I’ve Been Busy

Not so much with work, as my work has always been (and will most likely always be) a mindless shuffle through a particular set of motions, the only variable being the number of minutes remaining until I go home or an irate customer or coworker who wants nothing more than to spread their terrible mood across the Golden Triangle.

I’ve been busy with games. I’d like to break down some of my thoughts, both for this site and for my own personal (and ironically public) record.

Ratchet and Clank is Phenomenal

I just finished A Crack in Time last night, and the entirety of the experience was nothing short of amazing. The guys at Insomniac show a lot of love for their games as well as others, as referenced by the obvious Street Fighter and Mario references I caught within the title.

My review of it will be up as soon as I write it (obviously), but I just wanted to say that Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time is one of the best games I have ever played. Other reviews state that the formula is getting old — I couldn’t agree less. Insomniac’s propriety blend of platforming, shooting, and puzzle gameplay has become nearly perfect through the years.

Thanks to the lovely Molotov Cupcake (of Spawn Kill), I will be reviewing Modern Warfare 2 as well. These are exciting times!

K-Update

Yo! I got a few updates here from my personal life as well as my writing gig.

I got in a copy of Fairytale Fights for PS3. It was in some kind of exclusive press package. Unfortunately the game was awful. I still have a bad taste in my mouth just thinking about it.

My Holiday Gift Guide for Solo Gamers went up quite recently. It was a good idea from the mind of Tigresa of Spawn Kill. I hope I did the concept justice.

I also got my copy of Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time in from whomever sent it to Tigresa, who then sent it to me. Only about three hours into the game, my PlayStation 3 unceremoniously died. My brother asked me how many hours it had been operated (since it was originally from the comic store I used to manage), and this line of thinking led me to estimate that the PS3 had been operated well over six thousand hours since it was first purchased.

Needless to say, I have a need to play games, and since I have a copy of this game to review I couldn’t go back on what was expected of me. I went out and bought a PS3 Slim. I’m not too happy with it (my other was a 60gb BC model), but having the option for Dolby TrueHD is nice for whenever I upgrade my sound system. The system is nice in it’s own way, I just liked my old one. I also liked the extra three hundred and sixty dollars I had in my bank account.

That’s the update though. Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time is phenomenal. This one deserves a high rating. The review is forthcoming.

Bioshock – I don’t get the appeal

I’ve been doing these rounds through games I get from Goozex, playing titles based on my initial experiences. For example, I played through the amazing Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction followed by the mediocre Mirror’s Edge, so I figured I would play a game that is apparently great for the next in line — Bioshock.

My problem now is that I can’t move on to the rest of the games in my queue because Bioshock just isn’t fun enough to keep my attention, let alone finish. The plasmid system would be cool if it didn’t make combat slow and awkward, trying to balance between stunning something, setting it on fire, or shooting it (because I will still have to do that anyway). The radial weapon menu feels clumsy, and I keep refilling my health/EVE and reloading my weapon trying to do something else, like hack a downed sentry in a pinch.

There are other things too, like how the dialog boxes fill up a good fifth of the screen, or that I can’t change any of my abilities without finding a machine first. I get that it fits with the visual/environmental appeal of the game, but its an odd design choice.

I may actually have to skip over this title in order to get some more prolific games out of the way (namely Uncharted), but it would irk me to have a game that has not been completed sitting on my shelf.

Make ‘em say ugh (in frustration)

I put a solid fifteen minutes into Fallout 3 last night. I was working on The Pitt, running around, killing slavers and all of that fun stuff. So the game freezes when I get that axe weapon, and I restart my PS3, load the save, and start to get back to where I was. It freezes again before I get to the axe, so I restart, rinse, repeat, and the game lags right as I spawn, and freezes perhaps four in-game steps towards my destination.

So I am thinking, ‘This is ridiculous. I can’t review a game that can’t be played.’

I am considering writing the review right now. If this trend continues, my experience thus far can only deteriorate. I know the underlying game is awesome, I just won’t be able to comment on exactly how awesome since I will instead be warning consumers of programming malpractice.

In better news, Battlefield: Bad Company and Resident Evil Zero are still on their way here. My list for recently-acquired titles to conquer is about to get the better of me:

• Bioshock
• Uncharted
• Street Fighter IV (if not only for trophies and a sense that Street Fighter may still be fun)
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
• Devil May Cry IV

And shit, I never even finished off Rogue Galaxy. Shame on me.