tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155543982024-02-19T07:42:08.455-08:00Blain's Gaming LifeI play games. I write about them. I say stupid things.Blain Newporthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07692883426442963487noreply@blogger.comBlogger1081125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15554398.post-68301366436035459962020-02-12T00:24:00.001-08:002021-09-20T14:38:14.492-07:00Revisiting<p style="font-size:80%;">written by Blain Newport on Tuesday, 11 February 2020</p>
<p>After writing up a list of my favorite popcorn games, I decided to spend some time playing them. It was partly to see if I really did still enjoy them and partly that not much new is coming out, and partly that I'm taking a break from Warframe. It's still good, but it's like eating your favorite food every day. Eventually you just need a break.</p>
<h1>Aliens vs Predator (2010)</h1>
<p>I still like it, but it does feel like it barely hits its stride and it's over.</p>
<h1>Aliens versus Predator 2 (2001)</h1>
<p>I think this is the first time I installed a game from physical media in a decade. But there's no digital version available (apart from abandonware sites). I was surprised it even worked. It definitely lasts longer than the more recent iteration. And there are more toys to play with. It's also longer, but that sometimes works against it when your just traversing a big empty canyon or military base. Some room to breathe is good for building tension, but some bits of AvP2 felt like filler.</p>
<h1>Cargo! The Quest for Gravity</h1>
<p>Some of the goals aren't well explained. And maybe it is just weird for weirdness sake. But I still have a good time going through it.</p>
<h1>Forager</h1>
<p>They added an endgame where you craft void portals to fight much tougher enemies. It basically drops the foraging and exchanges it for combat on a timer which doubly sucks because some enemies just run away, so you have to burn precious seconds chasing them down. It feels half baked and pointless. They just released another content patch, but it sounds like it adds to the tech tree after the section of the game that already made me fall off.</p>
<h1>Singularity</h1>
<p>Yeah. It's okay. But there's so much BioShock and Half-Life 2 there that it still feels like it struggles to find its own identity.</p>
<h1>Vanquish</h1>
<p>It's still fun, and the upgrade system still feels like more of a hindrance than a feature. I forgot that your gun loses a level when you die. I liked Blaster Master okay, but having your gun level down when you took a hit felt punitive and discouraging.</p>
<p>Very, very, <strong>very</strong> tangentially, Blaster Master was made by SunSoft, who also made Fester's Quest which is not much to play, but has <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNgv8DPFYaM">an over-world theme that slaps as hard as the NES was capable of slapping</a>.</p>
<h1>NightSky</h1>
<p>"Pure joy" may have been overselling it, but NightSky at least streamlines things pretty well. I don't think I'll ever bother with the "advanced" mode as I still have no love for puzzle platformers as a whole.</p>
<h1>Lost Planet 2</h1>
<p>Still fun, but more filler levels than I remember between giant monster set pieces.</p>
<h1>NecroVision</h1>
<p>I played through NecroVision and Lost Company. The public seems to prefer Lost Company, but I felt like it added enemies that were less fun to fight. I'm looking at <i>you</i> shield zombies.</p>
<h1>Clive Barker's Jericho</h1>
<p>I forgot the terrible intro movies, redundant promo material stapled to the face of the game, but the game itself is still good. Some of the scripted bits where you're just supposed to hold position and kill enemies until they stop spawning aren't well communicated.</p>
<h1>Prototype</h1>
<p>The ability to start up New Game+ with all the upgrades unlocked makes Prototype a pleasure to go through again (and again and again).</p>
<h1>F.E.A.R. and expansions</h1>
<p>I remembered the expansions as just being afterthoughts with a couple extra tricks, but on replay I feel like it was only by the second expansion that the game finally found its pace. Should I play Fear 2 again...?</p>
<h1>Bully</h1>
<p>I think Bully and GTA: San Andreas will always be my favorite Rock Star games. San Andreas for it's absurdly large ambition and Bully for it's absurdly small ambition. What game studio takes it's expertise in sprawling open world crime games and makes basically a John Hughes movie?</p>Blain Newporthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07692883426442963487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15554398.post-81060536931600640802019-12-31T18:00:00.000-08:002020-01-01T16:31:59.323-08:00Popcorn Games of the Decade<div style="font-size: 80%;">
written by Blain Newport on Tuesday, 31 December 2019</div>
<h1>
The Rules</h1>
I went through my game libraries on Steam and other digital services and looked at games that came out this decade (on those services, some may have come out earlier on consoles). To be on this list they had to spark a specific feeling: "That was a cool game, and I wouldn't mind another go."<br />
<br />
At some level, this list may be a celebration of my poor memory. :)<br />
<br /><br />
<h1>
The Games</h1><br />
<h2>
Alan Wake (2010)</h2>
Control is a fine game, but the supporting cast of Alan Wake feel so much more real and present. And the pacific northwest is so much more scenic than concrete box architecture.<br /><br />
<h2>
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (2013)</h2>
Plunder the seas. Sing all the shanties.<br /><br />
<h2>
Aliens vs. Predator (2010)</h2>
The game has issues for sure, but I still enjoy the campaign. AvP 2's was probably better mechanically, but this one still looks good and feels good enough.<br /><br />
<h2>
Cargo! The Quest for Gravity (2011)</h2>
Developer Ice-Pick Lodge is better known for the dour Pathologic, but this childish post apocalypse is stupidly charming to me.<br /><br />
<h2>
Dark Scavenger (2014)</h2>
The only turn-based RPG on the list, like Alan Wake and Cargo, it's got a lot of character. Developer Psydra Games bills itself as a small team, but this game is so quirky it feels like a one person operation.<br /><br />
<h2>
DmC Devil May Cry (2013)</h2>
Developer Ninja Theory slightly simplified the DMC formula, and it worked.<br /><br />
<h2>
EDF 4.1 (2016)</h2>
Big Dumb Fun. EDF 5 (2019) brought some nice enhancements to the Air Raider class, but overall wasn't as fun largely thanks to an even worse loot system.<br /><br />
<h2>
Forager (2019)</h2>
As the newest entry on this list, it may not hold up. But it's a fun, actiony take on a clicker / watch the numbers go up type game that got entertainingly bonkers by the end.<br /><br />
<h2>
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (2014)</h2>
It's one of the few Stylish Action games that can hang with Devil May Cry.<br /><br />
<h2>
Stalker: Call of Pripyat (2010)</h2>
The Metro series is kinda sorta carrying the torch, but Stalker was it's own thing. Anomalies, monsters, secret military facilities, and humans of various stripes made for a unique world to survive and explore.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
<h1>
Just Missed The Cut</h1>
<br />
<h2>
Singularity (2010)</h2>
Singularity is a good popcorn game, but felt derivative enough that it didn't quite make it. <br /><br />
<h2>
Watch Dogs 2 (2016)</h2>
Getting upgrades felt a little too laborious and a lot of missions felt like running errands. Still, having non-lethal options and a protagonist that wasn't another generic white dude was cool.<br /><br />
<h2>
Vanquish (2017)</h2>
It's Gears of War but with rocket boots. There's a lot of cool elements that that didn't quite gel into greatness for me.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
<h1>
Notably Absent</h1>
<br />
<h2>
Bayonetta (2017)</h2>
It may just be my age, but some of the enemies had attacks with so little warning that it felt like I took hits that weren't my fault. Plus a QTE death in a cut scene tanking my level ranking and upgrade currency rewards felt cheap.<br /><br />
<h2>
Doom (2016)</h2>
The collectibles initially felt like a good excuse to play more Doom, but I couldn't figure out where some of them were without going to YouTube and it dulled my eagerness to return.<br /><br />
<h2>
Saints Row 3 & 4 (2011)</h2>
Saints Row 3 lost the plot, and four was fluffy fan service. And let's be frank, I liked Saints Row 2 enough that nothing was going to escape its shadow.<br /><br />
<h1>
</h1>
<h1>
Popcorn Hall Of Fame</h1>
<br />
These are the games that sparked that feeling still even though they're more than a decade old, or that I've already played so many times that they're locked in.<br /><br />
<h2>
Broforce (2015)</h2>
While sometimes this engine of chaos will kill you with no warning, that chaos is also part of fun when you don't die. Plus it takes about three hours to finish once you know what you're doing.<br /><br />
<h2>
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon (2013)</h2>
Take Far Cry. Up the player speed and jump height by about 50%. Cut the entire progression down to roughly six hours. Make everything a dark 80s neon poster.<br /><br />
<h2>
Warframe (2013)</h2>
It's super grindy. But the moment to moment of flipping all over the place and mowing down hordes of enemies with a great variety of space ninja magic and weapons feels so good I don't mind spending a lot of time with it. I do take long breaks from time to time. But eventually I'll get the urge to turn into a murder fly with Titania or be a chill magic monk with Baruuk and come back.<br /><br />
<h2>
Dead Space 2 (2011)</h2>
Action horror which, thanks to EA screwing up their micro-transactions, gives you a ton of interesting weapons right out of the gate. The Aliens of video games.<br /><br />
<h2>
Magicka (2011)</h2>
Initially a great game, Magicka was reduced to being just exceptional by PvP balance changes that made the single player / co-op feel less crazy. I used to be able to turn into a volcano. :(<br /><br />
<h2>
NightSky (2011)</h2>
I normally hate puzzle platforming, but this toy version streamlined it down to pure joy.<br /><br />
<h2>
Lost Planet 2 (2010)</h2>
Funky and clunky, but I still kept running those missions. Never did try the co-op.<br /><br />
<h2>
NecroVision (2009)</h2>
Bulletstorm before Bulletstorm and combos built on each other in a way that was more satisfying.<br /><br />
<h2>
Wolfenstein, Wolfenstein: New Order, Wolfenstein: New Colossus (2009)</h2>
Shooting megalomaniacal Nazis is always good.<br /><br />
<h2>
Clive Barker's Jericho (2007)</h2>
Horror action schlock with enough character and lore to keep it interesting.<br /><br />
<h2>
Prototype (2009)</h2>
Like Magicka, Prototype puts too much power to control in your hands and lets you figure it out. The sequel tried to reign in that chaos and suffered in the fun department for it. I'll always wonder whether Hulk: Ultimate Destruction would have made this list if it had gotten a PC port.<br /><br />
