Mmm, Backlog-y

What legends of game-playing intrigue do we, the stewards of Silicon Sasquatch, bring you this week?

There’s more of the same (Titan Quest) with a nice lime twist of newness (Borderlands); there’s the late-to-the-party-but-enjoying-it-anyway epic (Brütal Legend); and then there’s the dreaded blackness of managing grad school responsibilities (Portland State University — rated “M” for mature).

There ain't no rest for the wicked

Nick:

If you’d asked me two months ago whether I was excited for Borderlands, I’d have scoffed. Sure, Gearbox made a couple Half-Life expansions I enjoyed and delivered a real overlooked gem of a game in Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30, but they haven’t come up with many surprises in the past few years.

As PAX 2009 was drawing to a close, I wandered over to the Gearbox booth to get a ten-minute hands-on demonstration with Borderlands. In that brief span of time, my apathy transformed into elation — this was the first-person shooter/ role-playing game hybrid I’d been yearning for all these years. I walked away from the booth convinced the game would be worth owning, and I waited out the next month and a half as patiently as I could.

Now that it’s here, I’m pleased to say Borderlands is everything I had hoped it would be. It’s full of wit, style, and finely tuned action-RPG mechanics that, while a bit unoriginal, are executed with quality. It’s almost enough to wash the sour taste of the disastrous Hellgate: London out of my mouth.

You know something's really interesting when people are opting to not stare at the giant wings of the demonic Eddie Riggs

Doug:

Along with playing “Oh god I’m halfway through my first term of grad school,” I’ve spent time alternating between shaking my fist at and being thankful for the Europeans who got Forza 3 this week — it’s validating my pre-order decision many times over. Foreign coverage hasn’t influenced me this much since Gran Turismo 4.

Also, I played a bit more NCAA 10 and Brütal Legend. But, mostly, I’m trying to survive my classes.

Lucky you — here's a bonus Borderlands screenshot

Aaron:

I’m still playing Titan Quest. Yeah, I know. Best $5 I’ve ever spent though — on a videogame.

But this week’s titles of actual interest didn’t find their way into my disc drive until the tail end: Brütal Legend and Borderlands. Slowly, but surely, I’m scratching away the surface layers of each game with dilligence and child-like excitement. What’s going on, 2009? You’ve produced almost too many surprisingly great games so far.

Should I accept each game’s hype without taking that grain of salt everyone always warns me about?

Yes, I think it’ll be OK.

There’s not much else to say yet, unfortunately. Installing Windows 7 took away some of my PC gaming time this week due to reinstalling and optimizing, so finishing TQ and getting to know Champions Online were put on the back burner.

You’ll have to excuse me, but it’s time to go giggle at Brütal Legend and cause severe eyestrain from grinding away in Borderlands.

Let there be rock.

Oh, snap.

Another week, another flood of good games — some of the biggest, most anticipated titles of the fall have hit store shelves, and the Silicon Sasquatch crew are digging in. Brütal Legend, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Champions Online, and more are taking over our attention this week, and though it might seem overwhelming, it’s not necessarily a “bad” overwhelming.

The Guardian of Metal compels you to play Brütal Legend.

Nick:

You know what they say about too much of a good thing? It’s true. I’m being pelted left and right by amazing games, and instead of feeling overjoyed I’m left gasping for breath and wringing my aching hands.

I picked up Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Brütal Legend on Tuesday — both among my most anticipated games this year — but I’ve only managed to play through Brütal Legend so far. Although it has garnered a relatively wide range of reviews, I couldn’t be more thrilled with how it turned out — I’m still exploring every nook and cranny of the game’s wildly imaginative metal-inspired open world, and the multiplayer stage battles have hooked me.

And in case you missed it, I donned my thick-framed glasses and turtleneck sweater and got mad philosophical with an unassuming little iPhone game called Canabalt.

This weekend I’m hoping to pick up Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II on Steam for a paltry $19.99. Aaron’s raved about it for months, so I’m eager to see what I’ve been missing.

Oh, and if you see me playing Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard on Xbox Live…it’s for an experiment. Don’t judge me!

Champions Online has arrived, and Aaron's sinking his teeth into the game – including character creation.

