Picked up a used DS title from EBGames this week. I seem to remember reading a good review of it sometime ago. And it was on for about $2.65 so what the hell..
It turns out the game has iD and EA attached to it. And started out as a cell phone game several years ago. It's based on something called the Doom RPG engine, which I had never heard of.
The game as it stands seems to be (In my memory)a throwback to the old SSI Eye of the Beholder games I played back in the early 90s. A corridor dungeon crawler. You move from space to space, and fight monsters with a variety of items and magic.
The game is quite fun, and I wish there had been a handful of sequels. Apparently there was at least one, but never made it over to the DS. You don't get to pick or choose anything about yourself. So much more could have been done with a few classes, and races tossed in. And expanded random dungeons and loot.
When I first played it, it reminded me very much of Major Mudd. Back in the day I played a lot of that game, with a graphical UI over top of it. Not too mention even further back with Bards Tale on the C64. Combat is turn based which is great, all the real time twitch based stuff that is so prevalent these days isn't all it's cracked up to be.
I've been looking to see if there are any more 'Retro' fantasy, dungeon crawlers. But I haven't had a whole lot of luck. So, I have been playing O&E a little slower now so I don't finish too quickly.
4 out of 5 Stars
of Retro fun
Showing posts with label Gaming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gaming. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Goodbye Blockbuster
It would appear that the entire chain isn't going away. But the local BB here is. I got my membership card way back 15 years ago when they first opened up shop.
And I will have to admit, that I was not and never have been much of a customer of theirs. We only have one location, on the other side of the city from me. And their rental prices were always higher, more often than not double that of a local store just 5 mins walk from my house.
And buying movies from them was always a mixed bag, due to their prices as well. I found when I used to collect movies that around Xmas and New Years was the time I would shop for good deals there.
But in the the last two years I haven't bought many DVDs / Bluray since I tend not too watch things more than once or twice with rare exception. And Netflix has come around, and has worked out well so I could divert that money into another hobby beyond collecting movies. Which have as much retained value as week old meatloaf, and about as much fun.
But the one spot where I did take advantage was their Game Pass system. For one monthly fee you could rent one game at a time, and switch it out as often as your like. Or keep it as long as you needed to finish it. And it was much more convenient to deal with them for this, than the online ones who offer the same services, and cheaper. But dealing the mail was a real pain. But it seems with a handful of items coming out this fall that I wanted to play, and buying is not an option really. Since games have hit $70+ a pop here new, and like movies I don't usually play them more than once. And don't normally dip into DLC. Renting is my best option. I will have to return to the online renting, for Gears of War 3, Mass Effect 3 and several other titles on the horizon. Hopefully Canada Post will be back to work by then.
And I will have to admit, that I was not and never have been much of a customer of theirs. We only have one location, on the other side of the city from me. And their rental prices were always higher, more often than not double that of a local store just 5 mins walk from my house.
And buying movies from them was always a mixed bag, due to their prices as well. I found when I used to collect movies that around Xmas and New Years was the time I would shop for good deals there.
But in the the last two years I haven't bought many DVDs / Bluray since I tend not too watch things more than once or twice with rare exception. And Netflix has come around, and has worked out well so I could divert that money into another hobby beyond collecting movies. Which have as much retained value as week old meatloaf, and about as much fun.
But the one spot where I did take advantage was their Game Pass system. For one monthly fee you could rent one game at a time, and switch it out as often as your like. Or keep it as long as you needed to finish it. And it was much more convenient to deal with them for this, than the online ones who offer the same services, and cheaper. But dealing the mail was a real pain. But it seems with a handful of items coming out this fall that I wanted to play, and buying is not an option really. Since games have hit $70+ a pop here new, and like movies I don't usually play them more than once. And don't normally dip into DLC. Renting is my best option. I will have to return to the online renting, for Gears of War 3, Mass Effect 3 and several other titles on the horizon. Hopefully Canada Post will be back to work by then.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Hoard
Downloaded the demo for this title from PSN. I had read about it, and it sounded fun. But it's being a multiplayer game was played up so I didn't bother seeing I would mainly be playing against the computer.
Seeing that a demo was available I downloaded it. And it was pretty fun actually. It's setup to resemble a board game. The dragons roost is in the center of the board. Surrounded by villages, a castle, roads, Princess' and farmland.
Your job is collect as much gold as possible. Each game is limited to 10 mins. And you can gain exp points to buy upgrades to your dragon. You have to watch out for enemy archers, knights and whatnot as well as enemy dragons.
