Beyond The Games
Just me -- a crazy gamer -- talking about what I love and what I hate. And most importantly of all... why I choo choo choose them. Giggity.
- Last build:
- Language:
- en
- Feed URL:
- http://journals.aol.com/aimgamegirl/BeyondTheGames/rss.xml
RSS FEED IDEMS: Beyond The Games
- It Has Been Way Too Long
Greetings.
I realise that it has been just over a year since I've posted here and that sucks big time. So here's my confession. I started another blog. If you're still interested in my rants and raves and gaming goodness by all means, please check out my new internet dwelling at http://perusha.wordpress.com, called Circles and Backroads in the American Dream. I'm currently working on starting up a soley gaming devoted blog again, so look for news of that on Circles and Backroads. Thanks to you all who read this blog while it was still living, and I hope to see you on the other side.
Carol
(AKA AIMGameGirl)
Tue, 22 Jan 2008 19:52:44 GMT - Five Things About Carol: Just Like Christopher Pike... I've been TAGGED!
Since Christopher Pike's 'Chainletter' singlehandedly freaked out my early-adolescence reaction to chain letters, emails and blogs, I feel I must respond to the AIM Buddy Blog's call-out, however dubious my beliefs are towards chain-entities today. So before I overthink these 5 facts that no one knows about me and turn it into my co-worker's 3-toed sloth comment, I'm just going to jump into it. So here goes.
Five Facts About Me! (Ironically Enough, My favorite Subject)
1. I have this weird compulsive worm-rescue project that I must do whenever it rains. This is pretty much me, on a sidewalk, with a stick, in the pouring raing picking up poor, defenseless worms and moving them out of harm's way so they don't get stepped on. Hooray for Jainism, right?
2. I've always wanted to live in NYC. When I was in NYC on a high school fashion field trip, I bought a mini-replica of the empire state building that I've kept to this day to remind me of where I ultimately want to be.
3. I don't really have a fear of Sombreros, just the head lice that inherently come with any headwear of suspicious origins. Such as the sombrero I keep under my desk, that my co-worker insists on sneaking on my head while I'm working.
4. I'm a sucker for re-reading young adult thriller books, and have worked for the last five years to rebuild the immense collection that my mom donated to the library while I was away at camp.
5. I was in a movie with Ron Jeremy. 'Nuff said.
Sat, 23 Dec 2006 17:42:00 GMT - What I'm Playing This Week, 12/18
Apologies for the infrequencies in these posts. To be honest, I've been playing so many freaking games I really didn't want to take the time to write. Apologies all around.;)
So here goes:
'Gears of War' Deliciously gory and ripe with polygons, CliffyB's greatest gift to the Xbox 360 makes me weep salty tears of joy. I'm loving this game. The environments are rich and detailed, the gameplay slick like a seal and the story is even decent. The only qualm I've got with this game is the action button screwing you over when you're dashing during gameplay. Since wall hugging and dashing are both used by pressing 'A,' it's really easy to be dashing for dear life, and then randomly get pulled into some structure that inevitably slows you down. I only mention this though, because I want to have something slightly negative to say about this game since the rest of my experiences have been overwhelmingly positive. How's about multiplayer? Here's my answer: As much as I love my husband, stomping his head into pulp in Death Match brings me perverse and extreme joy. Squelch? Yes, please.
Fri, 22 Dec 2006 15:52:10 GMT - It's SOOOO Intuitive
Well the verdict is in my friends. All my cohorts LOVE the Wii. Especially the guys. Which really got my perverted mind thinking. Could it be that the Wii was named because of the controller design? Seriously. Think about it. Undoubtedly you've seen a man sitting and playing the Wii -- perhaps 'Twilight Princess.' Their hands resting low in their laps, with only a slight flicking, jerking motion to control the sword or the boomerang. I'm not saying my theory is airtight by any means. I'm just saying that 98% of my friends are male, and all of them have played with the wiimote in the same vaguely sexual fashion. And every one of my male friends have said the same phrase immeadiately after playing: "It's so intuitive!" Could the Wii be your weewee? Could men inherently be better at the wiimote control or at least have a longer gaming endurance? These are just random thoughts of course. Even if none of my conspiracy theory pans out, it's still fun to point and laugh. Especially during boss battles. Nothing distracts a player like a self-stimulation joke.