Aaron:

Unfortunately, I’m not one of the cool kids. No, I haven’t purchased Brutal Legend, and I can’t play Uncharted 2 because I’m sans PS3. It’s been a big week for gaming, and instead I’ve spent my time with Titan Quest, Burnout Paradise and, as of yesterday, Champions Online.

Champions was one of my most-anticipated titles of 2009, yet I skipped its release date. Another tragic case of too many games to play with not enough funds available — let alone the fact that MMOs are notoriously unstable at launch. However, another fantastic Amazon deal ($15.98!) forced my hand to purchase a second game in two weeks that I was previously iffy about.

Champions is, with only a few hours played, instantly gratifying. The character customization is much better than what was in Cryptic’s first superhero MMO, City of Heroes, and I’ve created a lighthearted character in “Energene”: a force-blast powered, mild-mannered janitor who worked in a lab, and had a mishap with a radioactive mop. His name’s Gene…in case you didn’t catch the pun.

Next week is Borderlands, a game Nick and I have been anticipating for quite awhile. Look for another groundbreaking co-op review of ours later this month.

Whether it's a Mini or a Ferrari, Forza 3's physics – at least according to the demo – make you feel the speed.

Doug:

After finishing off The Beatles: Rock Band (which is brilliant), I turned some of my attention last weekend to the Forza Motorsport 3 demo again to spend a little more quality time with that.

For gamers with an Xbox Live account that’s signed into the Internet, it’s easy to access a free-run time trial mode that allows you to run as many laps as you want on the demo’s track with any of the five cars available. It’s a great opportunity to judge the changes made to the physics engine for this game, and also to put some fast times on the leaderboards.

Something that stands out related to the physics is how flexible the engine feels. The cars in the demo range from a stock Mini Cooper S to a racing-spec Porsche 911, and all of them feel connected to the road in their own separate way — but never underwhelming at all, which was a trap the Gran Turismo games have been known to fall into.

The other game I put some time into this week is Brütal Legend (rock dots absolutely necessary). It’s easy to say it’s living up to the expectations. Everything from the menu presentation to the voice acting to the game design is great, and despite some minor issues it’s still a very enjoyable experience. I’m struggling a touch to come to grips with some of the game design choices — some puzzles seem a bit obtuse from time to time — but otherwise it’s a labor of love, and it shows.

My gCal for this week: The green arrow represents the days without posts on Silicon Sasquatch. Everyone likes an effective graphic!

Unfortunately for you, dear reader, our goal of posting fresh, thirst-quenching content at least once a day didn’t occur this week. We apologize for that; It’s a busy season for those of us in graduate school and those of us looking for jobs. But you’re not here for excuses! You’re here to about read what videogames we’ve been playing — the most important segment of our daily lives, of course.

Nick’s been hoarding mad “lewt”, I’ve been rekindling my passion for zombie killing and Doug’s been using his DS to hone his prowess with the Japanese language.

Wait…is that even a game?

Despite the obvious similarities, this is not an homage to The Secret of Monkey Island. This disembodied head is just irritating.

Nick:

You’d think that I’d be knee-deep into Titan Quest, having picked it up for a mere five bucks last weekend. Or maybe you’d assume I’m relentlessly improving my Firefight scores in Halo 3: ODST. At the very least, you’d be absolutely certain that most of my free time has been spent feeding my fetishistic love for the Rock Band Network beta.

The truth is, I barely touched any of them. I’ve got two reasons for that, and neither of them is gonna make any sense.

The first reason is the oft-maligned Too Human, Silicon Knights’ biggest gamble and most controversial release. Critics and gamers alike expressed almost universal disdain for the game, and I can see why: The plot is baffling, the voice acting is pathetic, the art and enemy design are painfully uninspired and the game is incredibly short.

It is, by most accounts, a colossal failure. So why can’t I stop playing it — even after I already beat it?

Between the ludicrous amounts of loot to gather, the relatively replayable dungeons and the adrenaline rush from taking down hundreds of enemies in mere seconds, Too Human has brought me closer to the euphoric destruction of games like Diablo II than anything else has in recent years. It’s a very uneven package, and though I’m a little ashamed to admit it, I’ve gotten way more than my money’s worth out of it.

