Take me to a place inside/That is so hard to reach
Looks like I just found my new favorite level.
In the community section of LBP2 there’s a bunch of categories that will lead you to new levels. One of those is “Cool Levels” and I tend to avoid going in there because it sounds so cheesy. I did so by mistake the other night and the first level I found knocked me out. It’s called Gusty Forest and it’s got this great floating dynamic where you have to grab onto a couch-cushion pastry thingy with your grabinators and then…well…jump out and trust the designer. It’s not a tough level, but it’s oddly satisfying nonetheless and I played it several times before I noticed that it was part of something called “The No-Floor Platformer” challenge. I’m still not clear on what that is exactly, but if it inspires a level like this, more power to it.
Gusty Forest works for me on every level. It’s relaxing and just challenging enough for the end of a long day. It has cool music that reminds me of the song “The Freshman” by a group called The Verve Pipe, a song I don’t particularly care for but which works well here and is a welcome departure from the usual canned music found on many of these levels. Finally, it ends with a boss battle that is a completely different style of game, and not only will I not complain about this, I hereby declare that I love it. Every level should aspire to be this well balanced.
Speaking of aspirations…
After the jump, an ape like me Continue reading →
Fear 3 focuses on the three rules of making a good shooter: gunplay, gunplay, gunplay.
Thumbs up.
Welcome to the halfway point of 2011. What better time to make a couple of lists? Following aren’t necessarily the worst of the year — if I’m lucky, I didn’t play those! — but the most disappointing to me personally. These are the games with the widest gulf between what they could have been and what they actually are.
After the jump, let the wailing and gnashing of teeth commence Continue reading →
The dragon that all our planewalker friends are facing in the above image is Nicol Bolas. Bolas is one of the “big bads” in the world of Magic, and has the distinction (as far as I can tell) of being the only non-humanoid planeswalker that Wizards of the Coast has created. Why is he the planeswalker subject for this article? I really don’t have a reason, other than I think the image is really nice, and its a group image. The grouping is important, because after comparing Duels of the Planeswalkers to a bunch of other CCG’s, it’s time to compare it to Magic itself.
After the jump, why do I still play Magic? Continue reading →
Plenty of health potions? Check. Nine sticks of dynamite? Check. Dapper top hat? Check. It’s time to bust some more shadow orbs. Sir Digsalot has his spawn point saved over by the corruption, and has fallen down one of the big crevices until he sees the shadow orb. I destoyed one a few days ago, so this will be the second. After the third, another boss will spawn: the Eater of Worlds. While I’m here, I’ll also collect some rotten chunks from the Eater of Souls flying monsters that float around (they’re easy to kill) and see about grabbing some vile mushrooms, which only grow in the corruption.
After the jump: Man, that’s a big worm! Continue reading →
That picture up there isn’t just a screenshot from Catherine, an upcoming Japanese import to be published by Atlus. It’s also my reaction upon seeing what kind of game Catherine is. I’d been hearing snippets of conversations about the game, and I’d seen a trippy video, and I knew it was from the creators of the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei games, and somewhere along the way I had picked up that it was a mature psycho-sexual thriller. Wait, maybe I’m confusing it with Black Swan. But I had no idea what Catherine actually was. Today I found out it’s just a puzzle game!
After the jump, have I been misled? Continue reading →
