There are more than a few vacant cells in Arkham Asylum that have random things painted on the walls. By the time you notice the Riddler’s cell, it’s nothing new. Only, instead of handprints, his cell is marked in footprints? That’s slightly more unsettling and far more unexpected. Props to you, Rocksteady Games, for making even the little details in Batman: Arkham Asylum really awesome. I hope Arkham City has the same level of creativity.
(Did he draw all the question marks with his toes?)
I bought the “Love Machine Theme” for my Megaton home some time ago, and for the longest time all I noticed was the gigantic heart-shaped bed in the middle of the main room and Christmas lights strung about the place. Only now, days later, did I notice this… thing suspended above the foyer.
I had to stare at it for a while before I realized that in addition to being really tacky, it was also two women.
Continuing my trek through the capital wasteland of Fallout 3, I finally reached Rivet City last night. As I’d suspected though, getting there was not just a leisurely stroll along the coast.
I set off from the Brotherhood of Steel’s Citadel to take a bridge over the river. Upon approaching the bridge, I spied a raider chilling in some wreckage. I dispatched her, and just as I was about to ascend the collapse end of the bridge, a huge explosion went off. I had no idea what caused it, but was startled enough to stand still and survey the area for any more raiders that might be trying to explode me. It was lucky that I stopped too, because two more explosions followed shortly after, and they were exactly where I would have been had I kept moving. The area was free of any more attackers, so I wrote it off as ghosts and pressed on.
On the other side of the bridge I found a peddler who tried to rip me off and a small encampment of raiders. I relieved them of their heads and proceeded to loot their base.
Moving farther south along the coast, I came upon the Jefferson Memorial, which was fairly heavily guarded by super mutants. These were the garden variety, and it was here that I learned that my combat shotgun was by far my most effective means of dispatching super mutants. This was a great discovery not only because super mutants take way too long to deal with otherwise, but also because by this point I was hauling around well over 600 shotgun shells.
I went the long way around the memorial, and coming up on the entrance to the aircraft carrier known as Rivet City, I noticed a super mutant outpost across the square. Me and my shotgun cleared the mutants out, looted the place, and were even able to rescue a hostage.
Finally reaching Rivet City, I started exploring the ship and meeting the inhabitants. In the science lab I completed one mission by telling some dopey white-collar that I’d found the corpse of an android he’d been hunting. I also picked up a fourth bobblehead for my collection back in Megaton.
While I was there, I also made the mistake of talking to Dr. Li, which sort of broke the game. There’s an achievement for each quest in the game, and my next story-relevant quest was to go to Galaxy News Radio to find my father. The stop after that would be to visit Dr. Li in Rivet City, and since I skipped the GNR bit, the game wrote off the rest of the quest and didn’t give me the achievement. Load game.
I continued exploring the ship, causing trouble and helping the inhabitants as I went. I broke into many locked rooms and computer terminals, but never stole anything. I made a hefty donation to the church to bolster my good karma, and helped a young couple get married. I bought a bunch of ammo and talked to a few people about their problems, but couldn’t find any ways to resolve a few of the situations. Eventually I met the aunt of the orphaned boy that had originally inspired my trek to Rivet City, and she happily agreed to take him in. 330XP. Nice.
Checking the list of unresolved quests on my Pip-Boy, I noticed that I had agreed to enslave a man named Flak who lived in Rivet City. He was one of the local arms dealers, so I figured it would be best to get him alone in his room to capture him with as little fuss as possible. I broke into his quarters and waited in a dark corner for the duration of a day. He never came in, so I figured it was time to try something new.
I snuck into the Rivet City marketplace, and quietly moved into place behind Flak’s stall. He was lounging on a couch, and I was hidden from everyone’s sight in the shadows. I pulled out my mesmetron, which would put him into a submissive state so that I could get him to willingly put on a slave collar. The mesmetron’s blast just made him aggressive at first, and he shot up his partner before going into the stupor I was waiting for. I made my move and collared him, but apparently the other citizens didn’t like that very much, and as Flak ran off to a life of slavery in Paradise Falls, the rest of the Rivet City dwellers pulled out their weapons and proceeded to ventilate me. Load game.
I figured that my business wasn’t something I’d be able to do in a populated area, so I tried following Flak around until he went up to higher deck where nobody else was present. I zapped him with the mesmetron and he turned violent and shot at me for a bit. After dodging his bullets for long enough, he became passive and I collared him. He ran off to Paradise Falls again, and I waited a bit, double-checking the area to make sure nobody knew what was going on. I left Rivet City, and the guards posted at the entrance apparently had deduced what I’d done and unloaded into me. Load game.
I decided at that point to give up on Flak until I’d completed all of my business at Rivet City. Once there was nothing left for me in the ship it wouldn’t matter if the inhabitants wanted me dead. I left and pursued a new quest that I’d gotten from a mercenary in Underworld: to find and save the rest of her group who were pinned down on a hotel roof.