<h2>
Saints Row 2 (2009)</h2>
The classic. GTA but sillier, but over the top gritty cut scenes that shouldn't have worked, but did for me.<br /><br />
<h2>
Star Wars: Republic Commando (2005)</h2>
I enjoy Scorch. I appreciate Fixer. And I'm glad Sev is on my side. The action's okay, but the bromance is what makes the game special.<br /><br />
<h2>
F.E.A.R. and expansions (2005)</h2>
There's something particular about this mash-up of Akira and The Matrix that no other game even tried to copy (except the sequels, which failed).<br /><br />
<h2>
Devil May Cry 1, 3, & 4 (2001)</h2>
The games that created, and for my tastes comprise most of, their own little genre. I feel like I should like DMC5 more, but the frequent character switching kept me from really digging in.<br /><br />
<h2>
Blood (1997)</h2>
More schlocky action horror. I'm sensing a pattern.<br /><br />
<h2>
System Shock (1994)</h2>
A space station full of robots, monsters, audio logs, and a great villain. Most seem to prefer the sequel, but I find it sterile and ugly and burdened with a class system that adds nothing. I never liked early, low-poly 3D.<br /><br />
<h1>
</h1>
<h1>
Notably Absent</h1>
<h2>
DooM 1 & 2 (1993)</h2>
It was a drastic step forward in tech. It defined a generation. I preferred its multiplayer to most of what came after. But my time with it is over.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h1>
Update</h1>
I forgot one Popcorn Game of the Decade.<br />
<h2>
Wasted (2016)</h2>
The indie 80s post-apocalpse FPS roguelite where you power up using hard liquor. I enjoy the setting and characters, but mostly I enjoy quickly and carefully working my way through the bomb shelters the game dubs Coolers. The mix of combat, stealth, and situational awareness required keeps me on my toes.<br />Blain Newporthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07692883426442963487noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15554398.post-55071979972269526342016-08-05T15:08:00.000-07:002016-08-05T15:12:56.246-07:00Keepalive: Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea, Mad Max, Earth Defense Force 4.1 The Shadow of New Despair<div style="font-size: 80%;">
written by Blain Newport on Friday, 5 August 2016</div>
<br />
I realized I should be putting more pictures with my posts. They're good for context.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea (4 of 5)</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2hRDGYsWWKjjaMnrEUY-QX-OVR4tBCNkuxAon5MnPsSH2MPtW8JAIE4nsUIGDh8SK6nt2lC-LgwQxNt3fr_gqVhmmNwg3SyU96Nk6u6CkicqDvakwFyjmBj3ry47RGk0XtJd1/s1600/BioShockInfinite_burial1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2hRDGYsWWKjjaMnrEUY-QX-OVR4tBCNkuxAon5MnPsSH2MPtW8JAIE4nsUIGDh8SK6nt2lC-LgwQxNt3fr_gqVhmmNwg3SyU96Nk6u6CkicqDvakwFyjmBj3ry47RGk0XtJd1/s640/BioShockInfinite_burial1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
Bioshock is art deco and dead bodies. Like the System Shock games it's descended from, Bioshock is about misuse of technology. System Shock is more about our systems destroying us where Bioshock is about us using technology to control each other. There's also a bunch of homicidal maniacs and weapons thrown in to make it a video game. <br />
<br />
The Burial at Sea DLC for Bioshock Infinite is much better storytelling than the main game because it doesn't have to pad itself out to justify a $60 price tag, (see also the Minerva's Den DLC for Bioshock 2). I don't really want to spoil anything, so I'll just say it does a nice job of looping back around to tie a bow on the series.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<br />
I've also been playing <b>Mad Max</b>. There are really good elements to that game.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEklPBBzTmIqXdFP7VUSpl7EcNRB5pL8T8T-6SfoxO-70N-y764HRr8gnUq3Dm7YGuxsf4_cn5f83uBOxD2ogEF3sy-HgXQzm7pDwP2AGFyGhqjorerG8Zh36tUQgKntwhtEV3/s1600/MadMax_morning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEklPBBzTmIqXdFP7VUSpl7EcNRB5pL8T8T-6SfoxO-70N-y764HRr8gnUq3Dm7YGuxsf4_cn5f83uBOxD2ogEF3sy-HgXQzm7pDwP2AGFyGhqjorerG8Zh36tUQgKntwhtEV3/s640/MadMax_morning.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
Here we see Chumbucket, your mechanic more or less, repairing your car by the side of the road in the early morning hours. The skies and dusty wasteland are very well done.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHE247W9uGsaPdxO7MTkxQkG8nCvQGCh-AY1ToXZMaHyXe0VPlVTEgygNnq8RNWKziciSTgSmv6GECl8JUXER49aRRTHkZCJe6msQQctMdEMjUnSb9bz8pqEOPsio7XIbvv-xo/s1600/MadMax_storm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHE247W9uGsaPdxO7MTkxQkG8nCvQGCh-AY1ToXZMaHyXe0VPlVTEgygNnq8RNWKziciSTgSmv6GECl8JUXER49aRRTHkZCJe6msQQctMdEMjUnSb9bz8pqEOPsio7XIbvv-xo/s640/MadMax_storm.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
And here I am trying to get me and my dog to shelter before a huge dust storm hits.<br />
<br />
The scale and sense of place are really good. But the activities overstay their welcome and the game has bugs that go beyond standard open world jank. Camps you liberate from bandits are supposed to provide income, but the amount changes seemingly at random. My car's defense stat randomly resets itself to zero, turning my well armored death machine into a plywood joke. And there are tons more problems and nuisances the really wore on me. Like Yakuza: Dead Souls, I may not bother to finish this one.<br />
<br />
I tried to rationalize the problems by saying that Avalanche also released Just Cause 3 the same year, so they didn't have time for patches, but the PC version of Just Cause 3 has been made more broken for many by subsequent patches, so it seems like Avalanche can't be trusted on PC as of late.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<br />
By contrast I've already finished <b>EDF</b> three and a half times on PC.<br />
<br />
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<br />
Here we see Red Rooster lobbing slow moving Air Tortoise missiles at distant robots who are lobbing arcs of neon pink death back at us. This shot was taken on July 21st. We also ended up playing with player Yourgrandma last night. :P<br />
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<br />
And here's an example of the sense of scale EDF brings both in raw size as the head of one of those ants is bigger than the player and in sheer numbers as the sky fills with enemy flyers.<br />
<br />
I don't think an official review is even necessary. EDF is a 5 of 5 for me, and I look forward to playing it repeatedly with all the people who jump in when it periodically goes on sale.<br />
<br />
It is the apotheosis of Big Dumb Fun.Blain Newporthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07692883426442963487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15554398.post-63706705225321621772016-07-31T22:50:00.001-07:002016-07-31T22:50:17.760-07:00Keepalive: Soma, Outlast, EDF 4.1, Yakuza: Dead Souls<div style="font-size: 80%;">
written by Blain Newport on Sunday, 31 July 2016</div>
<br />
<h3>
Soma (3 of 5)</h3>
DISCLAIMER: I cheated my way through Soma. I used a mod that made the monsters blind. They could still find me by sound and in certain scripted sequences could chase me, but that was it. After Penumbra Overture, Penumbra Black Plague, and Amnesia: The Dark Descent, I've had enough of playing hide and seek. It doesn't help that Metal Gear Solid V and Dishonored spoiled me by putting many more stealth tools in the tool chest.<br />
<br />
That said, Soma was a good experience. The setting is imaginative. The puzzles are decent. The production values are impressive. Philosophically the game is at its best when it's putting the player in difficult situations and letting them decide for themselves what's ethical. I don't think it actually makes any points other than people are dumb, which isn't news.<br />
<br />
<br />
<hr />
<br />
I'm similarly cheating my way through Outlast, but thanks to many quick scripted sequences, I'm being forced to hustle a good bit more than in Soma. Outlast doesn't seem to have any philosophical dilemmas, but it's a solid scare fest so far.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<br />
I've been playing a fair amount of EDF. I leveled my Ranger and spent some time working on my Air Raider and Wing Diver. The Air Raider really needs co-op play to shine, and overall I've been happy with the players I've met online.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<br />
I'm in part three of four (I think) in Yakuza: Dead Souls. It replaces the good but not great brawling with okay shooting and replaces human enemies with zombies in a fanciful "what if" story. Ultimately I kind of don't care about the story. And the mechanics / enemies aren't particularly great either. The tragic tone also takes some of the fun out of things. I don't know if I'll finish it.<br />
<br />
Looking on Wikipedia I saw that Dead Souls came out only a year after Yakuza 4 and a year before Yakuza 5. I think it may have gotten squeezed in the middle, resource-wise.Blain Newporthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07692883426442963487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15554398.post-26045803539808337132016-07-24T12:53:00.000-07:002016-07-24T12:53:23.335-07:00Review: Yakuza 4<div style="font-size: 80%;">
written by Blain Newport on Sunday, 24 July 2016</div>
<br />
<h3>
Yakuza 4 (3 of 5) </h3>
I enjoyed Yakuza 4. The focus of the game was around having four different characters and telling their interwoven stories. I liked the characters. I liked learning their somewhat different fighting styles. I played the game on easy because the engine's still pretty clunky and I don't want to bother retrying tough fights. I just want to see what's next.<br />
<br />
I don't really mean the story, though. It was alright. It tied into earlier games in nicely unexpected ways. And it felt easier to follow than previous games which is an achievement for having multiple protagonists and timelines in the mix. But women are treated poorly, and there's a tremendously bad plot twist.<br />
<br />
I more wanted to see what random nonsense would pop up on the streets. The street level crime wasn't as varied or interesting as previous games, but there was still random stuff that I did enjoy, like working at a dojo to train fighters or helping some homeless guys take care of some stray cats (though the actual game play parts of that line were mostly tedious). I could go on, but that'd spoil the best stuff in the game.<br />
<br />
It's got enough rough edges that it's hard to recommend (except to Japanophiles I suppose), but I enjoyed it.Blain Newporthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07692883426442963487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15554398.post-31386527762191401232016-07-19T00:03:00.000-07:002016-07-19T00:03:34.090-07:00Attention! Earth Defense Force 4.1 Is GO!<div style="font-size: 80%;">
