Boredom. It strikes with no remorse, and it lasts for hours. They say the idle mind is the devil’s playground [Idiots], but being the politically-correct individual that I am I’ve decided to churn out some idea’s of how you may overcome this problem.It’s simple, Games, Games Games. No you idiot, I’m not talking about Badminton over the court, Video Games of course. The age old battle is, ‘Which system is best?’
It is my humble opinion that it doesn’t matter, every console shines well on it’s own level. You will, in your lifetime meet preposterously opinionated people who asphyxiate you, with their unreasonable … reasoning you wish you could just extirpate them, whenever this debate comes up, which usually ends up inconclusive due to the lack of proper judges or the headstrong opponent who refuses to realize loss, or you yourself, who is so well drenched by your own pomposity that you refuse to consider an alternative to what you’ve already predetermined. The reason for this post is not to discuss the superiority of one gaming platform over the other, but merely a list of PC games you could preoccupy yourself with, when swarmed by boredom…
Naturally, to make things interesting, I shall force my whims and fancies unto you, and as such, I shall rate the games in increasing order of ‘kick-ass’-ness, that shall be measured with the following Criteria :
1 Level of ‘kick-ass’-ness : This game sucks monkey balls, you’re better of just being bored.
2 Level of ‘kick-ass’-ness : This game is alright, if you’re wedged in a tight spot of boredom and need some gaming action.
3 Level of ‘kick-ass’-ness : This game is mediocre by all standards but will do to cure the average bored individual.
4 Level of ‘kick-ass’-ness : This game is awesome, and is highly recommended for combating boredom.
5 Level of ‘kick-ass’-ness : The awesomeness of this game is indescribable. One should purposely become bored to play this game.
That being clarified, lets begin.
Dreamfall :- The Longest Journey : Level of ‘kick-ass’-ness : 1
Now, I didn’t get much in this game. Many people tell me this game is pretty good, but, I personally don’t see it. There is no need for me to shoot a review, for one should be easily available from http://pc.ign.com should you need it. My beef with this game is that I found the voice acting atrocious. It was …abhorring to endure it. Imagine a gas of black cloud seeks to suck you into it’s ether-bound prison. The voice goes, ‘No, No..Noooo!’… but what indeed you get is some European dude reading the script out loud at a slow pace with no emotions. Not to be undone, I gave the game another chance and let it load to the part where I could use my main character. I got excited they showed the main character in her knickers. I started controlling her and realized this game was stupid to the core. I hated the controls, the interfaces, everything screamed sin! I immediately uninstalled the game. I’d suggest you’d do the same.
Time taken to Beat : Uninstalled in 2 minutes
Replay Value : None
Spellforce 2 : Level of ‘kick-ass’-ness : 3
Now this game, was rather interesting. The game combines the elements of RTS (Real time Strategy) and RPG (Role Playing) into one power packed package. The game starts with you being one of the few of the Shaikan race. Simply put, Shaikan’s are of a mystical race, which have the blood of the dragon [Patriarch, Ur] flowing deep within their veins. This allows them to be resurrected in battle by a fellow Shaikan provided the fatal blow was laid not too long ago. Everyone with the blood of the dragon is referred to as ‘The Brother of my Blood’ and naturally in this game, your entire party will be blessed with the dragon blood. However, Only the original 3 characters are true Shaikan’s and the remaining shall receive the dragon blood to be revived in an awful situation that may befall them.
The story basically takes you to discovering the recent attacks by the ‘Shadow’s’ unto the world of Dwarves, Men and Elves. You will quickly notice treacherous terrains, grotesque monsters and mighty titans assisting you in your battles. The game is rather short, of perhaps, 20 hours at most, to complete all side-quests, infact, it’s possible to do it in less than that amount of time if you’re familiar with what you’re doing. There is a nice skill tree that allows you to either become a Mage/Cleric/Warrior/Necromancer/Archer or a Hybrid. You may however not be able to learn everything. The voice acting for your avatars and heroes are pretty good but for the NPC’s tend to be rather annoying. After about an hour of gameplay, I turned off the volume, and loaded windows media player for music.