I’d already found the hospital that was adjacent to the hotel in my prior travels, so getting there wasn’t an issue. The super mutants surrounding the area didn’t put up much of a fight either. I had to get into the hotel via a makeshift bridge from the second floor of the hospital, and that part was quick enough. a Mr. Handy helped me out for a bit, setting all the super mutants and centaurs that got in my way ablaze. Unfortunately, he floated in the way of one of my shotgun blasts and is now lighting super mutants on fire up in robot heaven.
The Statesman Hotel was far more annoying than it needed to be. I battled my way up six or seven floors (I stopped counting after four), and reached the top after an incredibly draining trek. My ammo reserves were eaten up by dozens of super mutant masters, and if the hospital hadn’t been loaded with stimpaks I’d probably be almost out by now. I might even have to go back and search for more later. My new best friend, the combat shotgun, broke about halfway up. That’s been the worst part of it. A combination of my hunting rifle, sawed-off shotgun, and frag mines/grenades don’t work as efficiently as the combat shotgun does.
I sit at the top of the hotel now, the mercenaries I’ve come to help too weary to fight their way back down. They’ve asked me to find a fission battery that they’d seen on the third floor that they can use to repair the hotel’s elevator. I really have no idea how many floors there are in this place, but I’m not looking forward to working my way back down and then all the way back up. I killed every super mutant I met during my first ascension, so hopefully their numbers stay down when I head back in. I’m considering fast-travelling back to Megaton to get my shotgun repaired and then just starting from the hospital again. I’m not sure if this will respawn the super mutants or if my leaving the area will get the mercs killed, but I suppose that’s why there’s a “load game” option.
Either way, I’d better get a boatload of XP for this one.
Remember back in November when I posted a short list of video game goals I’ve set for myself? Well I haven’t completed any of them, but I’ve set myself down the path to a few! For one, I stayed up late one night plucking green stars in Super Mario Galaxy 2 and spent most of my Christmas break plowing through Batman: Arkham Asylum. Mostly though, I’ve been getting back into Fallout 3.
I picked it up again mostly because I feel like I should finish one massive open-world adventure before starting a new one (Skyrim), but I quickly remembered just how much I love playing it. I was a little worried that since I’d put it down for so long that I’d completely lose my bearing, but I got right back into it and had no trouble reorienting myself. I credit that mostly to the level of detail in the game, which allowed me to easily look up the quests I was working on and the places I’d been exploring.
I haven’t completed any quests that have elements outside of Megaton, and where the main story is concerned I haven’t even been to Galaxy News Radio yet. I do have a fairly long to-do list, though. While I’ve decided that my main objective is to find Rivet City (trying to find a new home for an orphaned boy), I constantly get distracted by other landmarks I pass by, especially since I’ve been trying to get there by going through the city. I’ve spent hours upon hours getting lost in the maze that is the ruins of the metro system.
After giving up on making my way through the ruins of D.C. I decided I’d head back to Megaton to sell off all my garbage and resupply. Form there I figured that I’d skip around the city and just head south, which is fairly open terrain. Not far from Megaton I ran into a pack of wastelanders who were unusually happy, and tried to sell me what they only described as “strange meat.” I declined, but one of them game me some for free, claiming I’d get hooked after one taste. I still haven’t eaten it.
Continuing southward, I came upon a small “town” which was just three houses among the rubble of a bigger community. I talked to a young boy there (he was the only person around when I arrived), and he told me that he thought it was strange that people who visited never stayed long. I then talked to an old man who told me to run away and not to try getting into the shed behind his house.
Being the ever-curious wandered that I am, I waltzed over to the shed to see what was inside. Finding it locked, I was about to try to pick it when I heard a stern voice say “I hope you’re not planning on breaking into my shed.” I told him I was just passing through, and subsequently went into his house and had a chat with his wife. The both of them were a little odd; something was definitely up. So I went upstairs and stole the key to the shed. Before I got back downstairs, I overheard the woman telling her husband that she was suspicious of me and that he should keep an eye on me.
I then proceeded to wander back to the shed and went in. It was exactly as bad as I’d thought. The shed was filled with cages, torture devices, and fridges full of “strange meat.” Oh, and human skeletons were all over the place. I immediately left, and found myself surrounded by the couple and another man, all pointing weapons at me. I had more than enough weaponry on my person to take them, but I decided not to cause trouble and pretended that I was cool with what was going down in town. They put their weapons away and went back to their own business. Needless to say, it was time for me to get the hell out of Dodge.