The second reason why I’ve avoided the mainstream in gaming is the officially licensed Skee-Ball game for iPhone. Developed by Freeverse, the 99-cent app delivers a surprisingly deep physics-based game with hilarious bonuses redeemable with tickets won in the game. Glittery pencils, fake mustaches, little cheap plastic dinosaurs, Peruvian Flute Band CDs — all the crap you coveted as a child at Chuck E. Cheese is lovingly reproduced. The game also features clever integration with ngmoco’s Plus+ network, a sort of Xbox Live for various iPhone games.

Aaron:

As I mentioned last week, I acquired Titan Quest for $5. I have to say it’s much more fun than I expected. Nick may be satisfying his craving for Diablo-like gameplay through Too Human, but I’d wager Titan Quest is a better companion for those loot-oriented needs. It’s a shame that the title faded from most gamers’ memories.

It’s been another slow week for me otherwise — most of my time has gone to reading, being social and looking for work. But I’ve surprised myself with a new-found appreciation for Left 4 Dead. The game wowed me when I first played it, but the honeymoon was incredibly short. Since January I’ve rarely touched it, instead turning to Team Fortress 2 for online FPS fun. But with the release of the Crash Course DLC this week I’m reminded how clever and sustainable the L4D concept is. Thanks to L4Dmods.com and its collection of well-made community campaigns like Death Aboard and Heaven Can Wait, I’m actually anticipating the upcoming sequel.

Next week, Halo 3: ODST will be arriving from Amazon. Thanks to a 10% Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) discount and an Amazon sale that took $10 off the game, I feel much more comfortable spending $44 on what I largely feel is an expansion to the core Halo 3 game. Debate that point with me all you want, but I’ll at least be able to enjoy co-op and Firefight with my friends now.

Doug:

In an ironic turn, the most time I’ve spent playing games this week has actually been for class! Along with an online marketing simulation game for my marketing class, I’ve been taking advantage of one of the most useful games I have — DS Rakubiki Jiten — in my Japanese classes.

Anybody who’s studied a foreign language knows how essential dictionaries are. Especially with Japanese and Chinese, having access to an electronic dictionary that can provide both meanings and how to write words in both languages is an extremely useful tool. DS Rakubiki Jiten, then, turns your average humble Nintendo DS into a Japanese-English electronic dictionary. At the relatively good price of $50, I bought my copy of DS Rakubiki Jiten through an import shop a couple of years ago and have found it vital to my study of Japanese ever since.

Considering that most electronic Japanese dictionaries cost at least $200 — and that, unlike those entry-level models, the DS Rakubiki Jiten allows you to use the bottom touch screen to write in kanji that you don’t recognize — it’s highly suggested as a valuable way to improve one’s study of Japanese.

I’ve also gotten a bit more seat time with Madden NFL 10 — that game suffers from terrible rubber-band AI trying to keep games close — and Peggle on iPhone. I also got the chance to go to Ground Kontrol Classic Arcade in Portland on Wednesday; it was a night where a $5 cover charge got you into the arcade and from there, all the games were set to free play. I spent some time with my friends on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Simpsons, a little bit of Street Fighter II, DDR, and Bubble Bobble.

Halo 3: ODST has taken its hold on the Silicon Sasquatch staff.

Hoo boy. Time flies when you’re having fu…errr, no…more like time flies when you’ve got real life creeping in. Creeping in just like the clouds do now that it’s officially fall in the Pacific Northwest and the last gasps of summer have gone. Fall also means we’re seeing the beginning of the fall gaming season, and that means a deluge of new titles.

We’ve all been busy this week — and fortunately that’s included time for some gaming. Nick’s been busy with family commitments but has already acquired quite the backlog of games; Aaron’s been playing host for a friend, which entails plenty of rocking out; and Doug has been able to put some time into a few games while staring down the beginning of grad school.

So enough of that waffle; here’s what we’ve been playing.

This is epic, and $5.