The game, however, does not have a proper ending. I was rather disappointed with this but took consolation with the fact that the expansion pack was to be released in March, 2007. It is to be called SpellForce 2: Dragon Storm. My beef with the game was rather slight, and I do hope the expansion pack of the game leaves the game with a proper ending. Another minor problem was that most of the equipment in game was aimed towards the melee class. This makes sense to an extent because once I got a nice quarterstaff early on, I never bothered changing equipment for my sorceress. My robe remained the same for a long time as well since equipment for sorceress’ are far and few in between. But since their casting power is so amazing, the trade off seems fair.
Time Taken to beat : 15 hours with all sidequests
Replay Value : Nothing that alters the direction the game heads on, just of a different class for the main character.
Rogue Trooper : Level of ‘kick-ass’-ness : 3
This is another awesome FPS game, based on the comic strip of the same name. It basically depicts the story of genetically engineered soldiers who are used for warfare in the planet only known as Nu Earth. The game depicts advanced technological cloning and computing techniques that a clone may save it’s comrade by removing his ‘chip’ and implementing it unto his backpack/helmet or even gun. I was really impressed at the way the AI interacts with you. I especially loved it how Rogue reloaded his weapon. A slot opens on the side of your backpack, from which emerges a metallic arm with a clip of ammunition. It brings this ammunition to Rogue to his right side, and yells, ‘Here Rogue’ upon which Rogue takes it and reloads his weapon.
Call me a sucker for fireworks, but that was pretty amazing. The game in itself is pretty short, and can be beaten by 2 hours of continues gameplay. But if you’re looking for some quick fragging fun, this game is just the thing for you. The voice overs may be childish at times, but this does not bother me one bit. The game starts with a betrayal of a high ranking officer which leads to the massacre of the majority of the genetically engineered G.I.’s. You’re among the few survivors, and you’re to find who the backstabbing officer is. You do not find conveniently positioned crates of ammunition, but instead you ‘Salvage’ items off of corpses and salvage piles found around various parts of the game. This salvaged parts allows the chip in your backpack to forge weapons, grenades, ammunition and upgrades for your arsenal. It was a fresh take on FPS’ everywhere.
Time Taken to Beat : 1 hour 30 minutes.
Replay Value : There are some interesting unlockables, that would keep you coming to replay, but beyond that, there isn’t much.
Stay Tuned for Part 2 of Frittering away time…
Splinter Cell . Any takers ?
I’m sure its a 3~4 in the kick-ass scale .
Gaming really cures boredome , but being active in sports once a week isn’t going to kill you .
VK@Dr|ftking
Oi. What happened to Jade Empire? Have you got kotor?
And dreamfall… enjoying it is an acquired taste. It is nothing like conventional games. Maybe that’s not what you’re looking for.
I have to disagree on the dialog. It may not be top-notch but its okay whaaat. Name me other games with better speech.
And 1 hour 30 minutes to beat rogue trooper, surely… that’s an exaggeration. Or… you just blitzed through the game.
VK : I’ve played PT and CT before and it seems PT was really difficult, what with the reset of entire level after being caught and 100% stealth. CT was much more forgiving. Unfortunately, I’ve not managed to complete playing the above mentioned games. Perhaps you should review them.
Kristof :
Yeah, i’ll have to agree, dreamfall is an acquired taste, which is why I’ve mentioned many tell me it’s a good game and I just don’t see it.
Other games with better speech includes Jade Empire, and NWN2 but regardless listening to the same guy speak over and over again can be painstaking no matter how well it’s done.
RT, it’s a pretty straight forward FPS. The first time I played around, took me 2 hours odd. The second time took me only 1 hour 30 minutes as I knew where most of the savage piles were and what exactly I had to do.
The other games, will most probably be featured in part two.
