Sam & Max, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, Red Dead Redemption
A quiet day to start off the new year, in which I finished up the Sam and Max: Season One series, and some more games for an audience.
Sam and Max was alright, with a few major deficiencies. Things were going well once I cheated and found out how exactly I needed to get the absolutely essential “bend things with your mind” talisman (oh man, so many steps), and there was a cutscene in which the bad guy enacted his evil plan and “destroyed” Max. I don’t know why they don’t include more cutscenes, because they do them very well. Then it was a simple matter of getting Max back together, which was easy until the last part, in which I had to apparently read the designer’s mind. It required me making the logical leap of assuming a) Max had access to something worth a hundred trillion dollars, b) that he would feed this object to a character who had been tied up in my closet since Episode 3, c) that I would need to actually interact with an object in the trophy room, something that I never had to do before. This was a bonkers assumption, almost as bad as “cat hair as a moustache,” and I would have never thought of that without cheating. The ending was also pretty darn silly. I haven’t like their ending puzzles, mainly because they usually exist in a vacuum and end pretty anti-climatically. They should really just use their cutscene powers and just make a good ending happen, instead of forcing me to figure out one final puzzle that ends up killing the tension. Still, a good job overall, and I can’t wait to see how they upped the ante in the second series.
Also more Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, I have all the abilities unlocked now, which means I get to poison people now, hurray. Although, moving straight from this game to Red Dead Redemption, which I did, caused a strange moment of paranoia, where I was terrified of having John Marston move at more than a crawl for fear of bounty hunters, which was completely uncalled for, and I finally broke free and started actually playing the game.
I hadn’t played for a while, having been fairly disenchanted by the constant back-and-forth loyalty seesaw that is the Mexico chapter, but I slogged through it here. Most of the time I was helping the damn Army, and I managed to clear out some of the hideouts that were giving me trouble last time I played. Overall I guess it went alright, everything was competent and I didn’t die for a really stupid reason. Well okay, at one point I lost the mission because some NPC I didn’t even know I was supposed to protect was shot, but it only happened once. Hopefully I’m nearing the end of this chain (I’m down to only one questgiver, the rest have fled to America) so that I can go back to the States again. Sorry Mexico, but you’re just large and boring.
Showing posts with label Sam and Max. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sam and Max. Show all posts
What I Played Today: December 8
Costume Quest, Sam and Max
Played a few dang games today, first some Costume Quest in the mall. Finally got the third party member, who you meet with little fanfare in a dark cave, and who joins the team just because. Gotta say, not a lot of motivation. But I did some trick or treating, and am back in the groove of killing monsters. With the third member it definitely becomes easier, as I can complete fights without taking any real damage now, but the fights are now more frequent, which make them a bit annoying. I don’t know.
Also played some Sam and Max, deciding to finally finish up that last chapter of Season One. This one has a lot of callbacks to previous episodes, including to NPCs that I barely remember, and right now I’m currently at the point of the game where what I’m up to doesn’t make any sense. I know I need to use Cybil somehow, but she is currently the queen of Canada, so I don’t even know what, and Bosco wants a hundred trillion dollars for the thing he’s selling, so I don’t even know how to get ahold of that. I do love his rationale for asking though, “Man, all I know is that I keep asking for some extreme amount, and you keep getting it to me.” I also have an eyeball that will let me see through lead, and an amulet that will make someone throw up. So, yeah! Pretty lost!
Played a few dang games today, first some Costume Quest in the mall. Finally got the third party member, who you meet with little fanfare in a dark cave, and who joins the team just because. Gotta say, not a lot of motivation. But I did some trick or treating, and am back in the groove of killing monsters. With the third member it definitely becomes easier, as I can complete fights without taking any real damage now, but the fights are now more frequent, which make them a bit annoying. I don’t know.
Also played some Sam and Max, deciding to finally finish up that last chapter of Season One. This one has a lot of callbacks to previous episodes, including to NPCs that I barely remember, and right now I’m currently at the point of the game where what I’m up to doesn’t make any sense. I know I need to use Cybil somehow, but she is currently the queen of Canada, so I don’t even know what, and Bosco wants a hundred trillion dollars for the thing he’s selling, so I don’t even know how to get ahold of that. I do love his rationale for asking though, “Man, all I know is that I keep asking for some extreme amount, and you keep getting it to me.” I also have an eyeball that will let me see through lead, and an amulet that will make someone throw up. So, yeah! Pretty lost!