Aaron:

What’s happening to me? For the third week in a row I’ve spent a lot of time with Rock Band 2. I blame my most recent affair on the arrival of a dear old friend from Germany. He’s visiting for a month and has gone Rock Band crazy — I’m thinking about taking him to a doctor.

Truly though, it’s been a boring week for diversified gaming choices. I went to a party that included copious amounts of The Beatles: Rock Band. I also tried my hand at Halo 3: ODST‘s Firefight mode, and came away incredibly surprised at how non-Horde mode it felt. Will I buy it? That’s a good question.

However, I do know what I’m one button click away from purchasing: the 2006, Diablo-like PC title Titan Quest and its expansion, Immortal Throne, for the low, low price of $5. Call me crazy (which I undoubtedly am), but I’ve always wanted to give the game a shot, and the entry price is too good to pass up. Thanks, Direct2Drive.

Captain Reynolds would never use a scope.

Nick:

It’s not even Rocktober yet and I’ve already been inundated with a stack of games to play. Sitting on my shelf, in no particular order: Katamari Forever, LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, Tales of Monkey Island and Too Human – all games I’ve barely scratched the surface on. But I’ve got a good reason for that!

I’ve officially been caught up in that old familiar animal urge to hop online and bash stoned high-schoolers over the head thanks to Halo 3: ODST. The game has received a lot of flack for not being a “full” Halo game, but considering that it features the most exciting and best-paced campaign of any game in the series, coupled with the most exhilarating multiplayer mode the series has ever played host to — Firefight — there’s no doubt in my mind that this game is up to Bungie’s standards of excellence.

Perhaps the most exciting game I’m playing is Rock Band 2. The long-awaited patch finally hit Xbox 360 copies yesterday, including fixes for velocity sensitivity for Ion drum kits, wireless microphone support, the ability to sort your songs by how many stars you’ve earned — or whether you’ve even played the song at all.

Admittedly, these are probably minor fixes to all but the most dedicated. However, the real bonus is that Rock Band Network‘s audition mode went live, meaning songs can be transferred for testing! I’m a member of the current closed beta, and the process behind revising songs is both laborious and fascinating. I can’t wait to start authoring a few of my own.

Get your motor running.

Doug:

Having my Xbox 360 back has been really refreshing. Being without a next-gen system of my own for a month made me feel very, very disconnected from what was happening in the world of gaming; at the least, I’ve been able to sample demos that have come out recently along with some of the titles of late summer.

Along with the obligatory NCAA Football 10 time, I’ve been able to get some time in on the other football video game, Madden NFL 10. Despite being the same sport, small detail changes — more detailed animations and graphics, rule differences between the NFL and college football, and also artificial intelligence programming — mark a big difference between the two games. Madden at once feels slower and more arcade-y; the passing game relies more on pocket presence than NCAA, and the offense in general relies much more on ball control than in NCAA. It’s definitely a different animal; I’ll have more thoughts and details as I put more time into my online dynasty.

Demos are still going strong for me, too. The PES 2010 demo is engrossing, and the Forza Motorsport 3 demo dropped this week as well. As a big real-life auto racing and racing video game fan, I’ve been looking forward to Forza 3…and it delivers.

The graphics are of course prettier than its predecessor, but it’s the gameplay that really matters — and that shines. A problem with Forza 2 was that cars on street tires, tuned or stock, felt way too slippery; in tuning cars for series with a performance index limit, I would take weight reduction and better tires every time over raw horsepower because the stock tires were that bad. The grip level has increased already for Forza 3.

I can’t comment on some of the added features, like auto-braking, because I’m a racing game vet and only use ABS. I can say, though, that the “rewind” feature — which brings you back a couple of seconds to avoid wrecks or silly mistakes, and is available seemingly at all times — is absolutely wonderful. A problem with Forza 2 (and, honestly, many racing sims) is that idiotic opponent AI would cause messes for you in single-player races that would require a restart; this eliminates that problem single-handedly.

And with my new-found preciousssss — er, iPhone, I’ve been playing a couple of games on the cheap: FlightControl and Peggle. It’s safe to say that I’m pretty well hooked to Peggle now too, even though I feel like I’m way behind the curve discovering that one. Still fun, though.