Okay, real quickly here because who knows when I will A) Have time to sit and write and B) Have an actual Internet connection. Getting and sustaining access on this hotel’s wireless is sort of like hitting Red 23 (is that one red?) in one go round of roulette.
Okay, the two games I most want to play so far:
- Beatles Rock Band: Sold. Seriously. Big time sold. They didn’t get much into the band campaign as it were, but they’ve done a great job on the art assets and making everything all Beatle-fied. Apparently it’ll have two sections to it that reflect the band’s rise to stardom and what Bill has dubbed the “LSD” phase when they were all experimental and doing recordings at the Abbey Rd. studio. (Or something like that. I don’t know my Beatles history.) Regardless, the tracks that were recorded at Abbey Rd. start out with you in studio and then the background fades to a “dreamscape” (acid trip) that befits the song. Seriously, I Am the Walrus… whoa. Also, harmonies is brilliantly implemented and it’s gonna be hard to resist getting the new hardware.
- East India Trading Company: This is one of just two PC games I saw yesterday (Hearts of Iron 3 was the other) and I am all over it. It pretty much is what it says. The game world is reminiscent of the most recent Pirates! game (only much bigger, detailed and nicer graphics), which I like. But it is, of course, much more involved than Pirates.
And some other notables:
- Brink: Looks very interesting. Big time emphasis on co-op. To me it was like a mash-up of Call of Duty (troops everywhere carrying out roles), Team Fortress 2 (multiple classes you can take on; you can switch on the fly) and a Fallout 3 (sort of a post-apocalyptic setting; only in this case it was rising oceans so you end up on a big floating city). You can play for two factions that represent an insurgency or security and the story will be reflected differently based on which side you are. Sort of a “history is written by the victors” perspective based on which side you’re on.
- Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2: Utterly ridiculous, but it looks like it will be loads of fun.
- Wet: Another Bethesda published game. This one probably won’t have wide appeal, but if you like 3rd-person shoot ‘em ups with a kick ass heroine (Ruby, who actually wears clothes), it looks like it could be a hella lot of fun. Rather then the notion of moving forward from cover to cover (like a Gears of War) this one’s based on the notion of using dexterity and acrobatics to avoid and do damage to adversaries. It’s pretty wild.
- Madden 10: This may be my first Madden purchase in the last five years or so. The control on the field is just fantastic (especially on defense) and you can really see the improvements starting to show in areas like line blocking. I’m starting to get genuinely excited for this one. Also, online franchise play. Need to learn more about that one.
- Hearts of Iron 3. If you are into this kind of strategy wargaming this thing looks seriously good. I am not, however, experienced with this kind of game so it’s very hard to judge.
That’s it for now. Have a good week everybody! And if you happen to find Bill’s luggage out on the street somewhere, you may want to email him. Long story. I’ll leave the telling of that up to him.
