Crackdown 2
Passed the Crackdown 2 today, which was about as aggravating as the ending of the original. I will not go into detail, but let’s just say, “What?” So now I have the decision to make to return it and get something else or hang onto it and try to grab a few more achievements. I’m having no luck with the stunt rings, so not sure about that.
Also, I was running around town, getting shit done, and I leap onto a house. The crowd of stupid citizens see me, and one of them shouts, “Can you see my house from there?” This was really clever of them, adding the most hated line from the original and throwing it in as a less-than-obvious easter egg. Good work, gentlemen.
Showing posts with label Crackdown 2. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Crackdown 2. Show all posts
What I Played Today: February 6
Costume Quest, Crackdown 2, Dominion
I have finally gotten over my anger at the game-breaking bug in Costume Quest and am back at the place I was before. The French Fry suit now works exactly like it’s supposed to, and I got my costume back from the creepy crows. I also found out that the mysterious elements that have happened so far were caused by this one guy, who takes all the credit and demands that we take care of the big bad, despite the fact that he is obviously more powerful than three kids. There are some antics involving a cannon, and then I stopped playing because I was done. I do like the monster designs of the new enemies though, the crows. They look really interesting.
I’m at the last beacon drop in Crackdown 2, having done all the main quests and just cleaning up. The last level is really hard because there are a lot of enemies running around and they are sending giant freaks to slam the beacon every minute and a half. It’s terrible. I almost passed it once, but fell down and got hit but some jerk, killing me while the beacon was at 90% power. I’ll get you yet, you freaks.
The game is also doing that thing where it’s playing that the people you’ve been fighting the entire time are good guys, which would be alright if it didn’t steal all the page notes from Bioshock (audio logs, communication interference, etc.) and if we didn’t remember the end of the last game. We know that the Agency is unambiguously totalitarian (at least, I assume we know that. Sequels are meant to build on the first game, correct? I’ve always assumed that a sequel supposes you have all the relevant plot info from the previous. I think that might be a topic for discussion). So the fact that we’re doing their dirty work again has been perfectly reasonable to me because there is absolutely nothing good about zombies. Of course I want to destroy these zombies, and while the method may (definitely) have ulterior motives, Cell sure hasn’t produced a better method, and things have gone completely tits up. It would be irresponsible to not detonate the beacons, and the half-hearted “Don’t do this despite the fact I’m not explaining why you shouldn’t” from the rebel leader just didn’t play. Plus, if I fail to detonate the last beacon, I’m never going to know what happens. My fate is kinda sealed here.
Oh, and I figured out how to get up the big tower downtown (it wasn’t easy), and spent maybe two hours trying to unlock a specific gun and failing miserably. I kept trying to find it among the ruins of each strategic location and always just missed the chance to pick it up. But I got it, which felt like a real achievement.
I also played a couple games of Dominion, which I kicked butt at. The first game was pretty standard, where I pulled ahead by the virtue of choosing to use the contraband to buy 3 duchies when the province was locked to me. The second game I used the trading post and loan to kick all the cooper out of my deck and quickly ramp to buying platinum every turn, every so often expanding to upgrade to the next coin level. The streamlined deck soon saw me buying a colony every turn, and I won easily, even as my opponent used expand to tear his deck apart to grab whatever victory cards he could.
I have finally gotten over my anger at the game-breaking bug in Costume Quest and am back at the place I was before. The French Fry suit now works exactly like it’s supposed to, and I got my costume back from the creepy crows. I also found out that the mysterious elements that have happened so far were caused by this one guy, who takes all the credit and demands that we take care of the big bad, despite the fact that he is obviously more powerful than three kids. There are some antics involving a cannon, and then I stopped playing because I was done. I do like the monster designs of the new enemies though, the crows. They look really interesting.
I’m at the last beacon drop in Crackdown 2, having done all the main quests and just cleaning up. The last level is really hard because there are a lot of enemies running around and they are sending giant freaks to slam the beacon every minute and a half. It’s terrible. I almost passed it once, but fell down and got hit but some jerk, killing me while the beacon was at 90% power. I’ll get you yet, you freaks.
The game is also doing that thing where it’s playing that the people you’ve been fighting the entire time are good guys, which would be alright if it didn’t steal all the page notes from Bioshock (audio logs, communication interference, etc.) and if we didn’t remember the end of the last game. We know that the Agency is unambiguously totalitarian (at least, I assume we know that. Sequels are meant to build on the first game, correct? I’ve always assumed that a sequel supposes you have all the relevant plot info from the previous. I think that might be a topic for discussion). So the fact that we’re doing their dirty work again has been perfectly reasonable to me because there is absolutely nothing good about zombies. Of course I want to destroy these zombies, and while the method may (definitely) have ulterior motives, Cell sure hasn’t produced a better method, and things have gone completely tits up. It would be irresponsible to not detonate the beacons, and the half-hearted “Don’t do this despite the fact I’m not explaining why you shouldn’t” from the rebel leader just didn’t play. Plus, if I fail to detonate the last beacon, I’m never going to know what happens. My fate is kinda sealed here.