written by Blain Newport on Monday, 18 July 2016</div>
<br />
I've only run through the first mission as all four classes and played the second mission online. But so far everything works fine. It even runs at 60 frames per second on my old GeForce 660, though we'll see how that holds up when things get crazy. From what I can see on the steam forum, people seem pleased, except for people with AMD Phenom II processors who are experiencing some crash bugs.<br />
<br />
There aren't as many options (no field of view control, no fancier types of anti-aliasing, etc.) as PC gamers might want. The menus are clunky. High resolutions don't do the art assets any favors. But a real EDF game exists on the PC. The world is a tiny bit better today than it was yesterday. Thank you Sandlot.<br />
<br />
The game is $35 for the first week, then goes up to the suicidally high price point of $50, so grab it now (or wait for the winter sale).Blain Newporthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07692883426442963487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15554398.post-25545903806267426652016-07-17T19:03:00.002-07:002016-07-17T19:03:41.806-07:00Keepalive: Journey, Tales From The Borderlands<div style="font-size: 80%;">
written by Blain Newport on Sunday, 17 July 2016</div>
<br />
<br />
I don't really know why I dropped Yakuza 4. I suppose when a game has multiple acts the places between are natural stopping points. And the last act of Yakuza 4 features Kazuma Kiryu, the most known quantity since he's the protagonist of the first three games. Plus the Yakuza games all sort of drown in their own melodrama near the end. I'll get back to it when I want to wander the Kamurocho again, but there's no rush.<br />
<br />
Earth Defense Force 4.1 should be out tomorrow. They're still not taking orders and the Steam page is so bare bones it doesn't even name the four classes... please don't suck.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
Journey (4 of 5)</h3>
<br />
Journey is an game for PS3 by thatgamecompany. You are randomly paired with other people online as you explore ancient, somewhat alien ruins. It's pretty and atmospheric. There's not a huge amount to it, but it's a good experience.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
Tales From The Borderlands (3 of 5)</h3>
<br />
TFTB is an adventure game from Telltale set in the world of Borderlands, a series of first person shooters from Gearbox.<br />
<br />
It sucks being smarter than the characters in an adventure game. Watching them keep secret or blurt out information you know they shouldn't (and knowing almost precisely what the consequences will be) is bad enough in other media, but games ostensibly give you control, so it's particularly galling. That happened in Life Is Strange. But it was worse in TFTB. At some level it's not about being smarter as much as knowing story-telling tropes. But it undercuts the experience regardless.<br />
<br />
That aside, TFTB is about what I expect from a Telltale game: pretty good writing and characters, player decisions that I want to engage with but are mostly cosmetic, and mediocre <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quick_time_event">QTE</a>s. I knew all that going in and got what I expected.Blain Newporthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07692883426442963487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15554398.post-47205871921147441602016-07-15T23:37:00.000-07:002016-07-15T23:37:30.637-07:00Review: Life Is Strange<div style="font-size: 80%;">
written by Blain Newport on Friday, 15 July 2016</div>
<br />
<h3>
Life Is Strange (3 of 5)</h3>
Life Is Strange is an adventure game that lets you rewind time to change your decisions. I really enjoyed some of the theatrics / drama, and the puzzles were mostly good. The time mechanics allow crazy things to happen. But ultimately the characters are a little forced / random, and the ending blows. But there were parts of a great experience in there.Blain Newporthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07692883426442963487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15554398.post-20180197984550322892016-07-14T14:51:00.000-07:002016-07-14T14:51:13.085-07:00Attention! Earth Defense Force 4.1 for PC releases in FOUR DAYS!<div style="font-size: 80%;">
written by Blain Newport on Thursday, 14 July 2016</div>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/410320/">Steam page</a><br />
<br />
I will be buying the game (but not the DLC. I want to earn my weapons) as soon as they let me. I will report back if it's a good port or not.<br />
<br />
I love EDF.<br />
<br />
I love the spectacle. EDF plays out on a gigantic scale. Giant ants come swarming over buildings. Streams of silver space fighters are released by mother ships. Giant robots tower over the player. Player weapons knock down sky scrapers and send giant spiders pinwheeling into the air. Fights can level city blocks.<br />
<br />
I love the weapons. EDF has crazy weapons. Some are inaccurate. Some are dangerous to the user. Some fire in high arcs that make it challenging to hit. Some require laser guidance from another player to reach their full potential. Learning the weapons and how to best used them is it's own game. And different map and enemy types make those choices meaningful. A down side of that is that sometimes you just don't have the right kit and have to start a mission over. But it's a puzzle and finding a solution, especially when it's highly unorthodox, is uniquely rewarding.<br />
<br />
I love the nonsense. EDF knows it's a silly thing. The friendly AI cannon fodder talk trash to the bugs, freak out, and say random stuff about getting steak when the battle is over. Meanwhile news and military broadcasts play up the scale of the devastation and the importance of success. It's a big goofy melodrama.<br />
<br />
<br />
The controls are clunky. The friendly AI repeat themselves too much. Depending on what class you are there can be rough difficulty spikes. And the game reuses maps like crazy. But I still love it.<br />
<br />
<br />
EDF! EDF!<br />
<br />
<br />
If the port is good I will be inflicting co-op on anyone who will let me.<br />
Blain Newporthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07692883426442963487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15554398.post-34179815023130604772016-07-10T14:38:00.000-07:002016-07-15T23:09:04.471-07:00Parade of Meh<div style="font-size: 80%;">
written by Blain Newport on Sunday, 10 July 2016</div>
<br />
I decided to try a lot of older games I wasn't sure I'd like, looking for a diamond in the rough. It was just rough, but I at least got a good feel for what they actually were, not just their reputations. <br />
<br />
I'm also still playing Yakuza 4, but I'm doing a lot of side content and wandering around, so it's slow going. I just started the last quarter of the game.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Fuse (3 of 5)</h3>
Fuse has good qualities. The graphics engine is good for the time, with scenic vistas and some nice lighting. But ultimately it's a cover shooter based around combo-ing team abilities, and when playing with the AI, it's not that great.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Dead Rising (didn't complete)</h3>
The original Dead Rising didn't have combo weapons. And the enemies are more lethal. And the survivors are less intelligent. You can make yourself stronger and overcome these issues, but even when I was decked out with three pairs of never-break mini-chainsaws, I wasn't enjoying myself. At some level I feel like the game has a good rep and became a franchise because 360 owners were starved for first year content and Dead Rising was the only game (apart from Geometry Wars) that wasn't better on PC.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Golden Axe: Beast Rider (didn't complete)</h3>
Beast Rider is to God of War as Tootsie Rolls are to quality chocolate. Beast Rider is a bland, poorly paced character action game with control issues, and very few of the things you do in the game feel satisfying at all.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Too Human (didn't complete)</h3>
Too Human is a character action game that's actually kind of nice early on. It's got a unique control scheme which uses the right stick for melee attacks, so you just tilt the stick and flow around the battlefield. It's relaxing. Sometimes it's a little too relaxing and puts secrets and upgrades behind lots of walking, killing the pace.<br />
<br />
Then it gets more difficult and it turns out the hit detection on larger bosses is problematic, advanced moves are kind of fiddly in general, and the tougher enemies are not more interesting to fight. Plus it gets stingier with upgrades pretty quickly, which made me feel less rewarded for dealing with much harder foes.<br />
<br />
It's got an interesting take on a far future based around Norse mythology.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Flower (didn't complete)</h3>
You are a flower petal. Fly past other flowers to add petals and become a trail of petals. Open all the flowers and move on to the next area. It's very pretty to start. But wandering around for five minutes because you missed some flower somewhere and can't progress at all kind of kills it. I think I'd have liked Flower more if it had been less of a game.Blain Newporthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07692883426442963487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15554398.post-53440117749097926872016-07-06T12:28:00.000-07:002016-07-10T15:04:02.285-07:00Reviews: Transformers: Devastation, Dead Rising 3<div style="font-size: 80%;">
written by Blain Newport on Wednesday, 6 July 2016</div>
<h3>
Transformers: Devastation (4 of 5)</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDHvXEDE_8M8ZKgMzcXStXAkTt5mAhk7WFrEjnqYagmcchII4kjgWswYDSncAZZ8kbi3O3usV2J1WcxoCtQvOaJu4uNLVB-rsj9booFJaL6duhCpMXFwiB1E8ibGFbzVaHv5KT/s1600/TransformersDevastation+optimus+punch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDHvXEDE_8M8ZKgMzcXStXAkTt5mAhk7WFrEjnqYagmcchII4kjgWswYDSncAZZ8kbi3O3usV2J1WcxoCtQvOaJu4uNLVB-rsj9booFJaL6duhCpMXFwiB1E8ibGFbzVaHv5KT/s400/TransformersDevastation+optimus+punch.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
I'm old enough to have had Transformers as a kid. I watched the original show back when it was new. So I may get more out of pressing right bumper to transform and hear that iconic noise than other people.<br />
<br />
But as much of a kick as I get out of the nostalgia, I get more of a kick out of the feeling of control Transformers: Devastation gives. Multiple times I found myself giggling with joy as I realized how much power and mobility the game allowed for.<br />
<br />
