Never ever thought I'd actually get one of these.
Not a bad way to get around...
Friday, September 19, 2008
More on "The Force Unleashed"
I'm still playing through the fourth level or so, on Felucia, but I've heard some more mixed reviews from some actual gamers, some non-critics.
I heed the warnings, but I'm still having fun.
On that note, I just found an older interview on AICN with Sam Witwer, who plays Starkiller.
The man seems to know his shit. It's an excellent discussion delving deep into the structure of Star Wars and the finer points of certain movies. There's also some really interesting stuff on how Witwer came to the project, and his schedule and involvement during production.
In typical loose AICN fashion, they also wander over the critical reception of Return of the Jedi as it pertains to certain characterizations. I actually never understood the hate for Jedi. It ranks right up with The Empire Strikes Back in my book.
God, I'm a nerd.
I heed the warnings, but I'm still having fun.
On that note, I just found an older interview on AICN with Sam Witwer, who plays Starkiller.
The man seems to know his shit. It's an excellent discussion delving deep into the structure of Star Wars and the finer points of certain movies. There's also some really interesting stuff on how Witwer came to the project, and his schedule and involvement during production.
In typical loose AICN fashion, they also wander over the critical reception of Return of the Jedi as it pertains to certain characterizations. I actually never understood the hate for Jedi. It ranks right up with The Empire Strikes Back in my book.
God, I'm a nerd.
Punch* a pirate.
Again it comes.
Why do people continue to support this stupid, gimicky and completely unnecessary holiday?
It was light-chuckle sorta funny once like three or four years ago. Now it's become a secret handshake sort of deal, like you've found a lifelong bond with a complete stranger all because you...*gasp*... you like pirates too?!
Ugh. There is nothing more obnoxious than to have a co-worker greet you at 7am with a hearty "Yarr!" and then provide a brief explanation of the special day and its history.
Oh yes. I nearly forgot, since we had the exact same exchange last year.
I like pirate history and films as much as the next person, but please stop this idiotic pirate obsession. This fad should have died YEARS ago.
Ninjas are a close second. Thank god no one's thought up a "Talk Like The 'Ask A Ninja' Guy Day."
Yet.
*Please don't actually punch the idiots who talk like pirates. They know not what they do.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Zap a Jawa - it's fun
The first 20 minutes of my experience with Star Wars: The Force Unleashed elicited the following emotions: cautious optimism, growing excitement, pleasant surprise, awe, sinister pleasure, LMAO, delight, holy shit and goose-bumps of the “that was fucking awesome” nature. In that order.
I’ve been waiting for this game for a long time – ever since I saw the first demo video way back in late 2005. Since then, the hype has thickened, and we’ve heard new tidbits exalting the game. In addition to all the buzz on the incredible physics, rendering, AI, innovative gameplay, etc., it’s also been said that TFU boasts a compelling story that will add a new perspective to the Star Wars cannon – the tale of Darth Vader’s secret Sith apprentice.
The impending release of this game is pretty much one of the major reasons I threw down for a next-gen console (along with GTA IV and Mercenaries 2, which I still haven’t picked up, actually). I’m also the biggest Star Wars fan I know. So needless to say, I was slightly crestfallen when a few less than positive reviews started rolling in on TFU.
Fuck those guys. If you love this universe unconditionally (which means you can actually still watch and enjoy the Prequels while ignoring all the mind-numbing shittyness), then you will gleefully soil yourself while playing this game. Because it’s BETTER than the Prequels. Oh my god, it’s so much better. The Devs told us that it feels like Star Wars, that you’re essentially playing a lost chapter of the Saga. And from my three-hour foray into the first three levels, they absolutely nailed it.
You’ve got the typical characters – the young adventurer, the sidekick and the tough-but-cute love interest, but I haven’t had a problem with any of it yet. The protagonist’s droid, Proxy, is like a fun mixture of Threepio and HK-47 (of KotOR villainy). The main character, Starkiller (a nice throwback to Lucas’s original surname for Luke Skywalker) is voiced and mo-capped by Sam Witwer, who I’ve actually really liked in his minor roles in Battlestar Galactica and The Mist.
