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My Halo 3 Service Record

• 20Nov 09

  NLU Update (11.20.2009) - Everything Since October

  I'm getting bad at this, it has been nearly a month since I last wrote and I am pretty mad at myself for not keeping up with something I used to enjoy. Anyway, a whole bunch of games have arrived since I last wrote so there is plenty to talk about. I'm going to try to keep it concise as to avoid having to write for three hours... but here is what is on tap for this entry: Forza Motorsport 3, Dragon Age: Origins, Modern Warfare 2 and New Super Mario Bros. Wii. We're Oscar Mike! (we'll talk about that in a moment)
  
  Forza Motorsport 3 (October 27, 2009)
  I picked up the LCE version of Forza 3 on release date, but after having a great time playing with the people in the Forza Paintshop Union, I had trouble going back to playing the single player stuff. You see I put the AI on Easy because I hate AI cars... that is one of the reasons I love Burnout so much, smacking into other cars is part of the game, but in a sim like Forza 3 all the AI does is bust up your car because they still don't really respect your space. The problem with Easy is that once you get in front of the pack you only really have the clock to race which is far less interesting. The new season mode is also a neat take on the sim career mode, but still falls on the old "win every race" mentality which gets tiresome fast (another good reason to put the AI on easy). But the driving physics are spot on and the game is really fun to play especially if you can get a field of friends to race with, you'll have a riot.
  
  Dragon Age: Origins (November 3, 2009)
  I'm not really sure what to think about DA so far... on one hand I like the conversation trees and the gameplay is pretty fun. But I got up to this part in the game where it feels really contrived, like it's completely designed to take a million years to complete. You have traverse these mazes slowly collecting powers so that you can gain access to a room that you couldn't before... I don't want to spoil anything, but I am having trouble convincing myself that I want to deal with it again. It probably wasn't the best place to stop playing, but I'd bet this thing would take three or four hours to complete just on its own. I'll have to get back to you on Dragon Age once I get passed this sticking point.
  
  Modern Warfare 2 (November 10, 2009)
  I'm not going to trouble you too much with praise for this game... it's really good. But I do want to talk about the story for a second, don't worry there are no spoilers, but there are just a couple of elements that need to be discussed. First the controversial Airport Massacre; you know what, it's not a cool thing in the least, but these aren't real people and really this is no different from the hoards of pedestrians you kill while playing GTA or games like it. It really does set up the bad guy as a serious bastard. The other thing about the story is there are no less than 2 betrayals in the storyline and they play out exactly the same, I mean it's almost the same cut-scene. They also play the death card a couple of times, but neither of which have the same impact as the dying soldier in CoD 4. Finally, the use of the term "Oscar Mike" (On the Move) is insane, you'll never want to hear it again.
  
  As for the the length, it is short (maybe too short) as it took me just over 5 hours on Normal, but the real difference maker is that it is probably the most exciting and intense 5 hours you'll ever spend playing videogames (at least this year). It's a rush, it's intense and there are some amazing must see moments even though the story could have used some smoothing out. Of course if all you intend to do is play the single player then it's not really worth buying, but if you liked the multiplayer than you'll be hooked all over again and they way the perks are designed this time give the game a more balanced faster play s.tyle though it still quite a bit about using cover and holding an advantageous position as you can't take much damage, more than moving around the battlefield; you can run and gun, but you are going to DIE A LOT (most likely)... though careful and aware players can move around the maps just fine. MW2 isn't the "greatest ever" but it is another great game from Infinity Ward.
  
  New Super Mario Bros. Wii (November 15, 2009)
  I haven't played too much of NSMBWii, but it seems like a good game from what I have played so far. I have completed the first world and a couple levels of the second. It controls great, though shaking the remote to so spins is kind of awkward. I'll have more soon, when I get some more play time in between MW2 sessions.
  
  Closing Out
  I am going to try to write more often in the next little while, I still have my 2009 Wrap Ups planned for late December and I still have to play more Dragon Age and such before I can really give more precise thoughts, so there should enough reason to write. Talk to you soon. Loading Complete!
  • Posted Nov 20, 2009 5:21 am PT
  • Category: Games
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• 24Oct 09

  NLU Weekly #82 (10.24.2009) - Brutal Legend / Borderlands

  Welcome to NLU "WheneverIfeellikewriting" #82... okay, this is actually NLU Weekly #82 and I have a few things to discuss with you today. Until last week (week of Oct 11) there really a lack of anything new to write about, but now we are fully in the holiday rush of games, with at least one game worth buying every week until nearly December. So on the agenda today are two of those releases so far: Brutal Legend and Borderlands. We'll end with Closing Out as usual and discuss the remaining schedule of wallet / bank balance breaking proportions. Go!
  
  Impressions: Brutal Legend
  I don't really have much to say about Brutal Legend... I really wanted to give Tim Schafer's newest game a shot, I didn't like Psychonauts' gameplay, but I did enjoy the story, dialog and world/characters... it really is the same here, Tim Schafer should write/direct animated cartoons... I'm serious I'd be a HUGE Tim Schafer fan if I didn't have to play his games to enjoy the stories/worlds he creates. He's a funny guy with a great sense of humor, but when I have to play a mishmash of mediocrity to enjoy that, well, it blows.
  