In some ways the game goes overboard with options, with random weapon drops, four weapon slots per character, a weapon combining system, a random perk system / money sink, and experience points and credits. Plus you have six different characters with subtle differences (except for Grimlock, the dinosaur robot, who is more distinctive). At some level I don't care because you don't need to mess with most of it to complete the game on normal difficulty. But it still seems like a lot of busy work and time spent in menus for an action game.<br />
<br />
I suppose it was intended to distract from the fact that the game isn't long on content. There's a city map you spend a lot of time in, a high tech map you spend a lot of time in, and a handful of set pieces, but that's about it. And while you do fight a fair amount of named enemies, you spend a lot of time battling generic enemies and the named enemies are all re-used.<br />
<br />
I probably would have felt cheated if I'd paid full price, but as it is, I had a great time. <br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
Dead Rising 3 (4 of 5)</h3>
The Dead Rising games are games about killing zombies.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHCluWsTTeOj0XeROvFq4BHg0I4MnYyIey6_LiObGFHiyabZfaFJflqoP9hyphenhyphen8u6iq8Qlloghw_IYjIDaEFAKg5Yi8sCYaljDEjjWin1KrCZfj_FVcG5VC_7vo1OS_QUncFdmxL/s1600/deadrising3+katana.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="327" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHCluWsTTeOj0XeROvFq4BHg0I4MnYyIey6_LiObGFHiyabZfaFJflqoP9hyphenhyphen8u6iq8Qlloghw_IYjIDaEFAKg5Yi8sCYaljDEjjWin1KrCZfj_FVcG5VC_7vo1OS_QUncFdmxL/s400/deadrising3+katana.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
In silly outfits.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg4-DnHWEDh4CzURphIcc0q7yfp9hL2l0Th9FyoKQ2MpYFKSl_FFvelTk3e455mBkQuERB3ccYXsfOJ7XlutfbGhbLYtc-5tF43Q0LLPI4iUPnl6qz1V-NP5a3EsRKKN2pWis_/s1600/deadrising3+battery+hammer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg4-DnHWEDh4CzURphIcc0q7yfp9hL2l0Th9FyoKQ2MpYFKSl_FFvelTk3e455mBkQuERB3ccYXsfOJ7XlutfbGhbLYtc-5tF43Q0LLPI4iUPnl6qz1V-NP5a3EsRKKN2pWis_/s400/deadrising3+battery+hammer.jpg" width="385" /></a></div>
And, since the second game, using bizarre cobbled together weapons like this car battery sledgehammer combo.<br />
<br />
As I mentioned in an earlier post, wandering around an evacuated downtown full of zombies is pretty amazing. There's a hunting shop. Let's get some guns. I need food and I don't see a restaurant... maybe the gas station? I wandered into somebody's house and am now wearing the basketball jersey they had hanging in the closet. It's like the child's dream of getting free run of a toy store, only more violent.<br />
<br />
It's kind of a shame when the gamey elements take over, but I like the other game that's in here too. At some level I know it's just FnF (fight and fetch), but it didn't really bother me. Between the weapons, vehicles, secrets, and learning the town, there was always enough to keep me feeling like an explorer. Plus zombies.Blain Newporthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07692883426442963487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15554398.post-14238769367970069472016-07-01T21:28:00.004-07:002016-07-02T23:00:14.040-07:00Keepalive: Dead Rising 3, Yakuza 4<div style="font-size: 80%;">
written by Blain Newport on Friday, 1 July 2016</div>
<br />
In the first major section of <b>Yakuza 4</b> the player controls Akiyama, a money lender and business person. Akiyama owns at least one hostess club, a place where you can pay a lot of money to drink and chat with pretty ladies. You can play a mini-game to manage and mentor the hostesses. I didn't bother because it's creepy.<br />
In the third major section of the game the player controls Tanimura, a young pretty boy cop who gambles while on duty. He seemed like the type of guy who would go to a hostess club so I had him go to a club owned by Akiyama. It sucked. All the women seemed the same and had no facility with small talk.<br />
<br />
I think it sucked because I didn't train them, which is awesome.<br />
<br />
<br />
I'm in the last chapter of <b>Dead Rising 3</b>. I feel like the game has an identity crisis. It's trying to come across as more grim and realistic than previous games, but it's still Dead Rising, so I'm still attaching car batteries to sledge hammers and duct taping assault rifles to shotguns. I'm enjoying myself. Open world Dead Rising is really neat. But those first couple hours where I was just messing around and didn't know almost any combo weapons were way more atmospheric than what followed. I've seen multiple complaints about the gritty tone compared to the older games, but I thought that was kind of the best part, even if it was the least like Dead Rising.<br />
<br />Blain Newporthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07692883426442963487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15554398.post-77402008115982796832016-06-28T19:36:00.000-07:002016-06-28T19:38:07.007-07:00Keepalive: Long Form Games, Dying Light: The Following<div style="font-size: 80%;">
written by Blain Newport on Tuesday, 28 June 2016</div>
<div style="color: pink; font-size: 80%;">
</div>
<br />
I've been switching between a number of longer games lately. Switching keeps things fresh, but drastically lengthens the time between write ups. Currently I'm mostly playing Dead Rising 2: Off The Record with some Yakuza 4 thrown in.<br />
<br />
It's not much of a spoiler to say that Off The Record is basically still Dead Rising 2, but I played Dead Rising 2 multiple times and this gives me an excuse to play it again. I actually miss Chuck Greene and his daughter. Replacing them with unattached Frank West lowers the stakes considerably. Plus his camera mechanic makes Frank kind of a vulture. On the plus side there's some new content. Also, the game runs really well. And the Steam integration even includes the ability to import your Games For Windows Live save file. They got a lot of technical bits right. I'm sad they didn't have the resources to do the same for Dead Rising 3, which by many accounts has performance issues. I picked it up anyway to see how it behaves. It'll go in my new PC hope chest if it chugs.<br />
<br />
I started to play Yakuza 4 yesterday. My character has just had a tearful reunion, and I was eager to see what came next. <span style="background-color: black;">But then some random guy in a yellow gi asked me to help his struggling dojo, so I took two young fighters (one trying to impress a girl and one trying to get some self confidence after losing his job) and trained them up to the point where they won local championships. This was a fully fleshed out mini-game where you choose training activities for your fighters, upgrade your dojo with the prize money they win, and even go out drinking with them to learn what motivates them and build trust. I'm guessing it shares underpinnings with the hostess management mini-game, but not knowing it was there still made it a ridiculous surprise.</span> The surprises are what keep me coming back to the Yakuza games.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
Dying Light: The Following (3 of 5)</h3>
<br />
This is a random glamour shot at a scenic park. You can see the tour buses parked below, the countryside, and Harran, the city from the original game. The scale is awesome, even if I had to turn down the settings so much that everything looks all scratchy.<br />
<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ-wyxdGwiKCUE_wIdZyW6trezFA3vcJFQEsjN7_t9fGepFa5imtQQMeueucMfw3Lt-HU_2OMnaOhOtRS8RleHrXt2sYJRnqS9VDU2jb5yElPgyA0VpHKbANuCidl97Pwh2Byr/s1600/DyingLightTheFollowing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ-wyxdGwiKCUE_wIdZyW6trezFA3vcJFQEsjN7_t9fGepFa5imtQQMeueucMfw3Lt-HU_2OMnaOhOtRS8RleHrXt2sYJRnqS9VDU2jb5yElPgyA0VpHKbANuCidl97Pwh2Byr/s640/DyingLightTheFollowing.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
I enjoyed Dying Light a lot. First person parkouring is still pretty great and makes many other FPS games feel stuck in the mud. I'd forgotten how much I missed that freedom until I was stuck in a room with too many zombies and suddenly realized that windows, purely for looking / shooting through in most games, could be climbed through. Oh yeah. Like in real life.<br />
<br />
Okay, so I still appreciate the core of Dying Light. Unfortunately they added a buggy. I'm not against the idea, but it didn't work for me. The buggy sucks initially. There are tons of obstacles on the roads so there's no feeling of freedom. It's like they wanted the buggy to follow the same trajectory as the parkour. It starts weak, but as you add abilities and learn the lines of the map, you gain satisfaction from mastery. But starting from zero again was a drag when I already had maxed out parkour abilities. The new abilities gained for the car didn't change the lines I could take through the map in interesting ways. And, most importantly, I wanted the buggy to be a change of pace, and it wasn't. It felt like the parkour but not as good.<br />
<br />
I enjoyed The Following. And even though the buggy wasn't great. I'm glad Techland didn't just play it safe.Blain Newporthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07692883426442963487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15554398.post-81671157633357438692016-06-26T10:32:00.001-07:002016-06-26T10:33:17.520-07:00Keepalive: Steam Summer Sale, Retro Game Crunch<div style="font-size: 80%;">
written by Blain Newport on Sunday, 26 June 2016</div>
<br />
The <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/">Steam Summer Sale</a> is on until July 4. Since they don't do daily deals anymore, you can browse sale items at your leisure. My method of choice is going to <a href="https://steamdb.info/sales/">Steam DB</a> and looking at the deepest discounts with user reviews of 70% favorable or higher. I didn't look at anything less than 70% off because that was still well over a thousand games to browse. This is a good problem to have, although I would absolutely love the ability to build a filter list to never show certain games after I've viewed them and decided they're not for me.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Retro Game Challenge (3 of 5)</h3>
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<br />
This is Shuten, one of the seven NES style games in Retro Game Challenge, and the only one I finished. That's odd because I'm not much of a shmup guy, but Shuten does a couple nice things. Firstly, you keep the gold you grab regardless of whether you finish the mission, so you're always making progress towards upgrades. And second, you have a sword that reflects enemy bullets, so if it gets too bullet helly, just lay on the sword button and let the enemies eat their own spam.<br />
<br />
Most of the other games were okay, but either wore out their welcome or just weren't my cup of tea to start with. But for $2 I got five hours of fun puttering around with them.Blain Newporthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07692883426442963487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15554398.post-91923858778233080712016-06-22T16:20:00.000-07:002016-06-22T16:20:56.618-07:00Review: Assassin's Creed Brotherhood<div style="font-size: 80%;">
