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Monday, August 23, 2004
So I finished Doom3. I've never seen a game that was so reliant on it's technology. In other words, the game would be nothing without it's lighting, gui's, and animations. But man, do they use that stuff well. In particular the lighting. I probably didn't really even think about it until half-way through the game, but having real lighting from light-sources makes the game sooooo much more realistic. Walking through a mall after playing Doom3, I couldn't help but notice the shadows cast by pillars and thinking "man, that's a nice effect" :)
When I bought Doom3, I was trading in three games, so under EB's "trade in 3 get it free" deal, I got Doom3 free. I didn't even know that until I went, I just didn't want those three games anymore. Pretty sweet, considering they lose money on the deal (I looked at the total they were selling those used games for, and it was about $60, Doom3 was $69.99). Anyways, the point is, I still had money from previous games I had traded in, so I got Unreal Tournament 2004 for $5. A couple of months ago, I didn't even know there was such a game. Unreal Tournament was probably, all things considered, one of my favourite games of all time. Great action. Last year, I played the demo of UT2003, and was sorely dissapointed. It didn't feel right. Too slow, or bulky, or something. Bombing run, the new game type, also seemed kind of stupid. Then, suddenly, I was wondering around on gamespy, and noticed that their game of March was UT2004. WTF? (says I to myself). I read their review, and was astonished by how highly they rated it, considering how much I thought UT2003 sucked. Then I went over to trusty metacritic (or gamerankings, whichever loaded faster), to find out what others were saying. M makes fun of me for it, but I find that the score games get on those sites is a pretty good indication of its quality (I picked up Beyond Good and Evil after reading stuff about it from a variety of critics). Anyways, point is, UT2004 got like a 93 or 94 or something. I was impressed.
But I still wasn't totally convinced. So, when M got her new computer, I downloaded the demo. And it truly did kick ass. I've always wanted to play an FPS with vehicles, and Onslaught is a perfect setting for vehicular vs. foot soldier action. Looking down a gully in the demo's Onslaught map, and seeing tanks, and jeeps, and explosions, and just dozens of little fights going on, is awesome. What action. Regular DM also impressed me - it felt real good, like UT did when it first came out. And the retail version has been even better, notably because of the goodness of Double Domination and Bombing Run, and the bots. Bombing run especially, contrary to my UT2003 impressions, is incredible, mostly because of the teamwork required. If you don't know, each team has a goal, and players have to either carry or throw the ball through the enemy goal. Pretty much, the basic rules are like rugby/American football - 7 points for carrying through, 3 points for throwing/kicking through. The interesting thing is, the person carrying the ball can't use their weapons, and they can't use the teleporter device that everyone else has. So it is real easy to catch up with and kill the ball carrier. The twist is, one can pass the ball through an auto-targeting system, to one's team-mates. And because it's so easy to kill the ball carrier, one has to pass, making it a wonderful team game. Of course, not having internet before today, I haven't tried it online, but that's the other great thing - the bots, as expected from a UT game, are awesome. The pass the ball, attack in groups, defend the goal - oh, it's too good.
Anyways, upside is, it's just a total kick-ass game. I've barely played Onslaught since I "bought" the retail, and it's still good. I haven't even mentioned Assault, which is it's own goodness...and there's already lots of free mods as well.
Sometimes I feel stupid writing about video games, but hey, they can tend to be pretty interesting sometimes :) Other random stuff - been learning piano (M's teaching me). Good stuff. It's actually going faster than I thought it would. As M mentioned in her blog, we got a free (free! free!) couch/chair set, and another bonus chair. I cannot describe how happy this has made me. Now, I'm (pretty sure) this isn't because I like acquiring "stuff", but instead because it's just so nice to sit on real furniture instead of patio chairs all day. It really feels like this place is permanent, even more so than our Parkside apt. Currently, as I'm typing, I'm listening to LoFidelity Allstar's "How to Operate with a Blown Mind". It is an incredibly stupid CD, in terms of lyrics, and individual instruments, but the overall combination of all the crazy stuff they throw into the songs is just so infectious, it's great. I've had it for like 7 years, and keep on taking it out to listen to it's wacky goodness.
I made Pad Thai the other night, and though M didn't like it, I thought it was great! It actually tasted real! I really enjoy cooking. Maybe I should try cooking classes.