And after 10 mins the game is over. Nothing carries over, and the next game starts over fresh. With scores supposed to go to Online leader boards. I've only played once so far. I plan to put some more time into the demo. I don't know if I will buy the full version or not. At $14.99 it seems a little pricey. If it were $10 I'd be an easy sell to me.
Download It
Seeing that a demo was available I downloaded it. And it was pretty fun actually. It's setup to resemble a board game. The dragons roost is in the center of the board. Surrounded by villages, a castle, roads, Princess' and farmland.
Your job is collect as much gold as possible. Each game is limited to 10 mins. And you can gain exp points to buy upgrades to your dragon. You have to watch out for enemy archers, knights and whatnot as well as enemy dragons.
And after 10 mins the game is over. Nothing carries over, and the next game starts over fresh. With scores supposed to go to Online leader boards. I've only played once so far. I plan to put some more time into the demo. I don't know if I will buy the full version or not. At $14.99 it seems a little pricey. If it were $10 I'd be an easy sell to me.
Download It
BulletStorm
Downloaded and played the demo from PSN yesterday on my PS3. I wasn't expecting much, but I was surprised. About as surprised as you can be playing a FPS these days. Since they all follow pretty much the same formula with just different backdrops and effects thrown in. Kinda like how Hollywood makes movies these days.
This time you you have your usual array of destructive weapons and firepower. But now you have this tractor beam bungie cord attached to your arm that you can grab people with and pull them back to you in bullet time so you can shoot their bits off, or whip them into objects. All of this garners you bonus points you can spend throughout the levels.
The demo was pretty short, one level. But did a good job of showing off the game. The game looks good, plays smooth and controls well. And like the Gears franchise (Epic in both counts) I love the mechanic of not using hit points and being able to duck into cover, to regenerate your invisible hit points, because we all know they are tracking damage somehow even if the points don't show on screen.
Definitely going to rent this one so I can run through the whole thing.
Rent It
This time you you have your usual array of destructive weapons and firepower. But now you have this tractor beam bungie cord attached to your arm that you can grab people with and pull them back to you in bullet time so you can shoot their bits off, or whip them into objects. All of this garners you bonus points you can spend throughout the levels.
The demo was pretty short, one level. But did a good job of showing off the game. The game looks good, plays smooth and controls well. And like the Gears franchise (Epic in both counts) I love the mechanic of not using hit points and being able to duck into cover, to regenerate your invisible hit points, because we all know they are tracking damage somehow even if the points don't show on screen.
Definitely going to rent this one so I can run through the whole thing.
Rent It
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Cataclysm Crash
Well, it's been what?? About two and a half months since it was released. And I think I'm done.
Everything was going well for awhile, but the old MMO burnout crept in and I didn't feel like leveling anymore. I always wanted a high level Priest to be group friendly and for PvP. I had one on Alliance that was sitting about level 63. Since I don't play Alliance anymore I started my Horde one.
The new revamped low level zones were awesome. They really did put a lot of work into them. Not just some cosmetics either. Not only did most of the zones have changes, but all the quests and everything. It would seem they did go back and totally re-write and update graphically and geographically almost every zone I passed through.
So, when I got out of my newbie zone which was unchanged since it was part of TBC expansion (I made a Blood Elf) it was quite fun from about level 20 to 61.
They have sped up the pace, levels would pass by. I had some trouble keeping my trade skills up to date. For some time now I've been taking dual gathering to rake in the cash. And just buy what I need. It's been working great. But I had some trouble keeping it up to date with leveling too fast, and leaving the zones I needed.
That evened out after awhile, as leveling slowed down. But, once I reached Outlands everything just kind of came to a halt. There has been some changes to quests I'd swear.. Drop rates for quests amped up. Or spawns more common. But other than that, nothing seems to have been changed. And Northrend wasn't supposed to have been either.
And the boredom has been overwhelming. I tried some PvP Battlegrounds. But it would seems at level 66 they aren't much fun, or rewarding. In the past I had leveled my Rogue from about 73 to 80 almost exclusively through the BGs.
So, it would seem I'm done..again. Who knows for how long this time. Since WoW is a pretty cheap time waster. Too much time really, you never get anything else done. But for $15 a month it's pretty cheap.
