10 June, 2009

Keepalive: Bully, Lego Batman

written on Tuesday, June 9, 2009

First a small disclaimer: There are other games I forgot to mention that I would like to see at PAX (Uncharted 2, Shadow Complex; others). But my memory isn't perfect, and that post was long enough as it was. If you watched the Just Cause 2 developer walkthrough, you probably got the best out of that post. :)



I'm approaching the end of Bully again. For me, the game has thoroughly held up. The only thing I really want from the game is more: more side missions, more characters to meet, more classes to take. But unlike Republic Commando, I don't see a Bully sequel as a slam dunk.

The game has a pretty self-contained story, very centered around the concept of being a Bully and the lessons learned from that. It's not literature, but it's focused enough that a sequel would either feel like it was treading the same ground, or didn't really fit the name.

Then there's the question of a lead character. Jimmy's story seems largely complete. But I think there's an investment in the supporting cast that could be expanded on. It's almost like I want to play a new character, living in Jimmy's shadow, but he's not around any more. The idea of seeing how the supporting cast developed and changed in the wake of the events of the first game appeals to me greatly. This also applies to the setting. There were elements of the setting (church, old folks home, dam, factories) that could be developed more, or could at least factor into the lives of fellow students enough that you'd have to go inside them. Plus there was a beach, and it seemed odd that very little happened there. No barbecue? No bonfire?

Okay, so now I can imagine an interesting sequel to a game I loved that I'll never see.

Great.

I made myself sad.

Idiot.



Tuesday night co-op was in effect again. Our MST3K-ing of Lego Batman continues. The level design is just so terrible. We've played games for decades, and we're just wandering around, trying to figure out if we're supposed to be going the way we're going, or if it leads to a special area only accessible in Free Play. Sometimes blasting some random trash can in the corner of the map is the only way to build something we need to progress. It would be maddening if we couldn't point and laugh and commiserate over how bad the Lego games have gotten.

See? Misery does love company.

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