…and my prediction in January has become true. Release date is slated for May 15th 2012, which is comfortably within the 2nd quarter. Unlike the rest of the PC gaming community — which is apparently looking to D3 as the panacea of all their gaming woes — D3 is just another video game, though I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to it.
Let’s hope it lives up to the impossibly high expectations that have been placed on it.
Based on positive reviews that I’ve read elsewhere, I downloaded Kingdoms of Amalur (KoA) via Steam and got it installed.
My initial impressions (I have about 20+ hours into the game thus far) roughly mimic most of what I’ve read elsewhere. To wit: the game is technically very solid, looks good, and it’s fun to play. Unfortunately, it has a very distinct single-player MMO feel to it. You basically run around from quest giver to quest giver, chasing down waypoints along the way. The quests themselves run the usual gamut that you see in, basically, every MMORPG: kill monsters, fetch items, talk to particular NPC, etc, etc — rinse and repeat. While they (Big Huge Games) try and give the story and quests some sweeping historical background, it really does feel somewhat hollow and contrived — as if they had a computer program randomly generate “fantasy” names, towns, places, etc.
Where KoA really shines, in my opinion, is their treatment of combat. I can all but guarantee that KoA’s combat model is going to be copied in numerous “future” RPGs (MMO or otherwise). Combat is much more active and entertaining. Instead of just mashing a button or two and waiting for cool-downs, you actively have to time your swings, spells, blocks, etc. It feels and plays much more tactically than you’re used to seeing in most “high fantasy” RPGs. I really do have to commend Big Huge Games on this score — in fact, I’m probably still playing the game due to the entertaining fights.
Unfortunately (or fortunately) I can already tell there’s a good chance that I won’t end up finishing this game — or I’ll wrap it up several months from now, during some dearth of quality PC games. Perhaps it’s too similar to Skyrim (which I recently “completed”) to get too excited about? Perhaps it’s the trite milieu? I don’t know. I suppose it’s similar to watching a huge summer blockbuster — technically sound, with a few great bits, but otherwise unmemorable.
I will say that if you’re looking for a good action oriented RPG to play, you can’t go wrong with KoA. If, however, you’re looking for a great story, or a deeply engaging game, KoA might not be the best choice.
So, yeah, I just finished playing Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. When I say “finished”, I mean that I completed the two major storylines, along with completing all the guild storylines and a vast amount of other quests in the process. There’s still plenty of “stuff” left to complete — the game is goddamned huge — but I’ve had my fill for now.
Having played the four prior Elder Scrolls games, I can honestly say this is Bethesda’s best iteration on the series yet. Almost all the prior versions had some mechanic or system that was totally out of whack, and usually needed fairly heavy modding to rectify. Oblivion (Elder Scrolls IV) was awfully close to being great, but “out of the box” it had some notable flaws (level scaling springs to mind). Skyrim, while not without criticism, is definitely and squarely within the “great” category.
I could waste your precious time by talking about what makes Skyrim so great, but, honestly, it’s more fun to talk about its flaws. To be fair, these flaws can be found in most “high fantasy” RPGs, though, for some reason, they’re particularly galling in Skyrim.
1) I’ve slain tens of thousands of beasties and bandits. I’m the guild master of all major guilds in the game. I’ve single-handedly toppled the Imperial forces within Skyrim. I’m decked-out in the most pimp fantasy gear my fantasy bucks can buy. I’ve consorted with the Daedric Gods in their living rooms. In short: I am the most powerful and well known entity within the game world! So why, in the name of All that is Holy, do you — NPC vendor who sells potatoes or something — treat me like a nobody!? I’ve patronized your crappy stall on numerous occasions in addition to cleaning the Skeevers out of your goddamned basement! Show me some respect!
2) Dragons. Enough with the dragons! My tip to those just getting into Skyrim: hold off on the main storyline until you’re prepared to deal with getting attacked by dragons…. all the time. And, again, I’m not sure why they keep attacking me when I’ve killed dozens of them with relative ease, including the Super Badass Dragon.
3) This is somewhat counter to point #1 above, but there are certain things your character does within the game world that instantly becomes public knowledge to the entire NPC population. Apparently they have access to some medieval form of instant messaging.
Ah well, that’s enough of my bitching for now. At the end of the day, these flaws are almost completely overshadowed by how awesome the rest of the game is. If Bethesda continues the track record they established with Oblivion and Skyrim, the next in the series should be fantastically good.
About a month ago, me and some of my buddies sat down of for a good old fashioned game of Axis & Allies — a game I hadn’t played in at least a decade. I owned a Milton Bradley GameMaster release from 1984. The game was notable in that it took over 12 hours to finish, and when it did finish it was very late at night (4:30am). I had long since left (after the 8 hour mark, methinks). Of the remaining three players, two of them — the Allies – were blind drunk, and the 3rd (my Axis partner) had to continue playing at the insistense of the inebriated Allied players — who were hell bent on seeing Berlin fall.
Well, my poor Axis partner was eventually allowed to capitulate, only after one of the Allied generals effectively fell asleep at the table. The game was marked as an Allied victory, which we hadn’t seen in several games.
While A&A is a damn fine game, it does suffer from essentially “scripted” play for the first three or four turns. There’s just certain things both sides must do to ensure a relatively balanced engagement. Failure to adhere to these scripted moves will generally result in a loss for your side, though it may take several hours to come to fruition.
I decided it was time to upgrade my copy to something new and exciting. I set about researching A&A titles and was a little shocked to discover how many there actually are (A&A:D-Day, A&A:Guadalcanal, A&A: Battle of the Bulge, A&A: Anniversay Editition, A&A: 1942, etc, etc). I settled on A&A Europe 1940 and A&A Pacific 1940, which can be combined into one gloriously large map — though initially I was planning on getting the Anniversary Edition.
What put me off the Anniversary Edition was the truly shocking price-tag: $995 on Amazon.com, well over $400 on eBay, etc. That’s what happens when popular niche games go out of print. No worries! I thought to myself, I’ll just get the combined 1940 editions and be done with it.
As it turns out, Europe 1940 was also out of print and out of stock. I checked all my favorite online vendors, but none of them had it available. I was finally able to track down a single copy being sold on the boardgamegeek.com — for $350. I made an offer of $299, which, to my horror, was accepted. I was now in the undesirable position of having to follow through on my bid. Thankfully, I had enough money set aside for such an extravagent personal purchase (the money was initially earmarked for an Xbox 360).
To make an already long story slightly less long, I am now the proud owner of A&A Europe 1940 and A&A Pacific 1940. Total cost was just under $400 for both games. I know this is absolutely insane, but despite that, I’m really looking forward to having another go of A&A on a new map, with new units, new rules, etc.
Our game is tentatively slated for a couple weeks from now… and this time, I’m going to be on the winning side.
Diablo 3 will not be released Q1. Fact. I’m not gonna cite any source, provide any links, or otherwise try and prove this. It’s just not gonna happen. I’m right. I’m always right.
It just occurred to me that there’s a singular dearth of slap-dash wordpress sites dedicated to some random asshole’s thoughts about video games. I’m going to fill this gaping niche HARD!