What to Think = updated.
So I guess we can chalk up
Holiday Holocaust 2K5 as another
failure in what I hope I can prevent
from becoming a losing streak. I
didn't really put much effort into
the planning this time around, much
of it was very short-notice and I
think that's how it all went to
shit. Next time I think we'll have
bring the computers back into it and
focus on older or less demanding
titles, there's plenty out there.
I haven't been able to track down
a used laptop in my price range yet,
mostly because I thought finding
used computer shops in this city
would be an easier task than it
turned out to be. I've also been
spending much of my time at home
because of my back, which with lots
of rest and some nice painkillers
and muscle relaxants has finally
started to fade away, but not
completely.
It also helps that I've been off
work for the last ten days and when
I'm given that much time off from
doing anything inevitably my waking
hours will take a natural turn
towards the nocturnal. Natural for
me, at least. I've grown quite
accustomed to this lifestyle, though
I can't decide whether it's bohemian
or just hermistic. Though this has
also impeded my progress in finding
a laptop, because I tend not to be
conscious when places of business
are open.
It's a strange feeling to know that,
apart from work which will become
more scarce given there are no major
shopping holidays coming, without
college I have no engagements or
deadlines of any sort to meet.
Almost every other hour I start to
think that there's something
important I'm supposed to be doing
and shortly come to the conclusion
that I don't. Really, the only
events that I am anticipating is the
US DVD release of the first season
of the new Doctor Who and the
release of The Elder Scrolls IV:
Oblivion. Living like this
certainly can't be healthy, both
physically and mentally, but I'm not
inclined to change it.
This would probably also explain why
I haven't had much to talk about
here.
But speaking of Oblivion,
it isn't due out until March at the
earliest, and it's really the only
title worth looking forward to at
the moment. Since the release of
F.E.A.R. back in October it's
been slim pickings for new releases,
and since I continually thrive for
new entertainment, the longer the
span between big releases, the
deeper I'll dig to find worthy
games. Despite my claims that
graphics aren't everything, I will
often dismiss critically acclaimed
independent titles based on
screenshots alone. I should have
learned my lesson by now because
it's during these dry periods that
I'll finally give games I've ignored
a shot and soon find they become
some of my favorite games of all
time, Jagged Alliance 2 and
Darwinia spring immediately
to mind.
Weird Worlds:
Return to Infinite Space
is like a space exploration
game made by and for people with
attention deficit disorder, and
that's actually part of what makes
it so great. It has you as the
captain of a starship venturing into
the unknown of Sector Prime,
collecting artifacts, exploring new
planets, meeting strange alien races
and destroying them. Along the way
you'll get better weapons, shields
and other defensive systems, collect
different types of plant and animal
life, hire mercenaries to escort you
through hostile territory, get
sucked into black holes, outrun
supernovas, destroy entire star
systems, even confront an ancient
evil and save the galaxy. And all in
roughly thirty minutes. That's where
the ADD part comes in, it's a very
stipped-down and easy to play game
made for quick pick-up-and-play
sessions. At the beginning you're
allowed to set the parameters; You
can be on an official scientific
mission from the military, you can
be in charge of a frigate out to
collect all manner of technology, or
a renegade space pirate out to steal
and destroy, then you can set how
large of a galaxy you want there to
be, which in turn will determine the
deadline of when you need to report
back home, and you can set the
difficulty level of your enemies.
Everything is completely random; No
two galaxies are alike, alien races
that were your enemy last time
around may seek to make peace with
you this time, and the ship upgrades
and lifeforms you collect will be
different on every planet. Space
battles are naturally a big part of
the game and are equally as simple,
you can pause at any time to plan,
set directions for your ship and its
escorts to go, and issue attack
orders. If things get desperate you
can even ram into opponents. Like
the rest of the game these scrapes
are over rather quickly, but can
also tend to be very difficult,
though it makes victory that much
more sweet. There's a demo available
on their website to try it out,
though it's limited to only the
space pirate mission and a
small-sized playing area. I've been
playing it off and on for the last
few days and it's still fun, so at
$24.95 it's well worth the price of
admission.
And, because I could, I made videos
of it in action:
Exploration!
- Captain Awesome and his ship
The Danger Ranger plunge head first
into the depths of the cosmos,
meeting new races and initiating in
mundane trade!
Combat!
- Captain Awesome and his ship
The Danger Ranger engage in combat
with the deadly Urluquai! When a
hostile cloaked ship appears out of
nowhere, Captain Awesome calls for
assistance!
Oasis
is like a finely-crafted
civilization building game crammed
into rounds that last a little under
three minutes. You play an Egyptian
pharaoh trying to reunite his many
kingdoms that have been lost in seas
of black fog, and then build your
cities up and mine for technology to
defeat a horde of barbarians lying
in wait to destroy your kingdom. In
every round you find yourself in a
randomly-generated kingdom and you
have a set amount of turns to clear
through the fog, locate your cities,
build roads to connect them, send
your followers to work in mines and
locate an oasis with a special Glyph
of Power. You start with around 70
or so turns and every action takes
up a single turn, when your turns
are up you have ten seconds to
reinforce your cities and try to
repel the barbarian attackers. Like
Weird Worlds it is also
simple, and you can pick it up and
play a few rounds in mere minutes.
It has more depth to it than what
I've just described, but it is
simple and fun to play, nonetheless.
There's a shareware version of the
game available on their website,
allowing you to play the game for an
hour before it runs out. Also fairly
cheap, it was worth the $19.99 I
laid down for it.
Here's a
video of an
entire round in Oasis,
lasting just under two minutes.
Fate
takes the dungeon-hacking gameplay
of Diablo and the randomized
setting of Rogue and combines
them into a simple, yet very
addictive RPG. If you've ever
played, well, anything ever,
you should know the drill: You start
by trading and accepting quests from
the townspeople above, and then you
go plunging into the never-ending
dungeon below, clear floor after
floor of its monsters, gaining
experience, collecting loot and
better equipment as you go,
encountering greater riches and even
greater foes as you descend further.
You can download a locked version of
the game from their website, where
the furthest you can go in the
dungeon is the 3rd level, though the full
version gives you a never-ending
dungeon. I've yet to purchase it,
but $20 sounds pretty reasonable
since I've stopped writing this
update three times now to go play it
some more.
So here are two videos of Fate
in action:
Level 1
- I kick some monster ass on the
first floor of the dungeon!
Level 2
- I kick some monster ass on the
second floor of the dungeon!
Well, I think the pills I'm
taking for my back are kicking in,
because I'm feeling drowsy!
-K.
make the
lazy guy carry it out