The gameplay is immensely satisfying. The first level has you playing as Vader, and you essentially have all of the major Force powers at your disposal. As promised, the physics may blow your mind. Slam a wookiee into a giant tree trunk and watch the outer bark slough off. Force-pound a grove of smaller trees and watch them splinter. Storm troopers and wookiees are nothing to you – just masses of bodies to toss aside or cut down a single hit (one hit, ‘cause you’re Darth Fucking Vader).
I got my new favorite 360 achievement here: “Worst Day-Shift Manager Ever,” and I just about fell out of my chair laughing.
The main story is what we expected – you’re hunting down hidden Jedi some 16-20 years after the initial purge we saw in Episode 3. The levels are beautifully designed. Plenty of junk for you to play with and toss around. Each level I’ve played has ended with a Jedi encounter, and they’ve been very innovative so far.
Nice transition to my gripes. The boss battles are innovative in terms of dialogue, setting and events, in my opinion. The second one in particular was cracking me up – felt like one of the funnier WoW bosses, or the insane ramblings of some Rapture citizen. The problem is, they’re not straight-up lightsaber battles. They probably shouldn’t be, given the game’s heavy focus on The Force, but it’s not immediately obvious how you should come at some of these guys. You’re relatively weak compared to them, and while you can chip away at their health bars by tossing them around or zapping them with lightning, they can knock entire halves or thirds of your life away with single hits if you’re not careful, and there are no health pots or power-ups nearby.
Which takes us to the set-up scenes and loading times. LONG. Too long, in my opinion. I spent nearly an hour on a minor boss before I figured out how to take him down. The problem is, each time the game reset me to the saved position, I had to clear the area, wait through two unskippable cut-scenes, start an event and then kill the boss. Oh, and not fall from a very precarious bridge. This is pretty typical, I know, but aren’t we past not being able to skip the minor cutscenes at this point in game design?
Overall, the game is 10/10 for first impressions. Rent it, buy it, watch a friend play. It’s completely worth it.
I’ve been waiting for this game for a long time – ever since I saw the first demo video way back in late 2005. Since then, the hype has thickened, and we’ve heard new tidbits exalting the game. In addition to all the buzz on the incredible physics, rendering, AI, innovative gameplay, etc., it’s also been said that TFU boasts a compelling story that will add a new perspective to the Star Wars cannon – the tale of Darth Vader’s secret Sith apprentice.
The impending release of this game is pretty much one of the major reasons I threw down for a next-gen console (along with GTA IV and Mercenaries 2, which I still haven’t picked up, actually). I’m also the biggest Star Wars fan I know. So needless to say, I was slightly crestfallen when a few less than positive reviews started rolling in on TFU.
Fuck those guys. If you love this universe unconditionally (which means you can actually still watch and enjoy the Prequels while ignoring all the mind-numbing shittyness), then you will gleefully soil yourself while playing this game. Because it’s BETTER than the Prequels. Oh my god, it’s so much better. The Devs told us that it feels like Star Wars, that you’re essentially playing a lost chapter of the Saga. And from my three-hour foray into the first three levels, they absolutely nailed it.
You’ve got the typical characters – the young adventurer, the sidekick and the tough-but-cute love interest, but I haven’t had a problem with any of it yet. The protagonist’s droid, Proxy, is like a fun mixture of Threepio and HK-47 (of KotOR villainy). The main character, Starkiller (a nice throwback to Lucas’s original surname for Luke Skywalker) is voiced and mo-capped by Sam Witwer, who I’ve actually really liked in his minor roles in Battlestar Galactica and The Mist.
The gameplay is immensely satisfying. The first level has you playing as Vader, and you essentially have all of the major Force powers at your disposal. As promised, the physics may blow your mind. Slam a wookiee into a giant tree trunk and watch the outer bark slough off. Force-pound a grove of smaller trees and watch them splinter. Storm troopers and wookiees are nothing to you – just masses of bodies to toss aside or cut down a single hit (one hit, ‘cause you’re Darth Fucking Vader).
