I've been jumping back and forth between a few different games recently. There's just so much good stuff to play right now.
I've got maybe twelve hours invested in Dragon Age and I'm still really enjoying it. From what I hear the game's length is pretty ridiculous so I don't imagine I'll ever see the end. I really like the combat though and the story so far has been great. If I had one complaint it would be that much of the time the game just doesn't look very good. I'm not talking about texture resolution or polygons, I mean the design of the environments tends to be kind of boring. For a fantasy game the world just isn't very fantastic. I understand that going with a more straightforward/realistic take on the world was probably an aesthetic choice but if I'm going to spend 50 some hours traipsing around in this place I want it to look cool.
My motivation to keep playing a game is usually new art. I want to see what the next level looks like or the next armor upgrade. The other parts of Dragon Age are so well done that for now I don't mind the underwhelming visuals. I'd be surprised if I end up putting another twelve hours in though.
I didn't really play the first Modern Warfare which I know makes me a heretic. I picked up MW2 so that I could play the multiplayer with Tycho and Kiko. Last night I tried the single player campaign but got bored with it pretty fast. The game just feels old to me, like I've played this game a hundred times before. It's a FPS without any kind of cover system and to me that just feels very dated. I've shot all these ambiguously foreign guys in other games for the same convoluted reasons. I guess when you sell 20 hojillion copies of a game there is little impetus to innovate.
After giving up on the single player I jumped into the multiplayer mode with Tycho and Kiko. In my mind this is the reason to get MW2. Earning Xp with each kill and outfitting your character with upgraded gear and perks is really fun. I love the way it rewards your preferred style of play with challenges and custom upgrades. Where the single player campaign felt old and dated to me the multiplayer actually feels fresh and interesting. I'm really looking forward to getting back into it again tonight.
Holy fuck I love this game. This is what I play when I have an extra thirty minutes or an hour on the weekend and I don't want to get super involved in Dragon Age. You can jump into Torchlight for a half an hour, have a blast and then get out easy. The only thing that could make it better is multiplayer and I'm sure that's in the works.
If your in the market for a puzzle game, I highly recommend grabbing Critter Crunch. First of all the art is gorgeous but beyond that the puzzle mechanic is really fun. You play as a critter that swallows smaller critters and spits them out to larger critters that then eat them and burst. You eat their gem encrusted innards and if you do this really well you get the chance to puke rainbow colored vomit into your son's mouth for major bonus points. What more do you want?
-Gabe out
