This is my running commentary of my first time playing a Call of Duty game. Specifically, CoD: Black Ops. If you don't want to read it, I'll summarize: I suck, and die a whole lot. 37 times in a three and a half hour period. That makes it about 1 Death every 5.5 minutes.
11:58 am: Black Ops loaded and waiting for me to 'Press START button'. First, more fruit smoothie.
12:01 pm: Options set, time for the Campaign!
12:04 pm: So, they are going with the whole torture/flashback set up as a narrative device, huh? Okay.
12:06 pm: Aaaand... I'm dead! I forget that the CoD games pride themselves on realism, and that for accuracy you have to aim down the sights. Borderlands this ain't.
12:09 pm: Dead again, and right as I reached the objective. Also, why is R1 for shooting, and R2 for Grenades? Hm, okay, Default ALT changes that around.
12:12 pm: Oh, and the character models? Creepy mannequin motion.
12:18 pm: I think I see the appeal of the CoD games, but I'm not sure I'm going to enjoy it in the long run. There's more of an emphasis on stealth, accuracy, and picking the right moment. I'm more of a run 'n' gun kinda guy. Well, maybe more gun and less run. But hey, I get to not-kill Castro in this historically accurate simulation!
12:24 pm: Play interrupted for emergency kitty lap session. Also, the incredible accuracy demonstrated by my AI squadmates in the tutorial mission? Gone. Apparently we haven't been able to kill Castro yet because nobody can shoot straight.
12:27 pm: Dead again. I'm also the only one that knows how to use grenades. When I remember I have them.
12:29 pm: I'm sorry, what? Check my weapon? You're the braindead dipshit that walked into my line of fire!
12:30 pm: Oh, gawdsdammit! I can't actually L1 target that dipshit! I can only "accidentally" shoot him.
12:31 pm: Oh wait, I can! I just have to let him get far enough ahead of me.
12:33 pm: That's three more deaths as I try and remember what button 'Crouch' is, and how to melee.
12:36 pm: Huh, so I'm supposed to pop a cap in Castro from across the room as he's hiding behind a hostage, with only an iron-sighted .45. Oh, and that makes eight deaths. Maybe ten. I lost track in the tutorial.
12:39 pm: So yeah, I just killed Castro.
Continue reading "Late to The Game: Call of Duty (Or, How many Times Can I Die in 3 Hours)" »

Let's Play - For Geeks that Want to Know if The Princess Really is in Another Castle, but are Too Lazy to Play Themselves
Reading some of my older posts, and laughing at my wittiness...ah, good times! Speaking of wit, or lack there of, Nothingman posted a comment on yesterday's article:
Yea and verily, he has a point. Of the eleven post I've made so far, I would say only two of them were actually interesting. However, I take exception to the idea that some of them were not from my heart - all my post are from the heart, though some (most...almost all?) do come from a rather shallow part of it.
Now, as some of you are no doubt aware, I enjoy playing the occasional video game. However, even with my copious free time uncluttered by such mundanities such are the lot of mere mortals, I find it difficult to squeeze in enough time to play the games I own, and thus so very many digital stories fall by the wayside.
That's where the Let's Play Archives come in.
A sub-forum all their own on Something Awful, Let's Plays are threads wherein dedicated crazy people play games that the rest either can't, or do not want, to play. These LP's are presented either as screen shots with commentary, or videos with commentary, and are quite often funny, interesting, and very engaging.
For instance, as I mentioned the other day, I recently finished reading through the LP of Final Fantasy IX. I had played the game years ago when it was first released on the PSX, but I never finished it, and watching the ending on Youtube just isn't the same without context.
And reading The White Dragon's LP provides more than context! He also provides interesting insights to the development and translation of the game, along with showcasing the shear amount of detail that went into even the smallest sections of the game. Character animations that were only used once! Text written on items that were too small for the PSX to render properly! Legitimate cinematic techniques used in a pre-render cgi cut scene!
Then there is the social commentary about Hawaii that The White Dragon, as a native Hawaiian, provides. His insight into the gradual erosion of his linguistic heritage; how the native Hawaiian community views homosexuals; and what a pain in the ass tourists are, make the thread worth reading even if you don't give two figs about Final Fantasy IX.
Continue reading "Let's Play - For Geeks that Want to Know if The Princess Really is in Another Castle, but are Too Lazy to Play Themselves" »
Posted at 09:27 PM in Video Game Commentary, Videogames | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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