Oh, and I figured out how to get up the big tower downtown (it wasn’t easy), and spent maybe two hours trying to unlock a specific gun and failing miserably. I kept trying to find it among the ruins of each strategic location and always just missed the chance to pick it up. But I got it, which felt like a real achievement.
I also played a couple games of Dominion, which I kicked butt at. The first game was pretty standard, where I pulled ahead by the virtue of choosing to use the contraband to buy 3 duchies when the province was locked to me. The second game I used the trading post and loan to kick all the cooper out of my deck and quickly ramp to buying platinum every turn, every so often expanding to upgrade to the next coin level. The streamlined deck soon saw me buying a colony every turn, and I won easily, even as my opponent used expand to tear his deck apart to grab whatever victory cards he could.
What I Played Today: February 5
Crackdown 2, Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness, AaaaaAAaa…!!!
I got a ways in Crackdown 2 today, getting to the big islands with the tall buildings. The terrorists have really stepped up their game, with heavily armored juggernauts walking around with turret machine guns and rocket launchers. It’s kinda terrifying, and I got frustrated because I kept getting knocked around by these groups, but eventually I figured out I could just take one of the turret guns and mow down the jerks that way. I’m also finally up to full jump, but the buildings are still ridiculously tall. The center tower is almost unscalable even now.
I lost some time on the island. My tomatoes are taking too long. Summer is nearly half over and I still don’t have any tomatoes yet. It’s a bit obnoxious.
I also played AaaaaAAaa…!!! (name truncated) It’s a first-person base jumping game, in which the point is to jump off a building, fall past some buildings, and land safely on the ground after deploying your parachute blades. The game forgoes realism for crazy town, as all the buildings are floating suspended in the air. I keep breaking my neck because I haven’t quite figured out how the parachute works. But it’s pretty fun and a bit silly; the interface really lays on the kooky, with lots of colors and a weird cube grid for level selection. But it’s a pretty neat idea, a game in which the only point is to fall with style.
I got a ways in Crackdown 2 today, getting to the big islands with the tall buildings. The terrorists have really stepped up their game, with heavily armored juggernauts walking around with turret machine guns and rocket launchers. It’s kinda terrifying, and I got frustrated because I kept getting knocked around by these groups, but eventually I figured out I could just take one of the turret guns and mow down the jerks that way. I’m also finally up to full jump, but the buildings are still ridiculously tall. The center tower is almost unscalable even now.
I lost some time on the island. My tomatoes are taking too long. Summer is nearly half over and I still don’t have any tomatoes yet. It’s a bit obnoxious.
I also played AaaaaAAaa…!!! (name truncated) It’s a first-person base jumping game, in which the point is to jump off a building, fall past some buildings, and land safely on the ground after deploying your parachute blades. The game forgoes realism for crazy town, as all the buildings are floating suspended in the air. I keep breaking my neck because I haven’t quite figured out how the parachute works. But it’s pretty fun and a bit silly; the interface really lays on the kooky, with lots of colors and a weird cube grid for level selection. But it’s a pretty neat idea, a game in which the only point is to fall with style.
What I Played Today: February 4
Puzzle Strike, London, Crackdown 2
A new game on the table today, London, a name which you think would already be taken. In this game, you are playing cards into your tableau while trying to score the most victory points, and balance the fact that every time you use your cards, you also take some poverty tokens, which can become negative points if you hang onto it too long. It’s the pressure of trying to utilize the best cards while preventing yourself from having too much going on so you’re not buried by negative points. I lost because I was trying to keep a low poverty count and so didn’t overstretch my tableau, but didn’t actually do enough to get points on the table. An interesting part is that it’s hard to track who is winning, because you can buried cards that are worth points to you under others. Each card is also only usable once, which is definitely interesting. Lots of give and take, this game.
I lost another round of Puzzle Strike. Not really sure what I did wrong, just got rolled by Big Rocks.
And then I played a lot of Crackdown 2, jumping about and kicking ass. I got through a few beacons, getting to the next island. One really interesting bit was how much processor power they put into something I’m going to avoid like the plague; I roll into the quarry and see maybe 200-250 freaks just standing around and my first thought is “Holy shit.” That’s a good reaction. There was also a really goofy bit where I turn on one of the light shooty things and it gets blocked by a big panel. The man with the voice FREAKS OUT and says to take care of it, I find the panel and shoot it up and then he says, “This was not put here by accident! Cell did this!” Well, of course Cell is behind it. They don’t want us to do what I’m doing. They are going to try to stop me. Come on!