Mon, 27 Nov 2006 20:48:32 GMT - What Does This Look Like... Seriously.
'Prey' could possibly be one of my favorite first person shooters ever. While there remain critics, I will still stand proudly and proclaim its merits. The tricky-tricky level design. The fabulous alien living weaponry. The slick graphics. The decent loading times. The interesting puzzle elements. Most of all the inclusion of Native American beliefs and spirituality into a space FPS (creating a kick-ass story line). However, what I must say -- nay what I've been MEANING to say is that the obsession with female anatomy in games is taken quite a step farther as glaringly shown in level design. Seriously. I'm not mad. I'm not all perturbed or particularly bothered... Quite the contrary -- I'm merely fascinated. I've got a prime screenshot from a level of 'Prey' to support my conviction. You can even see my gun in the corner.
So you tell me. What does this look like?
Wed, 15 Nov 2006 20:39:35 GMT - On the PS3 Launch
Originally my question was who's even going to buy the PS3? But the answer is all too clear. A freaking ridiculous amount of people with undying faith in Sony's dominance over the gaming industry -- not to mention a freaking RIDICULOUS amount of people who are cool with dropping at least $700 smackers to set up the system with one game. When the price bomb was dropped at E3 and the gaming world was pretty much shellshocked -- I debated. I talked trash. I proclaimed that nothing would get me to drop that kind of cashflow on a gaming system. As the days, weeks and months passed though, my mind started playing tricks on me. "Only $200 more that the Xbox" -- "And it's got blueray! I mean that's a bargain for the price!" With the launch less that five days away though my naysaying as at a complete nil. I want this machine. I want to play 'Heavenly Sword' -- I want to get it on launch night. And most of all, I want to kick my man out of bed and sleep next to the mighty PS3. (Sorry baby!) My revelation came too late though as my stubborn money grubbing hands didn't want to bankrupt myself and didn't even bother trying to get a reserve. Nope, I only cared for the Wii. And as sad as it is -- I'm finding myself totally pining over the PS3 instead of being psyched for the Wii, which is going to be SOOO kick-ass. For serial. Anyhow, I'm sure tons of broke gamers are feeling my pain right now and the statement "Wait until the next shipment..." cuts me like a knife. I feel your pain people -- and it HURTS.
Mon, 13 Nov 2006 14:56:41 GMT - Slightly Halloween Oriented
So i was perusing my short-lived blog with my awesome co-worker and realised how much i liked this particular entry. Therefore, I'm going to reblog an entry of the never-got-off the ground blog, Score With Thug and Mug. (By the way? I'm mug -- Secret's OUT!)Movies That Would Be Awesome Games
So the topic has arisen from the ashes like a Phoenix -- But not as pretty.
Games made into movies are normally disastrous, as movies turned games are equally crappy, except for ' Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay,' that kicked ass. So in the spirit of the less than amazing tribute to our favorite girl dhampir, 'BloodRayne', that lazily rolled out into theaters a couple of weeks ago, Thug and I have decided to put together a list of Movies that would make ROCKING video games.
With my true passion being horror games, my warped mind immediately started perusing the rack of horror flicks that have sprinkled the movie market for years. I began wondering, how cool would it be to have to regulate tourniquet pressure while you sawed your own foot off in 'Saw' -- but would the rest of the flick be worth it? Or what about a Nightmare on Elm Street game, where you got to play as our Uncle Freddy? (Just please don't equate it with the NES version) Would that get rote? Would the killing be quite as fun as watching it? I mean, if you could execute special moves to have like 'Uber-Kills' where you end up grabbing and pulling some chick's head into a television set (after the appropriately cheeky line, "Welcome to primetime, bitch") that would be a great game! Unfortunately, the likelihood of there being something remotely close to that instead of assigning 'Freddy Jab', 'Slice and Dice' and 'Dream Stab' to each of the buttons is not very high. So.... What I'd dig playing would be -- and run with me on this ...
