GamerDad’s Week in Games 11/21/08
A guide to what the GamerDad is playing – and also his thoughts about it. This was a short week because of the MLA speech – which went really, really, well (more on Monday) – but lets dive in and talk about James Bond, Fallout 3 and a whole lotta zombies!
Aside from playing Madden, Rock Band 2, NHL, FIFA and NBA with my friend Zane I’ve been playing Outdoor Challenge (highly recommended) and trying to convince 5-year old Henry that he’s not too old to help me review Diego Dinosaur Rescue (Wii, DS).
I popped the PS3 version of Quantum of Silence (alternate title: Little Bit o’ Quiet) into the big black beast and … man, Daniel Craig looks really good as a computer character. I’m definitely in the “wanna be him” camp, sadly my wife is on the “wanna be with him” side. So anyway, I like being James Bond. So is this the next Goldeneye? Nope. But it’s solid stealthy fun with a whole lot of violence. More than in the movie. Even so, this game should be in the “if you let them watch the movie” side of the violence debate. Good game, T-Teen is about right. Which is why the ESRB gave it that rating.
Despite the fact that I was a role-playing game fan, and the fact that I reviewed most every RPG from 1998-2003, and the fact that wrote Yahoo Games Domain’s Traveler’s Inn for about 2 years, I missed Fallout 1 and 2. I know. I know! Look, I played Wasteland back when you were a baby so quiet down. Okay, so against my better judgement (I just don’t have time for RPGs now) I started Fallout 3 and… man, what a cool opening! The game starts with you in a baby’s perspective as it’s being born. Liam Neeson plays your father and the game has you determine your abilities in the cleverist ways possible. Then you open the door and… get a load of that view! I’m only in Megaton … and I already want to blow it up… and I really hope I find the time to keep playing it. It seems like an achievement to me. I haven’t felt that way since Baldur’s Gate 2. It’s M-Mature and given the game’s themes, that seems appropriate to me – though I might let a mature 15 year-old have a crack at it. That’s an age when the urge to explore is overwhelming and this is a hellhole, but it’s a safe hellhole.
I’ve already blogged about Left 4 Dead, a zombie game that pulls no punches and forces players, even the rude ones, to work together. See, if you don’t heal your friends, you will find yourself alone and in Left4Dead, being alone means “game over.” The cinamatic quality is a nice touch. At the start you get a movie poster showing all four good guys and the Internet monikers of the players. Credits roll after you finish an episode and escape (the corn row episode, oh my god the corn row episode) and you can even increase the scratchiness to make the game look like film stock. Wonderful lighting and terrific music round out what truly is the best co-op game I’ve ever played. Not for kids, unless zombie movies are already their favorites. Watch out for voice chat, they’re often saltier than the in game language issues.
That’s GamerDad’s Week in Games for 11/21/08 – Are you playing any of these? Lets talk about them.
November 22nd, 2008 at 8:07 pm
I’m not playing any of that, but I am playing playing the HECK out of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Botls. So is Jeff. –Cary
November 22nd, 2008 at 8:39 pm
I just finished my first play through of Fallout 3 the other day and the game is awesome. I was a good guy, next time I plan on being a real jerk and seeing how the games treats you differently. You really should make time to play it, it is really worth it.
November 22nd, 2008 at 8:44 pm
I have some wildly mixed feelings about Fallout … it is deeply flawed in many ways, and compared to games like The Witcher or the two NWN2 expansions the writing feels like the work of elementary school kids … but it is very compelling and loads of fun to play.
November 22nd, 2008 at 11:53 pm
I’d like to be playing two out of three of those (no interest in Bond, sorry), but I’ve come to the realization that I just don’t have the time to play anything that absolutely can’t be seen by my daughter. She’s getting up earlier, going to bed later, and by the time I’ve cleaned up I have maybe 45 minutes a night. Not enough to do justice to these games.
November 23rd, 2008 at 10:32 am
Yeah Simon, I know, that’s where my downstairs basement office comes in. But that’s also the reason I favor Xbox over PS3. It’s not bias so much as the PS3 is the family DVD player now. Has to be upstairs.
November 23rd, 2008 at 10:40 am
Mike: Yes, I agree, there are flaws in FO3, and the writing could have been better. And the games gets a bit too easy near the end, but it was still loads of fun to play and entertaining. And I know I will play it again at least 1 more time. In my book any single-player game that makes you want to play through it more than once is a good game. I plan on playing The Witcher soon, probably after I play through NWN2/Zehir. and that will be in-between nights of Call fo Duty: World at War with my buddies. 🙂
November 23rd, 2008 at 11:07 am
Rich: yeah, I plan to put up a review here soon, and my recommendation is a definite buy … but the flaws are pretty glaring, especially for some of the 10/10 scores. Good game? Definitely – but not at the ‘best ever’ level.
November 25th, 2008 at 10:24 am
I might be getting Fallout 3 today as an early birthday gift. I look forward to seeing how the post-apocalyptic DC compares with the real thing since my wife and I live in downtown DC.
Gears of War 2 has been a blast. Mindless, but fun (and very pretty in HD).
November 25th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Fallout 3 is on my Xmas list, so I’ll have to wait for that one.
I’m not really a zombie-movie fan (uh-oh, did I just blow my geek cred?) but after reading your review, I decided to purchase Left 4 Dead through Steam. After my son went to bed last night, I finally got a chance to load it up for about an hour. Fun!!! I love the fact that they put so much thought into making it a co-op game. I’d love to see more games with that sort of gameplay. I suppose Little Big World is along those lines, but I don’t have a PS3.