I finally beat: Halo 3 ODST

Halo 3 ODST is the latest Halo game from Bungie.  Originally planned as DLC (that’s downloadable content for you greens), there’s enough spit and polish gone into this fine example of a game to push it into prime time status.  A full retail release.

It don’t hurt that it also includes a Halo 3 multiplayer disc. The full Halo 3 multiplayer suite as if you were playing the original and it’s fully backwards compatible. Anyone out there tho didn’t jump in on the original Halo 3’s “map packs” can get them n’ more here.  That makes this disc shiny and your Halo 3 disc all manner of useless.

For the fans who did pony up the dough, you’re fan enough to appreciate the main adventure. For fans who don’t care about playing Halo multiplayer, this title ain’t for you. It may be the best Halo single-player campaign, but make no mistake: this is still Halo.

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don’t tell me the ending to: Left 4 Dead 2

I’ll start off with that, so far, I really enjoy Left 4 Dead 2.  L4D2 had a lot of negative feedback from fans of L4D1 since it was released only a year after the initial title.  L4D1’s content was sparse and most of us fans purchased L4D1 on the assumption there would be more content added for us for free or a reasonable price.  Instead, very little was released and L4D1 feels content poor; the solution is to buy the fully priced sequel that appears to be little more than an upgrade or expansion pack.

From what I’ve played, L4D2 both defies and meets these expectations.

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I finally beat: The Secret of Monkey Island

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Hello audience.

I’m a gamer. And I hadn’t beaten The Secret of Monkey Island.

That is, until it was released as a special edition on the PC, XBLA, and the iPhone. I picked it up for the xbox (because I’m an achievement whore), and I had not beaten one of the classics in both adventuring gaming, and gaming as a whole.

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I finally saw: Waltz with Bashir

Waltz with Bashir is a very well done look into war and what people do to cope with what they have seen and done. Ari, the filmmaker, uses the movie as a means to investigate his own lost memories of his time served in the early 80’s during the War in Lebanon. As he interviews others trying to find people who remember, he discovers he is not alone. Many comrades have also blocked memories of the events, while others simply deny what occurred. The movie asks: “Am I a good person? Or do I simply not remember the evils I have committed upon others?” Twenty years later, it is only a conversation with a fellow friend plagued by nightmares that Ari’s memories begin to return.

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I finally beat: Prince of Persia

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Prince of Persia has been available since last Holiday season, and I only just got around to finally finishing it.  The PoP series was my favorite series of last generation; so why didn’t I beat this one in 1 week instead of 1 year?

Every couple of weeks I’d play for 30 minutes and complete a single section; then turn it off.  Very casual play.  Every time a boss is defeated, the game then tasks the player with collecting dozens of little light orbs to unlock the next hostile area and boss fight.  Since this is about as boring as it sounds, I’d save and quit.  Next time I’d boot up, I’d be forced to collect a bunch of light seeds.  I’d collect a few in an area and eventually quit.  After a few sessions I would finally have enough to continue on and fight the next boss.  Once done, the process would repeat itself.

It’s not that the collection itself was poorly done; despite the occasional glitch throwing you to your death, the platforming was solid.

It was simply repetative enough that it was not fun.  Many people had this complaint for Assassin’s Creed.  But while Assassin’s Creeds repetativeness could be negated by hopping around and assassinating guards and playing around in a sandbox environment, in Prince of Persia you are left to leap around and collect more Light Seeds.

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I finally watched: Slumdog Millionaire

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Slumdog Millionaire is an easy movie to recommend.  It has a story that everyone can enjoy: a slumdog (very poor kid from the slums) of India gets on to the Indian version of Who wants to be a Millionaire.  Despite coming from a very uneducated background, he knows many answers.  The movie shows his life and how his experiences formed the answers he gives, giving him a chance at a new life.

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I finally beat: Fallout 1 part 1

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Fallout 1 is going to be a difficult game to tackle.  I think I’ll write up a more conventional post, covering the basics of gameplay and avoid spoilers, like I normally do, for gamers who may still want to retro game this title.  I’ll be writing a second post that dives more into the themes presented another time.

From a gameplay standpoint, Fallout 1 is one of the best open-ended RPGs.  The world is completely open and explorable.  Your main quest is to find a water chip for your Vault.  Unlike most games, there is no artificial progression through the story line.  One quest does not lead to the next.  There are hints scattererd around the world; completing quests sometimes reveals the next piece of the puzzle, other times it just helps or hurts the world a little.  Each quest can be solved multiple ways, often with different morale dilemmas.  In cities filled with the destruction and decay of a nuclear holocaust, do you uphold the morale values of yesterday, or adopt the attitude necessary to survive the wasteland?

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there is no end to: Left 4 Dead

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Abandoned and alone in a city infested with zombies, you have no hope for survival.  The feeling of being surrounded but isolated is what most zombie/horror stories, movies, and games go for.  Yet, in many stories there are at least some other human survivors (for awhile).  Left 4 Dead centers around this aspect: the teamwork to survive.  However, in a traditional zombie movie, four CounterStrike counter-terrorist agents would have little trouble surviving.  Something has to be done to make the game challenging for the people who are already excellent at games like Halo or Team Fortress 2.

That something is the endless horde of 28 Days Later zombies.

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I finally beat: Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe

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Let us get this out of the way: “mortal kombat” and “teen rating.”

Now, if you are still reading, either you are new to the series or you are wondering *how* they could do that to your beloved Mortal Kombat.

The answer is: not as badly as you would think.

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I finally beat: Gears of War 2

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I finally beat Gears of War 2.  I played through the entire campaign on Hardcore difficulty, co-op with Detnap.  Together we defeated the 5 Acts of the campaign, each more varied than the one before.  For any fan of Gears 1, Gears 2 is a must-play, and easy to recommend to any fan of shooter mechanics.  However, despite accessibility, Gears 2 is not as easy to jump into.

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