written by Blain Newport on Wednesday, 22 June 2016</div>
<h3>
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (3 of 5)</h3>
ACB is not a bad game. But it mostly just adds busy work.<br />
<br />
The traversal mechanics are the same. They're just as boring when you're scaling the umpteenth tower. And they're just as frustrating when the character does things that make no sense, wasting the player's time.<br />
<br />
The combat is mostly the same. It seems easier, but it's been long enough that maybe I just forgot. They add a bunch of weapons and tools you don't really need.<br />
<br />
The main addition to the combat is the ability to call in trainee assassins with a single button press. I didn't need it much, so I didn't use it much. But a couple times when I was trying to tail or chase down a target and just needed some guards out of the way, it was pretty cool to be able to have my recruits jump them and get back to the task at hand. It was less cool when they wouldn't despawn and I had to revert to an earlier checkpoint, but open world games are always janky.<br />
<br />
They were also one of the sources of busy work as they needed to be sent on missions every ten minutes or so to get enough XP to level up. As idle / incremental games go, it was pretty bare bones. But I still became kind of attached, trying to make sure I didn't give my first two assassins (Paulo AKA Grape Face and Carlotta AKA Blondie) too many babysitting missions and being happy to see them kicking butt when called into to main game.<br />
<br />
The other main source of busy work was the economy. Buy businesses to get an income to buy more businesses. Invest in businesses you already own to potentially make money but also to earn trade goods which you otherwise only get out of chests and off of one enemy type and are required to complete "merchant quests" to get some of the best gear, which you don't really need because the game isn't that hard. Blah.<br />
<br />
And don't take my statement that the game isn't hard to mean I want it harder. My character often didn't respond as he should in combat, so harder combat would only add frustration.<br />
<br />
To sum up, recruits were kind of cool. The rest of the game was a dish twice reheated with a side of busy work.<br />
<br />Blain Newporthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07692883426442963487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15554398.post-15124694374807604362016-06-20T10:13:00.002-07:002016-06-22T16:21:04.747-07:00Keepdead: God of War 3, Clive Barker's Jericho<div style="font-size: 80%;">
written by Blain Newport on Monday, 20 June 2016<br />
<br />
My first full Monday of not going to work... I breathe as a free man.<br />
<br />
A free man who forgot to take the recycling out. :P <br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
God of War 3 (3 of 5)</h3>
It was a bunch of big, dumb, bloody spectacle with the occasional boob for no reason. It was okay.<br />
<br />
I do enjoy their reimagining of Greek mythology and the ways the gods relate and behave. They showed gameplay at E3 from the new game which will be Norse, so their treatment of that pantheon will hopefully be as interesting.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Clive Barker's Jericho (I gave it a 4 of 5 in 2008 and stand by that)</h3>
Jericho has a 63 on Metacritic. I have a hard time reconciling that. Yes. It's a simple corridor shooter. Yes. It's a supernatural action movie, not a horror game. Yes. It's not <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/clive-barkers-undying">Undying</a>. Yes. It's only six hours. Yes. There aren't that many enemy types. Yes. It's mostly gray and brown. Yes. It has some QTEs. Yes. I got sick of Delgado sarcastically saying "That was easy" to the point where I wondered if the game was co-sponsored by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YmMNpbFjp0">Staples</a>.<br />
<br />
But it's fun to shoot monsters. It's fun to use powers (most of them anyway). I mostly like the characters, broad action movie stereotypes as they are. And it's only six hours. It's nice to be able to play a story beginning to end in a day.<br />
<br />
Also, I feel sorry for a lot of the reviewers who never realized how great Jones can be. Legionary enemies must have sucked for them.<br />
<br />
(I had to download <a href="https://steamcommunity.com/linkfilter/?url=http://www.nvidia.com/object/physx-9.12.1031-legacy-driver.html">legacy PhysX drivers</a> to get the game to work.)<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
Uncharted 3 (0 of 5)</h3>
The disc wouldn't read. Apparently this is a very common problem. Oh well. I heard 2 was the best one anyway.</div>
Blain Newporthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07692883426442963487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15554398.post-27941042940708675042016-06-17T23:22:00.000-07:002016-06-20T09:14:32.241-07:00Keepdead: Uncharted 2, Infamous 2, Resistance 3<div style="font-size: 80%;">
written by Blain Newport on Friday, 17 June 2016</div>
<br />
I quit my job, so I started digging in on the old PS3 games I bought and never got around to playing.<br />
<h2>
Uncharted 2 (4 of 5)</h2>
Nathan Drake goes off in search of ancient treasure again. I got bored and stopped part way through Uncharted 1 because it just didn't move. Uncharted 2 moves pretty well, with traversal, puzzles, combat, and talky / atmospheric bits to maintain variety.<br />
<br />
The set piece I've heard podcasters mention multiple times is the train sequence. There are actually multiple train bits, but the main one has you fighting your way from back to front of a train moving from a jungle up into mountains. You fight on top and inside as the train is winding its way to its destination. The gamer's natural enemy (helicopters) attack. There are a lot of games with train levels. Hell, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj9ST3GLtVA&index=3&list=PLC76B71085C40BDDE">Blood had a train level</a>. But Uncharted 2's goes the extra mile. <a href="http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/99074-Naughty-Dog-Says-Train-Level-Almost-Broke-Uncharted-2">It's an impressive technical achievement that almost sunk the game</a>.<br />
<br />
My favorite bit in the game was the village wander. Nathan is following a man who doesn't speak a language Drake knows through the man's village. You can make Nathan try to talk to people to see if maybe someone else speaks English. You can pet bulls. And when you see kids playing you can make a funny face at them. I think the first bit is done through proximity and the others through button presses but with no prompts. The lack of UI makes these interactions seem more natural and spontaneous.<br />
<br />
I petted two bulls. One of them was a little out of the way, and I wondered if I should back track and make sure I got them all. There might be an achievement. But that started ruining the magic, so I let the thought evaporate and pressed on.<br />
<h2>
Infamous 2 (3 of 5)</h2>
Infamous is an open world super hero game where you can complete the story as a good or evil character. Much as with Uncharted, I just couldn't push myself to finish the first game in the series, but the sequel was entertaining enough that I saw it through. Part of that was the way they parceled out new abilities. By the time I completed the first game's first zone (of three, if I remember correctly) I felt like I'd seen all the powers and didn't feel like just clearing a bunch of new territory of jerks was going to be much fun. The second game has you unlocking new powers or new variations on current powers throughout. It still drags a bit, and that's with me skipping tons of rinse and repeat side content. They even added a mission builder for players to make their own rinse and repeat side content. Not helping.<br />
<br />
Infamous 2 also has train bits. You have to rescue some people from circus cage train cars.<br />
<h2>
Resistance 3 (3 of 5)</h2>
Resistance 3 is an alternate history game where the Tunguska meteor of 1908 carried a virus that turned people into high tech alien monsters. As the name implies, things don't go well for the humans, so you're a grizzled resistance fighter striking back at our alien overlords. (Breaking the pattern, Resistance 2 was the entry I couldn't finish in this series.) Resistance 3 is not a bad game, but it feels like a throwback. The visuals are good for the time, but the basic design feels like a PS2 shooter, mostly because there's no regenerating health. You have to find green canisters which sometimes drop from enemies. For being the most important item in the game, they're small and easy to miss, often being obscured by the corpse of the enemy who dropped them.<br />
<br />
Resistance 3's train bit involves fighting off a bunch of jerks in jeeps and trucks (way too many to be remotely believable) while you try to escape on a train. I stopped shooting for a bit and realized that many of the enemies chasing us would just crash and die all by themselves. It was weird.Blain Newporthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07692883426442963487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15554398.post-16573846678465860292014-10-07T21:24:00.000-07:002014-10-07T21:24:15.588-07:00Review: Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag<p style="font-size:80%;">written by Blain Newport on Tuesday, 7 October 2014</p>
<h2>Black Flag (4 of 5)</h2>
<p>I feel a little guilty giving Black Flag a 4 of 5, so let me just say I'm very glad Ubisoft was willing to take such a big risk making a pirate game with such a large budget. I'm sure the success of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies made this game possible, but it was still bold. Age of sail gaming is such a niche genre I haven't touched it since the remake of Sid Meier's Pirates!, which came out ten years ago. And the sailing was my favorite part of Black Flag.</p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiequ1QJXoBhIPMIWg7XdVOk6KNb83kFxRGZ_bmUYOLt-GATTdsdOHRUcb2nw7OfWivBcJluGeZN4JdjIyAXegURoSnLvkM312GCTfCoti72ajB_r6_lHHMeMkU6r8KrI7EyV5/s1600/AC4BF+pretty.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiequ1QJXoBhIPMIWg7XdVOk6KNb83kFxRGZ_bmUYOLt-GATTdsdOHRUcb2nw7OfWivBcJluGeZN4JdjIyAXegURoSnLvkM312GCTfCoti72ajB_r6_lHHMeMkU6r8KrI7EyV5/s400/AC4BF+pretty.jpg" /></a>
<p>For one thing, it's gorgeous.</p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggIF5XiwgqTbKKsOUyWhFplc8sgAmODS2mHikwBMkT_Kk4c4rwSdOLQglBvS0xXtyLJNb5-oEAogPJfgjuWyCoypncuP18uPkVoEFey-31RLf8EvOnvq0_2xKbhyURzW8QhP9v/s1600/AC4BF+pretty+night.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggIF5XiwgqTbKKsOUyWhFplc8sgAmODS2mHikwBMkT_Kk4c4rwSdOLQglBvS0xXtyLJNb5-oEAogPJfgjuWyCoypncuP18uPkVoEFey-31RLf8EvOnvq0_2xKbhyURzW8QhP9v/s400/AC4BF+pretty+night.jpg" /></a>