You’re playing Dreamfall? If you’re not into adventuregames (note: AG is NOT an RPG!), then it’s definitely that you’ll have difficulty enjoying Dreamfall. Its predecessor, The Longest Journey (1999) is actually the better sister… and in fact still reigns as one of the best adventuregames to ever hit the gaming market. Be warned, like its name, it’s pretty lengthy with lengthy dialog (it’s point-and-click and it’s got better voice-acting). Like Kristof said, it’s an acquired taste. It still is my personal fave, though. To be frank, Dreamfall is quite a disappointing sequel for me, a longtime TLJ fan.
I’m very much into adventure games, but there was just something about Dreamfall that didn’t catch on. Usually for me, the first few minutes of the game is very important, for if there is nothing unique that captures my interest, I’d probably stop playing it.
Alas, the burden of having the attention span of a fish. Nonetheless, I found the battle-system horrendous, and the navigation disastrous. Contrary to it’s name, the game is actually rather short, only elongated with the slow speech.
As for TLJ, I’ve not had the opportunity to play around with that one. Not yet, anyways.
HypoG
You said zoe in her knickers caught your interest already.
Nothing unique? Maybe it’s subjective but from the moment I start the game, I felt that everything was unique, from the gameplay the pacing, the storyline, the game’s background.
The battle system was horrendous, as was jade empire. But, it’s an adventure game, not a action game. To me, the action in the game is just a novelty for the genre.
Yeah rather ironic that the longest journey is so short.
And you played TLJ not dreamfall 1.
Mira, well I didn’t expect you to have played tlj. Respect.
Eh, sorry boss. You did play dreamfall. Not tlj
The first game was entitled tlj,
Second, dreamfall: tlj
Thanks, Kristof.
HG, didn’t know you’re into Adventure. I have a huge collection at home collecting dust, lol.
Playing Scratches right now. Creepy as hell. They got the atmosphere down pat, though the protagonist’s VO needed a little more… emotions? He’s a little flat. The last AG I played was Fahrenheit (aka The Indigo Prophecy) during the summer and I hated it. I don’t think it deserves the score it received on Gamespot. Irritating game.
I downloaded Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within from Torrent a couple of moons ago. Old game, but it’s pretty okay.
Nah, I actually forced him to play it.
Indigo prophecy was good weh. I thought the gameplay was very unique. Though I thought that it started out really well and just went downhill from there, but I still think it’s decent. But you’ve got to acknowledge the creativity they put in the pacing of the game
I guess it’s subjective.
There are some good adventure games right now. Like the new Sam and Max. If you’re into the old school lucas arts adventure games with wacky humour. Broken Sword the Angel of Death isn’t that bad too.
They should’ve ressurected Monkey Island instead of Sam and Max IMHO.
Oh yeah. My friend just got me the entire set of the old school LucasArts games, including gems like S&M, Full Throttle, MI 1 & 2, Indiana Jones and The Fate of Atlantis and can’t remember what else is on it. Oh right. Loom and The Dig.
I’ll give IP another shot when I go home. I still haven’t snatched up a copy of Broken Sword 4. I got the first two Broken Sword games for a real bargain from the bargain bin. I’ve played them long ago, but I got the these for the sake of having actual, original copies (re-released, tho’).
Dang, I didn’t know you guys are into AG. Most people I know are more into FPS and RPG. They keep telling me AGs are dead.
Ever played Grim Fandango and The Last Express?
I played Grim Fandango . In fact , i have it with me now in Moscow .
To be honest , when the game was out a decade ago , i couldnt get thru the 2nd stage . Completed the game though a few years ago . The puzzles in the game are not meant for 12 and below , preach to that !
Besides the point , are you guys having a debate here in HypoG’s zone ?
VK@Dr|ftking
No new posts?
Say, I heard TLJ was better, but both were good (according to my brother)
What’s with all these old games man. You want classics, then please try Fallout 1 & 2. You’re forewarned not to whine about it’s interface, combat, or graphics.
Btw, how’s jade empire? Anywhere like NVN1 or KOTOR?