Once again I find myself in the middle of a trio of games conveniently giving me an excuse to write up another of these little ramblings. Two of these games I started in 2010, and the other is also from last year but I decided to endure the inexplicable 5 month delay for the PC version… Assassins Creed Brotherhood was very much worth the wait, I have a few missions left of Starcraft 2, and I’ve honestly no idea how many more zombies I’ll be killing in Undead Nightmare, but I just unlocked the blunderbuss which should make everything a lot easier from here on.
Assassins Creed Brotherhood
This series has evolved quite nicely in its relatively short lifespan. From the shady loner Altair of the original, Assassins Creed 2 introduced us to Ezio, the lovable Italian, and its with him that the story of Brotherhood continues. The setting has shifted to Rome, which has been intricately recreated in sublime detail. I visited this city on holiday a few years ago and its a fun experience to explore the virtual version and see how many buildings and locations I recognise. The gameplay has been tweaked even more and most of the additions make for an even varied experience, which can only be good. The recruitable assassins which form your brotherhood can be sent off on missions which earns you money and special items. They level up with XP and can be upgraded using a simple menu system, which then reflects how powerful they are in the field. I’m focusing on getting a couple of them fully maxed out so I have a strong backup force at the ready whenever I need to dispatch a tough enemy fast. I’m not even half way through the story but have invested a good 10 hours already – simply exploring the city and searching for hidden secrets is keeping me thoroughly entertained.
Starcraft 2
Paul reviewed this ages ago, but I’ve still not managed to finish off the singleplayer. Its probably the most expensively made and well-polished strategy game in existence, and it shows. The story mode is full of unique missions and varied gameplay mechanics that no sooner have you gotten the hang of one unit and its special tactics, the following mission will usually give you some new toy to play with. The story is the right side of cheesy, with plenty of amusing characters and melodramatic dialogue. I’ve just been so distracted with other games since its release, I’ve not got around to beating it. It’s quite good though.
Undead Nightmare
Released in time for Halloween last year, I’ve managed to go through the entire winter without finishing this. This huge bit of DLC for Red Dead Redemption transforms the entire game world into a B-movie style zombie apocalypse. Featuring a lengthy story mode and numerous new challenges, its one of the best value for money DLC’s out there. So far I’ve rescued a heap of villages from the undead plague, met up with various familiar faces form the regular game (hint: don’t play this before you finish the main game’s story) and tamed 2 of the 4 horses of the apocalypse – the horse known as War is covered in fiery flames and can set alight to anyone you happen to gallop into – but I still have plenty left to do. Might review this if I manage to finish it in time for this year’s halloween…
Dome Keeper is an excellent little spin on the tower defense game, in which you play the role of a jetpacking miner defending his base from swarms of aliens, whilst searching for a hidden relic buried somewhere beneath him. And now, with this huge free update, you can play it with friends.
I want to talk about Cloudpunk, a game where you get to be a flying-car delivery driver in a futuristic cyberpunk city. Its world is an incredible achievement of environmental design, and while the gameplay itself may be basic, the city of Nivalis is a thing of beauty to behold. Nivalis is built out of hundreds of hand-modelled cuboid buildings; there’s nothing procedural about it. Apparently it took 3 years for the devs to design the city, and it really shows.
I do love me some quality pixel art, and it doesn’t get much better than this. Cast n Chill is a cozy side-scrolling fishing game by small indie dev team Wombat Brawler, with absolutely gorgeous visuals. It’s simple to play, and you you can dip in and out of it at your leisure, making it a fine addition to our collection of coffee break games.
Is bingeing bad for us? It seems an obvious question, but I have been thinking about it lately, while revisiting Lost, the tv show that started 22 years ago (cripes, I feel old). Back when it was airing, my friends and I watched it religiously every week, talked about it in great detail, eagerly awaiting the next episode. It was the definitive show of its time, sparking debates and endless theories. It felt great to be a part of that, the sense of all experiencing the same thing together over a long period of time – most seasons had over 20 episodes, which is way more than most shows get these days – and they aired one by one, every week for several months. In today’s age of bingeing a show from beginning to end, I wonder what we are missing by not taking our time.
I was not a fan of Uncharted 3, but this new ad for Nathan Drake’s supposed final adventure is only 30 seconds long and somehow managed to tug my heartstrings… I wish I had a PS4.
Doki Doki Literature Club has dug its way into my chest and ripped me apart over the last couple of nights. It’s a free visual novel game where you get to know a bunch of girls in an afterschool book club… except not really. It looks exactly like any other tropey Japanese dating sim type game, but what lurks underneath this cutesy exterior is something really quite sinister and thought-provoking. The game’s tagline does a good job of reminding you that all is not what it seems: “This game is not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed.”
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