KillerSquared (that's supposed to be a little2 next to killerto make it look mathematical)
This would be a fighting gamebased on our favourite serial killing film baddies. Real life excluded of course.
Leatherface vs. Jason
Michael Myers vs. Freddy Krueger
Dracula vs. the Wolf Man
That Creepy Chickfrom 'Ju-On' vs.That Creepy Kid from 'Ringu' (can you imagine the crawling and sweeping moves?)
These are just a few examples and I know it would be damn near impossible to get the rights to each character but if the fighting system were done well -- this could rock.
Next up!!
Battle Royale
What gamer couldn't love this movie? A high school class, stuck on an island, required to kill each other until only one is left. I mean come on! The possibilities are endless here! And you thought 'The Warriors' had rumbles. Can you imagine being stuck in the middle of a jungle creeping around killing friends, people who trusted you, people who want you to work with them? And above all having only the one weapon you are given before being sent out and whatever else you can scrounge up? So sweet. And of course there would have to be flashbacks and back stories that happen before you off your victim, just to let you know who they are to you... Mmmmm sweet familiar carnage. Bring on the Battle.
Well, that's it so far.
Love,
Mug
And it shouldn't be
After doing (I will admit a very cursory) search in Games, I have found a few that might whet your appetite.
Unfortunately, in order for you to get what you yearn for, you'd have to go back to the Ancient days and get an Atari, NES or SEGA system. Original. Not kidding. However, it would not have the newer, prettier and more functional hotness that exists today.
Anyway, here are my Additions to your requests:
~Sleepy Hollow - I'll take on a headless horseman from beyond the grave! I'm up for that! He'd have to be the boss though... boss of what? Rebelling peasantry? Hmmm....
~Hellraiser -- All of them. Yes, I want the ability to be the Sinful OR Pinhead! Open the puzzle box, get transformed into a Geiger-esque Cyborg-Demon! Yes~
~A *viable* Ghost/Ghast/Phantasm/YES I want to be able to INHABIT the spirits of innocent bystanders! ... like in Fallen! Possession, in fact, would be a fascinating RPG or First-Person, no matter how you angle it.
~ Let's not forget, while we're on the subject of dark and mysterious, the Rocky Horror Picture Show. ('Cause It's Funny!). And, 'cause it's fun. However, I think we'd be hard put to define it... might have to create a new rating class for it!
~ Jeepers Creepers - Not a great movie, by any stretch, certainly the sequel was better than the original, but still a nifty concept and room for growth!
~ More to Come!
Wed, 01 Nov 2006 21:23:45 GMT - Happy Belated Halloween
Happy (Late) Halloween everyone. This entry is late partly because I was too busy playing 'Fight Night Round 3' and drinking with my friends to update last night and mainly because I haven't played a GOOD NEW scary game in a really long time. That being said, the last horror game I was quasi-excited about was 'Rule of Rose.'
I got to play this baby at E3 and although I'm illiterate in Japanese, the atmosphere and game mechanics seemed pretty creepy to me. That's of course not mentioning that the story behind it is super twisted and executed by malicious, cunning and breathtakingly evil children. I mean what's freakier than a little kid with no rules? See 'Lord of the Flies.' Seriously. I picked up this game, and although I totally melted into the story line and the diabolical cutscenes and various cruel surprises peppered throughout the game, there were some glaring issues that made the game WAY less than fun. The most glaring of these issues was combat. Pick a game plan Atlus, please! If you're going to make the character (Jennifer) this humorously weak and hand her a fork as a weapon right off, just stop. Seriously. Someone at Atlus should have vetoed combat alltogether and decided to make it a TRUE survival horror game like the 'Clock Tower' series -- or like 'Haunting Ground.' Sure, I understand that she's a teeage girl who's not superwoman, and she's not going to be crazy strong or agile, or know how to fight at all but come on! Covering her eyes with one hand and swinging wildly with a FORK at at least 10-15 enemies all armed with long-reaching brooms does not sound anything like a fair fight to me. This is not to say that all fights should be fair though. But there should at least be a fighting chance! Getting your ass beat constantly is just not my idea of a good time. That's the point where it ceases to be frightening and suspenseful and turns plain obnoxious. However, if you are skilled in the timeless art of fork-fighting... It's a great game if you have patience. But if you are limited in that virtuous supply, you might want to steer clear.
