Archive for the ‘Games’ Category

The Ballad of Tara Shepard (or: Why I’m playing the first Mass Effect again)

Playing through the first Mass Effect was one of the most gratifying single player video game experiences I’ve ever had. The second time I played it, that is.
The first time I played through the RPG dressed-up as a shooter, I played through as “Mark Shepard”, and I did what I usually do in games that [...]

Random thoughts about Street Fighter IV (not exactly a review)

Street Fighter IV is a lot of fun, and feels like a perfect evolution from Street Fighter II, which is perfect for me since I never got into the Alpha games or SF III.
While online matches are lag free more often than not, the rest of the online mode is broken.  The lobby system is [...]

A video game has never made you cry…but neither has a film or book

Video game blog Kotaku linked to an argument-provoking article on ihobo this weekend that makes the bold claim that a game has never made anyone cry.  Well, not in and of itself.  The author writes:
This is the nub of the issue here: a story can make you cry by empathising with the protagonist (or another [...]

Braid: Over-Blown

Over the past two weeks, the gaming press has assaulted me with stories about a downloadable Xbox Live game called Braid.  Joystiq and Penny Arcade in particular have been blaring the “OMG BEST GAME EVAR!!1!” trumpets (to paraphrase), but apparently they aren’t alone.  The game is a Super Mario Brothers-styled platformer with time-controlling elements similar to Prince [...]

Thoughts on big breasted women with swords and the importance of data backups

Warning: incomprehensible nerdish ahead.  Translation follows after the next two paragraphs.
While browsing Digg just the other day, my monitor started to display all sorts of strange artifacts.  Being the sensible, computer-literate type, I decided to reboot to attempt to fix the problem.  Not only was I greeted with more strange dots and artifacts upon boot [...]

Grand Theft Auto IV – Full Review

Here’s the entirety of my Grand Theft Auto IV impressions and review, all gathered up into a neat little pile for you:

Part 1: The Story
Part 2: The Gameplay
Part 3: The Problems
Part 4: Multiplayer
Part 5: The Final Word

GTA IV – The Final Word

Grand Theft Auto IV is a great game. It’s fun, it’s impressive, and it has plenty to justify the $60 price, well after the 30-40 hour single player campaign. So, taking that into perspective, the fact is that GTA IV is more evolutionary than revolutionary.
The single-player story starts out strong, but loses steam near [...]