I finished the quick and dirty of my acquaintance's City of Heroes character. There are parts of it I like, parts of it I don't. Here it is.
God of War 2 really is a fucking amazing game, on a completely unrelated tangent. This morning, as I was playing, I found myself pondering whether or not I was sympathetic to Kratos's plight after watching him get brutal with another warrior during a boss fight. I don't want to use any spoilers, but this specific enemy is sorta' pathetic, and if you play the fight correctly, Kratos just has his way with this guy. It's a bloodbath. I had to sit there and weigh it all out. Kratos had been, after all, both provoked and attacked first by this antagonist. But did it really call for the ultra, ultra violent response? Couldn't he see his enemy's motivations were in the right place, even if his sword wasn't?
Then I took a moment to come to the realization I was comparing philosophies and judging motivations of the characters in my video game.
Needless to say, the game's sorta' transcendent. The actual gameplay is even better. I don't really know how to describe the experience. You're getting chased across the island of Rhodes by the Colossus, you're breaking his arms off in water wheels, you're climbing inside him and dismantling him bit by bit to jump out at the very last moment before he collapses. You're fighting your way out of hell (again). And there's the visceral joy of it, the satisfying way you absolutely butcher the monsters, the way the game rewards you for playing well and punishes you for being stupid, the sheer brilliance of some of the puzzles. And all the tits. Kratos breaks down a wall in a bathhouse and finds two naked ladies lounging in the spa, almost as if they were waiting for him. He walks right up to them, no words are exchanged, and they're off to the races. It's like the game is tapping into the primal male mind; you slice and dice your way through hordes of fiends and the ranks of the undead, you stop inside a bathhouse to wash off the grime and gore, you make time to play Hot Bitch Jenga. And then it's back to business.
I think I'm going to go put on a loincloth or something.
God of War 2 really is a fucking amazing game, on a completely unrelated tangent. This morning, as I was playing, I found myself pondering whether or not I was sympathetic to Kratos's plight after watching him get brutal with another warrior during a boss fight. I don't want to use any spoilers, but this specific enemy is sorta' pathetic, and if you play the fight correctly, Kratos just has his way with this guy. It's a bloodbath. I had to sit there and weigh it all out. Kratos had been, after all, both provoked and attacked first by this antagonist. But did it really call for the ultra, ultra violent response? Couldn't he see his enemy's motivations were in the right place, even if his sword wasn't?
Then I took a moment to come to the realization I was comparing philosophies and judging motivations of the characters in my video game.
Needless to say, the game's sorta' transcendent. The actual gameplay is even better. I don't really know how to describe the experience. You're getting chased across the island of Rhodes by the Colossus, you're breaking his arms off in water wheels, you're climbing inside him and dismantling him bit by bit to jump out at the very last moment before he collapses. You're fighting your way out of hell (again). And there's the visceral joy of it, the satisfying way you absolutely butcher the monsters, the way the game rewards you for playing well and punishes you for being stupid, the sheer brilliance of some of the puzzles. And all the tits. Kratos breaks down a wall in a bathhouse and finds two naked ladies lounging in the spa, almost as if they were waiting for him. He walks right up to them, no words are exchanged, and they're off to the races. It's like the game is tapping into the primal male mind; you slice and dice your way through hordes of fiends and the ranks of the undead, you stop inside a bathhouse to wash off the grime and gore, you make time to play Hot Bitch Jenga. And then it's back to business.
I think I'm going to go put on a loincloth or something.
And yesloinclothpleaseyesyesyes.