<p>I mean <i>really</i> gorgeous. They have light coming through the sails with the other sails casting shadows. My video card was working hard. I could hear the fans revving up. But it was for a good cause.</p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQqsWbHepWmpN2Kml1TYxpvIRwrrQON7VkzqGQHtVyL40rlxOKOwbesAM57V09cxyAaTUiJtz84Z5dk_pq6HviTrrZvcuFI95UCJvRxNFMZY6RJKothawchahakUlLBFVZOzNT/s1600/AC4BF+England+vs+Spain.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQqsWbHepWmpN2Kml1TYxpvIRwrrQON7VkzqGQHtVyL40rlxOKOwbesAM57V09cxyAaTUiJtz84Z5dk_pq6HviTrrZvcuFI95UCJvRxNFMZY6RJKothawchahakUlLBFVZOzNT/s400/AC4BF+England+vs+Spain.jpg" /></a>
<p>Here we see some of the tall ships of England and Spain in conflict. I loved big fights like these because I could usually pick off weakened ships at the edges.</p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd_qcxN4O_D5rgkV1lqdNxImDqSrXWInLNl2TbtogDsTMjSgpErLgfg17dmaPYxRAbX3k5EzvrM5ESfjoBMALhHiI0MRAcvTMXcmN2ZYdBi7VCu8Sgka-bfr6ZH18LE0sX-xnY/s1600/AC4BF+madness.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd_qcxN4O_D5rgkV1lqdNxImDqSrXWInLNl2TbtogDsTMjSgpErLgfg17dmaPYxRAbX3k5EzvrM5ESfjoBMALhHiI0MRAcvTMXcmN2ZYdBi7VCu8Sgka-bfr6ZH18LE0sX-xnY/s400/AC4BF+madness.jpg" /></a>
<p>And here is the craziest thing that happened during my play-through. I attacked an island fortress (I think I may have been chased there by enemy ships.) in the middle of a giant storm with multiple waterspouts. Trying to keep speed so the fortress couldn't get a bead on me while avoiding the waterspouts and firing volleys as I rolled up and down the huge swells was wonderful madness.</p>
<p>I did find the story missions (especially the instant fail stealth parts) the weakest part of the game, but I didn't dislike them as much as others. I haven't played an AC game since AC2, so I'm probably less annoyed with the persistent problems (scripts that don't fire, forcing reloads and deaths due to bugs) than people who've been enduring them all along.</p>
<p>My review scores are largely based on whether I think the experience was worth my time, with the highest score reserved for games I'd love to play again. Ubisoft games have so many collectibles that staring over from scratch is usually too daunting for me to be enthusiastic about it. But with AC4, I'd consider it.</p>Blain Newporthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07692883426442963487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15554398.post-28707432247344470602014-09-21T21:41:00.000-07:002014-09-22T07:27:05.365-07:00Keepalive: Brütal Legend, Remember Me, Injustice: Gods Among Us, Cubetractor, The Walking Dead: Season 2<p style="font-size:80%;">written by Blain Newport on Sunday, 21 September 2014</p>
<h2>Brütal Legend (4 of 5)</h2>
<p>A roadie gets transported to a land made of heavy metal album covers and has to fight the evils oppressing its people.</p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZQ5aBxtqFxAqH0tZ64REI7baka-wyj3NfQMDqSyTQUUOFMmVqDTWsy73yMwB7F7p0ZQmXEG3HCNJHszgf5pfGQEK63lrd1-TaLRBIezt1n3J_u-MGkOz9wSWfajMq0HLWtQ3L/s1600/BrutalLegend.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZQ5aBxtqFxAqH0tZ64REI7baka-wyj3NfQMDqSyTQUUOFMmVqDTWsy73yMwB7F7p0ZQmXEG3HCNJHszgf5pfGQEK63lrd1-TaLRBIezt1n3J_u-MGkOz9wSWfajMq0HLWtQ3L/s400/BrutalLegend.jpg" /></a>
<p>It's a passable action game and a passable RTS with nice trappings. I turned the difficulty down to easy because the game parts, especially the RTS parts, just weren't very fun. And this is from a guy who finished Sacrifice (which also wasn't very fun). But driving around the crazy setting, listening to the licensed soundtrack was a unique and pleasant experience.</p>
<h2>Remember Me (3 of 5)</h2>
<p>Um. Yeah. Remember Me has a lot of craft put into it.</p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmfSxWnd-kDTf8vs7UCkzOtx_pPpMHyVo9EXuytz__MSEGH01Mzs5zQMqRIgj0z8DyPkX_X4yEOXFG9ItuuPGetSZJBOm7UEuJMcHYtUu3NnCsfbuS1OPBNa0A0aaTyF-Ast_u/s1600/RememberMe.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmfSxWnd-kDTf8vs7UCkzOtx_pPpMHyVo9EXuytz__MSEGH01Mzs5zQMqRIgj0z8DyPkX_X4yEOXFG9ItuuPGetSZJBOm7UEuJMcHYtUu3NnCsfbuS1OPBNa0A0aaTyF-Ast_u/s400/RememberMe.jpg" /></a>
<p>That's the Arc De Triomphe surrounded by run down housing and canals. It kind of sums up the game for me. The craft is very good, but none of it makes any sense. Paris will never build non-luxury housing around the Arc or let it become a slum. I don't want to get into spoilers, but the story has the same level of logical consistency. Someone had what they felt was a cool idea but didn't think it through. The combat system is a case in point. You build combos yourself, but after a certain point, there is one uber combo and you just go into the menu to tweak it's properties from time to time. At points in the game you alter people's memories. You have to find the right combination of alterations to make to get a desired outcome, but it's mostly guess and check. Also it's terrible when other people alter memories, but when you do it, it has no negative consequences. :P</p>
<h2>Injustice: Gods Among Us (4 of 5)</h2>
<p>a DC Comics fighting game from the makers of Mortal Kombat</p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIeeJMW7F-E4heaM-A0uGu7Y28FMWkZwKmFoKeUBFXnBXUInqFLrBkPrrsNtWeLrtjC2YFjIvifMGm19WY7zesHWgIFL3h7shL3Nw7QdPMUnoM61v4PJEzsp22X1VEF5AT6R57/s1600/Injustice.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIeeJMW7F-E4heaM-A0uGu7Y28FMWkZwKmFoKeUBFXnBXUInqFLrBkPrrsNtWeLrtjC2YFjIvifMGm19WY7zesHWgIFL3h7shL3Nw7QdPMUnoM61v4PJEzsp22X1VEF5AT6R57/s400/Injustice.jpg" /></a>
<p>That's Solomon Grundy pummeling Bane. I'm just enough of a DC nerd (Timm and Dini DCAU nerd, really) that that's a pretty good fight. Thankfully the mechanical foundation of the game is also pretty sound. The guys at work had been playing the game for months, and I'd played enough that when it went on sale I felt obliged to pick it up. I played through the story mode, which is just okay, but it's still fun to open up practice mode and mess with combos.</p>
<h2>Cubetractor (3 of 5)</h2>
<p>an adorable game where you play a robot that pulls cubes together to make structures and is powered by enthusiasm</p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR4TOAuUb23IPDRlq_IFOGYbikQ-9GeTZOKNU9dhdKl4EMcZ17VkIrgOOH2OddvM7txL0tGbcMVFtHv98aqXwbQXvX88CjDYXwjJZIpHZgYl4K89cRBCwZcl-jsxE-TlmwTceT/s1600/Cubetractor.png" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR4TOAuUb23IPDRlq_IFOGYbikQ-9GeTZOKNU9dhdKl4EMcZ17VkIrgOOH2OddvM7txL0tGbcMVFtHv98aqXwbQXvX88CjDYXwjJZIpHZgYl4K89cRBCwZcl-jsxE-TlmwTceT/s400/Cubetractor.png" /></a>
<p>The art's great and the gameplay doesn't get in the way. I don't really want a sequel though, because the puzzles that were challenging didn't make me feel smart or brave or otherwise good about solving them. I'm just not a puzzle game guy. If I'm solving hard puzzles, I'd rather be paid for it.</p>
<h2>The Walking Dead: Season 2 (3 of 5)</h2>
<p>I'd put a picture, but almost everything would be a spoiler. The Walking Dead games are more story than game. Your decisions don't really change anything. People die and betray and make terrible plans and blame everyone else for their mistakes. And even with the frustration of occasionally lousy combat sequences and not being given the choices I'd want because the plot needs things to go wrong, these games still do a better job of character building and storytelling than most of what's on the market. I suppose if that's really all I was interested in I'd go play text games, which never went away and have been having a renaissance since <a href="http://twinery.org/">Twine</a> came about. But the few I've tried, some of which were creative and well written, still just sort of lie there compared to the urgency of The Walking Dead.</p>Blain Newporthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07692883426442963487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15554398.post-80154377491599720622014-09-09T07:59:00.001-07:002014-09-09T07:59:22.826-07:00Big Humble Store Sale<p style="font-size:80%;">written by Blain Newport on Tuesday, 09 September 2014 at 08:00 GMT -7</p>
<p><a href="https://www.humblebundle.com/store">The Humble Store</a> is having a two week sales event with daily deals and flash sales and even a free game to start (although that will probably have run out by the time anyone reads this).</p>
<p>I recommend The Swapper for $3 if you think a creepy puzzle game sounds fun. (It'll be leaving the front page in a couple hours, but </p>
<p>I personally decided to try Euro Truck Simulator 2 for $5 to see why virtual truck driving is so popular.</p>
<p>And as much as I enjoyed The Lego Movie, I haven't been into the games in a long time, so even $7.50 seemed too much to pay for The Lego Movie - Videogame.</p>
Blain Newporthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07692883426442963487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15554398.post-64789176207323989032014-08-17T16:02:00.000-07:002014-08-17T16:02:39.348-07:00Keepalive: Dark Scavenger, Jazzpunk, Marlow Briggs, Rochard<p style="font-size:80%;">written by Blain Newport on Sunday, 17 August 2014</p>
<h2>Dark Scavenger (4 of 5)</h2>
<p>Dark Scavenger is basically somebody's really weird D&D module / Fighting Fantasy book. Observe the character designs below and the choice offered.</p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh85kGEmC87vpMkGGsED0FvCYmtaB2_6wYp9BhUVsDSrHcyA9MIKuAi8RiovpHJVa4YRzCltBI6gyWnz88dN1h7vMdNCIhL1OR9nhRGCRNj-yET5Jp4bJqRCu_7BYZYR5_j5nHH/s1600/DarkScavenger+choice.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh85kGEmC87vpMkGGsED0FvCYmtaB2_6wYp9BhUVsDSrHcyA9MIKuAi8RiovpHJVa4YRzCltBI6gyWnz88dN1h7vMdNCIhL1OR9nhRGCRNj-yET5Jp4bJqRCu_7BYZYR5_j5nHH/s400/DarkScavenger+choice.jpg" /></a>
<p>Your choices may involve combat. They may not. They may earn you loot. They may not. At the same time as I've gotten used to the drip feeding of rewards in most games, I like feeling like my brain is at least semi-relevant to the proceedings.</p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjOvE9WwYGozlvBnUSEW2mAfQHTiyFKi82Te5wxPBDyfB6KYJqtoddOD8MY739M0_MtDNTcF32rXoXlc0bNWQbswdlphaLYO9Tjq_PHPF8pehoqptGO8aPp5o4oIEsvzjwqfYe/s1600/DarkScavenger+item.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjOvE9WwYGozlvBnUSEW2mAfQHTiyFKi82Te5wxPBDyfB6KYJqtoddOD8MY739M0_MtDNTcF32rXoXlc0bNWQbswdlphaLYO9Tjq_PHPF8pehoqptGO8aPp5o4oIEsvzjwqfYe/s400/DarkScavenger+item.jpg" /></a>
<p>The loot has it's own weird subsystem where you can choose to turn most pieces of loot into weapons, items, or companion characters. You have to make many of the choices without much information, but I always seemed to find ways to make it work and occasionally felt clever for finding ways to combine items and attacks.</p>
