Not really much to say here. I just got addicted to Moon Lander 2, today’s level. Another level suggested by choosing the Mm Picks option. It’s so simple, yet so freaking frustrating…in just the right way. If you ever loved Lunar Lander, you’ll probably get what I mean by that. There’s a nifty gambling sensibility to the scoring here that I grew to love in a goofy giggling way, but mostly I just loved the navigating. And the utterly addictive music. I’ve heard this piece before in these levels, so I imagine it’s one of the stock pieces they make available to level designers. A bit of digging reveals it’s called “Rock Your Body Rock” by Ferry Corsten. I wish more of an effort was made to credit and highlight the music makers here. I don’t know, maybe I’m just looking in the wrong place. Whatever, I’m addicted to this level and this music is a big reason why.
Also, I just want to tell you that many Moon Landers died to bring you that screenshot.
I’ll be at GDC for the rest of the week, so there will probably be a conspicuous absence of me from the front page while I’m getting my head filled with crazy ideas from various game developers. There are about a dozen sessions I’m really psyched to attend, including Hidetaka Suehiro explaining what the heck was up with Deadly Premonition, Clint Hocking on “dynamics” (berets optional), and David Braben looking back at Elite, which invented open-world games long before they were ready to be invented. I’ll also be moderating a panel consisting of Soren Johnson, Jon Shafer, Dustin Browder, and Ian Fischer talking about the future of strategy games. But I have to say I’m most eager to hear Emily Ridgway talk about her work on Bioshock and Brutal Legend, two of my favorite games of all time. Of all time! Ms. Ridgway’s work in sound design and music is sublime.
But as soon as I get back, I intend to hold forth some more about Rift and Killzone 3. You have been warned. Plus, I have a bone to pick with Capcom.
Something is happening to me to more I play this game. Well, a couple of things. One is, I want to play this game more. When I started posting these dailies I was just popping in to try the community levels as a curiosity. I would jump on and try a few levels, take some pictures, and leave it at that. Increasingly I find that I load up LBP2 and decide to warm up with some story levels first. I tell myself I’m doing this in the name of research and background, but I’m lying to myself. I just like playing this. How else to explain why I spent half an hour this afternoon roasting (blowing up) marshmallows?
The other thing that’s happening is that playing these community levels is piquing my interest in other games. Games completely unrelated to LBP2. I really did not expect that. I like it.
I found today’s level by using Mm Picks in the community section. These are picks the folks at Media Molecule have played and “deemed awesome”. My mileage varied. I’ll talk about that later in the week. For now I want to talk about how playing today’s level, Plants vs Zombots, made me want to go shopping. It’s a simple story. I’ve seen friends play the game. I’ve read reviews. I’ve heard gushing. I’ve shied away from it because I think I suck at strategy. Then I landed in this little user generated homage to the game…and I got it. Now I want to buy it. This LBP community is so rich. It’s not just variations on a sackboy theme. It’s so much more than that. I’m finally understanding why Tom gently recommended introducing my first-grader, who isn’t into gaming yet, to this game. Creativity abounds in this place.
Given the spread of opinions, I finally broke down and bought a copy of Bulletstorm. I was hoping for Painkiller 2. I got Gears of War 2.5.
While slogging through the rote combos and QTEs and humor [sic] and that oily EA sheen, it occurred to me that I had already played the game Bulletstorm could have been. I played it two years ago and gave up on it. Then I revisited it and discovered a game with more raw charm, creativity, and gameplay in a single headshot than Bulletstorm can wring from all its bloated lists of dudebro skillshot jokes.
You’d think this would be a slow week. New releases include a boxing game from Electronic Arts, an MMO from someone you never heard of, and an expansion to an RTS that isn’t Starcraft II. Wallet threat level green, right?
Not quite. I don’t know the first thing about EA’s boxing game, but unless I can be Chun Li or Spider-Man, I’ll pass. The Retribution add-on for Dawn of War II is disappointing in a few ways. The Imperial Guard are a great addition, but I don’t understand why everyone isn’t bored to tears by these campaign missions. And the AI continues to be nearly useless for skirmishes.
But the reason this week is a clear and present danger to your wallet is because you’re probably going to want to play Rift, from a new developer called Trion. If you have any interest in MMOs, this is one you should see. More on this later today.
Simon Pegg will not be amused. Meh. Eff that guy. I’m fine with fast zombies. Speed is not the problem with the zombies in today’s level, Zombie land! Part: 2, and its sister levels. I died a lot because of their speed (pictured), but that’s to be expected. At least I wasn’t infected. No, the problem with these zombies is that they are spawn campers. Jerks. If you’re not careful you can lead them right to your little spawn portal and if you die, there they congregate and kill you over and over and over again as you spawn. Which I have to admit, is pretty funny.
