Lost time...

I must apologize gentle reader. It has been far too long since I last posted. What happened?

Batman: Arkham Asylum started it. Blame Batman. Or maybe the Joker is more deserving of blame. Anyway, this game is amazing! I had a ton of fun playing it. I listened to a podcast recently where one of the members said that he would be happy if it was just a bunch of Batman set-pieces. Well they were in there for sure, but the gameplay backed them up in a great way.

All of the buzz about the "free-flow combat" was worth it. The hand-to-hand fights in Batman: AA are just great. It takes a bit to understand the mechanics and timing, but once you get it going, you really feel like Batman taking out a large group of thugs. If you liked the scenes in the recent movies where Batman is taking on 5 or 6 guys all at once, you will love playing these parts of the game. Even when you get hit, the effects are amazing. If a thug has a melee weapon like a pipe and manages to score a hit, the screen goes fuzzy and the image doubles, which is a perfect effect for such a hit. As you take damage, the color slowly bleeds out of the picture, giving you a sort of life-bar without actually having one. Batman's "health" replenishes when he isn't hit for a while, so you are never low on resources in that way.

So, hand to hand combat is great and all.. But Batman is really all about the stealth and fear. These elements are present as well. Throughout the game there are various situations that require to you take out enemies silently and without being seen. This could be traps set off by thugs when they see you, or simply thugs carrying guns, and guns will stop you pretty quickly if you get hit multiple times. As you progress and acquire more of Batman's gadgets your mobility increases greatly, and your ability to take out foes in a stealthy manner is further enhanced.

Mobility is something I love in games. Batman has the means to move quickly through areas. Zip-lines, cape-gliding, grappling hooks, and more. Batman is rarely seen strolling about, and this game lets you emulate that in spades.

Batman Arkham Asylum is simply a great game. Penny-Arcade's Tycho called it a "metroidvania" title, an apt description. You are constantly moving through parts of the island, acquiring new tools to help you reach new areas. There is a lot of revisiting, I suppose, but somehow this game manages not to become boring. Of course, the scenery does change after parts.. But no spoilers here. Any fan of Batman will love this game, and I'm certain that anyone who likes fun games will love it too.

But Batman came out over a month ago, what the heck have I been doing? Well, Batman kept me entertained to the point where I preferred to play the game instead of blogging it for quite a while. Longer than most games lately. Since I decided to let the disc cool, and since budgetary constraints are growing, I've been re-playing some older titles.

I got back into Fallout 3 for a while.. Until it kept crashing on me. One of the perils of PC gaming and modding I suppose. I've tried to reinstall the game and play the vanilla game, modding slowly and keeping track of things that cause problems.. But there just doesn't seem to be any way for me to run that game in a stable way with Mods. This is pretty upsetting. The vanilla build is fun and kept me entertained for a LOOONG time... But now I want the new content as well. I'll keep at it.

I was on a Star Wars kick for a few weeks (still am, actually). As a result, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed found its way back into my 360. I still love this game. I think the critics panned it for various troubles, but the game is a lot of fun anyway. If you have ever wanted to wreak havoc with the force and a lightsaber... This is your game. The story is fairly true to Star Wars (I'm serious.. Watch the movies again if you think I'm full of it) and the extra costumes and such are just fun. Some elements were added (The dark troopers) that are there simply to make the game more challenging than throwing stormtroopers around all day. I turned the difficulty up once I started playing again, and was rewarded for doing so. On the easier levels, the combat is pretty straight-forward, but as you increase the difficulty, tactical prowess becomes a necessity. I'm sure this game is pretty inexpensive these days, or wait for the Ultimate Sith Edition this winter!

And as for right now, I'm replaying Mass Effect. I loved this game the first time around, and am enjoying it this time as well. I've tried most of the classes, and I think Infiltrator is my go-to. I am very excited for the sequel, as well. I hope that in their "streamlining" of some of the features they don't just dumb everything down. If you don't keep your character upgraded organically as you play, it can get tedious, but I love all of the micro-managing when it comes to gun upgrades and ammo types. I guess this is gone in the sequel.. We'll see how that works out. From the videos and information I've read, they are going for more visceral combat in the sequel, so shooter fans should find more challenge and excitement there. It is hard to wrap your head around the fact that the game is not really a shooter. It is an RPG that just happens to use guns. Further developments should be interesting. I just had a taste of Pinnacle Station before I decided to start over. I had to kill one of my favorite characters to advance the story.. And I can't have that happen, especially since he will stay dead in the sequel! So I get to see the beginning again. Not my favorite part, but hopefully I can soldier on and get to the meaty parts of the game.

List Time:

Titles I am excited for:
Borderlands (probably for Xbox) The art style and classes interest me. Should be fun.
Dragon Age: Origins (PC) I've actually pre-ordered this game. I love bioware titles, and especially dungeon crawl RPGs a-la Baldurs Gate.
Bayonetta (Xbox) I am a huge Devil May Cry fan, so some competition (from the original creator) should be a great thing, hopefully pushing future titles of both series to greater heights. Sort of creeped out by the hair thing though.


There, a load of content. Doesn't make up for my lack of posts, but catches people up.