What’s Nathan Playing, Then?
I haven’t checked in for a while on what exciting and fabulous games I’m playing lately. It’s probaby time to correct that. I’m not going to tell you what they’re about: There are like a hundred other sites on the web that can tell you what they’re about better than I can. This is just what I think about these games. So here, in order of less-time-spent-playng to more, is what I’m playing:
Street Fighter IV (360)
Awesome multiplayer-in-the-same-room game. I suck at fighting games as a rule, but the latest version dials the complexity down to a level where I can set the Ai to “moronic” and feel like a badass. Also, I can more or less compete with my friends, unless Alex picks Zangief. The graphics are stunning, and even though I know it’s wrong I can’t stop staring at Cammy’s butt.
Red Faction: Guerilla (360)
Possibly the first commercially-available terrorist simulator. Sorry, I mean “insurgency”. It’s like Grand Theft Auto, except in space and you have bad guys you’re trying to push out of town. Shit breaks real good.
King’s Bounty (PC)
It’s like Heroes of Might and Magic, except you just have one hero and you just wander around doing quests without worrying about what the opponent’s doing. I picked this up on Steam for $15, and I highly, highly recommend it at that price. Unfortunately, I think that sale ends today so you’re probably going to have to keep an eye out for future sales.
And Finally…..
Blood Bowl (PC)
Friends and I have spent time trying to figure out what made X-Com work. It always seemed to have a combination of strategy and RPG that nothing quite matched, but I think Blood Bowl has helped clarify what makes the difference: In X-Com, and in Blood Bowl, you can lose. In a game like Disgaea or most other JRPGs, if you run into a bit where you get stuck, you can always power-level until you’re godlike enough to force your way through it. In Blood Bowl, your star player is just as likely to break a knee and be out for a game as he is to get a new skill. Or try to run a little harder than he should and suddenly have his heart explode. Seriously, the game is brutal, but a lot of the joy of the game comes from working around these setbacks rather than reloading and just trying to level up.
The Blood Bowl AI is bad, but can at least play the game. Some of the multiplayer league stuff seems screwy, but if you’re willing to put up with it, it’s a hell of an online game. Highly recommended.
Posted on July 26th, 2009 by Nathan
Filed under: Personal Blog | 1 Comment »