I continued to the southern border of the capital wasteland and then eastward toward Rivet City. On my way there I helped the Brotherhood of Steel find some not-destroyed books in the Arlington Library and killed my first mirelurk king, among other things. Currently I stand at the door to the Citadel, staring out over the river at the silhouette of the huge ship that is Rivet City. While my trek seems like it’s nearing its end, I can’t imagine that whatever still lies between me and my destination is going to make that last leg easy. I’m sure looking forward to it though! Unless it’s super mutants. I’m sick of those guys.
Okay, so Monster Hunter is about a million times bigger in Japan than it is here, but if you need more reasons to support Capcom bringing Portable 3rd over here, peep this:
I suppose Boss is pretty cool too, but I really want to hunt giant monsters as Snake! Come on guys, take one for the team and buy a copy or two of Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, even if you don’t own a PSP. (It’s a great reason to get a PSP though! Then we can play together!)
Also there’s some Monster Hunter stuff grafted into MGS: Peace Walker, if you’re interested.
I’m highly considering writing up a full article about my christmas haul – for old time’s sake, if nothing else. There are a few related notes I don’t want to hold in. They are as follows:
Alright kiddies! I totally forgot to do a “24 Days of Materialism” feature this year, and the best thing I could come up to sort of replace it is this: The 24 Sentences of Materialism. It’s basically the same concept, I choose 24 things I like and tell you to buy them, only this time I’m ripping off the long-dead Video Game Article‘s “One Sentence Reviews” feature. So here’s a list of video games, albums, books, and TV shows that I love and think you should buy for yourself or your loved ones (and also a link to a related webpage for each). Honestly, I think this is the hardest thing I’ve ever written. It’s terribly difficult to express everything I want to say about a product in only one sentence.
1. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword – Take one part Ocarina of Time, one part Wind Waker, mix well, and then tweak everything just slightly: provides a surprisingly fresh Zelda experience!
2. Monster Hunter Freedom Unite – Why not help persuade Capcom to bring MH Portable 3rd or MH3G by picking up what is easily the best game in the series to date (that is available outside of Japan).
3. Groove Coaster – A rhythm game that’s incredibly simple, but will still suck you in with its trippy visuals and eclectic track selection.
4. Volchaos – A rather superb Xbox Indie game that brings back the glory days of video games: short, challenging levels, and a great sense of satisfaction when you get them right.
5. Fallout 3 – I don’t know why I don’t spend more time with this game; it’s so unlike anything else I play and all the more wonderful for it.
6. Super Mario 3D Land – The game that justifies the 3Ds’ existence.
7. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island – Getting this game (and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap) for free because I paid too much for my 3DS makes it totally worth it.
8. Anima: Ark of Sinners – It’s not really very good, but you can see potential shining through the blandness and kludgy controls.
9. Tron Legacy Soundtrack – Oddly enough, this is probably my favourite music to listen to while playing Minecraft.
10. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – The Live Anthology – Just slightly less than four hours of pure delight.
11. Bound Together – Who could ask for more than an Earthbound tribute remix album?
12. Back in Blue – I love OC Remix but don’t generally love their albums, but this Mega Man 9 tribute is awesome all the way through.
13. Private Line – 21st Century Pirates – There must be something in the water in Finland, because they’re so good at hard rock/metal.
14. How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack – This one really should be mandatory reading for every human being.
15. The Forever War – Best novel I’ve read in… forever?
16. 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth – This comic collection goes beyond hilarity and does its best to teach you some very important lessons.
17. GameSpite Journal 10: The SNES Turns 20 – What kind of gamer wouldn’t want to read a book all about SNES games?
18. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate Collection Vol. 1 – A huge, beautiful history lesson.
19. Futurama Season 6 – The first few episodes are kinda weak, but the quality shoots up after that and has me very excited to get BD set of the second half.
20. Community Season 2 – Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas.
21. Criminal Minds: Suspect Behaviour – It’s like Criminal Minds if Criminal Minds sunk all the budget into the script and had first-year college students do the rest.
22. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (80’s) – Campy, cheesy, corny; whatever you want to call it, it’s all goofy nostalgia.
23. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – I liked the original series, and this one is better in every conceivable way.
24. Fringe Season 3 – Somehow this show has gotten to a point where I feel it might be better than LOST.
…nother dent in my car.
You can’t see it very well in photograph, but most of my driver’s side door is crushed ever-so-slightly inward. Some old lady backed into me as I was heading back to work with my lunch, and even a delicious Subway sandwich couldn’t assuage the sadness caused by having to spend the next 40 minutes on the phone with some MPI monkey.
Every Sunday for the past few weeks, my youngest brother and I sit down and play Monster Hunter Freedom Unite until either Stephanie gets home from work or one of us gets tired of it. It’s been a great tradition so far and I hope it can continue for a long time to come. I’m a really big fan of both Monster Hunter and brotherly bonding time. I wouldn’t mind having a third (and fourth!) join the group, but neither of us know anyone else who plays. Sure there’s online play, but being in the same room really helps team coordination, and that’s a very important part of Monster Hunter.
