Believe it or not, Warcrack was pretty satisfying. I always felt as if I was doing something productive–even when I was just running around getting achievements.

I can’t honestly say I miss it though. It was such a ridiculous time sink, and I spent so much of my college career playing it that I honestly felt like I wasted opportunities in the real world. I could’ve been out doing any number of things: joining clubs, exploring the city or trying my hand at dating.

WoW was safer. I’m honestly ashamed to say it, but I didn’t have to go out into the scary world if I could meet people virtually. I’ve met plenty of people I consider my friends all over the States through the game; I don’t regret that at all. I think I justified the ridiculous amounts of game time by telling myself it had a social aspect, but I could’ve even been playing other console or PC games with different mechanics, plots and characters and probably would’ve felt just as good about it.

After a year of playing the game, it felt like everything was bleeding together. That didn’t matter somehow. Regular gaming was filling  a need. At the time, it was a social need and I was too timid to run out and meet people. That’s mostly changed now (I still have hermit moments), but now that I’m not playing games nearly as often, it makes me a bit sad.

I tell myself it’s because I’m growing up and developing other interests. Me and my boyfriend Danny are really starting to develop an interest in the outdoors. I’m working out how to start a new game of Dungeons and Dragons (still a big dork, but it’s not video gaming!), and really gotten back into reading. All of these things make me happy in some way, so I’m not so much upset as noticing a shift.

The biggest death knell to my free time for gaming is full-time work and a 25-mile commute. I can’t honestly say that upsets me. Benefits, a salary, and having the stability of a full-time job far outweigh the long hours I used to pour into various games.

I guess I’m just reminiscing, but also recognizing that I miss gaming (I’ve really only played Modern Warfare 2 and Torchlight in the last month). I think it’s time to pick a new game and go for it.

I’m thinking Alan Wake or Metro 2033, but not sold on either yet. Suggestions?

Anyone up for some Left4Dead 2? Hit up “HouseCannith” on XBL. I miss that game too.

Final Fantasy XIII is beautiful. I cannot argue with that at all. I only imagine it took ridiculously long to animate and meticulously sculpt all of the environments. But anyway, the meat of this post:

To preface my opinions–I’m about 8 hours into the game, so I can’t really speak for what may lie beyond that.

The first 6 hours of so of the game has been trying. Not so much in the “I’m having difficulty understanding” but more so in the “…what…?” sense. The characters are flimsy and poorly developed and the pacing of the story and the exploration are extremely wonky.

I’ve come to realize through the consumption of anime and JRPGs that there’s a boiling point for me. Like that MTV show that tests the limits of random people, I can only handle so much melodrama and needless badass slow-mo flipping before I shut down. Japanese people (God love them) have a tendency to push my buttons with their dramatic works in video games. I don’t like JRPGs as much as I do North American-produced ones (for the most part).

I think my biggest frustration thus far has been the story.

It begins in media res, so we see Lightning (the badass protagonist) and plucky sidekick Sazh (the obligatory comic relief) riding a ship to an undetermined location. We know nothing about the characters, what’s going on, or the setting itself. Because the world in which they live is so rich and relatively different than ours, beginning the story in the middle is not nearly as effective as it was in, say, Uncharted 2.

There are so many unanswered questions, so little character development and the player feels so removed from the actual plot that it’s difficult to empathize with the characters. Combine that with terrible voice acting and enough melodrama to make the Golden Girls cry, and you could imagine why I was ready to pack up and ship out.

Everything is just so linear. The game progresses by revealing bits and pieces of how to play the game, which isn’t unusual–tutorials are a great way to get players familiarized with the content.

BUT THIS IS DIFFERENT. 8 hours in I’m still getting schooled by the game on how to do things that would be much more effective to explain early on.

Random battles are less random this time around because you can actually see and avoid your enemies, but it doesn’t change the fact that all I’ve done so far is watch cutscene after cutscene only peppered with strings of button-mashing battles.

I’m happy to report that’s changing.

Well, that and I hate Hope less now.

But I still hate Vanille with a passion that can only be described as religious zealotry. She is the single most grating female character I’ve ever played. If you made a drinking game that required a drink every time she squealed in dialogue, you’d be wasted after just a few cutscenes.

I think once I finish this game, I’m going to post a roast of the characters, but I’ll hold my tongue for now.

I’d just like to point out one thing: Why do their names SUCK? Who was the genius writing stupid words on fortune-cookie-sized slips of paper and drawing them out of a hat?