A new game on the table today, London, a name which you think would already be taken. In this game, you are playing cards into your tableau while trying to score the most victory points, and balance the fact that every time you use your cards, you also take some poverty tokens, which can become negative points if you hang onto it too long. It’s the pressure of trying to utilize the best cards while preventing yourself from having too much going on so you’re not buried by negative points. I lost because I was trying to keep a low poverty count and so didn’t overstretch my tableau, but didn’t actually do enough to get points on the table. An interesting part is that it’s hard to track who is winning, because you can buried cards that are worth points to you under others. Each card is also only usable once, which is definitely interesting. Lots of give and take, this game.
I lost another round of Puzzle Strike. Not really sure what I did wrong, just got rolled by Big Rocks.
And then I played a lot of Crackdown 2, jumping about and kicking ass. I got through a few beacons, getting to the next island. One really interesting bit was how much processor power they put into something I’m going to avoid like the plague; I roll into the quarry and see maybe 200-250 freaks just standing around and my first thought is “Holy shit.” That’s a good reaction. There was also a really goofy bit where I turn on one of the light shooty things and it gets blocked by a big panel. The man with the voice FREAKS OUT and says to take care of it, I find the panel and shoot it up and then he says, “This was not put here by accident! Cell did this!” Well, of course Cell is behind it. They don’t want us to do what I’m doing. They are going to try to stop me. Come on!
What I Played Today: February 3
Crackdown 2
I had been sitting on this one for a while, because I was laboring under the assumption that it was not good, due to the excitement of it before it came out and the horrible media vacuum that occurred right after release. Nobody has been talking about this game, so my assumption was that it was a piece of crap.
Upon examination though…it’s not bad. It’s very similar to the first one, which I guess is to be expected. You are a super-solder/asshole who goes around murdering criminals because some guy with a smooth voice told you to. The game changes with the criminals in this case being a group of terrorists who oppose the totalitarian agency by shutting down all their useful facilities and a bunch of undead who are apparently so out of control that they need to be nuked by light bombs. Two distinct groups, one active in the daytime, one active at night. Interesting if a bit boring dynamic.
And I must say, I do not get these terrorists. The city is being overrun by hordes of terror monsters at night, and your first instinct is to take over and shut down the Agency buildings that are specifically designed to combat and destroy these monsters? I understand your hesitance to let the Agency do whatever it wants, but seriously. These monsters are a much worse problem than the rampant violence of gangs that we previously saw. Just because Mr. Fine Voice gave an evil chuckle at the end of the first game doesn’t mean you need to overreact to this degree.
The game plays exactly like you think. Go to point A, KILL EVERYONE, move on to point B until game is over, occasionally stopping to pick up an orb or go on a race. I was actually mad at the opening scrawl, demanding that it “get on with it!” It’s Crackdown, baby. The first true king of the 360, and we know how to play already. Just let us go at it. But it eventually lets go of the reins and let’s you burst out, doing whatever you need to do. And so far, I’m doing it.
I had been sitting on this one for a while, because I was laboring under the assumption that it was not good, due to the excitement of it before it came out and the horrible media vacuum that occurred right after release. Nobody has been talking about this game, so my assumption was that it was a piece of crap.
Upon examination though…it’s not bad. It’s very similar to the first one, which I guess is to be expected. You are a super-solder/asshole who goes around murdering criminals because some guy with a smooth voice told you to. The game changes with the criminals in this case being a group of terrorists who oppose the totalitarian agency by shutting down all their useful facilities and a bunch of undead who are apparently so out of control that they need to be nuked by light bombs. Two distinct groups, one active in the daytime, one active at night. Interesting if a bit boring dynamic.
And I must say, I do not get these terrorists. The city is being overrun by hordes of terror monsters at night, and your first instinct is to take over and shut down the Agency buildings that are specifically designed to combat and destroy these monsters? I understand your hesitance to let the Agency do whatever it wants, but seriously. These monsters are a much worse problem than the rampant violence of gangs that we previously saw. Just because Mr. Fine Voice gave an evil chuckle at the end of the first game doesn’t mean you need to overreact to this degree.
The game plays exactly like you think. Go to point A, KILL EVERYONE, move on to point B until game is over, occasionally stopping to pick up an orb or go on a race. I was actually mad at the opening scrawl, demanding that it “get on with it!” It’s Crackdown, baby. The first true king of the 360, and we know how to play already. Just let us go at it. But it eventually lets go of the reins and let’s you burst out, doing whatever you need to do. And so far, I’m doing it.
