Enosh's Blog - 2old2play

Repair update - Repar in progress

Thanks to the thanksgiving holiday my box took a bit longer than I would have liked to get to the repair center in TX. Six days and it's been recived and the repair is in process. Hopefully I'll get lucky and get my box back sooner rather than latter so I can return my loaner.

Now that the Jasper's are out I'm seriously tempted to use this as the excuse to upgrade to a new elite and trade in the referb I'm likely to get from the repair center... Interesting point: an arcade + 120GB drive + HDMI cable kit is the same price as an Elite now. That seems fair to me. So do I want a new unit in white and peice meal it over a couple month or bite the bullet all at once... hrm...

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Oh no, not again!

I really want to be writting about how much I love Left 4 Dead and how fun it is. I'd also like to write about how Gears 2 and Left 4 Dead stack up against each other. Instead I'm writing about this:

At least I still have my shipping box from last year so I don’t have to wait for that to show up. Bet on me getting it back before Christmas this time?

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I can haz NXE?

Woot, looks like NXE is going out to everyone that signed up for a chance at the preview.

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Dead Space and Gears 2

Tis the season to have too many games on the market and not enough time or money for any of them.

I�ve been trying to get through Dead Space for a couple weeks now with mixed success. There is some part of me that wants to think I�m still good at playing games, yet there�s another part of me that wonders if I ever really was. In either case I�ve found myself stuck making my second visit to medical. That�s bothersome because I�m having an absolute blast playing the game and I want to get past this meat grinder and back to sneaking around the spooky ship.

I have to say, if you like sci-fi and you like horror this game is worth the money. If you answered yes and you have 5.1 surround sound on your gaming rig then stop what you�re doing and go get the game already. I don�t consider myself an audiophile by any stretch of the imagination but the ambient sound in the game really makes it. The ambient sounds just really creep me out and make a good game awesome. I�ve been having so much fun playing through Dead Space that it�s been seriously cutting into my Gears of War 2 time.

Now mind you, I have two small children, neither of which seem to believe in sleep before the respectable hour of midnight. This does make a nocturnal parent proud, but results in more late night Rock Band 2 (which the kids enjoy) and less late night �M� games. I don�t mind my children experiencing metal and rock while putting up with their father�s karaoke but I draw the line at risking an echo of �more like 10 s*** loads� while in ear shot of their mother, let alone trying to curb stomp one another. Yeah either of those would be a unique finishing move on my gaming habits hehe.

I did go to the midnight launch at my local game stop with my 3yo daughter in tow. She enjoyed their pizza and told me how much she wanted to get Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise and several random hunting games for the Wii. (as a side note, yes she does make her daddy very proud). I also ran into Nuke�em there which was rather cool. That�s enough reason to justify using a real picture in my forum profile and on live. When they have them, my local GameStop does a fantastic job of handling the midnight launch events.

Since the launch I�ve only gotten through a couple chapters of single player and played a few rounds of execution and wing man. I want to play more, however I realize that Gears 2 is just different enough to make me feel like a terrible player. It has been about a week since I got on multiplayer. In that time I�ve done some single player to try to get used to the new feel of the game. So maybe tonight for Gears of Monday I�ll suck a bit less. I am really looking forward to horde mode, so if I�m lucky I�ll find some clan members doing that tonight instead of the old standby execution.

I�d better get my Gears fix tonight though, because tomorrow is Left 4 Dead� I know that I want to play a bunch of that game on live, though I kind of wish that the PC and Xbox versions supported cross platform play. I�m in no position to play games on the PC anymore but it seems that there�s a large contingent of my friends leaning towards that version instead of the Xbox 360 version. Still zombie apocalypse for the win.

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Here in time for Gears of War 2

Dell shipped quickly… I’m quite good with that

I know that 24” panels are not large by most people’s standards, but when you’re sitting at a desk to play and upgrading from a 19” 16:10 panel, a screen this nice is perfectly huge.

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Shinny!