I'm mulling over opening up my Gamepass again. But that runs about $32 a month. I have a list that's growing of console titles I want to play. And more coming this year. And over all, they are more rewarding. Since you can affect the story, and be the mover and shaker. Not something that is really possible in a MMO (Although Bioware is apparently trying with SW The Old Republic) so In recent memory I have more joyful memories of the games I was playing oddly enough at this time last year.. Bayonetta, Heavy Rain, Mass Effect 2 than I do the last year of WoW on and off.
Everything was going well for awhile, but the old MMO burnout crept in and I didn't feel like leveling anymore. I always wanted a high level Priest to be group friendly and for PvP. I had one on Alliance that was sitting about level 63. Since I don't play Alliance anymore I started my Horde one.
The new revamped low level zones were awesome. They really did put a lot of work into them. Not just some cosmetics either. Not only did most of the zones have changes, but all the quests and everything. It would seem they did go back and totally re-write and update graphically and geographically almost every zone I passed through.
So, when I got out of my newbie zone which was unchanged since it was part of TBC expansion (I made a Blood Elf) it was quite fun from about level 20 to 61.
They have sped up the pace, levels would pass by. I had some trouble keeping my trade skills up to date. For some time now I've been taking dual gathering to rake in the cash. And just buy what I need. It's been working great. But I had some trouble keeping it up to date with leveling too fast, and leaving the zones I needed.
That evened out after awhile, as leveling slowed down. But, once I reached Outlands everything just kind of came to a halt. There has been some changes to quests I'd swear.. Drop rates for quests amped up. Or spawns more common. But other than that, nothing seems to have been changed. And Northrend wasn't supposed to have been either.
And the boredom has been overwhelming. I tried some PvP Battlegrounds. But it would seems at level 66 they aren't much fun, or rewarding. In the past I had leveled my Rogue from about 73 to 80 almost exclusively through the BGs.
So, it would seem I'm done..again. Who knows for how long this time. Since WoW is a pretty cheap time waster. Too much time really, you never get anything else done. But for $15 a month it's pretty cheap.
I'm mulling over opening up my Gamepass again. But that runs about $32 a month. I have a list that's growing of console titles I want to play. And more coming this year. And over all, they are more rewarding. Since you can affect the story, and be the mover and shaker. Not something that is really possible in a MMO (Although Bioware is apparently trying with SW The Old Republic) so In recent memory I have more joyful memories of the games I was playing oddly enough at this time last year.. Bayonetta, Heavy Rain, Mass Effect 2 than I do the last year of WoW on and off.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Why won't it end ?!?
I've been playing Infamous on the PS3. I remember last year when it and Prototype came out. How they were supposed to be similar games. I finished Prototype on the 360 and it was pretty good. I got the whole sense of the quarantine and that the city was locked down and going down hill fast.
Infamous isn't giving me that at all.. In fact, it's reminding me very much of another game.. Assassins Creed II.. It just doesn't want to end. It goes on and on.. And in the case of Infamous I'm apparently supposed to be in a quarentine zone with these mutants or some such running around. But the place doesn't look very cut off. And cracked down at all. Doing missions, getting power upgrades. And just getting bored at this point.
With the time I have into the game now, I would have to say that Infamous seems to be a poor knock off of Prototype. Although I don't know which one came first. I see that there is a sequel in the works for Infamous, but I don't plan to be playing it. I'd like to see the end of the story. But, I'm unaware of whether I can stick with it long enough to see it through to the end or not. Just like Assassins Creed II.
Infamous isn't giving me that at all.. In fact, it's reminding me very much of another game.. Assassins Creed II.. It just doesn't want to end. It goes on and on.. And in the case of Infamous I'm apparently supposed to be in a quarentine zone with these mutants or some such running around. But the place doesn't look very cut off. And cracked down at all. Doing missions, getting power upgrades. And just getting bored at this point.
With the time I have into the game now, I would have to say that Infamous seems to be a poor knock off of Prototype. Although I don't know which one came first. I see that there is a sequel in the works for Infamous, but I don't plan to be playing it. I'd like to see the end of the story. But, I'm unaware of whether I can stick with it long enough to see it through to the end or not. Just like Assassins Creed II.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Talisman: The game of Magical Adventure
Anyone who likes board games with a little crunch should check out Fantasy Flight Games. They have a deep range of tabletop games to satisfy most genres.
I was introduced to Talisman almost 26 years ago when it was still in 2nd Edition under Games Workshop. That was the best edition, and into the 90s it went into a 3rd Edition that wasn't so great.
