Games & Theory

A thought crossed my mind today?  Someone can obviously give up gaming for Lent, but can someone force him/herself to finish a game for Lent?  I don't have any data to back this up, but I have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of gamers start games, but rarely finish them before switching to the latest and greatest game since the one they bought last month.  The entire industry seems to feed off of this idea, releasing so many titles that it's almost impossible to keep up, forcing gamers to either miss out on titles or jump through them so quickly they never finish one.  For me it goes even deeper.  We all have our problems, yes, and one of my biggies is instant-gratification... especially when gaming.

 I like food, but not preparing it if it takes longer than 10 minutes to make. I love movies, but not if they take "too long" to get started. I enjoy gaming, but not if it's going to take me fifty hours to finish the game.  Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of finishing an epic game.  Take Fallout 3 for example, I love the idea of finishing the game, but I haven't beat it.  In fact, I doubt I'll ever beat the game.  It simply takes too much of my time, time that could be spent on Modern Warfare 2 online, finding new and interesting ways to get kills.  It has nothing to do with how much I enjoy playing the games, I like them equally as well.  It has everything to do with out quickly I can get to the "meat" of the game.  Fallout 3 takes time running through the landscape, collecting items and reading the story lines between action sequences and major missions.  With Modern Warfare 2, I can jump on, boot up, log in, and bam!  I'm playing in less than 60 seconds.  The instant-gratification is, well, more instant.

 During Lent, we give up things to remember what it is to be without.  Whatever we give up are tiny sacrifices compared to what Jesus gave up for us. Instant-gratification at its very core is more than just an attention-deficit issue or whatever else you hear in the media.  Instant-gratification is a spiritual conflict as well.  God teaches us to work hard and finish the race.  Instant-gratification is the forbidden fruit, the fast track to something.  Eve fell for it, and so do we, everyday.  This is something I struggle with in many ways, but it really does touch almost every facet of my life... including gaming.

If you're anything like me, maybe it will do us good to force ourselves to finish that lingering game this Lent. Instead of moving on to something else that can offer instant-gratification, stay put and force yourself to put the time in.  And when your attention span is screaming at you to stop and go do something else, remind yourself that others have spent far more time doing things they didn't want to do.  Remember the Apostles spending time in prison. Remember Jesus spending time on the cross.  While it's only a video game, it's just one more way in which you can honor God through a small sacrifice this Lenten season.

Sega has announced that Sonic will be coming to the major game download services WiiWare, PSN, and XBOX Live Arcade.  But wait, just in case you're thinking this is going to be yet another horrible Sonic game (which has been just about every Sonic game since Sonic 3), keep reading... trust me.  In the wake of classic Mario getting an HD makeover in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Sega is polishing the old Sonic hat for a similar idea, but a completely different kind of launch.  I'll break it down nice and easy like...

Sonic 4 Episode 1 will revisit the original Sonic 2-D platform game with brand new graphics, all of the classic moves (and a few new ones), and beautiful HD (full 1080p for PS3 and Xbox 360).  It's going to be for download, which generally means it will be fairly cheap.  Gamespot has an interview with Sega associate brand manager Ken Balough.  Below is the trailer.

A new year means new games and there's little better for a gamer than new titles that make you want to rush right out and pre-order the game.  You can't wait, right?  It's torture!  I know how it is, you hear a new game is coming out that you can't wait to play, you read about it online, talk it up, watch trailers and try to get the inside information.  Then Gamestop or somewhere starts taking pre-orders and you slap down a quick $5 to reserve your copy on the street release day.  Then you sit around and wait.  Well, I don't have an alternative for you, but I do have some games I hope will be worth waiting for...

Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Wii This game, coming for the Wii sometime in 2010, is something I'm really looking forward to. First and foremost, the first Super Mario Galaxy was ridiculously fun. The graphics were good, the controls were fantastic and maybe for the first time ever I actually noticed the score! If history is any indication, Nintendo will score another home run with this title and if I'm lucky my sister and her husband won't come steal it from me this time ;) The difficulty level of the first one wasn't very high, which I actually enjoyed because I got to see more of the game more quickly, which when compared to New Super Mario Bros. Wii (released in late 2009) is a good thing, as that game is very difficult.

