The random post about nothing in particular - Revisiting classics

So it's been a while since I've updated this blog and I feel pretty bad about it. I haven't played much new lately (mainly because I'm...what's it called again? Oh yeah - poor) so I've been getting back into some older games. And though these games are old I'd also classify them as something else - classic.


I've been watching a ton of videos for "Bioshock: Infinite" (well, mainly just that complete E3 playthrough) and getting real pumped about it. The setting, characters, level/world design and combat all look incredibly inventive and it will be amazing when I can actually set foot on Columbia and explore the floating city.

Since I've been on a Bioshock trip lately, I decided to fire up my copy of the original "Bioshock" and take a much needed return trip to Rapture. The city is much the way I remember it - dark, dreary, incredibly detailed and full of life - even if that life is slathered with a healthy dose of insanity.

One of the things I forgot about Bioshock that I loved so much was the sheer expanse of every area you travel to. There's a ton of opportunity to explore each area and thorough searching will often net extra ammunition, money and items that come in very handy when dealing with some of the tougher splicers and Big Daddies. Speaking of those lumbering monstrosities, I'd also almost forgotten how much of a pain they are to bring down - and how easy it is to draw their ire. The first Big Daddy you come up against, a Bouncer, killed me a handful of times before I started taking the fight seriously - meaning preparing my ammunition, Plasmids, traps and picking a location that suits taking down that particular kind of Big Daddy. For example, Bouncers use close range but very powerful attacks but can also stun you, leaving you open to be gored by their charge attack so it was very important to initiate the battle in an area that would cut down on the straight lines between me and it. Even though Rosie's bring more firepower into battle than Bouncers, these surprisingly quick baddies are more than capable of ending your life if you charge blindly into battle.


And speaking of Rosies, I had almost forgotten how easy it was to draw their attention. For example, when you first reach Neptune's Bounty there is a large open area where a Rosie and a Little Sister are operating. But there are also a handful of Splicers in the area, too, who are not nearly as concerned with the behemoths as I was and began shooting at me on sight. I was about to return fire when I noticed the Big Daddy/Little Sister meandering around behind them and decided it would be best to take cover and let the Splicers come to me, rather than possibly send an errant shot into either of those two and have the Rosie come roaring at me, throwing prox mines and firing rivets at my face. Little instances like that remind me of how the world of Bioshock/Rapture are incredibly alive and how your actions can have unintended/unwanted consequences.

Changing gears a little bit, I recently got a new laptop and of course one of my first priorities was to load up a few classic games on it. Granted, I don't have many PC games but I still have a couple, including, in my opinion, two of the greatest games ever made - Fallout and Fallout 2.

Unfortunately, since the original Fallout came out in 1997, it isn't exactly compatible with Windows 7 but it runs well enough. About the most severe glitches I've noticed is some problems with the color that I wasn't able to rectify but beyond that the game plays just as I remember it - which is, compared to Fallout 3 and New Vegas, pretty slowly. But that's to be expected - these games are over 10 years old at this point and aren't action RPGs like the current iterations. These bad boys are straight up RPGs - you move on a hex board, combat is turn based and the restrictions on the content are slim to none (meaning you can get into some pretty sketchy situations that I don't even feel comfortable writing about on here - which goes especially double for Fallout 2). Then again, this is partly what drew many to the game in the first place - having to survive in a post-apocalyptic world with little more than your wits and what you can scavenge.

As you can see, just a little different from Fallout 3

What I love most about Fallout is the way the story is designed and even though I really don't think I should have to add spoiler tags for info on a game that came out in 1997, I'll do it anyway. So if you still haven't played Fallout but are totally planning on it someday (I'm sure you'll get around to it), don't read any more if you don't want the story ruined. SPOILER ALERTZ

You start out a member of Vault 13 and somehow, after months, maybe even years of operation, the Vault's water chip - the thing that recycles all the old, used water into clean drinking water again - has broken or gone missing and you're tasked with leaving the Vault to find a replacement or a new supply of water. You only have about 180 (I believe) in-game days to accomplish this task, but you can buy yourself some time if you meet up with the water merchants in The Hub and having them ship water to your Vault.

But the game isn't over once you find the chip. Apparently someone has been creating an army of super-mutants in the Wasteland and the Overseer of your Vault decides that they pose a threat to all and will eventually discover your Vault. After dealing with The Master and his army of mutants all is well and you're welcomed back into the Vault with open arms - a hero to all.

Except, that doesn't quite happen. After surviving in the harsh Wasteland, risking your life and the lives of other to secure a water chip and destroy an army of gigantic, violent mutants, the Overseer of your Vault decides that time outside has changed you too much and you're forbidden from returning to your people. What thanks! But don't feel too bad. Remember those water merchants you told the location of the Vault to? Well it seems one day, Raiders followed them to your Vault and massacred everyone. But then again - that's sort of your fault and almost exactly what the Overseer was talking about, isn't it?

But all that up there as I've described might not even play out like that, depending on your actions (don't worry - you get shunned from your Vault no matter what course of action you take). Fallout was innovative in the way that, depending on your action throughout the course of the game, you basically decide the fate of the various groups and towns you encounter. Did you kill the Khans who were harassing Shady Sands? What about the Blades in Adytum? Did you have the guts to face the Deathclaws and reach the Gun Runners? Each of these seemingly insignificant quest lines change the outcome of that particular area and possibly even more. But one thing doesn't change. War - war never changes. (Come on, you had to have seen that coming.)

Trenched review: A twist on an old favorite

I’ve always been a big fan of strategy games but in recent years haven’t really had the means to play them. Well, I have had the means, sure, but being a huge nerd with personal standards about video games, I basically refuse to play strategy games on the console.