It's heartbreaking that no truly awesome scary games have come out recently. Sigh...
Wed, 01 Nov 2006 20:51:52 GMT - Let Me Give You Love
So I really love comments. I've realised I'm a horrible person for never really responding. Therefore, I'm going to make it my personal more to respond to all comments that are posted. Unless they're nonsensical. I mean, you gotta draw the line somewhere. Well, nonsensical and not funny. Nonsensical and funny, I dig. So let's go to the drawing board shall we?
What I'm Playing This Week 10/17
Mannn, why do you have to show Gotti being knocked around by that panzy. He beat that gent a long time ago. We should box online, you'd probrably beat my ass.
Comment from closetogermany - 10/21/06 6:40 PM
Well, honestly, I just thought it was a cool screenshot. Plus, I don't follow boxing enough to know the difference. I apologize.
you do know that you can change the button configuration so the punches are alot easier :O. you would probably like config 3 the best because its pretty much the simplest. try it out and get back to me on that. ;)
Comment from swedishstud131 - 10/21/06 4:51 PM
couple more things, i have never got a single blister even after pretty much an entire day of playing 360. also to do uppercuts for config 3, x+a for a left y+b for a right. the rest all have their own buttons.
Comment from swedishstud131 - 10/21/06 4:55 PM
Thanks for the tip, I haven't gotten around to messing with the control scheme. Mostly I'm just using the right analog stick and the trigger and the special move button. That might be why I got my blister and you've never had one. What's weird is that I've never gotten a blister from anything else. Maybe I'm just getting into it too much... I LOVE IT THOUGH. Also, why would i dig the simplest? ;) Just asking.... ();-D
What I'm Playing This Week 9/21
MORTAL KOMBAT: ARMAGEDDON IS GONNA B D SHIZNIT!!!!!11!!!!!!!!!1!'Yakuza' was amazing. I've heard a lot of people compare it to 'Shenmue' and while it has similarites it's a title that really stands on its own. I spent a lot less on games after i got Gamefly, I can tell you this much -- when i worked at a game store my paycheck would be spent even before i got it. This holiday season's going to be ridiculous though. I'm planning on dropping over $1000 with buying the wii and the ps3, AND i'm not counting games. Shiver. I'm not sure how many games i have... I've got a list up on IGN.com, but it hasn't been updated in god knows how long... Maybe around 200? I'm not sure. I haven't beaten every single game, but there are ones I've beaten like a 100 times. It really depends on how good the game is... I'm glad you dug the AIM promotion:) There are TONS of women gamers out there! It pleases me:) Actually, AOL Games is running a poll about and letting people speak out about girl gamers. Very interesting. Check it out:) Girl Gamers Making Noise!
Comment from skullchest111111 - 9/23/06 2:05 AM
Hmm, I hope so. 'Deception' had its moments, but I'm very wary of 'Mortal Kombat' games. I'll keep my fingers crossed though.
i heard theres gonna be a family guy video game. what do you think about that?
Comment from sim70493 - 9/22/06 10:04 PM
I think it's going to suck. It's not difficult to figure out. I think most gamers are hoping it won't just so they can get more 'Family Guy' goodness, but come on. Remember 'Futurama?' I wish I didn't. Fox and Seth McFarlane are just trying to squeeze some more revenue out of their ridiculously over-exploited characters and it makes me sad. If it IS remotely entertaining, it'll only be because of the voiceovers and storyline. It'll probably be rote in evey other way. Buy it used so you can return in in 7 days. Or rent it.
I saw Yakuza, on some gaming website, I thought it looked good.
But when I first saw it, it reminded me of 'Shenmu'.
Now I've got a few questions: how much do you spend on video games?
How many video games do you think you have?
And have you beaten them all?
(no I'm not a journalist, it's too early in the morning and my brain hasn't absorbed the 15 cups of coffee I've injested in the last three minutes)
I'm a fellow gamer, but my collection reminds me of a rasin you find behind the couch. It's pitiful.
