22 September, 2010

Quick Takes

written by Blain Newport on Wednesday, 22 September, 2010

Amnesia: The Dark Descent (3 of 5) is by Frictional Games. You might remember me mentioning the Penumbra games a while back. I appreciate that they're an independent studio with limited resources, but when I played Amnesia, I couldn't help but feel it's the same game they've made twice already. If you haven't played any of them, the first time's pretty exciting. They combine simple puzzles with insanity effects and monsters you can't possibly beat. It's tense. But I've seen it before, and the monster encounters became far too predictable.



Recettear (3 of 5) is a simple dungeon delve combined with running a shop. It's a nice idea. Balance hack and slash with buy low / sell high. Neither side of the game has much depth to it. And the two sides also don't relate in any interesting ways. But it's a cute grind that I can use to keep my hands busy while I listen to a podcast. It's digital knitting.



Star Wars Battlefront II (3 of 5) was on sale for $5 on Steam. That's probably about the right price. It's not up to Battlefield 1942 standards. But the scope of the campaign was pretty impressive. From Geonosis to Hoth you fight with the 501st clone division. The campaign gets way too hard. The feel, feedback, and sound is third rate. But I paid $5 and shot some battle droids, so it was good enough.



I still should finish Cryostasis, but I know it's going to be another 3 of 5, so I'm not too motivated.

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