<p>For me the game succeeds on it's strangeness. It tries at world building and does okay. It tries at character building and does okay. It tries at a creative combat system and does okay. It tries to walk a line between seriousness and humor and does okay. But stuff like making a companion out of a toaster kept me wanting to see what craziness was next. And starting the game over with overpowered loot will let me see different choices and make for a fun "tourist mode" romp.</p>
<h2>Jazzpunk (2 of 5)</h2>
<p>Jazzpunk doesn't try to walk a line between seriousness and humor. It's mostly humor with as weird of undertones as they can manage.</p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHTmEul8mHhYIvwi9yKNUcUtil_N4VxSnGqx8L1ORbPDcEb6KtZH5nPG1RUAsxDUFZHzOYX1tjnsvMqnYuVD2MfHorfpR0uOV44NwoiF9qzw43cFTdB4gAjsopjhjPSxXqt9JD/s1600/Jazzpunk.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHTmEul8mHhYIvwi9yKNUcUtil_N4VxSnGqx8L1ORbPDcEb6KtZH5nPG1RUAsxDUFZHzOYX1tjnsvMqnYuVD2MfHorfpR0uOV44NwoiF9qzw43cFTdB4gAjsopjhjPSxXqt9JD/s400/Jazzpunk.jpg" /></a>
<p>Yeah. Humor. The ads for Jazzpunk are better than the content of Jazzpunk. They try, and there are some fun ideas in there. But it felt very plodding. Every gag was a discrete event that just sort of sat there. I suspect it's a combination of limited technical chops, limited resources, and partly the surreal vibe the game is shooting for.</p>
<p>I appreciate the effort and hope the dev learns and improves, but I just didn't feel this one was ready for prime time.</p>
<h2>Marlow Briggs and the Mask of Death (3 of 5)</h2>
<p>Marlow Briggs was on sale for 99 cents during the last Steam sale. A God of War style game for 99 cents? I had to give it a shot.</p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBQYk4dCOvNgtycQceSX87P5OaJYWq4RK80OjLiewbX5cw3zvFoDJfgGtJ1DK1K2VofOs4YFRiTnP2vdJjwYJmdjngm1FcQuxyB6DwHPanUm4PoLzpK9jCIleYZaFK-C3ZFdt2/s1600/Marlow+Briggs+fight.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBQYk4dCOvNgtycQceSX87P5OaJYWq4RK80OjLiewbX5cw3zvFoDJfgGtJ1DK1K2VofOs4YFRiTnP2vdJjwYJmdjngm1FcQuxyB6DwHPanUm4PoLzpK9jCIleYZaFK-C3ZFdt2/s400/Marlow+Briggs+fight.jpg" /></a>
<p>Yep. That's a God of War style game all right. There are even some enemies that the player can beat into submission and ride around on. It's a direct lift, minus the gore and breasts, which I didn't miss at all.</p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBs4W7ieNoWFRsffP4zuzhU2xwl2JmMfOZUyS-FPnDBUMSdsIj7eu6A8wsFLg9MndH3TIn9iKPWsQyCn-Ixcwghfn_qoLKVeRpPXHl1s4E5Dyrq-H8kzuDNNrldGDMMemypVO_/s1600/Marlow+Briggs+zipline.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBs4W7ieNoWFRsffP4zuzhU2xwl2JmMfOZUyS-FPnDBUMSdsIj7eu6A8wsFLg9MndH3TIn9iKPWsQyCn-Ixcwghfn_qoLKVeRpPXHl1s4E5Dyrq-H8kzuDNNrldGDMMemypVO_/s400/Marlow+Briggs+zipline.jpg" /></a>
<p>And it's got some spectacle. They didn't have enough money to animate all the cut scenes so they do a sort of bullet time camera flyby. Those parts don't quite work, but for the price the production values are still ridiculous.</p>
<p>While it is just another character action game, and some of the death trap bits near the end kill the pace a bit, I loved seeing a positively portrayed minority as the hero. Marlow Briggs' character doesn't really get developed, but he still comes across as a likeable everyman hero who just happens to be black.</p>
<h2>Rochard (3 of 5)</h2>
<p>Rochard is the name of the main character, who is a miner. The game's writing is a bit better than that pun, mostly. And it's gameplay is a bit better than its writing.</p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX8jmBGd3JQ1B-hZvojEkXZFB4upgvGjquDTokGBl11UOhyphenhyphenJJXvKmScHXKklpJY11GB86LzWiEE1bmp2YlAy9QV8CvCzBenGL2LppZP01kHv0bzFOigluPZ-wjRKMc4i9fQdAi/s1600/Rochard.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX8jmBGd3JQ1B-hZvojEkXZFB4upgvGjquDTokGBl11UOhyphenhyphenJJXvKmScHXKklpJY11GB86LzWiEE1bmp2YlAy9QV8CvCzBenGL2LppZP01kHv0bzFOigluPZ-wjRKMc4i9fQdAi/s400/Rochard.jpg" /></a>
<p>I suppose I should have said space miner instead of just miner, but I don't know of any games about normal miners. There's certainly enough to learn in terms of the engineering, tools, and dangers to make a compelling game about normal mining, but to my knowledge no one's been willing to commit to it yet.</p>
<p>This game is a somewhat actiony / somewhat puzzley platformer that never really made me feel clever or excited, but introduced mechanics frequently enough and had enough of a story to keep me going. It also didn't hurt that I started catching up on Patrick Klepek's wonderful <a href="http://www.giantbomb.com/podcasts/interview-dumptruck/">Giant Bomb's Interview Dump Truck</a> podcasts during the puzzle sections, so your mileage may vary.</p>Blain Newporthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07692883426442963487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15554398.post-77415409447895050752014-08-10T23:08:00.000-07:002014-08-10T23:08:26.112-07:00Keepalive: Xenoblade Chronicles, Stacking, Thief, Dark Scavenger, The Last Remnant<p style="font-size:80%;">written by Blain Newport on Sunday, 10 August 2014</p>
<p>Considering it's been three weeks, I haven't really played much. I had a lot of work and an internet outage. I still have a lot of work.</p>
<h2>Xenoblade Chronicles (4 of 5)</h2>
<p>I finally finished Xenoblade at a little over a hundred hours. The creatures and landscapes were great. The story and characters were above average. And the combat was decent. I wish the female characters had been stronger and had more respectable looking armor. Overall, the game was a really nice vacation. I still suspect I will eventually pick up a Wii U largely to play the sequel.</p>
<h2>Stacking (3 of 5)</h2>
<p>The art and aesthetic was great. A fair amount of the game itself felt too leisurely for its own good especially when there was backtracking.</p>
<h2>Thief (3 of 5)</h2>
<p>I didn't mind Thief, which I half expected to considering the reviews. The game let me feel sneaky, which was fun. But the lengthy animations which slowed down the action and the uninteresting characters which left me indifferent to the story tried to detract from that simple joy. It's a good thing I'm so simple.</p>
<h2>Dark Scavenger</h2>
<p>Dark Scavenger is a strange, comical, sci-fi, fantasy, point & click adventure RPG. The strangest part of the game is the loot system. Most loot you find can be "crafted" into a weapon, tool, or companion. And there are certain combats and hazards you can bypass if you have the right weapon, tool, or companion for them. It's novel.</p>
<hr />
<p>Novelty is fleeting. But it's necessary to keep everything from feeling worn out. I spent some more time with The Last Remnant, and the only thing that made me smile was the fact that one of the characters had a ridiculous stat increase.</p>
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl4vW_aPBQPh_w023JZ8p2PGFfV5c02J9kU8x_-hub0Z2IygteLFNrKvjBqVh-oE-yXL2KMo0Jd1ocwyLw9SvdoPoe6sCKn68uqUCwXl0LodfQCA3_a888UKmb_cm9Zh8JZ52P/s1600/The+Last+Remnant+love.jpg" />Blain Newporthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07692883426442963487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15554398.post-68739830797640906742014-07-20T23:33:00.000-07:002014-07-20T23:33:15.427-07:00Keepalive: A Bunch of Stuff I Don't Care About, Naruto, Stacking, Xenoblade Chronicles<p style="font-size:80%;">written by Blain Newport on Sunday, 20 July 2014</p>
<h2>A Bunch of Stuff I Don't Care About</h2>
<p>That's a bit harsh, but it's basically true. I finished <b>Lifeless Planet</b>, a game where you were supposed to be colonizing a planet full of life, but when you arrive it's a wasteland, and there are vintage Russian buildings there for some reason. It was fine but never really grabbed me.</p>
<p><b>Darkout</b> and <b>Windforge</b> I played for a bit and immediately put down. I've played Terraria. I've played Minecraft. Starting at the bottom of a tech tree, mining copper and coal... no thanks. Plus both games have pretty bad visibility, Darkout because dark and Windforge because of it's attempt to give it's blocks some isometric perspective. I only ever died from falling in both.</p>
<p><b>Abyss Odyssey</b> is a new 2D brawler by Ace Team, who did the bizarre 3D fighter <a href="http://blainsgaminglife.blogspot.com/2009/06/review-zeno-clash.html">Zeno Clash</a>. The fighting in Zeno Clash was never perfect, but I remember it being better than Abyss Odyssey, where certain attacks seem to come from nowhere and the whole thing just doesn't feel like it has any weight to it.</p>
<p>I probably spent the most time with <b>Reign Maker</b>, a match 3 fantasy game. But that's mostly because it's easy to play while listening to podcasts. I'm not really a fan of match 3 games. I think the last one I was into was Wario's Woods for the NES, and that's mostly just because it's the closest Toad's been to the badass he was in Super Mario 2.</p>
<p>I think part of the reason I'm not being particularly patient with these games is because I finally organized my Steam list to show "backlog" games at the top. I had a little over thirty, and now I'm a bit under thirty. Some of these are games I had laying around for years and was just never in the mood for. So now they'll get played for maybe half an hour and summarily dismissed because they don't have a great feel right away. :P</p>
<h2>NARUTO SHIPPUDEN: Ultimate Ninja STORM 3 Full Burst</h2>
<p>I'm never writing that out again.</p>
<p>But speaking of great feel...</p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioHqZTjd77H5St8mPeypwmc1wL-ZH5-F7j6FPUu8rtkjWwdhZWAFWZe2na-ktms6HewO87tSEalmXQRD3dMxU8MT8E3VdTobtxgLmWaWFQMkC037bD2bNhpc-BgiFzUk0g2eX0/s1600/Naruto+ninja+movement.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioHqZTjd77H5St8mPeypwmc1wL-ZH5-F7j6FPUu8rtkjWwdhZWAFWZe2na-ktms6HewO87tSEalmXQRD3dMxU8MT8E3VdTobtxgLmWaWFQMkC037bD2bNhpc-BgiFzUk0g2eX0/s400/Naruto+ninja+movement.jpg" /></a>
<p>Nothing is even happening in this picture. Naruto and Sasuke are just flipping around the environment for no reason. But it makes simple maneuvering for position look flashy and delightfully absurd.</p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc_KCSbhqSqGP0n-YhYjXp5WeB1C-GfcBLJRRASUlmOEEeMNiUoEGlUPWnm7g0Y86IEmG7pWoSUFe3XKAVGxnoug1cx5xPQ-M-fzQt3_hiPwrsu63Ik_8W4huFynZsZQE2qLW9/s1600/Naruto+exploding+clone.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc_KCSbhqSqGP0n-YhYjXp5WeB1C-GfcBLJRRASUlmOEEeMNiUoEGlUPWnm7g0Y86IEmG7pWoSUFe3XKAVGxnoug1cx5xPQ-M-fzQt3_hiPwrsu63Ik_8W4huFynZsZQE2qLW9/s400/Naruto+exploding+clone.jpg" /></a>
<p>Sort of like throwing exploding clones of yourself at someone.</p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLaYovoMg6WOSxFtg-yMAIp282UDthy-LWZ99waOOMEc2_xsoyKT0w7HQfNDyFlwQPs25u8SPWVXpsHjPSomdkBbo0nIEx8MyTjBYv0aqW9wLOMZYEcJZXT5R1crHxFBdPTOhe/s1600/Naruto+S+Rank+Pig.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLaYovoMg6WOSxFtg-yMAIp282UDthy-LWZ99waOOMEc2_xsoyKT0w7HQfNDyFlwQPs25u8SPWVXpsHjPSomdkBbo0nIEx8MyTjBYv0aqW9wLOMZYEcJZXT5R1crHxFBdPTOhe/s400/Naruto+S+Rank+Pig.jpg" /></a>
<p>Or being rewarded for doing well with a golden pig statue.</p>
<p>Yeah. It's my kind of nonsense.</p>
