GameSetPlaying: What Games Are Grabbing Your Attention?
Haven't done one of these in a while, so with the peak gaming season in full swing (and lots more releases still coming down the pipe!), I'll point out some games I've been playing, and then hand it over to you good GSW readers:
- Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools Of Destruction (Insomniac/Sony, PS3)
Insomniac's Ratchet & Clank Future (currently 2nd on the PS3 Metacritic charts) may be the gem of the PlayStation 3's holiday season in terms of exclusives. Playing it with a friend yesterday, a few things were notable - the smooth, super-tuned gameplay, the surprisingly deep weapon upgrade paths, the beautifully done cut-scene narratives, and graphics which I personally think are the best on the PlayStation 3 so far. The gameplay is, of course, not dissimilar to the other Ratchet games, but don't overlook it because of that, for pity's sake.
- Portal (Valve, Xbox 360)
You know, we're all a bit bored of people raving about Portal at this point. But nonetheless, I've been playing it, and I wanted to comment on why I personally enjoy it. First: it's bite-sized in a smart, artificially constructed way, which makes it incredibly easy to pick up and put down. Second: it trains my brain and I feel genuinely pleased with myself when I work out puzzle solutions. Third: although dexterity is required, it's less constant, stress-filled violence than carefully orchestrated event chains. So, what - Portal is a 'casual', 'brain training', 'non-violent' kind of game? Mm, smells of zeitgeist.
- Various Xbox Live Arcade Games (Various, Xbox 360)
My latest OCD-related XBLA task is to get 3 Achievements on all the Xbox Live Arcade games I own. This is surprisingly fun, given that there are actually very few complete duds on XBLA (the only game I've paid for and then deleted in pique is Wing Commander Arena.) Anyhow, going alphabetically to fill in the gaps has caused me to re-evaluate 3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures, which is a lot more fun multiple times round, and also grab the Super Soviet Missile Mastar achievement in Alien Hominid HD. Oh, and I still can't stop playing Track & Field, oddly.
So there you go. But I'm also horribly behind on the seasonal rush, with stuff like Beautiful Katamari, Eye Of Judgment, and Exit for XBLA stacked up to play - and with a pre-ordered Guitar Hero III for Xbox 360 awaiting me at the store later today. How about you, GSW reader? What titles, new or old, have you been playing over the last couple of weeks, and... why?
Comments
GalCon:
http://www.imitationpickles.org/galcon/index.html
Pretty addictive! Easy to pickup, but hard to put down though... and they have a linux build :-)
Alex
Posted by: alexjc | October 28, 2007 4:25 PM
Portal: great concept and lots humor. Not a big fan of the platform elements in the game though. I'm not really used to playing in first person and needed 3 tries to make over 3 simple platforms, thankfully there is not a whole lot of it in the game.
Metal Slug (usually X): It just never bores. I thinks those games still looks absolute gorgeous, the game is a blast. I do short session around 20 - 30 minutes once or twice almost everyday.
Burnout 3: Play this one online. This week was the first time in 3 years that there where nobody online, usually there around 20 people. I believe EA closed the server for Burnout 4 already I hope they don't decide to do the same thing for 3 anytime soon.
God Hand: Game of the Year! It came out in Europe this year in February in May it was already a budget title (So was Okami). Never had such a blast for €19,00.
As soon I can connect may arcade stick to a PC I give GGPO out a try I've been there spectating a few games. Looks to work smooth and can't wait to give it a try.
Posted by: Cruds | October 28, 2007 9:19 PM
As usual, I'm playing five or six games at once. The difference is that I think I stand a pretty good chance of finishing all of them.
Ratchet & Clank Future: Just polished this one off. It's exactly what I expected: Ratchet & Clank, in very high definition. It's probably not the best Ratchet game (I didn't really enjoy it as much as 3) but it's still the best thing the PS3 has to offer. I found all the Holo-Plan pieces, and I think I'll stop there.
Half-Life 2: Playing it for the first time on the 360 Orange Box. Partway through Ravenholm now, but I'm putting it aside to focus on newer games.
Dracula X Chronicles: Alternating between the Rondo remake and Symphony of the Night. I've played SotN probably a dozen times by now (including the XBLA version just a couple months ago) but I'm interested in this one for the re-localization aspect, since I have a professional interest.
Phoenix Wright 3: And speaking of a professional interest in localization... Hire some damn localization QA people already, Capcom. Running the script through a spell-check does NOT count, as it still leaves a script littered with wrong words and ungrammatical phrases. The text needs to be read by humans.
Zack & Wiki: Fun, but it feels like it's missing something. I really appreciate the way it updates the graphic adventure formula, but I kind of wish it had some of the things old graphic adventures had, like interesting scenario design and memorable dialogue. I'm happy to support any real efforts by third parties on the Wii, though. (Buy Trauma Center: New Blood, fools!)
Posted by: Nich | October 28, 2007 11:36 PM
As for me, well, the absolutely brilliant (even though unfinished) Vampire Bloodlines is all I've been caring for gaming wise for the past week.
Also failed miserably in being absorbed by Bioshock.
Posted by: gnome | October 29, 2007 7:24 AM
I can't really get in the mood to play anything right about now.
Bioshock: Just got to Arcadia. Pretty neat game, but I'm not really in the mood to play it right now.
Metroid Prime: I'm at the Omega Pirate battle and I'm completely fed up with the controls to the point of wondering if I should even bother trying to finish off the rest of the game.
I know that I shouldn't, but I may just fire up another game and see if it sticks. Hell, I may wind up with yet another half-finished endeavor.
Posted by: RoushiMSX | October 29, 2007 8:35 AM
Spyro: The Eternal Night for the GBA. No, seriously, it's good. Symphony-of-the-Night-style 2D platforming mixed with Devil-May-Cry-style brawling, with an emphasis on creative combos. The story is dumb and impenetrable, but fortunately there's very little of it. Most of the time you're running around, beating the crap out of things and trying to figure out new ways to keep your combo meter high. This might be the last great game for the Game Boy Advance.
Posted by: Shih Tzu | October 29, 2007 3:45 PM
Spyro: The Eternal Night = Symphony-of-the-Night-style 2D platforming mixed with Devil-May-Cry-style brawling?
Wow, No matter how unbelievable that sounds to me you just made me wanna check out the game.
Posted by: Cruds | October 29, 2007 4:58 PM