And Done

Round 1 of Bioshock is finished and I have to say that I found it a remarkably thoughtful trip.  Not only did the game take its much promised critique of Objectivism and pepper it throughout the experience, but it also managed to pull some interesting twists on the idea “agency” and how acting on your own in videogames is rarely anything but.  But it managed to do it within a fairly sensible context within its own story, so everything actually adds up when you stop and put the pieces together.  All in all, one of the smarter games I’ve played in years and I enjoyed the experience immensely.  I think I probably got more out of it theme-wise than most FPS fans who probably just enjoyed the variety of weapons and tactics on hand to play with, but beyond the elegant game design, there was clearly a mind at work that had read Ayn Rand and… well, was kind of pissed about it, and put that sting into a game.  VERY impressive indeed.  Now for the replay to finish collecting those trophies…

Paradox

I never thought I’d use the terms “smart” and “first person shooter” in the same sentence, but Bioshock has done the impossible and is proving to be just that.

Or maybe it’s just my inherent glee at anything that attacks Objectivism and does it in such a satisfying manner.  Only in a videogame could you see someone going on and on about how they are a Great Person, and then put a bullet in their head mid-boast.

Moving On

To Bioshock, that is.

And Done

Fittingly, I got my Platinum Trophy on Fallout 3 not long after the new year rang in, so now that that game’s done, it’s time to move onto to ACTUAL Christmas gift games like Bioshock.

Oh and Battlestar Galactica Season 4.0 hits the shelves soon.  I give an Anakin Skywalker-esque “Yippee!” to that.

So Long 2008

It’s been fun.

And actually, yeah.  It has been.

More Slacking

But then it’s the holidays…

The New Toy

It’s a belated sort of gift, but the Starpex Sunburst finally arrived.  As to be expected (and yet, at the same time it’s one of those “doesn’t fully hit you in the face until it’s in the flesh” sort of experiences) it’s big.  Very big.  I know the text kept describing it as being the same size as a full size guitar, but still… you really get a sense of how toy-like the Guitar Hero and Rock Band guitars are when you have this monster next to them for a side by side comparison.

The important thing though is how it plays, and on that count… this is, without a doubt, the best fake guitar I’ve ever used.  The strummer is perfect and the fret buttons are completely responsive.  The build of the Starpex oozes quality.  Obviously it’s going to take a while to get used to the size and spacing of the buttons, but I’ve already managed to finish one song on Rock Band 2 (Bodhisattva, by Steely Dan) that had thus far eluded me, and I was surprised to see that it was the responsiveness of the fret buttons during hammer on/pull off sections in solos that finally allowed me to nail it.  I’m not saying this thing will turn aspiring fake guitarists into instant masters… but it does seem to improve playing at least somewhat.

Just Another Sunday

Of gaming and the like…

The Haul

Nothing of note over the last few days as the holidays descended and major Fallout 3 marathon-ing continued.  However, now that Christmas has come and gone, here are the things that are going to break up the momentum of that gaming.  Or at least, follow it up with something different.

People who know me well know that I have no love for Objectivism, the philosophy I not-so-charitably describe as an excuse for people to act like jerks.  So imagine my great surprise and glee when Bioshock (by famed designer Kevin Levine who created the excellent and remarkably frightening System Shock 2) announced he was creating a game that was–aside from being a first person shooter–a criticism of Objectivism.  Although this PS3 version is a year late compared to the 360 version that won a ton of Game Of The Year awards last year, that has no impact on the quality of the gameplay, or the inherent cleverness of the theme.  You play a guy who survives a plane crash in the middle of the Atlantic, only to find a lone light house out in the middle of the ocean.  It turns out the light house is actually more of a “elevator shaft” that has a bathysphere which brings you to “Rapture,” an underground city built by Andrew Ryan, in order to house the best and brightest of the world from the greedy, uncaring, grubby hands of the mediocre above who would insist the gifted share their talents and work with the rest of the world.  As you might imagine in a videogame, when you arrive, this is anything but a utopia, a la Atlas Shrugged.

This one, I have to admit, surprised me a lot.  I knew picking up Resistance 2 was a foregone conclusion at some point since we have a friend at Insomniac and want to show our support and all, but the game actually is pretty entertaining.  I thought it looked so-so from trailers and gameplay videos on the internet, but apparently those compressed images really, REALLY didn’t do justice to the colors and details because when I finally saw it on my TV, I was quite impressed with the quality of the visuals.  The game itself also seems quite competently paced as an FPS, so the game has gone from being an obligatory buy for moral support to “Y’know what, this is actually a pretty damn good game.”

No Boxing For Us

Although I did spend some time trying out the co-op mode with a friend one of the new gifts.