Doing my part to ~~prepare for Gears of War 2~~ stimulate the economy I’ve finally broken down and upgraded from my old generic 19” 1440x900 LCD panel to a shinny, new Dell S2409W. Unfortunately Dell is currently reporting a ship date well beyond Gears 2, but I can wait a little bit. After 3 years I’ll finally have a panel that’s a 16:9 aspect ratio.

Who needs a TV?

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Too Human

I wanted to wait till I finished the campaign once before blogging about the game. I’ve done that, and gotten busy with life so here I am, two months later and only now sharing my thoughts.

I've missed a lot of games in the years I was addicted to MMO's. I did play a LOT of Diablo before that happened though. That game made you feel challenged yet heroic, constantly kept you going with a drip of cool looking loot, and was a blast to play with friends (except when your friends were drunk and you were sober). It was also the last game that felt quite like Too Human feels now.

I find that the combat is fairly simple and strait forward, but completely satisfying. The game does a good job of making you feel like you’re a bad –a- without feeling too easy. The combat system feels simple at the surface but I found that there are techniques to learn and master to really clean the room. I could (and will) easily replay the game one or more times. The loot probably comes too easy at times, but does give you the option to care about appearance instead of just raw power.

The story wasn’t that satisfying in all honesty. The world seems very deep but the game doesn’t do enough to explore that depth. Baldur’s motivations seem cliché and his approach a bit melodramatic. I won’t spoil the story but the end of the game really did leave me with a bad taste in my mouth.

All told though, the game play is a blast and the game world has a lot of room for a really compelling narrative. I’m really excited to see what Silicon Knights can do for a second act.

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Turtle Beach Ear Force x4

I've never been one to stretch for a piece of good audio gear. Between my first computer, where I cheeped out and bought the lowest end sound blaster on the market to when I got my Xbox 360 and promptly connected it to the entry level desktop computer speakers I had I've always gone cheep on sound. Lately though I've found myself wanting to play games later at night at volume levels that would risk waking my children. Also having played Bioshock, I really want to hear what that games sounds like in 5.1. Never mind the litany of good games this fall such as left 4 dead and gears of war 2 that will include audio I do NOT want my 3 year old daughter repeating.

So I've gone and done it, bought my first piece of good audio gear, a Turtle Beach Ear Force x4 headset.

The x4's are $200, which is a butt load to pay for headphones to me. Still they're cheaper than the Astro A40's and are wireless for the surround source unlike the Trition ax360's.

From a fit standpoint they are very light on the head and soft around the ears. My only complaint is that my ear lobe does touch the inner cushion. I'm still playing with the adjustments to get them just right, but I can definitely see wearing them for extended periods. Now if only I could get an extended period to play a game...

The sound itself is great. I've not had the pleasure of hearing the Xbox 360 on a good surround sound system as yet, so hearing Halo through the x4's for the first time was a real eye opening experience. The sounds feel richer and more complete playing with the headset on instead of the crappy little desktop speakers.

All told, they are a bit expensive for my tastes but I can definitely see the x4's being worth the cash, especially if you don't have surround now and need to keep things quiet at night when the family is asleep.

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Braid epilogue

With a little help from the forums I found what I think is the complete text from the epilogue level. I've posted it here in it's entirety.

GodWhyMe has also blogged the text from all the books in the game. That can be found here.

*** SPOILERS *** Some things can be not undone or unseen.

The extra text from the epilogue really seems to clarify that the story plays out on two levels.

On the surface it's the tale of Tim and his interesting ability to reverse time. It's the story of Tim living his life in reverse, trying to get back to before he lost his princess. We come to the end of the game, back to that moment and find that both are trying to run from each other and block each other's path. At the end Tim's princess finds her knight in shining armor and it's Tim who is the monster from which the princess needs to be rescued.

I think I really did see that coming as I progressed through the game. I can't help but feel a little sad at the end though.

