Playing This Weekend: Burnout Legends, Super Mario Land, Call of Duty 4, The Orange Box, Lumines, Lost Planet

I achieved a couple of milestones this weekend. I completed the single player storyline of Call of Duty 4. I sold Halo 3. I played Burnout Legends and rekindled my love of speed. And I picked up Half-Life 2 again.

I finally wrapped up Call of Duty 4 and really enjoyed the experience. While playing on normal difficulty, I found that the game wasn't incredibly hard. The experience is more akin to an interactive movie than a game. That's fine because I know that the harder difficulties add that aspect and there's never-ending multiplayer gameplay available.

I sold Halo 3. The game has been sitting on a shelf alone for weeks now and I didn't expect that to change any time soon. Perhaps if new single player modes are added I might pick it back up. For now it is time to move on.

I cracked open The Orange Box for some more Half-Life 2 and Team Fortress 2 goodness. TF2 is a great fun multiplayer experience kind of like Halo-lite. It has the complexity of a high end game without the seriousness. I think making the game look like a Looney Tunes cartoon helps.

In regards to Half-Life 2, I've kind of lost grasp on the story but the game continues to give me chills. I've reached a prison area that even in daylight is creepy. I can't have a whole lot more to play - so, at least I have Chapters 1, 2, and 3 to look forward to.

Lost Planet received some multiplayer face time. I played two games, one of which was over in nearly 30 seconds. I wish I had more time to invest in this game, but like Halo 3, I think it is time to move on. Lost Planet wound up being a far better experience than my earlier impression - however, nowhere near as fun as the demo lead me to believe.

Two retro games I plugged in were Burnout Legends for the PSP and Super Mario Land. Burnout Legends is a great game for the PSP and in my top 3 games on that system. It takes all of the great levels I played in Burnout 2 & 3 and condenses them on a tiny UMD disc.

In retrospect I have fonder memories from playing Super Mario Land than from Super Mario 3. Each game brought more complexity to the simple Mario design. However, Super Mario Land had so much to do that I could play it for quite a long time without feeling repetitive. Nintendo took a lot of bold leaps with the game and most worked out in the long run. I love playing this game again on the Wii and look forward to playing Super Mario Land 2 if it ever comes out on Virtual Console.

Playing Today: Devil May Cry 4, Virtua Fighter 5, Lumines, Turning Point: Fall of Liberty

Today was a day with plenty of Demo action. I tried out Virtua Fighter 5, Turning Point: Fall of Liberty, and Devil May Cry 4. I hadn't played a Virtua Fighter game in 6 or 7 years - since it was in the arcade. The controls seemed stiff, but I think they are meant to be that way. And perhaps that was just for the character I was playing. The graphics looked pretty good and I didn't hate the game. My problem is that the fighter genre seems to have run its course for now. Maybe Street Fighter IV will change that.

Turning Point was better than I expected. While I found the game to be buggy - it was not as awful as some of the low rung FPS titles. Perhaps this is one of those sleeper hits that gets better with the sequel. Or maybe the demo is just good enough to sell games and the real game is a mess.

Finally, I played Devil May Cry 4. I'd never played a Devil May Cry title before. I had high expectations that weren't met with this demo. I didn't get enough story and wasn't sold on why some of the enemies were and acted how they did. The game was pretty and gameplay was tight. However, give me some reason to want to play.

Playing This Weekend: Pinball FX, Gears of War (PC), Rock Band, Lumines

With a special three day holiday weekend I get an extra day of gaming in. Nice. I played quite a bit on the new Pinball FX table and it is worth the 200 Points it costs. It has plenty of complexity to it while not being to crowded. Just the kind of table I enjoy.

I finally added another stick of RAM for Gears of War (PC). While the game is now playable it still stutters quite a bit and has challenges when dealing with either a lot of enemies or a big enemy. Nevertheless, I have progressed through Act I without seeing anything new. I tried to play in a multiplayer game and had zero luck. Apparently, this not a hot PC title.

Finally, we played a bunch of Rock Band yesterday (hi Beck!) and we unlocked the Endless Set List. We didn't invest the 30 hours it takes to beat it - that'll hopefully be next weekend. I also tried the vocal tour. At first it was a challenge to adapt my awful voice to pass the songs. Once I stopped worrying about how I sounded - things are much better.

One last note, OXM issue 80 arrived on Friday. There are three Rock Band songs on the demo disc. The tune Sprode is something absolutely amazing to behold. And that is all I will say. (This disc also has the Turok demo on it. I did not try it... yet.)

Playing Today: Rock Band, Pinball FX, Lumines

After beating Rock Band's Guitar tour, I took a few days off. Now I was ready to tackle the Bass tour... and found out that there is no Bass tour. While I understand this exclusion, I think the game could benefit from a Bass tour. Playing the Bass on expert is no cake walk. A tour would have been a great practice and test. Instead, I'm forced to either do Quick Play or Band Tour to practice.

The new Pinball FX table is out and it is one of the better ones. Like the Agent Board, there is plenty of open space to work with and I didn't feel as contained as on the Extreme Board. It appears that the new achievement might be a bit easier than it needs to be. It will suck if I get it quickly because it won't encourage me to come back and play some more.

Playing Today: Rock Band, Lumines

Two games just arrived in the mail: Rock Band and Call of Duty 4. So, I left COD4 on the table and started jamming away on Rock Band. The solo tour mode is less fun than the band experience but still richer and deeper than Guitar Hero III. It is more obvious in your score when you're screwing up. Goes with the territory I guess.

Playing This Weekend: Halo 3, Lumines

Despite my original plans, I wound up playing a TON of Halo this weekend. Multiplayer is exactly like in Halo 2 except that the competition is clearly better organized. Your opponents seem to be better matched and closer to your skill level making games closer and more enjoyable. Also, a majority of the players are not annoying little kids screaming in your ear. Hurray for that.

Co-op seems... easy. I also find that it takes a lot away from the story when you have friends chattering away in your ear how are you supposed to follow what's going on. Even worse, co-op lags a lot. You can tell that this game was not designed to be co-op and that it was just added in to make players happy. Gears of War is a game designed with co-op play in mind.

Finally, I've continued to play Lumines on my PSP. This game is a great time killer and would be perfect to waste time while on the go. Easily one of the obvious must haves for PSP owners.

Playing Today: Lumines, Stranglehold

Two new games, two very different but enjoyable experiences. I purchased the original Lumines for my PSP and the experience was as good as I expected. The gameplay is fun and intricate without scaring me off. It is a variation of Tetris yet much more than that. I can understand why this was one of the first big hits on PSP and why it has been drafted onto several different platforms since. I predict years of fun to be had for years to come.

Tried out Stranglehold and had a bad taste in my mouth at first. The jumping mechanic was way too loose and I didn't think I could adjust. However, given some time I figured out the language of gameplay and adjusted my style to match the game. While level design is very linear and fighting is generic, I'm still enjoying the experience enough to push on. The graphics look like they were designed for an original XBOX and the voice acting has some issues. I'll have to really play on to really grasp the overall scope of things.