I got my new favorite 360 achievement here: “Worst Day-Shift Manager Ever,” and I just about fell out of my chair laughing.
The main story is what we expected – you’re hunting down hidden Jedi some 16-20 years after the initial purge we saw in Episode 3. The levels are beautifully designed. Plenty of junk for you to play with and toss around. Each level I’ve played has ended with a Jedi encounter, and they’ve been very innovative so far.
Nice transition to my gripes. The boss battles are innovative in terms of dialogue, setting and events, in my opinion. The second one in particular was cracking me up – felt like one of the funnier WoW bosses, or the insane ramblings of some Rapture citizen. The problem is, they’re not straight-up lightsaber battles. They probably shouldn’t be, given the game’s heavy focus on The Force, but it’s not immediately obvious how you should come at some of these guys. You’re relatively weak compared to them, and while you can chip away at their health bars by tossing them around or zapping them with lightning, they can knock entire halves or thirds of your life away with single hits if you’re not careful, and there are no health pots or power-ups nearby.
Which takes us to the set-up scenes and loading times. LONG. Too long, in my opinion. I spent nearly an hour on a minor boss before I figured out how to take him down. The problem is, each time the game reset me to the saved position, I had to clear the area, wait through two unskippable cut-scenes, start an event and then kill the boss. Oh, and not fall from a very precarious bridge. This is pretty typical, I know, but aren’t we past not being able to skip the minor cutscenes at this point in game design?
Overall, the game is 10/10 for first impressions. Rent it, buy it, watch a friend play. It’s completely worth it.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
First day of cool
Head Start key for the bloody win.
Only had an hour and a half to screw around yesterday after work, so I polished off some auctions and dutifully completed my fishing and cooking quests in WoW, logged off, and quickly jumped into Warhammer Online. Officially.
As an aside, I find it odd that I haven’t actually been asked to subscribe yet. I entered my billing information on the Mythic site over the weekend, but it doesn’t seem to have retained that info. Perhaps that will come on the 18th, when the rest of the players hit the servers.
So of course I logged in and immediately created my Dwarf Runepriest, Cottle. I briefly considered an Open RvR server, but upon reading the description in closer detail, I figured I should familiarize myself with the game mechanics a bit more before diving into that insanity. Maybe I’ll save it for my Destruction experience.
I plowed through all the starting Dwarf quests in about 45 minutes. Got into the first public quest area and parked my character for the night.
I really like the public quest system. It’s great how you can run in and have this ragtag group of players running around killing shit and still complete the quest objectives on the larger scale. And it’s repeatable! That’s also a great aspect of this game – options in leveling. You can PvP from level 1 for however long you want, provided your Renown Rank doesn’t bump with your level. You can grind mobs and get additional XP with kill collector quest turn-ins. You can hit up public quests and just run those over and over if you want. Or you can just fucking head off into the wild and explore. There are viable rewards for ALL of these paths.
Only had an hour and a half to screw around yesterday after work, so I polished off some auctions and dutifully completed my fishing and cooking quests in WoW, logged off, and quickly jumped into Warhammer Online. Officially.
As an aside, I find it odd that I haven’t actually been asked to subscribe yet. I entered my billing information on the Mythic site over the weekend, but it doesn’t seem to have retained that info. Perhaps that will come on the 18th, when the rest of the players hit the servers.
So of course I logged in and immediately created my Dwarf Runepriest, Cottle. I briefly considered an Open RvR server, but upon reading the description in closer detail, I figured I should familiarize myself with the game mechanics a bit more before diving into that insanity. Maybe I’ll save it for my Destruction experience.
I plowed through all the starting Dwarf quests in about 45 minutes. Got into the first public quest area and parked my character for the night.