Last weekend we took on the dreaded Ashen Lao-Shan Lung. Zac’s played through most of the game with random hunters online, but this is the first time I’d ever come face-to-snout with the gigantic elder dragon. Cedaeus and Jhen Moran from Monster Hunter Tri got me used to building-sized monsters, but it’s always thrilling when you meet a new one in combat for the first time. I’d seen Lao-Shan Lung artwork before, so I wasn’t surprised by his size, but when you run up to a creature that could swallow you whole, it’s exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.
The battle itself wasn’t terribly difficult. Lao progresses slowly from area 1 to 5. The plan was for me to keep whacking him in the face to break his horn since I was rocking a great sword, while Zac sliced away at the beast’s belly with his dual blades. Much to our surprise, the horn smashed almost immediately and I moved onto the belly. It was a little cramped down there (Lao creeps forward on all fours), so I ran back up to the head. It was pretty smooth sailing until we got to area 5. Lao’s feet and tail are the only things that can hit you until he gets to 5 and enters attack mode, and by focusing on the head I was far away from those danger spots most of the time.
During the march, I used up all my mini whetstones (I don’t think I’ve ever had to sharpen that much while using the Blue Claw Blade), and Zac managed to get on Lao’s back and ignite the Dragon Bomb. I figured that with such a huge amount of damage being done we’d surely fell the beast. But no, the fight ran out to the end and Lao retreated. It’s probably my fault because I spent a lot of time waiting for an opening to use the dragonator, and then proceeded to screw it up. Oops. But at least we completed the quest! Not that I’m really ready for 7-star quests, but whatever.
That said, I’m really dreading our next play session. The 7-star urgent quest is two tigrexes. I’m pretty sure I made very clear how much I hate tigrex. I can barely deal with one of the damn things. I’d rather fight Shen Gaoren and Lao-Shan Lung at the same time.
I spent about an hour on Sunday poring over the selection of indie titles available over Xbox Live. It’s not an uncommon pastime for me, though very rarely do I find anything worth its weight in Microsoft points. Officially I went in there looking for Wizorb (which is a story for another day), but DLC Quest managed to catch my attention and I gave it the ol’ trial download. In an exciting twist, I found it plenty enjoyable and put down my points for the full game.
Before I start, the most important thing to note here is that the trial version of DLC Quest is roughly a third of the entire game’s content. Yeah, the full game is super-short; I completed it in less than half an hour. It only costs 80MSP though, which is roughly a little more than a dollar, and I feel that I’ve gotten more than my dollar’s worth out of the game.
DLC Quest is one big joke. It’s exactly the joke the title describes too; the game lampoons the video game industry’s current trend of selling you half of your game’s content separately from the game itself. Only you have to buy nearly all of this game via DLC (but the DLC is paid for with in-game currency, so it’s okay). At the beginning you character has no animation and can only move left. You’ll notice that there is no sound at all, and that you cannot pause. Each of these features must be bought as in-game DLC packs. Eventually you move on to other, more standard DLC items, like horse armor, a top hat, and a costume pack for the NPCs.
The basic gameplay consists of exploring the map and collecting coins with which you can buy the DLC packs you require to progress further. It’s kind of like a tiny little Metroidvania that plays out on two huge maps. You obtain a sword, but it’s really just a glorified hedge clipper. You can use it to whack the NPCs around, but the only thing you need it for is to remove bushes that block your way.
As I stated before, it took me less than half an hour to completely finish the game, and that includes collecting all the funky little in-game “awardments.” They’re the indie game stand-in for achievements, if you hadn’t guessed.
While the gameplay doesn’t give you anything new or really noteworthy, the important thing to note is that DLC Quest knows that it’s a big joke and plays to that as much as it can. The short conversations between the nameless hero and the NPC range from clever to snarky, and are almost always funny. There are even a couple little twists thrown in towards the end, and the final boss encounter will subvert all your expectations. The graphics are simple and charming, the way pixel graphics ought to be, and while the music isn’t exactly memorable, it’s enough to keep you bopping along for the short ride.
The thing I want to praise DLC Quest for most is it’s control scheme. Yes, it’s just running and jumping, but it’s running and jumping done right. I swear most of these indie platformer developers have no idea how a video game character should move. DLC Quest’s hero moves breezily along, whereas the heroes of most of the other indie platformers I’ve played (Endless Princess, Aurelia, Castle of Pixel Skulls, etc.) are either way too fast or move like they’re made of wood. Not that it’s a problem inherent to indie games mind you, as plenty of regular games suffer from awful controls. I guess the point is that if you character is going to be spending most of his/her time running and jumping, it’s not a bad idea for them to have the same feel as Mario.
Anyway, DLC Quest is a winner. If you’ve got half an hour to kill and 80 Microsoft points languishing in your account, there are worse ways to spend them.
