23 Nov 2009

NoClip and Further Dungeons

Before we get started, lemme just say I wanna go to a PAX. This is now my goal. To go to a PAX. They are at sucky times of the year for me, and also in America, but I'm still going to one of them. So there.

Re-installed Half-Life 2, purely so I could abuse the console to get the Super Gravity Gun and stuff the bloody trash can cop into the god-damn trash can then laugh hysterically. After about twenty minutes of basically hitting the corpse into the can, it went in, but it really wasn't worth after all the effort. I was so bored by that point I even forgot to get a screen shot. I also mucked about with a bit of noclipping, but usually ended up trapped in NoWhereVille (the name I give to the blank areas behind the drawn walls) so that got dull after a while. I turned the game off when killing the Metro Cops got old. I like shotguns. However, the whole experience has me thinking of a few ideas for a G-Mod comic. Don't hold your breath though, since I wouldn't even think of getting it till I get a new laptop, as HL2 staggers along on this one.

I finally bought Torchlight, and it is SWEET. As in like absolutely fantastic. I honestly can't remember the last time I enjoyed a computer game this much. I haven't been playing it as much as I've wanted to (i.e. the whole day) but I am writing a review for NR, so there's that. Next time I blog it'll be a proper post about the game, with a suitably appropriate pun as the title...

But until then, watch this, and I will see y'all when you next turn up!

20 Nov 2009

Wicky-Wicky-Wickah

I think my DJ name would either be DJ Tongue Skills, or DJ Improbability. Both of these would look pretty good on a flyer.

I've been mucking around with this interesting little distraction a bit recently. I've always liked the idea of being able to make my own music but unfortunately I have never the cognitive cpacity or the intiative to actually get into. "DJ Sheepwolf" is good for a laugh, but I'd like something like that with more samples, and maybe if I could get a keyboard set-up with it... Here I go off on my wild fantasies of creating crazy rock-electro fusion bands... You'll know if I've made it cause the band will be called "GoneFission".

Mixing up some "phat beats" on the web inspired me to have a look at DJ Hero. Although it has a hefty price tag, it's something I'd love to play. I may even consider buying it at some point in the future, although not until I've tried it first. Despite looking at numerous videos and reading several descriptions, I can't understand how you carry out the on-screen instructions.
The price point is way too high though. The basic pack is almost 100 quid, and the Renegade edition, despite having an AWESOME name, just isn't worth the 170 pound outlay.



Well, that's all for now, but you can find me, DJ Mousemat, at the venue, y'all!

Oh, and by the way, if you wanna find out more about Dj Hero, check out this rather nifty site; http://djhero.org.uk, it's pretty good on info about the game.

16 Nov 2009

UF-OMG

Ugh, it hurts to have a title that cliche. I'll go flay myself after this.

No blog posts for a while. I went home at the weekend, but I didn't update the blog because I'd left my laptop charger back at the flat, and I didn't realise until the second the train pulled out of Canterbury East. Just my luck.

I had a go on this weird white box next to my TV, which I'm pretty is called a XBox or something like that. I finally finished Mothership Zeta on F3, which was good. There's a very weird space battle section at the end which involves pressing three buttons, and that's pretty much it. Although there is an awesome explosion at the end. Upon returning to Earth I wandered around the Wastelands aimlessly, and it rekindled my love for Fallout 3. Plus, alien lazers are pretty awesome.

I also am looking to buy Torchlight, mainly because I need a new game to play, and also something to review on NR. I'd spent most of last week entering a six-word story competition to try and win a copy. On one hand, I like the idea of a contest that isn't entirely luck based. On the other, HURR ME CANT WRITE GOOD WORDS.

Finally, go read this webcomic. It's clearly designed for cool people, so god knows why I'm reading it.

As you may be able to tell I'm feeling a tad self-depricating this week. Thumbs up though.

See y'all at some other point in the future!

9 Nov 2009

Nothing Doing

There has been a lack of updates here recently. Reason; I've honestly got nothing to talk about. The new laptop fell through, I've been slowing been turning my room into a Coca-Cola advert (and seriously suffering from the effects of this) and hammering my head against a wall because i STILL don't have Torchlight. Curse you, ambiguous god-like entity.

This also has the impact that I've had nothing to write for the Newb Review, so I may wheel out my old review of Grim Fandango. I am probably going to be appearing on the podcast this week so check it out on the site

Finally, my one sentence review of that Tekken game that was on PSP;

You can play as a kangaroo.

Take from that what you will. Now go 'way...

1 Nov 2009

Revenge of the Free Weekend

Rising up from the depths of the sea like some ancient, eldritch god, it's the return of the most terrifying event in my PC gaming history...

THE REVENGE OF THE FREE WEEKEND!

...the horror.

Ever since my last experience with a free weekend on Steam, I've been wary of them, although this has been about as effective as telling a magpie to lay off the shiny things; I'm generally attracted to the word "free".

After giving this post such a bad intro, it actually went quite well. You may or may not know the superhero MMO "Champions Online" is getting a new update quite soon, and to promote this (as well as the game itself I suppose) there was a free weekend. And so, I blindly plowed in, although this time I expected to be stopped in my tracks at start-up.

However, getting to the start up turned out to be quite a challenge. Observe;


Now, this might not seem like a big deal, but this was after 4 hours. FOUR. HOURS. 50% in four hours. I actually slept over night and when my laptop went into low power mode, it stopped the thing so I had to restart the entire process... Fortunately when I did, it went a lot faster, only around 45 minutes. When I finally did start the game, as I expected it froze and sent me back to the desktop, but fortunately, this helpful window popped up;


This cheered me up, as most games (I'm looking at you, Portal) throw a hissy fit and decide that my computer doesn't deserve them. So after clicking this option, the game started running and I made it through to the main menu, and then onwards to the character creation screen.

In CO, there are a ridiculous number of customizations options that you can choose from. Everything from nose postion, to colour of your socks to the shape of your shoulder pads. It took me a while to get to used to all of the options, but once I had, I designed a pretty cool character... Although I forgot to get a screenshot of him on his own. So instead here's a picture of him shooting some giant alien bugs called the Kula or something;


As you can see, he's basically a private detective, although he does have a cyborg hand. Who says that amputees can't be superheros?

So after shooting a million more of these things, and then fighting a giant robot and blowing up an alien mothership (which sounds really exciting but essentially requires pressing the 1 key a lot, and then every now and again holding down the 2 key) I headed into the desert... For some reason.

At this stage, I finally got to "buy" more superpowers, something that had been confusing the hell out of me. I'd been leveling up for ages, and yet I still only had my "shoot" and "shoot for a bit longer" moves. When I got to this so-called Powerhouse, I got to trade in my points for more moves. After careful deliberation, I settled for "Bullet Ballet", because that sounded the coolest. Unfortunately, this move seems to comprise entirely of elbowing the bad guy in the face, which was a massive dissapointment. However, I did get the jet boots power, so I instantly flew as high as I could. This became a problem when I realised I couldn't get down, so I turned the boots off, and ended up a very broken robo-detective on the desert floor.

Overall, CO has got a lot going for it, but it's just not implemented in the right way. Powers are distributed badly, quests are nothing new, and the combat isn't breaking any major convetions. If I could afford it, and I had the time, then I might look into playing it for a few months, but right now, Renegade, cyborg gunslinger and licensed private eye is going to take a crime-fighting vaction.

See y'all at the headquarters!