life (ironic when the character in question is DEAD). It was fascinating to see Manny go through various careers and display a wide range of ambitions. Actually now I think of it, one really does get a sense of identity being conveyed throughout the game both in finding and utilization – that may have been intentional but personally I’d rather state the obvious than miss something by a country mile. And personally I’d rather have any game trying to say something to its audience any day of the week.
So yes, the story is indeed a strong one in Grim Fandango so what about the rest of it? I love the design and art direction throughout the game (the brief foray into the world of the living is a hoot). The various references to Casablanca are great and I will admit I even developed an attachment to Glotis. 
Is all of it enough for me to ignore the gameplay issues? Yes I think so.

Mind you, playing Grim Fandango with the hindsight that it’s the last shining moment of the adventure game genre does indeed present an interesting perspective. Indeed, one gets the idea that this was the final peak – it delivered on so many levels that there wasn’t really much left for the genre to say. Thus perhaps it wasn’t surprising that the adventure game more or less died in the wake of Grim Fandango – indeed nothing that has followed since has really reached the peaks LucasArts achieved (okay maybe Time Gentlemen Please but even that was commentary on the genre).
Still even if Grim Fandango was the end point for the adventure game genre it certainly was a grand way to bow out.

So yeah: Grim Fandango is awesome. It may not have been a big hit but to me playing it is akin to being admitted to a secret club where no one else knows of it and it’s all yours to enjoy.
And no one can take that away from you.

Endless Summer

Some weeks ago I added another game to my never-ending list of games to be played - after all, I've been busy with my Hall of Shame these past couple of months so I'd worked up enough karma to justify the purchase of a new game. And what did I choose this time? Another time sink!!!

Okay joking aside, I picked up Neverwinter Nights from GoG. A natural choice considering my long-standing love for Dungeons and Dragons in computer game form (one day i think might play DnD for real) and Bioware games (although that r/ship was grown sour in recent years).
Now approaching this game has been a challenge: From the outsider view it a) is the forgotten child in the Bioware library and b) carries a rather rotten reputation for being rather crummy. However that reputation comes from the original game's campaign - whereas the expansions and the enormous user content has saved Neverwinter Nights to make it the stand proudly alongside it's bigger brothers, Planescape Torment and Baldurs Gate. Well maybe it's the Australian in me but championing the underdog and he who has a go? Sign me up!

So far I haven't played much of Neverwinter Nights - If anything I've spent a far greater amount of time hunting down the user modules that are worth a damn. Still this is only the beginning and it would be interesting to see what this game can offer....