As Tom suggested, we’re leaving behind the random Lucky Dip levels for these dailies. At least for awhile. We’re playing the story in LBP2 a bit more, and dabbling in a bit of co-op. These things–along with the helpful direction of our friends–are guiding us as we choose community levels going forward.
Except for this one, where I’m cheating just a little bit.
I have nothing to say, so I’ll just let Ubisoft explain it themselves:
We Dare is a sexy, quirky, party game that offers a large variety of hilarious, innovative and physical, sometimes kinky, challenges. The more friends you invite to party, the spicier the play!
Well, that’s encouraging. Rift hasn’t even launched yet — this is just the headstart for pre-orders — and the player population on every single server is listed as “full” as of a half hour after the game went live. Well, I might as well see what happens if I try to join a server. I mean, what am I gonna do, not play? Here’s how that worked out:
To be fair, Rift’s queue time seems to move considerably faster than real time, so I’m guessing this is just some provision for managing the initial flood of users. But it’s a strange first impression to basically be told the game has no room for you and won’t for several hours.
If you plan to play Rift and you’d like to join the folks on this forum, here’s where you can find us when we actually, you know, get into the game.
I think I’d call this the second best trailer of the year. Stirring, gorgeous, epic, and it has Max von Sydow yelling the word “Dragonbone!” again, whatever that means. I could hear him yell that all day. In fact, I think I’ll make that my ring tone.
Looking good, Bethesda! Way to show up Dragon Age the day after EA releases a demo.
Heck if I know what Red Lynx is on about with this teaser. But I seem to recall trying to finish some of those Trials HD levels could easily take 1000 days, so this is par for the course for these guys.
In less than a week since its release, Tiny Wings has rocketed to the #2 spot for paid iPhone apps, nestled underneath longtime mega-hit Angry Birds. And deservedly so. What an adorable and lovingly drawn diversion, based on a simple gimmick. If you know how to ski in Tribes, you’ll be all set. If you don’t, you’re about to learn.
Now that my friend Dingus has stumbled into a Little Big Planet 2 level in which some jackass made a swastika, I feel awful for convincing him to play a random level every day. So we’re officially ending that.
If you’re sick of seeing a daily Little Big Planet 2 post, you’re probably thinking to yourself, “It about time…”. But you just cool your Sackperson hating jets, mister. We’re still going strong. But from here on out, we’re just going to post about levels we like. No more of this jumping into random stuff and hoping we don’t end up in Little Big Slavery Ship, Penisworld, Holocaust Denier Adventureland, or whatever other junk some dillhole has dumped onto the servers before Sony shuts it down. From now on, we’re going to take full advantage of the community resources like friends lists, ratings, and Media Molecules’ recommendations. In other words, a big part of what makes Little Big Planet great.
After the jump, it’s not like going down to the pond chasing bluegills and tommycodsContinue reading →
The latest update for DC Universe Online adds a whole mess of fixes and new content, including an extension of the Batcave raid that takes you from the outer defenses into the inner sanctum. I assume that’s where Batman stashes his porn, but I won’t know for a while. The Batcave raids are uber high level content, as I discovered when I stumbled into the outer caves thinking they were a solo mission. “Oh, look, it’s one robot. How hard can that–BZZT–ZAP–CRACKLE–Respawn at rally point?“. I later noticed in the overflowing journal that DC Universe warns you off the Batcave until you’ve gotten advanced gear.
But for us more mere mortals, there’s still a bunch of new stuff. More outfit styles, an auction house, a Bane mission for two players, and some sort of holiday themed Valentine’s Day stuff that was probably supposed to be out a few weeks ago.
Also, Catwoman races and missions! The Catwoman stuff gives DC Universe a chance to flex more of its voice acting. This is an amazing cast for the range of actors. On one hand, you’ve got Mark Hamill’s canny Joker, which many of you associate with some sort of Batman cartoon, but I know from the fantastic Arkham Asylum game. On the other hand, you’ve got Michelle Forbes’ cringe-worthy Circe. I’ve really liked Miss Forbes since seeing her in Kalifornia and she’s got a lovely voice. But when I hear her doing the Circe dialog, I just want to say, “Oh honey, no…”
Somewhere in between, but leaning towards Hamill’s side of the spectrum, is Adrienne Barbeau’s mellifluous Catwoman. Every husky catch in her throat puts me in mind of my adolescence, when John Carpenter subjected her and her decolletage to various horrors. In fact, I often forget she was actually in Escape from New York, because whenever she was onscreen, it was like I was suddenly watching a different movie. A movie very confusing to me at that age.
Uh. Anyway, where was I? Something about an MMO, I think…
Here’s the complete list of new stuff in the DC Universe Online update.
