I remember getting these little brain-teaser booklets as a kid, usually as a stocking stuffer. Flimsy books that felt like they were printed on something akin to newspaper paper. They had all kinds of little puzzles inside and were perfect for long trips in the car with the family.
Today’s level, Lights Part 2, brought that to mind, and it made me think that these community levels are kind of like one of those brain-teaser books. Only you can’t take LBP2 into the bathroom. Or at least I can’t. YMMV.
While I’m out there hustling (well, as much as hustling is possible at 1/3 speed) through the middle of Bay of Biscay, let’s talk some terminology. Things like crash dives, ballast blowing, silent running and torpedo impact. All of these things are part of your Silent Hunter III experience, but let me tell you about the most fascinating part of the game that you will get to know intimately: your navigational chart.
After the jump, who knew charts could talk? Continue reading →
If you’ve been following the series up to this point, you’ve undoubtedly been waiting patiently for something which up until now I’ve avoided doing, and I don’t mean taking unsolicited cheap shots at Tom Chick. That comes later. I mean talking about the AI.
After the jump, Gary’s AI Adversary, or GAIA (they really do call it that) Continue reading →
When I started writing, I was going to talk about a few different roads. I was going to take readers to some of my favorite places on Ibiza and Oahu. Together we were going to enjoy the coastal roads of Ibiza that wind through rock arches and past old medieval ruins. We were going to discover the interior wilderness of Oahu in a Land Rover. We were even going to take a delightful trip through the heart of Honalulu. We were going to, but then I found the road.
After the jump, let me be your Hawaiian sherpa Continue reading →
I mentioned in my first entry that own ten Harvest Moons. There are two main problems with almost every one of these games.
After the jump, Hero of Leaf Valley dodges one of them Continue reading →
I couldn’t quite decide whether Skulls of the Shogun was a good title. Now that I’ve played it, I’m pretty sure it is a good title, because it’s actually an important part of the game. As you kill enemy undead samurais, your dudes can chow down on their skulls. Each one makes your dude more powerful, and the third one turns him into a demon (pictured!). Which is a pretty cool thing to be.
For what looks like a cute and simple strategy game, Skulls of the Shogun has some nifty ideas. You can read my 1up preview here.
Today’s level, World War 2, has a disclaimer in its description.
This level has been made to entertain NOT OFFEND.
I can’t say it offends me, but I find it unsettling. I’m fine playing the CoD Nazi Zombies mode, but this skeeves me out. Why? I’m okay with Steven Spielberg exploiting World War II for film material, but when Michael Bay does it my panties get all in a bunch. Why?
Maybe I need a new prescription for my monocle.
…Crysis 2 sits comfortably on the shelves next to Dead Space 2, Bulletstorm, and Medal of Honor, not to mention Homefront, Black Ops, and Halo: Reach. You’re liable to hardly notice it.
Thumbs down.
For the next five days, I’ll be playing Silent Hunter III with the Grey Wolves mod, which fixes lots of bugs from the original game and tweaks tons of environmental values, ranging from visibility and detection ranges in low light to crew fatigue factors. The result is the most solid, real-feeling submarine experience, and the only way to play Silent Hunter III.
For this patrol, our destination grid is the farthest I’ve ever been. Even the letters look unfamiliar. I’m used to AM, AN and the Bs but this is what? DJ? Where is that? I’ve taken my little Type II boat all over the North Sea and the coast of Great Britain. With my fancy new Type VIIb, I ranged that coast and beyond numerous times in a single patrol. But this DJ18 — this is serious. This is the Atlantic. This is international traffic and massive convoys. This is deep waters and vast hunting grounds with no land in sight. This is… beyond our range at standard cruising speed.
Scheisse.
After the jump, 40 kilometers of nailbiting tension Continue reading →
I’m always curious to see how things turn out when the developer of big AAA console or PC games turns their attention to something decidedly smaller, like a Nintendo DS or iPhone title. Sometimes, you get id Software’s Rage HD: gorgeous graphics marred by overly simple shooting-gallery gameplay. It’s more of a tech demo than a game. I mean, more so than most of id Software’s products. Other times, you get Epic and Chair Entertainment’s Infinity Blade, a full-featured game that perfectly understands the platform it’s on. So naturally, I jumped at the chance to dive into Death Rally. My nostalgia for the old Windows game of the same name is basically zero — I don’t think I ever played it — so it would have to stand on its own merits.
After the jump: Great game, now where’s the rest of it? Continue reading →
Once you get involved in the social aspects of Test Drive Unlimited 2, you’re presented with a stark choice: do you want to spend your money on yourself or on your club? I’ve chosen to spend most of my money on myself. I’ve got cars to buy and houses to own.
After the jump, money won’t buy me love, but it will buy me a waterfall Continue reading →
So I’m humming along on my little farm. I’ve procured three chickens and three cows, so I have eggs and milk earning money in addition to my crops. I’m finally able to hit the mines on my own, and a little hard-earned cash went toward a new fishing rod, so that’s another two sources of income. But even so, there are expenses. Seeds need to be purchased, tools need to be upgraded, and of course there are my near-daily gifts to Aurelia. Those gifts are non-negotiable. I gained a heart level with her just yesterday! And she’s always telling me how much she loves my vegetables. So the gifts continue!
But the 50,000 gold I need to pay off the villains and save the town seems a long way off. If only I didn’t have to do this by myself…
After the jump, it takes a village to save a village Continue reading →
In the press release for this spring’s upcoming Sims 3 expansion pack, general manager of EA’s Sims studio Scott Evans proclaims:
The Sims 3 Generations includes new gameplay experiences and content that our community has been requesting for years including bunk beds, expansive weddings, midlife crises and more. Imagine booby trapping a friend’s toilet or turning your imaginary friend into a real person, throwing bachelor or bachelorette parties, all to spend your elder Sims years reminiscing about the past.
Yes, imagine all that great stuff which doesn’t at all sound like stuff you can kind of already do in the game. The press release also darkly hints at some sort of Facebook integration. Looks like I fell in love with Sims Medieval* at just the right time.
* No joke. You can hear me burbling enthusiastically on this week’s Jumping the Shark podcast. I’ll have a review posted at Gameshark in the near future.
Seriously. Don’t.
Oh, hi! Bill here. Tom passed out on the floor of his living room (he had a few too many wine coolers, poor fella) shortly after shockingly asking me to contribute to the front page of his Fidgit blog or whatever, which I thought was pretty bold of him. The conversation went something like this:
Tom: “Hey man, you know what would be awesome? If you wrote for the front page of Quarterttothree!”
Me: “Dude you just threw up all over your stuffed animals. Wait, what did you just say?”
Tom: “You heard me. The front page. I think you might be able to keep pace with the talent level I’ve got going there. You could kinda point out and comment on the popular or interesting threads in the forums, like the Usenet Therapy columns on Gamecenter used to do.”
Me: “What’s the catch?”
Tom: “There’s no catch! Did you move my bottle of pink lemonade Schnapps? Oh, there it is. What were we talking about? Oh yeah. You can do and say whatever you want.”
Me: “…”
Tom: “Oh I feel all spinny! Be right back.” *Never returns*
After the jump, Bill ruins Quarter to Three Continue reading →