I also thought that it was great on the aim.com front webpage two middle-aged (soccer mom-ish) women holding controllers, instant brain function: OMG MUST CLICK!
So HI!
Love,
(fellow gamer)
Michele
Comment from rulerofdapiggies - 9/22/06 2:14 PM
Well, that's it for today. I'll answer some more Super Soon:)
Thanks for the comments!!
Tue, 24 Oct 2006 21:33:12 GMT - Condemn Me, I love it.
What can I say about a game that transcends so many of the stereotypical gaming statutes and manages to be a complete masterpiece? I’ll start off simply, by saying, “Hooray Monolith! Hooray and congrats for your first foray into console gaming being such a rousing success – and thank you. Thank you Monolith and SEGA, for bringing a completely breathtaking and surprisingly unique piece of art into a launch line-up for such an amazing console”.
‘Condemned: Criminal Origins’ blew me away. And I’m not even saying that lightly. Condemned managed to completely capture me and keep me satisfied through every single, solitary level. And since pretty much all of the levels are solitary, that’s saying a lot. Cheap joke on my end, I apologize.
The basic story is, you are an FBI agent, hot on the trail of serial killers. A particular serial killer eludes your grasp however, and when you are investigating a crime scene, he comes around, kills two cops with your gun, and pretty much leaves you with the blame. So you are on the run from the cops and the FBI, and there is only one person left at the bureau, your lab contact, who believes in you. Your contact with her is lucky though, as you’ll need to send her forensic evidence and such as the game progresses to help you track your killer. There are a number of supernatural elements presented in the game as well, some unknown evil is infecting birds and causing their brains to liquefy and for some odd reason this evil is also affecting homeless degenerates, filling them with an unparalleled and very smartly executed bloodlust.
Let’s first touch on the graphics. Everything in this game is ALIVE. The walls shimmer when you run your flashlight over them, which you end up doing a lot, since you are constantly stalked by less than human killers. They SHIMMER I tell you. Every nuance, every nook and cranny of the environment is affected by light; and although many of the environments look similar, (crawling around in the underbelly of a city tends to do that) no two walls are exactly alike when the light hits them. The character design is also amazing; the detail put into the environments wasn’t spared at all on the characters. These faces look real, their blood looks real and of course, their priceless facial expressions and blood congealing on their faces when you are head butting them looks as authentic as I could tell. Never having head butted anyone per se. Even your weapons have an unbelievable amount of concentration put into their construction as well, again reacting to the light, picking up pieces of the environment (i.e. your enemies) as you fight. There is nothing so joyous as royally and majestically kicking some depraved ass, and seeing the blood glisten on the end of your crowbar as you walk through dimly lit corridors.
Which brings me to level design. These are rote levels, don’t let me lead you otherwise, but the linear layout to these levels is hardly noticeable with the amount of detail put in, and the possible danger lurking around every dark, dank bend. Levels pretty much progress as such: enter, pursue objective, encounter a difficulty, solve puzzle (which normally consists of finding a special weapon to ‘unlock’ an area), progress to next level. How this can be the case and still hold the ultimate appeal this game presents is almost beyond me. All areas are slightly different though, and I believe, personally, that the soundtrack helps mightily to lend different feels to different areas, even if you are pretty much doing sort of the same thing. Different goals too, help to alleviate the repetition. I hesitate to use repetition though, because it doesn’t feel repetitive at all during gameplay.
