Katie & Scott & Simon & Cecily.

Author: Scott (Page 6 of 104)

50 Cent: Blood in the Sand

I played this game because a co-worker friend of mine has an unhealthy love for it and it supports 2-player online co-op through the entire campaign.

I’ll admit that I thought this game might be bad. That’s not the case. It’s a decent shooter with some interesting ideas, but nothing that’ll win any awards – except maybe an award for weirdest juxtaposition of spoken dialog.

The story is kind of a moot point. 50 wants this skull, see? And other people have it. So he and a member of his G-Unit crew shoot and blow people up in order to get it back. It’s the kind of game where you can buy new guns, new melee “counterkills,” and new taunts. The kind of game where taunting after getting a kill gives you more points. The kind of game where the more expensive the taunt, the more profane it is.

It’s all a bit ridiculous, really. But that’s part of the charm of it and assuming you aren’t turned off by the continuously pumping 50 Cent in the background, the incessant swearing, and the fact that two Americans are killing a seemingly endless number of generic mercenaries and terrorists in a fictional middle Eastern nation to get one skull back, there’s a lot of fun to be had here.

It’s almost the kind of video game that makes video games look bad to people that don’t play video games, except I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t enjoy it myself. I don’t imagine that I’ll be playing it much more, but one time through the co-op with a friend was like watching a B-movie with friends.

Blood in the Sand doesn’t try that hard to be serious, and because of that, it ends up being a bit of a delightful romp.

Do the Write Thing

I started a new blog where I intend to keep this resolution:

  • Write something (short fictional prose, a poem, an essay) once a week.

I made it separate so it’s self-contained and doesn’t import every piece of drivel I write into Facebook and so I don’t feel like I’m tainting this more general-purpose site with my mindbarf.

If you’re interested in that sort of thing, you’ll find satisfaction here:
http://crunknutspublishing.blogspot.com

2010 in review

Happy new year to all the gents and ladies out there!  It’s time for a very brief year in review.

2010 Resolution Recap

  • In one year, be at or below 180 pounds. – Success!
  • Find at least 15 minutes each day to read to my son. – Failure!

2011 Resolutions

  • Read at least one book per month.
  • Read to Simon at least 3 times a week.
  • Write something (short fictional prose, a poem, an essay) once a week.
  • Learn to play the guitar.
  • Defeat Hunter in Marvel vs Capcom 3.

Game of the Year 2010

I played a bunch of games that I thoroughly enjoyed this year, but none as much as Red Dead Redemption.  It’s the first Rockstar game I’ve ever finished, and despite very shaky story arcs and character development in the Mexico portion of the game, its open world was one of the first I actually enjoyed simply exploring.  In addition, the last 45 minutes or so of the game is sublime.  Whoever wrote everything starting from the farm-upkeep/child-raising missions onward should be given a huge pat on the back and a bonus.

Movie of the Year 2010

After Simon was born, we didn’t really get a chance to go to the theater much, so I am quite appreciative of Netflix and the different video on demand services we have on our home computers/consoles.  Which is all to say: we didn’t see as many newly released movies this year as we normally would have in past years.  Anyway, it’s Toy Story 3.  That movie was amazing.  It exceeded even my high Pixar trilogy expectations going into it.

Things I “discovered” in 2010

  • Taylor Swift (I know, right?)
  • All your clothes get stained with breastmilk when you have a baby
  • I was in the minority for liking the LOST finale
  • Babies drool a lot when they’re a bit older
  • I’m as good a designer as I am/was a producer
  • Feeding your baby solid food might seem like an encouraging milestone until they poop
  • grubhub.com

It’s hard to write anything other than: 2010 was the year we had a baby.  That single event eclipses everything else that may have happened this year in importance that it’s hard to remember what else even happened.  Did anything else happen this year?

Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction

I actually finished this game the same day I finished Puzzle Agent, but didn’t feel like writing two summaries in one day so I put it off for a long time. I’m backdating this entry so it falls on the correct day I beat the game, but having waited a good three months, I’ve forgotten most of my impressions right after finishing the game.

In general, I remember never being disappointed in the game. It was a Ratchet and Clank game that did what I expected: relatively unpunishing but solid shooter mechanics, lots of weapon upgrades for a large arsenal that ranged from practical to silly, and a moderately humorous storyline. Having been a fan of the R&C series for a while, there was nothing in this game that turned me off the series.

The only complaint I might lay against it is that for a game that seems to not subscribe to lengthening the game by making it more difficult, the difficulty of certain portions of the game are uneven. I remember a few boss fights and on-rails jumping puzzles being unusually hard. Even so, it never felt like the game was being mean.

Like other R&C games, I still suffer from falling/drowning deaths every once in a while when the game doesn’t adequately show depth/collision on the edge of a platform, but because death is usually quite innocuous, it was never a huge deal.

So there you have it. It was a fun game and I’m glad I beat it. I almost immediately started Crack in Time, the next R&C game, so it certainly kept my appetite for the series both fed and hungry for more.

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