Every gamer has that friend who insists that first-person shooters should only be played on PCs and that console shooters pale in comparison. Well, I’m like that with strategy games. I’m utterly convinced that you need a mouse and keyboard in order to properly keep track of all the goings-on in a strategy game – especially real-time strategy games (like Command and Conquer or Starcraft) and turn-based strategy games (like Civilization). I gave “Civilization: Revolution” a whirl and I’ve tried playing RTS games (like Halo Wars) with a console controller and have always been left feeling like I could’ve been more effective if only I had a mouse for more precise movement and a keyboard to keep better track of my resources/troops/towns/etc.

Despite my staunch “anti-console strategy game stance,” I was a pretty big of Double Fine’s “Brutal Legend.” Granted it had A LOT to do with the incredible soundtrack (seriously, Coroner, King Diamond, Slayer, Ministry – the list goes on and on), the game itself was really fun, the world was original and very interesting and the action/adventure/strategy mash-up worked quite well, despite the fact that hardly anyone played it.

Since Brutal Legend’s release, Double Fine has focused mainly on Arcade releases. Though I have yet to play their prior XBLA offerings (Stacked and Costume Quest) Trenched immediately caught my attention. Set right after WWI, the world is besieged by an alien signal known as The Broadcoast. Two military veterans who hear it, Vladimir Farnsworth and Frank Woodruff, gain super-intelligence though a majority of people who heard it perished. Using their new intellect, Woodruff creates mobile walking robots, known as trenches, to make up for the loss of his legs during the war and also to give disabled soldiers a second chance. Farnsworth, on the other hand, is driven mad and uses his knowledge to create a robotic menace known as Monovisions to spread word of The Broadcast. Soon, the former friends become bitter enemies and Woodruff’s Mobile Trench Brigade is all that can stop Vlad’s army of Monovisions.

The best part about the story of Trenched is that the game itself doesn’t do a lot to shove it down your throat. You aren’t expected to sit through long cutscenes detailing the backstory of characters and other extraneous details. You’re given a brief description of the conflict, its cause and after that, basically, the world Trenched takes place in speaks the rest for itself. Trenched’s beautiful visuals as well as its “less is more” approach to story telling should really catch the attention of many gamers.

Though I’d classify Trenched, technically, as a tower defense game, it’s so much more than that. While that genre conjures up images of web based flash games where you do little more than place turrets along predetermined paths of enemies, Trenched expands this by allowing the player to have a presence on the battlefield. While previous tower defense game Toy Soldiers allowed players to take control of battlefield units, Trenched features a constant main character. In this, players can customize their trench before heading into battle with a wide array of weapons and emplacements to help them stem the tide of Monovisions.

Trenched’s mash-up of RPG/tower defense/action/strategy makes for some incredibly fun and intense gameplay. A typical mission has you start aboard a massive trench-carrier (with legs so it can walk on land, of course) where you’re briefed on your next mission. After selecting a mission (you can go back and replay any mission for a higher ranking, which unlocks more items, XP and money), you then choose your Trench and are given suggestions on what equipment to take into the field. Since you can only change your loadout prior to starting a mission, picking strategically (like flak turrets for flying enemies and explosives for armored enemies) can mean the difference between victory and failure. But even picking a trench can be tricky. There are three different styles to choose from – assault, standard and engineering. Assault provides more weapon slots for bigger guns (like artillery and sniper cannons) but have fewer emplacement slots. Engineering is just the opposite – a lighter trench with fewer weapon slots but more emplacement slots. Standard trenches bridge the gap between the two and are great all-purpose machines.

Each map (unless it’s a boss battle) will have you protecting one or many specific buildings from the Tubes (a slang term for Monovisions). Enemies will spawn in specific locations, giving you an idea of where to place your turrets to be most effective. During these waves, you must also collect the scrap of fallen enemies to use as currency to buy new emplacements. To make destroying the Monos easier, Trenched also supports online co-op play for up to four players at a time.

Trenched would be addicting enough if it were just a game about giant robots destroying alien looking robots but coupled with Double Fine’s unmatched style and humor, it’s brought to a whole new level. Farnsworth and Woodruff’s exchanges are dripping with campy humor and in between campaigns, players are treated with their exploits memorialized on the covers of fictional “manly man’s men’s magazines” like “Real Man,” “Danger Monthly,” and “Gristle For Men.”

Honestly, I almost feel like I should’ve paid more than $15 (1200 MS points) for Trenched. With all the content in the incredible package that it delivers, it could’ve easily been a full priced game. Well – if it had a few more missions it could be. Which brings me to my only negative comment about Trenched, which is, that it is too short and I want (need) more. There are only (off the top of my head) around 15 missions in the game and though you can go back and replay them as many times as you want to get new gear and more XP those same few missions get old after a while. Not to mention that at a certain point, there’s no more equipment to unlock so earning new grades is pretty much the only reason to keep playing. Double Fine hasn’t announced any specific plans for DLC or a sequel but I’m keeping my fingers crossed and eyes open any info.

I’m positive nearly anyone could get into, and have fun with, Trenched. At such a low price and with the ability to play with friends, Trenched ought to be one of the next big hits on the XBLA. (It should also be noted Trenched is not available on the PSN.) Unfortunately, many of Tim Schaeffer’s gems (specifically Psycho Nauts and to a lesser extent Brutal Legend) are largely overlooked by the majority of gamers. Hopefully people heed Trenched’s extremely positive reviews, spend a little cash and pick up one of the most fun and addicting games available.