Keepalive: Orcs Must Die 2, Sniper Elite V2, Wolfenstein (2009), Xenoblade Chronicles

written by Blain Newport on Sunday, 15 June 2014

Orcs Must Die 2

Chris and I killed more orcs. How many?

Lots.

The point was to try and experiment with traps and weapons we almost never use, but you know what? Other traps and weapons stink. There are more than a few pretty useless traps and weapons in Orcs Must Die 2.

This particular one is not useless. The orcs attack the one on the right, thinking it's the one on the left. It both slows them down and blows them up. Personally, I don't see the resemblance, but maybe orcs don't like Travolta.

Sniper Elite V2

During the week I was sick Rebellion made Sniper Elite V2 free for a day to try and drum up extra interest in Sniper Elite 3. V2 isn't bad. You mark guys with your binoculars and try to take them out stealthily so they don't mob you. You can also lay explosive traps, shoot during loud noises so enemies can't tell where the shot came from, and slow your breathing for super accurate long distance shots. Those long distance shots treat you to a slow motion bullet cam where you see your enemy's internal organs get violated.

Here's a Nazi officer taking one in the lung, I think. It's probably equal parts gratifying and gruesome, depending on the shot difficulty. I think there's an option to turn the bullet cam off, but I'm hoping there's an option to skip it with a key press, so I can enjoy the ones I worked hard for and skip the mundane ones.

Wolfenstein

I actually don't have much more to say about Wolfenstein. I'm trying to use the more exotic weapons. I'm such a pack rat that they don't see much use. Regardless, it's a bad time to be a Nazi around these (virtual) parts.

Xenoblade Chronicles

Xenoblade still hasn't really grabbed me. I'm trying to avoid side quests to keep the momentum going. I pick them all up so that if I accidentally do one in the course of advancing the plot, I get free stuff out of it. The game has enough of a plot that it feels worth advancing. So that's something.

There are a lot of choices regarding gear and abilities in the game that I can see how min-maxers would fine a lot of stuff to experiment with. Do I have Shulk stick to sneaky DPS and have Reyn tank, or do I jack up Shulks agility so he can dodge tank and let Reyn try his hand at DPS?

I think the designs (scenery, characters, and creatures) are the best part of the game. For being on the Wii, the game manages to convey an amazing sense of scale. A sequel was announced for the WiiU, and it'll be beautiful.