I didn't start getting excited about Reach until about 1 month before it's release. And even then, it wasn't the same excitement as say, a new Zelda game (Top tier, platinum level excitement). But, I was still excited. And then it happened, and I really enjoy it. Having stopped playing Halo 3 a while ago, due to IRL friends vacating the country, it's nice to play what is basically a brand new game but with the same mechanics.
The multiplayer feels very fresh, as it should considering this is not just an expansion like ODST. Abilities like jetpack and sprint change the gameplay significantly for the better. The new weapons also took me a few hours to get the hang of, namely the DMR and Needle Rifle, but have quickly become my favourite weapons.
The campaign is pretty good fun, once again making sure you encounter just about everything possible in the game, and giving you the opportunity to use all the weapons and equipment. The story, however, is pretty lousy, due to the characters. It's not that they aren't likable, it's just that they aren't likable enough. Many people have been saying that there isn't enough time for their development (8 hour-ish campaign, on heroic/legendary difficulty) but I say tish and fimsy. I played through COD4 - Modern Warfare, and really liked the Captain Price character, who was developed even less than the cast of Reach. This is because the interaction between you and Cpt. Price was incredibly intimate at times, and really brought you into the game.
The campaign also doesn't feel nearly as epic as Halo 3's, or even Halo 2 and Combat: Evolved. But, screw it, it's still fun to play, especially on co-op, and Reach now tracks your progress in so many mind boggling ways you feel totally convinced that it's worth it (commendations and credits). Multiplayer is excellent fun, especially at the moment when most people are still learning the maps, modes, weapons, vehicles and abilities.
And of course, you can track all your stats online. Here is my service record: Carpish
I got really into the hype surrounding Scott Pilgrim recently, for like, a few days. I read all the comics at once, played the game at the same time (not actually the same time) then braved the outlands of Dundee with Lynsey to go see it at cineworld.
The comic I really enjoyed, probably the most out of all 3 mediums. I liked the drawing style, simplicity in characters easily pleases me. All the characters in the story pretty much look the same but with different hair and clothes, so it could be mildly confusing at times when someone starts to wear different attire. But the way they are drawn makes them so expressive. Moods and emotions can be conveyed so effectively, and altered with the slightest variation of line. Some panels made me laugh because of the textual content - others just because they were drawn so funny. The rest a combination of both.
Although not spectacular and groundbreaking, the comics are certainly worth the read to fans of video games (and dare I say it, hipsters) but they've got pretty serious flaws. I'm not big on reading stories about hipster relationships, as they all just end up looking like trendy cool-geek knobs. The characters are often blatantly mean to their friends, and constantly seem to cheat on each other. Damn hipsters
The film was pretty good. I read all the comics before hand, and part of me wished that I hadn't. I knew everything that was about to come up, and since they were so fresh in my mind, I knew most of the jokes too. Only the things that were fresh to the movie stood out for me, although most of the gags had been adapted so well that they still made me chortle a bit.
There were frequent references to Zelda in the opening 10 minutes or so, which was pretty cool, since Zelda rocks. Other nods to geekdom were a little bit more awkward, however, including the opening 8 bit rendition of the Universal theme which seems to go on for a little bit too long - why wasn't it animated? Some other references felt a bit forced, alienating one of the main audiences the film is targeting, gamers! But were they targeting gamers? Or just cool-hipster geeks? They also missed one of the best quotes, (from Monkey Island's insult sword fighting), which was present in the comic book, a line which any Lucas Arts or classic adventure game fan should recognise.
I also don't think Michael Cera brought the true lovable, forgetful Scott Pilgrim from the comic book to life. He did however bring himself to the role, so it works (but only if you like Michael Cera) and he's also Canadian, so good choice of actor I feel. I'm probably doing such a bad job since I'm comparing the film to the book so much, but for the first half of the movie, it's pretty much exactly the same, from dialog to location.
The game really has some of the nicest pixel graphics I've ever seen, as well as a good soundtrack by Anamanaguchi (they have an excellent album called Dawn Metropolis), and some fairly satisfying gameplay. A standard scrolling beat em up on the face of it, underneath it has some RPG-esque elements such as leveling up via EXP points (which unlocks new moves) and the gathering of money to buy upgrades for your stats.
The controls are rather dodgy at times, usually not a problem, but some levels require you to do a bit of platforming which the game just doesn't feel designed to accomodate. It's quite hard to distinguish between a long jump and a short jump, and characters often have low traction, so you'll be sliding about without meaning to. Mix that up with a few small platforms nestled between a generic spike pit, and you can imagine the false difficulty you're going to face.
More unfortunately are the frequent glitches, sometimes getting stuck in holes left with no option but exiting to the map, but worst of all is when the game freezes, which has happened at least 3 times to me on separate occasions. The only other thing I have to complain about is the difficulty of certain bosses, which varies greatly. Some later bosses are much easier than, for example, the second one when he picks up a skateboard. If that happens, and you're unfortunate enough to be in his midst unprepared, you can be killed in a matter of seconds with no way to escape.
