Game Reviews,  My Life

Game Playing

This is a somewhat random post but lately I’ve been playing more games than usual (I blame GamrCred for retriggering the urge). Nothing recent, mostly games I bought years ago or demos.

I finally checked out a couple demos kicking around on the Wii (not sure how long they’ve been there, I find the Wii store horrible to navigate through… menus make no sense to me at all so I generally avoid it). What I found interesting was that both were games I’d not normally have bothered playing (i.e., not rts or rpg). One I disliked, one I enjoyed.

The game I didn’t really enjoy was 2 Fast For Gnomz (hey, I said these were games I wouldn’t normally play). The link I’ve given is to a review of the game, which I think is fair. And I agree with the reviewer very emphatically that the game’s biggest problem is that threats are not clearly delineated from non-threats (that is, the same texture might be used on a tree that your gnome can’t collide into and also with a stump that it can). Not that it matters; the game is all about running a gnome through levels and collecting socks; not much chance of my particularly enjoying it.

The other game demo I tried on the Wii I initially thought was incredibly silly and pointless. The game is Chick Chick Boom. But despite it violating almost everything I hold sacred as a gamer, I actually enjoy it. The control scheme is bizarre: you draw lines on the screen to block attacks against you and you have to trace symbols to power your attacks as you try to destroy your rival. Read this review for a good summary of the game. I don’t normally gravitate towards non standard controls (and bizarreness) but there’s something charming about the game; we’ll see how long the novelty holds.

Mostly though, to be completely honest, my game playing time has been spent on Medieval Total War, which I used to play a lot back in the day but forgot about for a couple years. I’ve reloaded an old campaign I never finished and this has been keeping me up late at night.

Oh yeah, I’m still getting my daily writing goals in (at least a 1000 words a day), so I’m not completely slacking.

Former lead designer at BioWare (Dragon Age: Origins, Neverwinter Nights). Creator of Raiders of the Serpent Sea.

4 Comments

  • Mordi Peshkess

    Good read. I’m glad you re-triggered your passion for games. If you have time then please check out Spec Ops The Line. Gameplay is 3rd person shooter so nothing to write home about but the plot, narrative, and voice acting is top notch. The guy who wrote the story for the game was heavily inspired by Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now. I think as a writer you’ll greatly appreciate what the developers were going for. 

    PS: Do you have any intention of playing the remake of Baldur’s Gate when it comes out? 

  • Mordi peshkess

    I don’t know if you heard but your old employer has announced the next Dragon Age game; Dragon Age: Inquisition. 

    There are no official details yet but judging from a G4 article (may they rest in peace) that it will take place in Orlais and would involve a civil war of some sort while a demon invasion is happening. 

    Seems like you’ll play as an Inquisitor who’s job will be to gather armies , make friends, send spies, etc. Also looks like you” play the usual rouge, Mage, or Warrior. I hope they will give you the option to multi class your character. 

    You think Bioware learned anything from DA2? 

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