The epilogue cements the allegory of the story fairly clearly to me. I'm not quite sure exactly what the princess is, but Tim's story is the story of man's quest for knowledge. I'm going to guess that the princess is nature or perhaps peace though that part it really up to some interpretation and further discussion. The first set of books in the epilogue show man dragging in princess forcefully through "Manhattan", striving towards a destination without real regard for the journey. The second set of books show the extent to which man will go to see what is already in front of him but hidden from his eyes. The third show the princess' rage at man's meddling with forces beyond his control. The last show man, as a boy, his princess holding him back from what he desires because he is too young.

In the end Tim is left with nothing but the raw building blocks from which he can start to rebuild his life at both levels of the story. On the surface he has the memories he needs to cope with the loss of his princess and the knowledge of why she's gone. From there he can rebuild his "castle" to become suitable for another princess and another time and perhaps learn from his past. The same holds true for man now that he's unleashed all that the candy store had.

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Braid

If you've not finished Braid, stop reading here, drop your $15 / 1200 points and go play the game already. What follows will ruin the game for you so stop reading. The discovery of the levels and story is half of the fun.

*** SPOILERS *** Some things can be not undone or unseen.

Both the story and game play seemed strait forward after playing the "first level". Level 2. Upon playing the last level I'm not as sure. I'm not really that sure that the bits of the story between 2 and 1 matter all that much, other than to hint at Tim playing his life in reverse, starting with a happy moment with his princess, or perhaps a happy moment with another.

Playing through the game you're confronted with a melancholy vibe yet some how in Tim's perseverance there's a hint that all might not be for naught and that there's a happy ending waiting in another castle. I did cheat a little before finishing the game tonight, I read the names of the achievements. The last one, "closure" kind of prepped me for what was in fast the last level, level 1.

Taken without the epilog it would seem that in the end, or at least parts of it, Tim's quest was not to reunite with his princess but rather to remember and understand why they are no longer together. It would seem that Tim had made a decision to leave at the same time she did. Through their journey apart they attempted to thwart each other's progress and block each other's path until his princess found her night in shinning armor. In the end, the monster that had captured the princess was Tim. Closure is the right word to describe the feeling in the end.

The text at the start of each chapter seems to confirm Tim's walk through his life's memories, remembering all the unhappy times, and stumbling blocks along the way. It does seem to lead him to the realization that in the end closure is the real thing he seeks.

The bulk of the epilog leaves me confused however. It seems to reference the story playing on two levels. One as the seeking, loss and coping of a couple who's relationship has disintegrated and on another it seems to serve as an allegory for man's quest for peace and how in the end it has ultimately lost hope for the peace he sought because of what he had found. It implies. some what directly that man had made a mistake that could not be undone, when we learned how to create the atomic bomb. The one set of quotes in the epilog directly relates to the famous quote by J. Robert Oppenheimer, although the phrasing and word choice is some what different.

I really hope Jonathan Blow eventually puts into writing, either on his own blog or by way of an interview, what he really meant to tell in the story. Discussing what it might mean is great fun and all, but now that I've finished the game I want the sense of closure that knowing what the artist intended would bring.

In either case, the story leaves me feeling sad in a way. There was no happy ending for Tim, only a melancholy acceptance of what has been and a determined hope for a new beginning. In the end though, the fact that the game leaves me feeling is probably the greatest testament to it's quality.

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E3 - Part 1

I just got done reading the live blogs and initial impressions of what's coming for the Xbox 360 and it all looks great, however the best list of new hotness is right here:

http://gamerscoreblog.com/team/archive/2008/07/14/mrcwhtnltrxle.aspx

Lets see, a cross game party system, 16:10 resolution support, play from HD, and web based market place? Holy $%#^! Time to digest the days events and then try to find some time to really blog what I think about them

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Rock Band 2

I don't think anyone is surprised that Rock Band 2 is happening this year. In fact I'm more surprised by the fact that EA has done so little to dilute the brand, especially when Activision is practically making Guitar Hero underwear. Still, a surprise or not I'm excited to play the game, and I'm sure I'll plunk down my $60 at GameStop to ensure that I have a copy at my earliest convenient on release day.

