Accurate Weather

Best weather site out there.

http://www.tomscott.com/weather/starwars/

Well, it would be without the Ep. I references for San Francisco...

Puzzling Times

In my absence from blogging, I've had the opportunity to finish a few more games. Some were new, some not so much.

Braid was next in line. Braid is a simple little side scrolling puzzle game that tells the story of Tim and his quest to save his princess love. At its core, not the most original of plots. However the way the game tells the story is very original. It's told through the various jigsaw puzzles that the player assembles with pieces earned as the game progresses.

I use the term "simple" to mean that it's simple to play. Its controls are very basic, which does ad to the game's charm. However, while Tim is easy to control, the puzzles of each level are pretty diabolical. The levels are all based on Tim's ability to rewind and fast forward time. This is easily the hardest game I've ever played, but it's also my favorite puzzle game.

The game is absolutely gorgeous. The graphics are designed to give you the feel that you're playing in the very paintings you're collecting. The game succeeds wonderfully here. You can almost smell the paint in the moving clouds and features.

Overall it's a game I highly recommend. Of course I'm just the latest of a long line of people that have raved about this game. So really, this blog post is old news.

An Excellent Adventure

This makes scary sense:



Thanks AOTS

Whips, swords, geometry and physics.

As part of my recent attempt to move away from shooter video games (at least until I can no longer resist Wolfenstein), I downloaded a few indie games, Trine, Braid and Ceville. First up, a little game called Trine. It's a side scrolling platformer, a genre that I normally stay away from. This time, however, I was pleasantly surprised.

In Trine, players control one of three characters; a Knight, a thief and a wizard. Each has their own abilities, the thief can swing from point to point a la Indiana Jones, the Wizard can create various geometric shapes, boxes, triangles that float and platforms and the Knight smashes. At any point players can switch between each character. Supposedly, each level can be passed solely be each character, though there are a few moments I seriously doubted that.

The game is absolutely gorgeous. The backgrounds are rendered in full detail, sometimes so much so that you want to jump to the bridge back there. It's part of a recent trend called "2.5D", an invented term to designate that the backgrounds are 3D. Really it's just to make you think you're not buying a side scrolling game.

The game play is very solid, each character does offer a unique way to solve the puzzles. The thief's swinging can get the player most places, but not everywhere. The wizard can geomancy his way around pretty effectively too, but can't fight. The knight is the strong arm, but also gives the player a shield to protect from various hazards. On their own, each can pass the levels. However, in order to find all the goodie filled chests and experience bottles, they must work together. The controls are basic, and using the "wasd" (or arrow) buttons in combination of the mouse took some getting used to, but works well.

As I said, each level should be passable by each character on their own. I'm definitely going to replay each character alone. In the end, this is worth taking a look at, especially for the $20 I paid for it. Plus it didn't make my brain hurt like Braid...

Ferret Gein

Rob Zombie should take notes:



Wonder where I can get a tiny little chainsaw...

Quasi-evil

In an effort to mix up my video gaming, I've lately tried a few non-shooter games. This is mainly because the last few shooters I've played have left me with a strong feeling of "meh".

After a successful venture into Ghostbusters,I decided to try another console port to PC, Overlord 2 since I've enjoyed other games that allow you to be the bad guy. I'm not talking about the recent fad in games that give you the "choice" between good and evil, that's just a cop out to get the player to play the game again to get a different story. This way, developers only need to produce a a game with half the content. I'm talking about games like Dungeon Keeper 1 and 2, Stubbs the Zombie, Evil Genius and the like.

Anyway, Overlord 2 left me with the aforementioned feeling of "meh". The basis of the game is that the player controls squads of minions. The minions come in four colors, each with a different ability. The Browns are basic foot soldiers, Reds are the ranged attackers, Greens the stealthy assassins, Blues the medics. The whole idea is that the player lets the minions do the fighting, which entails sending them off to the fight and watching - maybe leaving to get a beer, not real exciting. Sure, there are a few fights that take a little more direct involvement, but not many. It's trying to be an RTS, without letting that pesky strategy get in the way. The sheer number of minions that can be collected effectively voids the need to be careful. If your army is demolished, just run to the nearest Minions-R-Us, pull another out and try again. Truly the hardest part was trying to control them in areas that the Overlord can't reach. Since the minions don't go where you tell them, this is easily the most frustrating part of the game.

To make matters worse, it's yet another third person game. My sincere hope for the video gaming community is that someday there'll be a third person game that doesn't have camera issues. Overlord 2 does OK here, but there were a few moments of losing the camera behind a rock, tree or wall. This, of course, happens only during the most challenging fights. Maybe that's it, the developers of these games can only increase the challenge by forcing the player to play with the blast shield down.

In other games, being the bad guy is undeniably fun. Unfortunately this game jumps on the moral choice bandwagon. You can choose to be the bad guy and dominate everyone, or the worse guy by simply killing everyone. However, while the latter is more appealing (you are a demon after all), there is a definite reward for the former. Plus, these rewards are almost required later in the game. Basically the fun of being the bad guy is cleanly excised here. The occasional humor is the one good thing about this game. There are moments I actually did laugh out loud. The over-the-top effeminate, tree-hugging, hippie elves are a riot. However, these moments are few and far between and really not worth the whole effort.

Ah well, at least I have Monkey Island to fall back on for true laughs. D'oro the Explorer indeed...

Literal Idiocy

Taking "No shirt, No shoes, No service" a bit too far:



I would have loved to hear the cops' response, if they had been called...