September 2008 Archives

So, I've started school at CSULB. It's a good experience, much better than PCC! (of course, right?) While PCC is really awesome because its counsellors are on top of their game and the right faculty members are energetic teachers, the whole feel of the school is just very laid back and slow paced. I've heard everywhere that it's very easy to get lost in the, "PCC flow." It's like high school again, except without people pushing you along.

CSULB is different - there isn't anyone pushing you along anymore, but it's a university. It reminds me of what college life is supposed to be like, after so long away from UCI. Young and energetic, even the professors getting ready to retire are humorous and quirky, certainly from being around optimistic youth for so long.

Spore and Mercenaries 2 came out. Both published by EA. Mercenaries 2 held some promise simply because of the combination of an open sandbox world mixed with co-op play, but it runs like ass on my computer. The gameplay isn't blow-me-away great, but I actually think it's passable. The problem is that while Mercs 2 was a multi-platform release, it was mainly developed with consoles in mind. The engine isn't very tweakable for crappy systems like mine (though it's mainly an old gfx card), and the mouse is clunkier than a pillow made of Legos. Horizontal movement is slower than vertical movement, and the mouse can't be used to drive things. Also, they deemed it necessary to make the camera move *reaallly* slow whenever you're on a vehicle. It's almost as if they took the precision of the mouse input, and ground it through some crappy algorithm designed for thumbsticks, and reinterpreted that back into mouse movement.

Such is the case with all console-to-PC ports. And that's why they suck.

So, Mercenaries 2 isn't really worth playing in its current state. Bugs, annoying AI that repeats the same lines over and over, and a clunky Keyb/Mouse inter- OH! And that's the other thing! For mini-games that require button pressed, they chose to represent all of the buttons by icons representing the actions that they're tied to. So, instead of, "Right," it's an arrow pointing right. That's fine and good... but...

Then you get an icon that pops up that I've never seen in my life for the timing sequence. And ... well, I look in the keyboard commands to find it, and all the actions are listed out in text, instead of icons. So what do I do? Guess. Guess that this icon stands for, "Jump." Guess that this must be, "Punch," and this must be, "Use."

It'd be nice if their buttons were very intuitive, but with all the different functions in the game, and buttons that have multiple assigned functions, it's pretty difficult to guess what button is the right one. So, it becomes a contest of trial-and-error. Oh, also, they sometimes want you to mash a button. Except they don't tell you this. So I press the right button, and nothing happens. And then I get confused, and fail.

After learning this mini-game, it actually becomes a very simple yet entertaining way to hijack vehicles. Anyway, while I love Jennifer Hale's voice acting (mainly due to Mass Effect, but she's been everywhere - even Dr. Naomi from MGS), the game is flailing to impress and not succeeding. The saving grace may be co-op play, though. Mediocre games that I wouldn't touch with a 30 ft. pole become awesome gameplay experiences when a good friend is added into the mix.

Spore. This should get a higher score than GTA4. I've never played GTA4, so I'm just being an anti-Rockstar Games bigot right now. But I still stand by my statement, because in my opinion, GTA4 and Mercenaries 2 are actually the same game with different packaging. GTA4 must be nicer, but that's details.

Spore is just as fun to play as it is to watch. The oldschool can marvel at the awesome technology that goes into the game, in animating creatures procedurally and letting the player pretty much make their own character. Customizing the spine, body, limbs, and placing whatever you want just about wherever you want it is an amazing experience all in itself. An alien creature that you'd otherwise think of as being, "lame," in other games suddenly becomes extremely COOL, because you made it. From just about scratch.

It's got a 10+ age rating. From what I've seen, the game can actually be surprisingly brutal. The non-oldschool who don't give a diddly-crap about the cool technology and everything can still enjoy the game just as much. I can see this as being a great game to play on my own, with some friends watching, or as entertainment for a party with kids around. Fun for all ages without being lame for those who aren't too insecure about their maturity to play.

To clarify: Carebears and Spore are both cute. But one is badass, and the other... really isn't.

Looks like I'm going to move out in October. I need to wake up and break out of the haze that I've been in for the past few years.