What I Played Today: October 2
Sam and Max: Reality 2.0, Space Hulk: Death Angel, Castle Ravenloft, Neuroshima Hex
Finished up the next episode of Sam and Max. It has a solid middle, but the final part of the game takes place in a callback situation, which was a neat bonus, but not exactly the most exciting conclusion. Still, I look forward to completing the season soon.
Also did some two-player gaming tonight. Space Hulk: Death Angel hit the table, and it went really well. Well, in terms of the game being intense…we didn’t win, but we were three good die rolls away from it. The game is vicious, but we saw some interesting cards and it was pretty tense. Of course, Wolverine continued to rock the joint, although his brazen attacks got him killed…twice. But I think the game went well, although I did take a bit too much control of the game.
Then it was into the Castle Ravenloft, as we chose to fight the Frankenstein, in which you can defeat him by either killing him, or pacifying him by showing him some random objects. We collected the items we needed quickly, and although we constantly got the strongest monsters, the Lance of Faith from the cleric and having the Holy Avenger made him a powerhouse. We got lucky with the items (“Show him some fire! That will soothe the savage beast!”) and we won with one healing surge left. I also like the Frankenstein’s abilities…he works to try to get to the entrance instead of concentrating on the players, and if he gets there, he deals damage to players every turn, which is a neat mechanic. Our Frankenstein didn’t make it too far before we calmed him down.
Then a light game of Neuroshima Hex, in which I was doing so well before my army ran out of steam and collapsed. It’s interesting what can happen based on how your “deck” is shuffled, and while I got a lot of strong focus early on, eventually attrition took out the forces I needed to get the job done, and got taken out by the very powerful net men that my opponent had. I also just really like the mechanic where you are forced to sacrifice some of your forces each turn…so that there is some variety even though the armies are set.
Finished up the next episode of Sam and Max. It has a solid middle, but the final part of the game takes place in a callback situation, which was a neat bonus, but not exactly the most exciting conclusion. Still, I look forward to completing the season soon.
Also did some two-player gaming tonight. Space Hulk: Death Angel hit the table, and it went really well. Well, in terms of the game being intense…we didn’t win, but we were three good die rolls away from it. The game is vicious, but we saw some interesting cards and it was pretty tense. Of course, Wolverine continued to rock the joint, although his brazen attacks got him killed…twice. But I think the game went well, although I did take a bit too much control of the game.
Then it was into the Castle Ravenloft, as we chose to fight the Frankenstein, in which you can defeat him by either killing him, or pacifying him by showing him some random objects. We collected the items we needed quickly, and although we constantly got the strongest monsters, the Lance of Faith from the cleric and having the Holy Avenger made him a powerhouse. We got lucky with the items (“Show him some fire! That will soothe the savage beast!”) and we won with one healing surge left. I also like the Frankenstein’s abilities…he works to try to get to the entrance instead of concentrating on the players, and if he gets there, he deals damage to players every turn, which is a neat mechanic. Our Frankenstein didn’t make it too far before we calmed him down.
Then a light game of Neuroshima Hex, in which I was doing so well before my army ran out of steam and collapsed. It’s interesting what can happen based on how your “deck” is shuffled, and while I got a lot of strong focus early on, eventually attrition took out the forces I needed to get the job done, and got taken out by the very powerful net men that my opponent had. I also just really like the mechanic where you are forced to sacrifice some of your forces each turn…so that there is some variety even though the armies are set.
What I Played Today: September 29
Sam and Max: Reality 2.0
Moving on to the next Sam and Max, and it continues to live up to the fine standard I was expecting. One thing that I noticed with the title sequence is that the Presidential seal was now on the main character’s DeSoto and I thought, “Holy crap, Max is still president. That is some dedication to story.” I mean, sure, it is an episodic game, so they have complete control of what happens before and after, but most sitcoms don’t pay attention to continuity as well as this game.
The first action you have to take in the game to actually make it go was not intuitive at all, which is a mark against it, because I was so used to the adventure game foreshadowing actions I would need to take later in the game in this small region I start in that I never considered I would have to do something here. And there’s a timing window too for this action, a pretty short one, so that sucks. But eventually I found out how to do it (I cheated) and moved on with the game, and got to move on.
You know how I mentioned that there was a fabulous, out-of-nowhere musical number in the previous installment. Well, this game has provides you with an absolutely awful musical number, and then allowed you the option to keep subjecting yourself to it in hopes that it’ll improve or matter (it doesn’t), much to the NPCs consternation. It’s a clever trick that managed to suck away five minutes of my time.
