Looking over the to-be-played list I’ve realised it’s a big list of games where I know exactly what they’ll be like… Dead Space 2 and AC Brotherhood, New Vegas… even the mighty Portal & Witcher are on their second generations. Shogun - that’s ohh, a great grandchild or something. And right now I’m playing Crysis 2 and Supreme Commander 2.
I wonder if I should try a flight sim, Warthogs Over Dover or whatever. Or one of the in-depth historical things like Victoria. Or whatever text adventures are like now.
It is pretty good, and definitely unlike most other games. The writing and story is a successful videogame implementation of horror at a level somewhere between Dean Koontz and Stephen King, with a dash of Twin Peaks thrown into it. I recommend playing on normal or easy, as the combat is better when it’s less of an obstacle and there’s a section in the middle of pretty dumb fights that you just want to enjoy the gloom and get past reasonably efficiently.
I don’t finish many games, and a lot of horror nowadays has either gone totally action (Dead Space, Resident Evil) or worse (the simply shitty Silent Hills in the last few waves, for instance). This was a well-narrated story that took me back to games like The Dark Half or Eternal Darkness that really took you somewhere special, except not as good. If those are 8-9s for you, this is a probably 7-8 depending on how much you value writing and setting.
Of course, I don’t mean 7-8 in the gaming magazine sense where that’s a criticism, but more an overall assessment of its formidable strengths but still significant weaknesses.
One thing I’d never imagined myself playing was a primarily multiplayer vaguely football themed game like Blood Bowl, and 300+ hours later I still love the game and playing in the various qt3 leagues. It’s chess and poker and turn based strategy, with a healthy dose of warhammer blood and guts. It’s a great boardgame system brought to life mostly successfully in the Cyanide game, and I expect to be playing it right up until real life deprives me of all my gaming time this year.
Also, if you have a PS3, Demon’s Souls is the best game of the last decade. It’s a wholly original step forward in the RPG genre, bringing together some of the best ideas in roguelikes, action games, and horror titles to create something that is far more than the sum of its parts.
Prize goes to Kurdel! Been putting ridiculous hours into Warband. What a game. I kind of think the Game Of Thrones publisher should have invested their money in upgrading the assets of this, sorting out UI clunk, and adding some GRRM-appropriate missions etc. Then they’d have a spectacular Game Of Thrones, er, game, rather than the wannabe they’ll probably get.