That said I'm kind of disappointed that Rock Band 2 isn't simply a combination of track pack DLC and an premium title update. I would much rather pay $20 for the functionality update and $40 or so for the tracks from the game and simply continue to play Rock Band with an even more massive list of tracks and more functional online mode. I'd still pay me local brick and mortar a visit, I do need a new microphone (mine has a short in the cable already) and I'd love a more sturdy feeling guitar. I can't help to think that Harmonix would have much rather released title updates and track packs for the life of the current console generation rather than become trapped in the cycle of yearly sequels.

Delivery aside I can't wait to play the game. Band world tour mode online is enough for me, with my distributed network of family and friends. Here's hoping they come up with a way for us to play the tracks from RB1's disk in RB2. DLC is great and all but I'd love access to both track lists in the newer game.

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Insecticide

I picked up and played through Insecticide mostly because I really wanted something other than Brain Age to plan on my DS. I was really hoping for a point and click adventure game along the lines of Monkey Island and Grim Fandango. Unfortunately Insecticide tries to be both a point and click adventure and 3d platformer and fails to inspire as either.

The game starts with a platformer level and proceeds to switch back and forth, between the two game types. It is really at it's best as a point and click adventure as the writing is interesting and the story hints and being deeper than it really is. The platform levels pretend to be a third person shooter a little much, which is really poorly suited to play on the DS. The PC or even a home console version would have been much more suited to the task than the d-pad and touch screen were.

All in all I feel I got what I paid for with the game ($20) but I was really left with the though that the game could have been so much more. The main character was likeable, the roach noir was different but over all it didn't have enough meat for my tastes.

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Mass Effect Post Morten

A couple weeks ago I opted to ruin the rest of my work week and stay up way too late playing Mass Effect. I figured I owed it to myself to finish off the last plot mission after working more or less until midnight.

For the few that haven't played the game stop reading unless you don't mind spoilers.

I've read quite a few reviews of Mass Effect while I waited to find the time and money to pick up the game for myself. Most of the reviews complained about how the side missions felt disconnected from the main story. I didn't finish all of the side missions myself on the first play though, though on the second I'm very tempted to take my time and fully explore every world first before finishing the story. I personally found the missions and their locations very interesting albeit a bit repetitive at times.

Many of the side missions were inter connected either to the events of the main plot missions or the back ground of Shepard. Those that weren't shed some like on the history of the game world or it's current political state. Bioware certainly could have introduced more variety in the layout of the various bases raided during the side missions as there were really only a couple layouts that one visited over and over again.

On the main story, I found the discovery of Sovereign's true nature very interesting. There's definitely a lot of "why" left untold and up to future games or the player's imagination to revel. Playing through with the intent of emphasizing the paragon style I found the final confrontation with Saren very satisfying. The fact that I didn't have to fight him but rather archive victory through dialog fit the game, the way I had played it and was quite enjoyable.

Speaking of enjoyable outcomes, the infamous "sex scene" was actually quite satisfying in the end. I found various stages of the side story leading to that end felt a bit contrived and forced, how ever in hind sight I almost wonder if that wasn't intentional and just part of Liara's personality. I found the actual cut scene to be quite tasteful, almost on par with that from Matrix Reloaded, which was as tasteful as I've seen in mass media.

I can NOT wait to play the next game and see where Bioware's doctors take the story next. Frankly as far as I'm concerned they could do little in the way of improving the game and just release the next chapter of the story.

I do plan on diving back into the game once I've finished playing the other games on my plate. Tomb Raider Anniversary and Penny Arcade are currently waiting for me to have the time to enjoy them. When that's done I plan on going back into Mass Effect for another go.

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In case there was any doubt, Guitar Hero has jumped the shark

A picture says a thousand words. Two low res cell phone pictures from last night's excursion to Barns & Nobel says more than I could hope to waste on the topic.

Found a this week's excursion to Barns & Noble

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