We have:

• Lightning
• Snow
• Fang
• Hope
• Vanille (Vanilla – a + e = German for Vanilla)

Only Sazh has an original name. Everyone else was named because some stupid noun or state of being was close to hand when they were straining for names. Sazh got the chocobo-infested afro instead. Guess even he couldn’t dodge the bullet on that one.

Sleep time. More to come.

Nate Drake meets a tank

Just this evening, I managed to beat Uncharted 2. Took me around 12 or so hours over a few days, but overall it was an extremely satisfying experience.

This time around, it’s not Sir Francis Drake’s discoveries we’re stalking across the earth–it’s Marco Polo’s. More historical figures means different adventures!

The biggest difference between Uncharted and Uncharted 2 is the locale. Uncharted took place predominantly in the Amazon/Pacific Ocean, whereas 2 takes place mostly in Nepal.

If you’ve never played anything in the Uncharted franchise, a few words resurface all the time:

The first that comes to mind is “unadulterated.”  Accompanied with the word “action.”

Also, “explosions” and “hot female sidekicks.”

The writing is so remarkable for Drake and the supporting cast that I find myself constantly chuckling at his witty one-liners or completely enthralled by the goings-on of the plot.

The graphics in both iterations are marvelous–on several occasions I’d just stand and gaze out into the open, amazed that the vista was entirely computer generated.

Gameplay is reminiscent of  Tomb Raider’s mystical running, jumping climbing bits (minus the rampant control flaws) plus Gears of War’s cover and blindfire system. It all works really well.

Favorite, yet rarely used design mechanic: Running and gunning. Standing about in the open spells a quick death, so I rarely used it. But it was fun to scramble about wasting entire clips of bullets.

So many small things make the game a great success. Many of those are back. The ability to hop up and fire while hanging off the edge of  building is great fun. So is yanking enemies off it altogether.

This time around most of the cutscene-related button pressing sequences have been excised; so has the Sixaxis aiming mechanic for throwing grenades and crossing logs. Both of those were superfluous and gimmicky anyway, so the end result feels much more streamlined.

Chapters transition seamlessly, with just enough of combat in cities, exploration in creepy temples and mountainside refuges, and chase scenes to keep things fresh and interesting.

We also see the return of Elena and Sully from the first game, which is a pleasant surprise. At several points in the game, you have not only a single companion, but several.

I won’t get into the rest of the cast of characters, but was pleasantly surprised to find out that Chloe is voiced by Claudia Black (Thanks to Allison Medwin on that one)–also the voice of “Morrigan” for Bioware’s recent creation Dragon Age (and other exceptionally dorky roles as well).

The first playthrough on “Hard” wasn’t terribly difficult, but I plan to go back and beat it again on “Crushing” difficulty. Actions in the game are rewarded with Medals–in game equivalents of trophies that also carry a cash value.

That cash can be used after beating the game to unlock weapons, bonus videos and different play options for the single player game.

A game that is well worth your time and energy. And your moonies. If the single player isn’t enough for you, Naughty Dog created an extremely fun online multiplayer mode as well.

There’s enough content there to warrant another post. Expect that sometime this week.

Also, if anyone wants to play co-op, send me a message online at Galactica_Five. (And yes, I know the the username is terribly geeky–don’t remind me)

I was only ever able to answer questions about the plot and the way it plays out with a non-committal “You press buttons as things happen and that can change the course of the game.”

Most often, I was met with blank stares and a snarky “Isn’t that how you play any game?” Well…yes, yes it is.

But Heavy Rain is different.

The only games I can think of similar to Heavy Rain are Indigo Prophecy (also designed by French design studio Quantic Dream) and the Shenmue series.

These types of games are unique in that a control exists for walking around the environment, but all the other controls are determined by pressing a prompted button to interact with an item or perform an action.

Rather than always having the circle button correspond to jumping, for example, circle could pop up in a brawl for a brief second to keep your character from being punched in the face. Or as you’re running down a muddy hill to keep you from slipping face first into the mud.

Controls are sometimes pressure-sensitive for scenes where delicate attention is necessary (like rubbing antiseptic on a wound). Many times, there aren’t immediate consequences for your actions if you fail minor tasks, but the game won’t tell you what actions are extremely important or insignificant.

My favorite were the actions that required concentration, lifting or pushing, as they’d require a Twister-esque combination of controller button presses–let up just one button before the duration is met and you fail the action and must start over.

When flames are building inside your upturned car, or you’re crawling around live transformers and electrical currents, the concept of failing immediately kicks your adrenaline into overdrive.

…Which brings me to my next point: I’ve never sweat as much while playing a game as I did with Heavy Rain.