I'm waiting patiently for the IXth volume of the Sandman series. I wasn't overly taken with volumes 1-3, liked 4 and 5 a lot more, and 6 and 7 were just wonderful in their variety, allusions, and intelligence. Overall, it has been my favourite comic series. I'm still taken with comics in general - as I mentioned somewhere below (in another post), discovering a new medium is a great event. The fact that there are so many good works in that medium is a bonus.
When I bought Doom3, I was trading in three games, so under EB's "trade in 3 get it free" deal, I got Doom3 free. I didn't even know that until I went, I just didn't want those three games anymore. Pretty sweet, considering they lose money on the deal (I looked at the total they were selling those used games for, and it was about $60, Doom3 was $69.99). Anyways, the point is, I still had money from previous games I had traded in, so I got Unreal Tournament 2004 for $5. A couple of months ago, I didn't even know there was such a game. Unreal Tournament was probably, all things considered, one of my favourite games of all time. Great action. Last year, I played the demo of UT2003, and was sorely dissapointed. It didn't feel right. Too slow, or bulky, or something. Bombing run, the new game type, also seemed kind of stupid. Then, suddenly, I was wondering around on gamespy, and noticed that their game of March was UT2004. WTF? (says I to myself). I read their review, and was astonished by how highly they rated it, considering how much I thought UT2003 sucked. Then I went over to trusty metacritic (or gamerankings, whichever loaded faster), to find out what others were saying. M makes fun of me for it, but I find that the score games get on those sites is a pretty good indication of its quality (I picked up Beyond Good and Evil after reading stuff about it from a variety of critics). Anyways, point is, UT2004 got like a 93 or 94 or something. I was impressed.
But I still wasn't totally convinced. So, when M got her new computer, I downloaded the demo. And it truly did kick ass. I've always wanted to play an FPS with vehicles, and Onslaught is a perfect setting for vehicular vs. foot soldier action. Looking down a gully in the demo's Onslaught map, and seeing tanks, and jeeps, and explosions, and just dozens of little fights going on, is awesome. What action. Regular DM also impressed me - it felt real good, like UT did when it first came out. And the retail version has been even better, notably because of the goodness of Double Domination and Bombing Run, and the bots. Bombing run especially, contrary to my UT2003 impressions, is incredible, mostly because of the teamwork required. If you don't know, each team has a goal, and players have to either carry or throw the ball through the enemy goal. Pretty much, the basic rules are like rugby/American football - 7 points for carrying through, 3 points for throwing/kicking through. The interesting thing is, the person carrying the ball can't use their weapons, and they can't use the teleporter device that everyone else has. So it is real easy to catch up with and kill the ball carrier. The twist is, one can pass the ball through an auto-targeting system, to one's team-mates. And because it's so easy to kill the ball carrier, one has to pass, making it a wonderful team game. Of course, not having internet before today, I haven't tried it online, but that's the other great thing - the bots, as expected from a UT game, are awesome. The pass the ball, attack in groups, defend the goal - oh, it's too good.
Anyways, upside is, it's just a total kick-ass game. I've barely played Onslaught since I "bought" the retail, and it's still good. I haven't even mentioned Assault, which is it's own goodness...and there's already lots of free mods as well.
Sometimes I feel stupid writing about video games, but hey, they can tend to be pretty interesting sometimes :) Other random stuff - been learning piano (M's teaching me). Good stuff. It's actually going faster than I thought it would. As M mentioned in her blog, we got a free (free! free!) couch/chair set, and another bonus chair. I cannot describe how happy this has made me. Now, I'm (pretty sure) this isn't because I like acquiring "stuff", but instead because it's just so nice to sit on real furniture instead of patio chairs all day. It really feels like this place is permanent, even more so than our Parkside apt. Currently, as I'm typing, I'm listening to LoFidelity Allstar's "How to Operate with a Blown Mind". It is an incredibly stupid CD, in terms of lyrics, and individual instruments, but the overall combination of all the crazy stuff they throw into the songs is just so infectious, it's great. I've had it for like 7 years, and keep on taking it out to listen to it's wacky goodness.
I made Pad Thai the other night, and though M didn't like it, I thought it was great! It actually tasted real! I really enjoy cooking. Maybe I should try cooking classes.
I'm waiting patiently for the IXth volume of the Sandman series. I wasn't overly taken with volumes 1-3, liked 4 and 5 a lot more, and 6 and 7 were just wonderful in their variety, allusions, and intelligence. Overall, it has been my favourite comic series. I'm still taken with comics in general - as I mentioned somewhere below (in another post), discovering a new medium is a great event. The fact that there are so many good works in that medium is a bonus.
