Been playing the BioShock demo that went up on Xbox Live tonight.
Freaking rocks. Gorgeous, stylistic game
I like adventure games. I like games with atmosphere and story. I like games that make me say, "You want me to what? By myself?"
So this moral dilemma shooter (a la Deus Ex; a shooter like that's a "shooter") has got my interest piqued. Gonna be a long couple of weeks waiting for the full game.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Eternal Sonata
Wow, if you haven't yet, you should check out the Namco Bandai Eternal Sonata demo from disc 73 of The Official Xbox Magazine, or download it from Xbox Live Marketplace.
I'm not really into Japanese-style RPGs, but this is one charming, beautiful little game. Besides, it's got a decent mix of turn-based and action RPG mechanics. You have all the time in the world to decide your attack move with your three-person party, but once you move at all (like, accidentally bumping a thumb stick), it's on, and the attack meter ticks down quickly until your turn is done. Stupid giant wild boar.
And, as far as high art goes, this game is set in Polish composer Chopin's dreams (subconscious?) as he's on his death bed. So, his music is throughout the game. So it's audibly gorgeous, too.
So what are you waiting for? Go play the free demo, slacker.
I'm not really into Japanese-style RPGs, but this is one charming, beautiful little game. Besides, it's got a decent mix of turn-based and action RPG mechanics. You have all the time in the world to decide your attack move with your three-person party, but once you move at all (like, accidentally bumping a thumb stick), it's on, and the attack meter ticks down quickly until your turn is done. Stupid giant wild boar.
And, as far as high art goes, this game is set in Polish composer Chopin's dreams (subconscious?) as he's on his death bed. So, his music is throughout the game. So it's audibly gorgeous, too.
So what are you waiting for? Go play the free demo, slacker.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Carcassonne & Power Grid
Friday night, I hit a buddy's all-night "unplugged" party.
Aside from poker, fine beverages, and premium cigars (provided by yours truly), it was a heavy board game night.
Two of the attendees are hard core traditional gamers, and they brought a huge selection of traditional and not-so-traditional fare.
Puerto Rico. Railroad Tycoon. Carcassonne. Power Grid. And so on.
It was my first experience with Carcassonne, which is a fantastically fun little strategy game. Think fief building and asset management without having to worry about actually managing assets. The timing for my introduction was good, because this Wednesday sees the release of the Xbox Live version of Carcassonne on Xbox Live Arcade.
Power Grid is a cool, actual asset management game. You've got to build cities, makes choices with power options in the context of commodities (supply and demand) constraints, renew resources, and generally try to have the greatest number of powered cities by the time the first player has purchased at least 17 cities. For those familiar with Union Pacific and Railroad Tycoon, it kind of plays like a cross between those two.
The best part of Power Grid for me is the slick retro art, akin to the stuff shown so far in the teasers and posters for video games like BioShock and Fallout 3.
And I really enjoy the in-person camaraderie of table top games. And, as a rule, there are fewer idiots ...
Aside from poker, fine beverages, and premium cigars (provided by yours truly), it was a heavy board game night.
Two of the attendees are hard core traditional gamers, and they brought a huge selection of traditional and not-so-traditional fare.
Puerto Rico. Railroad Tycoon. Carcassonne. Power Grid. And so on.
It was my first experience with Carcassonne, which is a fantastically fun little strategy game. Think fief building and asset management without having to worry about actually managing assets. The timing for my introduction was good, because this Wednesday sees the release of the Xbox Live version of Carcassonne on Xbox Live Arcade.
Power Grid is a cool, actual asset management game. You've got to build cities, makes choices with power options in the context of commodities (supply and demand) constraints, renew resources, and generally try to have the greatest number of powered cities by the time the first player has purchased at least 17 cities. For those familiar with Union Pacific and Railroad Tycoon, it kind of plays like a cross between those two.
The best part of Power Grid for me is the slick retro art, akin to the stuff shown so far in the teasers and posters for video games like BioShock and Fallout 3.
And I really enjoy the in-person camaraderie of table top games. And, as a rule, there are fewer idiots ...
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Halo 3 (beta)
I seriously think things look graphically prettier on the beta tonight. I'm sure I would have noticed drifting snow on Snowbound, and the bases look more ... metallic ...
Sucky night for me, though, I was seriously off...
Sucky night for me, though, I was seriously off...
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