The characters are just so diverse and fairly well developed that I found myself caring more than I expected. The game focuses on four main characters:

1. Scott Shelby–A slightly older (If I recall, around 50) private eye investigating the deaths of children murdered by the enigmatic Origami Killer. Gets himself into trouble all the time, but surprisingly compassionate and helpful.
2. Madison Paige–Enters the game a little later than the other characters. A 28-year-old journalist with insomnia problems and a knack for finding danger. Also very compassionate and a bit naive.
3. Norman Jayden–A younger FBI Investigator on the trail of the Origami Killer. Drug problems, a hot head and a drive for justice makes him a force to be reckoned with. Also makes him pretty self-destructive.
4. Ethan Mars–Extremely depressed father of 1 deceased and 1 kidnapped son. Blames himself for pretty much everything that happened to his kids, but is willing to do anything he must to save his living son, Shaun from the Origami Killer. Relatively fatalistic with a bleak outlook on the world, he figures he has nothing to lose which makes him capable of some ridiculous feats.

At any point while controlling the characters the player can press the L2 button to bring up a list of thoughts that reveal more about each characters’ views and opinions. This function also provides hints about ways to interact with the environment.

Interestingly enough, depending on the selected character’s mood and circumstance, the dialogue options can literally become more frantic to select. The choices whirl about your head like electrons around an atom, with thoughts corresponding to buttons on the controller.

In a killer’s house searching for clues? Bring up the thought option and they’ll whirl around blurred and crazy. Try to open a door into a back room and don’t know what waits behind it? The button command to open the door will also shake on the screen to indicate your character’s apprehension.

Everything fits thematically here. The musical score is phenomenal and suits the mood perfectly. The result of Quantic Dream’s years of development is a masterwork of storytelling, grim atmosphere and tense gameplay. While the gameplay lasts around 9-10 hours, the story lasts just long enough to warrant another playthrough to see what other endings your choices can affect.

I didn’t like how the game ended on my first playthrough, so I played it again and landed one with which I was ultimately much happier. The chapters are available to play through specific scenes, which also means you don’t have to start from the beginning on the second or third playthrough.

This comes highly recommended from, well, me. But trust me when I say that games don’t generally affect me as much as this one did. I was yelling, sliding to the edge of my seat, and rooting for the characters the whole way.

…From yesterday’s post.

Bioshock 2 was a fitting return to the dysfunctional halls of Rapture. In many ways, I felt the game picked up right where the first one left off. Which is great, because Bioshock had a great ambience and was extremely paced.

In many ways though, it feels like the same game. Playing the role of a Big Daddy feels powerful when you get the drill charge, but most of the time the dual-wield plasmid/weapon combination doesn’t feel terribly new or different.

The new plot enemies feel largely the same, but generally less psychopathic. Sophia Lamb (spelled “Andrew Ryan”) steps in this time as the crazed leader of a dying world, and she does a remarkable job of justifying everything she does (as psychopaths are wont to do)

Interestingly, the most challenging enemy this time around are the Big Sisters–self-appointed guardians of the Little Sisters. They only come around when you upset Little Sisters, which happens when you kill a Big Daddy and harvest or protect his charge. The good samaritan act requires a substantial effort this time around–you must escort the little sisters to perform harvests, protect them while waves of splicers try to thwart you.

There are Brute Splicers this time around, too, who manage to charge and lob random bits of floor at you, but they pale in comparison to the Big Sisters.

The multiplayer is standard fare, with several different modes of play.

Rather than an experience system, the game uses Adam to track performance. Just like Modern Warfare 2, the game tests you with challenges which provide additional Adam, like “kill 30 Splicers with Incinerate,” “brain 200 Splicers with your pipe,” or “make friends with 5 Big Daddies.”

In my experience, the network system is buggy–I’ve been disconnected several times for no apparent reason. It feels more like an afterthought than the single player game, but still a fun enough distraction.

Next up (and it deserves a full review): Heavy Rain

Half a dozen large titles have been released, and I’ve gotten my hands on several of them.

Mass Effect 2 deserves more time than I’m going to give it, but so many games have come out since then I can only touch on a few things.

All I have to say is it was brilliant.  I loved the first game, but this one was somehow twice as good. Of course there were buggy things in the first game–using the Mako to explore desolate planet surfaces, a wonky cover system, silly elevator sequences, etc.

Overall though, I thought it was extremely fun. ME2 gave classes even more unique abilities, expanded the cast of characters significantly, and simplified the leveling system. The story keeps its extremely epic feel, and the final boss is practically 20x the epicosity of the first game’s. Yes–it is a real word.