Aliens vs. Predator - XBox 360 Back in the day I owned an Atari Jaguar. Yes, I owned that system with the controllers that had like 14 buttons each or something. And more than anything I wanted to buy the Atari Jaguar CD attachment (though I never did) so that I could play Aliens vs. Predator. I did, however, get to play the XBox version years later. While the movies were definitely horrible (in my opinion) I'll be pre-ordering this one. Especially since it's supposed to feature multi-player action that should be pretty cool.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - iPhone For me, this is some of the biggest gaming news in awhile. I know it may sound strange, but yes, this port is a big deal. Phoenix Wright will appear on the iPhone and iPod Touch in 2010, further cementing Apple's place in the casual gaming market. For me, this is one of the better games out there for the non-gamer type, that is, the casual gamer who only picks up a game here and there and wants every title to be a real investment. This game plays like a courtroom drama and has hours upon hours of gameplay. If you haven't played this game yet, or even if you have, you should definitely check it out on the iPhone. And get ready to yell "Hold It!" or "Objection" into your phone's receiver.

When I sat down to play Brutal Legend for a review, I was pretty enthusiastic.  I figured, between Jack Black's shenanigans and the cool concept art I had seen, this game was going to be good.  A few days earlier I had even downloaded the demo on the Playstation Network and found myself laughing through most of the tutorial.  Basically, I was ready to be wowed.  Unfortunately, what I found Brutal Legend to be was altogether similar to the title itself, just plain Brutal.  So Brutal in fact that I decided to not even warrant the game with a game review, but instead blog my experience.

 

Does the game have "cool factor?"  Definitely.  You can't get much cooler than DoubleFine's heavy metal inspired fantasy land of chrome monsters and guitar riff super powers.  The cool factor was practically break out of the screen. But, like so many games before, cool factor doesn't mean a thing when gameplay lacks as severely as it does in Brutal Legend.  Now, to be fair, when I say that I'm directly speaking to what EA markets this game as.  EA pushes this title as an action-adventure real time strategy game and that's how I am judging it.  If EA had presented this game as a mindless hack-n-slash title, I would be happy with it (though not excited, mainly because I'm not a big fan of the hack-n-slash genre).

First and foremost, Brutal Legend is NOT a Real Time Strategy game.  Sorry, it's just not.  Running around hacking baddies to bits while now and then directing a squad of head banging thugs (ridiculously annoying in their own right) to hack someone up you don't otherwise feel like hacking at yourself does not constitute a RTS.  Does it have elements of Real Time Strategy?  Absolutely!  But as a RTS it fails miserably.  The squads don't react quite like they should and honestly you end up doing it almost entirely by yourself anyway.

If you enjoy mindless hack-n-slash action (that is, a game where you just run around and kill enemy after enemy without strategy or much thought to it) then this game is for you.  I'm not condemning hack-n-slash by calling it mindless, but rather differentiating this gameplay from the hack-n-slash titles that require some strategy.  There is a story though, and there are side stories to some degree as well.  You drive vehicles and play your guitar, call down lightning and fire, etc.  It's all of the things a good heavy metal game should have (as if a standard had ever been set), but it's not much more than a "good try" gameplay wise.

For those interested in content that might be offensive, there's lots in Brutal Legend.  Heavy Metal's ongoing obsession with hell shines through.  In fact, the land you play in very much resembles some type of crazy hell where you battle with the power of rock to please deities of rock.  The good news is, this is all done in a cartoony environment that's so ridiculously fantastical that anything it presents is at least done in a purely fictional manner.  Also, you can turn off the foul language and gore, two surprising settings that can assist in not offending someone.

The Official Games and Theory Rating: 6/10: Don't bother playing past the first thirty minutes.

At this year's E3, Nintendo wowed just about everybody with gameplay footage of the New Super Mario Bros. Wii game coming in mid-November.  It's four-player (on the same screen) goodness.  This is definitely a first day buy for anyone, all-ages!  Watch the video!