Wednesday, October 27, 2010

FABLE III is killing my pessimism

OK. So I am now 6 or so hours into Fable III.
And it is pretty damn good.
The characters are vibrant as you would expect in any Fable game, with the same ridiculously high level of voice acting (Stephen Fry has a voice of the gods), and the environments are equally stunning.
Very quickly into the story you are slapped with a massive decision. I'm not sure yet as to its impact on the rest of the game, but it immediately established the importance and significance of the games decisions.
The interface is ridiculously easy to use, with barely a menu in sight. This is streamlined, though a little confusing at first.
At times the combat feels a little empty, due to its simplicity perhaps, but still has some fairly epic moves. The weapons are meant to change and evolve with you, which i have noticed them changing, but i'm not sure if its specifically anything I am doing.
The shiny breadcrumb trail makes it impossible to get lost, though it is definitely worth your time straying from it and exploring early on.
Fable III seems really rich with personality and content, so I'm excited for things to come - Any game that has four DLC codes straight out of the box must either be half finished, or just have lots of stuff.
Will give conclusion when I've finished the game, and experienced the co-op and such.
But so far, so good.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

...

By an accidental mis-click, I am now following myself.
I'm totally OK with this, It'll be nice to keep track of what I'm doing, and keep in touch from time to time.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Hype = Disappointment


It is sad that anticipation for new games (particularly sequels) is so often a potent cocktail of both excitement and dread.
It seems sad we are all so worried about games falling short of our expectations. Are we too picky? Are games declining in quality? Are they losing a certain charm in their commercialization? Or are games simply over hyped?
The latter seems accurate, over extending promises and hyping games likely culprits.
I found Fable I to be one of the best games I've played. I was just about 7, I liked the box art, bought it, and fell in love with the beautiful environments, simplistic RPG elements, bright characters and interesting plot.
Years pass, and hype anticipating the release of Fable II reaches my ears, particularly Lionhead studios notorious blabber mouth Peter Molyneux's moronic statements - "It will be the greatest game of all time." I thought Fable II was a decent offering, but fell short on too many of the claims made such as proper co-op, interaction with the your dog, and the general options and choices offered within the game.
Fable III will be released next week and I'm terrified. I've been trying to ignore everything about it, but its hard to overlook now broken promises of Kinect (microsoft's new motion based controller) compatibility, and more grandiose claims by Molyneux. Which is sad, because the man is obviously an incredibly talented developer, and is always hilarious when he speaks. But some things he says must just leave his fellow developers face palming behind curtains.
It seems no coincidence that the amount of hype I have been exposed to concerning Fable titles has risen with my amount of skepticism and inevitable disappointment.
Certainly, not all games fail due to hype, Halo reach being a brilliant example - but hopefully on Tuesday I won't have one of my fondest childhood gaming memories dragged through shit by another mediocre, disappointing game that fulfills none of the promises made.
Peter Molyneux - please refrain from talking.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Cointreau have picked up model/actor/burlesque performer Dita Von Teese as their new face for 2010.
Its fantastic that a beverage company, who produce such a fine, delicious spirit have adopted such a stunning spokesmodel. Who am I kidding, I've never actually had Cointreau (what it tasted like citrus or something?) though I certainly feel like one now.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Man smuggles small crocodile on plane. Croc escapes. Panic ensues. Plane crashes. 19 die.
It sounds like a bad movie - but it actually happened on a flight from Kinshasha to Bandundu. The crocodile survived the crash, along with one other passenger who told the tale of the crocodile. 
If my sources are correct, just before the crash, Samuel L. Jackson was in the cockpit screaming " I have had it with these motherfucking crocs on this motherfucking plane."
Although they may not be.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

?

The new Medal of Honor has already sold 1.5 million copies, despite terrible reviews.
A wise man told me that video games are like fruit at the moment - people just buy whatever is in season.
At the risk of sounding like an elitist gamer, there are so many better games. I'd rather stick to games I enjoy (Skate 3, Brutal Legend, Red Dead Redemption, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts) no matter how old they are (Grim Fandango anyone?) than just go out and buy something because its new.
Although, pictured below is a game I will probably buy on impulse - it looks that good.

well, obviously...

Did anyone actually FIND the Lincoln Park rapist? Are they even looking? Or did he indeed come forward as Antoine suggested?
I don't think anyone cares.
Imagine the downer on the Lincoln Park rapist song if it eventuates that the intruder, not apprehended after assaulting Ms Dodson, went on to brutally rape and murder someone.
Or it might make it more hilarious. The interwebs is a strange place.

Monday, October 18, 2010

From my experience, blogs seem to be about everything and nothing.
It's pure apathy I know, but I'm sticking to it.
To soften the blow, here's Hitler slamming out a killer banjo solo to raise morale amongst the troops. Inspirational stuff.