I had a video I wanted to post with this week’s GotW, but embedding was disabled on it, so really, screw it and screw whoever disables their Youtube videos. Instead, I made a drawing of a dragon that I’m using for a header image and you’ll just have to deal with that. I’ve decided the dragon’s name is Dragon. Dragon the dragon. He’s a dragon.
Speaking of dragons, videogames were played this week. Hit the jump, as always, to check out what games they were. It’s really important and stuff.
Sterling: I’ve been playing Undead Knights after downloading the demo and finding out it’s the full game. It’s fucking great, too, in spite of its design problems. There’s something very badass about commanding an army of zombies and making them pull a man to the ground and swamp the poor bastard. Considering how sick I am of zombie games, I’m impressed. I’ve also been playing Rock Band Unplugged, which is surprisingly good, even though I get confused by the buttons sometimes and fuck up big-time.
On the non-PSP front, I’ve been playing South Park Let’s Go Tower Defense Play. Can’t really talk about that yet, though. I’m still on a big Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare kick as well.
Grim: At the suggestion of Anthony, I purchased Immortal Defense and proceeded to forget about eating and sleeping while playing for hours on end. What a wonderful gem of a game that is. Also on the topic of tower defense, I downloaded PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe, a game I had always wanted to try but couldn’t due to lacking a PlayStation 3. It’s as great as everyone says it is, although the difficulty (for getting perfect runs) is higher than I would’ve guessed. It’s those goddamn spiders, I tell ya!
Lastly, Half-Minute Hero, which I desperately want more than any other handheld game right now. My favorite part has been getting my hero leveled up as high as possible without running out of money to replenish my thirty seconds. Being able to plow through enemies in one hit and even kill the boss in, like, a second is pure awesome. Who would have thought grinding could actually be enjoyable?
Sterling: I love how Half-Minute Hero is as much a true puzzle game as a gimmicky RPG joke. I was worried about how long they could draw out that single gimmick, but the potential the demo shows is amazing.
Grim: Agreed. I almost didn’t download the demo when I saw how much the game will cost — that’s how convinced I was — but I’m so glad I did. Plus, the self-referential lost in translation dialog is pretty funny too.
North: This week I’m playing catch-up after being away at TGS for ever a week. Lots of review code is still on my desk, so I’ve mostly been playing that. Demon’s Souls is still punishing me, as are the later levels of Disgaea 2 on PSP. Speaking of the PSP, despite what some photographs I took might suggest, I really love this little PSPgo. I replayed UmJammer Lammy last night. Love that game. I’m also reviewing Gran Turismo and PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe, both of which are awesome games.
Burch: I’ve been playing two games that Jim should try:
– Gridrunner Revolution, because it may possibly make you rethink how much you dislike Jeff Minter
– RunMan: Race Around the World, because it is the best Sonic game ever made that doesn’t include Sonic in it.
Sterling: How much are these games and can a shitty laptop play them?
Burch: RunMan‘s free and not very processor-intensive. Revolution is $20 and requires a sort-of-not-shitty computer, but there’s a free demo (which doesn’t showcase the best parts of the game, but can at least show you how it’ll run).
Sterling: Jeff Minter’s not to have one thin dime of my money. The other one will get played, though.
Burch: You could always try the demo and ask him for a copy if it runs well.
Ross: I’ve mostly been playing Borderlands, which is [redacted]! That’s actually pretty much it. Oh, that and Mario & Luigi.
Rey: Rocking Metal Gear Solid, FF7, Twisted Metal 2 on the Go.
Meta.
Bennett: Been spending the majority of my time with PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe and loving every minute of it, but I have also been enjoying Salamander and the Parodius collection on my shiny new PSP-3000.
Cantler: Lots of Super Puzzle Fighter, Moreu! Justice Gakuen and Street Fighter Alpha 2, all of which are always very good. Also played the Need For Speed: Shift demo, which was quite the opposite of good. Not sure who was supposed to send me the review copy of that, but I’m glad they forgot.
Chester: Playing Borderlands, which I’m not allowed to talk about. Claptrap is in it, and there are a bunch of guns — that much I can confirm. Also been playing the PSN game Critter Crunch, and Dead Space Extraction on the Wii, which, so far, is surprisingly well-written.
Concelmo: Finished Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story and have officially declared it my favorite game of the year so far. Such a perfect package.
Also started the Dark Cloud series for the first time, but then Conrad — who I respect more than words — suggested I skip the first game and just play Dark Cloud 2. Which I was going to do, but then the OCD/completionist side of me yelled at me for not playing the first one. But then I realized how in love with Conrad I am again and popped in 2 once more.
I don’t know what to do! Do you guys have any advice? 🙂
Holmes: Can’t help you, Chad. Sorry! I will forever associate the Dark Cloud games with an ex-girlfriend who dumped me and stole my GameCube. She loved the series.
As for me, I have more in common than usual with Nick and Dale this week. Like Nick, I’ve been playing Dead Space Extraction, and agree with him on the writing. Also agree with Dale on UmJammer Lammy. Love that game. Also love R-Type Delta and Jumping Flash! 2: Bit Trouble in Little Muu, which I also bought on PSN this week.
Also played some PS3 demos that I’ve been putting off, like inFamous and Uncharted 2. I didn’t like either of them at all. If there was any doubt before, this week made it clear to me: I prefer the days when Sony Computer Entertainment produced cute, unusual, and thoroughly videogame videogames over the “virtual actors staring in virtual Hollywood / virtual action movie games” they churn out today.
Finally, got back into You, Me and the Cubes. Should have the review done pretty soon. I’m telling you, this game is HARD.
Razak: I downloaded the new RunMan and am having a blast with that. I wanted to get Dead Space Extraction, but my Best Buy has yet to get it in. Very disappointing and odd. Otherwise, nothing new for me. Still enjoying Mario and Luigi a lot and contemplating picking up the second Prof. Layton. My DS is getting so much love.
Sarkar: I finally went through and five-starred every single song in The Beatles: Rock Band! I sang the majority of the songs, and I played most of the rest on drums. I took care of a few of them on guitar, but in order to five-star “Birthday,” I had to switch over to bass. Man, that song is tough! In case you’re curious, I played drums on Hard, and everything else on Expert.
I’ve also been spending a lot of time with the Uncharted 2 multiplayer beta/demo, and it’s highly impressive. I was a part of the original multiplayer beta back in June, and at the time, Naughty Dog was only showing off two modes and two or three maps. This time around, there’s a lot more content, and I’m really getting into it. The demo got rid of even the slightest notion in my mind that the multiplayer modes in Uncharted 2 would feel tacked-on; this is a deep, satisfying experience, and it’s going to be a legitimate competitor with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for my online multiplayer shooter time this fall.