I really like the public quest system. It’s great how you can run in and have this ragtag group of players running around killing shit and still complete the quest objectives on the larger scale. And it’s repeatable! That’s also a great aspect of this game – options in leveling. You can PvP from level 1 for however long you want, provided your Renown Rank doesn’t bump with your level. You can grind mobs and get additional XP with kill collector quest turn-ins. You can hit up public quests and just run those over and over if you want. Or you can just fucking head off into the wild and explore. There are viable rewards for ALL of these paths.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Patience in parts
So my local comic shop finally got the latest installment of Ex Machina, from Brian K. Vaughan and Tony Harris. Seems this book has been months behind, but I’m sure there are valid reasons. The artwork, for one, seems a bit complicated. Early trades showed glimpses of Harris’ illustration process, with key frames based on storyboard-like photos of staff members. Odd, but I like the end result. Then there’s Vaughan’s contributions to LOST scripts and story sessions as well. That’s got to eat up some time.
Ex Machina is probably the single best comic I’m reading right now for characterization, writing and general cool factor. Quick hit: Mitchell Hundred is an average civil engineer in New York City who gets called out one night to investigate an anomaly on the Brooklyn Bridge. Subsequent freak sci-fi accident occurs, and he can suddenly converse with mechanicals and electronics. The comic constantly shifts between his time as a fledgling vigilante with unique powers in a pre-9/11 NYC, and his term as Mayor of New York City after the terrorist attacks. It’s seriously like The West Wing meets Spider-Man, but far grittier. Definitely a mature comic.
The trouble is, it seems flat at the moment. Early on, we got insane storylines involving…well, the coolest stuff just hasn’t been explained quite yet: time travel, interdimensional visitors, a shadowy nemesis, etc. I also want more on why Hundred has his powers and where they come from (which, supposedly, the Federal government has classified as top secret) and lately we just keep getting tepid political problems for Mayor Hundred with corresponding flashbacks to his vigilante days to give us some perspective. Granted, there was a recent situation with his trip to Rome, which culminated in a fucking great set-up for future storylines, but now it seems we’re back to his dealing with political rabble-rousers, all of whom seem to be female, blonde and spunky.
I’m positive the Ex Machina crew has big things planned for Hundred, but I’m getting a bit tired of these little throwaway bits that don’t seem to move the larger story along. Of course, this is the third issue of this particular arc, so perhaps there are bigger events or revelations on the way. Out of nowhere we got a nice flashback to some of the earlier sci-fi elements, which then drifted away without explanation, so maybe Vaughan’s just telling us to hang in there and all will be well.
Hope so. I came late to the Y: The Last Man party, and only got to experience that book through the trade volumes. I can see how reading it month-to-month would have been pretty frustrating, and maybe that’s how I should take in Ex Machina. The Last Man was a staggering epic with an absolutely pitch-fucking-perfect ending, so I find it hard to doubt Vaughan’s skill as an episodic storyteller.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Look who's back
Where the fuck have you been?
Seriously.
It is an epicker tale than I accurately convey in a few measly paragraphs, but essentially:
I bought an Xbox 360 shortly after my last post. I wuvved it greatly. I racked up many Gamerpoints on Xbox Live, and played through some amazing games like Bioshock, Gears of War, Grand Theft Auto IV, Assassin’s Creed and Mass Effect.
In this four-month period, I allowed my World of Warcraft subscription to expire, leaving my hunter blue-balled at level 68.
Reached a waning in 360 games selection around late July, and sought solace once again in the arms of that many-headed god of time-sacrifice and comfort, WoW.
Promptly discovered that the fan on my nVidia 7600 video card had kicked it God knows when, so for the first time I got to discover the joy and anxiety of selecting and installing a new video card all by myself. Still don’t know if I did it right. Dropped in an ASUS nVidia 8800 GT. Freaking BEHEMOTH of a card, but it appears to be in working order.
Got WoW working and dinged 70 on my hunter. Thus the angels sang “woot.” Yeah…not too much new stuff happening in WoW. Two level 70s potentially means twice the daily quest income, but going through those Shattered Sun dailies twice a day got old real fast. Got my engineer flying mount, got my epic engineer goggles, got my dimensional rippers, etc. The hunter is reasonably geared to poke around in Karazhan, but I think I’m destined for other things in WoW.