What I Played Today: March 27
Crackdown II, Starcraft II, Mafia II, Picross 3D, Puzzle Quest 2, Dungeons and Dragons
I got some early time on the PAX floor today, got a chance to try out some games that I wouldn't have otherwise, on account of me not wanting to wait in line. I played in a short rocket tag version of Crackdown II, losing miserably, but it looks as good as before and while the controls are a bit stiff, I'm sure they'll perform better once my fingers have readjusted.
I played Starcraft II for about 10 minutes, getting a feel for the new system. It behaves a lot like the old system, only with different units and vastly improved graphics. Everything is crisp and updated, and some of the new units, like the Thor, a giant mech piloted by Arnold Swarchenegger, are just awesome.
I wanted to see the presentation of Civilization V (looks great!) but I had a moment to kill so I tried Mafia II in the same booth. Man it looks like a stinker. It's a sandbox game where you're playing a mafioso in the 50's. The setting is the only part that really impressed me, the rest was just dull. They had me handing cigarettes to an dude as part of a mission. Woopie. I also got into a fistfight with an Asian for no discernable reason.
I'm apparently a big dumbie, and have been looking for a game in stores that isn't even out yet, Picross 3D. It was on the floor, and I got about 15 seconds with it before the game froze. Ack. Looks about as promising as I imagined though.
Also spent a fair amount of time observing the new Puzzle Quest 2, due out sometime in the next couple of months. My first thought is how much better the graphics are; they completely renovated the design, and it's a bit more dark and edgey and less middle-school margin doodling. The new adjustments to game play also seem to help ensure the games don't drag forever, and have a much more down to earth adventurer feel, with the world map being a few towns and wilderness instead of an entire continent. I'm looking forward to this one.
I had very little success playing a board game today, but I did finally get to run the DM Challenge scenario that I have been preparing for what feels like forever. It went well, I thought, as I hosted a group who were all pretty familiar with each other. There were a lot of things that I could have done to make the game run more smoothly, and I feel dumb for forgetting them. The party also had a lot of terrible rolls, which even lead to one of them dying, a first for me in 4th edition. I took it real easy for the final encounter, and they mopped it up after the disappointing and long slaughter floor encounter before that. I think it went well...I'll see tomorrow how close I came to winning. I'm not expecting much.
More tomorrow...hoping to play more board games.
I got some early time on the PAX floor today, got a chance to try out some games that I wouldn't have otherwise, on account of me not wanting to wait in line. I played in a short rocket tag version of Crackdown II, losing miserably, but it looks as good as before and while the controls are a bit stiff, I'm sure they'll perform better once my fingers have readjusted.
I played Starcraft II for about 10 minutes, getting a feel for the new system. It behaves a lot like the old system, only with different units and vastly improved graphics. Everything is crisp and updated, and some of the new units, like the Thor, a giant mech piloted by Arnold Swarchenegger, are just awesome.
I wanted to see the presentation of Civilization V (looks great!) but I had a moment to kill so I tried Mafia II in the same booth. Man it looks like a stinker. It's a sandbox game where you're playing a mafioso in the 50's. The setting is the only part that really impressed me, the rest was just dull. They had me handing cigarettes to an dude as part of a mission. Woopie. I also got into a fistfight with an Asian for no discernable reason.
I'm apparently a big dumbie, and have been looking for a game in stores that isn't even out yet, Picross 3D. It was on the floor, and I got about 15 seconds with it before the game froze. Ack. Looks about as promising as I imagined though.
Also spent a fair amount of time observing the new Puzzle Quest 2, due out sometime in the next couple of months. My first thought is how much better the graphics are; they completely renovated the design, and it's a bit more dark and edgey and less middle-school margin doodling. The new adjustments to game play also seem to help ensure the games don't drag forever, and have a much more down to earth adventurer feel, with the world map being a few towns and wilderness instead of an entire continent. I'm looking forward to this one.
I had very little success playing a board game today, but I did finally get to run the DM Challenge scenario that I have been preparing for what feels like forever. It went well, I thought, as I hosted a group who were all pretty familiar with each other. There were a lot of things that I could have done to make the game run more smoothly, and I feel dumb for forgetting them. The party also had a lot of terrible rolls, which even lead to one of them dying, a first for me in 4th edition. I took it real easy for the final encounter, and they mopped it up after the disappointing and long slaughter floor encounter before that. I think it went well...I'll see tomorrow how close I came to winning. I'm not expecting much.
More tomorrow...hoping to play more board games.
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