So I am generally one to play a lot of different video games once or twice... I like to finish what I start. When a game is really really bad I can't even play through the entire thing, but lately I have come upon a great deal of games that I couldn't even really get started much with, but that is for a whole other time. A few games that I have played lately and what I thought about them.
Rock Band: One of the few genres recently to completely revolutionize the way gaming is done. The Wii remote is one and the guitar remote is the other. Rock Band takes this one step further and adds drums and a microphone. Okay, so I was a LOT late on joining in on the Guitar Hero craze (a few years) and the Dance Dance Revolution craze (a few years) but I think both are spectacular ways of combining music and games. Rock Band is probably the best I have ever seen because not only is there the challenge of following the music, but you are actually playing something remotely resembling the notes on a controller that is a guitar... or microphone or drums. There is a significant amount of challenge involved in being good, although I have been really very good at each part, but it is great for groups of people and still good for a single player. I have done both of course and this is definitely a party game. And it is console only, but with Frets on Fire I already have a way to play it on PC with at least the guitar parts... as well as Guitar Hero 1,2,3, and 80s.
Call of Duty 4: Having played COD and COD2, I was expecting a lot from this game and it did pretty well for the single player. I haven't gotten into the multiplayer part, but based on the single player aspect I can say that it is probably good as well. The one thing about this game that stood out to me as being something completely different and new and cool was the one level where you are manning a gun on an AC-130 gunship and shooting targets based on heat signatures of bodies on the ground. It was truly an amazing level and completely new thing based on what I have seen in games. Very realistic and very well done. The rest of the game was pretty good as well, being a great story and good gameplay, although it was very linear and somewhat predicable in the tasks and AI.
Turok: A decent game. Once again, this is very much like Crysis/Far Cry/Every other FPS in the last few years. The premise is different, but the gameplay is the same. The only new thing is dinosaurs that you get to shoot and be eaten by.
Bioshock: Finally something different. While the Adam/Eve powers thing wasn't a completely new concept, the idea of tying it to all the different things it did during the game as well as having seperate weapons was pretty well done. The levels were unique although not completely different, but I did like the way things were put together. Maps worked very well, hints were somewhat helpful if not a bit intrusive and far too frequent. Yes, I know I press R to reload, just like the last time you told me 5 minutes ago and every time before that. This game was definitely designed with consoles in mind and isn't a very mentally involved game, but it was new, fresh, and fun. I have just started this one really, but it already seems like it will end well... I just hope the final boss isn't one I just have to run circles around and shoot... I hate when that happens.
Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas: No, not the new one... the older one I finally got around to playing through. I hated this game. Vice City was FAR more entertaining. The cars were cooler, there was way less "fluff" in the game (seriously, 400 different outfits? Working out? Eating food?) Games like this need to be more about the story and less about building up your character. Money and ammo should be the only things you would need to worry about. I don't plan on playing GTA4 for a while though.
Need for Speed - Pro Street: Graphically this game was great. The controls were not as good. I think they were going for a blend of realism with easy gameplay and got neither. I thought Most Wanted was the best Need for Speed game for a while. Carbon was terrible, but Pro Street was just okay. Underground and Underground 2 were way too focused on how the car looked. This was a pretty good mix of the two, with most of the focus being on performance. I definitely like the way the races were done, although I miss the drifting aspect of the Underground games.
Assassin's Creed: The first game in a long time that I really really liked to play as a story. Everything about this game was great. The gameplay was very well done, although again, I could see how it was geared toward a console rather than a PC. The combat could have been made to be more than just the timing of hitting two buttons, or two of four (yes of, not or) over and over again. It didn't have the open aspect of a game like Oblivion, but it didn't feel 100% linear. Everything had to happen in a mostly specific order, although you could choose which ones to do (best 4 out of 7?) and what order to do them in. I would liked to have gained assassin powers in the real world though. A very good game.
Crysis: Great graphics, horrible story. Seriously, the same old thing again. You are fighting the bad guys only to find aliens have invaded. Didn't I play this game a few years ago when it was called something else? I could name 20 different games and each would have the same premise. Maybe it was zombies instead of aliens.
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2: This game was actually fun. I really liked the way the weapons were implemented and the AI was reasonably well made. I love when an enemy sees me and then tries to sneak behind me, or at least hides from me. Being able to do no look shooting, leaning around corners, and even healing teammates all made for a pretty well immersive experience.
Iron Man: Another movie spinoff game. Except this one isn't good. Well, neither were any of the others. It is a general rule that if a movie comes first, the game is horrible, and if a game comes first the movie is horrible. This one is no exception. I hated every minute of it that I could tolerate to play.
Black & White 2: I was a lot late getting on to this bandwagon, like most. Vast improvements of the controls of the first game, excellent strategic gameplay, and really well done graphics. It was a lot of fun playing it, and even playing through the second time and with the expansion. I will probably never play it again, but it was a good play through twice.
Team Fortress 2: I played on the free weekend... and for a FPS this was an excellent time killer. It was like all of the other multiplayer FPS's that I have played, but with one great exception... it didn't take itself too seriously. Tons of fun while being cartoonish and weird.
Civilization 4: Maybe it is just me, but I found this game to be incredibly hard. My first few tries I could never find the right balance of expanding and developing. Even when I did, everyone then ganged up on me (I could never be everyone's friend, because they hated me when I was other peoples' friends) and wiped out my entire civilization. If I were somehow really good at this game, I might just play through once or twice. It didn't have that quality to me that would keep me playing it for fun, although possibly as a multiplayer thing.
And I am sure in the last 6 months I played another game or too, but I can't remember them currently. So that's it for now.
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