And then I went into the Internet! Which is pretty neat, I like the aesthetics of this level, and how it mirrors the real world but makes everything digitized. I know, not super-original, but when you’ve been looking at the same setting for five games now, it’s cool when they change it up. Still have to figure what I’m supposed to do though...but at least the puzzles seem less archaic.
Moving on to the next Sam and Max, and it continues to live up to the fine standard I was expecting. One thing that I noticed with the title sequence is that the Presidential seal was now on the main character’s DeSoto and I thought, “Holy crap, Max is still president. That is some dedication to story.” I mean, sure, it is an episodic game, so they have complete control of what happens before and after, but most sitcoms don’t pay attention to continuity as well as this game.
The first action you have to take in the game to actually make it go was not intuitive at all, which is a mark against it, because I was so used to the adventure game foreshadowing actions I would need to take later in the game in this small region I start in that I never considered I would have to do something here. And there’s a timing window too for this action, a pretty short one, so that sucks. But eventually I found out how to do it (I cheated) and moved on with the game, and got to move on.
You know how I mentioned that there was a fabulous, out-of-nowhere musical number in the previous installment. Well, this game has provides you with an absolutely awful musical number, and then allowed you the option to keep subjecting yourself to it in hopes that it’ll improve or matter (it doesn’t), much to the NPCs consternation. It’s a clever trick that managed to suck away five minutes of my time.
And then I went into the Internet! Which is pretty neat, I like the aesthetics of this level, and how it mirrors the real world but makes everything digitized. I know, not super-original, but when you’ve been looking at the same setting for five games now, it’s cool when they change it up. Still have to figure what I’m supposed to do though...but at least the puzzles seem less archaic.
What I Played Today: September 23
Sam and Max: Abe Lincoln Must Die
I had purchased a number of adventure games from Telltale at PAX, which I have not even cracked yet, because I haven’t even passed all the Telltale games I have! So, I played through the entirety of Sam and Max 104, in which some crazy stuff happens. Some awesome crazy stuff.
I really liked this one, and I don’t want to spoil the awesomest part, but let’s just saw near the end something comes completely out of left field and is completely great. Otherwise, the game unfolds under its own insane logic. The only part I didn’t like that much is there is one puzzle with a huge red herring that I couldn’t figure out how to work around, so I had to look up a hint. Apparently some object in the background was necessary, which I would have never thought to look at. I mean, that alley has been back there and useless for the last three games!
I also like the character of Sybil a lot, the fact that she constantly changes jobs, her general “let’s just give it a try” attitude, and the fact that she always seems to have something I need pretty much every time I play. In this one she plays a more proactive role, then mysteriously disappears after dropping off another MacGuffin. It’s kinda weird. Unfortunately, the goddamn child actors appear again. I hate these guys, they aren’t funny or interesting, and suddenly they are way too important and will not go away. I can’t wait until I get to Season 2, in hopes that I will not have to deal with goddamn Whizzer again.
But yes, this game was awesome and really funny. Go buy it. These guys need the money for single-handedly reviving the adventure genre.
I had purchased a number of adventure games from Telltale at PAX, which I have not even cracked yet, because I haven’t even passed all the Telltale games I have! So, I played through the entirety of Sam and Max 104, in which some crazy stuff happens. Some awesome crazy stuff.I really liked this one, and I don’t want to spoil the awesomest part, but let’s just saw near the end something comes completely out of left field and is completely great. Otherwise, the game unfolds under its own insane logic. The only part I didn’t like that much is there is one puzzle with a huge red herring that I couldn’t figure out how to work around, so I had to look up a hint. Apparently some object in the background was necessary, which I would have never thought to look at. I mean, that alley has been back there and useless for the last three games!
I also like the character of Sybil a lot, the fact that she constantly changes jobs, her general “let’s just give it a try” attitude, and the fact that she always seems to have something I need pretty much every time I play. In this one she plays a more proactive role, then mysteriously disappears after dropping off another MacGuffin. It’s kinda weird. Unfortunately, the goddamn child actors appear again. I hate these guys, they aren’t funny or interesting, and suddenly they are way too important and will not go away. I can’t wait until I get to Season 2, in hopes that I will not have to deal with goddamn Whizzer again.
But yes, this game was awesome and really funny. Go buy it. These guys need the money for single-handedly reviving the adventure genre.
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