  Brutal Legend is a big fat tease, a big fat mean tease... you think you are going to play a 3rd-Person hack and slash action adventure game and then slowly it starts changing... squad commands... then before you know it holy **** it's a ****ing RTS!!! I hate RTS and turn based strategy games, it's probably the only genre I don't really like playing and when I found out it was part of Brutal Legend (as simplified as the RTS element is) I was turned off instantly. I haven't really played it since October 13 when it was released. Sorry Tim, I respect your efforts, but you gotta start making animated films... for reals. RTS is NOT metal.
  
  Impressions: Borderlands
  Now here is a mixed genre game that is completely legit. Borderlands takes the precision twitch skill based shooting from Call of Duty and combines it with RPG-like questing, loot collecting and skill trees to make something quite excellent. I am almost 30 hours in and am still collecting all kinds of crazy guns, fighting tons of bandits and solving many quests... it is super addicting and holy crap Borderlands contains the some of the most exciting treasure chests in gaming you can't help but be riveted as they fold open revealing your next haul of loot.
  
  I'm going to save my full thoughts for when I complete the game and maybe try the co-op and some different characters, but from what I played the outlook for long term play is great.
  
  Closing Out
  I've got a lot of games on tap for the next few weeks, I don't think I can handle them all really but I'll give it a shot. Next week (Oct 27) Forza Motorsport 3 is out; Nov 3 is Dragon Age Origins and finally Nov 10 is Modern Warfare 2. That's a lot of stuff; all of which have large potentials to be time sucking... It took over 50 hours to finish Forza 2, I can't imagine Dragon Age being anything less than a 40 hour game and the original Modern Warfare sucked up over 16 days (384 hours) of play time over 2 years, add in Borderlands and my life is over... lock me in a vault and I will see you some time in 2010. I'll do my best to write timely impressions on each of these titles as they are released. Talk to you later. Loading Complete!
  • Posted Oct 24, 2009 10:56 am PT
  • Category: Games
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• 26Sep 09

  NLU Weekly #81 (09.26.2009) - Twitter Killed My Blog

  Welcome to NLU Weekly #81, it has been two weeks since my last blog entry and for that you can blame my laziness and you blame ultimately Twitter. I am finding instead of writing epic blogs for three hours, I just quickly note down my thoughts on Twitter... I really should start doing a weekly Twitter dump or something... if you haven't done so yet you should probably follow me on twitter, that way you can read my thoughts on the latest games without waiting for me to suck it up and write one of these damn things. For this one I am going to just do another one of those quick thoughts blogs, no more than a paragraph for each topic... here we go.
  
  Games Thoughts Quick
  - I finished Batman: Arkham Asylum a week or two a go and it was a really great game. The stealth sections where actually really fun and I loved how with each guy you took out in a room the other thugs would more and more frightened. Solving the Riddler's riddles was a little easy but they kind of gave the game a Metroid like feel where you couldn't get every riddle until you go the right upgrade. I highly recommend Batman.
  
  - The Beatles: Rock Band came out and I got that as a birthday gift (it came out the same day) and I enjoyed it quite a bit. The art s.tyle is unmatched in music games and it's even pretty fun to watch especially during the trippy "dreamscapes" in the later songs. The only real problem is the game is really short and easy (in three hours you can finish all 46 songs) and it is quite possible that your favorite Beatles song is not on the disc... even if it isn't a personal special favorite, many of their #1 hits such as "Help!," "We Can Work It Out," "Elenor Rigby," "Hey Jude," and my personal faves, "Yesterday" and "Penny Lane" are not in this game. Three Beatles albums are slated for release this fall, so I'm sure we'll eventually get these songs. DLC for the WIN and the LOSS.
  
  - Mid-September mean it's time for NHL Preseason and the Pair of new NHL videogames. This year is a little shaky, I'm not so sure about either of the games this year... NHL 2K10 has some of the most advanced AI in hockey videogame history, but the AI of the goalies is beyond stupid and it frankly ruins the game. As for NHL 10, EA didn't spend much time on AI and it shows... it unbelievably broken, it gets stuck in loops, doesn't make quick decisions (something very important in hockey) and it is OBSESSED with taking shots from the blue-line... I have to play each more but it's not looking good for either game this year.
  
  - I played a bit of Midnight Club: Los Angeles and I got pretty tired of it after about 5 hours... it's a really tough game, it is incredibly hard, even in the first few races you will have trouble winning. The race types are pretty repetitive and I ****ing HATE the characters in this game; your character is a ******-bag who is cocky as all hell... and you will get tired of the lame school yard trash-talk delivered in various LA slang. At the starting line: Competitor: "This is the last time you're gonna see me, son!" Your Character retorts: "No it ain't I got a rear-view mirror!" OH SNAAAAAAP!
  
  - Forza 3 and Brutal Legend demos where released this week and they are both pretty fun. Forza 3 demo features one track and 5 cars, it isn't something that will hold your interest until Forza 3 arrives in October (27) but it will give you a good idea of how the cars will handle. Brutal Legend demo is about 25 minutes long, but I'm not sure it goes deep enough to get an idea of all the gameplay, but the demo is funny and it looks to be better than Psychonauts.
  
  Closing Out
  That about covers what I have been doing the last couple of weeks... things are sure to heat up soon, so I will hopefully manage to do some detailed thought instead of just tweeting all the time. Heard on the streets of LA: "I'll be the first to laugh when you wrap that thing around a telephone pole!" Loading Complete!
  • Posted Sep 26, 2009 11:00 am PT
  • Category: Games
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