Recent Activities

Hey all, I know there’s been radio silence on my side for the last few… well… for a seriously long time. I wish I could say that I had finished an arcade machine with such a high score that the alien race that invented it came down to earth to take me off to fight in their war and save their people. In reality I have to admit that I haven’t played anything in an arcade for years… so you will just have to write it off as laziness.

But that is now a thing of the past! Yes, that is correct ladies, gentlemen and sentient shades of the colour blue: This blog will once again be ticking over on a regular schedule! I will post something (no comment as to what) at least once a week.

On to other things: I’ve recently bought a monster of a gaming machine. This is the first machine I’ve had in AGES that even approximates the contemporary standard, so I’ve been playing lots of games and I thought I’d give you my thoughts on them:

Batman: Arkham City

Whoo-wee what a cool game! I never did manage to play through Arkham Asylum, can’t even find a copy of it, but I had tons of fun with the sequel. The whole thing feels very batman-y… I loved the combat (both straight-up fights and stealthy sections) and the cross city movement was a complete joy after I got the hang of the controls. I would love to see a Gotham Racer game, using the exact same controls… all I’d want is a little more speed.  Favourite moment in the game:  The Mr. Freeze boss fight… I know it’s not as climactic as the others, but it gave me the greatest sense of accomplishment.

 

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

I don’t know why no one thought of this idea before. It’s essentially a standard RPG format adventure game, you get XP, you level up, create weapons and potions… all very standard fare to gamers by now. Even the story (written by R.A. Salvatore – whom I respect greatly) is nothing ground breaking to anyone familiar with the Heroic Fantasy genre, but what sets it apart is the combat. Combat in this game is spectacular, more on the lines of God of War and the like and it is more than refreshing to enjoy the combat sequences of an RPG as much as the story (in fact, it caused me problems with another game… keep reading). The only criticism I can make about this game is that the last third was FAR too easy… seriously… I snored through it, which unfortunately took all the drama out of the final fights… I knew I wouldn’t have any problem beating anything the game could throw at me, and I was right.

Elder Scrolls V:  Skyrim

Ah, Skyrim… I actually bought this one before both Arkham City and KOA and I played a fair amount (lots of any other game… not a lot for an Elder Scrolls title), took over the magic college and all that. My problem came in after taking a break to play KOA. After enjoying the combat so much in KOA, I simply cannot force myself to get back into Skyrim. The story is cool, and the graphics are not bad, but the combat is just horrible… seriously, it’s shit. Also: gravity defying horses… really? WTF?

 And that’s what I’ve been up to… tune in next week for more awesomeness… or randomness… depends on your point of view I guess.

-Odd

“Now with 100% more words”