Fighting the zombie apocalypse: Left 4 Dead
By CloudANDTidus on 11.14.08 at 05:53 PM CST [permalink] [Karma: 4 (+/-)] [2 Comments] |
 So last Tuesday the demo for Valve's B movie zombie thriller, Left 4 Dead, was released for both Xbox LIVE and PC. No longer owning a PC (and having never owned one capable of much gaming finesse) I was keen to check it out on the 360 having mightily enjoyed the complete Orange Box package (enough to buy Portal twice!).
To be honest, I had never really payed that much attention to what Left 4 Dead was, however I had heard enough hype that I was certain that I would enjoy it. Wow was I wrong...
Let's start at the beginning by explaining just what the game is. Left 4 Dead is a humorous take on the old zombie movie formula. It has none of the seriousness or teeth grating story-lines that popular horror gamers such as Resident Evil or Silent Hill have, instead focusing on a more light hearted co-operative folly through the zombie apocalypse. Control wise it's a pretty clean copy and paste from Half Life 2 (which isn't surprising seeing as it runs on the same engine), although graphically the game is clearly much superior to Vale's previous work.
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More Random Thoughts
By TetsuoTrunks on 11.11.08 at 06:36 PM CST [permalink] [Karma: 5 (+/-)] [3 Comments] |
Nothing big this week; had a topic but the execution was lame. Maybe I can revisit it later on. Meanwhile, back to random bytes.
First off, it seems complaining loudly about something will lead to massive social changes for all involved. I take full credit for this change, and I would like to thank all of you as it could not have happened without this blog. Actually, hopefully someone at Rare realized "Wait! We're being f*&^ing morons about this!" and changed their tune. On another note, I forgot to commemorate it, but apparently that post was the 100TH Button Masher's Blog entry on this site (not counting the few I did on the old LJ community), which I suppose warrants some kind of celebration? I'll go thank you all by running out and buying Mirror's Edge this week and sending Joshie the bill. Little gift to me from all of you (mostly him).
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Race to the Finish
By Biccy on 11.06.08 at 11:00 PM CST [permalink] [Karma: 4 (+/-)] [3 Comments] |
I've been playing Fable 2 recently and so far, I'm enjoying it. It's a pretty fun, kinda simple game, that has a nice little humour streak running through it.
Now I haven't really played enough of Fable 1 to properly compare the two, but they share similarities and are different at the same time. You're not just playing Fable 1 with some new colours, you're playing a new game. This'll come into play in a second.
Thing is, I've read a few reviews from people and a surprising amount are negative.
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Points deducted for being lazy
By TetsuoTrunks on 11.06.08 at 06:40 AM CST [permalink] [Karma: 0 (+/-)] [2 Comments] |
So of course, as luck would have it, no sooner do I promise that Joshie will be taking over a Wednesday post does he, for the first time in quite a while, fail to live up to the not so arduous task I set before him. Thanks pal. Luckily for me, someone else in the world managed to screw up with him, and thus I have a topic for tonight.
Anyone remember Dead Rising? Of course you do, it was a fun game, one of the titles that helped get the 360 off the ground and hell, they're STILL working on a port to Wii (and PS3 owners are still begging for a port). But there was also a bit of an issue that plagued the title. And worse still, Dead Rising was not the only game to have problems such as this. Now, granted, King Kong was practically a 360 launch title, but Dead Rising came out in late 2006, so they have less of an excuse. Ok, now it is not any secret that these games are meant to be shown on HDTVs anyway, so this oversight was unfortunate, but I guess it was acceptable. But you'd think 2 years later, people would learn right?
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What matters in life...
By TetsuoTrunks on 11.04.08 at 10:35 PM CST [permalink] [Karma: 2 (+/-)] [1 Comment] |
First off, a big hello to everyone. I am in fact alive, and despite my numerous failed promises in the past, I am actually trying to keep myself active in this community. However, I have finally come to the realization that I was simply trying to handle too much. I've gone back to school, started seeing a new girl, got a new job, was dealing with a number of pet projects on the side, among other things. It was just way too much. And I know, last time I said I was scaling back, but this time I've actually got my head on straight and redefined what is actually feasible for me. However, as news in the industry is picking up again, Joshie offered to add a weekly post to the blog, which I accepted. So the new schedule is Me on Mondays, Joshie on Wednesday and Biccy on Fridays. Also, I have agreed to post my same blog material on a friend's page. His public page is Phlavio's Corner. His is a blog predominately about American Sports, with some very worthwhile reading. But I'm posting it here for 2 reasons; first off, as I'll be noting that my articles also appear on FW, it is only fair to bring traffic in both directions. And secondly, so no one thinks this 'Phlavio' guy is stealing my material and posting it as his own.
So I, like many other people, downloaded and played the demo for Mirror's Edge when it was released this past week. For those of you unfamiliar with the title, its a game where you play from a first person perspective and go freerunning (Parkour) all over a city in a neo-dystopian future. The title has some focus on combat, but mainly you're taught to worry about running away from fights and focus on where you need to go. The game uses a simple system to show you the next suggested path; most of the architecture is white, but many times items will change to red if you can use them to get to your next objective. Its a fairly intuitive system and after only a short tutorial level, you can grasp most of the concepts fairly quickly. And as far as demos go, this one pretty much hit the nail on the head for what its supposed to do. Suck the gamer in, give them a free taste, show off a bit of whats possible, and make you want to buy the full game. And really, at this point, I'm completely sold, with just one main concern.
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Arm and a leg for a second hand
By Biccy on 10.11.08 at 04:05 PM CST [permalink] [Karma: 6 (+/-)] [3 Comments] |
So recently, video game prices have been talked about. Over here the usual price for a new game is £40, with the occasional special edition going over or some games going under.
For what they're actually selling you, £40 is waaaay marked up. If you look at the basic materials that you're getting, they're worth about 5p, if that.
Still, for me it has become the norm and if the game is good enough, I generally don't mind shedding out that much.
What I do mind is the obscene prices that second hand games have hit these days...
(I apologise for the weird symbols next to the pound signs, nothing I can do!)
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