But now FFG has the license and it is now a real throwback to that old edition. A new board expansion has just come out. Hopefully they will round out the last two corners with a new version of the City.
Basically it is a board game of Adventure and Magical quests. With character classes, followers and items. Monsters and board squares to explore and overcome. Wonky rules, random dice and wildly different power levels (Not everything was in balance) was the charm and flavor of the game.
And unlike Descent and some of the newer bigger games which are more like D&D Lite this game doesn't require a Gamemaster, but does need more than a few hours to run through with 3 or more players.
Heres hoping for more surprise endings.. Bring back the horrible Black Void !!!
I was introduced to Talisman almost 26 years ago when it was still in 2nd Edition under Games Workshop. That was the best edition, and into the 90s it went into a 3rd Edition that wasn't so great.
But now FFG has the license and it is now a real throwback to that old edition. A new board expansion has just come out. Hopefully they will round out the last two corners with a new version of the City.
Basically it is a board game of Adventure and Magical quests. With character classes, followers and items. Monsters and board squares to explore and overcome. Wonky rules, random dice and wildly different power levels (Not everything was in balance) was the charm and flavor of the game.
And unlike Descent and some of the newer bigger games which are more like D&D Lite this game doesn't require a Gamemaster, but does need more than a few hours to run through with 3 or more players.
Heres hoping for more surprise endings.. Bring back the horrible Black Void !!!
Bits and Pieces
Went to see Shrek 4 the other day.. What a steaming pile of crap that was. After about 45 minutes I had to leave the theatre and I felt like standing in the hall for the remainder of the movie.
There was nothing cute, funny or entertaining about the film at all. I went to see How to Train your Dragon earlier this year. That movie only worked on one level, for the kids. But it still wasn't a bad movie at all. Not like the original Shrek and movies of that sort, where there is one layer that entertains the kids. And a second one that appeals to the adults in the audience.
That second layer was missing from Dragon. But, it still managed to be a fair movie for adults and good for kids. Shrek 4 didn't have anything for adults and nothing but the most base entertainment for kids. Who I imagine, never really noticed anyway.
At this point the best kids movie I seen or rather 'Family' movie that had something for young and old alike was last summers G-Force and Band Slam.
In other news I managed to finally finish God of War 3 on PS3. Should have done it sooner, would have got some more trade credit for it than I did when I turned it in.
I found it from a game play standpoint to be much better than GoW I and II. Still had puzzles, but they weren't a frustratingly massive turn off. Since these were supposed to be action games, not puzzlers. I would prefer them to be shorter and more straight forward so as they don't interfere with my killing the enemy. GoW III delivered more than the originals.
Wasn't worth a purchase though, too short. And I almost never play something twice. Challenge levels and what not don't appeal to me at all. So, I bought it on credit, but once I run out of trade credit I won't be buying many more games new. Probably a few when they get to the $25 dollar range. And I will just re-open my gamepass up. When I can finish a game every 2 weeks or so when I work at it. They just arn't worth the $70 price tags and be lucky to get $30 back.
There was nothing cute, funny or entertaining about the film at all. I went to see How to Train your Dragon earlier this year. That movie only worked on one level, for the kids. But it still wasn't a bad movie at all. Not like the original Shrek and movies of that sort, where there is one layer that entertains the kids. And a second one that appeals to the adults in the audience.
That second layer was missing from Dragon. But, it still managed to be a fair movie for adults and good for kids. Shrek 4 didn't have anything for adults and nothing but the most base entertainment for kids. Who I imagine, never really noticed anyway.
At this point the best kids movie I seen or rather 'Family' movie that had something for young and old alike was last summers G-Force and Band Slam.
In other news I managed to finally finish God of War 3 on PS3. Should have done it sooner, would have got some more trade credit for it than I did when I turned it in.
I found it from a game play standpoint to be much better than GoW I and II. Still had puzzles, but they weren't a frustratingly massive turn off. Since these were supposed to be action games, not puzzlers. I would prefer them to be shorter and more straight forward so as they don't interfere with my killing the enemy. GoW III delivered more than the originals.
Wasn't worth a purchase though, too short. And I almost never play something twice. Challenge levels and what not don't appeal to me at all. So, I bought it on credit, but once I run out of trade credit I won't be buying many more games new. Probably a few when they get to the $25 dollar range. And I will just re-open my gamepass up. When I can finish a game every 2 weeks or so when I work at it. They just arn't worth the $70 price tags and be lucky to get $30 back.
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