I’ve merely opened a fraction of the solar systems found in my galaxy (there are about 200 in total and vary from game to game). On the map, each system has a number associated with it, which is the level you’ll need to achieve in order to break the blockade (if you wish you fight your way through; there are others ways). Each system has two factions, civilians and the UTA (don’t ask me what it stands for, I don’t remember) and each gate is blockaded by the UTA, and each system has a station for each faction, and these can sometimes house blueprints which you’ll need to gain better equipment. You need to be nice nice with the folks you wanna buy this stuff from, which is where the fun begins…
After the jump, I’ll tell you which one of you I like… Continue reading →
I don’t really like baseball. Sure, I can go to a Giants game and have a good time, but I never watch baseball on TV, don’t know who the players are, and don’t how well this team or that team is doing this season. After college, I sort of fell out with professional sports in general. For some reason, I find myself occasionally drawn to sports games, though. Imagine my surprise when I bought Baseball Superstars 2011 for a buck (on steep discount — it’s usually $4.99) and found myself enjoying it so much. It’s just the kind of baseball game for people like me who understand the basics of the game, but don’t really care much about it.
After the jump, a super-Korean take on baseball games Continue reading →
I’d originally wanted to call this “death in the desert,” but was stymied by the foul Sarranids who launched an assault on one of our positions in the middle of Khergit territory (who, being modeled after the Mongolians, have territory that strongly resembles the steppes of Eurasia). Marshal Raichs ordered us to move up and drive the Sarranids off, so my army of 50 joined the 300 troops of Lords Raichs and Tribidan to launch our assault on the besieged position.
Enemy engaged after the jump Continue reading →
The only thing consistent about Rockstar’s games is that they’re wildly inconsistent. There’s something manic about the company’s swings from excellence to amateurish, from smart to clumsy, from transcendent to boorish, often in the same game. Red Dead Redemption, for instance, is a sprawling saga of uneven brilliance that I wouldn’t dream of commenting on without acknowledging that the conclusion is very nearly one of the most brilliant conclusions ever to grace a videogame, except for the fact that it turns out it isn’t at all. Grand Theft Auto IV is a collapsing triumph of storytelling, presenting one of the most vividly realized videogame characters before dropping him into some low-rent goombah yarn and then abandoning him entirely for two middling add-ons, presumably because Rockstar is too arrogant to concede the importance of their fantastic voice actors. San Andreas was a stunning technical achievement undermined by an absurd Bond in the Hood endgame. Midnight Club: Los Angeles is one of the most amazing virtual cities ever created and then hidden away in a goofy arcade racing game that no one played because it didn’t have the marketing confidence that went into, say, Electronic Arts’ lousy Need for Speed franchise. As for that ping pong game, well, who ever even played that thing, much less realized it was a Rockstar game? Then there’s Bully, which is a work of unadulterated genius.
So when LA Noire arrived at 9am this morning, I greeted it with a mixture of anticipation and apprehension. And now, having spent an entire Monday with it, I’m ready to pronounce it…
After the jump, I’ll finish that sentence Continue reading →