The sound, or sometimes the lack thereof helps set the suspenseful mood of this title to a ‘T’. Sometimes there will be slight high pitched music, calling out that your serial killer, or someone else big and bad is in the area, but the music is only the beginning. Most of the game is quiet, because in a game as dark as condemned, and with AI as smart as condemned’s you really have to rely on both sight and sound, a feature that brings you in even closer to the gameplay. You have to strain to listen for the telltale cough, or maybe a footstep, alerting you to someone else’s presence. It gets to the point where you are afraid of your own footsteps, whirling around ready to kill what isn’t there. But that’s the true beauty of it; being so involved that you are on edge, ready to kill when you need to. The everyday crazies you are pitted against are smarter than the average AI. They are super king kong mega mega smart. These desperate AI will do anything to kill you. They will block you in passages to route you into a trap. They will rip electrical wires out to plunge the area into darkness so they can sneak up on you. They will run away, only to lure you into a place where they feel secure killing you. These bastards are smart. They are also super deadly, because in Condemned, while you use what weapons you can find to kill, your enemies can use any weapon you can. This makes you think twice about what you take, and what you leave behind, because if you forfeit the sledgehammer, it’s more than likely one of these bad boys is going to find it, pick it up, and try to bash your skull in with it.
The fighting in Condemned is unreal! You can find a gun in the levels and typical FPS it if you’d like, but there is really no fun in that, and since most guns that lie around only have about 3 bullets in their chamber, it’s pretty much pointless. And you won’t find extra ammo lying around, once those babies are out –they’re out. That’s why I personally refuse to use a gun; it’s much more fun to use melee combat to eradicate the masses. As I said before, pretty much anything can be used as a weapon, if you can grab it, you can take it, and this system works great. You can kill with anything from a pipe ripped off a wall, to a sign also ripped off the wall. My personal favorite killing tool is the crow bar. It’s so blissful to use and very effective. Another cool thing about selecting weapons is that when you are about to switch weapons, or you are near a weapon you could pick up, the screen will tell you the stats on the weapon, in relation to what weapon you currently have equipped. Damage amount, block integrity, quickness, and more are shown so you can make an educated decision on which has a better killing capability suited to you. Sledgehammer Vs Crowbar, same amount of damage, but the crowbar is much faster to strike. Booyah, I love my crowbar! Moving onto blocking! You have to block if you don’t want to die in Condemned. It’s integral to your melee game. What’s nice is that after you successfully block, your enemy is momentarily cowed, so you can go right in and brain splatter. What’s also cool about the block is that it’s not stationary. You can’t just hit block and expect it to hold the block until you let go of the button, you have to time your blocking perfectly or it won’t work. Even better are these mortal kombat esque finishing moves, where when your enemy falls to his knees, you can choose the mode of the final hit. Head butting is my favorite, because your entire perspective shifts when you head butt, and you'll find a horribly beaten crazy face really close up on your screen. It's so powerful. The effects of the combat are real as well, in one level, after kicking some degenerate until they were dead, I noticed these sparkly items on the floor. At first I thought I might have unlocked something, and ran over to try to pick it up. Upon further inspection though, I noticed that the sparkly things were something I kind of did unlock. They were teeth I had knocked out of the head of my enemy, and they were staring at me from the floor. Your attacks are brutal and real, you can see the effects of your carnage. Your enemies will vomit up blood, curse at you, run away, spit out teeth... This is realistic fighting, you are in the heat of battle and it feels like it.
The FPS perspective is even better that usual in this game. You really get the feeling you are the character with the cut scenes. There is this one scene, where you are accosted by someone, and pushed down some escalator stairs. The camera never pulls out and pans to your body, you see everything through your character’s perspective. When you are pushed down those stairs, you see a revolving world. When you die you see red.
The forensic elements of Condemned are a little lackluster, you don't get to really choose your tools and it's a mystery how certain things get sent to your lab partner. I was hoping for a more 'Still Life' take on forensic investigating, but it doesn't really affect the game too much.
Condemned really pushes the boundaries of what an FPS can do, especially on a console system. Though heavily battle oriented, the story still manages to be engaging which is very challenging, I believe, especially in the first person shooter realm. It seriously took me an hour to go through what should have been a relatively short first level because I was so freaked out I didn’t want to take my back away from the wall. I know I haven’t even scraped the beginnings of what makes this such a wonderful game, but sometimes it’s best to find these things out for one’s self. So run out and purchase, it’s definitely not rental material. Run, run! Oh, and it will be out for PC too, for all those unfortunates not lucky enough to have obtained the coveted Xbox 360.
Godspeed SEGA and Monolith, Godspeed.
Mon, 05 Dec 2005 05:27:03 GMT
