Thanksgiving Weekend
I played video games like it was a full-time job (literally, as in 10-12 hours a day from Wednesday to Saturday). Yes, one of the few benefits of living in my parents' home as I do for at least another month or so is cheap living, so I don't have to work and can concentrate on my studies and, when school is off, play a fuck ton of games. It helped my gaming and hindered my social life that the week before Thanksgiving coincided with my birthday, and I was lucky enough to get a bunch of games as presents. Here are some reflections on what I wasted my short time on this Earth on:
I. Assassin's Creed II (Xbox 360)
In this sequel to 2006's Assassin's Creed, you play the role of 15th Centruy Italian Ezio Auditore da Firenze (well actually, you play the role of his descendant Desmond Miles, accessing Ezio's memories through a machine that reads Desmond's ancestral DNA). Ezio apparently plays some major role in the persistent war between the Assassins and the Knights Templar, and it's up to you to unlock his memories by learning to become an assassin, and stealthily kill lots of people on the way.
I'm only just getting started on the second town (Tuscany), but I can already say that this is a vast improvement over the first game, which is saying a lot because AC1 wasn't a bad game at all. ACII does a lot more at the beginning to develop Ezio's character, and the missions you undertake seem more enjoyably paced. I regret that I will probably have to wait for Christmas Break to sink the amount of time I'd like to put into it to be as immersed in the game as I would like to be.
II. Team Fortress 2 (PC)
I've been playing this squad based on the 360 since it came out on The Orange Box, but since I recently bought a new gaming PC for the first time this decade, I decided that TF2 would make an excellent reintroduction to the world of PC FPSs, and woah was I right. This game ate up the majority of my gaming sessions, and often kept me up hours into the night.
III. Left 4 Dead 2 (Xbox 360)
I really loved the first game. It was one of the first games that I felt truly captured what it would feel like to be in a zombie apocalypse (the other being Dead Rising), with a small squad of survivors trying to get from point A to point B while a thousand infected humanoids try to tear them apart. L4D2 is, again, an improvement, with more personality, more special infected types, melee weapons (chainsaws!) and some incredible new lighting and weather effects that in my opinion completely justifies a full-priced release. I did manage to play through every campaign with random groups of people online, and there is a good amount of diversity among the gameplay types to ensure the new is as endlessly replayable as the original.
IV. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360)
Another sequel. :/ Everyone knows about this game, so I'll just say I found that the single player story was dumb but effective at times, and the multiplayer is a compelling challenge (my KDR is a pathetic 0.80). I find it's a perfect game to pop in when I want to mindlessly kill an hour.
V. Silent Hill: rigins (PSP)
Ooh, this one's a prequel! My experience with the series is somewhat limited, having played entirely through 2, through most of 4, and barely started Homecoming. That said, rigins (empty set FTW) is awesome so far. It's terrifying, the music always kicks in to intensify the horror, and subsides to let you hear every frightening creak and footstep to maintain the eerie ambiance of the cursed town of Silent Hill. The protaganist (Travis, a long haul trucker WITH A MYSTERIOUS PAST!) is interesting enough, and the narrative is passable enough to get me from scare to scare. I'm very impressed with how this game handles on a portable system.
So that's this week in gaming. In other news, the Movember-themed mustache still thrives:
I played video games like it was a full-time job (literally, as in 10-12 hours a day from Wednesday to Saturday). Yes, one of the few benefits of living in my parents' home as I do for at least another month or so is cheap living, so I don't have to work and can concentrate on my studies and, when school is off, play a fuck ton of games. It helped my gaming and hindered my social life that the week before Thanksgiving coincided with my birthday, and I was lucky enough to get a bunch of games as presents. Here are some reflections on what I wasted my short time on this Earth on:
I. Assassin's Creed II (Xbox 360)
In this sequel to 2006's Assassin's Creed, you play the role of 15th Centruy Italian Ezio Auditore da Firenze (well actually, you play the role of his descendant Desmond Miles, accessing Ezio's memories through a machine that reads Desmond's ancestral DNA). Ezio apparently plays some major role in the persistent war between the Assassins and the Knights Templar, and it's up to you to unlock his memories by learning to become an assassin, and stealthily kill lots of people on the way.
I'm only just getting started on the second town (Tuscany), but I can already say that this is a vast improvement over the first game, which is saying a lot because AC1 wasn't a bad game at all. ACII does a lot more at the beginning to develop Ezio's character, and the missions you undertake seem more enjoyably paced. I regret that I will probably have to wait for Christmas Break to sink the amount of time I'd like to put into it to be as immersed in the game as I would like to be.
II. Team Fortress 2 (PC)
I've been playing this squad based on the 360 since it came out on The Orange Box, but since I recently bought a new gaming PC for the first time this decade, I decided that TF2 would make an excellent reintroduction to the world of PC FPSs, and woah was I right. This game ate up the majority of my gaming sessions, and often kept me up hours into the night.
III. Left 4 Dead 2 (Xbox 360)
I really loved the first game. It was one of the first games that I felt truly captured what it would feel like to be in a zombie apocalypse (the other being Dead Rising), with a small squad of survivors trying to get from point A to point B while a thousand infected humanoids try to tear them apart. L4D2 is, again, an improvement, with more personality, more special infected types, melee weapons (chainsaws!) and some incredible new lighting and weather effects that in my opinion completely justifies a full-priced release. I did manage to play through every campaign with random groups of people online, and there is a good amount of diversity among the gameplay types to ensure the new is as endlessly replayable as the original.
IV. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360)
Another sequel. :/ Everyone knows about this game, so I'll just say I found that the single player story was dumb but effective at times, and the multiplayer is a compelling challenge (my KDR is a pathetic 0.80). I find it's a perfect game to pop in when I want to mindlessly kill an hour.
V. Silent Hill: rigins (PSP)
Ooh, this one's a prequel! My experience with the series is somewhat limited, having played entirely through 2, through most of 4, and barely started Homecoming. That said, rigins (empty set FTW) is awesome so far. It's terrifying, the music always kicks in to intensify the horror, and subsides to let you hear every frightening creak and footstep to maintain the eerie ambiance of the cursed town of Silent Hill. The protaganist (Travis, a long haul trucker WITH A MYSTERIOUS PAST!) is interesting enough, and the narrative is passable enough to get me from scare to scare. I'm very impressed with how this game handles on a portable system.
So that's this week in gaming. In other news, the Movember-themed mustache still thrives:
I would like to shave it off Tuesday, but a friend is trying to talk me into growing it out for his Christmas party in three weeks. Might be good for a laugh, I suppose.
asbury:
Thank you for the birthday wishes! 