Surprisingly, my old guild did not boot me during my sabbatical. They’re actually doing regular Kara runs, which is cool, but they’ve become a rather cliqueish group. I don’t fault them for this, as it is the inevitable path of growing guilds. The higher-end, more skilled players stick together because that’s the only way they’ll move forward, and lower-tier players are often left to their own devices. Just the nature of the game. The friendliness and helpful attitude remain, however, as officers and crafters are always willing to help out when needed.
I’ll keep my WoW account active, as I still very much enjoy my daily cooking and fishing quests, and the release date for Wrath of the Lich King was announced today as November 13, 2008. So that will be fun when it arrives.
The big excitement for me right now (aside from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed being released TOMORROW!!!) is Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. I was lukewarm at first, having no knowledge of the intellectual property and no desire to dive into another MMO, I just didn’t follow any news on it for a long time. Then the new cinematic hit last month, and it looked fucking awesome.
Needless to say, I shamelessly raced to find an open beta key last week and was able to have at least one full evening of uninterrupted playtime on Friday before the beta ended on Sunday.
Seriously.
It is an epicker tale than I accurately convey in a few measly paragraphs, but essentially:
I bought an Xbox 360 shortly after my last post. I wuvved it greatly. I racked up many Gamerpoints on Xbox Live, and played through some amazing games like Bioshock, Gears of War, Grand Theft Auto IV, Assassin’s Creed and Mass Effect.
In this four-month period, I allowed my World of Warcraft subscription to expire, leaving my hunter blue-balled at level 68.
Reached a waning in 360 games selection around late July, and sought solace once again in the arms of that many-headed god of time-sacrifice and comfort, WoW.
Promptly discovered that the fan on my nVidia 7600 video card had kicked it God knows when, so for the first time I got to discover the joy and anxiety of selecting and installing a new video card all by myself. Still don’t know if I did it right. Dropped in an ASUS nVidia 8800 GT. Freaking BEHEMOTH of a card, but it appears to be in working order.
Got WoW working and dinged 70 on my hunter. Thus the angels sang “woot.” Yeah…not too much new stuff happening in WoW. Two level 70s potentially means twice the daily quest income, but going through those Shattered Sun dailies twice a day got old real fast. Got my engineer flying mount, got my epic engineer goggles, got my dimensional rippers, etc. The hunter is reasonably geared to poke around in Karazhan, but I think I’m destined for other things in WoW.
Surprisingly, my old guild did not boot me during my sabbatical. They’re actually doing regular Kara runs, which is cool, but they’ve become a rather cliqueish group. I don’t fault them for this, as it is the inevitable path of growing guilds. The higher-end, more skilled players stick together because that’s the only way they’ll move forward, and lower-tier players are often left to their own devices. Just the nature of the game. The friendliness and helpful attitude remain, however, as officers and crafters are always willing to help out when needed.
I’ll keep my WoW account active, as I still very much enjoy my daily cooking and fishing quests, and the release date for Wrath of the Lich King was announced today as November 13, 2008. So that will be fun when it arrives.
The big excitement for me right now (aside from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed being released TOMORROW!!!) is Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. I was lukewarm at first, having no knowledge of the intellectual property and no desire to dive into another MMO, I just didn’t follow any news on it for a long time. Then the new cinematic hit last month, and it looked fucking awesome.
Needless to say, I shamelessly raced to find an open beta key last week and was able to have at least one full evening of uninterrupted playtime on Friday before the beta ended on Sunday.
Here's a look at my little Runepriest with his hilarious new title:
I will be buying this game.
More to come on this topic, I’m sure, once my SE pre-order arrives next week and I’m able to start a character that is not destined for wipage.
Anyway, that’s the story of my spring-to-summer gaming experience. Obviously, I’m going to incorporate a wider range of games and platforms into these entries, as I plan to be playing at least two MMOs and whatever new Xbox games captivate me in the coming months.
More to come on this topic, I’m sure, once my SE pre-order arrives next week and I’m able to start a character that is not destined for wipage.
Anyway, that’s the story of my spring-to-summer gaming experience. Obviously, I’m going to incorporate a wider range of games and platforms into these entries, as I plan to be playing at least two MMOs and whatever new Xbox games captivate me in the coming months.
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