I played through the first time as a Sentinel on Veteran, which provided a pretty decent challenge. I could only use handheld pistols, but my tech armor was worth it just for the glowy protection. Well, and the concussive blast of energy when it dissipated. Being able to use Overload and Warp is a godsend. Both of those abilities can take out almost any enemy protection.

A second play through on Insanity (as my 30 Sentinel) was quickly stymied by wave after wave of debilitating gunfire and invincible mechs. It got so frustrating and with new game releases looming, I decided to move it down to hardcore and create an Adept from my imported ME1 female Shepard game, and it was so much easier. Thank god for the crowd control of Singularity, and Pull.

The art book and comic that came with the collector’s edition were lovely additions, and the free membership to the Cerberus Network really made the extra money worth it. Especially because I didn’t spend the extra money (belated Christmas gift).

Tomorrow: Bioshock 2.

I just saw Avatar for the first time today, and I enjoyed myself (even though there were some flaws), but the moment I got home, I checked out the soundtrack.

All of it is labeled as “Album Only” on iTunes. Because I generally buy the whole soundtrack, that’s not a big deal, but I find that odd for sure.

I watched the launch trailer for Mass Effect 2, and figured if the music is half as good as the trailer, then I’m in good shape.

Check this out.

The music gave me chills.

I’ve seriously not been this stoked about a game release in a year. The last time I was this excited was for the original Left 4 Dead.

Collecter’s edition comes this Tuesday.

Feel free to read to the good ole’ days, but I’ll be decommissioning that site shortly.

I used to write for Examiner.com, but it’s just too hard to write locally for gamers. Blogging feels more comfortable anyway.

So prepare for some crazy video game commentary, often-ridiculous opinions and me: Keith Wick, a surburbanite living in Northern Virginia with a passion for games and a degree in English to back it up.

That’s right. Everyone needs a little street cred.

I started playing the fourth installment of the game yesterday, and I have to admit, I’m having a good time. The hack-and-slash action is good for the soul, but I can’t help but wonder where they drew the inspiration for its characters.

We’ll take two characters into consideration for this case study:

Nero – Spunky, cocky, loud-mouthed and irritable. Seriously, the only likable thing he does is buy his presumed girlfriend Kyrie a necklace. I would be surprised, but he’s voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch. ‘Nuff said.

The title of the post says piracy…and here’s why:

Draco Malfoy? Anyone?

Am I the only one that sees the resemblance? Imagine him a few years older, like he is in the Half-Blood Prince this summer.

The other made me laugh even harder, and granted, the developers probably started animating the character long before she was big, but take a gander:

Gloria-- Enigmatic, scantily-clad, and iconic femme fatale.

Compared with…

Lady Gaga.

I just couldn’t help it. Watching Gloria flip and slice up demons made me think how much fun it would be to watch Lady Gaga do the very same thing.

Maybe my mind works in mysterious ways, but it’s always funny to me when you find people who literally look like video game characters or vice versa.

I was playing Prince of Persia last night when I realized just how much of the same each level throws at you. Each different area of the castle grounds requires a different set of abilities that Elika helps the Prince unlock and use.

She’s spunky. And neat. I like her.

BUT THE GAMEPLAY. OH LAWDY. It’s just so…frustrating to do the same thing over and over. Especially when it forces you to replay long wall-running sequences or flying sequences (yes, the game has those) with little reward except being able to move to the next section of the level.

I’m just thinking while I’m playing this “WHY THE HELL IS THIS SO HARD.” I literally turned off the system last night because it was so infuriating.

Don’t get me wrong, the game definitely has style, a requisite amount of jaw-dropping visceral fightscenes and a healthy supply of “Holy crap, did I jus–that was me? I win.”

I’ll beat it, but it certainly hasn’t been the most positive experience. If anything, the dialogue has been the most impressive and dynamic aspect of the game. It’s organic and really well developed.

I picked up Too Human through Gamefly’s used game store for 15 bucks and felt like I scored, but then I started playing it and felt the controller turn to lead in my hands.

That’s at least how the controls felt–like lead. The game is gorgeous and filled with Norse mythology. And neat cybernetics and glowy things. I’m a sucker for things that glow.

But swinging around a hammer against a horde of enemies feels about as effective as wearing galoshes for a ballet routine, or driving in a nail with a bedpost. We’ll see if it’s worth the 15 dollars. Anyone care to play co-op with me online?

Graduating in two weeks. Here’s hoping I retain my sanity in time to move out (read: move home). At least I have a plan. And I’m going to stick to it.