Tweet
I’d like to see a compelling single-player experience where the player character is a healer.
0 CommentsNewest Content
Tweet
This has bugged me for a while - why is there no Pokemon MMO? I can’t think of a single franchise more perfectly suited to the format.
0 CommentsTweet
Dear Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood: Stop putting big juicy inviting map icons on places the plot won’t let me go yet. Your pal, @doc_prof.
0 CommentsDoing My Dailies: Why I Quit WoW And Started Working Out
I quit World of Warcraft in June of 2009. I quit hard. I donated my assets to the guild bank and deleted all of my characters. I didn’t want to leave the door open to come back. I wanted to burn it down and salt the earth.
Why? Well, that’s a bit complicated.
Read more...
119 CommentsTweet
This fan-made Assassin’s Creed music video is beautifully done:
0 CommentsUncharted, One Chance, and Cheating
I don’t have much more to say about Uncharted 2, as it turns out, because I didn’t get through much more of it before giving up and sending it back to GameFly. I’m therefore not qualified to review it, but I’ll tell you that the reason I sent it back was because I disliked (a) the combat (b) the parkour (c) the artifact-hunting, which leaves very very little to enjoy. All that remains is the game’s cinematic components, the dialog and characterization and set-pieces. And there’s the other problem: Uncharted 2 is, even more than its predecessor, far too movie-like.
Read more...
9 CommentsThe One Commandment for Game Sequels
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about franchises. Having recently played Mass Effect 2, and then Assassin’s Creed II, and now Uncharted 2, I have a lot of questions about what sequels are and what they should be.
When I played the original Mass Effect, I fell head-over-heels in love. I made three complete play-throughs in rapid succession, I devoured both novels available at the time (Revelation and Ascension), and when called upon to name my favorite three video games, Mass Effect made the cut.
Then I played Mass Effect 2, and now I barely care about the series. I mean, I’ll probably play Mass Effect 3. I guess. Certainly not for full launch-day price. You can bet I won’t pre-order, even if they don’t pull any of my pet peeve shenanigans.
What happened here that turned my devoted fandom to near indifference?
Read more...
3 CommentsTweet
The Final Fantasy franchise is poised to become the next Sonic the Hedgehog. How long before the Final Fantasy Cycle? https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-sonic-cycle
0 CommentsThe Superhero Games I Wish Existed
The way things are right now, I still don’t have time to write the in-depth, fleshed-out articles I used to write. But I still have a lot of thoughts about video games, and most of them don’t really fit into 140 characters. So from time to time, I’m going to revisit this space with what’s on my mind.
Today I am thinking about superhero games. These, like film tie-ins, are so rarely done well that it’s actually noteworthy when they don’t suck.
Part of the problem might be that superhero games tend to confine themselves to the “third-person action game” format. Sometimes that works - GTA-like mechanics fit Spider-Man surprisingly well, and taking several pages from the book of Bioshock (switched, of course, to third-person) paid off well for Batman.
Still, this scheme puts severe limits on the types of gameplay available, and not every superhero fits well into those limits. If we branch out into other genres, however, things really open up, and there are plenty of superheroes just waiting to star in a good game. Here’s the ones I have in mind, and the games from which they should take their cues.
Read more...
5 CommentsTweet
I know I’m supposed to hate Shadow the Hedgehog, but I don’t. Does any franchise but Sonic get so slammed for being willing to experiment?
0 Comments