Enough of the badness, the good side is that it's really fun when playing with others, and it's really satisfying to beat enemies with the wide variety of usable objects. Characters and environments are designed really well, reflecting both the comic and the film accurately. It's certainly worth the fiveish pounds.
Mir 2 is an mmorpg currently still available to play, but is only now a shadow of it's former self. When I started playing, around 2001, it was with 3 real-life friends, the game was only a week or two into it's Beta stages and was free to play. It was really fun exploring this large, mysterious world, akin to that of when I played Zelda: Link's Awakening for the first time. I killed a few hens and deer, and started my slow progression through the game. At that time no-one knew what anything was, which made it so much more fun. Eventually I got bored, and stopped playing.
A while later, I came back, the game had been updated quite significantly by this time. I had lost touch with all the people I once knew, my RL friends were also long gone, which was quite depressing, but I quickly made new friends. It helped that I was now playing with my brother.
What was great about this game was the competitive element. You'd see the same people day in day out, which made it feel like a tightly knit community. The forums were like internet hollyoaks, only much more entertaining. I made some great friends, and some enemies, too. I then quit once again, and finally, so did the game, closing early 2009.
I still really like this game, because all you did was kill monsters with friends then fight enemies with them too. The new Mir isn't as good, and not really worth playing.
According to this blog post, a film based on Mir 2 is currently being developed in China. Even if it's terrible and receives no translation, I will probably watch it. Back in 2001, the game had over 200,000 simultaneous users in China, and it is still very popular there and in Korea.
I know what you're thinking: Gay? Surprisingly, no. Well, I'm not sure what the Japanese think of Tingle, he is undeniably camp, but this game pretty much confirms his heterosexuality. It's the first game to feature Tingle as the main protagonist, and it takes place before his excursions with Link (Majora's Mask, Wind Waker...etc.) And how does it prove he's as straight as a rupee's edge? Well, because he daydreams about bathing with naked ladies! Seriously, that's about as straight as it gets.
Not like it's wrong for Tingle to be gay, I think it's just unusual to be gay in a Zelda game.
So this DS title is actually really good fun. Like DQ:Rocket Slime, it's pretty damn bizarre, although you could classify it as an adventure title. Adventure, yes, but it's nothing like a Zelda game. You control Tingle, who starts off as a normal man, wearing normal clothes and acts....normal! In fact, his name isn't even Tingle, it's whatever you chose it to be. So, whilst reclining at home, he hears an alluring voice, which turns out to be that of the Rupee God. The wizened currency deity mentions that Tingle can reach a place of infinite happiness called Rupeeland if he plops enough money into the magic pool behind he house. He must also don the garb of the Tingle...and thus, he remains cursed forever.
The gameplay is pretty unique - you go around collecting ingredients, mixing potions, and talking with all sorts of odd people. Really odd people! At first, no-one trusts you; then the games signature mechanic comes into play. You have to give them rupees - for pretty much everything - but younever know how much. You just have to guess. And should you guess wrong, that's it - the moneys gone, and you have to guess again. This wouldn't be so terrible, but rupees are Tingle's LIFE. Literally. In place of heart containers, or hit points, your wallet claims all damage wrought upon you.
It has to be one of the least forgiving games I've played, everyone in it is a total jerk. You need rupees for everything in this game. It is also a great addition to anyone's library, especially if they're looking for something out of the ordinary. I love how many odd games there are on the DS - it has to house some of the most strange and unique games I've ever played.
TAS stands for either Tool Assisted Superplay, or Speedrun. A TAS is different from a regular speedrun as it's main purpose is to push a game to it's limit, exploiting the system on a level which is not normally humanly possible - but made so via use of an emulator, save states, and frame rate slow downs. Usually a TAS manifests in the form of completing a game extremely quick - some graphical or frame rate glitches can be exploited so as to make a 15-20 hour long game (like Mario 64) completable in minutes. I like them because they are fun to watch - and it's interesting to see what can be done to make the game shorter. Running through walls, getting damaged to move faster, anything is done to shave off a few seconds.
Also, you really have to admire the people who chose to spend their time making a TAS - an extremely repetitive job, that requires an utterly complete knowledge of the subject material (the game) not only on a control level, but a programming level too. They are therefore much more time consuming and difficult to construct than it is to simply play a normal speedrun, by a vast margine.
There are hundreds of them, all available on Youtube or Speed demos archive. I'm such a nerd, they really keep me engrossed. My favourites are usually the sonic ones. Some of them are played so well that it gives character to the sprites - a silent era movie style of character, in the way Sonic and Tails SHOULD have been portrayed in the cartoon series (and later 3D-era games). OK, I'm going to have to explain how they do this, so, new paragraph time.
Basically at the end of each stage it takes about 10 seconds for your score to be tallied. There is no exploit to make this go faster - so rather than just have the characters stand around and do nothing at this point (because they are still controllable) with the TAS both Sonic and Tails are given life. They jump around in synchronization, have play fights, every ounce of character possible is sucked out of those few animated sprites and put on screen. If there is one TAS I recommend any fan of Sonic or videogames to watch, it's this one:
It's really great how far they can push those sprites to act, I guess i'm probably looking into it way too deeply (geeking) Anyway, here is a list of other good ones:
