My Favorite Moments In Gaming - Monkey Island

I'll start this section with a very early memory. It goes back to elementary school when me and my best friend since kindergarten spent all the time we were allowed to (and some more) in front of my friends computer. He had an older brother and probably because of this access to "Monkey Island". When I walked the 3-minute walk from my house to his after finishing my homework, I feverishly looked forward to spending the afternoon figuring out what Guybrush needed to do.

We both were 4 years old when the game came out, so we didn't quite play it upon release. I can't remember exactly how old we were when we played it for the first time, but I can narrow it down between 7 and 10. For me the magic already started, when we had to combine the pirate-heads in order to start the game. I thought it was awesome and already felt like an adventurer before even playing. It was the first riddle to solve and it was real! And you could combine those faces in the most hilarious ways!

But why was this game so much fun for me even though I only sat there, next to my best friend and watched him play it?

"Read On" to find out!

Review - Shadow of the Colossus 3D

Seeing as the game has already been out for more than six years, I won't be doing a standard review. Instead I will be focusing on how the 3D is implemented in the re-released HD-Version for the PS3.

I can't ignore everything else and not talk about the game, though. So I'll start with two short paragraphs on the more standard stuff and then talk about 3D.

The game starts with some quite extensive intro cinematics. I have to admit, after sitting through those minutes of having nothing to do, I started to think about if this was my kind of game. I had read a great many extremely praising reviews and had wanted to try it out for a really long time. The only thing that kept me from playing it when it came out for the PS3 last september was that my gaming-schedule was completely full. But in those first minutes I kind of feared that it would be too much of an eastern RPG-kind of game for me. Somehow I never really acquired a taste for those. "Read On" to find out how fast my fears vanished.

Trailer of the Week - Max Payne 3

I didn't post a trailer last weekend. I honestly spent hours searching for one that I liked, but I just couldn't find one. This week was easy again:

Just kidding. Though this allows me to refer to a trailer that's quite alright but wasn't able to reach the top because of the steep competition: Far Cry 3. (Edit: Here's some Far Cry 3 gameplay)

This weeks winner is Max Payne 3. Although I don't know if I like the direction they seem to be taking with the game (it doesn't seem to be that "noir" anymore) the trailer does a few things right.

Mirrors Edge Playthrough - As Peaceful As Possible

I just finished my second playthrough of Mirrors Edge. I was inspired to blow the dust off this game because of an article in the Wall Street Journal about people playing games without killing enemies (I wrote a short post about it here). Mirrors Edge is one of the few games I know that are designed to be played like this. In my opinion the weapons in this game are only for impatient people. Sure you have to hit those fuckers all the time, so "peaceful" probably isn't exactly the right word for it. But then again, they are shooting at you, so it could be self-defense.

The player is encouraged not to shoot the guards (see top right). This was taken seconds before I finished the game.

I did die quite often and I had to try certain levels many, many times until I managed to knock down that red door without shooting a gun, but I did it! And it was worth it! Finally reaching the end of a level after being stuck seemingly for hours, even doubting that it is possible not to kill those guys is just great. It reminded me of Demon's Souls - believe it or not. This feeling of accomplishment after landing that impossible stunt or getting through those guards is something many games lack nowadays.

In A Land Before Time - An Old Minecraft-Thread

I had to catch up with my Google Reader today because I didn't have time for it on sunday and yesterday. I HAVE to cut down on my feeds but I also don't want to miss all those interesting posts. At the moment I'm getting 200 - 300 posts a day. 1/3 of them I want to read.

Well, anyhow, that was the reason that I just now stumbled upon an amazing post on Kotaku that shared a link to an ancient Minecraft thread. To read this warms my heart. It was started on May 17th, 2009.

I myself obviously was kind of a late adopter. I searched my inbox for "minecraft" just now and I built the first thing in the free Creative Mode in my Browser on October 25th, 2010. I know that because I proudly built my brothers name with coloured wool blocks and then tried to show it to him. On November 2nd, 2010 I bought my first copy of the game (I proceeded to buy copies for both of my brothers later on). I don't want to know how much time I've spent with it since then, but it certainly is a huge amount.

I've played countless hours of singleplayer and multiplayer. I've replaced the top of a mountain with glass, so that my roof still has the shape of the mountain (Probably my most mind-numbing project in singleplayer, but I absolutely wanted to see what it would look like. At the moment, it looks like this).

I've built huge underwater-tunnels with my brothers, gone treasure hunting with them, built villages with friends, built a colloseum and vast tunnel systems. And much more.

I've also spent much time watching videos of people playing minecraft. For a period of time I've enjoyed this even more than playing the game. Minecraft probably was my substitute drug after quitting World of Warcraft. And there couldn't have been a better one.

Minecraft allowed me to create something, instead of doing daily quest after daily quest. It allowed me to set my own goals, write my own story, instead of following a prescribed line. It allowed me to be active, to completely design my experience of the game in a way that I liked. I also have quite a lot of fond memories of my time playing World of Warcraft, but I think Minecraft was a healthy way to go.

Because it also showed me what one man (and a pretty nice man, too!) with a vision can do. Now I just have to put that knowledge into action...

Trailer of the Week - Aliens Colonial Marines

I have to admit, this one isn't as awesome as the Witcher-Trailer last week, but that was also one of my all-time-favorites. Its hard to match something like that.

What I liked about this weeks trailer is how they used the holes created by the aliens acidic blood that ate itself through the floors as some kind of inherent way of montage. It allowed them to show different perspectives that add to the feeling of looming danger. All this is happening at the same time, those crawling aliens will soon devour the marines that we saw one floor up. But the trailer doesn't let itself get carried away by all this fighting. It manages to set a calm, emotional mood by using slow motion and of course through the music.



Obviously it's at least inspired by the Dead Island Trailer (intense fighting - check; emotional music - check; slow motion - check), but it's still well done and has some own ideas, so I think that's ok.

If you want to see some gameplay, you can find it here. I'm not sure what to expect. To be honest I wasn't exactly blown away by the actual game - above all the aliens just seem too weak to me. But the idea to play in this world - with up to 3 friends as well - seems pretty nice. I watched Alien³ and Alien: Resurrection last weekend with my roommate so I'm still pretty much into this universe. Probably added more to me liking the trailer than I want to admit.

Skyrim Creation Kit Let's You Do Whatever The Hell You Want

I just watched the preview of the Skyrim Creation Kit on Kotaku. My mouth is overflowing with saliva right now. If it's only half as good as this sounds, the Kit probably will make Skyrim a neverending ride of joy.

I imagine myself at 68, first day of old-age-pension. My most prominent thought probably will be:

"Finally time to play all those Skyrim mods!"

As a wannabe-writer I'm actually most psyched about the fact that it seems to let you design your own quests and stories. I'll definitely give that a try!



Also, the steam-integration looks really neat.

Being A Pacifist In Videogames...

...is hard! But people try. And the Wall Street Journal writes about it. It's an interesting read. To get into the right mood click play:



And then go to the WSJ-article in a new tab.

You can find the Uncharted 3 video he mentioned but apparently forgot to link after the jump.

A New Humble Bundle - Now With Android!

There is a new Humble Bundle!

If you don't know what that is, that's punishment enough, I won't be mean.

It's a pay-what-you-want service that offers mostly awesome games for any price you want. And this time, the games seem to be simultaneously extremely awesome and AVAILABLE FOR ANDROID!! You also get Steam-Keys for all the games and they are available for Windows, Mac and Linux as well.



I already played through Osmos and World of Goo on my PC (and I LOVED both of them), but I'm very interested in how they play on my cellphone. I have the Edge-Demo installed and would probably have bought the game, hadn't I become addicted to Tiny Tower in a way that it got to be the only game I played on my Galaxy S2 for a long period of time. I'm just now starting to play other games again. What perfect timing! Anomaly I don't know, but it seems to be something like Atom Zombie Smasher (which I got through a previous Humble Bundle). But I don't really know. I'm excited to find out though!

I would highly recommend to pay more than the average price. If you don't, you won't get World of Goo. Also the past bundles were all updated with additional stuff for those who paid more than average. And the games are well worth it! And it supports charity (if you want)!

You can purchase it here. What are you waiting for?

I Watched A Child Molester Play Minecraft

Back in the day when I was still going to university and also deep into minecraft (i.e. not even a year ago - time moves fast), I spent lots and lots of time watching Let's Plays. My favorite by far was "X's Adventures in Minecraft". But at some point of time I had burned through all his videos and he had stopped making new ones. So I plunged into the minecraft forums to find me a new X. There was a thread solely devoted to list all the good Let's Plays (unfortunately, I can't find it right now) and of course I went for the one with the most clips. His YouTube-channel was called quickshot14. I don't remember precisely, but I think he already had over 200 videos when I joined him on his journeys.

What I used to do when classes didn't start until late afternoon (I always tried to choose them this way) was stay up til around 4 or 5am and then sleep until 10 or 11m. Those were the six hours of sleep I needed. Then I treated myself with a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereals, sat in front of my computer and fired up the YouTube. At this point in time I definitely spent more time watching minecraft videos than playing the game (this was before I managed to convince my brothers to give it a try). Most of the minecraft videos on quickshot's channel are about 15 minutes long and most of the time, I couldn't bring myself to stop after only one. To be honest, I often watched several hours at a time. These long sessions happened mostly at night though.

Trailer Of The Week - The Witcher 2: Enhanced Edition

I'll try something new: the Trailer of the Week

This might be one of the most awesome trailers ever. The animation is unbelievable, the setting introduces the world in The Witcher 2  in an extremely entertaining way and the story excites as much as that you would like to know what this assassination was all about.



I at least already visited the Good Old Games Website several times end every time hardly was able to pull myself together and not buy the game. I'm still playing Skyrim you know. Perhaps I will buy it eventually, it's only $33.99 (€25.99) until February 8th.

If your internet connection plays along I would highly recommend the 1080p-Version.

Indie Game - The Fourth Wall

Wow!

I just had one of the most awesome gaming-experiences of the last weeks. And free. Just like that. Without warning. But then - I had a small warning:

"Oh, look, you just have to play it to understand. It's free, and it's utterly brilliant." I read on Rock, Paper Shotgun after I had hurriedly scrolled through this post. So I downloaded it. Impressive 88 MB for a small game. And started it.

It's not possible to not-explain something better.

While I was still thinking about what this could have to do with film theory the music started. The sound! You just can't make it more full of atmosphere. Gentle bell-like sounds, thunderstorm. It swallowed me right up.

Then the Tutorial. Or rather the not-tutorial. Almost nothing is explained, you have to find out everything (besides the keyboard layout) by yourself. But you don't get stuck nontheless. It's thoroughly thought through. And all the time you have little epiphanies.

Really, please just try it yourself! It's available for download here.

Game Trailer - Resident Evil 6

There is a trailer for Resident Evil 6. It looks mediocre in my opinion but the graphics seem quite cranked up compared to part 5. It even seems to me as if there are some gameplay-sequences included. That's how I like it! What I couldn't figure out jet is if you will be able to walk while aiming. That was something that really impaired my enjoyment of RE 5.

Read on to watch the trailer.