<p>I won't give the cut scenes as high of marks. Pacing is often weak. And so far the female characters are mostly sex objects or hopelessly devoted to a male character. :\</p>
<p>And the lack of any tutorial also put me off initially. I had to go into practice mode and look at the poorly implemented (two moves per page) command list to figure things out.</p>
<p>But it's made by CyberConnect2 (who also developed Asura's Wrath) so the fighting is serviceable and the set piece battles are suitably huge and ridiculous. I'll keep playing it.</p>
<h2>Stacking</h2>
<p>It's a cute puzzle game where you play a nesting doll that gets inside of other nesting dolls and uses their special abilities to solve puzzles.</p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqDtgqddBb5PctH9jCdVOBN4A8UUSKsB0vhQWECaJ3FPVrXaPAldVi3Wo-YA7ekVEUond5Pm8U2180w2O6Jsk3uQPT7BG76a4PE-6VwLWK7Jpgq2tA_GFohgVLuMyX38VitZ1L/s1600/Stacking+zeppelin+restaurant.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqDtgqddBb5PctH9jCdVOBN4A8UUSKsB0vhQWECaJ3FPVrXaPAldVi3Wo-YA7ekVEUond5Pm8U2180w2O6Jsk3uQPT7BG76a4PE-6VwLWK7Jpgq2tA_GFohgVLuMyX38VitZ1L/s400/Stacking+zeppelin+restaurant.jpg" /></a>
<p>And it's very pretty.</p>
<h2>Xenoblade Chronicles</h2>
<p>It's still there in the background and nice when I'm in the mood for something fairly low key.</p>Blain Newporthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07692883426442963487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15554398.post-65110392053883100602014-07-13T22:49:00.000-07:002014-07-13T22:49:52.515-07:00Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance<div style="font-size: 80%;">
written by Blain Newport on Sunday, 13 July 2014</div>
<h2>Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (4 of 5)</h2>
<p>I don't really care about Metal Gear in general. Heavy handed messages about militarism coupled with waiting for security guards to do their rounds is not my idea of a good time.</p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi74Huvzl1seokbIy4vYfsiB9K5ZxCzBRr_cM3RbQP0gG5aVX8_cwM6TsoQ1JoBzuFlqCV03CuDZT8MoYOsdU22ooldTu0xcBneu3dTIwHdNVJZqvgcPe4bZQVfgNLrNwJWnZN/s1600/REVENGEANCE+box.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi74Huvzl1seokbIy4vYfsiB9K5ZxCzBRr_cM3RbQP0gG5aVX8_cwM6TsoQ1JoBzuFlqCV03CuDZT8MoYOsdU22ooldTu0xcBneu3dTIwHdNVJZqvgcPe4bZQVfgNLrNwJWnZN/s320/REVENGEANCE+box.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a>
<p>Luckily in Revengeance, hiding in a box like this is largely optional. Most of the time you'll be playing a Devil May Cry style action game and doing stuff like this:</p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRdNZzBvoDD4Wd2CfBF5yRh_aekWmToUZQcjilzaOiLT_Y4WiIxne8ASFajJVh0zQKMq8sbrXJCa9hMtK15P9C6VU8DXgjf6u_wYlVmXbM3ysHNAPWH8BwTdFZb4N2y2WN95V5/s1600/REVENGEANCE+zandatsu.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRdNZzBvoDD4Wd2CfBF5yRh_aekWmToUZQcjilzaOiLT_Y4WiIxne8ASFajJVh0zQKMq8sbrXJCa9hMtK15P9C6VU8DXgjf6u_wYlVmXbM3ysHNAPWH8BwTdFZb4N2y2WN95V5/s320/REVENGEANCE+zandatsu.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a>
<p>Raiden has just sliced an enemy in half, exposing his blue glowing spine full of delicious health and energy. Why wouldn't a blow that slices the rest of a battle cyborg in half slice the spine in half? Because video games.</p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH3aYMEVDU-7ACzuyFzDPyT9kwHMsBZe4fez6LZ1srjYfaqQANlDV7ERLRYjVErT87zTtOyFI_Y0ZyN1HAu5c5aTvhO2-Cdtm8DmUAv_2qiAlOQhrz1ugjqhMEp_30iAReHbz2/s1600/REVENGEANCE+heli+chase.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH3aYMEVDU-7ACzuyFzDPyT9kwHMsBZe4fez6LZ1srjYfaqQANlDV7ERLRYjVErT87zTtOyFI_Y0ZyN1HAu5c5aTvhO2-Cdtm8DmUAv_2qiAlOQhrz1ugjqhMEp_30iAReHbz2/s400/REVENGEANCE+heli+chase.jpg" /></a>
<p>Here we see Raiden running from a helicopter, the natural enemy of most video game characters.</p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieDOJZJSBbeFE9cJ1oS23NYbWY2HWX-HHUSZwdwVSo_0eklGvRYPUrkjDVpGjZUNnDzs_x1w3iiLPi94rji8xnu4REGmFtLDZknyScyRbUzmKCkbFPSWUIRiU7Kkfi2k0_1cYJ/s1600/REVENGEANCE+heli+chop.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieDOJZJSBbeFE9cJ1oS23NYbWY2HWX-HHUSZwdwVSo_0eklGvRYPUrkjDVpGjZUNnDzs_x1w3iiLPi94rji8xnu4REGmFtLDZknyScyRbUzmKCkbFPSWUIRiU7Kkfi2k0_1cYJ/s400/REVENGEANCE+heli+chop.jpg" /></a>
<p>And here we see him slicing it into pieces. Yep. Slicing helicopters into pieces with a sword.</p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZuVVHNRWql-O1jepuTnM_bjT9XIq44zy_bCOhOEUSPZPvtFZcv5NrPdx84rg7d2eFB3wcEYkQ-GYVP_Pmn-YlWNeQUlTm4crla5MfSm0S7q62kb6yw7kq8AAyuMJyL_-a-Fai/s1600/REVENGEANCE+heli+chunks.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZuVVHNRWql-O1jepuTnM_bjT9XIq44zy_bCOhOEUSPZPvtFZcv5NrPdx84rg7d2eFB3wcEYkQ-GYVP_Pmn-YlWNeQUlTm4crla5MfSm0S7q62kb6yw7kq8AAyuMJyL_-a-Fai/s400/REVENGEANCE+heli+chunks.jpg" /></a>
<p>340 pieces is my personal best.</p>
<p>This is now and forever shall be my favorite Metal Gear game.</p>
Blain Newporthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07692883426442963487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15554398.post-28188792653954306092014-07-06T13:48:00.000-07:002014-07-06T13:49:44.017-07:00Keepalive: Redshirt, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, Garry's Mod, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance<p style="font-size:80%;">written by Blain Newport on Sunday, 6 July 2014</p>
<h2>Redshirt</h2>
<p>I thought there would be more creative writing to come out of Redshirt. I certainly enjoyed writing that previous post. Trying to explain the actions of a character I was playing as though she was a real person and not just me pressing buttons was surprisingly rewarding. But the truth was that after that first session, I pretty much gave up on romance. I still had some friends to hang out with. But they died on away missions and were replaced with friends in higher positions who could help me get promoted.</p>
<p>In the end I had my tray table up and my seat back in the full upright position.</p>
<p>Generally speaking I can't recommend the game. I got messages from characters who had died on away missions. The scroll wheel didn't work except in weird sections of some windows which made navigating the interface a pain. I seemed to get random stat bonuses and penalties for no reason at times. But it gave me one good creative writing project.</p>
<h2>The Bureau: XCOM Declassified</h2>
<p>Here we see a picture of the most important character in The Bureau.</p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuUryul731UgE8AjhEXD0H4l_KyQ8fHF-NSYbxaqDZxd9UhyphenhyphentaPCqgHS39kq4QuTdezn2YMma9Q0S736HD944_NXezTSNN4dQR6RynOqfUdOePhfOoF-flsKI-QA5GsBI4RJoj/s1600/thebureau.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuUryul731UgE8AjhEXD0H4l_KyQ8fHF-NSYbxaqDZxd9UhyphenhyphentaPCqgHS39kq4QuTdezn2YMma9Q0S736HD944_NXezTSNN4dQR6RynOqfUdOePhfOoF-flsKI-QA5GsBI4RJoj/s320/thebureau.jpg" /></a>
<p>Here is a close up.</p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAmSnNAGr37fNVTo0F6_GPFBXhQNbQE2YuXgr-g6Vpn_3NVQpmKTdvQgEfGHdKGoC6t8peoiwEXbatg4gm6IFK3EUv4K-w1Lh2BV_LHkKHvrYcCrAGzC6KBIeywEgglCMQXeM2/s1600/thebureau+most+important+character.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAmSnNAGr37fNVTo0F6_GPFBXhQNbQE2YuXgr-g6Vpn_3NVQpmKTdvQgEfGHdKGoC6t8peoiwEXbatg4gm6IFK3EUv4K-w1Lh2BV_LHkKHvrYcCrAGzC6KBIeywEgglCMQXeM2/s320/thebureau+most+important+character.jpg" /></a>
<p>I bought The Bureau to wear a fedora and shoot aliens. I think the designers knew that at some level because the last thing the main character does before the player takes control is put on that hat.</p>
<p>There are even mechanics for the hat getting blown off your head by nearby explosions. And you can go recover said hat. No hat left behind!</p>
<p>Unfortunately there comes a point, fairly early on, where you switch to a special forces sweater and can't wear the hat any more, even though it's still sitting in your office, taunting you.</p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiliuL1MBVjdVEFGPdF0-tNonoG6Ik_Z4VsiX3M-y_908seGkOJZA76a4cMvVMXYJgQLFBNaYlmU2T9E6XBW8V9f-_ub59SBKRpfqui3U0a6jy2X-9FuaATGfoIsn_v_n_1lUbr/s1600/thebureau+and+yet+so+far.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiliuL1MBVjdVEFGPdF0-tNonoG6Ik_Z4VsiX3M-y_908seGkOJZA76a4cMvVMXYJgQLFBNaYlmU2T9E6XBW8V9f-_ub59SBKRpfqui3U0a6jy2X-9FuaATGfoIsn_v_n_1lUbr/s320/thebureau+and+yet+so+far.jpg" /></a>
<p>Sadistic.</p>
<p>As for the rest of the game, it's middling. I turned it down to easy because I got tired of having to go revive my idiotic AI companions. There's a decent twist near the end and a decision that you don't know the ramifications of until it's too late. But I won't miss this one if there's no sequel.</p>
<h2>Garry's Mod</h2>
<p>Chris and I decided to muck about with Garry's Mod a tiny bit. Here we see Chris, who bolted a seat to the inside of a bath tub, taking a ride as I carry him around with my physics gun.</p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLZNn5sJ5-u5CCSneIUm-162-1IPUjHZf-BNeiJxjF3q31KLBlnRZJoZQxl2nbcDiOTmvHIGUSVDzGBTYvMY8qQZ7DzdyWqXhs0recTVv195hLCVjnHU4XZaaj7apo0ZJcxUKI/s1600/gmod+tub+ride.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLZNn5sJ5-u5CCSneIUm-162-1IPUjHZf-BNeiJxjF3q31KLBlnRZJoZQxl2nbcDiOTmvHIGUSVDzGBTYvMY8qQZ7DzdyWqXhs0recTVv195hLCVjnHU4XZaaj7apo0ZJcxUKI/s320/gmod+tub+ride.jpg" /></a>
<p>We later attached rockets to tubs and skidded hither and yon. The craziest part was Chris building a basket and flying us around by lifting it with the physics gun while we were standing inside it.</p>
<h2>Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance</h2>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixbPEK9yavwvMo-Yg6hijnpiVlnMRS1_faZC7k_A3RNKENVXuhmtcWtT2-KUKrkWMwQjP5J1w4wHNS8SnNk0IinS8iOOb8KjPRPCRTjQFViDQhV10KipvrFapzh1NgBCc1tBxc/s1600/REVENGEANCE+car.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixbPEK9yavwvMo-Yg6hijnpiVlnMRS1_faZC7k_A3RNKENVXuhmtcWtT2-KUKrkWMwQjP5J1w4wHNS8SnNk0IinS8iOOb8KjPRPCRTjQFViDQhV10KipvrFapzh1NgBCc1tBxc/s320/REVENGEANCE+car.jpg" /></a>
<p>That used to be a hatchback. But using Revengeance's slicing physics, it is now rubble. Basically Revengeance is a stylish action game with slicing. It's delightful so far and makes me wish Bayonetta (which I suspect uses the same engine) would also make it to PC. I tried to play Bayonetta on the 360, but after playing DMC4 and the DMC reboot at 1080 and 60fps, Bayonetta felt blurry and clunky.</p>
<p>I suppose fighting a Revengeance boss that uses a spear made out of robot arms will have to be crazy enough... for now.</p>
<p>This is mostly a game for fans of the genre (me) and Metal Gear completionists (absolutely not me). The game doesn't mind killing the player early on and doesn't explain as much of the mechanics as it probably should, so I suspect many people wouldn't enjoy it. At some level it's trial and error, but there's enough awesome stuff so far that I'm willing to forgive.</p>Blain Newporthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07692883426442963487noreply@blogger.com0