(no subject)
I just beat Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. It's an adventure game for the PS3, and is pretty good. You play as Nathan Drake, an alleged descendent of Sir Francis Drake, and you're hunting for the same treasure that your ancestor allegedly found on an expedition after he faked his death. There's a girl, Elena, filming your adventure for a documentary. You've also got a buddy, Sully, that's in it for the money like you are. Basically you're an Indiana Jones type, only with a different motivation. You also kill lots of people, In all fairness, though, they want to kill you first.
The game is fun. Most of it takes place on a remote Pacific island originally settled by the Spanish. The gameplay breaks down into solving puzzles, scaling obstacles via climbing and leaping, and fighting the mercenaries of rival treasure seekers. There's a cover system in place that makes for more tactical fights, rather than letting the game move towards a more Rambo direction. If you're out for too long, you get killed quickly. There are a couple of things I don't like about the game. The controls for moving into cover are kind of lousy and unpredictable. Gears of War has it perfected. This game seems amateurish in comparison. Some scenarios are difficult and unforgiving. It may be you versus a dozen mercenaries, and you're getting flanked quickly. That leads to some more frantic, risky gameplay. The jet ski portions are kind of dumb, the worst being when you're going upriver against a strong current, while exploding barrels float downriver. Add some deadly accurate mercenaries wielding grenade launchers and rifles, and it's easy to get frustrated until you finally make it to a checkpoint.
Overall, the game is worth what I paid. I think it would make a fantastic movie, appealing to the Indiana Jones fans. At least there aren't aliens in this one. Maybe they could watch this and feel like this was a movie they deserved. Nathan Fillion should play Nathan Drake, without a doubt. He may be a little older than one imagines Drake to be, but that hardly matters. He fits this role based on his work in Firefly and Serenity. Bruce Campbell should be Sully. He's past middle age, he's greying, he's a little pudgy, and he can definitely play the down-on-his-luck scoundrel. I'm not sure who could play Elena. Any athletic blonde with a good screen presence would do. Hell, it looks like you could just use the actress that voiced her, Emily Rose. She's got the look, and there's no need to worry about her getting in character.
I'm back to playing Assassin's Creed. Uncharted pulled me away from that game. It's really a beautiful game. It takes place during the first Crusade, in the war between the Saracens and the Crusaders. You're an assassin for an order based out of a small, neutral town, and the greater goal is to kill judiciously to save thousands. You find yourself fighting both armies. The cities are fantastic. Jerusalem, in particular, is very well done. You see the combination of Christian, Jewish and Muslim architecture that's present to this day. The gameplay is fairly simplistic. You investigate a target by pickpocketing certain people, eavesdropping on conversations, finding informants and interrogating witnesses. Once you've collected enough information, you are cleared to assassinate the target. It's kind of repetitive, but there's more to do in the cities. You can save citizens from being assaulted, you can collect flags, and you can scale high viewpoints to reveal the city on your map. It's fun to explore the nooks and crannies of each city, to run on the rooftops, and to slink through the crowds just to hear the shills for each army. I'm sure I'll beat it by this weekend, and then move on to Eternal Sonata. That's a JRPG about a fictionalized Chopin, and it has a wonderful score.
I recently purchased a 2 GB Sansa Clip MP3 player. It supports OGG, which is nice, and it has built in FM radio. The receiver is quite nice for such a small profile. I have no problems picking up my local public radio affiliate. Devin Townsend's new album arrived today. I've ripped it, and will listen to it tomorrow after the morning news starts to get boring with the little puff pieces NPR likes to add to the broadcast.
The game is fun. Most of it takes place on a remote Pacific island originally settled by the Spanish. The gameplay breaks down into solving puzzles, scaling obstacles via climbing and leaping, and fighting the mercenaries of rival treasure seekers. There's a cover system in place that makes for more tactical fights, rather than letting the game move towards a more Rambo direction. If you're out for too long, you get killed quickly. There are a couple of things I don't like about the game. The controls for moving into cover are kind of lousy and unpredictable. Gears of War has it perfected. This game seems amateurish in comparison. Some scenarios are difficult and unforgiving. It may be you versus a dozen mercenaries, and you're getting flanked quickly. That leads to some more frantic, risky gameplay. The jet ski portions are kind of dumb, the worst being when you're going upriver against a strong current, while exploding barrels float downriver. Add some deadly accurate mercenaries wielding grenade launchers and rifles, and it's easy to get frustrated until you finally make it to a checkpoint.
Overall, the game is worth what I paid. I think it would make a fantastic movie, appealing to the Indiana Jones fans. At least there aren't aliens in this one. Maybe they could watch this and feel like this was a movie they deserved. Nathan Fillion should play Nathan Drake, without a doubt. He may be a little older than one imagines Drake to be, but that hardly matters. He fits this role based on his work in Firefly and Serenity. Bruce Campbell should be Sully. He's past middle age, he's greying, he's a little pudgy, and he can definitely play the down-on-his-luck scoundrel. I'm not sure who could play Elena. Any athletic blonde with a good screen presence would do. Hell, it looks like you could just use the actress that voiced her, Emily Rose. She's got the look, and there's no need to worry about her getting in character.
I'm back to playing Assassin's Creed. Uncharted pulled me away from that game. It's really a beautiful game. It takes place during the first Crusade, in the war between the Saracens and the Crusaders. You're an assassin for an order based out of a small, neutral town, and the greater goal is to kill judiciously to save thousands. You find yourself fighting both armies. The cities are fantastic. Jerusalem, in particular, is very well done. You see the combination of Christian, Jewish and Muslim architecture that's present to this day. The gameplay is fairly simplistic. You investigate a target by pickpocketing certain people, eavesdropping on conversations, finding informants and interrogating witnesses. Once you've collected enough information, you are cleared to assassinate the target. It's kind of repetitive, but there's more to do in the cities. You can save citizens from being assaulted, you can collect flags, and you can scale high viewpoints to reveal the city on your map. It's fun to explore the nooks and crannies of each city, to run on the rooftops, and to slink through the crowds just to hear the shills for each army. I'm sure I'll beat it by this weekend, and then move on to Eternal Sonata. That's a JRPG about a fictionalized Chopin, and it has a wonderful score.
I recently purchased a 2 GB Sansa Clip MP3 player. It supports OGG, which is nice, and it has built in FM radio. The receiver is quite nice for such a small profile. I have no problems picking up my local public radio affiliate. Devin Townsend's new album arrived today. I've ripped it, and will listen to it tomorrow after the morning news starts to get boring with the little puff pieces NPR likes to add to the broadcast.